Second Wind - Security LP + Demo Tape

I thought that a fitting inaugural post for a blog of this kind would cover a band that spun off from one of the most iconic American hardcore bands of all time. You see, while not as notable as Meatmen, Dag Nasty or even Embrace, Second Wind featured Minor Threat alumni Steve Hansgen on guitar. The band was rounded out by vocalist Rich Moore and bassist Bert Queiroz who had played together in both the Untouchables and Double-O, and drummer Mike Brown who sang in United Mutation.

(Security LP cover)

Given the pedigree and time-frame, there are a few things you might expect from Second Wind’s sole album Security. However, the album arrived at an interesting time for harDCore, as the city’s stop-start formula been codified into predictable template but 1985’s “Revolution Summer” had yet to completely break the mold. Second Wind most often gets compared to Minor Threat (it could be a similar accent but Richard Moore sounds a lot like Ian MacKaye) but Second Wind are more the product of a small but significant shift that began in 1983. Minor Threat’s Out Of Step LP was recorded in January of ‘83 with Hansgen and released in June of that year, it acted as a sort of culmination of everything that had come before it in DC hardcore - but it was also a book end. Listening to Marginal Man’s demo, Scream’s Still Screaming, The Faith’s Subject To Change and Minor Threat’s Salad Days recorded less than 12 months after Out Of Step (sans Hansgen, shit that rolls off the tongue) and you start to hear the beginnings of what makes Second Wind tick. You get more tuneful songwriting, longer song lengths more indebted to 70s classic rock, british post-punk and reggae than the straightforward thrash DC had come to be known for (Bad Brains not withstanding). I’ve seen a few reviews of Second Wind online saying that they sound exactly like Minor Threat, but the band they share most similarity with to my ears ends up being Marginal Man. Take side A for example, "Bitch" and "I Don't Like To Have To Fight" you get some squealing guitar leads that the DC crowd hadn't really been messing around with in the early days. The slow sorrowful opening and chiming flourishes around the 1:35 mark in "Knock On Wood", hint at something that hadn't yet been declared but was soon to come.

(show flyer from 1983)

While personal politics had always come into play in the lyrics of the harDCore scene, Security along with Marginal Man's Identity is really the first point where you began to see the kind of vulnerability that would characterise the late Revolution Summer bands. If you listen to the lyrics of the title track it certainly what one might call "emo" slightly before anyone didn't want to be called that. After reading Steve Hansgen's interview with Noisey I can't help but wonder if some of the experiences he had in Minor Threat helped influence some of the content of this LP, the breakdown of the relationships that formed the original foundations of the DC scene. Now I must throw a content warning for the misogyny on "Bitch" as they are lyrics written by a heartbroken teenage boy and are truly cringe-worthy. It is my belief you can still enjoy an album like this while being critical of content like that at the same time. Anywho, misogyny and teenage lyrics aside, the rest of the album rips. So if you are a fan of sub-sub-sub-genre breakdowns you might wanna call this record proto-Revolution Summer….maybe.

The second bonus item I am posting is not an original source but my own rip of Second Wind's demo tape sourced from a bootleg and ripped by me in .wav format. Details are sketchy and the band allegedly recorded two demo tapes, one in 1984 and one in 1985. The sound on here is a lot more clean and melodic and keeping with 1985 harDCore than anything, a bit of a lost Rev Summer record. If anyone happens to have the other demo, a better rip or an original tape they are willing to part with, hit me up.Enjoy the songs:

Second Wind - Security
Second Wind - Demo


***flyer from http://oldpunkflyers.tumblr.com***