Autoclave

This CD offers a comprehensive overview of Autoclave's rather humble existence. Compiling their two Mira/Dischord 10" EPs and their song from the Simple Machines Lever 7" this is the sum total of the band's year-long career. Listening to it in hindsight, the album sounds quaint, but fun; imagine a seminal D.C. punk group with a serious devotion to Eddie Van Halen. It's interesting to hear the high school musings of folks who would go on to become seriously influential musicians in the bands Helium and Slant 6 — especially the vaguely uncertain vocal delivery of singer Mary Timony — and, as such, this disc is recommended to serious fans of those bands. Outside of that, it's simply an OK piece of D.C rock history. What really makes Autoclave worth the eight bucks from Dischord, though, is the short and funky demo of "Paperboy" tacked onto the end. It's easily the grooviest, funniest thing in any of the band member's catalogs.