Description:

An untimely retrospective from the Minneapolis wild bunch who handily kicked ass on their garage rock brethren of the early ‘90s (while not kicking one another’s asses, more often than not!). A multi-talented melting pot, the Spectors were formed as the musical godchildren of Minnesota’s legendary mod thrashers the Funseekers. Though not widely known outside the Midwest, a few forays into the NYC area and an exploratory junket to Iceland garnered them a notable following.

Their reputation as the life and soul of any party led the loosely knit group of friends to sometimes heatedly vie for their respective onstage roles. With ten members through seven lineups (replete with female saxophonist), seemingly everyone played drums or lead guitar at some point! After 3 1/2 years of egomania, if not Spectormania, the band imploded and spun off current mod faves the Conquerors.

One little-known fact of Spectors lore is their role as catalysts in the revival of ‘60s US/German Ÿber-beat gruppe the Monks. Soon after exhuming the erstwhile proto-punk legends (thanks to Adam’s dad) the Spectors cut their ‘92 debut Oh, How To Do Now aided and abetted by no less than three original Monks. Later, other valuable musical friendships were forged with mythic ‘60s Icelanders Thor’s Hammer and Radio Birdman’s Deniz Tek whom they backed live.

In typically fractious style, Beat Is Murder arrived six years after its original planned release. This comprehensive collection gathers all the original 45’s alongside an incredibly rare Swiss single (“Treacle Toffee World”/”Rhubarb Ruby”) and their unreleased Thor’s Hammer tribute EP 4 x Thor. Early demos and unreleased late-period gems round off this exhaustive assault on the vaults. Beat is Murder is the veritable clutter on the coffee table the morning after an unforgettable party!