Curtain Call: The Wake

These are the liner notes culled from the 1992 Fierce Recordings release of 'EEC Punk Rock Mountain: A Sarah Bootleg.'

Though the EEC Punk Rock Mountain closed its doors in 1987, it still lives on in our hearts. To celebrate its wonderfulness, on June 1st 1991 Start-Rite kids the world over were treated to gigs by their most favourite guitar groups in venues renamed one night only after the legendary Bristol indiepop club. All six concerts (Orchids in Hamburg; St. Christopher in Paris; Gentle Despite in Leeds; The Wake in Athens; Field Mice in Seattle; Heavenly in Tokyo) began and ended simultaneously, each book-ended by a tape tear-filled speech of remembrance by either Clare or Matt from the flag-flying Sarah Records, and were bootlegged in degrees of sound quality proportional to the common-sense level of the Fierce operative concerned.

This is an album we'll revisit again, but I wanted to end this brief three-part series on the Wake's Sarah years with something from the stage. As mentioned in the previous two posts, "Major John" was an A-side out that very year, and "Carbrain" was the flip of the 1989 single "Crush the Flowers." Expect a very different sound than their synth extravaganzas of the early to mid-80s. And, as the folks at Fierce mentioned, these are bootleg recordings. Have mercy.

Major John (Live)
Carbrain (Live)

I nicked this flyer from the Sarah Records site to give you a taste of these rather special Wednesday night shows in Bristol known as EEC Punk Rock Mountain. This one is circa 1986. Another in a long line of time-machine moments for many of us, I should think. Click on it for a better look.