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What’s up Sorry State readers, I hope everyone has been enjoying the end of summer. I also hope if you’re reading this that you were able to catch one of the shows from the Scarecrow / Vidro tour that just wrapped up. I caught the one here in Raleigh and it was a killer show as always and it was awesome to get to see Vidro live. They were amazing. Anyway, this week I’m writing about a record that I immediately fell in love with, which is always a great feeling, the 1986 Demo from the Brazilian post punk band Ida & Os Voltas. When Dom and I first opened up the package that had these in there he pulled it out and was like “Man they really nailed the ‘80s aesthetic with this cover” till we turned it around and realized this band actually was from the ‘80s. As far as I know, these are the only studio recordings from this band, but they sound amazing. I was instantly hooked from the first listen and clocking in at just around 15 minutes, this mini-LP is one you just wanna run back as soon as it’s over. My favorite track on here is Samambaias Voadora; it just sounds so fucking cool. The guitar has this like surfy sound to it and the riffs are just so catchy and get stuck in your head. I’ve been listening to this nonstop since discovering it when we got copies in the store and I still haven’t gotten tired of it. I can’t recommend this album any more, definitely a great addition to any collection.

Hi Sorry State friends! It’s been a while, so I’m feeling a little rusty here. I hope everyone’s doing well, maybe catching some shows, listening to killer music, and just getting through the day.

It’s been bloody hot here but in the last couple days I felt roughly two to three breezes (that feels like an improper way to describe more than one breeze). But these moments gave me hope. Being out in this NC humidity even for 15 minutes can zap all of your energy and wipe you out mentally and physically in the weirdest way. That sounds dramatic as hell but if you know you know. Ok …on to the fun stuff!

Speaking of heat, have ya’ll heard the new Lothario release? Brought to us by Goodbye Boozy, it includes two absolutely killer tracks: Drunk Fuck and Black Hair. Certainly the most exciting thing I’ve heard in the last couple weeks. And I had only heard it through bandcamp up until now, so when I wrote my staff pick I didn’t even have the record in hand. But it landed on our doorstep today and now I don’t have to use a generic stock photo!

Before we dive in, let me preface this by saying that I’ve seen the name spelled Lonthario in many places on the interwebs, but it’s spelled Lothario on the actual record so we’re going with that.

Lothario is the solo project of an intriguing punk powerhouse, Annaliese Redlich. According to bandcamp, Lothario hails from Melbourne. Say no more. You had me at Melbourne. There is just something about it. We click. We vibe. Melbourne makes what I like to hear. You may know Annaliese from Imperial Leather and the Neon Sunset radio show. I’ve only been introduced to her through these two perfect tracks.

Not to mention, New Orleans punk legend Rob Craig (Buck Biloxi) is featured on drums!

The music is just immediately ear catching. It’s razor sharp, electric, fun, dynamic, gritty garage punk with powerful vocals and clean infectious beats. I’ve played these songs over and over, so needless to say it’s left me wanting more. And more we will get, because I hear an LP is in the works!

Both tracks are equally good. I tried to decide which one I liked more. I couldn’t. The mid-tempo melodic crunchy bass, and razor sharp riffs in the song Drunk Fuck are so good. And I just love the vocal cadence on the second track, Black Hair. And the subtle bending of the notes on the guitar parts add nice dimension. The overall sound is dynamic and just so far up my alley. I’m stoked as hell to hear more where this came from!

I hope we still have some in stock at the time you’re reading this. It appears to be quite popular. Take a listen below!

Thank you for reading! It’s nice to be back talking shop with you again. Until next time…

