Lords of the New Church “Live For Today” 1983. 12″ single. IRS. Side B “Opening Nightmares” and “Dreams and Desires.” Picked up this beauty by the goth/punk super-group featuring members of the Dead Boys, the Damned and Sham 69 at the amazing Treehouse Records in Minneapolis over the holiday weekend.

Lords of the New Church’s “Live For Today” (a sneering, breathless and gothy cover of the Grass Roots single, featuring production, engineering and keyboards by Todd Rundgren) comes from their second LP – “Is Nothing Sacred?” –  as does “Opening Nightmares.” “Dreams and Desires” was included on their 3rd album release in 1984, “The Method To Our Madness,” and feels like a dark reggae-tinged Clash track at a dive bar poetry slam.