Reviews:

Five fairly simple mid-tempo songs -- although the Effigies were probably one of the earliest Chicago hardcore bands, so this might have seemed pretty fast in 1981. Anyway, the band knew what they were doing, and made up for speed and complexity with excellent songwriting (music and lyrics) and a crunching, hypnotic sound. All but the last song on this record are great (even that one's not too bad, just not as catchy as the others), especially the two melodic ones, "Haunted Town" and "Mob Clash." I think the latter is the Effigies best song, although it's hard to say if this version or the slightly faster one on For Ever Grounded is better. It has what Steve Albini describes as a "disco beat" (hey, I wouldn't know what a disco beat sounds like, ok?) in the liner notes to Remains Nonviewable... well anyway, it's a brilliant song.
-CHRIS


From the liner notes to Remains Nonviewable:

This record was originally released on Autumn Records. We took back all the records when we found out the "C.E.O." was charging us $15 an hour for the time connected with the project. Needless to say, our ideas about independent labels were not the same as his. Haunted Town was later re-released by Ruthless/Enigma, with "Security" as an extra track. The E.P. cost us $200 to record.
Below The Drop: Thumbing our noses at stodgy, conservative morality in the U.S. as well as the progressive music cadres that claim to wage war on it. Both sides are similar in defensive attitude, forever threatened by outsiders. The freethinker asserts himself in the chorus.
Strongbox: Restless rumba. Contemplation and introspection bring solace and horrors.
Haunted Town: I was working in an area occupied by abandoned factories. No real rock was coming from Chicago, and the city was that much emptier.
Mob Clash: How a handful of miscreeants can whip the suburbs into a frenzy. Nazi vs. Anti-nazi in Evanston.
We'll Be Here Tomorrow: A problem (or boon) with rock is that you outgrow most of it. Often it's stupid teenager noise, which for most fans is later replaced by stupid adult noise. The good stuff is relevnt beyond adolescence, even if that's the starting point. This song takes the long view and encourages sustaining a fast but even speed into old age. The punky celebration of self-destruction looks even sillier now than it did then. Some people I knew took all that too seriously, others not seriously enough. Don't make promises you can't keep. Me, I'm still listening to the music of that Great Age.