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Marginal Man: A Primer
In honor of Marginal Man’s reunion show in Washington, DC on August 20th, here’s a list that chronicles their career. I’m including the pre-Marginal Man band Artificial Peace along with compilations that they’ve appeared on, both during their time as a band in the ’80s and posthumously as well.
Artificial Peace – Complete Nov ’81 Session (Dischord)
One upping the collection on Lost and Found Records from the mid ’90s, Dischord put out an officially-approved and amazing sounding Artificial Peace record last year. Vocalist Steve Polcari, guitarist Pete Murray and drummer Mike Manos all went on to form Marginal Man.
Various Artists – Flex Your Head (Dischord)
Artificial Peace recorded a few songs for inclusion on this classic 1982 hardcore compilation. They are “Artificial Peace,” “Outside Looking In” and “Wasteland”.
Marginal Man – Identity (Dischord)
Marginal Man (basically Artificial Peace with added guitarist Kenny Inouye and bassist Andre Lee)‘s first release is from 1983 and on Dischord and such is in line with other records from the time period like The Faith‘s Subject to Change. This signaled a clear change from the early ’80s speedy thrash of Artificial Peace and other like bands and paved the way for Revolution Summer and eventually “emo”, for better or worse. This is a fine start and the record of their most in line with traditional hardcore, but they’d only get better from here.
Marginal Man – Double Image (Gasatanka/Enigma)
In my humble opinion, this is far and away the crowning jewel of the Marginal Man catalog and on par with other mid ’80s DC classics like Gray Matter‘s Food for Thought, Rites of Spring‘s self-titled Lp and Embrace‘s self-titled Lp. However, since it wasn’t released on Dischord, it and other DC classics from the same time period like Government Issue‘s Joyride (originally on the Fountain of Youth label) are to this day less known and loved. Double Image in particular, it remained out of print for years until it was reissued on CD by In Your Eye Records in 2000. Anyway, songs like “Tell Me,” “Friend” (which was also on Identity and covered by H20 in the mid ’90s), “Turn the Tables” and the title track are all classics of the era. A must.
Various Artists – Alive and Kicking (WGNS/Metrozine)
A long out-of-print DC compilation from 1985, Marginal Man’s contribution here is the song “Marginal Man”, also recorded for Identity. To tell the truth, though, the real highlights here are the astonishing United Mutation track “Sensation Fix” (super fast hardcore but with blaring sax) and an early version of Gray Matter’s excellent “Walk the Line”, the only track on here to ever be re-released (on Dischord’s Food for Thought + Take It Back maxi-CD). This comp also features a track by Dave Grohl‘s first band Mission Impossible.
Marginal Man – Marginal Man (Giant)
I imagine that this 1988 swan song Lp must have confounded a lot of fans when it was released. First off, it had been 3 years since Double Image. Following on from that Lp, this one is much more rock-based and less punk than anything else they ever did. In that sense, they were going in similar directions to lots of other older hardcore bands trying to branch out. The difference is that unlike many, they actually pull it off here. If you ignore the super cheesy “Metal Madness”, the rest of this Lp is quite solid and not a million miles removed from the kind of Jane’s Addiction-referencing post-hardcore that Uniform Choice and Unity also attempted at around that same time or a year later and that Quicksand would eventually make much more widely known in the early ’90s.
Various Artists – State of the Union (Dischord)
To tell the truth, I’ve always much preferred this 1989 Dischord compilation, a benefit for various charities (the ACLU and the Community for Creative Non-Violence), to Flex Your Head. I know that a lot of folks don’t like it, but I’ve always loved Marginal Man’s contribution (“Stones of a Wall”). I think it’s one of their best songs and one of the best songs on this comp along with similarly amazing contributions by Fugazi, Shudder to Think, Ignition, Soulside and others.
Various Artists – Everybody’s Scene (Crazy Old Man)
This is the unofficial soundtrack to the book of the same name that chronicles the story of Connecticut’s ’80s club The Anthrax. The downloadable, completely free soundtrack consists of mainly rare, demo and live versions of songs from band who played the club. Marginal Man’s “Friend” is included here yet again. You can download each volume as well as the artwork here.
Marginal Man with Strike Anywhere and Damnation A.D. – The Black Cat (Washington, DC) – August 20, 2011
Please see my full review here.
Various Artists – 20 Years of Dischord (Dischord)
To celebrate their 20th anniversary, Dischord put out a superb 3 CD box set. Marginal Man’s “Missing Rungs” from Identity appears on disc 1.
