The first few months of 2011 will be an ecstatic time to be doing More Than a Witness. I’m thrilled to announce that I will be doing an official reissue for the classic Washington DC hardcore group, United Mutation.
United Mutation were the ultimate demented outsiders of DC hardcore. When you consider the crop of other first wave DC (well, okay, Northern Virginia) hardcore acts who’ve made a name for themselves, only the mighty Void matched United Mutation when it came to playing sheer acid-thrash and freak out, face-melting ‘core. Perhaps the greatest thing about United Mutation is that they sounded truthfully damaged and isolated in the increasingly melodic and straight edged DC hardcore scene. This stuff was revolting, fuzzed-out noise pollution for true punks, the uniquely damaged, and those still turning on, tuning in, and dropping out well into the 1980s.
This is music that was so uniquely ahead of the curve when it came to truly unhinged hardcore punk of the 1980s. Michael Brown’s idiosyncratic vocal style was unquestionably the most deranged in hardcore (or any other style of music for that matter) up until that point. The lyrical themes (thankfully) didn’t manifest themselves in sloganeering or championing vacant leftist political causes like most forgettable bands of the era. Instead the band allowed a vision of their sick, introverted worldview with such a painfully unique and imaginative representation.
This LP (MTAWP 003, my third release) will feature the classic debut 7” EP “Fugitive Family” (originally issued in 1983 as a split release between DSI/Dischord), as well as essential demo recordings, compilation tracks, and unreleased recordings. I’m working closely with the band to assemble the best track list possible. This release will be totally different than and superior to the “Freaks Out” LP that released on European label Bitzcore in the late 80s.
Check back for updates on this release. I’d imagine this will be ready to drop around late February or early March. And of course, this release will be done right: the tracks will be remastered from the original masters, it’ll have an excellent gatefold jacket (I’d imagine with some kind of odd feature that will put me into further credit card debt for at least a little while) packed with liner notes, photos, flyers, and other relevant ephemera.
