October Days released a 45 and a 12" EP in '81 and '82-- two brilliant records that no like-minded Connecticut band has surpassed since, as far as I'm concerned. I first bought both of them in the mid-80's, back when you could still find copies here and there. At that point October Days had attained near-legendary status in Connecticut, but were no more as of a few years earlier and remained pretty much unknown elsewhere. I can't say all that much has improved on that end since then, actually.
I'd already posted the "West Coast" 45 back in April; now, here's the 12" EP, "Do The Right Thing". October Days also have a compilation track on "It Happened But Nobody Noticed", which was first pressed in '82 and then re-issued on CD just a couple of months ago; my original vinyl copy is in poor shape and has skips in it, which is why I haven't been able to post it yet. Oddly enough, the compilation track is "Do The Right Thing", the title track to the EP that doesn't appear on the EP itself.
October Days are most often compared to The Wipers and Agent Orange, and again, I wouldn't know (not my thing, sorry). What I do know is that October Days' songwriting skills and mastery of dynamics are unreal, especially when you consider the time and place they were operating in. The slinky opening lines to "Out Of This Place", or the chords that rip open the intro to "Take Back The Night", is the kind of stuff that makes my hair stand on end. Then I listen to what the guy in "Hardwood Floor" is up to and I think, yup, that's me sometimes, too.
October Days -
"Out Of This Place"
"Take Back The Night"
"Hardwood Floor"
(these files are now listen-only)
11 comments:
very cool record. one that i regret not picking up back in the day!i remember seeing a copy in some larchmont, ny punk record store and passed on it because i just had to have the birthday party/lydia lunch split LP. went back a week later and it was gone.
btw - any chance of upping the b-side?
I was leaving two songs off to make it worthwhile for the people who still wanted to find the vinyl.
If you wanna send me an e-mail, though, I could possibly rip the last two songs and e-mail them to you as attachments.
my email is bryan.swirsky@gmail.com
thanks! i'd greatly appreciate it.
any idea whatever happened to this band????
I've never heard too much about them-- I read somewhere that they moved to California to try to make it out there, though that could just be someone getting fooled by the address on the back of the EP.
I think there might be something mentioned in the notes for "It Happened But Nobody Noticed"-- I'll have to dig it out and take a look.
Those top two songs made the hair on the back of my neck stand up. They're great unlike the cliches I've used writing this comment. Thanks for introducing me to another great new (to me) band.
Chris, you're from New Zealand, so all cliches are forgiven... :)
thanks for posting these two EPs. i discovered this band on the "it happened..." reissue and i've been looking all over for more of their stuff.
-chris
Hey, you're welcome! I gotta get me that "It Happened But Nobody Noticed" re-issue CD for myself, by the way-- besides the original tracks that I'd like to hear (without skips) again, the bonus disc looks pretty interesting...
The mp3 files on this post are now listen-only (non-downloadable) files. I've also posted two songs on my Vox account, "Stronger" and "Said and Done", that weren't included in the original post (my Vox account is accesible through any of the listen-only links).
For those of you who came to the party late, I will do my best to respond to any e-mailed requests for the original files.
My God! I bought this wonderful record (for 1 German mark) in 1983 and played it until it was unplayable. Still got it, but no record player to rip it to my pc (and it's not in good condition anyway).
I've been raiding the net for this for years now, how come i never stumbled over your site? must be a fool, me.
anyway, if you still got the files, you could make me jump like a rubber ball on fire.
sailer@michaelsailer.de
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