"Parts of Salem 66's early set evoked R.E.M., the Talking Heads, the B-52's and, particularly in the drumming of Susan Merriam, the Velvet Underground...Salem 66 seemed untouched by any impulse to reach out to the crowd; instead, the band relied on its songs to draw listeners in."  - The New York Times 

"Salem 66 [bring] a rare moment of introspection amid the fury, its edgy guitars and melodic foreboding contrasting with Judy Grunwald's and Beth Kaplan's angelic altos. If you're looking for the sound of underground America in revolt, here 'tis, in all its frenzied glory."  - Rolling Stone 

"There's a distantly remembered pop sensibility, warped into an almost confrontational darkness. You spiral into the terror and smile every inch of the way" Melody Maker "I could go on about Frequency and Urgency's seductions -lush guitars, odd melodic hooks that pop out of nowhere, the blurry Impressionist sound - but it's the indecisive stance of the lyrics that makes this record so alluring."  - Village Voice

Salem 66 were founded by Judy Grunwald, Beth Kaplan and Susan Merriam in Boston in 1982. A major part of a thriving Boston scene that produced bands like Mission of Burma and Dinosaur Jr (Dinosaur Jr's first New York show was notably an opening slot for Salem 66 at Folk City), the band were ahead of their time.

They were one of the few women-led bands in their scene, and made their mark with an adventurous blend of arty post-punk (they notably covered Wire's "Fragile") and melodic pop. Between 1984 and 1990 they released one self-titled EP, 2 singles and 4 albums, 1985's A Ripping Spin, 1987's Frequency & Urgency, 1988's Natural Disasters, National Treasures, and 1990's Down The Primrose Path (produced by Sean Slade and Paul Q. Kolderie who went on to produce Radiohead’s Pablo Honey and Hole’s Live Through This), all on the venerable New York imprint Homestead Records, label home to bands like Sonic Youth, Big Black and The Chills. The band earned comparisons to R.E.M., The Talking Heads and The Velvet Underground from The New York Times, and further praise from outlets like Rolling Stone, CREEM and the Village Voice. They shared stages with The Replacements, Mission of Burma, the Go-Betweens, the Wipers, the Saints and the Raincoats, and toured across the country on multiple occasions, but despite their prominence in the '80s, the Salem 66 catalog has been out of print for decades and their music has never been available on streaming. 

Today, we are announcing a new compilation entitled SALT, and have made the band's music available on all streaming services for the first time. To mark the announce the band are sharing a recently unearthed video for their song "Lucky Penny." 

Beth Kaplan says of the reissue:

 "We were a long time putting together this re-release, and it has been a journey - from finding the pictures to not finding the master tapes, from writing up some thoughts to deciding which songs to include here. Judy and I picked the songs and it wasn’t easy. After exploring and rejecting more scientific methods, ultimately we decided to just highlight some of our favorites, or, the songs that felt the most like us. So what you see (or hear) here is not necessarily a representative sampling from all of the recordings but it does feel, to me, like a pretty good Salem 66 sampler. Like a cross-stitch. Or a Whitman’s Sampler.

 "I hope you enjoy this record. If you were there with us, on the scene, whether in Boston or another town, I hope this brings you back to those youthful, passionate, perfectly imperfect days. If the band or the songs are new to you, or if you were born a generation or two after the fact, I hope you enjoy a glimpse at this sliver of a sliver of history."

 The band's catalog is available on all streaming services now, and the SALT compilation will be available on June 6th via Don Giovanni. 

Pre-order Salt
"Lucky Penny" Music Video
Salem 66 on Instagram
Salem 66 on Bandcamp
Salem 66 at Don Giovanni Records