URBAN ASPIRINES: Wipers: Wipers Live 1985 + Is This Real? 1980 + Alien Boy EP 1980

Saturday, June 06, 2020

Wipers: Wipers Live 1985 + Is This Real? 1980 + Alien Boy EP 1980

Wipers was a punk rock band formed in Portland, Oregon in 1977 by guitarist Greg Sage, along with drummer Sam Henry and bassist Dave Koupal. The group's tight song structure and use of heavy distortion were hailed as extremely influential by numerous critics and musicians. The band is considered the first Pacific Northwest punk band.

Sage founded Wipers in Portland in 1977 along with drummer Henry and bassist Koupal, originally

just as a recording project. The plan was to record 15 albums in 10 years without touring or promotion. Sage thought that the mystique built from the lack of playing traditional rock 'n' roll would make people listen to their recordings much deeper with only their imagination to go by. He thought it would be easy to avoid press, shows, pictures and interviews. He looked at music as art rather than entertainment; he thought music was personal to the listener rather than a commodity.

Wipers' first single, "Better Off Dead", was released in 1978 on Sage's own Trap Records.
Sage wanted to make his own recordings and manufacture and run his own label without outside financing. In 1979, Sage approached several Portland punk bands (including Neo Boys, Sado-Nation and Stiphnoyds) and asked them to record singles for his new Trap label.

The Wipers first album, "Is This Real?", was issued in January 1980 on Park Avenue Records, a label that the band hoped would gain them wider distribution. It was originally recorded on a 4-track in the band's rehearsal studio, but the label insisted that the band use a professional studio. Once released, the album gained a cult following, although the band was best known for their live shows around the Portland area.

Guitarist/vocalist Greg Sage writes fairly simplistic songs with power chords, but each melody

infects your brain like a fever. Even though Sage is from Oregon, he sings in a New York-style slur not dissimilar to Joey Ramone. Throughout the album, there is a very dark and ominous feel to the material (e.g., "D-7"), but it's made interesting on tracks like "Alien Boy," which changes from 4/4 time to 2/4 time. Sage also has a unique guitar style where he strums chords and lets them sustain into feedback, which creates rich textures in the songs (e.g., "Potential Suicide" and "Don't Know What I Am").

The album was reissued on CD by Sub Pop in 1993, augmented by the three tracks from the Alien Boy EP.
"Alien Boy" is the seventh song on the first Wipers album, Is This Real? (Park Avenue Records), released in 1980.
"Alien Boy" is also the title of a 1980 Wipers EP, with "Alien Boy" on side A, and three outtakes from the Is This Real? album sessions on side B. In 1993, the tracks were added to the Sub Pop reissue of the album Is This Real?.

The Alien Boy EP cover art featured on the back of the Sub Pop version of Is This Real? was not the original; instead, Sub Pop used the cover art of the German version of the Alien Boy EP, released in 1987 on the label Weird System, a special limited edition of 2,000 numbered copies on green vinyl.

According to frontman Greg Sage's statement on the Zeno Records website, James Chasse, also

called "Jim Jim", was the subject of "Alien Boy". Sage noted, "Jim Jim's conversations with me and his powerful sense of vision painted uncanny, powerful visions in my head that became a huge influence for a few songs that were later recorded for the Is This Real? LP." Chasse was murdered by police officers in Portland, Oregon in September 2006, and he is the subject of the documentary film Alien Boy: The Life and Death of James Chasse.

Henry left to join the Rats, and Koupal moved to Ohio. Later in 1980, Park Avenue released the Alien Boy EP, consisting of the title track and three demo outtakes.

With the new rhythm section of bassist Brad Davidson and drummer Brad Naish (ex-Styphnoids), Wipers recorded a second album for Park Avenue, the last for that label. Youth of America, released in 1981, contrasted with the short/fast punk songs of the time. According to Sage, this change of pace was a reaction against the punk trend of releasing short songs. The album was, according to Sage, not well received in the United States at the time of its release, though it did fare better in Europe. Along with other Wipers records, Youth of America came to be acknowledged as an important album in the development of American underground and independent rock movements of the early 80s.

"Wipers" is a self-titled live album by punk rock band Wipers, recorded between February and March 1984 and released in 1985 by Enigma Records. It had previously been issued by the band's own Trap Records as a cassette-only release titled Wipers Tour 84. It was later reissued as Wipers by Restless and band leader Greg Sage's Zeno Records.

WIPERS: LIVE 1985