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INTERNATIONAL SHIPPING INFO.

Available in standard black vinyl or deluxe edition.

Deluxe Edition: Silver Nugget Vinyl; Silver-foil jacket; Two 2-sided poster inserts (identical); Two Testors postcards (one hand-signed by Sonny Vincent); Two silver-foil Testors stickers (identical); Two Green Noise stickers (identical); One 4 x 6 glossy Testors show photo.

 

Green Noise is so proud to offer this record, all songs written by Sonny Vincent, selected and sequenced by Sonny Vincent (Testors) and winch (green noise), one side studio, one live...two guitars, drum, throat--that's it, all that Testors needed to build the raw punk sound and rip you apart...the sounds that inspired and influenced 3000+ punk bands...all songs newly remastered for maximum punch and loudness...Testors in the beginning (1976 - 1977), punk poetry set to sound, selections distilled down to the absolutely essential early recordings: PRIME PRIMITIVE. -- winch  

 

NEWLY REMASTERED by Timothy Stollenwerk of Stereophonic Mastering, working with Sonny Vincent (Testors) from September to December 2024 to create the best loud punch for each song.

Thanks to James Dixon (the punk-sniffin' dog in Australia) for the valuable assistance in helping with the selection of cuts.

Available in standard black vinyl or deluxe silver edition.

Deluxe Silver Edition:

Green Noise mail-order exclusive   

• Silver Nugget Vinyl

• Silver-foil jacket

• Two 2-sided poster inserts (identical, one for your wall, one for your record)

• Two Testors postcards (identical, but one hand-signed by Sonny Vincent).

• Two silver-foil Testors stickers (identical)

• Two Green Noise stickers (identical)

• One 4 x 6 glossy Testors show photo.

 

Green Noise Records is proud to present Prime Primitive: 1976–1977 from legendary New York City punk band Testors. Capturing the band’s earliest studio and live recordings, this LP offers a 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. Painfully 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 captures Testors the way they were meant to be heard—on vinyl, no CDs, no digital downloads. Just the real-deal slab, in an exclusive silver foil jacket for punks to have and to hold.

Prime Primitive offers 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, Radiation 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 4x6 photo from the era. This 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 isn’t nostalgia. It’s recognition. And it’s long overdue.
Order New Album from Flight 13 (DE)
Order New Album from Sonic Rendezvous (NL)

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 4x6 photo from the era. This 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 isn’t nostalgia. It’s recognition. And it’s long overdue.

 

Side One (Studio):

1) Primitive (1976)

2) You Don't Break My Heart (1976)      

3) Voltaire (1976)

4) Hey You (1977)

5) Let’s Get Zooed Out (1977)

6) I See (1977)

7) MK Ultra (1977)

8) Stall (1977)

9) Don't Tell Me (1977)

            

Side Two (Live):        

            10) Awmaw - Live (1976)

            11) Motor Drive - live (1977)

            12) Remembrance - live (1977)

            13) Madra's Prison - live (1977)

            14) Purpose - live (1977) 

 

Remastered songs are not available digitally (might never be...but might be available from Sonny at some point).



 

 

 

“Testors erupted on the New York scene at the epicenter of the punk rock explosion in 1976. Little has been known about this band until now, due to their fiery temperament and desire to burn every bridge in sight. Their incendiary sound consisted of dueling guitar noise, scrappy garage bashing and Sonny Vincent’s street poetry. Their earliest recordings are considerably tougher, louder and more desperate than any other music made at the time (or since!). Testors were a beautiful mess. Absolutely one of the most raw, catastrophic, and shocking bands to ever grace the stage of Max’s Kansas City and CBGB’s during the mid-70s punk heyday.” -- Swami 

 

"This music stands the test of time.  Painfully delicate, unabashed, unrepentant, explosive, and savagely persuasive, 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 Testors never got their due: a band like this could have and should have changed everything."

 

MAXIMUM ROCK N ROLL:  "classic NYC punk...this all canonical shit…fuckin’ hell, unbeatable."

 

"The Testors were a New York City punk rock band when it meant a lot to be one. They were contemporaries of great bands like the Ramones, Richard Hell and the Voidoids, and the Heartbreakers, and Sonny Vincent was the guitarist and vocalist. They had that late seventies New York sound with a lot of rock’n’roll and a lot of skinny-city-kid attitude. It fits right in with early stuff by The Cramps or stuff from the Dead Boys’ Young Loud and Snotty."  -- Razorcake 

 

In 1977, America was listening to a few albums on repeat by bands such as Foreigner, Styx, Eagles, Boston, Meatloaf, Bee Gees, Fleetwood Mac, Jackson Browne, Kansas, Clapton, Steely Dan, and Peter Frampton...but don’t let that fool you into thinking it was all a bunch of bullshit. 1977 was of course an amazing year, offered many seminal records that defined the era and created the future, two from Ramones, debut albums from Suicide, Heartbreakers, Richard Hell & The Voidoids, Talking Heads, Television, Blondie (actually late in 1976), and that’s just NYC!  Elsewhere, we got many key second albums...EPs and singles from Cleveland to London...multiple P-Funk albums...AC/DC...Thin Lizzy Bad Reputation...and debut albums by The Clash, The Damned, Sex Pistols, The Boys, The Stranglers, Wire, Buzzcocks, Ian Dury, Cheap Trick, Elvis Costello, the Dead Boys, The Real Kids, The Saints, Radio Birdman… We didn’t get The Testors debut, but we sure should have!  This is the album that could've been, should've been, here 'tis.  Sonny Vincent had been playing shows and recording tracks in NYC since the beginning of the 1970s, started recording and performing as Testors in 1976, one live and 3 studio tracks from that year included on this release, the others here from 1977.  It was just one year, but it was an amazing one, so being one of the best albums of 1977 makes it one of the best albums of all time.  And this one stands next to any of them.  You give me my 20 albums to take to my island, this Testors album is in the crate.  There's nothing else like it so nothing could replace it.  If you hold up either of those two Ramones albums, and ask if this is the greatest album of all time, I’m going to say YES!  If you hold up Thin Lizzy – Bad Reputation (my first new-release 8-track purchase as a kid) and ask if it’s the greatest album of all time, I’m going to say YES!  And if you hold up this Testors album and ask if this is the greatest album ever recorded, I’m saying YES!  Sometimes I say that, but when I return to the record, I might downgrade it just slightly.  But not with this one.  The more I listen, the more I love it.  It is the greatest album ever recorded.  -- winch (green noise)

 

 

Get your Testors T-shirts and all the other great Sonny Vincent recordings directly from Sonny from his Bandcamp page.