Bottomless Pit: Singles, Rarities, & Sundries

“The Incredible Casuals’ Bottomless Pit: Singles, Rarities, & Sundries, 1980 – 2010” – I’ve been looking forward to this one, which features our first three singles from 1981 and ’82, plus the B side of a single that never came out from ’93; plus a bunch of songs that have till now only been released as bonus tracks on Japanese re-issues, and another big bundle only available on various compilations; plus three more that have never been released anywhere in any form. So, 23 tracks, all studio recordings (except one), all either hard or impossible to find until now, covering just about our entire history. Also featured is  Terry Anderson’s classic “College Girls”, originally released as a bonus single with “It Is Balloon”, not to mention extensive artwork, photos, and track by track liner notes by yours truly. It’s, like, a plethora of some kind!

The Incredible Casuals actually started around 1979 as a trio, with myself, Steve Shook, and Rikki Bates, originally called the Travis Shook Band, before Johnny Spampinato joined up around 1982 to make us a quartet, and our first first few singles, as well as our first full album, “That’s That” (not to mention the “Let’s Go Summer Fun Maxi-EP”), featured Steve’s writing and playing extensively. The singles have been unavailable for almost 40 years, and there’s also six “That’s That” outtakes here, unheard in the U.S. until now.

Steve left around 1983, and we spent a year or two as a trio until Aaron Spade came along and stayed for the duration, helping to transform the band into quite a different entity, a change that’s entirely noticeable on these tracks- against all odds, we actually evolved! (Well, a little.) Still, one thing remained consistent: this band always rocked, and I think this collection makes it clear how many different ways we found to do that, and how much fun we had in the process.

Bottomless Pit: Singles, Rarities, & Sundries

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