Though Dischord is still going strong today, their roster's output during the '90s was, by comparison, totally unrivaled in DC-- for some, it's still as simple as the "F" word (I'll give you a hint, it ends in "ugazi"). Among the other greats are Baltimore post-hardcore veterans Lungfish, who, lamentably, have been inactive since 2005. However, Dischord will be continuing in their recent trend of crucial archiving by releasing A.C.R. 1999, a collection from the original recording sessions for their 2000 album Necrophones at A.C.R. Studios in Baltimore. The band ended up re-recording many of the tracks at Inner Ear Studios in Arlington, VA, but four of them never saw release, including "Screams of Joy," available for stream below. During the latter half of the '90s, many of the area's best post-punk provocateurs were turning slowly away from the accepted definition of hardcore via left turn. Lungfish were an exception, constantly honing their heavy riffed beginnings into a singular vision that owed as much to psych-rock's gifts of hypnosis as to punk's diverging legacy.

A.C.R. 1999 is out May 14th on Dischord