Hello and welcome to another edition of the Sorry State Records newsletter! It’s been a busy week at Sorry State. Lots of new releases have been coming in, but we also acquired two pretty gnarly used collections for the store, which have kept us busy. We have nearly a thousand used punk records that’ll be hitting the floor over the next several weeks, including a lot of pretty crazy rarities. If you like drooling over pictures of rare vinyl, follow us on Instagram @sorrystate. Tomorrow is also the big Quarantine record release gig in Philly, so after we clock out today, Scarecrow is going to make our way north. I’m stoked to see both Quarantine and ICD10, whose LP we’ll be releasing in 2022.

Vatican Commandos: Hit Squad for God 7” (Radiation) Once you’ve scratched the surface, the 80s US hardcore era is a deep rabbit hole of discovery with plenty of deep cuts. The Connecticut scene in particular produced a healthy contingent of great, yet under-appreciated hardcore punk bands. You might think of 76% Uncertain, Reflex From Pain, or White Pigs. Another of CT’s major gems was Vatican Commandos. The band’s debut EP, Hit Squad For God, features some badass tattoo flash-style cover art, which is an early work by Vince Rancid, who also did artwork for Raw Power and MDC. Vatican Commandos had some interesting affiliations with a few pop culture figures. Most notably, their guitarist (credited as “M.H.”) is electronic music superstar Moby. Moby’s sole songwriting credit on this EP is the 35-second track, “Wonder Bread,” which astute punkers will remember as the track Vatican Commandos contributed to the Big City compilation. The song starts off with the silly notion of Wonder Bread being fun to eat, but then takes a dark shift in tone and becomes a comment about the danger of processed foods that will kill off everyone in your neighborhood. Most of the songs on this EP share a similar dark sense of humor through the lens of suburban existence, with other ripping tracks like “Housewives On Valium.” Musically, Vatican Commandos play with energetic urgency at the ripping fast tempos we all crave, but with a sense of musicality not unlike their peers CIA. The slower paced tempos are heavy, and it’s possible the Commandos were influential on the mosh-inducing hardcore in the years to follow. Italian-based label Radiation took on the job of getting this record reissued, and thankfully Hit Squad For God is back in print. If you need a dose of long-lost, ripping US hardcore, then make sure you snag this 7”.

The tracking data says we should finally receive Hüstler’s new cassette today (they're here!), and as soon as they drop, we’ll start packing up your preorders! Thanks for your patience! I hope those of you who were lucky enough to snag one enjoy the tape, and everyone else, watch for the Hüstler 12” collecting their two sold-out tapes sometime next year!

A while back, we mentioned Usman interviewed Quarantine and made a small one-sheet fanzine about the band. We shipped out a bunch of copies to lucky Sorry State customers, but we also wanted to make it available online for anyone who missed out. Click here to download a PDF of the zine.

Since we lost last week’s results to the sands of time, Kaaos and Riistetyt get a rematch for this week’s edition of hardcore knockouts. I’m kind of surprised Kaaos won here, as Riistetyt seems like the better known band.

Cast your vote in the next edition of Hardcore Knockouts on our Instagram stories next Tuesday!

My pick from Sorry State’s Discogs listings this week is this CD reissue of Miles Davis’s 1974 album Get Up with It. Get Up With It doesn’t get name checked as often as Bitches Brew or even On the Corner, but it’s always been one of my favorites of Miles’s 70s albums, mostly for the long, quieter, meditative passages. This Japanese double disc reissue should sound great, with no crackle to distract you during those long quiet parts.

Remember, you can always combine your order from Sorry State’s Discogs site with your order from our webstore and save on shipping!

NOVEMBER 12
SCARECROW IN PHILLY

NOVEMBER 13
TETANUS IN CHARLOTTE

NOVEMBER 19
MUTANT STRAIN IN CHARLOTTE

NOVEMBER 19
SCARECROW IN CARRBORO

NOVEMBER 20
MUTANT STRAIN IN CHARLOTTE

DECEMBER 4
TETANUS IN CHARLOTTE

DECEMBER 13
MUTANT STRAIN IN CHARLOTTE

1. Scalple: Skillful Butchers 12” (Sorry State)
2. Quarantine: Agony 12” (Damage United)
3. Hologram: No Longer Human 12” (Iron Lung)
4. Lasso: S/T 7” (Sorry State)
5. Anti-Machine: S/T 7” (Toxic State)
6. Hüstler: self-titled cassette (Sorry State)
7. Cochonne: S/T 12” (Sorry State)
8. Torso: Sono Pronto A Morire 12” (Sorry State)
9. White Stains: Make Me Sick 12” (La Vida Es Un Mus)
10. Vains: You May Not Believe in Vains… (Dirty Knobby Industries)

So, y’all like hardcore? This week’s charts indicate you do!

Click here to see what the SSR Crew is into this week!

We just got in two new releases on Black Water Records. They’ve repressed Lebenden Toten’s first album from 2008, the great Near Dark, and we also have the debut EP from Nightfeeder, which Usman wrote about in his staff pick this week.

The new release from Sewercide Records, Antibodies’ (confusingly named) LP 2021 7” is in stock now! I saw on Sewercide’s Instagram that this release already sold out from them, so pick up a copy while you can!

We got a few copies of the Chisel’s Enough Said flexi. This was originally available with the Oi! The Black Book fanzine, but since the 7” had become such a hot commodity, Wardance Records made a few more copies available on their own. These are flying out the door already, so don’t sleep if you want one!

France’s Symphony of Destruction Records has two new releases out now from French anarcho-punks Barren? and Mallorca’s Desenterradas.

The Esos Malditos Punks label also has a couple of new releases, too. First up is a reissue of Mexican punk band Sedicion’s En Las Calles album, and the second is a flexi from the new Mexican band Rosas Rotas, which features former members of Heterofobia.

Harold Turgis is an electronic / noise project out of the UK with a connection to Sorry State favorites Hygiene. Check out this cassette for some interesting proto-industrial-noise along the lines of early Cabaret Voltaire.

Dropdead’s scorching 2020 album has finally been repressed and we have it in stock now! We also have copies of Dropdead’s Demos 1991 LP and restocks of a few other Dropdead goodies.

Audiacious Madness Records has 3 new cassette releases packed with raw hardcore punk. Check out Death Gasp, Realm of Terror, and the split cassette between Forclose and Drogato.

Bad Brains’ great (and underrated) second album, Rock for Light, is finally back in print! This is important because (as far as I know) this is the first reissue of the album with its original mix restored. Most CD reissues of the album feature the 1990 mix, on which they sped up the original tapes. I have no idea why they did that… it sounds like shit! If you have one of those dodgy Caroline copies (this also appears to be the version on streaming services), I encourage you to pick up this pressing so you can hear this beast in all its glory.