Gathering The Forces, by Living Links

Gathering The Forces

by Living Links

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Record/Vinyl + Digital Album
We have some dead stock from 1985, a few limited copies will be available here. Mint and much cheaper than discogs.

Includes unlimited streaming of Gathering The Forces via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

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VINYL LP (OG PRESS)
Record/Vinyl + Digital Album
We have a handful of these, sealed from 1985, if showing sold out check ridingeasyrecs.com

Includes unlimited streaming of Gathering The Forces via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

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1.	I Live In Here 04:07	buy track
2.	Gathering The Forces 04:53	buy track
3.	I'm Awake When I Should Be Asleep 05:12	buy track
4.	Remember The Battle 04:06	buy track
5.	For The Paramecium 04:21	buy track
6.	Do You Dream In Color (or black and white) 03:32	buy track
7.	Two Girls 03:52	buy track
8.	Like An Animal 04:09	buy track
9.	I'm Not Streetwise 02:53	buy track
10.	Manger 03:04	buy track
11.	Every Sad Night 03:39	buy track
12.	You And The Unknown 03:25	buy track
13.	I Stop Short 03:39	buy track

about

Living Links
Gathering The Forces

Even the most ardent fans of the early 80s post-punk underground explosion would be forgiven for never having heard Living Links. The band effortlessly combines the art-funk of Talking Heads with the threadbare melodies of Joy Division, and explored a compelling variety of ideas on their lone album Gathering The Forces. But their music didn’t make it far outside of their Baton Rouge, LA home, until now.

The obscure duo of husband and wife Hans and Margie VanBrackle released just one album and 2 singles between 1983-1985, though the pair wrote and performed live together for a longer period. However, Living Links was mostly a side project for the two singer/guitarists: Hans played guitar in punky locals US Times and Margie played & sang in the all-girl band the ParalElles.

Living Links played out locally during their heyday, occasionally with a live drummer, sometimes with a drum machine, or both. They often headlined shows over touring acts, no doubt due to Margie’s training in opera and musical theater and Hans’ ripping guitar work. But at the time, despite the impact that the Sex Pistols had on their 1978 tour through the area, “New Wave” music remained essentially an underground phenomenon.

Like the southern gothic undercurrent of contemporaries like the B-52s, R.E.M. or Atlanta’s The Brains (“Money Changes Everything”), there’s a playful feel to Living Links’ music that eschews the dour posturing of more urban post-punk fare. And where the Talking Heads remained ensconced in David Byrne’s intellectual existentialism, the duo’s music is often more fun as it bops through numbers like “I’m Not Streetwise” and “I’m Awake When I Should Be Asleep.”

RidingEasy Records’ reissue of Gathering The Forces combines the band’s full discography, the 9-song album — originally released on Skratch Records in 1985 — plus 2 7” singles (the 3-song Every Sad Night and “Manger”/“I’m Not Streetwise” single) for a comprehensive introduction to this long overlooked band. Album opener “I Live in Here” perhaps most directly echoes their Joy Division influence, with Hans’ lead vocals nodding to Ian Curtis’ cold baritone delivery, and his guitar lines referencing Bernard Sumner’s infectious single notes. But it’s not mere imitation — the chorus lifts to a soaring melody with hazy synths and Hans delivering an impassioned croon. The title track shifts the mood to a Gang Of Four style dance track replete with handclaps and funky guitar bouncing along as the duo sings the anti-war anthem, “we’re all awaiting orders.” Meanwhile, “Like an Animal” and “Two Girls” share the 60s-retro charm of the B-52s, with true earworm melodies. Elsewhere, “Every Sad Night”, from their debut 7” EP wouldn’t sound out of place next to a Young Marble Giants or other early Rough Trade release, with its stripped down instrumentation and Margie affecting a semi-British accent.

While Gathering The Forces might seem all over the map on paper, the duo pulls all of their influences together into a very cohesive whole. Listeners can hear the mood of the times that barely bubbled to the surface on college radio stations in small pockets of the country, beneath the weight of the Cougar Mellencamps, Michael Jacksons and Huey Lewises that dominated the mainstream.

Gathering The Forces will be available digitally via RidingEasy Records on November 3rd, 2023.

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released November 3, 2023

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RidingEasy Records Los Angeles, California

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