Faces to Hide

While LA’s Afterimage existed as a band for some decades in one form or another via founding figure and lead singer Dan Voznick, its earliest version is the one celebrated here in this collection released on Independent Project Records in 2024. The original quartet, including future underground electronic musician A Produce on keyboards and guitar and later Psi-Com founder and eventual Shiva Burlesque member Richard Robinson on bass, demonstrated a ready ear for the wide roil of artier and moodier punk and post-punk sounds happening both locally and elsewhere in the world, with Voznick adding saxophone at points to contrast with his unsettled but clear singing style. Faces To Hide collects both their “Strange Confession”/“The Long Walk” debut single and the subsequent Fade In EP, both from 1981, along with a variety of further demos and live performances, including a version of the actual song “Faces To Hide.” A particular high point comes from the gripping one-two of the studio versions of “Afterimage” and “Satellite of Love” (not a Lou Reed cover, but including a sharp Bernard Sumner guitar quote).