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DIG002 -- THE STRAND “SECONDS WAITING” LP

Classic power pop reissue from ’83 with unreleased studio track

DIG! Records is proud to announce the archival reissue of THE STRAND’s debut album, Seconds Waiting, originally released by Wasp Records in 1983. An unlikely piece in the underground rock’n’roll puzzle – as much so then as it is now – THE STRAND hail from Old Town, Virginia, a city known more for it’s Presidential Masonic temple than an original independent music scene. Situated on the Potomac River across from Washington D.C. and its much-lauded hardcore scene, its no surprise that with the exception of diehard music nuts the THE STRANDS recorded output has remained an obscurity. NO MORE.

By design, pop back-catalogues are a mess of two-or-so minute sides: one-hit-wonders, near misses and flat out failed attempts. SECONDS WAITING, recorded in ’82 at Hit & Run Studios (yeah, like the early Void demos), makes good on POPS PROMISE with a full album worth of hits – take your pick! It’s a rare instance of the power pop gestalt fully realized.

“You and Me” kicks the album off with a spot on slice of teenage naivety and a “96 Tears” caliber organ run. “Popular Girl” and “I Understand You” sidestep the saccharine moves of their bubblegum and glam rock neighbors, for more austere vibes of Kinksy doom and gloom, residue from a Brit-invasion hangover. Feedback cues the blitzkrieg of supercharged guitars on “Kids Today”, while the previously unreleased studio track, “Scarred Streets”, showcases the band at their most agro! “One More Ring” rivals Protex, The Nerves and Badfinger in the category of All TIME GREATEST POWER POP SONG FEATURING A TELEPHONE. Post punk menace weighs in on the second half of the album, oddly climaxing with minor chords and a haunting bridge on the albums title track, for an out-and-out KILLER long player throughout!