VIA PRESS RELEASE | A long-awaited remastered reissue of These Immortal Souls’ two studio albums, Get Lost (Don’t Lie!) (1987) and I’m Never Gonna Die Again (1992) have been announced. These two post-punk gems, remastered from the original tapes at Birdland Studio by Lindsay Gravina, with Harry Howard and Genevieve McGuckin, will be released alongside a brand new 10-track collection of newly unearthed live recordings and rarities, EXTRA. All three albums will be released on Mute on April 12, 2024.
Talking about the release, Harry Howard and Genevieve McGuckin said, “This took some detective work! We are excited not only for us, but for Rowland S Howard and Epic Soundtracks. There are really nice new things here, different mixes and live recordings from L.A. and everything sounds stronger, lusher and more mysterious. We’re struck by what a strange band we were. There was no one like These Immortal Souls. Thank you Mute, for then and now (not forgetting the future).”
These Immortal Souls, consisting of Rowland S. Howard (The Boys Next Door, The Birthday Party, Crime & the City Solution on guitar / vocals), Harry Howard (Crime & the City Solution on bass guitar), Epic Soundtracks (Swell Maps, Crime & the City Solution on drums) and Genevieve McGuckin (keyboards), were formed in London in 1987. Rowland and Genevieve had been working together until Rowland invited Harry and Epic to join “a solo project that would be like a band because I like the idea of bands.”
Their debut album, Get Lost (Don’t Lie!) originally released in 1987, was recorded before the band ever played live. AllMusic described it as “Simultaneously rocking, strangely beautiful, and scary. [It] foreshadowed the sound of bands to come over a decade later.” Eventually they played on bills with the likes of Sonic Youth and Babes in Toyland, and by the time they were ready to record 1992’s I’m Never Gonna Die Again they were, according to Harry, “a much harder and more focused sounding band.”
Soon after its release, Rowland, Genevieve and Harry moved back to Melbourne, and Epic Soundtracks died in London in 1997. These Immortal Souls never recorded again and performed their last show in 1998, leaving these three releases as a testament of their unforgettable time together.
EXTRA, which features covers of Alice Cooper’s “Luney Tune,” The Stooges’ “Open Up and Bleed,” Nancy & Lee’s “Some Velvet Morning,” and Alex Chilton’s “Hey! Little Child” includes personal and revealing sleeve notes by Harry Howard.
Pop Crimes: The Songs of Rowland S. Howard, the live show featuring Harry Howard, Genevieve McGuckin, Mick Harvey, Lydia Lunch, Jonnine Standish, JP Shilo and more, will pay tribute to Rowland S. Howard (1959-2009) for two performances in March: Thursday, March 7th at the Thornbury Theatre, Melbourne and Sunday, March 10th at the Factory Theatre in Sydney. Tickets are on sale now.
Get Lost (Don’t Lie!), I’m Never Gonna Die Again, and EXTRA will all be released on vinyl, CD, and digitally on April 12, 2024
