The Wipers

Portland Oregon, home of all-time greats such as Sleater-Kinney and (possibly the greatest band in the world) Tender Age also produced The Wipers, whose 1981 release "Youth of America" is a somewhat forgotten classic.

Basically the brainchild of singer/guitarist Greg Sage, The Wipers also consisted of bassist Brad Davidson and drummer Brad Naish. They released a handful of albums besides this one, which I don't happen to have, although I do recall that the follow up "Over The Edge" was quite good as well (anyone?).....

"Youth of America" was the very epitome of what was referred to as "post punk", the experimental nature and complex song structures were unique at the time for punk bands. The fearsome title track clocks in at over ten minutes, but it breezes by and hooks grabs you on the first listen. It would be worth hearing just for that one, but really all the tracks are great......"When It's Over" features some incredible guitar, "Taking Too Long" is a raging punk onslaught......hell it's all great. Take my word for it. Just wonder what happened to my copy of "Over the Edge", but this is the one that REALLY matters.

YOUTH OF AMERICA-01 Taking Too Long/02 Can This Be/03 Pushing the Extreme/04 When It's Over/05 No Fair/06 Youth of America.