[Cover photo credit to Naomi Petersen, Courtesy of Chris Petersen Images/Punk Life Naomi, L to R: Jim Walters, Phil Carter, Alex Totino, Lyle Hysen]
NYC Rock quartet Das Damen have returned with a deluxe reissue of their landmark 1986 debut EP, 1986: Keeps Me Wild. Newly remastered and augmented with an array of previously unreleased demos, reimagined tracks, and a brand-new issue of Das Damen drummer Lyle Hysen’s fanzine, Damaged Goods, 1986: Keeps Me Wild will be released digitally via Dromedary Records on Friday, September 8th, 2023 and on vinyl in October.
The first song, “Trick Question,” is available for streaming at all DSPs now. An official music video directed by Dave Rygalski has also been released.
In addition to two never-before-heard demos, 1986: Keeps Me Wild is highlighted by reworked versions of cuts from the EP’s original 1986 recording sessions, featuring new contributions from such friends and fans as Dez Cadena (Black Flag), Thalia Zedek (Come), Gary Lee Conner (Screaming Trees), John Robinson (The Fluid), and A Girl Called Eddy.
Drummer Lyle Hysen says:
When we got the tapes baked several years ago, upon listening to them we discovered we had a few unfinished alternative takes from the original EP sessions. We didn’t feel we could bring the same ‘1986 enthusiasm’ to finishing the tapes but by bringing in a few people who we respect or are pals from back then, the re-imaginings would have a new energy of their own.
Das Damen will mark the new release of 1986: Keeps Me Wild with their first live date in over 30 years. The one-time-only performance, billed as Sad Nemad, is set for Drom30 Festival, Dromedary Records’ weekend-long celebration of independent Rock in New York’s Hudson Valley, on Saturday, September 16, 2023. Additional shows are “under consideration.”
Originally released on Sonic Youth co-founder Thurston Moore’s Ecstatic Peace! imprint in 1986 (and later reissued by SST Records), 1986: Keeps Me Wild remains a touchstone in the downtown NYC underground movement.
Originally recorded with Noise-Rock Producer Wharton Tiers (Sonic Youth, Glenn Branca, Pussy Galore) in his Fun City Studios in NYC, the EP captured the live sound heard on tours alongside Nirvana, Soundgarden, Black Flag, Green River, Screaming Trees, and DC3.
Remastered from the original Ecstatic Peace! tapes by Sean Glonek at SRG Studios and overseen by Walters, Hysen, and best-selling author/producer Tom Beaujour (Guided by Voices, Juliana Hatfield Three, Nada Surf), the new mix of 1986: Keeps Me Wild brings a freshness to the sound as it retains the signature “primitive din” that was the band’s trademark.
