Vigil - s/t (1987)

Don't let the paisley album jacket fool you, as the Baltimore quartet responsible for it weren't cut from psychedelic stock in the least.  Starting life as Here Today, the band inexplicably took up a new moniker (Vigil) upon inking a deal with CBS Records in '84.  Problem was their album was in limbo for three years due to personnel changes at the label, and ultimately, Chrysalis came to their rescue.  Ostensibly Vigil were marketed as "alternative" product, if only for their mildly noir bent that didn't slot comfortably into the new wave mold.  Side one includes "I'm Waiting" and "I Love You Equinox," both suggesting what a mainstreamed Bauhaus could have conjured up had Peter Murphy and Co. been sufficiently cash-whipped.  The other side of the coin entails the inspired, post-punky "Whistle in the Yard," a piece that was originally written and tracked in '83 when they went by their former name, while "Celiba Sea" (get the pun?) finds these lads on a particularly tuneful tear.  I apologize for the fidelity here, as my secondhand vinyl copy had apparently endeavored one too many rotations from it's former owner.  Vigil made it onto CD, but copies are exceedingly scarce.  A second album, Onto Beggar and Bitter things was apparently recorded on Chrysalis' dime, but the label opted not to release it.  Left to their own devices the band distributed it locally on cassette circa '89 or so.  Check out Vigil's corner of Facebook here. 

01. Until the Season
02. White Magic Spell
03. I am Waiting
04. Gargoyles
05. I Love You Equinox
06. Whistle in the Yard
07. The Celiba Sea
08. The Garden
09. Born Again
10. The Benefit of the Doubt

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