Wipers

Wipers were a punk rock group formed in Portland, Oregon in 1977 by guitarist Greg Sage, along with drummer Sam Henry and bassist Dave Koupal. The group's tight song structure and use of heavy distortion were hailed as extremely influential by numerous critics and musicians. The band is considered the first Pacific Northwest punk band.

History

Origins

Sage's intense interest in music began with cutting records at home as an adolescent.

Inspired by Jimi Hendrix, Sage soon picked up the guitar, and in 1971, at age 17, he played on an eponymous album by professional wrestler Beauregarde.

Foundation, early years

Sage founded the Wipers in Portland in 1977 along with drummer Henry and bassist Koupal, originally just as a recording project. The plan was to record 15 albums in 10 years without touring or promotion. Sage thought that the mystique built from the lack of playing traditional rock 'n' roll would make people listen to their recordings much deeper with only their imagination to go by. He thought it would be easy to avoid press, shows, pictures and interviews. He looked at music as art rather than entertainment; he thought music was personal to the listener rather than a commodity.

Is This Real?

Is This Real? is the debut studio album by the Portland, Oregon-based punk rock band Wipers, originally released on vinyl in January 1980 by Park Avenue Records.

The album was reissued on CD by Sub Pop in 1993, augmented by the three tracks from the Alien Boy EP.

In 2001, it was digitally remastered by Sage and reissued again on his own Zeno Records as part of a 3-CD set, with the track list altered so that the song "Alien Boy" appeared together with the other three tracks from the Alien Boy EP, after "Wait a Minute".

It was reissued on LP by Jackpot Records in 2006, remastered again from the original tapes that Sage provided to the label.

Release and reception

Initially wanting to put it out through his own Trap Records, Sage decided to release the album through Park Avenue Records, hoping that it would give them slightly wider distribution. Before it was released, Park Avenue insisted that the band re-record the album at a professional studio, as it was originally recorded at the band's rehearsal studio on a 4-track recorder. When finally released, the album was not promoted and received little attention, only developing a cult following in the band's hometown. The album (and the band's music in general) gained a slightly wider audience during the early 1990s when grunge band Nirvana covered the songs "Return of the Rat" and "D-7" on a Wipers tribute album and the group's Hormoaning EP. In 1993, Nirvana vocalist/guitarist Kurt Cobain listed Is This Real? at No. 46 in the top 50 albums he thought were most influential to Nirvana's sound in his Journals.BBC Radio 1 DJ John Peel stated in a 1993 interview that it was one of his top 20 favorite albums, and "Wait a Minute" was covered by My Vitriol on their "Cemented Shoes" single in 2000.

Grand Theft Auto V

Grand Theft Auto V is an open world, action-adventure video game developed by Rockstar North and published by Rockstar Games. It was released on 17 September 2013 for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, on 18 November 2014 for the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, and on 14 April 2015 for Microsoft Windows. The game is the first main entry in the Grand Theft Auto series since 2008's Grand Theft Auto IV. Set within the fictional state of San Andreas, based on Southern California, the single-player story follows three criminals and their efforts to commit heists while under pressure from a government agency. The open world design lets players freely roam San Andreas's open countryside and fictional city of Los Santos, based on Los Angeles.

The game is played from either a first-person or third-person view and its world is navigated on foot or by vehicle. Players control the three lead protagonists throughout single-player and switch between them both during and outside of missions. The story is centred on the heist sequences, and many missions involve shooting and driving gameplay. A "wanted" system governs the aggression of law enforcement response to players who commit crimes. Grand Theft Auto Online, the online multiplayer mode, lets up to 30 players explore the open world and engage in cooperative or competitive game matches.

Youth of America

Youth of America is the second studio album by Portland, Oregon-based punk rock band Wipers. It was released in 1981 by record label Park Avenue.

Background

The album marked a distinctive change in the band's sound. Compared to its predecessor, Is This Real?, which was composed mostly of raw, sleek and relatively traditional songs, Youth of America featured much longer and complex compositions; the title track alone clocks in at over 10 minutes. According to frontman Greg Sage, this change of pace was a deliberate counter-reaction against the trend of releasing short songs, which many punk bands did at the time.

Reception

According to Sage, the album was not well received in the United States at the time of its release, but fared better in Europe.

Reissue

Youth of America was later reissued on record labels Backbone and Restless, with different covers for each, and on Sage's own Zeno Records as disc 2 of the Wipers Box Set, albeit with a different running order to the original vinyl issue.

The Circle

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