La Peste
I doubt anyone will question the inclusion of La Peste’s “Better Off Dead” in the upper echelon of amazing American punk tracks of the ’70’s. The b-side “Black” is mostly forgetable, but the a-side, oh man, what a great fucking song. On the strength of that one track I picked up the band’s 1996’s collection on Matador, which contains the band’s lone single, latter day recordings, and live tracks from 1979. Everything I had read about La Peste praised their fierce live shows, and most of the live tracks here are indeed pretty hot ( and I’m not one to heap praise on live recordings). Some of the studio tracks are limp (”Let Me Sleep”, uggh), but all in all this a mostly solid collection for those with a taste for pop-edged 70’s punk. Sure, nothing tops “Better Off Dead”, but there are a couple of tracks that almost approach that zenith. I’m pretty sure this is now OOP, but shouldn’t be that hard to track down. A couple of my favorites
from the 1978 single
La Peste - Better Off Dead.mp3
live in 1979
La Peste - I Don’t Wanna Die In My Sleep.mp3
La Peste - Kindness Invites Abuse.mp3
La Peste - Acid Test.mp3
La Peste - Spymaster.mp3
Notes:
> Agony Shorthand’s take on the disc
> La Peste pages at Boston Rock Storybook and New England Music Scrapbook
16 Comments so far
Leave a reply
Hey, this single has just been reissued by Bacchus Archives. They also put out a CD of other live stuff or demos (I’m so fired for not remembering this stuff), but I don’t have it yet so I can’t comment on its quality.
Dave
Death From Above 1979 have a cover of Better Off Dead- I’ve always wondered who made it. Thanks for this post!
I have a La Peste LP with an identical front sleeve to the Matador Comp but with a lot of different material from radio shows (I think it came out about 7 or 8 years earlier). It’s great and well worth tracking down. Somewhere between the Dils and (Impatient) Youth to my ear..
Jerry’s Kids did a nifty cover of “Spymaster” as the flipside to one of their Taang singles.
The Better Off La Peste CD on Bacchus Archives / Dionysus Records is incredible!! The quality of the “demos” are great… as is the live stuff…
i actually have an old U2 bootleg from Boston on their first U.S. tour (1980) and to start off their 2nd set they thank the bands they played with. one was MISSION OF BURMA and the other, you guessed it: LA PESTE. now they play stadiums & put me to sleep. oh how the mighty have fallen (U2, i mean).
THANK YOU.
I’m really glad you posted this because I saw a La Peste at my record shop the other day and was debating buying it. Now I definitely am! They’re great!
-Anna
http://pure-mania.blogspot.com
This band kicks ass, Where can i find more of them? You have a great selection in music. Keep it up
Yes! I’ve been looking for “I Don’t Wanna Die In My Sleep Tonight” for YEARS! THANK YOU!
Man, it`s superb. I heard a version in te Rhino`s compilation Mass avenue (the boston scene 75-83). thanks a lot!
I’d never heard of these guys before. What a find!
Thanks for the trax. I discovered these guys from the Death From Above 1979 cover.
Man! Thanks so much for posting this. I have the original LaPeste single around somehwere, lost my turntable when my ex & I split up. La Peste was a true punk power trio, with shows… every one was great! Peter’s SG sounded killer, great vocals, the bass player was cute and had great chops, their drummer was amazing. I would dance so hard the air would be driven from my lungs! SO glad I had a chance to experience them live. I used to hang with Peter after LaPeste when he had the Peter Dayton band…
anyone know where I can find “I don’t know right from wrong”? That’s another killer cut from them…
The Matador collection has 2 versions of “I don’t know right from wrong”: a studio version with nice cheesy keyboard and live at the Rat (1976 Rock’n'Roll Rumble). Definitely one of my favorite La Peste songs….