10 Great Rock Bands Who Never Released An Album
6. The Screamers
An influential and experimental LA punk/electronic band that never released more than a few songs, The Screamers, who formed in 1975, held an enviable position at the forefront of the first wave of the Los Angeles punk rock scene. The Screamers featured a highly unusual line-up of drummer and two keyboardists, leading the LA Times to label the band 'techno-punk.'
The Screamers often recruited additional personal for their theatrical performances, including violinists and vocalists. No less a person than Jello Biafra of The Dead Kennedys invokes The Screamers as a key influence on that band. That's a lot to live up to, and makes it all the sadder that so little Screamers material is available.
Thankfully we do have some live footage (see below), plus contemporary reviews of The Screamers gigs, including this potent summary from Robert Hilburn, again of The LA Times: “(lead singer) Tomata's hair was greased to stand straight up, giving him the look of a man who had just stuck his finger into an electric socket. His performance reflected the nervous, relentless anxiety of someone whose troubles are even deeper...by the end of the 40-minute set, du Plenty has gone through the same disintegration of the human will that we associate with such books as 1984."