45 Grave- Black Cross 7"

Though it seems they're generally remembered as a sort of, gothy, death rock-type band (mostly due to the tone of their debut album Sleep in Safety),  LA's 45 Grave actually had several different phases; I would say that they're quite notable for being probably the only LA group, which was a part, however marginally, of Hollywood's late 70s pre-hardcore punk scene, the much more musically damaged LAFMS (Los Angeles Free Music Society) scene, and the hair metal scene of Hollywood in the mid-80s.  Not that all those groups existed in vacuums; reality is of course always more complex than that, but I can't think of any other musicians involved with the LAFMS that went on to some success as poodle-haired party animals the way this band did...in a way, it's actually pretty impressive... 

This single was the group's first release after their appearance on the LAFMS comp. Darker Skratcher.  The A-side is a great mid-tempo track which always reminds me of how much creativity can be thrown into the standard 'melodic punk' formula, if the goal is actually to try to make the song good rather than to try and make it sound like some other band; the song is populated by all kinds of weird stop/start parts and noisy breakdowns, and of course there are the awesome vocals of Dinah Cancer, in my opinion one of punk's most underrated female vocalists.  The B-side track, Wax, is a slower, more plodding sort of affair, punctuated by short thrashy outbursts, strange Eastern sounding guitar leads, and lots of cowbell.  I guess some people consider this song to be a metal tinged goth song, but to me it just sounds like a punk band playing something interesting in the time before punk began to mean only one thing to a bunch of assholes.

I suppose this record isn't essential listening or anything, but it's one I really enjoy for its unique vibe and style.  Check it out here.