Skewbald/Grand Union (EP)

Commonly known as simply Skewbald,^[2] Skewbald/Grand Union was a short-lived hardcore punk band from Washington, D.C., founded by Ian MacKaye and Jeff Nelson, after their previous band, Minor Threat, broke up for their first time^[3][4] in September 1981.^{[nb 1][5]} Their lineup was rounded out by guitarist Edward Janney^{[nb 2][7]} and bassist John Falls.^{[nb 3][2][3][4][6][8][9]}

The band's strange name was a result of a friendly dispute between MacKaye and Nelson. The four-piece was initially named Grand Union, after a nearby grocery store. MacKaye then found the word "skewbald" in a dictionary, and thought it was a better name. Nelson, however, still preferred Grand Union.^[3] The two were unable to favor either title, and the disagreement was never settled.^{[2][4][6][8][9]}

In November 1981, the band recorded three untitled demo songs, not originally intended for release, in a self-produced session, engineered by Don Zientara at Inner Ear Studios in Arlington, Virginia.^[2][6][8] After recording, the rehearsals came to a halt and Falls left the project.^[2] Eventually, MacKaye moved from vocals to bass and the band practiced as a three-piece a few more times in early 1982, but Skewbald/Grand Union, who never came to play a show, was dissolved upon the reformation of Minor Threat in the spring of 1982.^{[nb 4][2][4][6][9][11][12]}

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[13]

For ten years, the recordings of Skewbald/Grand Union^[14] made the rounds in tape trading circles and some erroneously believed that the songs were Minor Threat outtakes.^[2][4]

In 1991, the demo received a proper release, on 7-inch clear vinyl, when Dischord Records issued the one-sided EP Skewbald/Grand Union^{[nb 5][4][6]} to commemorate the label's 50th release.^[2] Two out of the three songs were merged on the first track.

Skewbald/Grand Union was reissued as a CD EP^{[nb 6][1]} in October 1997.^[1][6][15] Individual tracks were made also available as digital downloads.^[1]

In 2002, the medley "Sorry/Change for the Same" was featured on the 3-CD compilation box set 20 Years of Dischord.^{[nb 7][16][17]}

All tracks written by Skewbald/Grand Union

1. "Side One" (unofficially known as "Sorry / Change for the Same") (2:54)
2. "Side Two" (unofficially known as "You're Not Fooling Me") (1:13)

• Ian MacKaye – vocals^[1]
• Edward Janney – guitar
• John Falls – bass
• Jeff Nelson – drums

Production

• Skewbald – production
• Don Zientara – engineering

• 2 Songs at Dischord Records
• Skewbald at Dischord Records
• Skewbald/Grand Union at AllMusic
• Skewbald/Grand Union at Discogs (list of releases)