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/ News

No. 1 with a Bullet: Boston Hardcore Band Anthologized with New Digital Compilation

July 17, 2013 By Mike Duquette 1 Comment

Bullet LaVoltaThe world of rock and roll is littered with captivating tales of what-ifs and alternate routes that pushed a musician in one direction instead of another. One such captivating story of late is that of Jason Everman, a seemingly unassuming Army Ranger today who at one point was a member of the Seattle grunge scene, playing in both Nirvana and Soundgarden before both rocketed to success in 1991.

What's particularly interesting about that New York Times piece on Everman, other than its subject, is the byline: it was penned by Clay Tarver, himself a rock guitarist who was part of a great unsung band of the 1990s: Bullet LaVolta. The Boston-based hardcore punk outfit was one of many bands who made the jump to a major label in the early years of the decade, as labels started to catch onto new and unusual shifts in rock music at the time. (The band also featured two other members who'd find interesting successes down the line: vocalist Kurt "Yukki Gipe" Davis would later become an employee of music video game developer Harmonix Music Systems and have his latest band, The Konks, featured in the first entry in the Rock Band series, while drummer Todd Phillips formed the band Model/Actress with ex-Brainiac bassist Juan Monostereo.)

After a successful EP and LP on the independent Taang! label, RCA signed Bullet LaVolta and released their final album, Swandive, produced by Dave Jerden (engineer on Talking Heads' Remain in Light and David Byrne and Brian Eno's My Life in the Bush of Ghosts as well as producer for Jane's Addiction and Alice in Chains). Its street date? September 24, 1991 - the same day Geffen released Nirvana's major-label debut Nevermind. (In what may be one of the most stunning bills of the decade, both bands shared the stage that night at local Boston club Axis, with The Smashing Pumpkins as the opening act.)

For whatever reason, Bullet LaVolta's Swandive, with its hardcore riffs and clean production, was received much better by critics than fans, who would fly their flannel for the grunge movement over the next several years. (The band would decide to split within the year.) Now, over two decades later, RCA/Legacy celebrates the band with a new digital-only compilation, Force Majeure: The RCA Anthology ('90-'92). The 18-track set features a newly-remastered versions of Swandive, Gimme Danger (a part-live/part-studio EP released on Metal Blade Records and featuring a cover of KISS "Detroit Rock City"), a B-side cover of The Dead Boys' "Sonic Reducer," a 1992 live in-studio performance from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's WBMR-FM and an unreleased demo recorded at the famed Ft. Apache studio in 1990. As an additional bonus, the set also features the original promo video for lead single "Swan Dive," directed by Kevin Kerslake, hailed as "the Scorsese of grunge."

Force Majeure: The RCA Anthology ('90-'92) is available now from Amazon; the set's stunningly low price is as good as any an impetus to rediscover one of the best "side routes" in '90s rock. Hit the jump for order links and the full track list!

Force Majeure: The RCA Anthology ('90-'92) (RCA/Legacy, 2013)

  1. Rails
  2. My Protector
  3. Swan Dive
  4. Between the Lines
  5. Blizzard
  6. Sunshine
  7. Before I Fall
  8. What's in a Name?
  9. Drag
  10. Ceiling Life
  11. Every Hungry Rabbit
  12. Transparent Man
  13. Detroit Rock City (Live '90)
  14. Blind to You (Live '90)
  15. X-Fire (Live '90)
  16. Sonic Reducer
  17. Guerrero (Demo)
  18. Mother's Day/Bloodstains (Live on WMBR-FM, Cambridge, MA - January 1992)
  19. Swan Dive (promo video)

Tracks 1-10 released as Swandive (RCA 07863 61011-2, 1992)
Tracks 11-15 released as Gimme Danger EP (Metal Blade 72433-2, 1990)
Track 16 was the B-side to "Every Hungry Rabbit" German single (Glitterhouse GR-0125, 1990)
Tracks 18-19 previously unreleased

Categories: News Tags: Nirvana

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Mike Duquette

Michael Duquette (Founder) was fascinated with catalog music ever since he discovered there was more than one version of John Williams' soundtrack to E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial. A 2009 graduate of Seton Hall University with a B.A. in journalism, Mike paired his profession with his passion through The Second Disc, one of the first sites to focus on all reissue labels great and small. His passion for reissues turned into a career, with bylines on catalog at Discogs, City Pages and Ultimate Prince and credits on titles including the Grammy-winning 'Squeeze Box: The Complete Works of "Weird Al" Yankovic.' Born and raised in New Jersey, Mike lives in Astoria, Queens with an ever-expanding collection of music.

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Comments

  1. Jon Chaisson says

    July 17, 2013 at 12:14 pm

    FYI, "Sonic Reducer" is actually a Dead Boys cover, not a Pixies cover. 😉

    And thanks for the heads-up! Lived in Boston around this time and remember them well. Just downloaded it!

    Reply

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