Hello and welcome to another edition of the Sorry State Records newsletter! Last weekend’s gig here in North Carolina with Warthog, Public Acid, Scarecrow, and Forever Peace & Charm was a total banger. There were hundreds of people in the audience, everyone was stoked to be there, and there are no indications that it was a superspreader event. I love how, at all the shows I’ve been to post-pandemic, the vibes are positive, with everyone grateful just to be there after nearly two years of isolation. Here’s hoping we ease back into the groove, because I would love to see more killer hardcore shows. Speaking of which, I’ll be heading up to Philly in a few weeks for the record release show for Quarantine, which is our Record of the Week. It’s a monster record. Keep reading for that, another Sorry State release announcement, and plenty more!

Quarantine: Agony 12” (Damage United) If you read last week’s Sorry State newsletter, you’re not surprised to see Quarantine’s Agony LP is Record of the Week. We fucking love this record at Sorry State. We flipped out about their demo tape a while back, and when the band slipped Usman a test press this summer, he dubbed tapes for all of us. I’ve been listening to mine regularly, impatient for the vinyl to drop. And now the day has come! Quarantine’s sound is tailor-made for the SSR crew, furious and unrelenting, but finding space in the cacophony for creativity and craft. You might recognize the vocalist from his previous band Chain Rank, and Jack carries into Quarantine his ability to write a memorable vocal hook. For all the bands who garner comparisons to the Abused or Negative Approach, few of them can craft hooks as memorable as the originators… Jack can. The rhythm section is crushing, anchored by Chris Ulsh’s masterful drumming, which combines inhuman power with a speed and dexterity that will leave your jaw on the floor. The guitars, while locking into the rhythm like any good hardcore band should, frequently veer off course, injecting an acid-fried spontaneity that brings to mind United Mutation. There’s so much going on in these fourteen tracks that it’s almost too much, and I spent my first couple of listens staring blankly at the speakers, my brain fully occupied with parsing the chaos. Now that the initial catatonic astonishment has worn off, I chant along, air guitar, and air drum, my body powerless against Quarantine’s relentless rush.

On October 22nd, Sorry State will release a new cassette EP from New York’s Hüstler! You can preorder it on our site right now, where you can also listen to the preview track, “Eat Your Heart Out.”

New York’s Hüstler follows up their demo on Sorry State from earlier this year with a brand new, self-titled four-song EP. If you liked the mix of hardcore punk, death rock, and metal on the demo, you’ll love this new EP, since everything gets turned up several notches. The heavy parts are heavier, with “Interlewd” centered around a triumphantly chugging riff that could power a Warthog song. The shredding parts are more shredding; the instrumental intro even has a neoclassical flair that reminds me of Uli Jon Roth-era Scorpions. The production is noticeably amped up, and the songs are more tuneful, even anthemic. Do I hear some Nine Inch Nails influence on “Eat Your Heart Out?” It’s an eclectic mix, but the result is powerful, focused, and distinctive, an effect the EP’s brevity only intensifies. With this new release, Hüstler has solidified one of the most distinctive and exciting voices in contemporary hardcore punk.

The physical version is limited to 100 pro-duplicated cassettes with full-color J-cards.

Cover photo: Jane Pain : @janepain

Recorded & Mastered by: Sasha Stroud of Artifact Audio NYC

We’re pretty ga-ga over this Quarantine record at Sorry State. Usman liked it so much that he put together this fanzine, which features an interview with Quarantine mastermind Jack. We’ll be throwing these in for free with orders for the next little while, and that’s the only way you can get it!

Tomorrow is the release date for Scalple’s Skillful Butchers and Lasso’s self-titled EP on Sorry State. We’ve been shipping out vinyl like crazy, but starting tomorrow you’ll also be able to stream the Scalple LP in full on our Bandcamp site. We’re down to the last copies of the limited vinyl for both releases, so I advise you to order soon if that’s your thing.

This week saw the 32nd edition of Hardcore Knockouts. Wow! This week we’re back in Japan, and while I like Ghoul, I voted for the Clay on this one too. What a crusher.

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

My pick from this week’s Discogs listings is this 6-CD box set featuring all of Ornette Coleman’s recordings for Atlantic Records. I love these records, and I consider them essential listening if you’re interested in the more out there corners of the jazz world. We’ve been listing a ton of great CDs on Sorry State’s Discogs site with a lot more to come, so keep an eye out!

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

October 15
Scalple in NYC

October 16
Scalple in Boston

October 21
Hüstler in NYC

October 30
Zorn in Philadelphia

November 12
Scarecrow in Philly

1. Scalple: Skillful Butchers LP (Sorry State)
2. Lasso: S/T 7” (Sorry State)
3. Straw Man Army: Age of Exile 12” (D4MT Labs)
4. Cochonne: Emergency 12” (Sorry State)
5. Genetic Control: First Impressions 7” (Return to Analog)
6. Imploders: S/T 7” (Neon Taste)
7. Chain Whip: Two Step to Hell 12” (Neon Taste)
8. Strong Boys: Homo 7” (Static Shock)
9. Suffocating Madness: S/T 7” (Roach Leg / Active-8)
10. Dog Flashback: demo cassette (Foreign Legion)

Our in-house releases are still ruling the pile of outgoing mail at Sorry State, but this week Straw Man Army’s Age of Exile repress continues to pick up steam, while Dog Flashback’s entry to the chart proves that good old-fashioned Midwest hardcore never goes out of style!

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

Earlier this week, we received a huge shipment of new titles from the almighty Iron Lung Records. Their two new cassettes—the debut from New Orleans’ Paprika and the cassette version of the new Smirk EP—are up on the site now, and we’ll have the new Hologram and Nasti LPs and the reissue from Icelandic post-punk band Vonbrigdi up for sale when they’re released tomorrow!

A classic piece of KBD punk is back in print with this official reissue of Seattle band the Vains’ 1980 EP. You might remember their contribution to Killed by Death Volume 2, or you may know them as one of the many bands Duff served time in before he moved down to LA and joined Guns N Roses.

No Solution has some new tapes for us, including live sets from Rolex, Prision Postumo, and Gunn!

Finally, Svart Records offers up represses of two classic Children of Bodom albums, Hatebreeder and Something Wild.