Gig: 5/9/1991, The Alarm, The Bayou, Washington D.C.

When he began working on an Alarm box set, the last thing singer Mike Peters expected to find were R.E.M. live recordings, studio masters, and outtakes. But that’s exactly what he came across, says Peters, along with recordings for his own band and Lords of the New Church. And it was all just three days away from the trash bin. It was his obsession with finding the original master tapes [read more]

A Declaration of intent, very definate in its viewpoint andclear in its ideals. The Alarm would be so easy to ridicule if it weren’t for the unavoidable power of their songs. Anthemic but not ridiculously so, their dignity stems from factors far less obvious than a resounding chorus. It’s easy to see why this band attract contempt – the hilarious hairstyles and Jesse James meets Desperate Dan wardrobe, the unapologetic [read more]