Spike in Vain Jesus Was Born in a Mobile Home cassette reissue
I remember discovering Disease is Relative as it was making its rounds across the blogs ten or so years ago, coming into its legend as a cult classic of weird ’80s hardcore on par with VOID or NO TREND. I highly doubt anyone then could fathom the bounty of unreleased music the Cleveland band had stockpiled, a twisted knot of recording sessions and side projects to come. In the last two years, along with a proper reissue of their debut, we’ve also had the release of Death Drives a Cadillac (a 1984 recording session that would’ve been their sophomore album), and now a demo recording of SPIKE IN VAIN shortly after releasing Disease is Relative, with songs from that time frame that never made it to the album. Naturally, the songs here are closer to the dissonant, mutated Midwest hardcore rage of the first record than the more experimental, twangy deathrock sound found on Death Drives a Cadillac. Scat has reissued these tunes on classic cassette, possibly as a nod to its origins, but probably because the vinyl pressing plants are stuffed beyond capacity these days with major label nonsense and Record Store Day garbage, so perhaps we’ll see a vinyl release eventually.