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Hello fellow Sorry Staters! Not too much going on in my world, except the obvious that I seem to mention every week. It just seems to continue to get more daunting to process and think about the political climate of the world, so sometimes I just need to shut down, turn it off, and get off of social media for a little while to give my brain and anxiety a little break. They recently announced a festival with a handful of dates called Slide Away Festival. I mention it because I’m very excited that Hum is reforming after the drummer’s death to play these festival dates. Shows are happening in New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles. I will probably make the trip to New York to see them in Brooklyn with none other than the Swirlies supporting the show. I am very excited!

I have been having a bit of writer’s block when it comes to picking out a record and talking about it. So I just randomly picked a CD out of my collection this week, and it just so happened to be a record I am really fond of. Mainly because I looked up to this band member throughout all of my teenage years discovering punk for the first time and then later discovering what punk could be in my 40s. I pulled out the CD, The Evens—Get Evens. This is the second album out of the three that they have recorded so far. Looking back at older reviews of this album when it first came out, folks did not give it very good reviews, stating that it was lazy and not as groundbreaking as the first self-titled album. Once I revisited this record, I just could not agree with those statements. Yes, the first self-titled album is really really good, but the second one just shows them mature into their odd indie folk-rock sound. The guitars sounded like they had more depth, and Ian MacKaye’s wife, Amy Farina, the drummer in the band, sounded way tighter and more intentional in what she was playing. Together, it finally came into a really tight and cohesive project. Maybe folks like the first album better because of the lo-fi grittiness of the recording, which most of the time is what I prefer, but this album found them at their best musically.

That is all I have for this week folks! Just a reminder since you made it to the bottom of the newsletter (thank you!) we have been listing a HUGE grindcore collection we picked up a week or so ago, and ya’ll are eating it up. We are listing things daily, so please continue to check the webstore if that is your thing.

Hello fellow Sorry Staters! What a wild fucking time we are living in right now. Why can’t all the reasonable, kind-hearted people just be blasted off into space to start a new colony on Mars or something?! I hope everyone continues to make the best of this horrible timeline. Therapy has been doing wonders for me to get past it all, but damn does it still feel heavy.

Black metal has always been a genre that has kinda been adjacent to punk for me. I have always been intrigued by it and have always thought it was so daunting trying to figure out where to start, but like everything else I just jumped in with what was being talked about the most. This has never really steered me wrong, but this past week I have been going down a hole consuming a lot of raw black metal and dungeon synth… well mostly dungeon synth. I can’t help but love something I can just have on in the background while doing mundane chores around the house while imagining that I’m on my way to fight some big-ass dragon like I’m a character in Skyrim.

Old Nick is one of those raw black metal / dungeon synth acts that when you first hear it, you can’t help but scratch your head and wonder if they are being serious or not. Old Nick released their first album in 2020 and have released plenty more in the five years they have been together. Some sound completely the same, and some that take on a whole new meaning to raw black metal and dungeon synth. Often using lo-fi dancey type beats at the beginning of songs to using a melodica and a mandolin in most others. In the album Crisp Winter Dawn Of My Night Moon, the track Haunted Broom comes out of the gate with a thumping synth that sounds like some evil dream sequence. It’s a great EP from start to finish, and everything in their catalog is totally worth checking out.

Hello fellow Sorry Staters! This week will be a short one for me. I have been getting ready for my vacation coming up and my brain has become mush trying to fit everything in and trying to not forget anything for my trip. If I take a trip longer than a couple of days I get nervous that I will forget something, and having a slight phobia of flying doesn't help much either. At least I am heading to sunny Orlando to see some top notch haunted houses at Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Studios. One record I have been digging a lot since we got it in is the new Dark Thoughts record, Highway To The End. Dark Thoughts is from Philly, PA with members in other bands such as Delco MF's, Kinetic Orbital Strike and Condumb. Right off the bat, the cover is iconic, using a silhouette of the Ramones' Road To Ruin record. Caught my attention immediately seeing it! What can be said about this record? It's really fast, fun Ramones style punk with the same down stroking guitars and fast repetitive drums that people love with this style of punk rock. A must listen if you like Teenage Bottlerocket or The Lillingtons. Dark Thoughts’ singer’s voice sounds very familiar, and that is not a bad thing at all. As always, we have been working hard at listing some really killer used records and CDs and have a ton of really great new stuff to check out. Also, pre-order the new Home Front if you haven't already!

