Things, The
Some Things Else
The Things released three albums in the 1980s. Two on Voxx RecordsColoured Heaven (1984) and Outside My Window (1986)and a third, Things (1988), on Epitaph Records. I was constantly writing new songs for the band because I was convinced there would be a fourth, fifth, and sixth album. I was always thinking about the next record. That's what bands do, right? You keep making new music. By the time we finished recording Outside My Window, we had a stockpile of material ready to work with. Around that time, Larry Klein bought a used ½inch Otari 8track recorder and set up a makeshift studio in his living room. Not having to pay for studio time, we started recording all these songs. We recorded anything and everything we felt like recording. It became a regular thing. We'd get together, set up a few microphones, turn on the recorder, plug in the instruments, and stay up all night to see what would happen. Sometimes nothing happened. But sometimes, magic happened. You never knew. We didn't have a producer. There were no recordcompany executives to please. We did what we wanted, when we wanted. It was a very creative periodand a ton of fun. All of the songs on this record were recorded this way. A few of them made it to the stage for live shows, but most have never seen the light of day until now. I've sat on these recordings for nearly 40 years, assuming they'd be lost to the ages. While working with Massimo Del Pozzo at Teen Sound Records on the reissues of the first two Things records, he asked if we had any outtakes. I sent him several songs from these sessions. With his encouragement, we decided they were strong enough to stand on their own as a separate album. These tracks are not polished. They were never intended to be final versions. Let alone released on record. They're rough, raw, and imperfect. But in an era of AIgenerated, digitally perfected music, rough, raw, and imperfect might just sound new again. Maybe now is the perfect time to let these tunes go. Steve Crabtree, 2026