Label NewsJanuary 1, 2010: Welcome to 2010! 2009 was a great year for Sorry State, with the label releasing great records by Shards, Tramps, Smart Cops and the Shitty Limits and carrying our distro all over the US, Canada, and Europe with Logic Problem. 2010 promises to be an even bigger year with more records, an even more killer distro and hopefully more shows and tours. So here's an update of what's coming soon...
First of all, please note that postage rates go up on January 4. If you want to get one last order in before then now is the time! Sorry State's next 3 7" releases will be added to the webstore over the next week or two as they're ready. First is the new 7" from Sweden's Thurneman, which is already available for order. We'll soon be adding the new 7"s from Bukkake Boys and Sceptres, so keep checking the site and/or the Twitter feed if you want to grab the limited mailorder versions of those before we run out. Now for my monthly update on the Double Negative LP... as of early December things were looking great. About 3/4 of the tracks were done--mixed and ready to be mastered--while just a few tracks needed some final backing vocals and guitar overdubs before the band settled on a final mix. Well, Around December 9, someone broke into Double Negative's practice space and stole the portable digital studio that they were using to record the album. This data was not backed up, though thankfully we have a few CDs containing final mixes of the songs that were finished. So, at this point 3/4 of the record is done and Double Negative will be working with Will Evans at Aleph Audio (who recorded Logic Problem's No Center EP as well as both Shards cassettes) on the remaining tracks, hopefully finishing sometime this month. If you want to read more about the situation you can check out -/- drummer Brian Walsby's blog here: http://introvertedloudmouth.blogspot.com/2009/12/jennifer-thomas-and-her-stolen-portable.html. Our other big LP release of early 2010, the debut full-length by Boston's Libyans, is similarly at the final stages of completion but stalled for the moment. The band has tracked all the music and Liz has done vocals for most of the songs, but unfortunately she came down with a nasty bout of the swine flu in the middle of the recording session, which prevented her from finishing things up. Libyans are currently in Europe on a short tour (where they're selling a tape featuring 4 of the tracks from the upcoming LP), but they'll be back by the end of the month and hopefully finishing up this ripper. As for 7"s, there are several still at the early / conceptual stage. The closest to being sent off is probably the new Wormeaters 7", which has been recorded but needs a little more work on the mix before it's ready. Nowhere Fast and UX Vileheads should both be recording soon, so hopefully those will be out sometime in the spring. In Sorry State-related news, Devour's upcoming 7", titled Insect Circuitry, has been recorded and mixed and Headcount Records will be sending this ripper off to the pressing plant any day now. The EP features 5 tracks that pick up right where the first LP left off. You can listen to one of them right now on the Headcount Records myspace: http://www.myspace.com/headcountrecords Also, just because I can, here's a list of my favorite records of 2009. If your brain can't process a list this long, I'll point out that the cream of the crop for me were the Wasted Time, Shitty Limits and Flaming Lips LPs. Burial: Speed at Night 12" Crow: Flock of Beast 7" Cult Ritual: S/T LP DSB: Useless System Abuse 12" Dark Ages: Vicious Lie 7" Death: For the Whole World to See Destino Final: Atrapados LP Direct Control: Farewell 12" The Estranged: Type Foundry Session I 12" Fashion: S/T 7" Flaming Lips: Embryonic 2x12" Government Warning: Executed / Paranoid Mess Hex Dispensers: Winchester Mystery House Insomnio: Happy Loneliness Manipulation: Demo tape Needles: Desastre 7" Selvhenter: To Fingre I Kudden, Fire Boffer I Skrutten Shitty Limits: Beware the Limits LP Smart Cops: Cominciare a Vivere + One-sided 7" Social Circkle: City Shock LP Sudor: Ciudad Imperial Tramps: Demo Walls: S/T Wasted Time: Futility Whatever Brains: Saddle Up December 1, 2009: Hi everyone, Here's a brief update as to what's going on with Sorry State Records. My goal is to send these updates out on the first of every month informing you on the latest additions to the distro and the latest happenings with the record label. If you want to make sure and receive this please sign up for the email newsletter on our web site (you'll be prompted when you create a webstore account) or keep an eye on our web site and/or Twitter feed. The latter is probably a good idea anyway since we often get distro records in limited quantity and they sell out in just a few days. Now, on to the records. SSR-20 will be the 2nd 7" by Atlanta, Georgia's Bukkake Boys. Test presses have been approved, artwork has been sent to