On the surface, Skin Graft Records and Comics were purveyors of abrasive, angular noise rock, but digging a little deeper, you found a label that was essentially putting forth a style of progressive rock music that rather than rooted in music school and theory, was rooted in punk rock and it’s agitative spirit. Called a “Now Wave” label, Skin Graft was actually a comic book publisher who put out records rather than a record label that also dabbled in comic books. While the record side of things really took off, the comics that came with various Skin Graft compilations were pretty great.
This compilation is a fantastic time capsule that highlights a scene at it’s best. Featured here are some of my favorite noise bands that fell under the Now Wave label. The bigger names are U.S. Maple, The Flying Luttenbachers, Melt Banana, Flossie and the Unicorns and Quintron (among many others). While these bands are great, the highlight for me (as with all compilation records) are the bands I didn’t know and was introduced to here, specifically UFO or Die (who I’ll feature in a later post, not doubt), Cheer Accident (who are legends in their own right, but flew under my radar for years), Mount Shasta, Yona-Kit and the absolutely genius stand out track (for me at least) Plague of Frogs by Lake of Dracula (featuring Weasel Walter of The Flying Luttenbachers).
Go Freaks Go! 