about until a few years ago, when I first discovered their music in a real way. I knew of the band, as they were cited by a number of Pacific Northwest bands (particularly grunge bands) as an influence, but for some reason had sort of just missed out on their actual music. The group was formed in 1977 in Portland, OR by Greg Sage (guitar, vocals), Dave Koupal (bass), and Sam Henry (drums). They are generally considered the first (and most influential) punk band in the Pacific Northwest, and created a sound that stood apart from the rest of the scene; they were known for very heavy distorted guitars, and lead parts that were more melodic and at times, metal influnced, than their peers. Bands like the Melvins cite them as an influence on their sound, which makes a lot of sense. Today's song is the closing track on the band's 1981 album Youth of America, and is an almost entirely instrumental track, though there are some vocals towards the end. I absolutely love the tone of the lead guitar on this track, though the way the minor chords shine through is probably my favorite part. Distortion can sometimes cause chord tones (outside of powerchords) to get lost, but here it's very obvious what the quality of the chord is, with the almost shimmering sort of timbre the guitar has.