It’s impossible to quantify K Records’ contribution to independent and underground music. It’s impossible to quantify K’s vital role in the celebration and encouragement of women’s artistic expression within music. If you’re asking me, I’d unequivocally tell you that K Records has done more for the music I love today than any other label. Finding a slew of unreleased, out-of-print, and otherwise forgotten early girl-fronted punk music is one clear example of their stalwart ethos.
Neo Boys existed between 1978 and 1983, creating progressive feminist music in its earliest days. They played their first show with Television and later opened for Nico. This isn’t the kind of band to be forgotten. Beyond these notable performances and definitely as important to K owner and curator Calvin Johnson, the band recorded with The Wipers’ Greg Sage, who was an active member of the Northwest music community and somewhat of a luminary to Johnson. To speak plainly: some will glaze over Neo Boys’ retrospective as a relic of the past. In an age where fan fervor and demand seems to seek only the next popular hit (whether on college radio or on the Billboard charts, it makes no difference), K carries a torch as one of the last bastions of truly divergent music, and for that we should embrace and thank them. Hear early punk heroes Neo Boys’ track “Give Me the Message” below.
