M.I.A. “Murder in a Foreign Place” 1984. Alternative Tentacles Records. Originally from Las Vegas and active from ‘82-’88, M.I.A. relocated to California early on and helped solidify the west coast punk/thrash sound of the mid-1980′s. Less east coast Ramones-tinged power-punk-pop 1-2-3-4-1-2-3-4!! – though still furiously fast (like “Reality is Killing Me” or “All I Know” for example) – M.I.A. piled layers upon layers of anger and sweat and politics into their west coast scene along with contemporaries Seven Seconds and Dead Kennedys.

Run-off groove etchings: Side A – “The weather will not change” Side B – “The cancer of time is eating us away”