Our occasional series “Secret History” features profiles of classic D.C. albums as a way of looking back at the District’s contributions to music over time. This time around we revisit the Make-Up’s fiery debut LP, Destination: Love; LIVE! At Cold Rice (Dischord, 1996).

Rising from the ashes of visionary amplified propaganda-peddlers the Nation of Ulysses, the Make-Up explored the intersection between gospel, soul, garage and punk as ex-Ulysses nationals Ian Svenonius (vocals), James Canty (guitar and organ), and Steve Gamboa (drums) set their sights on a sound equal parts James Brown and Iggy Pop, Booker T and the MC5, Stax-Volt and Dischord, with a healthy dose of Serge Gainsbourg and liberation theology thrown in for good measure. It was a heady mix, with Svenonius’s soulful swagger and feverish, sermon-like proclamations colliding with gritty rhythms and distorted, blown-out riffs. The Make-Up — which also featured Olympia, Washington transplant Michelle Mae on bass and vocals — were an exciting addition to the vibrant D.C. scene, a unique and galvanizing force of nature done up in matching uniforms and call-and-response interplay.

According to Svenonius, simplicity was key to the Make-Up’s sound, an approach borne as much from necessity as from desire. “We actually had to be simple,” the vocalist tells DCist. “Steve was playing drums and he had just started playing drums. James was playing guitar and he had just started playing guitar. Both of them had kind of switched instruments [from Nation of Ulysses, where Canty played drums and Gamboa played guitar]. There was a consciousness about that — let’s make this fresh, and kind of unlearn what we’ve learned. Because our former groups were loud, we didn’t want to be so loud. We wanted to be dynamic in a way that rock bands aren’t typically.”