Hello fellow Sorry Staters! You made it to the next volume of the newsletter in my little, very little corner of the internet to blab about my previous week’s listening ventures! Lots of bands go on tour, and either you wait for your city to come up or you just have to miss them on tour if you can’t afford to travel. In the year 2025, this should not be the norm with tons of streaming platforms out there, and I feel like all bands should hire a team of folks to ride along on the tour and live stream the concerts. One band that is changing the game on this concept is King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard. Over the past few years, King Gizzard has been live streaming all their shows for free on their YouTube streaming channel. It’s helped grow the community surrounding the band, and I believe it has also given access to the shows for folks that cannot attend, which has made this band explode in popularity.

This weekend was Field of Vision in Buena Vista, Colorado, which is King Gizzard’s weekend-long festival with so much going on. Everything from art projects to drag school… something for everyone. The reason I mention streaming is that the band was nice enough to stream the entire festival for free. Fans could tune in to see so many great bands from all over the world. A couple that stood out to me were Memo PST, Babe Rainbow, Gaye Su Akyol and Jay Weinberg and Argus.

During the day I made it a point to watch Jello Biafra’s spoken word and DJ sets, which of course did not disappoint. His engaging storytelling was hard to listen to when you were distracted by him wearing a gigantic foam pope hat and, you know, just Jello being Jello. His DJ set on drag night was really fun to watch. He was dressed up like an older lady going to tea in the afternoon, wearing a long blonde hair wig, a huge bouffant hat, and a flower dress he got from goodwill that has probably been there since the 80s. Luckily for me, someone took a picture of his set list, so someone else made a playlist of it on Apple Music. It includes all the great hits from all his side projects like Mojo Nixon and Guantanamo School of Medicine along with some songs from Alternative Tentacles label-mate, Wesley Willis. One highlight of Jello Biafra being there was being able to see him perform “Police Truck” with King Gizzard on night one. It sounded great and had a little King Gizz twist on it, which is what everyone was hoping for!

One of the main reasons I love watching King Gizzard live shows is that they have a catalog of 32 albums. When you have that many, you have a wide variety of songs you can play and not repeat songs for a long time. They played for 3 hours each night, going from their heavy stuff and microtonal psych albums to their electronic album and ending with more jammy type psych rock. Honestly, these were some of their best set lists that I have heard since I started following the band back in 2018. I know I have written about King Gizzard many times in my portion of the newsletter, but I feel like it’s well deserved. The band is huge, and they are only getting better at writing songs and presenting them even better at live shows.

Until next week! Be sure to check out everyone else’s pick and go buy some records! Also, We got some really kick-ass new shirts in, so go buy one of those too!

Hello fellow Sorry Staters! Thanks for making it all the way down to the bottom of the newsletter! Nothing too exciting has been happening in my world the past week other than the weather going from a hot and humid hell outside to a rainy humid hell. Let’s hope it gets cooler faster this fall. I’ve switched my focus in listening to do some deeper dives into some early 90s grunge/post hardcore bands. One of those bands I fell in love with was a band called Seaweed from Tacoma, Washington. Seaweed started in the early 90s, putting out albums mostly on Sub Pop and Hollywood Records. Their album Spanaway was released in 1995 and was their third full-length put out on Hollywood Records after their run with Sub Pop. The album, in my opinion, is the peak and highlight of their career. You can tell this from the maturity in the vocals and all the instrumentation on the album. The biggest standout to me is the drumming. During this album, they added a new drummer, Alan Cage of Quicksand. It was the perfect addition to the crunchy guitar tone and vocals that almost sound like they should be the melodic parts of an Ignite song. It was the perfect blend of 90s punk and grunge coming out at the time. As always, check them out if you haven’t, and if you have any suggestions of obscure 90s emotional hardcore/emo that you want to recommend please shoot me a message! We have been getting lots of great new releases in, and as always tons of great used stuff gets posted daily. Until next time!

