Following up on their deluxe reissues of 7 Seconds’ seminal 1st 2 12”s releases (1984’s The Crew LP and 1985’s Walk Together Rock Together EP), Trust Records returns with a reissue of 1986’s New Wind LP, an initially polarizing effort was overlooked by many but is now considered to rightfully be among their very best work by many fans.
Unlike Trust’s previous 7 Seconds reissues, though, this one comes with a bonus LP, an earlier version of the LP called Change in My Head. Whereas New Wind is just a remastered version of the original 1986 album with the same track listing, Change in My Head is completely remixed with 2 added tracks from the original 1985 sessions at Inner Ear Studio in Washington, DC that weren’t on the original album.
Additionally, the gated reverb that began to creep up in their sound on the original album is now eliminated via said remix by none other than original 1985 producer Ian MacKaye and Inner Ear founder Don Zientara, making it sound more like a transition record between their earlier melodic hardcore punk and the post-punk influenced sounds they’d soon explore on albums like the original 1986 New Wind (also included here, as noted above), 1988’s Ourselves and 1990’s Soulforce Revolution. As such, it also functions as an alternate version of a classic album, much like the “Let it Bleed” edition of The Replacements’ Tim that finally came out in recent years (or perhaps more poignantly, the remixed version of 1988’s Don’t Tell a Soul that came out in 2019). In other words, it won’t replace the original for long-time fans, but it will serve as a nice alternate take, even one preferable to the original for some fans.
As for New Wind itself, it features a mix of original DC recordings like “Still Believe” and the title track (both of which adhere closer to their earlier sound) alongside more experimental material. While this record has often been compared with ‘80s U2 (mostly by its detractors) over the years, listening today, it’s in actuality closer to Soul Asylum’s Twin Tone releases or something similar, and perhaps even contemporaries Dag Nasty, Government Issue, and Verbal Assault’s releases on the Giant label. It should also be noted that the lyrics show a maturity, individuality, and sense of thought and purpose head and shoulders above most of their peers, addressing how patriarchy and outdated gender roles adversely affect men and boys in “Man Enough to Care” decades before it became a buzzword. Furthermore, songs like “Somebody Help Me Scream” and “The Inside” are also among their very best and in this case stand proudly alongside the work of their mid-‘80s DC contemporaries (think Rites of Spring, Dag Nasty, Marginal Man, et al.) in creating “emo” (i.e., emotional hardcore), though I’m sure they would scoff at that description.
The reissue, like all Trust releases, is beautifully done as well, with a 24-page oral history in a booklet that also features memorabilia, photographs, and flyers. The set also comes with an obi strip. This is going to end up as one of the finest hardcore punk reissues of the year. Bravo!
