Opus Good Procedures / The Atrocity 7″ reissue
I must admit: I’ve always been a little perplexed as to how this single came to be such a rarefied bonzer. Released in 1979 in a micro-edition of 200 copies (deepest of ironies that, considering it’s about the standard run these days), OPUS has spent the 21st century skyrocketing in value (Discogs clocks a $3,500 sale with no pic sleeve). OPUS was an L.A.-area band that played a few gigs and managed to squeeze out this two-sider before vanishing in a cloud of dust. As they continue to mine for rare gold, Meat House has been on a tear lately, so it’s quite a feat that they managed to secure such a “holy grail” for re-release and reappraisal. So how da tunes, you ask? Well, they’re fucking perplexing—”Good Procedures” is a head-scratcher of an A-side. It straight-up sounds like a demo of a mid-tempo rock song that sits somewhere between snoozeville AOR and the least-exciting almost-post-punk cut you can name off the top of your head (so proto-indie rock, basically). It is truly so underwhelming that someone out there should be demanding a $3,495 refund based on this side alone. But then you flip it over and “The Atrocity” comes ripping through the speakers and the current price tag almost starts to make sense (but not really, I mean c’mon, what the fuck). “The Atrocity” features gnarly guitar strangling at near-hardcore tempos and even has a hook, so there ya go—an actual punk rock song. At least this version comes with a guaranteed cover. For less than a twenty dolla holla, you too, can own an overrated slice of punk rock history.