Prime Primitive: 1976-1977, a vital archival release from legendary NYC punk band Testors on Green Noise Records. The LP features the raw power of the band’s earliest recordings, capturing the ferocity of the CBGB and Max’s Kansas City era. Included is rare footage from a 1979 Irving Plaza show, featuring candid moments with Johnny Thunders and Stiv Bators.
TESTORS: CBGB’s, Max’s-Era Icons, 1976-1977 Archival Vinyl Release (Green Noise Records) + Rare 1979 Footage Unearthed
New Album Prime Primitive: 1976-1977 Releases May 30th, 2025
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Newly Unearthed Video “Testors – 1979” at Irving Plaza
Order New Album from Green Noise
Green Noise Records is proud to present Prime Primitive: 1976-1977, a vital archival release from legendary New York City punk band Testors, available May 30, 2025. Capturing the essence of the band’s earliest studio and live recordings, this LP offers a long-overdue look at one of the rawest and most uncompromising acts to emerge from the original NYC punk underground. Founded by Sonny Vincent in 1975, Testors took shape in the grimy backrooms and sweat-soaked stages of Max’s Kansas City and CBGB-two epicenters of the East Village scene that gave rise to the Ramones, Richard Hell, the Heartbreakers, and Television. Testors stayed firmly committed to the fire and fury of pure rock’n’roll, leaving behind a trail of scorched earth and unforgettable shows-including a tour with the Dead Boys that spread their chaotic energy nationwide. Far from lacking recorded material, Testors had a wealth of songs and studio sessions, but due to their fiery temperament and their desire to burn every bridge in sight they simply rejected the compromises demanded by record companies. Their often violent, stripped-down sound helped shape the American punk blueprint that thousands of bands would follow.
Testors erupted on the New York scene at the epicenter of the punk rock explosion. Absolutely one of the best raw, catastrophic, and shocking bands to ever grace the stages of Max’s Kansas City and CBGB’s during the mid-70’s punk heyday, Their incendiary sound consisted of dueling guitar noise and Sonny Vincent’s street poetry. Testors produced music that endures over time. The music they created was painstakingly delicate, unabashed, unrepentant, explosive, and savagely persuasive. Their earliest recordings are considerably tougher, louder, and more desperate than any other music made at that time (or since), and after you let it latch onto your soul, you’re forever indebted to New York’s toughest, rawest, REALest punk band for the rest of your fucking life. It’s a crime against history that the Testors never got their due: a band like this could and should have changed everything.
Prime Primitive presents Testors in their original format-on vinyl, without the use of CDs, digital downloads, or AI. The record is presented in an exclusive silver foil jacket, perfect for true believers to possess and cherish. Adding to the celebration, a newly unearthed video titled Testors-1979, featuring rare 16mm footage of the band and candid backstage moments with Testors, the Dead Boys, and Johnny Thunders at Irving Plaza-will be available via the Green Noise Records YouTube channel. Directed and edited by Robert Luttrell, with words and music by Sonny Vincent, the video offers a raw visual snapshot of an era that refuses to fade.
Prime Primitive is a sonic time capsule of Testors at their most volatile and vital. Side A compiles nine of their early studio recordings from 1976-77-taut, feral tracks that hiss with desperation and attitude-while Side B delivers five ferocious live cuts that find the band tearing through their set with unhinged intensity. All tracks were newly remastered for this release by Timothy Stollenwerk (Stereophonic Mastering) in close collaboration with Sonny Vincent, ensuring maximum punch, grit, and clarity. Every song was written, arranged, and produced by Vincent, whose compositions and streetwise lyrics remain as bracing now as they were nearly fifty years ago. These aren’t just recordings-they’re artifacts of a cultural explosion, finally given the fidelity and sequencing they always deserved.
The LP comes housed in a silver foil jacket with a fold-out poster insert designed by Wulf Beck, visually echoing the record’s primal power and NYC origins. Limited to 500 copies worldwide, the standard edition features classic black vinyl and is distributed in Europe by Flight 13 Records and Sonic Rendezvous Records. A deluxe edition-available exclusively via mail order from Green Noise-includes silver nugget vinyl, two double-sided poster inserts, two postcards (one hand-signed by Vincent), silver-foil Testors stickers, Green Noise stickers, and a glossy 4×6 photo from the era. This release is more than a reissue-it’s a physical experience, built for fans who know punk is meant to be loud, tactile, and real.
Prime Primitive: 1976-1977 is not a lost album. It’s a carefully curated collection, assembled by Green Noise Records, restoring a crucial piece of punk history and reaffirming what those who were there already knew: Testors weren’t just another band in the scene-they were one of its most dangerous and essential voices. This collection isn’t nostalgia. It’s recognition. And it’s long overdue.
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