ÒThese songs were recorded a few months after the Los Angeles punk scene began. These five statements of intent transcend Punk and project forward into the future: to the analog synth wave of the late Õ70s and beyond, to the present day, four decades later, when they finally receive an official release. Sourced from the original reel-to-reels, they are a revelation compared to the countless copies that have been circulating by multiple generations of tape-traders. Here, for the first time, is the ScreamersÕ initial and legendary manifesto. ÒThe Screamers concept was simple, yet audacious: take the spirit and the look of PunkÑthe pseudo-psychotic aggression, the spiky hair, vacant stares and barely concealed sadomasochismÑand match it to a different configuration than the typical Õ60s rock template. As launched, the Screamers featured two keyboard players (Tommy Gear and David Brown), a drummer (KK Barrett) and an intensely charismatic singer (Tomata du Plenty). The idea was to be confrontationalÑto evoke (as Tomata described in an early interview) a state of anxiety. ÒForty years later, this release builds on the groundswell of interest in the Screamers that has been occurring in the early 21st century. There are web sites with detailed histories of the group and several bootlegs of demos and live material from 1977-79. The video of Ô122 Hours of FearÕÑperhaps their peak moment, recorded at Target Video in August 1978Ñhas now passed over 650,000 views online. This is the ScreamersÕ time, and the time is now.ÓÑJon Savage (excerpt from the liner notes)
