SCARAB- (Sort of) Discography.

SCARAB is a former 90’s indie/emo/punk rock DIY band from Long Island, New York. Named after ancient Egypt’s magic shaped amulets, Scarab started touring in 1994 with their "melodic yet aggressive sound." Scarab consisted of Melanie Wills on vocals, Milan Millevoy on guitar, Lee Greenman on bass, and Dan Lopez drumming. A record deal went bad lead to their inevitable breakup. Members went on to form One True Thing, which is much poppier and radio-friendly. Although One True Thing wound up re-doing a Scarab song or 2 ("Dearest" & "Bloom"), they certainly couldn't touch Scarab's dark, haunting, melodies. This is some of my favorite vocals of all time. And right up there with Greensleep & Sleepasaurus as being some of the best music from the 90's Long Island punk scene. These are some sweet long lost gems here. Scarab did some demo tapes ("Earwig" demo+), a couple compilations ("Comp Shmomp 2", "Innovations In Music Vol.1", "Diversified Chaos"+) as well as a Split 7" with Greensleep on Motherbox Records. You still can get that on pink vinyl here. Hope you enjoy this incredible band as much as I do. Fuck, so good. More complete bio here on To Live And Die On Island.

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(*Updated 5/12: Added Greensleep split 7" songs to zip.)

SPLURGE- Discography.

I found this gem of a home-made discography on soulseek and if you don't know about the almighty, Splurge, then let me enlighten you... This is some of the most essential (and some of the best) DIY Punk to ever surface from Long Island. Hands down. No shitting. Gritty, melodic, poppy, fast, 90's pop-punk in the vein of Crimpshrine, Jawbreaker, M-Blanket, Plow United and more. Sounds fucking awesome, right? RIGHT. Hell, there's even a sick Crimpshrine cover of "Free Will", which also happens to be one of my favorite covers due to its complete & utter awesome-ness. This was one of the first Long Island DIY bands from the whole Traffic Violation Records scene that I had heard. And when I first saw Splurge, in the dimly lit shit-hole of a room that was the Roadhouse Pub in Centereach, NY. I was a young teenage punk and it was your average weekly matinee DIY punk show in a bar. The PA was so fucked it wasn't even was audible. All that I heard was the essence of Splurge, in all its' glory, but with no vocals. I loved it from the moment I heard it, even in the worst of circumstance. Like I said, this is a home-made discography lurking around the internet, but it's complete. It includes the Splurge/Striped Basstards Split 7" EP, "Tales From The Me Generation" 7 inch, "Exit/Stretch" 7 inch, Contra/Splurge- Split CD, all on TVR. Jon (Guitar/Words) from Splurge went on to play in Air Raid Barcelona & The Brass. Paulie (Bass/Words) played in The Devil Himself and did Love Panther with Dave (guitar) & now does Godzillians, and Stevo (Drums) played in Explosivo!. Most of whom, released music with me through Dead Broke. I asked these guys about doing a Discography tape awhile back, never panned out. Tell them you want it, 'cus you fucking should. RIP. (You can also download their demo tape here too.)

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THE MARSHES- "Fledgling"

It's been forever since I posted, and that's stupid. Before I get into this post about one of the best 90's pop-punk records (a phrase muttered quite often here), I gotta tell you all about some things: I've recently stumbled on to some totally amazing Long Island based music blogs, while browsing my good friend Mikes' (Dude Japan/Rok Lok Records) own blog, Here On This Island. There was a few things I've wanted to post on here that these other 2 amazing blogs have saved me the trouble of...The Devil Himself, Wasted Time & the Greensleep 7", just to name a few. Check out Uncle Ron's Dusty Discs & To Live And Die On Long Island, as well as Here On This Island, and download everything you possibly can. You won't regret it.

While talking with friends via Facebook about the Uncle Ron's blog, my friend Roy reminiscened of seeing Greensleep at a local basement show with The Marshes @ Bunky's (from Wasted Time) house. He reminded me of how I had recently scored a vinyl LP copy of The Marshes most popular full-length, "Fledgling" on ebay for under 15 bucks. Roy's memories inspired me to post another one of my all-time favorite 90's pop-punk albums, that being, "Fledgling". The Marshes played a fast, melodic, unique style of pop-punk, the remains untouchable to this day. Singer & Bassist Emil Busie's voice is distinct, urgent and truly brilliant, as well as the music played behind it. Hellbender, Jawbreaker, early Green Day, and other 90's greats come to mind when listening to "Fledgling". The Marshes also included Stephen Wardlaw on Guitar/vocals, and Colin Sears on drums (formerly of Dag Nasty). This album is a true gem of punk rock history and remains a classic I hold dear to my heart. Even to the point where I've spoken with the band a year back, when they were gearing up to do a reunion show, about reissuing the classic LP..

Unforuntately, I ran face-first into the same problems I faced trying to reissue Fifteen's albums on Grass Records... that being that Grass, who back then released some pretty amazing & important 90's punk albums, became what is now Wind-Up Entertainment. Whose claim to fame is a certain little band called, CREED. Ugh. This means the label most likely has their own division of big cheese lawyers that probably wouldn't take too kindly to me reissuing a couple punk records they probably don't even know they own. Since then, The Marshes have released a new 7" on long-time veteran punk label, Dr. Strange, and also have played a reunion show in Massachusetts. The 7" is actually, REALLY fucking good, so I highly urge you to pick it up at Dr. Strange's site. And now I bring to you, "Fledgling". Note the incredible art-work, something that's not too foreign of pop-punk records from the 90's (ie: Plow United).

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