The Fluid - Clear Black Paper/Freak Magnet demos (1987)

Before Denver's finest created their sludgy, bass-heavy 1989 masterstroke, Roadmouth, The Fluid's punk 'n roll alchemy was predicated on a simpler and more streamlined tact, a la the Stooges, Dolls, and to a lesser extent the Dead Boys.  Their self-released, 1986 debut platter, Punch 'n Judy was chockablock with noble ambitions and wet-behind-the-ears charm, but things didn't really congeal for the band until a year later when they started shopping a new batch of songs around.  Submitted for your approval is a seven song prototype of what the Fluid had planned to unfurl next, Clear Black Paper, an album which would come with a Sub Pop records logo affixed to it.   Based on these demos alone, The Fluid's development was damn near astonishing - strikingly more muscular and assured, boasting doubly adept songwriting to boot.  "Hall of Mirrors," "Don't Wanna Play" and "It's My Time" possessed the nervy "punch," that Punch 'n Judy often lacked.  Attitude baby, attitude.   Perhaps these tracks weren't as steamrolling as subsequent Fluid missives, but the boys were on a very rockin' trajectory.  Technically, some of these songs wound up on a separate import ep, Freak Magnet, that was unleashed at roughly the same time CBP hit the market.  You can check out the contents of both disks here, and the mighty Roadmouth from the link above.  More Fluid rarities to follow in '15. Check out their FB page as well for ephemera of all sorts

01. Tell Me Things
02. It's My Time
03. I'm Not Gonna Do It (Cuz You Want Me To)
04. Just Another Day
05. Hall of Mirrors
06. Your Kinda Thing
07. Don't Wanna Play

Hear