What’s up fellow Sorry Staters! I hope everyone had a great and eventful week! I visited with family and got to see all my brothers and their partners, which is a tall task to get us altogether at once! My little pug Prudence was finally able to meet his new cousin, a little shih tzu named Ozzy! This week’s pick for me is a continuation on one of my favorite labels from my childhood, Tooth and Nail Records. The album I want to talk about this week was a one-off for me in my younger years and was my first introduction to “real” emo or first-wave emo from the 90s, whatever you want to call it. Bands like I Hate Myself, Orchid and Mineral to name just a few. Tooth and Nail jumped into this genre by signing a band called Roadside Monument.

Roadside Monument’s album Eight Hours Away From Being A Man is definitely their most popular album, mostly because of the song “Sperm Ridden Burden.” The album follows the blueprint for the math rock/emo sounds coming out at the time, with the quiet parts with soft vocals to harsh sounding guitar parts with screaming, sprinkling in abnormal rhythms and abrupt tempo changes to round out the sound of the band. Though on a “Christian” label, with a song titled “sperm ridden burden,” the album was a tough sell to a lot of Christian bookstores that distributed it. So a lot of controversy came from the band having to explain that song in particular, noting that Doug and Matt wrote the song after seeing a single mother on a bus with her child.

They do still play periodically, but have many other projects going on such as Unwed Sailor, Raft of Dead Monkeys, and filling in for Pedro the Lion. This band should be in conversation with other bands from the period and in the math rock/emo scene as one of the most influential and one of the best in the scene. All of their albums are easily accessible on CD, but (as most of this stuff is) hard to find on vinyl. Hope you enjoyed reading my small snippet of the internet this week and as always we are listing some really great used stuff almost daily!

Major brain fog has come over me this week, so this might be a short one! I hope everyone has had a great week and has picked up some really great records. I have been really nostalgic recently when it comes to music; honestly when am I not? I seem to always go back to the records I listened to in high school and college to try and grasp a glimpse of how fun those days were, not having a care in the world. Having to be an adult with bills sucks. Summertime also makes me want to listen to a lot of pop punk from the late 90s and early 2000s.

The Huntingtons—High School Rock. I never thought I would own this record, as older 90s Tooth & Nail Records are becoming very hard to find and very expensive. I was lucky enough to stop by this shop in Wilmington on the way to beach and there it was on the wall, and signed by all the members. I knew I could not leave the store without it! This band is legendary for one big reason. Joey Ramone ended up doing some shows at CBGBs before his death. If I remember correctly, he had a bunch of bands submit recordings of them doing Ramones songs as some sort of competition to see what band he would front as what would become his last time playing live at CBGBs before his death in 2001. The Huntingtons have had numerous Ramones cover albums put out on Tooth & Nail Records and Burnt Toast Vinyl, as well as a bunch of original records on those same labels. High School Rock is one of my favorites, if only because it’s the first one I heard from the band back in the late 90s. This is as good as it gets when it comes to Ramones style pop punk. Please check them out if you haven’t heard them. There is also a video of the show on youtube. Until next time. Thanks for scrolling all this way down at the bottom to read my pick this week!