-Angela

https://lotharioxx.bandcamp.com/album/drunk-fuck-black-hair-single

Hello and thanks for reading. While it’s been about a month since I last wrote a staff pick, it feels like way longer in my mind. We will see how well I can write, haha. I hope everyone has been doing well. It seems another round of Covid is hitting my circle of friends and acquaintances. I was run down as hell after tour and I returned to work with a ton of stuff to catch up on. In my limited down time at home, I have been framing some beloved flyers and posters. It’s nice to have something to keep me preoccupied, cos touring with VIDRO was an absolute blast. I think we all really bonded and miss each other a lot as a result. Anyway, I wanted to mention two things today in my staff pick. I will start with RÉGIMEN DE TERROR. I remember when the first EP came out, a friend said it was a little too on-the-nose for him. Haha...well, it was perfect for me. DISCHARGE’s sound was so ground-breaking in 1980 that we have suffered bands who mimic their style for like 50 years now. Countless bands play an homage to DISCHARGE, but few can truly nail down the sound. In a boring world of DISCHARGE clones, I think it’s a great accomplishment to hit the sound right on the nose, like my friend had described. RÉGIMEN DE TERROR’s first EP sounded more like DISASTER’s take on DISCHARGE to me. The songs were pulled back, and the recording was really raw. The sound on their debut EP is definitely more dry than that of DISASTER, but the reference was still immediately what I thought of. When I saw they had another EP dropping, I was excited to hear what would follow. While still in the same vein, this EP is a bit more noisy than the first. The sound brought LIFE LOCK to mind, one of my favorite bands of the past decade. Funny enough, LIFE LOCK covers DISASTER. While LIFE LOCK plays pulled back too, RÉGIMEN DE TERROR picks up the pace a bit on their latest batch of songs. Just like their debut, Swedish d-beat legend Jan “Jutte” Jutila mixed and mastered this EP!!! The EP is 7 songs, clocking in just under 8 minutes. Roach Leg Records is handling the US side of things while LVEUM took care of the UK/Europe. It seems like LVEUM copies are already sold out... check it out and grab a copy before it’s too late. If you are just hearing RÉGIMEN DE TERROR for the first time, we have some copies of their debut from LVEUM in stock as well.

Going back to tour a bit will lead me into the other thing I wanted to mention. I had the honor and privilege to spend about a week in the van with Staffan Fagerberg, the drummer of VIDRO. I already knew of him famously for Really Fast Records and playing drums in HUVUDTVÄTT. As a result, I learned how to properly pronounce MISSBRUKARNA, amongst other Swedish band names. When this tape first came out a handful of years ago, I was unbelievably excited, and I am super happy Outsider Classics have put it back in print! MISSBRUKARNA has always stuck out to me in the midst of so many excellent Swedish punk/hardcore bands. It’s amazing their first record came out in 1980 cos the sound is much more hardcore than almost anything else of the time from Sweden. I know most of the songs are melodic/catchy, but the last few, especially “De Nakna Och De Döda” are without a doubt hardcore. I could be totally off with this comparison, but I feel like MISSBRUKARNA are like the LAMA of Sweden. Anyway, MISSBRUKARNA’s 1984 cassette, Krigets Gentlemän, is absolute hardcore perfection if you ask me. The booklet that comes along with the reissue is such a huge bonus. I am already a sucker for reissues that are on the original format with original art, but including additional things like a booklet with interviews, liner notes, photos, history of the band, etc is such an excellent bonus. I had the pleasure of holding an original copy of this cassette when we were in Stockholm on tour last year. I drooled over it for like 15 minutes and took a bunch of photos, haha. The reissue is well-done and I think everyone needs a copy, even if you aren’t the kind of person to buy a lot of cassettes. OK back to work then, thanks for reading!

Hey there Sorry Staters! It’s been a long hot summer here in North Carolina and the heat hasn’t let up yet. We are doing our best to keep cool and hope that wherever you are in the world things aren’t too bad. Obviously our southern hemisphere readers are in their winter, but certainly know all about scorching summers. Extreme weather events are becoming the norm and yet here in America just this week during their debate, Republican candidates for president to a man all denied climate change was even real or an issue. Shameful and disgusting. The lot of them. But whatever, we all know they’re assholes. Let’s talk about music and records instead. It’s been a minute since we did one of these and honestly evangelizing about music and turning folks on to cool records is what we love to do most here at Sorry State. That and bringing the music to you directly, like when Scarecrow play live.

Talking about Scarecrow playing live, I hope that some of you got a chance to see them play on their recent tour with Vidro. I really enjoyed the show here in Raleigh and was particularly impressed with Vidro from Sweden. We should still have copies of their LP in stock, and I can highly recommend it. Also playing that evening was Yellowcake and Pig City. We missed Pig City as we were closing the shop, but had the pleasure of meeting the bands in the store and took the opportunity to take some copies of records and tapes that both had with them. The Yellowcake tapes sold already, but we do still have copies of the Pig City LP if you would like to support them.

This week I would like to use my space in the newsletter to talk about an artist who in the country music world is a household name, but might be new to some of you reading. His name is John Hartford, and although sadly not with us anymore, left a body of work behind him to guarantee his legendary status for years to come. I’m not sure how many of you punks out there appreciate county, folk and bluegrass music, but if you do, then John Hartford is someone you should investigate in addition to the countless other cool artists and records that come under the country and bluegrass banner. Don’t forget the Ramones played at a place called CBGB & OMFUG, which literally has the name of the music in the name. As I write this, Jeff and I are listening to Rocket to Russia. Everything is connected. LoL.

