New in stock from Mississippi Records:

Chalk Circle - Reflection LP - Mississippi Records
A previously unknown group to me -- and probably to many -- Chalk Circle were a brief, bright anomaly in the early D.C. punk scene, squeezing in two years of activity('81-'83) before the orthodoxy of male hardcore bulldozered them out of the way. This LP is the first retrospective of their work, and their first non-various-artist-compilation release ever, I believe. So not a "lost album" but rather the document of a feverishly creative group of young women shooting sparks in just about every direction. As such, it's a scattered listen -- audio fidelity, quality and mood varying quite a bit from track to track -- but what it lacks in cohesion it more than makes up for in stand-out tracks, even if they sound like they could have been recorded by half a dozen different groups. The easy reference for most of these songs is LiLiPUT in their herky-jerky exuberance, but "The Look" works lively, pre-Beat Happening naivete, "Easy Escapes" is lithe like the Au Pairs, with shimmering guitars and acrobatic bass, "High Stress" shows the influence of the D.C. punk scene. It's fair to say that if they had released a handful of these tracks as 45s in the early 80s, Chalk Circle would be legendary by now. This LP has its ups and downs but should be essential listening for fans of the Neo Boys or anyone interested in early American regional punk scenes. Comes with a full color, interesting(the Chalk Circle girls were friends with young Henry Rollins and pre-Minor Threat Ian MacKaye) if not enlightening booklet with many photos and press clippings. $11