the printer's an I'm crossing my fingers for a pre-Christmas release. Failing that, these will be out on or about New Year's day. I was a huge fan of their first EP, but this record easily tops it... seriously the most savage and ferocious hardcore record to come out in ages! I can't stop listening to the test press and you won't be able to stop listening either when you get your copy! I'm expecting test presses any day now for two more releases. The first is the 3rd EP by Stockholm, Sweden's Thurneman. This 8-song rager of an EP has a really unique sound, combining bits of Pick Your King-era Poison Idea, the melodic and frantic riffs of early Husker Du and the dark, oppressive atmosphere of classic Swedish hardcore and metal. You can imagine this record being recorded during one of Sweden's months-long stretches of total darkness. The second release isn't a proper Sorry State release, but I'm handling US manufacture and distribution of the new single from England's Sceptres on Dire Records. Sceptres feature two members of the Shitty Limits, but are an entirely different beast. This single has two tracks of jittery, wiry post-punk with unique and passionate female vocals... picture Polly Styrene singing for the early FALL and you're close. These should be out sometime in January. I'm sure you're all wondering about the new Double Negative LP, and I'm excited to announce that we're getting very, very close to a release date. The whole thing has been recorded and the band are currently messing around with mixes and artwork ideas. All of that should get finalized by the end of December, which means we're looking at an early springtime release date. The rough mixes I've heard sound great. Further down the road we'll have new 7"s from Wormeaters and UX Vileheads. Liverpool, England's Nowhere Fast are also set to record in December for a spring 2010 7". I'm not sure about the status of the Libyans LP but hopefully that'll be on Sorry State sometime in 2010 as well. And I'm still hoping to do a US pressing of the Logic Problem LP, but unless a rich uncle dies that will be later in the summer. And this isn't Sorry State news really, but I wanted to note that Devour is in the process of recording a new 7" for DC's Headcount Records. We're still a few weeks away from a final recording, so I guess we're probably looking at a February or March release, after which you'll hopefully see us working our way up and down the east coast on a more frequent basis. In general label news, pretty soon you will be able to get many of Sorry State's releases on iTunes, Amazon's mp3 store, Emusic, Lala and other digital stores. Honestly, I'm not sure how many people are clamoring for that, but it will be a good way to keep things in print... like, for instance, the Smart Cops 7", which sold out way too quickly. As you might know, Sorry State also has a Twitter account (@sorrystate). I post several times a day usually with news about new records added to the distro, what I'm working on, as well as cool inside peeks into the label with stuff like test press covers, alternate artwork, etc. Oh, and I finally made some Sorry State buttons after years of thinking about it! These get thrown in free with orders, so place one soon and you'll get one. August 18, 2009: Finally back from the gigantic, 2-month-long Logic Problem world tour and that can only mean one thing: a new record out! Though it's kind of dribbled out over the past few months, the Shitty Limits' debut LP, Beware the Limits, is finally out now! Check the webstore for ordering info, and labels/stores/distros please get in touch about wholesale and trades. If you're in Europe, be sure to hit up Paco at La Vida Es Un Mus, as he can probably hook you up a little bit cheaper. Speaking of the tour, it was amazing and definitely something I'll remember for the rest of my life. It would take too long to thank all of the numerous people who helped out Logic Problem this summer and I would inevitably forget someone really important, so I'll just send out a general thank you to everyone who we met and/or hung with this summer. Special thanks, though, have to go out to the Shitty Limits for making the US tour one of the best times of my life. I don't think I can put into words how much I'm going to miss being around those guys every day. Since I've been away all summer and I have a very busy fall with work, there isn't a whole lot of other label news. Double Negative are still hoping to record their next full-length sometime very soon. We played with them in Raleigh a week ago and they busted out a 14-song set without a single previously released song, so I'd say their just about ready to commit things to tape. Aside from that, the label's only definite near-term plans are to work with Grave Mistake on a US press of the Logic Problem 12" that was pressed for our European tour, but realistically that probably won't come out until early 2010 at the earliest. Besides