Negative Trend (EP)

Negative Trend
EP by Negative Trend
Released	September 1978
Recorded	June 1978
Genre	Punk rock, hardcore punk
Length	11:26
Language	English
Label	Heavy Manners
Producer	Debbie Dub Negative Trend
Alternate cover art
1983 reissue as We Don't Play, We Riot.

Negative Trend is the eponymous debut EP and the only stand-alone official release by American punk rock band Negative Trend.

Production

Produced by Debbie Dub and the band, Negative Trend was recorded and mixed in June 1978,^[1] in a process which took only two days.^[1]

Release

Negative Trend was originally released in September 1978 on the label Heavy Manners in 7-inch vinyl disc format.^{[nb 1][1][2][3][4]} Only 1,000 copies of this edition were pressed.^[1]

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[5]
Punknews	[6]

Matt Whalley of AllMusic retrospectively lauded the EP as being some of America's finest punk music and credited it as being "a surprisingly powerful and gifted piece of American punk history". He gave it 4 out of 5 stars, concluding that Negative Trend "is a complete package that puts one of America's least appreciated punk bands on display".^[5]

Reissues

In December 1983, Negative Trend was reissued by Subterranean Records,^{[nb 2]} this time in 12-inch vinyl disc format, under the title We Don't Play, We Riot and featuring alternate cover art,^[7][8] taken from a Negative Trend flyer designed by band's bassist Will Shatter^[1] for a gig, shared with Readymades and Avengers, held at the Mabuhay Gardens on December 30, 1977.^[9][10]

In April 2006,^[1] a new edition, remastered by Steven Tupper at Fantasy Studios in Berkeley, California, was released on CD via Henry Rollins' label 2.13.61 Records.^{[nb 3][1][11][12]}

In 2005, Rollins commented about this release:

"About 25 years ago, I found a single ... that has remained one of my favorite 7" records of all time: The Negative Trend EP. ... Over the years I would see the Negative Trend record here and there, mostly bootlegged versions of the 7"^[13] and the occasional copy of the 12" re-release. At one point in the late 1990s, I asked the band's drummer Steve DePace what was happening with the Negative Trend record and told him if I ever found out where the master tapes were, I was going to put that record out so everyone could hear it. Early this year, I found them and we're releasing the EP on CD. ... The tape held up over all these years and the mastering is fantastic. The Negative Trend EP never sounded better. I am so excited to be releasing this record on my label."^[14]

All previous editions would eventually go out of print.^[1] However, as of 2006, individual tracks were made available as digital downloads.^[15]

In late 2013, 35 years after its debut, Negative Trend was remastered, again at Fantasy Studios but this time by its chief mastering engineer George Horn,^[16] for a reissue in its original 7-inch vinyl disc format and cover art^{[nb 4]} on Superior Viaduct,^{[nb 5][11][17][18]} an archival record label.

Re-recordings

In November 1978, "Mercenaries", "Meathouse" and "Black and Red" were re-recorded, along with the new songs "I Got Power" and "Atomic Lawn", all of them as demo versions, by the third lineup of Negative Trend, featuring Richard Elerick (pka Rik L Rik)^{[nb 6]} on vocals, and Tim Mooney on drums,^{[nb 7]} in a six-hour session produced by Robbie Fields from Posh Boy Records^[21] at Media Art Studio in Hermosa Beach, California. This was the last time the band went into a recording studio.

In mid-1979, the L.A.-based Upsetter Records issued the Tooth and Nail^{[nb 8]} compilation, featuring Chris Desjardins and Rik L Rik's remixed versions^{[nb 9]} of the Posh Boy demo recordings of "Mercenaries" and "I Got Power".^[19]

Following that, Posh Boy decided to remix^{[nb 10]} all five demos from the November 1978 session, adding bass overdubs, as well as a new guitar track on "Atomic Lawn", by Jay Lansford. Shortly after, Posh Boy issued the single "Meat House",^{[nb 11][nb 12]} initially conceived for Negative Trend, as the first Rik L Rik stand-alone release after he quit the band. This 7-inch pressing on white vinyl featured the Posh Boy remixed versions of "Meathouse" and "I Got Power". In the summer of 1979, the five Posh Boy remixes were included on the label's compilation LP Beach Blvd.^{[nb 13]} The recordings were credited to Rik L Rik.^[19]

In 1982, Rik L Rik, backed by members of the Gleaming Spires (an offshoot of the Sparks), re-recorded "Mercenaries" and "I Got Power" for the soundtrack^[22] of a horror short film titled The Bishop of Battle, starring Emilio Estevez as a video game-addicted teenager who listens to punk rock.^[23][24] Written by Christopher Crowe^[25] and directed by Joseph Sargent,^[23] the story was originally conceived and shot for the short-lived Universal Television TV series Darkroom,^[23] but it was never broadcast because its producers deemed it too intense for TV audiences.^[24] However, in 1983, the following year after the show was canceled, the tale was included, along with other three never-aired Darkroom episodes, in Sargent's anthology film Nightmares,^[24][26] released theatrically in September of that year.^[23] The music featured in the movie^[22] has never been released on a soundtrack album.^[21]

In 1997, Rik L Rik re-recorded "Meathouse" and "I Got Power" with New Jersey band Electric Frankenstein for their album Rock 'n' Roll Monster^{[nb 14]} released by Australian label Au Go Go Records.^[21]

The following year, the live EP Electric Frankenstein with Rik L Rik,^{[nb 15]} issued by the Spanish label Munster Records, featured live versions of "Meathouse" and "I Got Power".^[21]

In November 2011, Posh Boy compiled the two Negative Trend tracks on Tooth and Nail, along with their five cuts (credited to Rik L Rik) from Beach Blvd, as a downloadable digital audio collection titled November 1978.

