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Hi Sorry State friends! Hope all is well. Happy Halloween! I’m trying to get my ass back in gear after one hell of a weekend. At the time I’m writing this, it’s the Friday following the fest, so I’m still referring to Sorry State Fest weekend. What an absolute blast. If you’re interested, Daniel put together a really cool special newsletter type thing that encapsulates some great photos of the epic performances and related shenanigans. That whole weekend could not have gone any better. The time and attention and care that went into it really showed, tenfold. Man, every band was so sick. There was just a different level of energy and excitement that elevated every performance.
So glad I finally got to see Personal Damage and Golpe in particular, and they were all so nice! I am also so excited I got to see ISS, as I think they had only played twice live prior and I love their music so much! Shaved Ape (with Meat House) at the day show was killer. They sounded great together. I had never seen a hardcore show in the daylight, and it was so fun! I could go on and on about other cool shit I saw, but just wanted to highlight some of the bands I’d never seen play until that weekend! 11 year anniversary fest, anyone?
We’ve gotten SO much new stock this past couple weeks. We were literally swimming in it over at the warehouse, but I’m not complaining! There are several new releases I’ve listened to so far and many more I really want to check out. So far I really like the new Delco MF’s, the new Golpe 7”, and the New Buck Biloxi/Lothario 7” split to name a few. Oh and we got our new Sorry State shirts! The new art is my favorite yet! But for this week I thought I’d kick it old school and write about a recently acquired record that I’m pretty happy with.
So my two biggest record wants in all of punk are the first two Minor Threat 7’s (preferably originals, but based on the price jumps, I’m not too picky anymore). And I finally landed an early pressing of the In My Eyes EP. It went out in the INSANE drop during SS Fest weekend (shout out to Jeff for all the work he did in bringing us the best record drop in all the land). I politely waited until the weekend was just about over before I went over to the store to see what was left. To my surprise, the In My Eyes EP was still on the wall, so I knew I was in trouble. But after some internal dialogue, I decided it was best to leave empty-handed. Then I texted Jeff like 15 minutes later with follow-up questions. You know you’re getting the damn thing when you can’t go 15 minutes before you’re asking follow-up questions.
I waited until Monday to officially claim it, and she was in my hot little hands by Wednesday. It was funny because Jeff brought it over and handed it to me hidden under some killer music nerd stuff (posters and stuff that Dominic found among his old things when he was in England, and was kind enough to give me!). Anyway, when I saw the Minor Threat record peaking out underneath I squealed with genuine delight. I don’t think I jumped up and down exactly, but there was some sort of bouncing motion at minimum. It’s not often I feel such pure childlike fucking glee, but record scores still do that for me. It’s so cool.
I don’t know why it’s taken me so long to pull the trigger on the In My Eyes EP, as that one is the cheaper of the two. Maybe it’s the whole “records have tripled in price” thing. I just always figured I’d get them at some point. One of the dumbest things I’ve ever done is “figure I’d get them at some point.” Fast forward to a time I can start filling some important gaps in my collection, and the original Minor Threat EP is over $4,000 on Discogs! Unless I get incredibly lucky, I’ve given up on getting an original of the first one, but I will be perfectly happy with third pressings of both EP’s.
Isn’t it crazy how many holy grail records we could’ve gotten as late as 2019 for extremely doable (at least by today’s standards) prices? Isn’t it also crazy how many insane records we could check off our list if we would just sell the shit we don’t even care about that much? It’s completely irrational.
So I’m just going to focus on appreciating what I have, and I was so happy to get this blue label with insert that I almost teared up. I don’t listen to Minor Threat near as much as I did like 20 years ago, but in my eyes (wink wink), they are the best hardcore band in the whole wide world. There’s something so exciting and explosive about Ian’s vocals and how perfectly they go with the music. I’ve thought about this next question a few times, but I can’t really pinpoint the answer if there is one. What the hell is it about Ian’s vocals that sound so good and so satisfying? Is it the tone? Is it the talk-sing-scream thing? Because I love a good talk-sing-scream formula. Is it the passion? All of the above? There’s something special there that sparks a unique kind of excitement in me.
I love the tempo shifts, the way the music builds and explodes, and builds and explodes again. I love the blistering choruses that are so easy to get stuck in your head. I love the downright militant level of passion in the music. And I love that they are so technically good, but still sloppy and free enough to sound cool.
Although most of my favorite Minor Threat songs are on the first EP, In My Eyes has to be my favorite Minor Threat song of all time, and I think it’s undoubtedly one of the best hardcore songs ever made. “Did you fucking get it?” and “at least I’m fucking trying…what the fuck have you done?” will go down as some of the best lines ever written and screamed.
I don’t know, I get overwhelmed trying to put into words how great Minor Threat is, but finally having this historic piece of music makes me so happy. I’ve found some great records in the wild but have relied on Discogs so much for specific ones that are hard to come across. But there is literally nothing better than finding something you’ve always wanted right there in store. And this one is extra special because it will always remind me of the 10-year anniversary fest, and my time at Sorry State in general.
I figured we can all relate to moments like this, so thank you for reading my sappy shit. Until next time!
Thanks,
Angela