On June 13th, SKiN GRAFT Records will re-release U.S. Maple’s debut album “Long Hair In Three Stages” on colored vinyl for the first time, with updated packaging that includes a two-sided footlong obi strip, a lyric sheet, and what the label calls an “untethered Rosetta Stone.” Alongside the reissue, a long-lost video for the song “The State Is Bad” will finally see an official release.
Shot in 1995 and left mostly unseen except for a degraded copy floating on YouTube, the video has now been freshly pulled from director Andrew Dryer’s original master. “It’s always been smudgy, smeary and blocky,” said SKiN GRAFT’s Mark Fischer. “Just as it was shot 30 years ago.”
According to vocalist Al Johnson, the video was filmed in an elevator in a warehouse on Grand Avenue. The choice of location seems fitting given the band’s roots—U.S. Maple formed in early 1995 in Chicago near the intersection of Grand and Western Avenues, where they laid out their blueprint for a broken, fractured version of rock and roll.
Dryer, who had worked as director of photography on previous videos for Shorty and Melt-Banana, took the lead on this one. “It’s 3/4″ video from 1996. Film was a way better option at the time but obviously very expensive… but I like the crusty quality of old video,” he said.
Mark Fischer initially misremembered the location. “All of these years I thought it shot in the elevator at the old building Touch and Go, SKiN GRAFT and Dischord Records’ old distributor Southern operated out of. I went up and down in that thing more times than I care to imagine and shared rides with thousands of Jesus Lizard / Nirvana Split 7”s, Fugazi CDs and a fair number of U.S. Maple aluminum sleeved LPs. Back in the 90’s, those Chicago freight elevators really did all look the same.”
Guitarist Todd Rittmann later clarified: “Yes! It was shot entirely in the service elevator of some industrial loft that is undoubtedly luxury condos now. Maybe this is a glimpse into pre-gentrified Fulton Market Chicago?” He added, “I remember Andrew was enthusiastic, professional, and fast. Really fun to work with. I was very happy with the results even though we were all hamming it up a little. Especially me :/ nerves.”
The reissue marks the first vinyl pressing of “Long Hair In Three Stages” in its full colored format, with the LP including a bonus track, “Found A Place To Have My Kittens,” previously unavailable on CD or digital formats. Originally recorded with Jim O’Rourke at Solid Sound Studios in Hoffman Estates, Illinois, this was reportedly O’Rourke’s first proper session with a rock band—and the session where he “started smoking,” according to label notes.
The band’s chaotic sound—erratic drums, mangled vocals, soured melodies—was established on this debut and cemented through tours with Melt-Banana and a Peel Session for the BBC. The album landed at #85 on Alternative Press’s list of the “90 Greatest Albums of the ’90s.”