Hello Sorry Staters! What a week! I hope everyone in the states had a good fourth even though our country is going to shit in front of our eyes. Here’s to drinking beers in the pool with friends! I have been holding off on writing about this record until I had it in hand. We unfortunately have not gotten our copies in just yet, but it has been on constant rotation since it came out. King Gizzard and The Lizard Wizard recently went on tour playing some amazing locations in the EU and streamed it all on YouTube to give the folks that couldn’t make it a sort of couch tour. It was absolutely amazing, seeing them play some rearranged older songs and even playing some older songs on their rolling synth table named “Nathan,” much like their album The Silver Cord. So This week my pick had to be the new album Phantom Island.

The album is very accessible for new listeners, much like Flight B741. Flight B741 took a few listens and to watch some live performances for me to really “get” the vibe of the record. You can tell the record was made around the same time and that these songs were the songs that might not have been filled out much, but the addition of the orchestra on the recording made it perfect. It’s like a full sounding, almost in your face experience when played loud, naturally. It is very much a jazz, soft rock and (dare I say) yacht rock vibe, but they do it in the best way possible. All members of the band have moments where they are allowed to shine when it comes to vocals. Which to me is always a breath of fresh air, having different vocals on different songs. It doesn’t make it sound like a different band, but just adds another level of musicianship to the record. These tracks will for sure play out well live when they start a jam with some of tracks. It’ll be really interesting to see what they do with these songs live. They have announced a few dates this summer playing with an orchestra in each city, which should be really amazing, especially if they incorporate some non Phantom Island tracks.

We are getting in a lot of really great collections at the store, so if you are local please come check us out! We are still listing a ton of CDs. At this point it seems as if we will have enough CDs to list for years to come, so please keep checking back. Lots of cool stuff in that collection. Some other notable favorites that we have got in recently that I have been listening to are the Slads/Sikm split 7” and the new Envy—All The Footprints... reissue. So until next week! Hope everyone gets a chance to go outside and enjoy the sun and go experience something new! Cheers!

Hello Sorry Staters! Here I am for a second time writing this as I forgot to save my draft the first time! Don’t be like me, always save your work! It has been one hell of a scorcher these past couple of weeks here in North Carolina, but I have made it out alive. I know we have had a little break sharing our picks and what we are listening to during the week due to some of the Sorry State crew being out of town for tours and what not, but we are back! I have not had much brain space to listen to new stuff because of things going on in my personal life that have just mentally drained me. It has basically been sleep, eat and work for the past couple of weeks, but I have finally found a few days to just sit with some new releases that I have been excited about.

One of main reasons I chose this record this week is because I needed to just put something on and have it sound good in the background while doing mundane things to keep my mind calm and relaxed while I concentrated on a task. I know I have written a lot about shoegaze and dream pop in other picks, and it is no secret that they are some of my favorite genres these days. New York City’s Hotline TNT just released Raspberry Moon a few weeks ago and it is becoming one of my favorite records of the year so far. One thing that made me laugh when getting the record was the hype sticker. It reads “The Next Phase In New American Shoegaze.” I wonder what Third Man executive thought this was anywhere near a true statement? It seems to be quite the tall order as there have been countless AMAZING new shoegaze artists coming out in the past 5 years. The record itself to me leans more toward alternative noise rock with nods to shoegaze, as opposed to being the new phase in American shoegaze. Don’t get me wrong, though; this record is packed with super fuzzy and noisy hooks that reel you in track after track.

If you are in the mood for something different that will put in you a good head space, then I think this record is for you. Third Man did a great job on the packaging. You get a gigantic poster and what seems to be a 180 gram record. The color we have in stock is cool I guess, nothing that really pops. Lots of great stuff is coming out this summer so keep an eye on the website for updates as we continually get new stuff in daily, and hopefully I can get caught up enough to list more that used CD collection that everyone has been consistently picking from! Have a great 4th of July holiday if you're in the States and if not have one anyway! Until next week!