So, back to John Hartford. His career would take a couple of pages to write about and I would encourage a deeper look at his Wiki page for starters. He was born in New York, raised in St. Louis and moved to Nashville to begin his career in the early 1960s. His early records were in the then current country folk style, but his big break came with a tune called Gentle On My Mind, which he wrote. It became a small hit for him but an even bigger one for Glen Campbell, who heard it and covered it himself and turned the song into an international hit song. Years later, Hartford would credit that early break in financing his whole career and affording him the luxury to experiment and be true to himself as an artist.

Harford was a multi-instrumentalist and could play banjo, fiddle and guitar equally well. He also developed a clogging technique where he would stomp on wood boards to provide his own beat. A true one-man band. His music caught the ear of many as he became popular, and this led to him becoming a regular on the Smothers Brothers TV show and on Glen Campbell’s TV show. A label switch to Warner Brothers and then Flying Fish in the 70s began a run of releases that were far more experimental in their approach to bluegrass and would be later be dubbed as Newgrass. For many, the defining record in his catalogue is one titled Aero-Plane, released in 1971. I have become slightly obsessed with this record recently and was delighted to find it in a collection that we bought a while back. I had a strong feeling that I was going to find a copy and was convinced that there would be one in this collection. Sure enough, in the very last box (out of dozens) that we had been going through, there was a copy. Sweet. I love it when that happens. The main reason that I have fallen in love with this record is for the song Steam Powered Aero-plane, which is just so good and probably the reason why people seek out this particular title. I must thank Rachel (who used to work for us) and John Scott for reviving my interest in country and bluegrass. John Scott introduced me to Billy Strings, a real generational talent btw, and his band cover some John Hartford songs. We listen to Billy Strings live shows while we work and had been enjoying hearing their take on the Aero-Plane song and so it was great to see them perform the song live at one of the shows the band played here in North Carolina recently. There were many other great moments that night in Cary, but that one really made it for me. Kudos to banjo player Billy Failing who sings the song in their sets.

Looking at Discogs, it seems that the Aero-Plane album commands the highest price amongst his albums. His other Warner Brothers record called Morning Bugle, which was released the year after, is also a good record and in demand, but most of his other albums shouldn’t make a big dent in your wallet should you start to seek them out. He recorded over thirty albums throughout his career, so there are lots to find. I’ve managed to score a few so far and have found something cool on all of them. I love Hartford’s voice and his lyrics. He’s a character for sure and supremely smart and talented. Apparently, though, amongst some bluegrass purists, his Newgrass style wasn’t universally appreciated. Their loss I say. However, for most people, his music is something to cherish and celebrate. The more I read about him, the more I like him. He was fascinated with the Mississippi River and the stories through history associated with it, for instance, and recorded a cool record in tribute to it titled Mark Twang. I found this one too, and it’s another good one. Hopefully I’ll come across a couple of those earlier sixties albums soon, but I am extremely happy to snag a copy of Aero-Plane.

Rock ‘n’ Roll and loud guitar music will always rule, but there’s plenty of punk attitude to be found in Bluegrass music, just as there is in other styles. Cumbia is a great example. Remember it’s not your clothes or your haircut that makes you punk. Thanks for reading and your support. Go play some records.

Cheers - Dom

What’s up Sorry Staters?

How long has it even been since I’ve written one of these? It feels like the crew over here at Sorry State got back into the swing of things with writing for the newsletter for a minute. But looking back now, I guess the last time was already back in July. Scarecrow went on tour and that certainly slowed us down again. Whoops! So it’s almost a month later… But hey, we’re back baby! Speaking of which, I can’t express enough how amazing it was touring with Vidro. I felt spoiled getting to see them absolutely RIP every night. Also though, it really felt like Scarecrow and Vidro made strong friendships in the 9 or so days we spent in a boiling hot van with no A/C together haha. All the gigs in the different cities we visited were great, and everyone who booked the shows and put us up took such good care of us. So rad getting to reconnect with outta-town friends in all the cities we went to.

Some other stuff that’s happened: The day after we said goodbye to Vidro, the Scarecrow crew rolled down to Richmond, and Public Acid played a gig with Appendix. Appendix totally ripped, NY tourist t-shirts and all haha. We came back home for not even a week, and then Scarecrow drove out to Charlotte to play a Thrasher event. We missed the skate event, which I was super bummed about. Someone told us later that at the Mooresville skate park, Andrew Reynolds busted out a huge backside flip while Poison Idea was playing. I could cry. But it’s all good. We got to hang out with the fuckin’ homies in Tozcos! It was officially my birthday when the clock struck midnight on Sunday, and we all went and drank cerveza in a cemetery. True 45 Grave hours. It was indeed “party time.”

