Romeo Void Archives - Medialoper

Album: Never Say Never EP
Year: 1981.

. . .

Romeo Void so quickly followed up their debut album with a four-song EP, it was clear they’d recorded a song and they couldn’t wait for people to hear it. And they were right, as the EP was named for not just their greatest song, but one of the great dance-punk songs of all time, the timeless “Never Say Never,” which stretched out over six glorious minutes and basically dwarfed the other songs on the EP.

While they did stick a shorter version of “Never Say Never” as the opening track of their second album, 1982’s Benefactor and a remixed version on their 1991 best of Warm, In Your Coat, the original is the one to seek out. Opening with guitarist Peter Woods scratching his guitar like he’s auditioning for the Gang of Four, and almost instantly falling into a groove with bassist Frank Zincavage and new drummer Larry Carter, the band is already cooking by the time Deborah Iyall starts singing, her voice distorted and reverbed.

Album: It’s A Condition
Year: 1981

. . .

Like a lot of the bands that came out on San Francisco’s 415 Records in the very very early 1980s, Romeo Void seemed to spring out of nowhere with a sound very much their own, which featured the danceable rhythms of bassist Frank Zincavage & drummer John Haines; the everything-in-its-right-place guitar of Peter Woods, the avant-garde-adjacent sax of Benjamin Bossi, and of course, the ice queen vocals of Deborah Iyall, who at some point I discovered grew up in Fresno.

I’m not sure if I knew that in 1981, but what I did know was that It’s A Condition had a few songs that I really loved, most of all the final song on the first side, “White Sweater,” which brings it all together.

Romeo Void

Certain Songs #2108: Romeo Void – “Never Say Never”

Certain Songs #2107: Romeo Void – “White Sweater”