Thursday, September 30, 2010

State Of Confusion - A Street




State Of Confusion were a hardcore band from Boise, Idaho active during the late 80's. A Street is their only full-length album, recorded in 1987 and released in 1988. I picked this record up at Hits And Misses in Toronto for only $6 and it is a total rager. The band is more famous for adding Doug Martsch on guitar and changing their name to Treepeople than for the music on this album, which is a shame. If you like Mystic Records-era RKL and Agression then you'll love these jams.

3 comments:

  1. Love this album. Got it on tape for $3 in a bargain bin at some point in the latter 80s or early 90s. Just found it online and downloaded it, enjoying it all over again.

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  2. I love this album. I don't have it anymore. I miss it bad! somebody please upload it to youtube!

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  3. I drew the front and back cover for this album at the age of 16 in 1986.
    when SOC told me they wanted the black and white drawing for their new album, in full color, my mind was blown.
    I felt like I had won a nobel prize or something...heh heh.
    too bad I didnt have the technical ability to align my colorized version with current printing techniques at the time to produce a slicker version.

    the drawing was produced about 30 days after dropping LSD for the first time, as a runaway in california. I had been brought back to Boise a week after the Acid trip, after doing some small time in oakland county juvenile hall, and back at home with psychoactive substances, I was able to distill my first ACID experience into 2D pen and ink.
    the ouroboros symbol of the rat eating its own tail came naturally out of the chaos of life, like a few other notable visions distilled from imbibing psychedelic drugs, I would find out later, sometimes years later, that certian visions were actually symbols that existed time immemorial.
    we were doomed to repeat all the pain and glory,only to be broken by death with resurrection of soul and matter.


    of course I gave the original black and white without making copies to a girlfriend who decided to punish me after she cheated on me a few times by keeping the artwork and never sending me a copy.
    thankfully there are thousands of copies of the drawing in color and a photo shop version is in the works to transfer back to black and white.

    these days I am hard at work reproducing the cover in crop circle format.

    SOC was a great energetic band, at a time when mere survival as a band was the gleaning accomplishment, and carving out a niche for alternative expression.
    the treepeople went on to play a prolific amount of shows, and I think I attended more than a few "last shows" back in the day.

    PAT S. rest in peace!

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