Formed in 1985 in Athens, GA by David Barbe (Bob Mould’s Sugar), Mercyland’s blast of post-punk was ahead of its time. The band was nourished by a steady diet of the Minutemen’s Double Nickels on the Dime, Husker Du’s Metal Circus, Meat Puppets 2, Dinosaur Jr’s Yr Living All Over Me, Volcano Suns, and Mission of Burma. There were few experiences as exhilarating as seeing Mercyland tear up sweaty rock clubs like Athens’ own 40 Watt on a Friday night. Mercyland frequently left clubbers up and down the east coast in a meltdown. The group disbanded in 1991 and the nine songs marking their first official collective release here are a necessary historical document of the end of the criminally unknown band. The time for Mercyland to be better known is now.