the-frogs

The Frogs' unreleased '1st' album finally coming out (listen to "Hellsville Baby")

The Frogs will release 1st, which collects their never-before-released first studio recording session from January 1986, on April 3 via End Of All Music. The 12 songs were recorded in a single night, all one takes, at Nexus Recording Studio in Waukesha, Wisconsin. The record, which was intended to be their debut, was never released as Dennis Flemion, who died in 2012, thought there was an “overabundance of reverb.” The idea of revisiting the recordings and fixing the reverb had been floated a few times over the years and finally Jimmy Flemion took the tapes to be remastered in 2018 and are now seeing the light of day.

We’ve got the premiere of “Hellsville Baby,” which starts off in an early ’60s Everly Brothers / Beatles style before going full-tilt weirdo punk. Jimmy says the song is about “Seeing beyond the scope of your own existence, beyond the community of which you are birthed, your tiny town, solely existing, moving forward, searching, realizing, hell is where the heart iz.” Listen to that below.

There are also eight bonus tracks on 1st featuring demos from 1984 and 1985. Check out the tracklist below. Last year, The Frogs reissued their 1989 cult classic It’s Only Right and Natural for its 30th anniversary, and Jimmy will take The Frogs (featuring Evan Dando on drums, guitars, and vocals) on a West Coast tour in February.

The Frogs – 1st tracklist:
01. And So You’re the King
02. Businessman (The 8th Day)
03. Good Morning, Christian Son
04. Hellsville Baby
05. The Kennedy’s Killed Monroe
06. Is Anyone Home 2 Love?
07. I Killed ‘Em White Guy
08. There is Darkness
09. Piranha Volcano God
10. Swamp Broad
11. Guru
12. Dungeon

Bonus Tracks:
13. Dragon
14. Layin’ Down My Love 4 U (1984)
15. She Was A Mortal (1984)
16. Guru (1985)
17. Businessman (The 8th Day) (1985)
18. Guru (Home Overdub)
19. Layin’ Down My Love 4 U (Vegas)
20. And So You’re the King (Take 1)

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