The Mentally Ill: Gacy's Place - Complete Startbeat Sessions 12"

All 8 tracks from the infamous January 1st 1979 Starbeat Session together on a 45 rpm 12". 500 pressed. Black vinyl. 

Our take: The Mentally Ill’s “Gacy’s Place” is one of the all-time great Killed by Death tracks, and by extension one of the all-time classic punk songs; in fact, it wouldn’t surprise me if some people call it the ultimate KBD track. This LP expands the original 3-song EP to 8 tracks, bringing together all the tracks from the recording session. “Gacy’s Place” kicks things off, and it sounds as great as ever. It’s where everything that makes KBD punk comes together perfectly: anti-social lyrics (“they’re fucking your kids!”), primitive production, punk swagger, and a dash of Residents-esque esoteric weirdness. Wrap all that up in one of the greatest bass lines ever, and you have a song that everyone should know. Alternative Tentacles had already released the other tracks on this LP back in 2004 on a collection called Gacy’s Place: The Undiscovered Corpses (along with two other studio sessions), but I wasn’t very familiar with them. While there’s nothing as perfect as “Gacy’s Place,” those elements I mentioned above all feature in different mixtures on those other tracks, and I wouldn’t call any of them weak. While this isn’t necessary if you have the Alternative Tentacles release, it’s a great pickup for any KBD fan, from the dabbler to the full-on fanatic.