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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!

Hello Sorry Staters! The weather outside is warming up and I can finally work in my garden planting some vegetables for the summer. There is something calming about just planting flowers and vegetables while it starts to get warm outside. It’s definitely good for my metal health. It’s also hockey playoff season and the Carolina Hurricanes are walking all over the New Jersey Devils. Let’s hope it’s the Hurricanes year this year! So happy playoff hockey time for all of those that celebrate!

For my pick this week, I decided to chat about a band that always makes it in my rotation at least once every few weeks. This record clocks in under 30 minutes, but to me it’s some of the best garage punk ever recorded. It’s catchy and lyrically it just does not give a fuck. Jay Reatard’s Blood Visions is an onslaught of snotty garage punk that is catchy, fun and just overall a front-to-back non-stop listen.

The one and only time I saw Jay Reatard live was when he was touring on the Blood Visions album in 2007. It was at Kings in downtown Raleigh with Heads on Sticks and Double Negative opening. (Also my first time seeing Double Negative, one of the greatest local Raleigh, NC bands) I remember hearing a lot of crazy things about how Jay acted on stage and would just get pissed off and try to fight people in the crowd. None of this happened that I can remember, but it was one of the wildest, most fun shows I have ever been to. I would probably put it as my second best show I’ve ever seen, next to seeing Dillinger Four at the Cat’s Cradle in Carrboro, NC.

After this show, I followed Jay’s releases and other projects until his passing in 2010. A lot of bands tried to copy what the Reatards had and tried to capture Jay’s energy, but I just have not found a band as special to me as Jay Reatard and more specifically the Blood Visions record. I was lucky enough to grab a copy of the RSD reissue that was released in 2016 with a 7” of demo tracks for the album.

Be nice to yourself and others! Go outside and plant some veggies! Take your dog/cat for a walk!

Hello Sorry Staters! It’s a rainy gloomy today, so I have been listening to some gloomy but poppy tracks from a Philadelphia, PA band called Full Body 2. FB2 combines shoegaze with some really great drum & bass techno beats. It really does not sound like it would work, but it definitely does. The last album they put out was Infinity Signature in 2023 and besides them doing Audiotree Live on YouTube, not much new has come out from the bad. The band’s music follows the line of shoegaze, but you can tell they want to do something different, and that is where the drum & bass / break beats come in. It almost sounds like if Aphex Twin and My Bloody Valentine had a baby. It’s simple, fuzzed out shoegaze with a twist. The phyiscal copies are hard to come by as they are all self released, but check them out on bandcamp!

On another note, we have been getting in some killer new records that I hope everyone will give a listen and check them out! The new Nisemono LP, the new Ultimate Disaster LP, and of course Necron 9! I continue to list used CDs daily, so as always keep an eye out on our used section for some killer CDs if that is your thing. Until next week!

Hello Sorry Staters! I have a short one today. We just got in a bunch of new stuff and one record I have had my eye on finally came in. It’s a new band from Australia called Brut. Their new 12”, MMXXIII-MMXXIV, is a collection of recordings from EPs they put out between 2023 and 2024. Brut is a side project from Marching Order’s Brod Ashmole. It’s a great Cold Oi! Record with a couple of really excellent covers of Blitz’s “Nation on Fire” and Joy Division’s “Insight.” If you are a fan of Home Front, Syndrome 81, Camera Silens, anthemic vocals, and the new wave of Oi! music, then this band for you!

Hello Sorry Staters! I hope everyone is enjoying reading all the picks this week. We have been getting in a lot of killer new records that I hope everyone has had a chance to pick up. We have been busy getting those Hell preorders in your hands and it seems like everyone is enjoying the record! My listening has slimmed down a lot in recent weeks due to my current obsession with reading a nerdy fiction book called “Dungeon Crawler Carl” and nothing has been capturing my ear holes enough for it to be worthy to write in my weekly pick. So for the couple of you that made it all the way to the bottom of the newsletter to read my pick for this week, thank you!

One label I have been exploring the past couple of weeks is Habibi Funk. This label is everything I want when exploring new locations and old periods. The work and attention to detail these curators put in these releases are second to none. The music is absolutely brilliant and a dream for anybody that deejays live. Habibi Funk Records is based in Berlin and is a reissue record label founded by Jannis Stürtz. Established in 2015, the label is dedicated to reviving and sharing music from the Arab world, primarily focusing on genres like funk, jazz, and soul from the 1960s to the 1980s.

One release I own is Habibi Funk 015: An Eclectic Selection Of Music From The Arab World, Pt. 2. The diversity on the compilation spans so many great genres from the Arab world such as Egyptian organ funk, Moroccan disco, and Libyan reggae. Some of my favorite tracks are Madgy El Hussainy—Music De Carnavel. This is a super funky organ funk track with drums and other percussion instruments in the background keeping the beat. This track is gold and will get anyone dancing. Then there is Ibrahim Hesnawi and his track on the complication called “Tendme”. The track is roots reggae straight from Libya. Habibi Funk label just released a whole record of more tracks from him and they are definitely worth checking out.

Going out of my comfort zone and seeking out music I had no idea existed is getting me out of this listening slump. So don’t be afraid and try some music you never heard of! Until next week friends!

Hello Sorry Staters! The weather has been beautiful and here in North Carolina. The pollen is starting to come out in full force! It’s a win-win, really; allergies bring beautiful flowers and the birth of my favorite time of the year, spring! This week I haven’t been listening to too much music just because life can be busy like that sometimes. I have, however, started digging into more Japanese music, specifically dream pop/shoegaze.

