Down at its new location on Fruitridge Blvd, Phono Select Records is a fixture for all your vinyl hunting inquiries. With their inventory ranging from indie, hardcore, reggae, punk and every genre you can think of, owner Dal Basi always seems to have something in the racks that will pique your curiosity. Once a week, Basi will pick a release and ask us to spread the gospel of his recent finds. If you like them, and, most importantly, collect, then come down to the store and support!
Troubled Gardens-Eden Revisited (1985)
Fountain of Youth Records
Considering the definitive bands of the post-punk genre were from England and scattered parts of Europe, it’s always a rarity to see how an American band took this sound and created their own mark. Formed in Washington DC, this three-piece band had a somewhat short-lived career (1984-1985) with one EP and an all-instrumental album.
For Troubled Gardens’ first and only EP, Eden Revisited spans 6 tracks–3 instrumentals and 3 vocal songs, and showcases a group trying to find their sound within their time as a band. Because their first album was all instrumentals, singers Zack Fuller and Joe Aronstamn debut their vocals on Revisited‘s “Hour of the Sun” and “Voice Carryovers,” tracks that are heavily reminiscent of early Cure and U2 with their delayed guitars, dance floor bass lines. Then switching up the style of their sound, they showcase their instrumentality on “Spy Dub” and “Incredible Changing Dub,” using Jamaican overdubs to downplay the ferocity of punk guitars. Overall with this EP, Troubled Gardens established themselves as the East Coast solution for post-punk; and as short as their careers were, their sound was straight to the point and stood out.
Words: Jake Monka