Robert Griffin chats about Scat's new Spike In Vain reissue

Scat Records is releasing an expanded 27-track 2LP version of Spike In Vain's Jesus Was Born In A Mobile Home on January 20th. 

Here's the scoop...

The new Spike In Vain – Jesus Was Born In A Mobile Home 2LP set expands on 1984's original 12-song  cassette tape release (originally intended as a second album but shelved after a drummer change) to 27 tracks presenting a comprehensive look at the Shaker Heights post-punk band’s different personalities. The additional material comes from compilation appearances, studio outtakes, live and rehearsal recordings. 13 previously unreleased tracks, with most being of previously unheard songs. Although there’s all sorts of material here, the emphasis is on earlier songs so this is the most “punk” of SIV releases. Almost equally divided between studio and live recordings, with many of the latter being pretty raw. 

So where did all these tracks come from?

• 11 tracks from the original cassette release (all but Rejected by No. 12) - taken from original reels
• Rejected by No. 12 (1983) - outtake from recording session for The New Comp comp LP - from original reels
• Tenement Housing - rehearsal tape from 1983 - cassette source
• Ugly & Damaged, The Funeral - from The New Hope comp LP - from original reels
• Strangeland County - from They Pelted Us with Rocks and Garbage comp LP - vinyl transfer
• Swamp Baby Blues - outtake from Death Drives a Cadillac LP - from original reels
• Count Basie’s Ghost pt. 2, Winter’s Black Hand - outtakes from Cadillac sessions - cassette source
• Michael Landon Pukes on Your TV, The Road to New Guinea, Killing Frame of Mind, Opus I+II - live in Cleveland late 1985 - cassette source
• Ten Hail Marys - live on WRUW July 1984 - cassette source
• Drunk and Ugly Soul Food - live on WRUW spring 1985 - from original reels
• EKG - live in Kent OH July 1984 - cassette source 
• Dogsleds in Heaven - live in Mt. Pleasant MI summer 1985 - cassette source

Get a copy of Spike In Vain's Jesus Was Born In A Mobile Home directly from Scat Records right here here. 

Check out Robert Griffin's discussion of the release on the ClePunk podcast followed by the audio from the original cassette release of Jesus Was Born In A Mobile Home, "Opus I+II," "Swamp Baby Blues" and "Strangeland County" below.