Rites Of Spring – Six Song Demo 10" record

Rites Of Spring – Six Song Demo 10" record "By nature, a demo tape is only ever a look at the beginnings of the band, a way of seeing what year zero was like, a historical document. Adding another piece to the (admittedly already well documented) puzzle that is Washington DC hardcore, Six Song Demo casts a light on the development of both Rites Of Spring and the Dischord ‘sound’. Recorded in April 1984, Six Song Demo predates both of Rites Of Spring’s official releases and, despite their then youth as band, they sound almost fully formed. Most of what Rites Of Spring are known for is present here. As frantic sounding as ever, they come across as angry and impassioned. The guitars are less jangly and Guy Picciotto’s voice is hoarser and less developed, but aside from that, everything is as it is on the non-demo records. Without wanting to go too far into a possibly revisionist take on the history of DC hardcore in the Eighties, there was a schism building within the city, and what amou