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There’s nothing like a test press of a classic record to pique your interest reader. So I submit, Rorschach’s - Remain Sedate on Vermiform records, in test press form. Probably best remembered as the first significant musical statement by one of the most historically important bands of the 90s. I’d say for better or worse, (and I’m afraid it’s quite obviously for worse), there are only a few bands that had more of an impact on the subsequent musical landscape insofar as rock and roll. But though Remain Sedate is a classic, it’s probably not had half the impact of Rorschach’s later, Protestant lp. Instead it treads a weird territory between Die Kreuzen’s 1st lp, COC’s Animosity, with a bit of an early Swans under current, and, unfortunately, a bit of the unpleasant early 90’s basement aftertaste. It’s formative and imperfect, but still pretty great, at least as far as music that makes you feel bad can be (and we all know it can be).

For the time though, 1990, this stuff is pretty ripping, and still very harsh, even when it feels a little dated. The ear splitting bellows of Charles Maggio are enough to stick with you long after the needle is skipping along the runoff groove, and the slippery guitar charge led by Keith Huckins manages to enclose the listener into some kind of nightmare haze. It’s hard listening honestly. The jams are dense, the mood is not uplifting, and the taste is bitter. But it’s important even if, and maybe because, it makes you feel like shit. The originality it was ripe with is still evident even after all this time, and so, it’s not surprising that a substantial part of any dollar bin now is crammed with inferior derivatives of that original sound. How tacky.