Things are gonna be kinda quiet and back to regular routine for a couple weeks. In late September, Meat House will head out to Milwaukee for Unlawful Assembly fest. Woohoo, busy busy busy!

Anyway, enough about my bullshit. Y’all paid any attention to this Мир reissue that just came out on Beach Impediment? Don’t let the name fool you. Even with that Russian character in the name, this band was actually based out of Roanoke, VA. I’d honestly never heard anything about this band before. Apparently, with that spelling, Мир is actually pronounced sorta like “mere”. From what I understand, the band was active in the early-to-mid 80s. The recording contained on this LP was recorded in 1984, and has been remastered from the original reels. I think the band was fairly short-lived, breaking up as early as 1985. It’s cool to discover this recording because it’s another missing piece of the 80s southern hardcore story.

As expected from the mighty Beach Impediment, the packaging looks excellent. The insert is designed with a collage of flyers from shows that Мир played in the 80s. It seems like they were on the bill for some killer shows, having played with big names like Battalion of Saints and Scream. To my surprise, there’s actually several flyers of gigs Мир played with COC, which is super cool! There’s even a flyer from when Мир played The Brewery here in Raleigh. And funny enough, when I listen to this recording, there’s many sonic and stylistic elements of Мир’s sound that remind me of early COC and other NC hardcore bands. The drummer even kinda looks like Reed Mullin! Weirdly, even as soon as the first song kicks in, the raspy, youthful vocals along with the jangly, loose riffing kinda reminds me of Subculture.

While they are clearly a hardcore punk band, there’s some disparate influences going on with Мир’s music. It’s not straight ahead fast hardcore punk the whole time. There’s some slower numbers with super active, spider-walking bass lines. When I was listening to it in the store with Dom, he commented that he heard some definite 60s influences. Which I wouldn’t have necessarily noticed, but I think he’s onto something. On the back cover photo, the singer is wearing a frilly white shirt with what I imagine is a brown suede vest on top, along with a quaffed, shaggy haircut. All this to say that his style appears like he’d fit right in with a photo of a band featured on a Pebbles or Nuggets comp. The guitar also is heavily effected; there’s moments where the reverb almost sounds like he was trying to infuse some surf rock tone into the mix. There’s this one kinda schizophrenic song, where the band alternates between this stripped-down melodic section, but then launches into ripping fast hardcore. That track almost reminds me of that one self-referential song on the Neon Christ 7”. Super cool.

If you’re like me, you’ve had a hankering for plunging even deeper into the undiscovered, obscure gems of 80s USHC. This LP will scratch that itch. This Мир recording definitely deserved to be heard by all the HCPMF’s out there. Do yourself a favor and check this bad boi out. I promise it’s worth your time! Or at least I hope you dig it as much as I do.

Anyway, that’s all I’ve got this week. As always, thanks for reading.

‘Til next week, or at least I assume,

-Jeff

Kinetic Oribtal Strike photo by Razorblades & Aspirin

While the newsletter has been quiet over the past couple of months, it’s been a very busy summer for me. I’ve logged several thousand highway miles traveling up and down the east coast playing and attending shows. In fact, it’s only in the past day or two that things have calmed down for me. After the Scarecrow / Vidro tour ended on August 12 I stayed out on the road to catch a few dates of Appendix’s US tour, then I had two nights in my bed before Scarecrow was once again on the road playing a gig with Tozcos and Violencia in Charlotte. Then after that I hit the Sheer Mag gig in Durham this past Monday and drove up to Richmond for the Enzyme gig on Tuesday. When I woke up on Wednesday, my body was screaming “STOP!” Thankfully September looks quieter on the gig front. I’m looking forward to spending lots of time with the turntable spinning and my dog Patti sitting on my lap.

Since my mind is still in gig mode rather than record mode, I thought I’d use this staff pick to tell you about a few of my favorite bands I saw this summer. I saw a lot of incredible sets this summer, so if I don’t mention your / your favorite band, that doesn’t mean I didn’t enjoy it… in fact, I’d say I’ve enjoyed every set I saw this summer. However, here are the ones I hold in particularly high regard:

Phantom I didn’t have time to give Phantom’s demo tape a close listen before I embarked on my crazy summer of gigging, but we had packed up so many copies in your orders that I knew I should pay attention. They were the first band on the after-show on night 1 of Something to Talk About, which is a great time slot… the crowd was warmed up, but not yet exhausted. Phantom slayed that night, an explosion of unhinged energy with insane drumming. They were the first band of the day at Another Lost Weekend and while they sounded great, the crowd didn’t quite match their energy. However, when I they played at Cousin Danny’s with Scarecrow and Vidro, they were once again blazing. Phantom is right up my alley, musically dense and adventurous hardcore punk with inhuman tempos.