Hello Sorry Staters! It's been a rainy mess here this past week, but is finally starting to clear up over the weekend (when I am writing this). Flipping through my records trying to pick out what to listen to, I notice that I have a lot of 90s revival grunge music that I was heavily into seeking out 8 or so years ago. Bands that I discovered in that time period have come and gone in my brain, but a few have stuck out to me for maybe one really catchy song on the album or just the sheer nostalgia that it gives me for being a 90s teenager. I know every generation has their “they don't make music like this” moment, and I sure did before doing some digging on my own. The bands that really stood out to me were Supercrush, Big Bite and Bugg. The sound was just there for me. It brought me back to that grunge era without being copycats. They were all doing their own thing but making it sound like it would have been in my walkman while riding the bus home from school.

Out of that list, Bugg is the one I find myself going back to the most. Hailing from Bloomington, Indiana (home of another label that shaped my teenage/early adult years, Plan-It-X Records, but that's for another staff pick!), Bugg is a duo of drummer Justin Hatton (also the drummer for Laffing Gas) and guitarist and lead singer Kora Puckett (also in Narrow Head). Bugg's first and only album would come out in 2017 on Pop Wig Records, home of a ton of other really kick ass bands from that time. Lyrically, the album is just what you think it is; it's melancholy at times, but also very much giving a finger to the world, just wanting to do your own thing and finding that trust in yourself. For example, in the song “Bleached.,” Kora sings, “He says I could use all the help I could get / Bullshit / She says I afford a friend or two / Fuck you.” Everything about this album is great and sounds like it could have come out in the 90s and fit right in. Do yourself a favor and check the record out. I'm almost certain it’s pretty cheap on Discogs right now.

Lots of other really awesome records have been listed on the site recently including some of my favorites: the new Johnny Skin 12”, the new Lust Online: Go Outside 12” and the Perverts Again: The New Man 12” as well as a TON of used CDs! Until next time! Thanks for reading my very tiny corner of the internet!

Hello Sorry Staters! Another week past means another staff pick for ya'll to read! Not much has been going on in my world other than playoff hockey and going to see my mom and hang out with her over this past weekend. I have been throwing on wide variety of music this past week, everything from James Brown to the Dickies and my most listened to this week is a record that we have had at the store for a while: Harley Poe's Satan, Sex and No Regrets. Imagine the Violent Femmes but with lyrics about being a murderer, cannibalism and even a song about what happens to your body when you die. Very much influenced by the macabre and horror movies, the record is actually quite fun, weird and very catchy. Harley Poe's catalog of music used to be very hard to come by, but a good chunk of the catalog is being put out/repressed by Say-10 Records out of Richmond, VA and Chain Smoking Records. This particular record can go for $100+, but is totally worth it. We currently have the 10” of Pinocchio Pariah on the webstore and at the shop, so check it out and pick it up! As always I have been listing a ton of CDs so you should pick out a few on your next order! Until next time Sorry Staters! Enjoy your week and do something that makes you happy!

Hello Sorry Staters! The spring/early summer allergies and sickness hit me over last week and over the weekend. Living in North Carolina, the seasonal allergies/sickness never seems to end. It has given me time to dig into some reading that I have been meaning to do. Recently, I have gotten into reading Manga and digging through so many manga artists and writers trying to find some art and stories that really stick out to me. Since my daily life revolves around art and music, I found a manga that was right up my alley.

Shinichi Ishizuka’s Blue Giant is about a guy named Dai who lives in rural Japan and dreams of becoming the best saxophone player in the world. The story revolves around Dai questioning what he needs to become the best sax player in the world. Talent? Effort? Or a lucky break? Think of the movie Whiplash, but a lot less cruel and mean and a lot more showing that kindness and being enthusiastic can bring you success. So if you are into feel-good stories about Jazz and love Japanese art, this is a great series.

As far as music goes this past week, a lot of really great preorders have started for albums that I have really been looking forward to. Béton Armé’s new single and pre order has dropped on the Sorry State site as well as the new Puffer 12”. We have been posting a lot of new and used stuff every day, so check out the site!