Badge

Not many albums can get you in the mood to blow out your speakers quite like Kath “1”, the hideously rare and expensive 1974 low-fi, semi-ramshackle DIY psychedelic LP made by members of Maryland band Badge, recorded in the home of band leader Val Rogolino (and, yes, dedicated to his girlfriend and their pet monkey!). What Patrick the Lama said in Acid Archives about Kath, is equally applicable to Badge: “Obscure and impressive melodic basement garage/psych with a lo-fi atmosphere that would have most purveyors flip out… at times the vibe is almost like Mystery Meat or Index, and that's not something you run across every day… Nuts lo-fi recording quality and impossible-to-figure production values gives this a nicely zonked almost real-people vibe. Keyboards, fuzz, heap of amateur avant spirit.”

The fact that Badge had been a going band for awhile, and that they released several singles and EPs — written by Val and his best friend Cheese Sollers and recorded the same way, on the same equipment as the Kath album, seems to have been overlooked — until now. Here are those singles and EP tracks, lovingly remastered and presented as a coherent LP compilation.

Badge formed 13 March 1970, a Friday: Cheese Sollers — guitar/vocals; Jim O’Dell — bass/vocals; Val Rogolino — drums/vocals. Badge played on into the 1970's with several band member changes, adding at one point female vocalists and horn players. Cheese and Val remained the core of the group at all times. “In 1970, Cheese and I started recording original songs with two stereo tape recorders, using PA systems for mixing. That was the beginning of the recording bug for us. We purchased a professional tape recorder, a TEAC 2340 four-track machine. This really opened up our recording process.” — Val Rogolino

Comes with an eight page insert with liner notes by Kath leader and Badge co-leader Val Rogolino and a bevy of photos from his personal stash. (And yes, we will also be reissuing the Kath “1” album on LP quite soon!)