My trilogy of L.A.’s original Goth/Punk crossover comes
to an abrupt halt with T.S.O.L.’s (True Sound Of Liberty) outstanding 27 minute
long debut album Dance With Me. There’s surprisingly little written about T.S.O.L.
that doesn’t rehash the obvious influence they had on the Hardcore Punk scene
along the West Coast of America. A lot of reference space is given up to other
bands that were present in the early 80’s scene, but the link between T.S.O.L.,
Christian Death and 45 Grave seems to be continuously overlooked. With
everything in life there must be a link from Frontier Records to production
duties being handled by Thom Wilson. Tenuous I hear you say, yet a link, nonetheless.
Even with 45 Grave missing their chance to release an album first, everything
worked out fine with T.S.O.L.
A significant group in L.A.'s late-'70s to early-'80s punk scene, Long Beach's T.S.O.L. briefly flirted with pseudo radical politics on their exceptional self-titled debut EP, which included songs like "Abolish Government/Silent Majority" and "Property Is Theft", but that phase of the band didn't last long, as they cast away the politics in favour of horror-movie-inspired, Gothy, Misfits-style shtick on their first full-length, Dance With Me. This album contains their most famous song, "Code Blue," an extremely catchy number about necrophilia, ever popular with fans who scream for them to play it at every show. No mere footnote in punk rock history, T.S.O.L.'s early records are slam pit-inducing, infectious stuff. Dance With Me is loaded with fine numbers, including "Sounds of Laughter," "I'm Tired of Life," and "Die For Me." Other than the Misfits, no band has combined Gothy subject matter and punk rock bare chords as well as T.S.O.L., who hit the nail on the head with this classic 1981 recording. Dance with Me was recorded at Redondo Pacific Studios in Redondo Beach, California with producer Thom Wilson.
A significant group in L.A.'s late-'70s to early-'80s punk scene, Long Beach's T.S.O.L. briefly flirted with pseudo radical politics on their exceptional self-titled debut EP, which included songs like "Abolish Government/Silent Majority" and "Property Is Theft", but that phase of the band didn't last long, as they cast away the politics in favour of horror-movie-inspired, Gothy, Misfits-style shtick on their first full-length, Dance With Me. This album contains their most famous song, "Code Blue," an extremely catchy number about necrophilia, ever popular with fans who scream for them to play it at every show. No mere footnote in punk rock history, T.S.O.L.'s early records are slam pit-inducing, infectious stuff. Dance With Me is loaded with fine numbers, including "Sounds of Laughter," "I'm Tired of Life," and "Die For Me." Other than the Misfits, no band has combined Gothy subject matter and punk rock bare chords as well as T.S.O.L., who hit the nail on the head with this classic 1981 recording. Dance with Me was recorded at Redondo Pacific Studios in Redondo Beach, California with producer Thom Wilson.