1983, THE FIRST-EVER ARCHIVAL RELEASE FROM TORN BOYS (FEATURING JEFFREY CLARK, KELLY FOLEY AND GRANT-LEE PHILLIPS) OUT TODAY FROM INDEPENDENT PROJECT RECORDS

Comprising Future Members of Shiva Burlesque, Gary Young’s Hospital and Grant Lee Buffalo, 1983 is Released on Digital, Compact Disc & Black, Green & White Vinyl Formats w/ Bonus DVD

Record Release Party Confirmed at Goodwin Gallery in Stockton, Ca., the Band’s Hometown on Friday April 26

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

LOS ANGELES, CA. (FRIDAY APRIL 12, 2024) –1983, the first-ever release from Torn Boys, the early ‘80s post-punk quartet from Stockton, California featuring Jeffrey Clark, Kelly Foley, Duncan Atkinson and a 19-year-old Grant-Lee Phillips, is out today. This ten-track archival release from Independent Project Records features almost all existing tracks from the band.

The comprehensive set of rare, unreleased studio and live tracks documents the short but eventful life of Torn Boys, a group comprising future members of Shiva Burlesque, Gary Young’s Hospital and Grant Lee Buffalo. It will be available on digital formats as well as compact disc and black, white and green vinyl with both physical formats including a bonus all-region DVD of previously unseen live recordings and newly made music videos. Three of the videos can now be seen on the IPR YouTube page for the tracks “May Day”, “Lady Luck” and “See Through My Eyes,” featuring archival footage newly unearthed by the band members.

A record-release party is confirmed in the band’s hometown of Stockton, Ca. at Goodwin Gallery (1902 Pacific Avenue) on Friday April 26 from 5:30pm to 8:30pm. DJ Dana Gumbiner will provide music, Torn Boys videos will be played and there will be additional merchandise, including product from IPRs other Stockton bred artists – Shiva Burlesque and The Ophelias. This past Wednesday, Jeffrey Clark, Kelly Foley, Duncan Atkinson and Grant-Lee Phillips also participated in a Bandcamp Listening Party where fans interacted with the band while taking a first-listen to the album.

Of 1983 Strutterzine recently said: “After a very strong uptempo early ‘80s synth punk pop piece called ‘See Through My Eyes,’ which is a rather catchy little tune a la THE CURE and JOY DIVISION, things get quite experimental during ‘Mystery,’ which is a live recorded tune that sounds close to TALKING HEADS.”

Formed in 1982 by Jeffrey Clark (vocals, electric guitar) and Kelly Foley (vocals, acoustic guitar) and disbanded by late 1983, Torn Boys lived out their one and a half summers fusing dreamscape lyricism with ultra-’80s synth rhythms and Fripp-meets-Carl-Perkins electric guitar textures, leaving behind a scant recorded legacy before dissolving.

Local musician Duncan Atkinson started helping out as sound engineer before joining the band live on Pro One synthesizer and drum machine. In the Spring of ’83 nineteen-year-old Grant-Lee Phillips was recruited on lead guitar, his Chet-Atkins-plays-Scary–Monsters sound adding an indelible and unique ingredient to the band’s alchemy.

“What Jeff (Clark) and Kelly (Foley) were doing, you just didn’t see that kind of thing happening in Stockton”, says Grant-Lee Phillips. “So we connected right away over a mutual obsession with the alluring fringes of music, art and film.”

Forty years after the fact, Torn Boys recordings still fend off basic categorization, conjuring the darker corners of neo-psychedelic California, infusing New Wave-era sensibilities with the moodier angle of home-grown, art-punk-surrealism. Full CD/LP track listing below:

1. See Through My Eyes
2. Radio Intro
3. Mystery (Live, KDVS)
4. Fountain of Blood
5. New Drums
6. May Day
7. Mack the Knife (Live, KDVS)
8. Torn
9. And Now (Live, Blackwater Café)
10. Lady Luck

BONUS DVD – Music Videos

1. See Through My Eyes
2. Lady Luck
3. May Day
4. Fountain of Blood

ABOUT INDEPENDENT PROJECT RECORDS

Founded in 1980 by musician and artist Bruce Licher, Independent Project Records and its sister entity Independent Project Press are known for their instantly recognizable hand-printed record covers for bands including Camper Van Beethoven, For Against, Polvo, R.E.M., Savage Republic, Silversun Pickups, Stereolab and more. Aside from creating much of the artwork on his vintage two-ton hand-fed letterpress, Licher was nominated for a Grammy Award for his design work on the IPR released debut album from For Against. In 2020, the label was relaunched by both Licher and Jeffrey Clark with new and archival releases and is distributed by MRI/The Orchard & via Proper Music Group outside the USA & Canada. IPR is based in Bishop, California, at the base of the Eastern Sierra Mountains.

For More Information, Please Contact Joshua Mills at It’s Alive! Media, 323-464-6314, josh@itsalivemedia.com, www.itsalivemedia.com or Camilla Aisa, camillaaisa@gmail.com

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