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Alan Vega's self-titled debut solo album was released in 1980 during the sameperiod Suicide released their second album, Suicide Alan Vega and Martin Rev.While Suicide's tag ZE Records was interested in pushing the duo toward asynthetic disco sound inspired by Moroder's production on Donna Summer'sInchI Feel Love,Inch Vega felt a pull in a different direction. He wanted to dig deeper intothe roots of his own sonic identity, fueled by blues, rockabilly, early rock n roll,and his enduring love for Elvis Presley. Filling the gaps between recording withSuicide, and fleshing out the songs he was writing on his own, Vega started creat-ing his first record and performing live to develop this sound.As with his visual art, Vega layered sound in a minimalist, dynamic and inten-tional way. The result was a fiercely singular album built from raw materials anddeeply rooted in Vega's artistic vision. Tracks like the classic anthem InchJukeboxBabeInch with it's jiving rhythm and minimalist swagger, captured that approachcompletely and went on to become a hit in France. InchKung Foo CowboyInch takes ona southern twist, strongly leaning into the blues, while the golden pop shine ofInchIce DrummerInch rings in melodic yet plaintive vocals, marching drums and a taste-ful harmonica solo. InchBye Bye BayouInch is a haunted slice of mutant rockabilly thatfuses 50s rock with Vega's eccentric performance style and was later reimaginedin the 2009 cover by LCD Soundsystem, introducing Vega's solo work to a newgeneration. Similarly, The Flaming Lips' cover of InchIce DrummerInch paid homageto Vega's outsider spirit.Now remastered by Josh Bonati from the original tapes and available on stream-ing services for the first time, Alan Vega has been faithfully reissued by SacredBones Records, preserving the raw intensity of Vega's original recordings whilemaking them newly accessible to listeners aro
