One of the funnest and most interesting aspects of the Christian indie/punk/metal/whatever scene is that no matter how long you’ve been involved and no matter how much of an expert you may think you are, there are always new–or in this case, old–bands to discover. I found out about The Living via our friends over at Christian Tape Underground, a blog that specializes in unearthing rare and underground cassette tapes and demos from indie bands of all genres.
The Living was a great little post-punk/goth rock band with lots of potential. Sadly we only have one cassette demo to show what they were capable of. While very little is known about The Living, we do know that they were from California. They recorded their one and only demo/album at the Casbah in Fullerton, and released it in 1988. Fortunately, the band now has a Bandcamp page, giving a tiny bit more info. The full band was as follows:
Mel McGowan – lead vocals, acoustic and electric guitars
Reyson Morales – lead guitar
Rex Hoebel – bass and vocals
Bill Sammons – lead guitar
Danny Varvel – drums, percussion, backing vocals
Leslie Dupree – backing vocals
Very astute readers might (or might not) recognize Mel McGowan and Leslie Dupree (now Grimaud) from yet another goth/post-punk band Cafe Noire. Leslie only contributes BGVs here, but does lead vocals in the other project. She is also married to Herb Grimaud, known for his work with The Violet Burning.
To my ears, “Hideaway” draws equal parts from the Cult, Sisters of Mercy, LifeSavers Underground and Modern English. Check out the track below, and if you enjoy it, please make a contribution to the band for their efforts.
https://theliving1988.bandcamp.com/track/hideaway-2
I played the Bass n Sang a wee bit. I happened upon this checking on job reference stuff.
What a fun thing to see.
Thanks for the plug. 30+ years ago. WOW
Fantastic! Thanks for getting in touch. So glad you stumbled upon us. 🙂