1983-1985

Vinyl LP pressing. Mid-1980AEs suburban Chicago punk. 13 song LP includes the bandAEs hard to find 7o alongside unreleased studio tracks, demos & live cuts. NapervilleAEs Protagonists formed in the wake of the first wave of Chicago hardcore punk. Instead of being inspired by the first generation weirdo Chicago punks like Silver Abuse and Tutu & The Pirates or the hardcore legion that followed (AOF, ROTA, Negative Element, etc.), Protagonists drew their motivation from sources as diverse as punk icons Buzzcocks, The Dickies and The Damned to prime era 50AEs and 60AEs teen anthems (Buddy Holly, Dell Shannon, and The Monkees). This compilation gathers their original tape, unheard outside of the suburban Chicago teen punk scene, and pairs it with the songs from their hard-to-find 7o EP (originally pressed in 1000 copies in 1985). The b-side features basement demos of original songs recorded by the band as well some great covers which show they could rock as a punk dance band.