Just a couple of months after our recent feature on the rare skramz offering from Philly screamo duo DELOREAN, the same label is putting together its 4th release and today we are honored to give its first hearing in its full glory, along with a special commentary by Mike from Peripheral Anxiety Records. The new offering showcases MARADONA, a three-piece screamo act from Delaware, featuring members of Delorean, Laika, The Friendshit, and Tragic Johnson.
For fans of Daitro, Circle Takes The Square, Amanda Woodward.
π πππ πππππππ βππ π βππ π‘πππ¦ ππ πππ π π¦ πππππππ .
We all know of the big ones that created the archetype. But Peripheral Anxiety Records is focused on the ones specific to their scenes and eras. The stuff that was coming out, being played and being heard right there in the scene, alongside all the stuff you love in your record collection – as it was originally coming out. We go deeper as a label; constantly searching for the stuff that got missed or faded away before its time.
πππππβππππ π΄ππ₯πππ‘π¦ ππ π πππ ππππππ§ ππππππ‘βππ πππ ππππππππ ππ π πππ π π¦ ππππππ ππ’π‘ ππ πβπππππππβππ. πβππ ππ ππππ¦ π ππππ‘ ππ π‘βπππ π π‘πππ¦.
Recorded 2011 by Scott Monaghan in the basement of Unholy Trinity House, Philadelphia. Remastered 2021 by Steve Roche at Permanent Hearing Damage, Philadelphia. Layout by Mike and Jennah. Maradona was Tim, Chris, and Sean.
Ten years ago the guitarist and vocalist of Maradona, Tim Adams, was riding his bicycle from New Hampshire headed towards Florida; but somewhere in Philadelphia his bicycle and belongings were stolen. Tim was stranded – but had a good sense of humor and a reverence for fate. He took it as a sign to stay and live in Philly for a while – quickly joining a squat called Eviction House. He discovered a beat up bicycle in the trash and got a job as a bicycle messenger. Meanwhile, Chris Geddis (drums) was also newly squatting in that same house up from Delaware, where he had played in numerous punk bands. The two became instant friends – even going on to work at the same bicycle courier company.
While at work Chris and Tim met Sean Gleason (bass) who also worked as a bike messenger. He lived at a DIY space nearby called Unholy Trinity House (fka The House of Less Cock) that did shows all the time. He invited Chris and Tim to one of those shows and they all bonded over the idea of starting a band. Seanβs living situation and access to borrowed gear made it feasible.
Both Tim and Chris had a deep interest in skramz; Tim coming from a background of playing the style – Chris, an avid listener. Sean came from listening to post hardcore and playing in rock bands. Chris recalled the first time they all played in the room together. He and Tim locked into the style right away and Sean came up with some really striking bass lines that colored outside the lines.
βMaradona was my first screamo band. Before that I was playing only in punk bands – though I was a closet screamo enjoyer.β – Chris recalls.
βOur first screamo band was literally my first time hearing screamo.β – Sean laughs.
βIn 2006, I lived in Buenos Aires.β Said Sean. βI had gone to a soccer game in La Boca and right before the match started the crowd all turned and looked up at one of the box seats. Diego Maradona, one of the messiest legends in the history of the sport, was standing there with his arms out and the crowd was chanting his name. That moment kind of stuck with me, and when we were naming this band – I had never been exposed to screamo before – something about the messiness of it all, and the short bursts of precision – just like a soccer matchβ¦ I just kept saying Maradona over and over in my head. I was pretty happy when Chris and Tim were on board with it. It just seemed fitting.β
Maradonaβs first show in 2011 completely changed the trajectory of its members’ lives for that entire year. They played a philly basement show somewhere – nobody could quite recall the location. All they remembered was that specific gig and how everybody in the room went nuts; saying they hadnβt heard a band like Maradona since the early 2000s. Overnight they were playing 1, 2, sometimes 3 shows a week for the rest of that year. The energy and momentum gained from that single night was massive.
A notable memory for the band was having to constantly find a car they could borrow in order to move gear to the next show. After packing up a matinee show in West Philly, they borrowed a friendβs Subaru and ferried the whole band straight to another gig in South Philly.
βTim had found a burned CD of Nicki Minaj and Rhianna songs in the street at work. The 3 or 4 shows we played that week, he brought that f**king CD with us. He just played the same Rhianna song over and over again.β Sean recalls. βI remember sitting there in the back seat with the windows down and the sun setting – and actually not hating it – thinking this is probably going to be the high water mark of my life.β Sean and Chris laugh in agreement.
The first three songs on this release were from a planned split with HIRS that never made it into peopleβs hands due to all of the vinyl being destroyed in Hurricane Sandy. Only a few copies from that 250 piece run survived. The fourth song is a studio demo that the band initially thought was lost – but turned up on a hard drive belonging to recording engineer Scott Monaghan. Scott had recorded and mixed the band in Seanβs basement.
The loss of those splits was the beginning of the end for Maradona. Sean had taken a road trip with his partner of the time – to help them move cross country. He planned a tall bicycle trip back to Philly from California that summer with every intention of picking up where Maradona left off. By the time he arrived, Chris and Tim were performing under the name Delorean as a two piece (see our release Delorean: Uncompleted PAR-001 for that band). No hard feelings – just a natural shift into another project.
Maradona had showed up for the local skramz match, played a hell of a game consisting of almost 100 shows in a single year, put out a brilliant split that was lost to the elements, and faded into a fond memory of a specific time for its members – leaving behind an esoteric note scrawled in the margins of skramz revival history.
This release is dedicated to the memory of Stephen Berg (Aug 2nd 1934 – June 12th 2014). Steve was a master of prose poetry, a dear friend and mentor, and the messiest legend Iβll ever have the honor of knowing.
– words by Mike from Peripheral Anxiety Records
