Germs – What We Do Is Secret

Can anyone that this version is NOT a bootleg? It seems to be a curiosity that could use some additional explanatory notes. It has all the same info listed as the limited ed., blue vinyl, 45rpm official reissue on ORG/Slash of the original EP released for RSD 2018 but this version has a 33rpm, LP length, extended track sequence. This just happens to be the same track sequence found on unofficial/bootleg versions listed on Discogs. Stranger still is the bootleg versions claim to have blank runout areas and/or blank center labels whereas the version in this listing has the exact same matrix/runout as the shorter, 45 rpm, blue wax, officially released version mentioned above. I can personally the matrix/runout of the long version being exactly as noted in this listing. The center labels also match the 45 rpm EP reissue labels but have the correct, extended track sequencing printed on them (so a blank runout or blank label version would, in fact, be a different pressing than this). Both this version and the EP length, exact reissue of the original say they were released on the same RSD in 2018 and limited to 2250 copies. Did ORG really release two versions of this on the same RSD in 2018 and why/how would the vinyl masters for each have the exact same matrix/runout info and sleeves with the exact same barcode but different track sequences printed on them? Even if it is a bootleg, recreating the same runout/matrix info as the 45rpm, official release on a completely different master is VERY odd. Can anyone out there clarify or elaborate on what the story is with this version of the record? Is it official or not?

As for the attributes of this longer version, for one, it is pressed on heavyweight black vinyl and the sound is terrific. Side 1 sounds about as good or equal to the 45rpm version. The Side 2, Cruising soundtrack session songs also sound about as good or equal to their counterparts on the Germs MIA anthology vinyl pressing. I find this longer track sequence to have a lot of merit and perhaps should have originally been released with their final 6 new studio tracks included. It’s likely that legal/licensing issues kept the complete Cruising session from being officially released for so long. So those tracks are nice to have here on Side 2 with Side 1 containing the complete original EP in its entirety. The original EP, while seemingly pieced together in a somewhat slipshod or trivial fashion out of a few live tracks and studio outtakes is actually a REALLY well curated EP and plays all the way through as a fiercely strong release, earning it’s place as the final official, period Germs release- even with it being a posthumous release.
So having that play through uninterrupted on Side 1 then having the most significant unreleased Germs recordings (Cruising session) in their entirety on side 2 makes for quite a perfect endcap to the first-wave of official Germs releases and I wouldn’t be surprised if just such an LP is what Slash Records would have liked to do if they could have at the time.
If you’re going for the best audio quality of the material on this extended version of WWDIS however I’d say the way to go is to pick up the original or the RSD 45rpm EP reissue version of WWDIS along with the extended, 3LP Cruising soundtrack on Waxwork Records which has the Germs Cruising session in its entirety, remastered from the original master tapes for vinyl. To my ears, the 3LP Cruising soundtrack is the best those final Germs studio tracks have ever sounded.
As a side note: After the What We So Is Secret EP and the Cruising 3LP, if you want to complete your Germs studio recordings and original releases collection (NOT including posthumously released live records) on vinyl you’ll only need the Germs anthology, “MIA,” on dbl LP which gives you all the 7” recordings, some outtakes and the complete GI LP and the Tooth and Nail compilation on Upsetter Records (issued in 1979 and reissued once in 1989). Tooth and Nail includes 3 Germs studio tracks not found anywhere else to this day (which should have been included on MIA). And beyond this, to round out your Germs collection with the good live stuff you’ll want to get: Germicide: Live at The Whisky 1977 (Mohawk Records), Rock N’ Rule: Live at The Masque Reunion Christmas 1979 (XES Records), Live at the Starwood Dec. 3 1980 (Rhino Records) and Cat’s Clause (a collection culled from four live shows and a rehearsal recorded in ‘79 and ‘80) on 12” LP (Radiation Records) and the Decline of Western Civilization soundtrack which has a unique, live recording of Manimal performed on a soundstage (as seen in the movie).

Got mine for peanuts.. this will do until i find a legit 45 12". No God is one of the most ferocious recordings they did.