Lungfish

I've said this many times before, but sometimes I have been drawn towards certain records by their cover art. I'm not sure whether anyone else ever does this or whether it is just me. I mean, I know that people like the artwork for certain records, but do people make a decision that they want to listen to or buy a record based mainly on the front cover? I don't know. But it has happened to me many times over the years, and I have discovered some amazing records as a result. Well anyway, a few months ago I started seeing a repress of an old Lungfish record popping up all over the place, and it had that same effect on me. The cover art was a simple, crisp piece of art that just caught my eye. So one day I decided to listen to Lungfish for what may have been the first time in my life, and immediately I loved it and knew I wanted ot buy the record. So I did just that.

The record is titled 'Love Is Love' and it was originally released back in 2003. I was more than happy to pick up the red vinyl repress from last year rather than try to track down a black vinyl original pressing.

See what I mean about the front cover? It's a shame the same isn't true of the back cover, which is pretty much the opposite of the front. If the back had been the front then I doubt I would have ever listened to this.

So after listening to this record I looked into Lungfish a little more. I MAY have listened to them back in around 1994 when I sold someone's collection, which contained a few early 90s Dischord releases, none of which I really liked back then. I don't remember. But Lungfish is a great band for sure. They were active from 1990 until 2005 when, like Fugazi, they went on an indefinite hiatus (rather than broke up).

What makes Lungfish so interesting is that each song is just one riff / beat that just loops. There's no change of tempo at any point. No intro, no breakdowns, no solos, no verse or chorus. Sounds weird right? But it just works.

So after enjoying this record I decided to pick up some others. Lungfish have released 11 or 12 LPs (the last one I am not sure really counts), and I am assuming that Dischord is going to repress them all. But for now there are four that have been made available again, and I happily grabbed them all.

First up, 'Rainbows From Atoms' on clear orange vinyl. This is the 3rd LP, originally released in 1993.

Next is 'Pass And Stow' on clear green vinyl. This is the 4th LP, originally released in 1994. I think this one might be my favourite of the bunch. And also, for some reason I also love the cover on this one. I love simple designs.

And finally, 'Sound In Time' on gold vinyl, which is the 5th LP from 1996.

I've been listening to this band for the last couple of months now, and I'm really happy that there are still another 7 albums that I haven't heard. And in a cruel twist of fate, the day that I got around to writing this post (i.e. today) Dischord announced that Lungfish's 6th LP 'Individible' has just been repressed on blue vinyl. So I'll probbaly be picking that one up in the not too distant future too.