“Richly textured guitars weave a jangling web of strummed melodies that climb all over the place, anchored by melodic bass and simple, yet effective Ringo-like drumming.”
— Ric Menck, Bucketful Of Brains Magazine
Poison For Profit EP Release Press Kit
Octopus Records Releases The Hollowmen’s Long-Lost Poison For Profit EP On Vinyl For First Time
Band Bio – Short Version
The Hollowmen were a critically-lauded, but relatively unknown, midwestern alternative band, active from 1985-1989. The band hailed from Des Moines, Iowa, and released two full-length albums (Sinister Flower Gift; Pink Quartz Sun Blasting) and two singles featured on Iowa Compilation records. The band’s sound evolved rapidly from their initial darker-tinged jangle pop/garage rock to incorporating alternate tunings, different time signatures, and more aggressive guitar riffs in their later songs. Band members were Tom Armstrong (guitar, vocals), Joe Page (drums), Mike Sangster (guitar, vocals, piano), Eric Svenson (bass, 1985-87), and Jim Roth (bass, 1987-89). View full band bio here
About Poison For Profit
The Hollowmen’s first studio recording session took place in spring 1985, only a few months after the band had formed, at South River Recording in Indianola, Iowa. This session resulted in a 6-song EP titled Poison For Profit. However, Poison For Profit was never released in the U.S. and was instead available as a cassette-only release on the Acid Tapes label in the U.K. The EP was largely ignored by The Hollowmen, because later in the same year, they recorded their first full-length album, Sinister Flower Gift, which was released in 1986 on Pravda Records.
Now for the first time, Octopus Records is releasing releasing the Poison For Profit EP in the U.S. as a limited-edition, lathe cut 10” record featuring clear vinyl and deluxe archival packaging. This boutique release is available for $35 (plus S&H) via online orders at MohairPearShop.com.
Origin Of The Poison For Profit EP Vinyl Release
In 2015, The Hollowmen played a one-night reunion show at Octopus College Hill, a bar and music venue in Cedar Falls, Iowa owned by Dave Deibler, guitarist and vocalist in the band House Of Large Sizes. Dave also owns and operates Octopus Records. Later, after The Hollowmen reunion show, Dave looked for but was unable to find a cassette copy of Poison For Profit that The Hollowmen had given him back in 1986. This sparked the idea that he should release Poison For Profit for the first time as a vinyl record on Octopus Records.
The Search For The Lost “Poison For Profit” Session Tape
After Dave and Ralph secured permission from surviving members of The Hollowmen to release Poison For Profit, they learned that the only copies known to exist were poorly recorded cassette tapes made by the band themselves for a handful of their friends. Unfortunately, neither The Hollowmen nor the studio engineer from that recording session retained the master tapes. The project had hit a wall. But a breakthrough came when Dave and Ralph learned about a cassette-only release of Poison For Profit in the U.K. on the now-defunct Acid Tapes label. Through some online research, Ralph located and contacted Steve Lines, the owner of the Acid Tapes library. He was thrilled to learn that Steve still possessed a pristine condition, high-quality metal cassette of the Poison For Profit session tape which he was willing to send to Octopus Records. After receiving the tape from England, Ralph oversaw the process of transferring the songs to digital via a Nakamichi deck with re-equalization of the tracks by Jon Chamberlain at Catamount Recording Studio – bringing the 6-song EP back to its original fidelity after more than three decades.
The Hollowmen Poison For Profit EP
TRACK LISTING
Side One
01. Face The Truth
02. First Mistake
03. This Time Of Year
Side Two
01. Rise And Fall
02. Need It Most
03. EGAD!