There were a ton of great singles that came out of Connecticut back in the '90s, but I think my favorite out of all of them is the Grand Passion "Negative Jesus" 7". Whereas bands like Nevertheless and Farmertan were coming at rock from a Replacements angle, Grand Passion refined things a step further, carrying a lot of the Cle swagger and noir-like feel of Prisonshake, one of my all-time faves. They could really kick it live, too; all three of the guys in the band (Brooks, Rich, and Doug) were top-shelf, especially Doug, who is still probably one of my all-time favorite Connecticut drummers. I think he even resurfaced as a member of The Suicide Dolls for a short while just recently, though I also kind of don't remember.
This single was originally pressed as an edition of 300 on clear vinyl and released on the band's own Pop Rocket Records, but I liked it so much that I had a second pressing made of 250 copies on pink vinyl and gave them away with the sixth and final issue of Brushback. The "Sidearm Records" version had a modified sleeve (actually just a double-sided insert), which Rich Martin was cool enough to design and print up for me for nothing. I'd actually lost the sleeve for the original clear vinyl pressing a long time ago (things get messed up when you move around a lot), but Rich owns a record store in New London now called The Telegraph, which I finally got to visit a couple of months ago. Lo and behold, there were some original Grand Passion 7"-ers sitting in the "local singles" bin, and they actually let me take one. The Telegraph is a really cool store, by the way, you should definitely check it out if you're ever in the New London area (it's on Golden Street, that little side street that runs between all the banks and the El N Gee).
As an "extra bonus", I've scanned the Grand Passion interview from the final issue of Brushback, even though I know that nobody ever clicks on those things. The photos in the interview were taken at one of Brian Sinclair's bashes held at the Municipal Cafeteria in Hartford (yeah, there used to be indie/punk rock shows right on Main Street in downtown Hartford; pretty weird, huh? I think it's a Subway now), and at The Beat in Port Chester, NY, which was the club that Brian and Shaun Sheridan ran after the Anthrax closed.
Grand Passion -
"Negative Jesus"
"Ass Cat (live)"
6 comments:
I like. Did they release anything else?
Yes, a six or seven song CD EP, which I also have.
I think you used to be able to buy the CD through the hozomeen.org web site, but I can't find it there now...
Speaking of Nevertheless, you should def post more by them. Really loved that split 7" w/ Explodee.
Hey, that's great! I've got TONS more by them, and almost all of it is better than that one song... I've just been lazy getting to it.
For the record, the Sherridans were frequent patrons of The Beat but never ran the bar.
I swear that they were booking the bands for The Beat during the '90s. I went there a couple of times, and I always used to talk to them while I was there.
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