at.the.drive-in - Vaya EP

This EP from 1999 features 7 songs by at.the.drive-in, Omar Rodriguez-Lopez and Cedric Bixler-Zavala band before De Facto and The Mars Volta. Don't do drugs.

Vex Red - Start With a Strong and Persistent Desire

Vex Red split in 2002 to form some three different bands like Septembre, Scenes, or hooking up with Malpractice, Killing Joke or the likes of Mark Chapman from A. Although they let slip plans for a reunion, they also said it was probably not going to happen. This record is probably the only thing they have and will ever release.

Rebus - The Red EP

Another band from Small Town America. From their online presences it's very hard to tell whether they're still active. Aside from compilations, this is one of two single releases.

Roosterz - Best Songs Collection

The Roosters/z (1979-1988)
So these guys are incredibly hard to get a hold of, at least if you live on the Western half of the planet. A couple of my friends, who should love me for this, have been wanting some for a while. Japanese ska/rock/swing, this stuff is pretty darn good. The only songs that sometimes stick out as being terrible are the let's-sing-in-English tracks, as can be the case with foreign bands. On the whole though, they sing in Japanese, and it's always interesting to be able to appreciate vocals as an instrument, and the whole ensemble musically, without worrying about words.

The best-of comes in two discs, and I found some other stuff but you can't have it just yet.

Nice Strong Arm - Reality Bath

I tripped over a couple of tracks from this album on Vinyl Mine and liked it a lot, so I tracked down my own copy.

A punk/indie band from Dallas, I really only know what I can find on the internet, and in my infinitely small grasp of this era in music I can't really compare them in context. Out of context then? They're a lot like Refused in places, a later hardcore punk band I happen to love. I would also compare some songs to guitar-heavy indie like Interpol, maybe Joy Division in places (not for the better). Reality Bath was the band's debut, released on Homestead Records circa 1987. What I have found with Nice Strong Arm is a record of honest late-80s indie rock, and purchase on that steep ledge of music-that-happened-before-I-was-born.