BACK IN STOCK.

The CD version of Legacy Of Fertility contains all of the reissued Th'Inbred material, but for these limited-edition vinyl reissues, the material has been spread out across two separate LPs. This second LP comes on blue vinyl and features the Kissin Cousins LP and the unreleased bonus tracks, and includes an insert with the complete lyrics and liner notes. Limited edition of 893 copies!

Who would have thought that one of the most inventive hardcore bands on the East Coast back in the 80's would have come from West Virginia? Hardly an epicenter for underground rock, West Virginia has only produced a couple of bands that left any sort of mark, with Th'Inbred being one of the most well- known. Not only were Th'Inbred one of the most creative hardcore bands to emerge from the 80's hardcore scene on the East Coast, the band was also the only hardcore band from West Virginia to ever reach any sort of notoriety during that era (or any era since). And yet due to most of their music being tough to come by over the past two decades, Th'Inbred slipped into obscurity, with few outside of the Killed By Death/hardcore vinyl collecting scene knowing just how amazing this band was. Th'Inbred came out of the liberal college town of Morgantown in the early 80's, influenced by the then-current hardcore of Black Flag, Dead Kennedys, Corrosion Of Conformity, Minor Threat and Bad Brains, but they also cited 70's prog rock, Pere Ubu, Captain Beefheart, and 70's proto-metal as major catalysts for their sound as well, and followed a similar trajectory as Black Flag as they moved from straight-ahead punk aggression into equally furious but more complex and dynamic music that incorporated elements of prog and jazz into their three minute blasts of aggression, and were just as comfortable breaking into their live cover of King Crimson's "Red" as ripping through a blazing hardcore set.

The band released one seven-inch on their own in 1985, followed by two albums on Toxic Shock Records and a couple of tours before they broke up in 1988; all three of their releases have been out of print for years, but Alternative Tentacles has just released these complete studio recordings on both cd and vinyl; for anyone into 80's hardcore, all three Th'Inbred records are essential listening, and the last album is especially illuminating as it saw the band getting into even proggier territory that started to get them comparisons to Victims Family. The CD version of Legacy collects all three of these releases, while the material is spread out across two separate LPs, both of which are on limited-edition colored vinyl.

1988's Kissin Cousins LP would end up being the band's swan song, as well as the album that people would describe as "jazz-core". While there's definitely some jazz influence in the expressive and intricate guitar arrangements, and the playing from the amazing rhythm section (who were playing at a level far beyond almost any other rhythm section in hardcore at that time), the band was really delving even deeper into their love of prog rock and King Crimson, with the songs getting more complicated, the time signature changes becoming trickier, and the chorus-heavy guitar sounding Frippier than ever. In spite of this, Kissin Cousins still serves up a ferocious thrash blitz, the vocals more aggro and pissed off sounding than ever, and with Th'Inbred's heaviest and fastest songs yet, like the blazing "In The Woods" and "Toys R Us" that, believe or not, sound a LOT like early Sick Of It All mixed up with Victims Family-style jazzpunk and a heavy dose of skronky jazz-thrash guitar similar to Greg Ginn's playing in Black Flag and Gone.

There are also three bonus tracks that are included at the end of the disc, two of which are previously unreleased ("Fast Food Society" and "Reel Life") and the excellent prog-thrash ripper "Concerned" that originally appeared on the cassette release of the Reproduction EP.

This collection has been a long time coming. The cd version is an exhaustive collection of Th'Inbred's music, and comes with a thick booklet (or in the case of the LPs, insert sheet) that has extensive liner notes on the history of Th'Inbred written by Welly from the British hardcore fanzine Artcore as well as a ton of flyer reproductions and the lyrics for all three releases. As someone who was turned on to Th'Inbred by a buddy from West Virginia years after the band broke up and only had their music on a ratty Coke-stained TDK cassette, I'm thrilled that I finally have a definitive copy of this music, and Alternative Tentacles did a terrific job of putting this together. Not only is all of this stuff essential listening to anyone interested in quirky, furious hardcore punk, newer hardcore fans are sure to have their minds blown by the complex thrash that these guys were busting out more than twenty years ago. Highly recommended.