The Plasmatic: The Vice Squad Recordings 1978 – 1979 (Transparent Red Vinyl)

The Vice Squad Recordings 1978-1979 is a 2022 Plasmatics compilation LP that pulls together the band’s three very early self-released Vice Squad Records-era releases: Butcher Baby, Dream Lover, and Meet The Plasmatics. Official and retailer descriptions frame it as a collection of the group’s formative late 70s material, pressed on translucent red vinyl. 

This is rough, filthy, pre-major-label Plasmatics at their most dangerous. Before the chainsaw iconography became legend and before Wendy O. Williams turned into one of punk’s most notorious frontwomen, this material already had the chaos fully baked in. The songs sound feral, sleazy, confrontational, and proudly out of control, which is exactly why this set matters. It captures the band before polish, before crossover, and before anyone had figured out how to contain them.