Even Worse

Even Worse were a New York City punk band whose ever-changing lineups were consistently anchored by founder and drummer Jack Rabid. Denizens of the city's pre-hardcore scene, Even Worse initially formed in April 1980 in order to open for fellow N.Y.C. punks the Stimulators. Still in their teens, they gigged around Manhattan for their first year before the initial lineup fell apart and Rabid enlisted the personnel who would make the band's first recorded appearance. The 1981-1982 lineup featuring singer Rebecca Korbet, bassist Eric Keil, and guitarist Robert Weeks appeared regularly on the scene and contributed two songs to ROIR's seminal 1982 thrash compilation New York Thrash. The compilation also included Bad Brains, the Undead, Heart Attack, and the Beastie Boys' first recordings. Also with this lineup, Even Worse recorded an entire LP's worth of material that remained unreleased during their brief career but was finally issued on CD in 2002. A new, completely different lineup rose in mid-1982 featuring Steve Waxman and Sonic Youth's Thurston Moore on guitar along with singer Ken Tempkin and bassist Tim Sommer, the latter of whom would soon form experimental group Hugo Largo and become an MTV host. This version of the band recorded a handful of singles, the first of which, "Mouse or Rat?," wouldn't see release until 1984. Their second single, "Leaving," was eventually released in 1988, by which time the band had essentially called it quits. In addition to forming the post-punk trio Springhouse, Rabid is known for founding the music magazine The Big Takeover. In 2017, Even Worse's lost 1982 album got a second reissue, this time on deluxe vinyl, from Radiation Records. ~ Timothy Monger