that, Sorry State has tentative plans for new records by Libyans, UX Vileheads, Instängd, Smart Cops, Thurneman, Devour, and maybe even a few others that I'm forgetting. I also hear that Shitty Limits are already writing for their next release and hopefully I'll be lucky enough to press up that one for US consumption as well. OK, that's all for now! Hopefully I'll be back with more Double Negative news soon, but in the meantime check the webstore for lots of goodies (includes some VERY limited quantities of Logic Problem / Shitty Limits leftover tour merch), we update almost daily and ship FAST! January 14, 2009: After a whole bunch of delays, the US press of Under Al Kritik's Insomnia EP is finally out! This is limited to 500 copies, so don't miss it. This is a killer record that is right up there with all the other great Danish bands like Hjerte Stop and Young Wasteners. And now for some other Sorry State news... Next up on our plate are a few more US presses, this time of EPs by the UK's great SHITTY LIMITS. We're repressing the Espionage single and the Here Are the Limits EP, both of which came out only in extremely limited quantities in the UK, so hopefully we can get this great, GREAT band a little more attention in the US. They're also recording a full-length next month and Sorry State will be handling the vinyl on the US press, and if all goes well I'll be driving these guys on a month-long tour of the US this July and August. This tour may or may not include Logic Problem... not sure yet. Around the same time as the Shitty Limits EPs (hopefully) we'll be releasing a demo tape by a new Raleigh band called SHARDS. Shards feature members of Crossed Eyes, Logic Problem, Whatever Brains and a bunch of other bands you've never heard of. The music has a dark punk vibe a la TSOL or early Misfits but the vocals are a slobbery, Darby Crash-esque mess. This demo is seriously great and it's always awesome to have another KILLER band in Raleigh. Aren't you jealous? Speaking of killer Raleigh bands, Logic Problem just finished recording a new EP for Grave Mistake Records. It's a real honor to be on Alex's label, and I'm really excited. Though the recording is done we still have to do mastering, artwork, etc., so we're probably looking at a springtime release for that ripper. Also coming relatively soon on Sorry State is a new 7" from Smart Cops, COMINCIARE A VIVERE. I've been told by the band that this is a concept record about a cop who "finds himself" by becoming a junkie. Crazy shit! Sorry State will be handling the US press on this one and Adult Crash Records will release the 7" in Europe. Smart Cops will also be touring the US this summer, by which time this EP should be out as well as a tour-only one-sided EP with the band doing a medley of 10 punk songs about cops. Those wacky Italians! If you liked the Video Disease demo you should check out their 7" out now on Square Wave Records. We've got a few copies in the distro and it rules. I hear the band have some more recording planned, and I can't wait to hear it. DEVOUR are still going strong. We'll be playing Kollapse Fest in Richmond in February and we've got a ton of new songs. We'll probably lay down 3 or 4 for a new 7" sometime very soon. The news everyone wants to hear is what's up with Double Negative's new LP Daydream Nation. Honestly, I wish I knew! I haven't talked to those guys in a few weeks, but the guitarist, Scott, is opening his own restaurant in Raleigh and since he's the main organizer of the band I think things have slowed down a bit. I'm pretty sure all of the music tracks have been recorded and they're just waiting on Kevin to finish writing lyrics and recording vocals. I've heard rough mixes of all this stuff and I promise you it BLOWS AWAY everything else they've done. Just wait until you hear the track "Saturation Tank..." it may be my favorite song ever! Oh, and this was originally planned to be a No Way / Sorry State split release, but No Way have dropped off and now this will be a SORRY STATE solo production. In unexpected news, Belgium's Abuse Records will be releasing a discography LP by Cross Laws. We'll be getting a bunch of copies for US distro, so be sure to pick that up when it comes out. All of the tracks were remixed and remastered for the release and they sound GREAT. We also managed to dig up a handful of unreleased tracks that are pretty cool. Test presses have been approved on that one so look for it sometime soon, possibly sometime in February. I other ex-members news, Rich from Crossed Eyes has a new band called Whatever Brains that just released a 7" on Bull City Records. The record is great... like a looser, poppier version of Crossed Eyes. Again, we have copies in the distro if you're looking for them. Oh yeah, I guess this isn't technically Sorry State news, but Socialcide has broken up. They were one of my favorite hardcore bands and their next 7" was actually going to come out on Sorry