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What’s up Sorry Staters?
Here’s to another morning where I’m working on getting heavily caffeinated and writing about records for all you fine people out there. Many cool things to announce on the personal front in the weeks to come. Firstly, Public Acid is finally announcing our record release part for our new 12” entitled Deadly Struggle, coming out in February on Beach Impediment. The record release party is on February 16th in Richmond. I’ve been playing in the band for almost 3 years already (holy shit), and this is the first proper new recording with me playing on it. I play guitar on the Beat Session tape that came out a while back, but I’m stoked for everybody to hear a fresh batch of new Pub Ass tunes. A lot of work has gone into this record, and I just hope everyone who hears it is stoked on it. Bunker Punks has some exciting news in the weeks to come as well, but I won’t spoil anything just yet.
Anyway, onto talking about records we’ve got here at Sorry State. Really, just in the last couple days, a TON of boxes of new releases have been landing at our doorstep. Iron Lung has a fresh batch of new stuff. I’m sure everyone will be jumping on that new Physique 7”. What really grabbed my attention from this new spread of Iron Lung releases is this Bog People record. I’d never even heard of Bog People, honestly. I assumed the record was just a new release. Upon further inspection, I come to discover that this recording session is from waaaay back in 2010. How appropriate that I’m writing about a band from Portland on this dreary ass morning in Raleigh. It sure fuckin’ looks like Portland outside. Apparently, the Bog Peeps from Portland were around for a couple years in the late 00s/early 2010s and basically only ever released tapes. Maybe there was a split 7” or something? I can’t remember. The band’s existence seems to be shrouded in mystery—a “boggy fog”, if you will. A bit of detective work on the good ol’ Discogs led me to find out that members of this band were in several Portland bands I’ve heard of, like Arctic Flowers, Bellicose Minds, Frenzy, Nerveskade, etc. But now, thanks to the fine folks at Iron Lung, The Bog People finally release their eponymous debut LP.
I feel like Bog People were kiiiiiinda doing what bands like Subdued are doing now. The description “UK82” doesn’t really do it justice. Bog People to me sound more like the anarcho-inflected side of early 80s UK hardcore. Maybe this is due in part to the heaps of chorus on the guitars, which is kind of a symptom of that 2010s timeframe I feel like, but in this case it totally works. Bands intermingling in that era of Portland punk do seem to have a cloud of doom and gloom that hangs over and infuses its way into the sound. One thing I will say though, is that this Bog People recording sounds convincingly old and authentic. Like seriously. I mean, come on, the band released a tape called ’81 in ’09. Pretty bold. But if I were to shut my eyes, and you were to try and convince me that this recording was from 1981 without any previous knowledge, I might believe you. What is also pretty convincing is my dude’s attempt at a British accent when he sings haha. There’s this one track on the record where after the band stops playing, you hear the singer say “I fucked that all up.”—and I was just laughing, thinking, “Yep, he’s definitely American.”
What can I say? I feel like fast songs sound like Legion of Parasites, AOA or Anti-System. Then there will be a couple slower, dirgey sounding tracks that sound like Part 1 or something like that. And I know making these comparisons it could sound like I’m just blowin’ smoke. Like, “oh sure, another band from the 2010s imitating UK82” *eyeroll*. I really think Bog People nailed it though. There’s this video of them playing on Youtube, and with the exception of the computery Windows Moviemaker title card at the beginning, the footage looks analog and grainy in a way that looks like it was recorded a loooong time ago. Then again, 2009 was 15 years ago, so I guess it has been a long time.
Welp, that’s all I’ve got to say about Bog People I think. Fack off, mate.
‘Til next week,
-Jeff