Poison Idea Blank Blackout Vacant

When it came to the follow-up of their 1990 magnum opus Feel The Darkness, failure was not an option for Poison Idea. Seeking a way to expand their musical horizons while still retaining their cranked-up style, UK-cum-Chicagoian producer Iain Burgess (Big Black, The Effigies, Naked Raygun) was brought in to assist in this audacious feat. The results—1992’s Blank Blackout Vacant—successfully showcased a meshing of Poison Idea's classically surging sound and a new found refinement: demonstrated by the brass section on tracks like the driving opener “Say Goodbye” or the chugging, Motörhead-esque “Forever and Always”. Rolling on with their relentless reissue schedule for Portland’s Kings of Punk, TKO replenishes the double-disc edition of Blank Blackout Vacant first introduced back in the maddening year of 2020. Along with the album’s original batch of thirteen tracks capped off by a thundering version of New York Dolls'’ “Vietnamese Baby”, you get a bonus LP containing a bevy of B-Sides, covers by acts as disparate as Lords Of The New Church, The Who, and Booker T. & The MGs., as well as a live on-air performance on Portland’s long-running community radio station Kboo from the Fall of 1991. Originally released at a pivotal point in the band's career, Blank Blackout Vacant remains an essential component in the understanding of the band's epic trajectory.