SMR 0.5 Choke Kingdom of Mattresses
1990
7": out of print

The very first Simple Machines 7". Choke was a tough acoustic act comprised of Jenny from Tsunami, Derek Denckla from Geek and Dan Littleton from Ida.

SMR 2.33 Three's Company
1990
7": out of print

It was the Spring of 1990. Three virtually unknown bands decide they're going to go on tour together in the summer, despite the fact that none has a record out. "So, why not *put* a record out?" they all thought. It was a risk but, with only 1000 7"s, they were sure to pawn off at least a few among the 17 band members' relatives. The result? Three's Company, a 3-band/3-label collaboration featuring Geek, Superchunk and Seaweed co-released by Simple Machines, Merge and Meat that went along with the "Wet Behind The Ears" tour of Summer 1990. And the rest is history...

SMR 2.5 Lungfish Necklace of Heads
1991
LP: out of print
CD: available from Dischord

Necklace of Heads was the debut full-length from Baltimore's Lungfish, who have since released over 9 albums on Dischord. Although the original vinyl is out of print, the tracks on Necklace of Heads have been compiled on Dischord #66, Talking Songs for Walking.

SMR 09 Sugartime Awestruck
1992
7": $3.50

Sugartime was an all-star band that lived and rocked in New York City from 1991-1993, featuring Jason Asnes from Nice Stong Arm. Seriously heavy pop stuff.

SMR 11 Tear Jerks Chances Are
1992
7": $3.50

Charles from The Tinklers and Asa from Lungfish singing songs so sad that your heart will stop.

SMR 12 The Mommyheads Coming Into Beauty 1992
CD: out of print

The Mommyheads was an amazing band that lived in New York City in the late '80s/early '90s. Their debut LP Acorn was filled with unabashed but joyfully complicated pop songs, brimming with clever metaphors and weird instrumentation. We were in love with the Mommyheads. After an appearance on the Pulley 7", the Mommyheads agreed to do their second full-length with us. They eventually went on to release 2 other albums, the most notable being The Mommyheads (DGC: 1997).

SMR 30 Flower
Concrete Sky
1993
CD: out of print

Before Versus, there was Flower. Brothers Richard and Ed Balayut formed Flower in the mid '80s while Richard was going to school in New York City. They released an EP and an LP on Bear Records, then broke up. A few years later, a New York friend passed a cassette copy of their LP Hologram Sky along to us. We were totally floored. Although Flower was no more, we worked with Bernard of Bear Records to compile the LP and the EP onto one CD. The result was Concrete Sky.

SMR 30 Secret Stars Wait/Riot Kill
1995
7": out of print

The 7" that set all indie hearts a-flutter in 1995. This was the debut release for Secret Stars, which is the cherished, timeless duo Geoff Farina from Karate and Jodi V.B. Since this 7", Secret Stars have released two CDs on Shrimper and have appeared on a number of indie compilations and 7"s. Please visit Jodi's amazing website at www.secretstars.com for more info.