Thee Undertakers were/ are one of the truly great bands to come out of East LA’s punk scene, as anyone who was either privy to seeing them back in the early ’80s, has heard their CD, Crucify Me, or has seen any of their steady stream of recent shows can attest. While often firmly entrenched in the prevailing punk sound popular in Southern California at the time, they weren’t afraid at all to branch out in atypically non-punk directions, a move which gave their output a much broader scope than the average short-fast-loud punters with whom they sometimes shared bills. Collected here are four heretofore unreleased cuts—two more experimental tunes from an ’82 demo with bassist Tracy Skull handling vocal duties, and two more traditional punk rave ups recorded live in 1980 at the Hong Kong Cafe—that provide a nice, succinct document of the breadth of their repertoire. If you’re a fan, this is a mandatory addition to the collection. If you haven’t yet been initiated, this ain’t a bad place to whet the appetite before lapping up the CD. I remain in awe of these guys.
–jimmy (Artifix)