Landlords , The "Hey! It's A Teenage House Party!" LP
The 1984 debut LP from The Landlords has long remained a cult favorite amongst punk+hardcore collectors and those local to the band's hometown of Charlottesville, Virginia. Formed in the Fall of 1983 through a chance encounter at WTJU, the University of Virginia's college radio station, The Landlords soon began practicing in the upper floor duplex apartment of bassist Eddie Jetlag, pissing off the landlord who lived downstairs, and thus earning their name. The Landlords' first show came only a couple of months later at the Plum's Lounge talent show, where the power was cut in the middle of their third song. Soon after, The Landlords became acquainted with the local punk scene in Charlottesville, playing frequently with Lackey Die and Beef People, and regional acts like Death Piggy and Scream. In March 1984, The Landlords headed up to Inner Ear Studios to record their debut LP with Don Zientara. Hey! It's A Teenage House Party! was released later that year on the band's own Catch Trout imprint. While the 21 song LP bears the same vibrant production as early DC hardcore releases, The Landlords' style and approach remains unique to this day. While a firmly-rooted hardcore punk record of the 1980's, tracks like "Nuns In Black Leather" (featuring guest vocals from Dave Smalley of D.Y.S. !), "Termination", and "Sinners in the Hands of An Angry God" hint at the dirgier, noise rock influenced direction the band would later move towards. Singer John Beers and guitarist Charlie Kramer would later go on to found the epic experimental duo, Happy Flowers. Hey! It's A Teenage House Party! has been remastered from the original reels for this reissue, limited to 400 copies. Packaged with a 12 page booklet featuring liner notes, never before seen photos of the band recording the album, and a spread of flyers + zine clippings, plus a digital download that includes 17 bonus tracks recorded just prior to the LP, a few of which never were re-recorded. A definitive edition of this highly underrated and essential document of early American hardcore punk.
