What people tend to forget about the original punk scene, both in the U.S. and across the world, is that punk was more of a state of mind and an attitude than a certain style of music. Sure, the music was generally stripped down rock & roll in its rawest form, but its implied message (no matter what the lyrics were) was "Anyone can do it, so go for it." Many bands did just that, and most of them barely made a local impression, let alone bothered any type of charts. Some of them understood what the punk ethic was all about, while others just aped whatever was fashionable at the time. Plenty of the bands actually got around to releasing at least a single, but a very small percentage of them actually released an album. The Products' 1981 debut Fast Music was one of those rare albums that came from the punk underground, but it didn't sound exactly like all the other bands on the scene. More the Velvet Underground than the Sex Pistols, the Products had a talented songwriter in Lee Larson, who sang like a young, pissed off Lou Reed, while the music complemented the mood by sounding menacing without being too aggressive and overpowering (was that by choice or by budget?). Sure, there was nothing Earth shattering here, but it made an impression on many listeners, including those at Cabeza De Tornado Records, which reissued it on CD in 2003 (although it does seem to be mastered from a cassette).
© Steve Schnee /TiVo