Baltimore, The City That Breeds

Another post about why I love the Internet. In the Fall of 1993 I was minding my own business in Mr. Obb's dorm room when he hipped me to a comp of Baltimore indie bands. I taped a few hits that I've listened to often in the intervening years. I had no recollection of the title of the comp, which included songs by Candy Machine and a slew of other acts likely unknown to many, but have always been interested in hearing it again since my musical tastes have developed a lot, and there may have in fact been more gold in the set than I first realized. Anyway, a quick post the other night to a certain cr(u)cial message board, and 24 hours later someone posted the goods for me. Yes, I love the Internet.

I learned that the comp is called Baltimore, The City That Breeds. There is virtually no information about it on the Interweb. I think it had a red cover, for whatever that is worth. Below are my three favorite cuts from the disc. I don't know anything about the bands below, except that Sun Of Earth had somebody's brother in it that Mr. Obb knew from his Baltimore days. I can tell you that Pedge's "Lesa," which we've also seen referred to as "Lisa," is a moody rocker; S.Q.U.I.D.'s "On And On" presaged a similar aggressive sound that was big with Chicago band in the mid-'90s and has an awesome opening line; and Sun of Earth's "Zero" is the sort of emo that would have fared well on a club bill with Sunny Day Real Estate. All of these cuts sound amazingly better in 160Kbps MP3 than they do on the crappy MP3s I've ripped from my aged cassette dub of the original comp. Hooray.

Pedge -- Lesa -- Baltimore, The City That Breeds
S.Q.U.I.D. -- On And On -- Baltimore, The City That Breeds
Sun Of Earth -- Zero -- Baltimore, The City That Breeds

[photo lifted from site of Baltimore punk act Thee Katatonix, who only existed in the early '80s and do not appear on Baltimore, The City That Breeds]