Kinetic Orbital Strike I knew going in that KOS was going to be great, but I wasn’t prepared for how thoroughly they leveled everything the two times I saw them. We know from their demo and their newly released 7” that KOS’s songs are lethal, but they clearly put a great deal of thought into their live show’s sound and presentation. In DC, Chris played out of a full stack that could peel the paint off the walls, and I’m pretty sure he played out of three speaker cabinets in Richmond the other night. Trish’s bass tone is also godly, so loud and full and furious. Other bands might try to sound like Disclose and Framtid, but experiencing KOS live feels like Disclose and Framtid have colonized your brain and taken it over from the inside. The one-two punch of Destruct and KOS in Richmond the other night was one of the most explosive pairings I have witnessed in my 20+ years going to gigs.

Appendix I went into Appendix with zero expectations… we all know things can go either way with bands from 80s. However, when they hit their first note at the Richmond gig, I was sold. These old guys scored zero points for style, wearing shorts and New York City t-shirts from Chinatown while they guzzled beer, ripped cigs, and laid down note-perfect renditions of the early catalog. I love this band, and the two sets I saw left huge smiles on my face.

Tozcos This was my first time seeing Tozcos, and they did not disappoint! It’s been five long years since their last record, Sueños Deceptivos, but the band’s m.o. sounds the same as ever… blistering hardcore punk that is as catchy as it is intense, drawing as much from classic punk as it does ripping hardcore. I love all the big guitar hooks, the walking bass lines, the explosive drumming, and the singer’s commanding vocals and stage presence. They mentioned they have a new album coming out in September, and I can’t wait to hear it.

Vidro I gotta give a HUGE shout-out to Scarecrow’s tour buddies in Vidro, whom we got to see annihilate every night. We were all blown away when we played with Vidro in Hamburg last summer, and in the flurry of activity leading up to tour I didn’t have time to build anticipation for seeing them again. However, as soon as they hit the first note at our first gig in Philly I was just like, “oh yeah… this band fucking brings it.” Vidro is an explosive ball of energy, and the members’ constant pogoing makes it seem like they’re riding the waves of pummeling sound emanating from their instruments. It seems like not too many people had heard them before they played, but every night there was a huge line at the merch table full of freshly blown away new fans.

Cicada The Richmond stop on the Scarecrow / Vidro tour featured Invertebrates and Cicada in the opening slots… if there was an award for the gig with the highest average Beats Per Minute this summer, this would have gotten it. Cicada’s sound was loose and explosive, with an unhinged energy that made me think of Koro, Deep Wound, or the most furious early 80s Italian hardcore. I am eagerly anticipating the 3-song tape they said is coming soon. And I’ll also give a quick shout-out to Hominid, who played our DC show share a guitarist with Cicada. Their vibe was similarly gnarly… they played about 5 minutes of explosive hardcore that reminded me of Siege and ended with a Negative Approach cover.

Snarling Dogs Snarling Dogs played our Pittsburgh show, and when I saw the band included Tom and Scud from innumerable great Pittsburgh bands of the past decade or two, I knew they would be good. I was not wrong. All their projects have a different vibe, and Snarling Dogs brings a little rock and roll into the mix, fast and furious but with catchy, pub rock-inspired guitar flourishes. Speaking of which…

Puffer Montreal’s Puffer blew me away at Something To Talk About. I had heard their recordings, but seeing them live was something different altogether. They write great songs, which comes across on record (“Sister Marie,” from their latest 7” on Roach Leg, is one of my favorite songs of 2023), but the wildness of the guitarist’s style gets muted by their lo-fi recordings. My eyes were fixated on his playing for their entire set. I wish I could rewind my brain and watch it again right now.

Alienator Alienator was one of the bands I was most looking forward to seeing this summer, and they delivered both times I caught them. The members’ physical presence is intimidating. I’m pretty sure the non-drumming members are all well over six feet tall, all of them with shaved heads, big muscles, and tons of tattoos… it’s like someone beamed in 4 copies of Al Barile circa 1982 and made them start a band together. The sound is just as burly as the visuals too, and watching them felt like being crushed by a bulldozer.

