A Duty-Dance with Death

Second release on Robert Pollard's new Splendid Research label is a vinyl and CD reissue of a 1984 demo cassette by Children's Crusade, post-punk teenage band of Guided By Voices' Doug Gillard.

The Cleveland guitarist went on to record for Scat, Homestead and Restless Records with the bands Death of Samantha, Cobra Verde, My Dad Is Dead, and Gem, before joining GBV (1996-2004), then Nada Surf (2010-2016), then rejoining GBV (2016-present), as well as playing on albums by Richard Buckner, Neko Case and others.

1980s Cleveland was a hotbed for indie rock, following in the Northern Ohio footsteps of Pere Ubu, The Dead Boys, The Styrenes, Mirrors and Devo.

"Children’s Crusade was a fleeting blotch on the wild, mid-80s Cleveland underground music scene, slowly seeping through like a drop of oil on the uniformly black jeans of that era – noticeable only after it settles, spreads, and you realize it won’t come out in the wash."