One band that came up over and over while reading blogs and reviews is “my dead girlfriend” (not to be confused with the American manga of the same name). The band formed in 2005, releasing a couple of demos before compiling them on a CD in 2007 called 6 songs from the happy valley. Then in the next year they released sweet days and her last kiss. This was a collaboration album between my dead girlfriend and another Japanese shoegaze band called ShoujoSkip.

Over the next few years, it seems like they really tightened up their sound and explored new soundscapes by adding some synth and back-and-forth vocals between Ishikawa and Ideta, really honing in on the “noise-pop” aspect of their sound. My dead girlfriend’s most popular album and one that made it overseas to the western world is Hades (The Nine Stages Of Change At The Deceased Remains).

This album is just amazing and could stand up to any more popular shoegaze band in the past decade. It’s lofi shoegaze at its best without losing the authentic feel from the first few records. I hope everyone that is into shoegaze/dream-pop will check this out and let me know what you think! Anyway, until next week! Later Nerds!

Hello Sorry Staters! We have seen some great weather and sun and I think we have finally gotten rid of the snow for this winter season. I hope everyone can go outside and get some sun on their face and enjoy some great weather! We have been restocking a lot of great records for ya’ll this past week, including one of my favorites, the Prison Affair EPs and the split with Research Reactor Corporation! After reading Daniel’s pick last week talking about about watching old videos of Headbanger’s Ball on YouTube, I thought it would be fun to chat about some skate videos that bridged the gap between me listening to christian punk in my early formative years to watching skate videos on the weekend and discovering bands like the Sonic Youth and The Sundays.

One of my favorite videos that I always go back to watch even in my early 40s is “Welcome To Hell” by the mighty Toy Machine Skateboards. The video starts out with an animation of the Toy Machine logo laughing in slow motion and sounding very creepy, and I know as a 16 year old watching this video with friends I thought “oh hell yes, this is going to kick ass.” Out of nowhere Lard starting playing the background and the video blasts into non stop back to back clips of the Toy Machine skate team flying off of ramps and rails. I was hooked by not only how fucking cool skateboarding looked, but the power of the music behind the scenes.

The soundtrack of this video included so many great bands and songs that I had never heard before. It was my first introduction to bands like Sonic Youth, The Sundays and Lard. It was the first time I had ever heard Black Sabbath outside of hearing it or seeing it on MTV. Even though I could not skateboard, I was obsessed with the culture and the music scene that pushed all the music that I still love today.

Hello Sorry Staters! We have been busy putting together Subculture pre orders (if you got a shirt they turned out so good!) and (finally) sending out our Alvilda preorders in the world after too long of a wait. After a terrible start to the new year, I have wanted nothing but positive things in my life. This includes music. I have turned my efforts to educate myself on music from other countries and other time periods. This week I have been checking out a lot of Japanese city pop. If this music doesn’t fill you with some type of joy and makes you look forward to warmer days, I don’t know what will.

One album that really caught my attention as I was digging through tons of reddit threads and different compilations for some starting points was an album called Sons Of 1973 by the band Satellite Lovers.

This record encapsulates the “Shibuya-kei” or Shibuya style. The music is a dreamy, slow-tempo, funky style that was popular is in Japan in the 90s. The vocals are very reminiscent of Sheryl Crow, but backed by a funkier dream pop band.

The record never got any traction in the 90s and never got popular, but apparently this album was uploaded to youtube a couple years ago and has completely blown up since then. This record was never released in the US and also never on vinyl.

Here’s hoping for a reissue soon! If you have made it this far thank you for reading about not punk and following my journey of diving into music I have never heard of. Cheers! Until next week!

What’s up fellow sorry staters? Another week, another pick! As some of you have picked up on, I have been busy listing some really great used 7"s, so check back this week as I will be listing daily! So often the week just goes by so quick and I realize that I have not really checked out anything new this week. So I have been keeping myself busy listening to things I know. Some killer 90s death metal has been played a lot this week in the warehouse and has put me in the mood to revisit one of my favorite classic 90s death metal bands: Cannibal Corpse.

I am more of a fan of Corpsegrinder’s vocals than Chris Barnes (sorry to all the die hard early Cannibal Corpse fans!) and one of my favorite Cannibal Corpse albums is Gallery Of Suicide. Right off the rip you get one of the best Cannibal Corpse songs, “I Will Kill You.” It’s a non-stop slaughter from start to finish, both lyrically and sonically of course, the only way that Cannibal Corpse knows how to do it! The cover art, like all other Cannibal Corpse releases, is gruesome and besides Tomb Of The Mutilated, one of the grossest and best covers the band has put out.

We still have some really nice and clean used Cannibal Corpse CDs and some rare NESI vinyl pressings in the store as well!

Hello Sorry Staters! New week, new pick. We have seen some cold weather here the past few weeks, and it seems to be totally out of the norm from what we usually see in North Carolina. I hope everyone is staying warm and staying positive since the orange goblin got sworn in. One thing we can all do is help lift each other up and work through this disaster as best we know how. For me it’s music and reading!

I picked up Weird Music That Goes On Forever: A Punk’s Guide To Loving Jazz a few months ago when I started on my journey of digging into all things jazz music. It’s a good starting point for someone that isn’t well versed in different players and jazz labels. The book breaks down all the greats, from Charles Mingus to Coltrane and Lee Morgan. Each part is a mini biography for each artist and breaks down some albums from each artist to start with. So check this book out if you want to expand your knowledge of Jazz! There is also some great art work sprinkled in by Raleigh’s own Brian Walsby!