MENTAL FLOSS
Compiled in 1986 by WRSU's Bryan Bruden and the late Ethan Stein, Mental Floss was, to my knowledge, the first showcase of New Brunswick-area music. Stein and Bruden hosted the "Overnight Sensations" show that focused on area bands; Mental Floss was the show's mixtape. At the time of its release I complained that it largely ignored folk and pop music featured at the Corner Tavern and Melody Bar. And perhaps the selections are slanted more towards the post-post-punk crowd that filled the Court Tavern basement during the mid-80s, but today it sounds well-balanced, and Mental Floss is as representative of Brunswick 1985-87 as Paul Devlin's Rockin' Brunswick is for 1981-83. And in hindsight it still sounds fine, with side one nicely sequenced (side two is a bit more of a hodgepodge). As a bonus, there's a companion booklet (written and assembled by Eric Gladstone) that captures the spirit of the times. Though out of print for over 20 years, Mental Floss remains available for cheap from your Internet auction of choice.
Most of the Mental Floss acts are profiled on this site, but not all of them, though not for want of trying. Need State, Vendettas, and Tom's Electric Tombstone — I remember them all, but there's nothing on the web to suggest they ever existed, outside of the few Mental Floss pages that include track listings.
Mental Floss, WRSU Records, 1987
SIDE ONE
NEED STATE — Scene of the Crime
OPIUM VALA — Last Night Dreaming
SIDE TWO
THE PLAGUE DOGS — It's Like That
VENDETTAS — Leave Me Alone
WOODEN SOLDIERS — Commercial Avenue
DESTROY ALL BANDS — No Time Left
TOM'S ELECTRIC TOMBSTONE — Large Plain Pie
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