February 26, 2010

All the Way Downtown

Via the treasure-filled Killed By Death Records blog, an amazing unknown punk tune with the perfect running time, a beautifully gritty guitar solo and those above-it-all, casually snotty vocals that really sell it. The A.D.s were from Albany, NY and this first 7” was released in 1980 on the Blue Lunch label. This song has been extensively posted on music blogs, but I love it, so fuck you. But I’m not quite as fond of the b-side so, again, please refer to the end of the preceding sentence.

And here’s a completely unrelated link (y’all should be used to the “unrelated” part by now) to a street artist and photo archivist named Mark Michaelson, who collects vintage mugshots. Mark has published a big ass book of ‘em which you should purchase here if you’d like to support the scene. Otherwise, there’s a wondrous array of photos on his Flickr page. It’s sad and compelling.

There’s historical value in looking right at these people’s faces; hardcore criminals and scumbags are mixed in right alongside poor folks arrested for sedition, victimless crimes or simply for being nobodies. The curator usually gives some basic factual background, then lets their expressions tell the real story. Real nice work.

The A.D.s – “Living Downtown”

Rick at 1:07 am

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