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Afterimage — Faces to Hide
(Bandcamp Independent Project IP082SECD, 1983/2024, CD / 2LP / DL)

by Peter Thelen, Published 2025-01-16

Faces to Hide Cover art

Anyone living in or around Los Angeles in the early 80s may have heard of Afterimage, a four-piece post-punk new wave outfit that came together around 1980 and had a powerful live presence on the Strip, playing at the Whisky, Hong Kong Café, Club 99, and many other local venues. Not to be confused with the many other bands called Afterimage coming from countries all over the world in the years since. The original four-piece lineup only lasted a couple years, releasing one single and a six song 12-inch EP Fade In. Drummer Holland de Nuzzio, bassist Rich Evac, guitarist A Produce (Barry Craig), and singer, guitarist, and saxophonist Alec Tension (aka Daniel Voznick) then split. After the band’s Anthology cassette release (1984), which included the EP and single and some newer tunes, only Alec Tension remained, with A Produce appearing on the odd track and a whole new crew coming in on guitar, bass, drums, and keyboards. Faces to Hide is a 22 track compilation of all the material recorded by the original group, including the “Strange Confession / The Long Walk”  single, Fade In EP, plus an abundance of demo and surviving live tracks recorded during that period. Their music was aggressive and adventurous, manic with great playing by all, with Voznick’s vocals being a powerfal focal point for their sound, and his sax and A Produce’s guitar providing a gritty hyperdrive over the intensity of the rhythm section. Most of their songs are catchy numbers, clocking in around three minutes, although the demos and live cuts often go well beyond that, as might be expected. The tracks from the EP and the single are the standouts, as they are fully produced studio cuts, but the live numbers showcase Afterimage’s raw power at their finest. After the split, de Nuzzio and Evac retired from music, A Produce went on to record a number of ambient / trance albums prior to his passing in 2011, and Voznick recruited new members and guests and carried on as Afterimage and released several more albums over the years. Faces to Hide provides a comprehensive look at the band’s beginnings.

Filed under: Archives, 2024 releases, 1983 recordings

Related artist(s): Barry Craig (A Produce), Afterimage

More info
http://afterimage-music.bandcamp.com/album/faces-to-hide

 

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