MX-80 Sound - Hard Attack Superior Viaduct have been on a tear of reissues, putting some much needed fringe entries back into the water and keeping us poor schlubs from having to track things down via expensive out of print channels. Bloomington's MX-80 Sound lived
in a pocket of their own, with no real local scene to attached to their weirdness but they would certainly share an aesthetic sensibility with Devo, Debris and Pere Ubu. Taking the skronk of Beefheart and flinging it through simultaneous left turns of jazz and metal the result is some kind of prog-punk beast that sits on a shelf of its own. The record has a nice duality between riding a wave of groove and rolling off the rails into jagged breakdowns. Add to this the double drummer attack and vocalist Rich Stim's chaotic yelp and occasional horn stabs and Hard Attack lays the foundation for experimental travelers to follow for years. The band would slim down to a four-person, one-drummer lineup after this and pull up roots for San Francisco. They never quite hit stride with the local punk scene but eventually hooked up with The Residents' Ralph Records for two more excellent records before dropping the "Sound" from their name and continuing on as MX-80. Listen: Support the artist. Buy it HERE