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End Result‘s 1982 masterpiece The Seven Year Locust Returns on vinyl for the first time! This album was originally dubbed on cassette and distributed among friends in the Chicago punk scene. TSYLR represents End Result at their most formative stage. The recordings presented here contain the brutal roots of what would come later on their excellent, David Riley (Big Black, Savage Beliefs) produced, Ward 12″.
Via The Chicago Punk Database: End Result first rehearsed in July 1979 in a basement near Pill Hill on the south side. They were (ARE!) a well respected experimental / nowave band that had a changing lineup throughout the 1980s. Their style was much different than their “hardcore” peers and featured a style that couldn’t really be categorized by normal punk conventions.
The best preserved copy of End Result's hand-dubbed The Seven Year Locust Returns cassette was located in the archive of Chicago experimental institution ONO. It was subsequently and expertly transferred and mastered by Carl Saff. Pressed into vinyl and placed inside a cardboard sleeve for you to buy, rip open and enjoy.
Our take: Vinyl reissue of this 1982 cassette, which the band only circulated among their friends in the Chicago area. While I’ve seen End Result’s name crop up in discussions of early Chicago punk, they sound nothing like the big names I associate with that scene: Naked Raygun, Effigies, Article of Faith, Big Black, etc. The label’s description pegs End Result as a no wave style band, but they don’t sound like the Contortions or DNA. Instead The Seven Year Locust Returns sounds like a total deconstruction of music. The tracks appear chronologically, the first from September 1980, and the last track coming from July 1982. This running order emphasizes their process of deconstruction; while the first track, “Children Die in Pain,” reminds me of the bleakest moments of early Joy Division, it’s by far the most conventional track on the record. While you’ll hear guitar, bass, and drums (as well as some trumpet and more ambiguous noises), there’s nothing here that sounds like a conventional rock band. Sometimes it’s formless, like the Velvets-esque jam “Let Them Eat Cake,” while other tracks hang around a minimal structure reminding me of minimal synth music. It’s clear End Result were trying to go as far out as they could, and each successive journey took them further and further away from whatever rock-isms they may have began with. The one constant is the menacing, often frightening, vocals, which remind me of Tomata Du Plenty from the Screamers or Bruce Loose from Flipper. The only catch is the recording is very primitive. While I’m not positive, these sound like primitive rehearsal room recordings, which blunts the impact somewhat. Still, historians of Chicago punk and/or the wider no wave / outsider punk scene will find value here.