BREAKOUTS "JACKED UP URBAN MODIFIED" CD (SAN FRANCISCO, 1996)

Here is the last Breakouts release, by the reformed version of the band that was around in the mid 90’s.  This CD is not mind blowing or anything for me (and, er, the title sounds a little corny), but for purposes of completion and to satisfy the curiosity of others I thought I'd post it.  My two favorite blogs, Killed By Death Records and Good Bad Music (and I’m not just saying that cuz I know those dudes), posted all three of the great late 70's and early 80's Breakouts records- the 1st 7" from 1979 here, the 2nd 7" from 1980 here, and the "No More" 12"EP from 1983 here.

I don’t have an original copy of this CD but it was dubbed for me by J.T. in '96 back in my tape trading days and was originally identified as an unreleased CD.  For all of these years I thought it was never was officially released UNTIL I began putting this post together and found out that it was indeed released, albeit in a limited manner and apparently without any distribution.  I also found out the official name of it, because for all of these years I have just been calling it "Unreleased Breakouts CD".  Did have the track listing for all these years, tho.

The lead singer and guitarist of the band on this CD is still Rudy Fontaine from the original Breakouts, and you can still hear his distinctive singing and great whiny guitar noodling style in some parts, especially on hummable songs songs like "Not Like That" or "India Basin" (which refers not the country of India but rather an area around San Francisco).  But there is more "professional" production on this CD and there’s a bit more of a rock-ish influence in the geetar, so don’t expect this CD to sound like a carbon copy of the old Breakouts sound.  Perhaps Mr. Fontaine reformed the band after they started appearing on KBD comps(?)- their first comp appearance was 1980’s "Waiting For A Change" that came out on the so-so Back To Front v.6 in the Summer of 1995.  Then "In Vagueness Deal", from the 1^st 1979 7", was included on the spectacular Killed By Death #9 in the Fall of '95 (and also used as the cover for said volume).  This, of course, is not to say that no one was listening to the old Breakouts records before they were comped or that a comp apperance "validated" the band in some way, but comps really open up an old band to a brand new audience- the first time I heard the Breakouts was on KBD#9.

The mid 90's Breakouts also shared a member with the S.F. band Split A Kiss (the bass player "Geoff At Large"), and those two bands released a split 7"EP on the Breakouts’ Accelerator label.  Apparently there were 1,000 pressed but it received no distribution, so old smelly cardboard boxes chock full of them are probably sitting somewhere.  Both of the Breakouts' tracks from that split EP also appear on this CD (see the last two tracks).  According to the Split A Kiss bass player's MySpace page, Mr. Fontaine disappeared sometime after that.  Several Google searches on his name, or his relation to S.F. or the Breakouts, produces similar cold leads for me.  But maybe Mr. Fontaine moved to Germany, because whenever I Google the name of this CD it takes me to old German eBay listings or old German set sale lists that used to have the CD listed on it.  Funny that an undistributed CD turns up mostly in one country, hmmm...

If anyone knows of his whereabouts (or if you are reading this yourself Rudy Fontaine), post some comments.  Some comments on another blog talk about how mighty the Breakouts were live in early 80’s, and other blog commenter mentioned that he has live tapes from that era full of unreleased tracks- if this is you, share the wealth eh.

Piss On Hell.mp3

Survival.mp3

War Outside.mp3

Not Like That.mp3

Stay Home and Watch TV.mp3

India Basin.mp3

Live In Dreams.mp3

What Do You Get.mp3