Samuel 7"

This seven inch is the second of the three records from Pennsylvania's Samuel, who in 1995 relocated south to the Washington D.C. area. The band was comprised of former members of Manhandle, Junction and Wind Of Change. They played energetic, pretty straight forward rocking jams and were fronted by Vanessa Downing, who also sang in Camp Hill, Pennsylvania's pride and joy Junction. Junction featured Gregg Foreman, before he started the pretty well known Delta 72, as well as Jay Demko, who has played in tons of bands over the years, including Morgantown, West Virginia's Lincoln (who probably need zero introduction to most readers of this blog). Eric Astor, who ran the notable Art Monk Construction label, was Samuel's drummer.

I've always felt that Samuel (as well as Junction) was a criminally underrated band from the earlier half of the 1990's. If their records were never released by one of the members of the band, I could easily see them getting picked up by someone like Doghouse or Initial. Downing's lyrics were of the introspective variety, and could stand strongly on their own as pieces of prose. Samuel's work was always recorded by their friend Fred Weaver, who currently runs Apocalypse the Apocalypse in rural central Pennsylvania, not too far from State College.

This record still frequents my turntable, and it will probably continue to do so until I cease breathing. It was recorded in Fred Weaver's attic in May of 1995, and was a split release from Ohio's City of Romance and A.M.C. Good shit.

Tracklist:
1) Empty And Then Some
2) Our Baby Outlaw

- no one recognizes a stranger -