Contributed by BrandonSideleau, Posted by Henry Rollins

Henry Rollins' 2.13.61 record label recently re-released the infamous and long out of print 4 song EP by Negative Trend. The former Black Flag frontman had this to say about the release:

About 25 years ago, I found a single at Skip Groff's Yesterday and Today record store that has remained one of my favorite 7" records of all time: The Negative Trend EP. I knew nothing about the band and probably bought it because it was only two dollars. The first time I played the four song EP, I was blown away by the heaviness of the band and the dark intensity of the singer. It occurred to me that these were not boys but angry men who played with malice. Many of us in the DC scene got the record and immediately became fans. Over the years I would see the Negative Trend record here and there, mostly bootlegged versions of the 7" and the occasional copy of the 12" re-release. At one point in the late 90's, I asked the band's drummer Steve DePace what was happening with the Negative Trend record and told him if I ever found out where the tapes were, I was going to put that record out so everyone could hear it. Early this year, I found them and we're releasing the EP on CD. Steve from Subterranean Records mastered the record from the master mix tapes at Fantasy Studios in Berkeley CA and we worked off my single for the artwork. The tape held up over all these years and the mastering is fantastic. The Negative Trend EP never sounded better. I am so excited to be releasing this record on my label.

Negative Trend included Will Shatter and Steve Depace, who went on to be in Flipper, as well as Craig Gray who was in the Toiling Midgets.


  1. Mercenaries
  2. Meat House
  3. Black and Red
  4. How Ya Feelin’?

Steve DePace - Drums (Later in Flipper)
Will Shatter - Bass (Later in Flipper)
Craig Gray - Guitar (Later in the Toiling Midgets)
Mikal Waters - Vocal -- Produced by Debbie Dub and Negative Trend
Engineered by Stu the Hippy
Recorded: June 1978 - San Francisco CA