State. I'm really bummed that the record won't be happening, but I wish the members the best of luck. I think that's all for now. Hopefully I'll be back with another update in a few weeks when the Shitty Limits 7"s are out. July 21, 2008: First and foremost, there's a new release out now on Sorry State! It's the debut EP from North Carolina's Logic Problem, and here's the description: Following up their well-received 2007 demo, the debut EP from North Carolina's Logic Problem is like a split 7" between two sides of the band. The A-side, recorded by Myriam Martian and -/-EPIC WARFARE-/- (Double Negative's Raw Energy EP), is a rough-and-ready DIY job with harsh, clipped vocals and a mean distorted bass tone, perfectly suiting the more atmospheric songs on that side of the record... just imagine Articles of Faith playing through the Jesus and Mary Chain's equipment. The B-side, on the other hand, features two tracks of complex and catchy hardcore with a cleaner, yet still powerful, pro recording. These tracks recall the Stooges' sonic wall of intensity Raw Power fed into frenetic, crushing hardcore punk. Sorry State Records #14. You can pick up the Logic Problem 7" from the Sorry State webstore RIGHT NOW! Logic Problem are also playing a bunch of shows up and down the east coast over the next few months, so keep an eye out for us. And if you want us to come to your town send me an email through the contact info on the Sorry State web site! Also watch for Logic Problem on some upcoming comps including No Bullshit Volume 4 and a southern hardcore comp on Cowabunga Records. Next up for Sorry State will be the debut 12" from Raleigh, North Carolina's Devour. The test pressings have been approved and if all goes well this will be out by the end of August or early September at the latest. Devour features 2/3 of Cross Laws, but the style is slightly different. You can still hear Cross Laws' USHC influence, but everything is heavier, bigger and more complex. Everyone for whom I've played an advance copy has flipped out, and I honestly think this is going to be one of the biggest (or at least best) records of 2008. If you like Judgment, Bastard, Final Conflict and War All the Time-era Poison Idea I think you're going to agree. Get psyched. Around the same time as the Devour LP hopefully we'll have a new 7" from Reading, England's The Shitty Limits. I just spent 3 months in London and the Shitty Limits were by far the best band I saw there (and I saw Raw Power, Systematic Death, Dezerter and a shitload of other bands during that time!). MRR has said that they sound like an English Minor Threat and I think that's a pretty fitting description. I'm pretty sure this will be ltd. to 500 copies, though, so don't sleep. After those next 2 releases are out I'm going to buckle down and finally finish off the compilation of North Carolina hardcore bands that's been in the works for well over a year. If you ever wonder to yourself why there arent' more comps then just try doing one... it's pretty much the biggest pain in the ass of all time. However, when this thing is finally released it's going to blow minds... previously unreleased material from Cross Laws, Devour, Logic Problem, Crossed Eyes, Street Sharks, the Obtruders, (hopefully) Double Negative, Direct Control and maybe even more. Look for that before the end of 2008. Now, here's a list of what's up with the rest of the Sorry State roster: Rabies are gearing up to play their last show and release their farewell 7" called Final on guitarist Josh's Eliminator Records label. I'm really sad to see Rabies go, but hopefully they'll start a new band soon that's even better. In the meantime, if you're anywhere near the west coast this August you should check out their farewell party. Double Negative are currently taking things easy for a hot minute while drummer Brian Walsby roadies for the Melvins on their US tour. Before he left they recorded all the basic tracks for their new LP and they should be done with the mixing and mastering process in the next few weeks. Look for that on No Way Records this fall. Smart Cops just got back from a European tour with Ban This and it sounds like they had a great time. This band has a lot of recording and touring planned, so keep an eye out. Hopefully this will all culminate in a full-length and a US tour in the summer of 2009, but that's a long way off so just concentrate on how awesome their debut EP is. Instängd just released a new 7" called Konkret Och Brutal on Adult Crash Records and it fucking RIPS! Maybe a little more catchy than the Sorry State release, but still raw as fuck and raging. I'm not sure how active Instängd are on the live front, but I think they're playing sporadic shows. The Sorry State distro has a handful of copies of the new EP and I highly recommend you treat yourself to one. Crossed Eyes will hopefully be recording soon for the NC comp and an as-yet-to-be-determined release. It'll either