Suicide-Suicide(1977)

Suicide is where No Wave began. The electronic proto-punk duo was founded in 1971 in New York-it’s parents, vocalist Alan Vega, who Lydia Lunch quite accurately describes as “a perverted Puerto Rican, Elvis Presley-damaged, psychotic acid casualty”, and synthesizer and drum-machiner Martin Rev soon became known as the dark godfathers of No Wave. Suicide’s name was taken from the title of one of Vega’s favorite Ghost Rider comic books-Satan Suicide, and their first two, self-titled releases, in 1977 and 1980 were released on New York’s ZE Records-a label that found itself infatuated with what became known as the No Wave scene and the East Village post-punk rockers. Yes, Suicide is where it all began, having influenced the birth of bands such as MARS(originally named China) and Arto Lindsay’s DNA and other musicians that would attend Suicide’s confrontational shows at the then underground music purgatory, CBGB, in Manhattan. CBGB, along with the later Mudd Club were pivotal in the development of No Wave music and the community that spawned it.


Suicide’s first record, the aforementioned 1977 release, is not what you would expect from a release associated so heavily with No Wave-it is, simply stated, pretty. Suicide 1977 is actually quite reminiscent of Lou Reed’s beautiful, deconstructed-blues rhythms and chant-like, romantic melodies, but with a staunch yet unobtrusive electronic overtone that culminate to make you wonder if the then teenage Shoegazers had it ruminating on their record players. “Cheree” is based on a simple progression completely analogous to Richard Berry’s “Louie Louie”, and the little synthesized bells remind the listener of Velvet Underground’s “Sunday Morning”. Vega’s vocals are almost desperate, as though plagued by some unrequited love, and yet he sings so confidently and makes subtlety in the voice a very powerful, expressive machine. It’s interesting to hear Rev’s drum machine pound out sequences that one might suspect were responsible for the sound that DNA’s Ikue Mori and Tuxedomoon had(particularly the track “Desire”). It’s clear that Suicide was an indispensable part of the development of post-punk music in New York, and thus it should be an indispensable part of any collection.

Track Listing:
"Ghost Rider" – 2:33
"Rocket U.S.A." – 4:17
"Cheree" – 3:41
"Johnny" – 2:10
"Girl" – 4:06
"Frankie Teardrop" – 10:25
"Che" – 4:51

Personnel:
Alan Vega-vocals
Martin Rev-synthesizers/percussion

Link: http://www.gazup.com/TkPhi-20090315.rar-download-mirrors