Personal Damage Personal Damage is one of my favorite bands of the past several years, and I finally got to see them live at Another Lost Weekend. It’s tough for a 3-piece hardcore band to bring the same energy as groups with an untethered frontperson, but Personal Damage leveled the place. Live, they were even faster and meaner than on their records, blasting through their short but catchy songs one right after the other, nailing the manic vocal trade-offs that are such a big part of their sound. This was Personal Damage’s first appearance on the east coast and I think many people didn’t know about them, but after their set everyone was buzzing about how great they were.

Public Acid I’ve seen many Public Acid sets over the years—including a few this summer—but I can’t go without mentioning their set with Appendix in Richmond last week. Heavy on new material from their upcoming 12”, the band sounded as vital and explosive as ever, and the new tracks’ metallic edge felt fresh and exciting. I hope I get to see more sets that lean on this new material in the coming months.

Damn, this is already long as hell, but there are still so many great bands I didn’t mention… Chainsaw, Laughing Corpse, Self Checkout… and of course impressive sets from veterans like Electric Chair and Warthog. If you didn’t see some of these great bands this summer, you fucked up!

What’s up Sorry State readers? It’s been a few weeks since I’ve done one of these. I hope everyone has been having a nice summer. It’s been real hot down here in North Carolina, but I’ve been trying to make the most of the season this year and go to the beach or river or just anywhere outdoors on my days off. We’re so lucky here in North Carolina to be able to go to the beach for the day or drive over to the mountains, so I’ve been trying to take advantage of it. Billy Strings came down the road to Cary for a three-night run and it was a blast. It was so fun getting to go to the shows with a bunch of different friends and seeing familiar faces around. Dom even came out to the first night! It was awesome to get to go to a show with him and hear a bunch of old bluegrass tunes we love listening to at the store together by some of our favorite artists like David Grisman, Flatt and Scruggs, and The Stanley Brothers, to name a few. One of my favorite memories of the weekend was for the encore of the first night, Billy played a cover of Ruby, in honor of Bobby Osborne, who just recently passed away, and Dom and I were out there cuttin a rug. Anyway it’s been a fun summer, but there’s been so much good music coming out it’s hard to keep up with. This week I was checking out some of the new stuff that had come in and came across this Haunted Mansion 7”. I decided to throw it on and was greeted with the sounds of quite literally, a spooky haunted mansion, only to be then hit by an onslaught of loud and raw hardcore punk for the next five minutes. All killer, no filler, straight to the point. It’s just right up my alley and I’ve had it on repeat since I picked up my copy. I highly recommend snagging this one. At the time of writing this I think we still have a couple copies left so grab it while you can!

Hi Sorry State readers! Long time no see/talk! Hope everyone has had a great summer so far. Summer here in NC is brutal, but we’re managing. I’ve been listening to tons of good stuff, reading good books, and staying indoors. It’s really nice to be back after a little bit of a staff pick hiatus, but there is no shortage of things I could write about.

I was thinking of going with the Primal Screamer book by the man, the myth, and the legend, Nick Blinko, of Rudimentary Peni. But I decided to go with a record instead. We’ll get to that in a minute. But first, if you haven’t read that book yet and you are a fan of Rudimentary Peni and/or Nick Blinko’s fascinating art, I highly suggest it. It’s a semi-autobiographical account of a very complex and troubled young man (likely Nick Blinko, if we had to guess) from the point of view of his psychiatrist. The main character, Nat, undergoes primal therapy to unearth his feelings and trauma, which turns out to be quite an ordeal and obviously the direct inspiration for the book’s title. Nat goes on to form a band. Spoiler alert: Rudimentary Peni, although the band is never mentioned by name. So you gain some insight into RP’s early days. Although it’s hard to tell which parts are exaggerated, it’s probably safe to say it aligns closely with the early adulthood of Blinko.

Onto my official staff pick. It’s the new Lafff Box S/T LP, released on Neon Taste. Some of you may have gotten your hands on the EP they released last year. I really enjoyed it, so I had been looking forward to the release of their full-length album. Lafff Box is from Germany and comprised of members of Liiek, Ex-White, Poky, and Lassie, to name a few. What could go wrong? Not a thing. Their sound isn’t very easy to describe or place in a box, which is always a good thing in my opinion. They bring a little bit of this and a little bit of that and smash it all together to create a manic, in your face burst of fantastic energy. It’s fast, unhinged, and really catchy stuff. It’s fresh and modern, but with no synths in sight. The singer’s snarling, distorted vocals and dual guitars create the sound of perfect chaos. Don’t get me wrong, the album is thoughtful and sharp, with fast and clean beats. It’s also a good balance of mosh-worthy punk and more melodic tracks. The song Master is a perfect example of the latter. A mid-tempo melodic track with sharp infectious riffs and a catchy sing-along style chorus, but before you get too comfortable, the vocals turn absolutely manic. Which is totally my jam. I just love it when a good power pop track goes off the rails. The song Just a Fool seems to be a favorite, for good reason. It leans more on the power pop side and very catchy. The placement of this track in the middle of the album is smart because the sound is a bit more structured and formulaic in the middle of faster and more chaotic sounding tracks. All in all, this is a really good album and tons of fun to listen to. It’s the jolt of energy you need to get your day going. And well worth the wait. Check it out!

