by: Jeanne Morris

How do you keep fans from forgetting about your band when you have no new material to release and have been on vacation the past year?

If you are the 10,000 Maniacs, you remix old songs and tour the college circuit.

The 10,000 Maniacs - who will perform Saturday at 8 p.m. at St. Anslem College in Manchester - are counting on their release, Hope Chest, to fill the void while they put together new material.

"It takes a year and a half for a new album," drummer Jerome Augustyniak explained last week. "People think you've dropped off the face of the earth in the interim."

Yet, it remains to be seen if the band's name will re-emerge from the silence with its three-week-old release. Quirkier and more offbeat than the band's album In My Tribe (1987) which brought them sudden stardom, Hope Chest may go unnoticed by all but the band's devoted underground followers of the early 1980s.

Their original material incorporated English rock and island rhythm influences with elements of country, bluegrass, folk, and spirit-filled poetry.

Lyricist/singer Natalie Merchant's razor-sharp poetry and social awareness, however, is similiar to later releases.

Hope Chest is filled with songs from the first two 10,000 Maniacs independent releases Human Conflict Number Five (1982) and Secrets of the I Ching (1983). After the release of Secrets of the I Ching, English disc jockey John Peel took a shine to the cut, My Mother the War, which later became an underground hit in England and reached number 26 on Peel's listener's poll.

It didn't go unnoticed by band members that its early releases (both long unavailable and highly collectible) were commanding as much as $ 250 from devoted fans. The apparent demand, combined with requests to re-release the music, convinced some band members a new album of the old songs would be timely.

Following the release and tour of their last album, Blind Man's Zoo (1989), band members took a hiatus of sorts to pursue their individual interests which included homeownership, marriage, relocation, travel, and collaborations with other musicians.

"It was a little scary, but I knew deep down we'd come back," said Augustyniak who got married and played with other musicians during the break from the band. "This album stands up to anything we've ever done."