be a split 7" with some lucky band or a short-and-sweet 2 song single. I've heard the tracks and they're KILLER. In other news Rich from Crossed Eyes' other band Whatever Brains will be recording for a debut 7" on a new label run by my buddy Chaz of Bull City Records. Whatever Brains sound sort of like a pop-punk Die Kreuzen, so I can't wait for this release. I haven't talked to them in a few months, but I hear that the Obtruders are getting back going after taking most of the winter and spring off due to work and school commitments. I hope to see them live soon and maybe even get them in the studio. November 20, 2007: Instängd EP is out! Order it right now from the webstore. Here's the description: Sweden's Instängd are a new band featuring members of Regulations and Tristess, but they don't sound anything like the melodic punk of those bands. On Mitt Svar På Ingenting, Instängd take as their main influence old, barbaric Scandinavian punk like Headcleaners / Huvudtvätt, Missbrukarna, or S.O.D. (the Swedish one, not the one from New York). If you need a less obscure comparison, Urban Waste would make a good reference point since this has a completely blown-out, blistering guitar sound and catchy, punk-as-shit vocals. Needless to say, this six-song rager destroys everything in its path. Sorry State Records #12.Sorry, but there isn't any color vinyl available for this record. Instead, we're doing each press of 500 copies on a different color cover. The 1st 500 are tan, the 2nd 500 will be green and the 3rd 500 will be pink. After that, who knows? Note: the green and pink copies aren't available yet... we'll only start selling those when the tan ones run out. Here's some news on other upcoming releases: The record everyone wants to know about, Double Negative's follow-up to their incredible LP on No Way Records, is coming along slowly. They literally have to go back into the studio and turn one knob slightly to the right and they'll be done... hopefully I'll be able to send this off to the plant before December 1st. The packaging on this record is going to be insane and expensive, so no promises as to when it's going to be out, but I'm shooting for early-to-mid January. Direct Control's Nuclear Tomorrow EP is being repressed and should be out around December 1st. Also getting some final finishing touches is the next Sorry State release, the demo tape by North Carolina's Logic Problem. Logic Problem play straightforward, catchy punk that is probably going to get a few Government Warning and Career Suicide comparisons before the end of the day. That should be out about the same time as the DC repress, i.e. early December. NC comp is still moving... Logic Problem recorded a track when they did their demo and it smokes. So now I have tracks from half of the bands... hopefully this thing will be out late winter / early spring 2008. Koro 12" will be repressed shortly as well... that should be out early December also. I have a few other projects that are in the planning stages, but nothing concrete enough to announce at the moment. It's hard to believe there's only a month of 2007 left, but Sorry State is packing it full of sick-as-fuck HC. 2008 won't be any different! September 7, 2007:Finally! After weeks, and in some cases months, of delays the 3 latest releases on Sorry State are now out! Cross Laws: Ancient Rites EP - After 2 much-talked-about EPs, North Carolina's Cross Laws are back with another 6-song slab of ferocious hardcore. Yeah, they're still fast and mean as fuck, but this time the riffs are a little more complex and melodic, bringing to mind Totalitar, Poison Idea and occasionally even Articles of Faith. Fuck all of the soundalike bands, this is raw, in-your-face hardcore. Crossed Eyes: Rattled EP - Raleigh's Crossed Eyes (who, incidentally, share a bassist with Cross Laws) are somethinig a little different for Sorry State, but this EP is so damn amazing that I couldn't resist the offer to put it out. It's like Crossed Eyes took all of my favorite punk subgenres and put them into a blender of awesomeness... there are elements of Lookout!-style pop punk, '77 British stuff, US hardcore and even a little '60s influence here and there, but somehow it all comes out sounding seamless and original. Seriously, this disc will make you feel like you're 16 again, hearing Singles Going Steady for the first time. Recommended for fans of the Zero Boys, Marked Men and peak-period Screeching Weasel. Bored to Death: Self-titled EP - Hailing from Sapporo City, Japan, Bored to Death are named after a song on Government Issue's Legless Bull EP and it definitely shows in their sound. The production on this platter is so spot-on that you could add these tracks to future pressings of Dischord's 1981: The Year in Seven Inches CD and no one would ever notice; however, it's the simple, catchy-as-hell songwriting that will keep you spinning this one over and over again. With eight tracks in less than 