Essential Demo - Three Shades of Dirty - Paper Roses

This is the greatest demo tape you've never heard. It was the greatest demo tape I ever discovered. There is virtually no information on Three Shades of Dirty surfing around the internet. They were a trio from Annapolis, MD who released a 8 song EP in 1990 called Paper Roses on the Vermin Scum label. Vermin Scum housed the best of late 80's indie/emo/hardcore with bands like Moss Icon, The Hated, Choke, and even Glass Candy (yes, Glass Candy. I saw them for like 20 minutes at Rifflandia it was better than I expected).

Three Shades of Dirty were formed out of the ashes of The Hated. I wish there was more info about this band, and I stand by the belief that if this EP were released today as a demo it would be devoured and then fought over by a number of labels. The music was ahead of its time, and because of poor distribution they band had moved on way before anyone heard it. Theres a bit of a cult following on the internet but still its relatively small. So, behold Paper Roses. The stereo balance is a bit screwed at the start of the first track but it sorts itself out halfway through.

Three Shades of Dirty - Paper Roses EP