A New Beat From A Dead Heart

I saw 108 play a show back in December of last year. I wasn't really that bothered about seeing them to be honest. I saw them play twice back in 1995 and that was it. That was always enough for me. I mean, I loved their first two records, but never really followed them after that. For me they were a band I loved at a certain time, and I haven't listened to them for quite a few years. Well anyway, their performance a few months ago blew me away. They sounded great, the crowd loved it and there was a good atmosphere, Kate was back in the band, and they all really seemed to be enjoying it. It got my attention big time, and made me want to add more records to my collection. So I picked up copies of all three albums that I was missing...

'Threefold Misery' came out in 1996 on Lost & Found Records. Back them it bothered me a lot. Lost & Found was a well known rip off label that put out records either without bands consent, or with their consent but without paying them any royalties. At the time I couldn't get my head around why they would jump from Equal Vision to Lost & Found. It just didn't make sense. And more annoyingly, the only vinyl version was some awful looking picture disc. So I never bought one. I did acquire a promo CD copy, which I played quite a bit. Twenty years later, in 2016, Six Feet Under reissued it. So I picked up one of those copies.

I have to say, SFU did a good job on this. The cover and vinyl look rad. 166 copies on black/white starburst swirl.

'A New Beat From A Dead Heart' was 108's comeback record. It was released in 2007 by Deathwish Inc. I downloaded it at the time and thought it was ok. But it just wasn't quite what I was looking for at that time. It's funny, but listening to it eleven years later, it sounds good. Or maybe I was just more in the mood for it?

I picked up a copy with a limited cover made for a Cal Robbins benefit show back in 2007. I got this copy from a good friend who I have never met.

And finally, the final LP, '18.61' which was released in 2010, also on Deathwish. If I am completely honest, I didn't even know this one existed until recently. I have no memory of it coming out whatsoever. I guess 108 were just not on my radar at all in 2010. I picked up this clear vinyl copy, which is the rarest color being out of 300 copies.

This one is clearly the weakest of the bunch. There are a couple of good songs, but it generally seems to lack the urgency of the others. I don't know, maybe I need to give it more time? We shall see.

Anyway, that's how you catch up on 20 years of a band's history that you missed in one fell swoop.