Before the legendary ROIR cassette, before the 1982 debut album and before Bad Brains became one of the most ferocious bands in American hardcore, there was this. "Are You Ready: The First Studio Recording" captures the band at Inner Ear in March 1979 - six tracks recorded a full three years before their self-titled debut, including the first-ever studio recording of "Pay To Cum".

This is Bad Brains right at the beginning, already ridiculously fast, tight and explosive, and it's bloody amazing that these recordings have taken this long to receive an official release. The session has been mixed by Ian MacKaye and mastered by Pete Lyman at Infrasonic, with the release produced in cooperation with Bad Brains themselves.

One-sided 12" with a laser-etched B-side featuring artwork by Darryl Jenifer, plus a double-sided insert with archival photos and liner notes by Alec MacKaye.