Pitchblende’s Kill Atom Smasher Returns in a Sharper Remaster

Pitchblende formed in Washington, D.C. in 1991, and the name was a statement of intent: pitchblende is another word for uraninite, the uranium-rich mineral Marie Curie processed to isolate polonium and radium. Guitarists Justin Chearno and Treiops Treyfid had advertised in the alt-weekly City Paper for a bassist and drummer into Mission of Burma, Live Skull, Sonic Youth and William Shatner. Patrick Gough answered, drawn in by the Shatner clause. Scott DeSimon joined after a party conversation that began with a Mission of Burma t-shirt. Within months, the four had a full set and a demo.

Early 1992 brought their debut 7-inch, with “Sum” carrying Sonic Youth’s influence into something gloomier and more agile. A three-song EP followed on Jade Tree Records, where “The Weed Slam,” “Ask Rexella” and “Ursa Minor” set clanging dissonance, phaser noise and a screamo breakdown against a Slint influence sent hurtling through space.

Chicago label Fist Puppet signed them next. Their debut album, Kill Atom Smasher, was recorded in 1992 at Inner Ear, the studio Dischord favored, with Eli Janney of Girls Against Boys. Pitchblende were never on Dischord’s roster, but they worked in its orbit.

The new remaster gives the record greater low-end definition and more separation between instruments. For music this dense, that is not a cosmetic upgrade. It is the difference between hearing the band’s ideas and hearing them collide.