As the sun sets on the CD era, I have begun to give up
hope on some of my favourite brilliant obscurities ever making it to compact
disc. Up until a couple of months ago, Until December was one of the bands I'd
pretty much thrown in the towel on. After all, their decade ahead of its time
lone album, originally released in 1986, failed to chart and - despite dropping
a load of great 12 inch singles - couldn't break out of the basement. Like so
many of the great bands signed to Howie Klein's 415-Records, Until December
blew the minds of tastemakers and fell on deaf ears just about everywhere else.
I figured I'd have to content myself with the four tracks on the Best of 415 CD
from 1994. Then there is this album, now, in your grasp. The complete original
debut, along with five non-LP singles, plus a second disc loaded with 12
inchers and remixes; this is basically the entire Until December output from
that time period. Coming off as a delicious nightmare mix of Visage/New
Order/Depeche Mode and foreshadowing industrial by almost a decade, Until
December rocked with gothic proportions and a seriously kinky gay undertone
(the second disc is labelled "Daddy Side") and the band's idea of a
cover song was to take on Blondie's sex anthem "Call Me." (Or even
better, a B-Side was a straight-up version of Bauhaus' "Bela Lugosi’s Dead").
That was the crazily cool thing about Until December. They tinkered with image
that taunted the cuteness of New Wave at the time, made music that both pulsed
and pulverized, and left behind this one, gloriously twisted album as their
legacy. It's also likely not an accident that Adam Sherburne eventually formed
the in-your-face political band Consolidated in the 90's. But again, like so
many bands under the 415 banner (and in my humble opinion, one of the greatest
and most unrecognized of the American Independent labels), the brass ring
eluded them. I have even wondered is if Until December had dropped in from
London instead of San Fran by way of Austin, Texas, might they have been big
stars? Get this comprehensive re-issue and decide for yourself. (Written by Tim Brough, stolen from Amazon)
Ripped for Fabio from the 2010 released double CD on Wounded Bird to
MP3 @ 320 kbps
Until December; The 415 Sessions
You’re going to have to work for the track listing as I
can’t be arsed typing it out. Discogs
SOME REALLY GREAT STUFF!
ReplyDeleteI was really happy with this find
DeleteNot so life changing like the Discover of Blue in Heaven but good!
ReplyDeleteThanks for all the heads up AJ!
Glad that you're enjoying Blue In Heaven
DeleteSaw them open for The Lords Of The New Church in 1987. Always compared them more to Dead Or Alive than the bands you listed. I knew this CD was out, but have yet to find a physical copy of it, so this will do for now. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteThanks Anon...Dead Or Alive you say?...
DeleteYeh
Yes, The gothy/new wave British band, not the Canadian punk band
DeleteHi AJ ! This is quite breathtaking. I have their vinyl LP. Never seen it again since 1986-87. Did not know this double cd had been released. Heaven was a good hit single but they never broke anywhere (maybe else than a few Californian nights at gay nightclubbings). Completely agree with Anonymous. Nothing to do with Visage/NO/Depeche. And yes they were in fact the US double of UK Dead or Alive. In flesh and blood. But... they did not rock neither with gothic proportion ... ok, Forgive and still forget is one we can tag as a goth song. Musically they were like they behaved. Not knowing exactly where they had to lean. Hence diverse universes in their LP songs and hard to do a real breakthrough. With nothing else behind. For once you should have written with your own words and it would have been 100 times better than Tim work. Anyway, interesting as it bring songs and bands memories alive again. And open discussions. A good catch.
ReplyDeleteHi Jack, the only reason I came across Until December was through a "Best Of 415 Records" CD that I picked up. They had the last 4 tracks and I found them enjoyable enough that when a decent rip of theirs appeared I gave it a listen. That was Christmas 2018.
Delete