{"title":"Spike in Vain","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"disease-is-relative","title":"Disease Is Relative","description":"\u003cp\u003eOriginally released in January of 1984, \u003ci\u003eDisease Is Relative\u003c\/i\u003e is an unapologetic and wholesale embrace of death, disease, and dystopia, with liberal doses of absurdism and an unrelenting devotion to anything unexpected, chromatic, or evil sounding. Sporting influences as diverse as no wave, death rock, funk, post-punk, hardcore, metal, and prog rock, this music somehow happened in the midst of a first wave hardcore scene, before there was a 'post-' to be 'post' of. Less surprising is that this happened in Cleveland, which also inspired a desire to recreate the feeling of the city's post-industrial desolation in sound. There's also some epic screaming and crazy guitar playing. The album features three songwriters (brothers Andrew and Chris Marec, Robert Griffin), who also divide guitar, bass, and vocals equally between themselves here. Drummer Bruce Allen is the secret weapon, and provides a clue to what a young Bill Bruford might have done in a band like this. And yet, beyond all odds, the end result is cohesive, cathartic, and utterly idiomatic. The distinct vibe of the album, and its sheer quantity of killer riffs, songs and performances have made it an album that people have championed over time, while others have come to know it through the interwebs as a result.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Scat","offers":[{"title":"Black | LP","offer_id":50455913333067,"sku":"1116856","price":24.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/64156da1-587e-4f64-b12b-bd8762eb7af6_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1727195060"},{"product_id":"death-drives-a-cadillac","title":"Death Drives A Cadillac","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eDeath Drives A Cadillac\u003c\/i\u003e was Spike in Vain’s second album, never officially released and unheard in its final form until now. Like many hardcore bands circa ’84 and ’85, the group was ready to further expand its palette and ease off the thrash tempos. Recorded roughly a year after \u003ci\u003eDisease Is Relative\u003c\/i\u003e with a bigger budget, the album is even more wide-ranging, and the songs are more fleshed out. \u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Scat","offers":[{"title":"Black | LP","offer_id":50460635300171,"sku":"1120599","price":24.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/c8c833c2-aa96-435a-8dad-1e51ea93d8f3_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1727235828"},{"product_id":"jesus-was-born-in-a-mobile-home","title":"Jesus was Born in a Mobile Home","description":"\u003cp\u003eReady for some more racket from the titans of the tritone? The deans of decay? The earls of entropy? Until recently it was unknown how prolific Cleveland’s Spike In Vain were in their three year run, roughly Fall 1982 through Fall 1985. Had all the group’s songs been recorded, they would’ve filled five LPs handily. While only the debut album \u003ci\u003eDisease Is Relative\u003c\/i\u003e, compilation appearances, and a virtually unknown cassette were issued during their run, 2021 saw the band’s unreleased second album\u003ci\u003e Death Drives A Cadillac \u003c\/i\u003epulled out from its secret lair, and 2023 sees the release of the \u003ci\u003eJesus Was Born In A Mobile Home\u003c\/i\u003e cassette via this much expanded double vinyl edition. Upping the original’s twelve track program with an additional fifteen unreleased or rare tracks, this compilation provides a panoramic view of this mercurial, many-headed beast of absurdity, discord, and death. This release is loaded with surprises for even die-hard fans. Among other highlights, there’s a nine minute version of “Opus.” While the recording on Disease Is Relative is essentially three short songs smushed together, this later live version doubles that, with all new material seamlessly tacked onto the original. “Winter’s Black Hand” is a shocking outtake from the second album with the same insane, harrowing quality as “Children In The Subway.” There’s a 1982 rehearsal recording of “Tenement Housing,” the closest the band ever came to a straight up punk song. Or the rambling, shambling, and devastating “Drunk And Ugly Soul Food (As I Understand It)” from an early 1985 radio session. Along with other live recordings of songs that never saw the inside of a studio and a few more outtakes, Jesus also gathers stray songs from compilation albums with much improved sound. The majority of the tracks here were mastered from the original reels, while others had to be rescued from cassettes. Veteran engineer John Golden has done a knockout job dealing with the wide variety of source materials, lending it cohesion without sacrificing the skullsplitting rawness of some tracks.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Scat Records","offers":[{"title":"Black LP","offer_id":50483640598859,"sku":"2003503","price":42.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"Brown LP","offer_id":50483641090379,"sku":"2003514","price":47.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/getImage-1.php_38a372eb_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1727571033"}],"url":"https:\/\/shop.roughtrade.com\/fr\/collections\/spike-in-vain.oembed","provider":"Rough Trade","version":"1.0","type":"link"}