On May 20,1993, THE BOUNCING SOULS self-released their first CD, "The Greenball Crew E.P." and CHUNKSAAH RECORDS was born. Only 1,000 CDs were manufactured and within a year the EP was out-of-print. For years, fans have clamored over this collection of songs, paying exorbitant amounts of money for the CD on eBay and downloading digital files via illegal file-sharing sites. As demand grew, bootleg versions began to populate the bins of certain record shops. The band, on the other hand, has spent the better part of their 25+ year career burying this release, denying it's existence and hoping that it would just go away. Here's what Pete, Bryan, and Greg have to say:
Pete Steinkopf: What can you say about "The Greenball Crew EP" that hasn't been said before? Haha! It kinda sounds like crap and the songs are pretty scattered, but it has a few gem moments. We were trying to find our identity as a band, pulling from our influences that were all around us. It was a learning experience for what was yet to come. For better for worse, whether you love it or you hate it, it captures an important transitional period In the story of the bouncing souls. Ladies and gentlemen, for the first time ever on vinyl... "The Greenball Crew EP"!
Bryan Kienlen: "The Greenball Crew EP" is a lot of things, but mostly it's a snapshot of four guys learning how to play music. To be fair, this collection of songs does have it's moments, but we've generally regarded it as a real turd. But there's no accounting for taste and if anyone genuinely digs it, then more power tho 'em.. In addition to blindly feeling around in the dark for how to write songs, it was a real learning experience in the whole process of recording and releasing a CD on our own. By the time this thing came out, the songs were years old and we had already turned a corner as a band, finally finding ourselves with the writing of "Joe Lies" (our self-proclaimed "first good song"), among others, and wanted nothing to do with these weird old songs. Only 1,000 copies were pressed, most of them selling right away at the release party at Trenton's legendary City Gardens. We sold the remainder on our first U.S. tour (with our fellow New Brunswick punks and new friends, Lifetime), and decided never to re-press it. We even went so far as to start recording over the master copy to save money. Despite the demand, we thought is best that the world not be exposed to such sonic lameness. Had it not been for K8, we would never have re-released it; but it is hard to say no to K8 when she asks us all sweet and stuff.
Greg Attonito: The idea of re-releasing "The Greenball Crew EP" truly makes me cringe. Mostly because all of the memories I have about the recording process and the general state of The Bouncing Souls at the time are far from fun. Everything about making the record was difficult. We got a "discounted" hourly rate in a studio in Philly because they were "working out the kinks" on a new mixing desk. The engineer who was assigned to us really did not give one shit about us or our record and I don't know if I blame him because we weren't that stoked either. We were bored of the songs by the time we were recording them and I think we were ready for a new phase of existence and some new energy... but I think we all knew subconsciously that we had to get all the existing songs down before we could move on to the next thing. It was painful. Long drives to Philly then sitting around in the studio for hours trying to get the "kinks worked out" of the board. I've blocked out most of the details but the overall misery is what I remember. Today I look back on that time as an invaluable learning experience so I would say I respect and honor the Greenball Crew Ep but its hard for me to say I love it. Many necessary lessons in record making were begun at that time so without the Greenball Crew EP there would not be all the records that followed. I'm happy people enjoy the record and I'm really happy to announce the 20 year anniversary of its release. Nothing truly good comes easy.
So, with some reluctance and resistance, THE BOUNCING SOULS are re-issuing "The Greenball Crew" for the first time in two decades. Redesigned and remastered for a vinyl only release, this record will only be made available as a pre-order on the Chunksaah Records Online Store (www.Chunksaah.com), and will only be pressed according to the amount of records pre-ordered over the course of one month. On May 20, 2013, all sales will end, and after the records are pressed and mailed out to all who ordered, the release will go out of print, once and for all. No copies for retail outlets, no digital download version, and certainly no CD version. Love it or hate it, here it is. Be warned!
Click here to order: http://www.chunksaah.com/shop/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1_8&products_id=220