Thanks for reading! Until next time!

-Angela

Hello and thanks for reading. It’s been a while. I hope everyone has been doing well. I recently got Covid and I have been trying to catch up here at work before we leave for VIDRO/SCARECROW East Coast tour. There have been a ton of killer records in stock since I last wrote a staff pick, but most of them have sold out already. (Especially that new DELETÄR 12”... damn that is a good record.) To coincide with our upcoming tour, I chose a photo taken by our amazing driver from our European tour, Liese. This is from the gig in Hamburg, Germany where we played with VIDRO. If not for this gig, we probably would not be touring together! Since Jeff was perfectly blocked from sight in the live shot, I included a cute shot of him from after the gig. I look forward to the upcoming tour A LOT… blah blah… I could go on forever about being excited to hang with friends in different cities and sweat our asses off in the van with VIDRO, but now it’s time to talk about records.

Funny enough, In a staff pick from almost a year ago, I wrote about the two things I wanted to mention today. NUKIES! This shit is so good to me. They did a cassette version before this record came out. I actually wrote about it here when Sorry State got some copies. Rarely is there a cassette I actually want to buy, especially when I know it’s coming out as a proper record later. ELECTRIC CHAIR was the last cassette I went out of my way to get. Even though I knew it was coming out on LP, I really wanted to hear the entire thing. I know I could have probably just streamed it online or something, but I don’t know... nothing can ever beat playing the physical format of a release. Don’t get me wrong, I use Bandcamp and YouTube to check out bands all the time. Anyway, NUKIES really hits the spot for me, so I was eager to get the cassette version to hold me over until this hot ass slab was finally released. The LP is finally here, so don’t sleep. If you haven’t heard them, I would stop what you’re doing right now and check them out. I don’t understand what there is not to love about this shit.

Another thing I wrote about that day was BLACK UNIFORMS. I am so happy to have these in stock. I remember when I first heard them, they were a bit too metallic for me. I’m not sure what made it click for me, but now I can never get enough BLACK UNIFORMS. Everyone needs this record. While the song is not on their full-length, “Suck My Cock” is like my life paraphrased into a song, so naturally I am obsessed with the band. When I first wrote about them in that staff pick, I was writing about this bootleg that was in circulation late last year. We never could find out where to get a bunch of copies at an OK price, though. It was peculiar how spot-on the boot was to the original. It even included the original catalogue number in the matrix. It was also interesting I recently heard Mats Bodenmalm passed away very early this year. And more recently, I saw Charlie Cimex post from Facebook where he warns readers to not deal with Cliff for CIMEX shit and that he is a speed freak, haha. I know Cliff probably played a bigger role in BLACK UNIFORMS, but I have no idea who has the rights to reissue their stuff. Is any of this stuff related? Probably not, but I can’t help but wonder and laugh a bit about the whole thing. Anyway, Unrest Records has got this bad boy back in print officially and I could not be more excited. They changed the insert a bit and updated the font on the front cover. I think the update on the front was a nice touch, alongside hand-numbering that out of 1,000 copies. Yes, there is only 1,000, so sleep now and forever hold your peace. Hilariously as I write this, I had this video playing. I know the two bands beefed, but I can happily enjoy both. Alright, I’ve got to get on with some other work now. Thanks for reading, and thanks to everyone for the support!! Cheers!

Hi there, how’s your summer going? Apparently, in some parts, there hasn’t been much of a summer so far for you, but down here in North Carolina we are currently chilling with temps in the high 90s and not much change in sight. The good news is that the UPS driver’s union won their dispute and there will now be a/c units in the delivery vans, so they don’t have to drop from heat exhaustion and hopefully the shipments of vinyl they are carrying won’t be exposed to 100+ degrees also. Always a big concern shipping and receiving records in the height of summer. A good time to listen to Billy Bragg’s There’s Power In A Union.

