[Cover photo credit to Phil Marino]

Repercussion, the second album by The dB’s, will be reissued on CD, vinyl, which its first time on vinyl in the US, and all digital platforms on October 18, 2024, through Propeller Sound Recordings. The first digital single, “Neverland,” is out now.

The Propeller Sound release includes newly assembled reminiscences of the experience of recording Repercussion by members of the band plus Scott Litt, with previously unpublished photos. The LP presents the band’s original track sequence. The CD will include a bonus track, Holsapple’s “pH Factor,” a live-in-the-studio single B-side left off the original release but included on the long out-of-print I.R.S. Records CD reissue in 1989.

When The dB’s released their debut album, Stands for deciBels, in January 1981, they received critical attention. The New York City, by way of North Carolina, quartet were rooted in Rock traditions, but experimental and thoughtful. They didn’t find significant sales, but Stands for deciBels was released in the UK, and available in the US only as a pricey import.

The group, consisting of guitarist Chris Stamey, guitarist and keyboardist Peter Holsapple, bassist Gene Holder and drummer Will Rigb, returned to the studio only a few months after their first album’s release with a sense of purpose, resulting in 1982’s Repercussion.

Teaming up with first-time producer Scott Litt (later to work with R.E.M.) the band recorded in London over a seven-week period in summer 1981. Like the debut record, The dB’s’ second album would feature split songwriting credits: half by Holsapple, half by Stamey. 

On its release, Repercussion met a similar fate as its predecessor: Enthusiastic reviews were coupled with hard-to-find status. It was a UK-only release yet again.

Repercussion would be the last release from the original quartet until Falling Off the Sky some 30 years later. In celebration of the domestic release of Repercussion on vinyl, The dB’s have scheduled a run of US dates this autumn.