This is a first

Alright, here is my inaugural post. First, I'd like to give myself a little slap on the back for figuring out how to work my server space and ftp account, after being holed up in my livingroom half the day while outside the sun is shining, the birds are chirping and kids are setting off car alarms all over the neighborhood. I hope the download links will work fine for everyone. They worked when I tried them, but please do let me know if you encounter any problems.

But enough about my lack of tech-competence and on to the music.

I first picked up Saint James Infirmary's four-song demo cassette at a Harkonen show in Redmond, WA, ca. 96/97. They had been playing a few shows together up and down the West Coast, though unfortunately I missed those. But I was immediatelly hooked to the music. What you get here isn't really straight-up hardcore or emo, it's more of a mixture of the visceral energy of hardcore with more basic rock'n'roll elements, wrapped up in tight arrangements with a nice discordant edge. Unfortunately, I don't really know much about what happened to these guys. They were from the Bay area and, to the best of my knowledge, only ever released two eps (the demo and another three-song 7" on Alternative Tentacles) and one full length, on Allied/ Frenetic. In my opinion the eps have more of an edge to them, though I enjoy the full length as well. Apparently one or several of the members went on to play in The Pattern. You can find a well-written, though outdated, bio and a number of reviews here. The two songs below are from the demo ep.

Saint James Infirmary - bsadd
Saint James Infirmary - Fucking American