M.I.A. - Notes from the Underground

Darla Records is proud to offer the first digital and CD reissue of M.I.A.'s third record Notes from the Underground, originally released on National Trust Records, December, 1985. This reissue also includes the album premaster transferred from a studio board tape belonging guitarist/vocalist Nick Adams, which features previously unreleased alternate mixes of "Haven't You Heard" and "Write Myself a Letter".

M.I.A. formed as a hardcore band in Las Vegas in 1980 and began to find their place and sound once they moved to Orange County, CA in 1981. They played out often including at premier punk venues the Cuckoo's Nest in Costa Mesa and the Cathay de Grande in Hollywood. M.I.A. was part of So Cal punk's hardcore to melodic post-hardcore evolution alongside the scene's best known bands - Adolescents, T.S.O.L. and Social Distortion.

On a trip to Reno in 1981, a demo was given to Kevin Seconds, who passed a copy to Tim Yohannan of Maximum Rock n Roll. Yohannan included "New Left" on Maximum Rock and Roll compilation Not So Quiet on the Western Front (Alternative Tentacles). Yohannan passed the tape to Greg Shaw at Bomp! Records, who included "Tell Me Why" on the compilation American Youth Report. Shaw passed the tape to Felix Alanis at Smoke Seven records who release the entire demo (except "New Left," which Maximum Rock n Roll wanted exclusively) on the split LP Last Rites for Genocide and M.I.A. in 1982.

M.I.A. released Murder in a Foreign Place in 1984 on Alternative Tentacles, after label founder/Dead Kennedys frontman Jello Biafra saw them play at a secret illegal punk nightclub in Las Vegas. Biafra was impressed by Mike Conley's distinctive voice, saying "The minute you hear a song with him singing you know it's him."

"The much-improved Notes from the Underground leaves hardcore behind for a pretty fair Damned/TSOL-influenced punk LP with occasional acoustic guitar and even sax (on an anti-apartheid song). The hooks are occasionally a little too obvious, but "Another Day," "Write Myself a Letter" and "Shadows of My Life" are first-rate punk-pop. Nick Adams' wall of guitar dominates each of the ten tracks." - Jack Rabid, Trouser Press

Notes from the Underground was produced by renowned producer/engineer Thom Wilson who also produced the Adolescents' classic self-titled debut album as well as the most popular albums by Dead Kennedys, T.S.O.L., Bad Religion, The Joykiller, Social Distortion, The Vandals, The Offspring, Christian Death, Automatic 7, Face to Face and The Bouncing Souls.

M.I.A. followed Notes from the Underground with their final record After the Fact on core So Cal punk label Flipside Records in early 1987.

"One of the 50 best So-Cal punk bands of the great early-'80s second wave explosion." - All Music Guide

Track List:

1. Shadows of My Life
2. Voices in the Dark
3. Show Me the Way
4. Scotty Rew 
5. Never Again
6. Write Myself a Letter
7. Light of Yesterday
8. Make a Choice
9. Haven't You Heard
10. Another Day
11. Voices in the Dark (Studio Board Tape Premaster)
12. Scotty Rew (Studio Board Tape Premaster)
13. Never Again (Studio Board Tape Premaster)
14. Show Me the Way (Studio Board Tape Premaster)
15. Shadows of My Life (Studio Board Tape Premaster)
16. Write Myself A Letter (Studio Board Tape Premaster First Mix)
17. Write Myself A Letter (Studio Board Tape Premaster Second Mix)
18. Light of Yesterday (Studio Board Tape Premaster)
19. Haven't You Heard (Studio Board Tape Premaster First Mix)
20. Haven't You Heard (Studio Board Tape Premaster Second Mix)
21. Another Day (Studio Board Tape Premaster)
22. Make a Choice (Studio Board Tape Premaster)

Arranged by M.I.A.
Produced by Thom Wilson
Drums - Larry Pearson
Vocals - Michael Conley
Guitar, Vocals - Nick Adams
Bass - Paul Schwartz
Sax - Henry Alexander
Keyboards, Piano - Robert Windolph