{"product_id":"mr-epp-ridiculing-the-apocalypse","title":"MR. EPP - RIDICULING THE APOCALYPSE","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe first band of Mark Arm — Before Green River, before Mudhoney!\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBefore grunge was a genre, it was an insult \u003cstrong\u003eMark Arm\u003c\/strong\u003e wrote about his own band: \u003cem\u003e“Pure grunge! Pure noise! Pure shit!”\u003c\/em\u003e. That band was \u003cstrong\u003eMR. EPP AND THE CALCULATIONS\u003c\/strong\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eConceived in a math class at Bellevue Christian High School in 1978 as a completely imaginary group, \u003cstrong\u003eMR. EPP\u003c\/strong\u003e eventually became one of the strangest, most confrontational and deliberately antagonistic acts in Seattle’s early underground. It was \u003cstrong\u003eMark Arm\u003c\/strong\u003e’s first band. \u003cstrong\u003eSteve Turner\u003c\/strong\u003e joined during its final phase; Arm and Turner would soon form \u003cstrong\u003eGreen River\u003c\/strong\u003e and later reunite in \u003cstrong\u003eMudhoney\u003c\/strong\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBut \u003cstrong\u003eRidiculing the Apocalypse\u003c\/strong\u003e is far more than a piece of Seattle prehistory. This is not polite archaeology for completists. It is the sound of suburban teenagers turning musical ineptitude into an aesthetic weapon: serrated, collapsing guitars, hardcore velocity, lurching post-punk rhythms, industrial abrasion, free-jazz saxophone and enough black humour to destroy any trace of punk-rock solemnity. Instead of learning to play properly, \u003cstrong\u003eMR. EPP\u003c\/strong\u003e learned how to use distortion, repetition, awkwardness and confrontation as a language of their own.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTheir songs take aim at uniformed hardcore punks, Reagan-era patriotism, the Moral Majority, militarism, police authority, suburban privilege, college life and nuclear annihilation, while never sparing their own scene or themselves. “Mohawk Man” was a vicious attack on those who had reduced hardcore to a pose and a dress code. The song reached number one on the influential Los Angeles radio show \u003cstrong\u003eRodney on the ROQ\u003c\/strong\u003e, while their 1982 EP \u003cstrong\u003eOf Course I’m Happy, Why?\u003c\/strong\u003e was reviewed in the very first issue of \u003cstrong\u003eMaximum Rocknroll\u003c\/strong\u003e, which praised its strange structures, cynicism and intelligence.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA Seattle radio DJ introduced them as \u003cem\u003e“the worst band in the world”\u003c\/em\u003e. \u003cstrong\u003eMR. EPP\u003c\/strong\u003e embraced the insult, building their reputation through absurd posters, deliberately ridiculous self-promotion and chaotic live performances. During their brief existence they shared bills with \u003cstrong\u003eDead Kennedys\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003cstrong\u003eTen Minute Warning\u003c\/strong\u003e and \u003cstrong\u003eThe Rejectors\u003c\/strong\u003e, before playing their final show in 1984 alongside \u003cstrong\u003eMalfunkshun\u003c\/strong\u003e, opening for \u003cstrong\u003eFang\u003c\/strong\u003e. Less than three years after becoming a real band, it was over.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOriginally issued on CD in 1996, \u003cstrong\u003eRidiculing the Apocalypse\u003c\/strong\u003e now receives its first-ever vinyl edition. \u003cstrong\u003eBANG! Records\u003c\/strong\u003e and \u003cstrong\u003eJo Smitty\u003c\/strong\u003e have reshaped the anthology into a concentrated sixteen-track LP, newly remastered for vinyl by \u003cstrong\u003eSergio Delgado\u003c\/strong\u003e in Madrid in 2026. It includes the complete \u003cstrong\u003eOf Course I’m Happy, Why? EP\u003c\/strong\u003e, the band’s most essential studio recordings and two live tracks captured at Seattle’s Metropolis.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe packaging completes the document: \u003cstrong\u003eTodd Why?\u003c\/strong\u003e’s original drawings, the wrecked EPP car, rehearsal and live photographs, \u003cstrong\u003eCraig Joyce\u003c\/strong\u003e’s extensive band history and \u003cstrong\u003eJo Smitty\u003c\/strong\u003e’s track-by-track notes. Nothing has been cleaned up or rewritten into respectable rock history. The entire edition retains the photocopied, basement-made, fanzine-and-rented-hall aesthetic that defined \u003cstrong\u003eMR. EPP\u003c\/strong\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eEssential for followers of \u003cstrong\u003eMudhoney\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003cstrong\u003eGreen River\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003cstrong\u003eFlipper\u003c\/strong\u003e, early American hardcore, post-punk and outsider noise — and for anyone who wants to hear Seattle before it became an industry.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eNot a footnote. Not a novelty. The sound of a band turning ridicule into method.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"BANG!","offers":[{"title":"LP","offer_id":58473384083800,"sku":"TKM-43947","price":28.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4266\/0184\/files\/SHE_20260909_1026_092713_181_p_Outlook-zh044rjn_3_001.jpg?v=1789469939","url":"https:\/\/truckmusic.store\/products\/mr-epp-ridiculing-the-apocalypse","provider":"Truck","version":"1.0","type":"link"}