LA PESTE

"Better Off La Peste" Boston 1977-1978 Punk


Some pretty classic stuff on here, circa 1977-78. La Peste were legendary in Boston and "Better Off Dead" cemented their status across the universe forever.
La Peste were one of the first, one of the more abrasive and the most musically advanced of Boston's original '70s punk banks. They made one of the first great Boston punk singles, 'Better Off Dead,' well known among the 'Killed By Death' crowd. Better Off La Peste contains tons of never-before released tracks and is completely different from the horrible quality bootleg of years ago and is for the most part different from the long out of print Matador LP from the '90s. This album fits like a glove next to the Bacchus Archives East Coast reissues by The Thrills and The Rattlers, along with our mondo early LA punk reissue catalog. On songs like 'Don't Wanna Die in My Sleep Tonight' and the evergreen classic 'Better Off Dead,' the band honed a dense, edgy three-piece sound that belied the sparse instrumentation creating it. They were masters of the subtle, repeating riff and the open string drone, marking the path followed -- in different ways -- by bands like U2, The Smiths and Husker Du. La Peste songs were often filmic, and they could sway lyrically from the film noir to quickie power pop confessionals. During the years they spent in Boston, La Peste were one of the most popular and critically loved groups on the scene, and their live shows never failed to generate real excitement, a sense that this was an event you were witnessing!

Track Listing:

1. Better Off Dead
2. Black (Euphoria Studio)
3. Whites Of Your Eyes
4. Skin Tight (Home-Made Loft Tapes)
5. Acid Test
6. Die In My Sleep
7. Figure It Out
8. Don't Know Right From Wrong
9. Kill Me Now
10. Leave Me Alone
11. Pop Rock Polls
12. The Road
13. Spymaster
14. Truth (Live From The Club)
15. After Dinner Crimes (Live From The Space)
16. Please Love Sex
17. Betty's So Dumb
18. Hold On To Love
19. Kindness Invites Abuse
20. Fed Up/You're To Cute
21. City Jerk/Not Today
22. Color Scheme
23. Rock Rots
24. Johnny You're A Rocket
25. She's A Girl
26. S + M

1-2 Better Off Dead 7"
3-4 Euphoria Studio
5-14 Homemade Loft Tapes
15 Live from The Club
16-26 Live from The Space