9 minutes you know this one is a rager. and since this one came out between updates and kind of slipped under the radar... The Obtruders: Demo Tape / CDR - Raleigh, North Carolina's Obtruders are a bunch of teenagers obsessed with skateboarding, pizza and 80s hardcore. I recorded this demo for them a few weeks back and it turned out so well that I offered to release it on Sorry State. The CDR contains 7 tracks of blistering punk that brings to mind Nardcore greats like Dr. Know, Scared Straight and Ill Repute. The tape adds 5 more tracks for a total of 12, including the band's contributions to the upcoming Why Are We Still Here? compilation 7" as well as a Spermbirds cover. You can get all of these now from the Sorry State webstore. For the time being we have a package deal that'll get you all 3 of the new 7" releases for $10, which will save you a couple of bucks off the regular price. Pressing info for the nerds: Crossed Eyes 1st press is 500 copies all on black vinyl; Obtruders cassettes are limted to 114 hand-numbered copies, CDRs limited to however many I feel like making; Bored to Death EP 1st press is 300 on black, 200 on pink; Cross Laws was supposed to be limited to 500, but the pressing plant fucked up and sent me 1,000 so there are 202 copies on yellow vinyl with yellow cover, 412 on black vinyl with yellow cover and around 380 on black vinyl with an orange cover. Confusing, I know. If there are any Cross Laws fanatics out there, though, we have a package deal where you can get all 3 versions of the EP for just $10. Upcoming Projects I hate to say it, but there hasn't been much activity on the previously announced Koro CD since the last update. Carl Snow has a new band called Carl Snow's Summer of Love that is currently playing out around the Knoxville area, so his attention is on that right now. Hopefully the Koro CD will come out one day soon, but I can't really give a timeline at the moment. It looks like in October we'll have 2 more 7" releases coming at you. Double Negative are currently mixing the follow-up to their already-legendary LP on No Way Records. It's a 3-song 7" called Raw Aggression and I'm not kidding when I say that it's even better than the LP. Apparently they spent all of the cash from No Way on some really crazy drugs, because Raw Aggression is even darker and more fucked up (not to mention more wonderful and frightening) than The Wonderful and Frightening World of Double Negative. If you're itching for more -/- before this comes out, check out their track on No Bullshit Volume 3 out soon on No Way Records and go see them on their tour of the midwest and south. Most dates are with Total Fury from Japan. Check the Double Negative myspace site for the dates. Also at the mixing stage is the debut EP from Sweden's Inst‰ngd, entitled Mitt Svar PÂ Ingenting. Inst‰ngd share a member with the Regulations, but don't expect another poppy side project like the Vicious or the Lost Patrol Band. Inst‰ngd are total fucking old school Swedish punk along the lines of S.O.D, Missbrukarna and Huvudtv‰tt. This platter will begin melting faces at the same time as the Double Negative EP this October. The compilation of current North Carolina punk bands, Why Are We Still Here? is coming along well and will hopefully be out before the end of the year. About half of the bands have recorded their tracks and it's shaping up to be a real classic. Hopefully we'll have more concrete details on this in the next update. Speaking of the NC scene, there are a bunch of new bands getting started here at the moment and hopefully Sorry State will be bringing you some ripping new demo tapes in the coming months. There are some other projects further off in the future, but I'll hold off on revealing more info about those... Rare Records There comes a time in every punk's life when he has to start thinning down his record collection, and that day has arrived for me. Rather than putting all of my babies on ebay, though, I'm slowly listing records on the Sorry State webstore. These are definitely at "collector" prices, but I'm trying to find a good balance between what I paid for these records originally and what I could get if I went the ebay route. I've already listed a few dozen LPs and they've been selling steadily so I'll likely continue with this. These won't show up in the "new arrivals" section, so keep an eye on the used and rare section if you're interested in this stuff. There are some real gems that are going up in the next few weeks / months. Online Sampler We now have a way for you to hear tracks from all Sorry State releases without logging onto the dreaded myspace. Just click the "online sampler" link on the left side of the Sorry State web page and listen to a track from every release. This sampler will be updated as new releases come out, so check back often! That's all for now... see you in a month or so! News Archive |
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