We’ve been keeping busy here at Sorry State with plenty of new and used records coming through the doors each week, but have taken a brief break from writing our staff picks. Not that there hasn’t been plenty to write about. As I type, we are receiving the latest releases from Iron Lung Records and Static Shock Records. I’m curious to hear The Steves singles and am excited to see new ones from The Hazmats and Powerplant. We’re constantly adding good, cool used records to our inventory and have been keeping the store as full as possible and not slowing down on the used new arrivals drops each week. It truly is so satisfying and rewarding seeing good records being appreciated and bought by you, our fantastic customers. We thank you for your continued support.

In a recent social media post, we had the old man of the place (me) with his nose in a pile of books wearing his cheaters. Apparently that made some of you smile, but there were some excellent books in that stack, and with that in mind I thought I would recommend a book for you today. If you are lucky to be taking a summer vacation this year at the beach or somewhere else where the plan is to relax and do very little, you might need something good to read. It’s been a few years since I have had a “vacation”, but I can recall how I used to get through several books during a typical week’s holiday. One decent read that I could recommend to you which I am just finishing up is Music Is History by Questlove with Ben Greenman, published by Abrams Image. It’s an easy, fun and informative read covering the years 1971 to the present in musical history as seen through the eyes of Questlove. Each short chapter covers a year and begins with a bullet point list of the year’s key events and happenings and then has Questlove’s thoughts regarding records that came out that year and how the music and news events connect and affect each other along with plenty of other interesting factoids and asides. The focus is almost entirely on America and the American experience, but that shouldn’t make it any less appealing to folks from other parts of the world. Assuming, that is, that you have more than a passing interest in American history, music and politics and know and care who Questlove is.

I, as a fan of The Roots and Questlove and a resident of America and a lover of music and history found plenty to be amused and informed by.

One of the chapters talks about Michael Jackson’s Thriller album, where there’s an interesting story about how Thomas Dolby almost contributed a cut to the record, but things didn’t work out, so he took the song, Hyperactive, and recorded it himself. Questlove tells it much better, but the real point of the story was how it was around this time in his life that the author was experiencing music directly and not second hand via his parents or from the established gatekeepers telling him what mattered and what was or was not good. I’m just a couple of years older than him and can relate to that emotion. The feeling of discovering music yourself and experiencing things directly as they happen as opposed to reading about the past or watching it told back in a documentary or something. Also, being of age that you could participate in some way was the crucial factor. Being able to claim music, bands, artists as your own.

I’m not as avid a reader as I used to be, and I’ve held on to this book for too long since we were gifted one here at the store from the publishers, and I know Daniel wants to read it also. Our copy came with a doodle graph signed by Questlove, too. Pretty cool. Grab yourself a copy for your beach holiday. Sorry Daniel for holding on to it for so long to miss your beach getaway, but you probably had plenty of other good reads with you, right?

Cheers everyone, enjoy your summer and stay cool.

-Dom

What’s up Sorry Staters?

Holy shit, it’s been a while huh? I can’t remember how long it’s been since I sat down to write one of these things—let alone wrap my brain around producing coherent thoughts in written form. I’ll give it my best. I’m honestly feeling just a bit rusty. Time to shake the dust off!

What’s everybody been up to this summer? I feel like since last time we assembled a newsletter I’ve been out of town quite a bit. Shomo Fest 2023 in Philly was a fuckin’ blast. It was rad with Public Acid to reunite with our homies in Warthog. There was epicly hot gig underneath a bridge in Richmond where I got to see Subdued and Nosferatu up close and personal, with dust flying from hard moshtastic dancing and fireworks poppin’ off in the background. Also, my new band Meat House went on tour along with our buddies in Sorry State family members Mutant Strain, playing mostly gigs in the Midwest. Even though the tour was pretty short, it was one of the funnest tours I’ve ever been on. We partied, goofed off, and got into trouble. It ruled. Speaking of which, the Meat House 12” EP is out now, and thanks to everyone who’s grabbed a copy so far! We’re stoked that people seem to be diggin’ it.

In just about one week from today, Scarecrow are going on tour with our friends from Sweden, Vidro! They’re one of the best live bands I’ve seen in recent memory. Hope to some of y’all out at those gigs! Lookin’ forward to it.

So many great new releases have come out since we last did one of these. The new Deletär LP (sold out, but we have more on the way!) and the Nukies 12” pressing of their tape from earlier have both been on heavy rotation in the last week or so. But being the way I am, I thought I’d go a totally different route and talk about a reissue. I would never claim to be an expert on Canadian punk. