Hailing from the South Bay of California, Artistic Decline made their mark on the LA punk scene with countless gigs and heavy radio play on the infamous "Rodney On The Roq". They first released their debut EP in 1983 on the fledgling New Underground Records that has been out of print ever since. Meat House Productions is incredibly proud to present an official reissue of the "4 Song E.P." from Artistic Decline after being out of print for nearly 40 years. Four songs of truly original punk rock with a slight artistic bent, including the band's most well-known song "Andy Warhol". A classic in every sense of the word!Our take: Meat House has been killing it with the SoCal punk reissues. Rather than the lavish retrospective packaging of labels like Radio Raheem, Meat House does straight reissues that have great sound and packaging that is very true to the original release, and that pattern holds for this reissue from Artistic Decline. Artistic Decline is one of those bands I was vaguely familiar with; I’ve seen their Random Violence 12” a few time and they have a track on the 1983 compilation Life Is Boring So Why Not Steal This Record, but I don’t recall listening to them much, if at all. I’m glad to hear them now, though, because this 4 song EP is killer. While the original date on the EP is 1983, this sounds more like something that would have come from the Masque era of LA punk. The guitar sound is a little thinner and the music seems oblivious to hardcore’s then-calcifying genre conventions. They remind me of the bands on Keats Rides a Harley or Cracks in the Sidewalk, and like this week’s Record of the Week by Cleveland’s Spike in Vain, it seems to capture a time when hardcore had an artier, more expressive side. “Andy Warhol” is the hit here with its chanting, Rhino 39-esque chorus, but you won’t be skipping any of the four tracks. If you’re a fan of late 70s / early 80s SoCal punk and you’re not in the market for a $100 original, this is a great pickup.
