When i was in 8th grade, i had my parents take me to the Wherehouse one night so i could buy New Order's Substance (cassette of course, this was 1988), which i'd heard at a friend's birthday party a few weeks earlier. Actually, i'd only heard "True Faith", but my curiosity was piqued nonetheless. On the way home in the Vanagon i put it on the tape player, and lied to my parents when they asked me if i knew the songs ... despite "Ceremony" and "Everything's Gone Green" being completely foreign i naturally answered "oh yeah, i know this song too". After multiple listens on the Sony boombox in my room, my affection for New Order increased and i soon picked up Power, Corruption, and Lies and Brotherhood from their backcatalog. I also recall trying in vain to convert the True Faith 12" to tape by placing a tape recorder in front of my parent's phono speakers.

I would visit Rainbow Records every few weeks or so, always wandering over to the New Order section to see if there was anything new. I became used to flipping past Stephen Morris's face on Low-Life, Peter Saville's roses on PC&L, the aqua block shapes on Movement, and the blue wash of Brotherhood. However, one day in 1989 there was something new ... a bunch of heretofore unseen cassettes with a gray cover and a neon image of a cherubic statue. Technique had been released, but this was the first i'd heard of it since i was as yet totally insulated from any sort of music news outlet. What a feeling ... like getting a present that you had no idea was coming. In a lot of ways i'm still trying to recapture that feeling with music ... searching for a completely unknown band that hits you like a punch in the gut.