The Pacific Northwest rock scene of the 1980s was a hotbed of creativity, with a multitude of bands developing uncommon sounds in relative geographic isolation. In the decade prior to the dotcom boom, living was gloriously cheap and a rock & roll ban [+]The Pacific Northwest rock scene of the 1980s was a hotbed of creativity, with a multitude of bands developing uncommon sounds in relative geographic isolation. In the decade prior to the dotcom boom, living was gloriously cheap and a rock & roll band had the time to grow and develop, unconstrained by any set musical standards of conformity.
Variant Cause was an odd combination of disparate personalities who came together to create a brand new sound. Any given week throughout the 80s you could find the core group in one of their incarnations performing neoteric rock: at an armory dance, a DIY loft party or an intimate rock club. In Seattle, Spokane, Bellingham, Salem, Portland, Moscow, Tacoma and all points in between. They were the local opening act for Iggy Pop, Nico, Ian Hunter, the Godfathers and the Blasters.
Despite their fair share of drug and alcohol drama, mishaps and calamity, Variant Cause managed to step past their influences and forge together a unique and highly developed sound that was decidedly their own.
With the recent discovery of the old master tapes -- thought to have been destroyed years ago -- their songs can be heard again. Transferred to digital and re-mastered, we now present a treasure trove sampler of their eclectic Northwest sound: Variant Cause -- excavated for your fresh aural discovery in the 21st Century.
"Their just-compiled album rocks some dark-and-moody carnival-goth slime, some psychobilly goo-goo muck, some proto-techno jungle drums a'la Suzi Quatro's "Primitive Love" and a great song called "She's A Moving Violation" that dedicates surf guitar explosions and metal screeches and trippy garage organs to someone's backfield in motion. And it all has a goofball bounce to it that would have scared most grungesters back to their heroin dens."
- Chuck Eddy, Paper Thin Walls, Sept 2006
What they said back in the 1980s:
"From the first eight bars of this record you know exactly where Variant Cause is coming from and it's definitely nowhere you've ever been before . . . . Hey, they kill. I recommend you get a hold of this record -- if you want to know what an inventive rock group will sound like in the 90s. That's what this stuff by Variant Cause is: pop music of the 90s."
- Two Louies, Portland 1987
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