Track listing

Side A

No.	Title	Lyrics/Music	Length
1.	"Mercenaries"	Will Shatter/Craig Gray	2:51
2.	"Meathouse"	Shatter/Gray	3:05

Side B

No.	Title	Lyrics/Music	Length
1.	"Black and Red"	Gray	3:38
2.	"How Ya Feelin'"	Mikal Waters/Craig Gray	1:52
Total length:			11:26

Personnel

Negative Trend

• Mikal Waters – vocals
• Craig Gray – guitar
• Will Shatter – bass, backing vocals
• Steve DePace – drums

Production

• Debbie Dub – co-production
• Negative Trend – co-production
• Stu the Hippy – engineering

Additional production

• Steven Tupper – remastering (2006 CD edition)
• George Horn – remastering (2013 7" reissue)

Notes

1. Heavy Manners #HM-1
2. Subterranean #SUB 32
3. 2.13.61 #213CD1705
4. Although it didn't come with the original disc labels and lyrics insert.
5. Superior Viaduct #SV038
6. Former lead singer of the short-lived West Covina band F-Word!^[19][20]
7. Former drummer of the Sleepers.
8. Upsetter #UP WR 1&2
9. Done at Media Art Studio in Hermosa Beach, California. "I Got Power" was also overdubbed with new vocals by Rik L Rik.
10. At Media Art Studio in Hermosa Beach, California.
11. Posh Boy #PBS 4
12. "Meathouse" is spelled "Meat House" in Rik L Rik's releases.
13. Posh Boy #PBS 102
14. Au Go Go #ANDA 245
15. Munster #MR7115

References

1. "Negative Trend Two". Negative Trend. Retrieved September 29, 2015.
2. "Negative Trend 7"". Negative Trend. Retrieved April 7, 2016.
3. Negative Trend (EP), 1978 7" EP release cover art. Record Collectors of the World Unite. Retrieved March 8, 2016.
4. "Negative Trend 7" Insert". Negative Trend. Retrieved April 7, 2016.
5. Whalley, Matt. "We Don't Play, We Riot: AllMusic Review by Matt Whalley". AllMusic. Retrieved August 9, 2012.
6. Sideleau, Brandon (February 4, 2005). "Negative Trend: We Don't Play, We Riot (1982)". Punknews. Retrieved February 5, 2016.
7. We Don't Play, We Riot, 1983 12" EP release cover art 1. Record Collectors of the World Unite. Retrieved March 8, 2016.
8. We Don't Play, We Riot, 1983 12" EP release cover art 2. Record Collectors of the World Unite. Retrieved March 8, 2016.
9. "Negative Trend One". Negative Trend. Retrieved March 15, 2016.
10. Negative Trend, gig flyer (December 30, 1977). Negative Trend. Retrieved March 15, 2016.
11. "Negative Trend - s/t 7"". Superior Viaduct. Retrieved May 4, 2015.
12. Negative Trend (EP), 2006 remastered CD EP edition cover art. Record Collectors of the World Unite. Retrieved March 8, 2016.
13. Negative Trend (EP), 1996 7" EP bootleg cover art. Record Collectors of the World Unite. Retrieved March 8, 2016.
14. Sideleau, Brandon (December 3, 2005). "2.13.61 releases Negative Trend EP". Punknews. Retrieved May 28, 2015.
15. Negative Trend (EP), 2006 MP3 files release. AllMusic. Retrieved May 4, 2015.
16. "News". Negative Trend. Retrieved May 5, 2015.
17. Tolmach, Beth (October 28, 2013). "Negative Trend: "Black and Red"". AdHoc. Retrieved March 14, 2016.
18. Negative Trend (EP), 2013 remastered 7" EP reissue cover art. Record Collectors of the World Unite. Retrieved March 8, 2016.
19. Rabid, Jack. "F-Word". Trouser Press. Retrieved August 3, 2015.
20. MXV (February 6, 2006). "Selections from The Punk Vault (F-Word)". The Punk Vault. Retrieved July 18, 2015.
21. "Negative Trend Three". Negative Trend. Retrieved May 12, 2015.
22. "Nightmares (1983)", Soundtracks. The Internet Movie Database. Retrieved December 8, 2015.
23. Muir, John Kenneth (2013). Horror Films FAQ: All That's Left to Know About Slashers, Vampires, Zombies, Aliens, and More. Applause Theatre & Cinema Books. ISBN 9781557839503. pp. 332-333.
24. Carlson, Zack. "Terror Tuesday: Nightmares". The Alamo Drafthouse Cinema. Retrieved December 8, 2015.
25. "Christopher Crowe". The Internet Movie Database. Retrieved December 8, 2015.
26. "Nightmares (1983)". The Internet Movie Database. Retrieved December 8, 2015.

Further reading

• Dub, Debbie (July 1984). We Don't Play, We Riot. Maximumrocknroll (15).
• Addison, Anne (Early 1985). We Don't Play, We Riot. Unsound 2 (1).

External links

• Negative Trend, official website. Negative Trend.
• Sideleau, Brandon (December 3, 2005). "2.13.61 releases Negative Trend EP". Punknews.
• Negative Trend (EP). Discogs.
• Negative Trend (EP). Punky Gibbon.