Thanks, Mute for making these available now in the USA. While Red Star did reissue Suicide's first album in 1997, this version is coupled with a second CD.
The bonus material included is a live show from CBGB's along with "23 Minutes Over Brussels," both of which appeared on Mute's own Blast First label release of this CD in the UK in 1998. For those unfamiliar with Suicide, it's instrumentalist Martin Rev and vocalist Alan Vega (remember the album he did with Panasonic). Rev's electronic noise machines play the new wave of punk, looped, distorted, abrasive and even pretty at times. Vega croons, screams, shrieks a'la Yoko Ono crossed with Elvis Presley. Together, their music legacy has become more important in the years since their demise than it ever was while they were together. Influences can strongly be recognized in lots of music from Stereolab to Sigue Sigue Sputnik.
Also out this week is the previously difficult to find second album, recorded 1979 and produced by Ric Ocasek of The Cars. Ocasek may have been an electronic music fan but he was a pop star, and a fan of the clean. Suicide's second album is notably cleaner, toned down and even sparkly in spots. The spunk is absent from a lot of the tracks but the band is still recognizably the same. Coupled with this release is a second bonus CD of the first rehearsal tapes, rounding out all you need to know about the first Suicide years.
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