This band first was known as Menthol, then evolved into a band called Nitrous, switched back to the Menthol line-up, was Super 8 for a while and is now called Nitrous again. That background is longer than this too-brief cassingle of two snappy, jangly tunes that remind me of the otherwise-unrelated 80’s groups The Bongos and Wall Of Voodoo. That is a good thing. Wanna hear more!

Jim Santo’s Demo Universe, 1995

PERSONNEL
Ian Brabner, guitar, vox
Steve Kennedy, guitar, vox, drums
Kim Oberly, bass

Recorded by Nick
Produced by Steve

TRACK LISTING
Side A
Complications

Side B
Scratch My Back

Music aside, a very cool thing about this cassette is its total length: 10 minutes! Have you ever seen a 10-minute, 5-on-a-side cassette? Have a look:

Cool, right? Anyway, these guys were from Delaware and, after recording this demo, disbanded in 1997 (but not before sharing a bill with my old band, Jenifer Convertible, in Wilmington, DE). Steve and Kim moved to California and formed Sciflyer, whose 2003 Fair Weather Karma LP recycles the cover art of this extremely rare cassette (Pandora has a full bio here). Ian Brabner is now a rare book dealer.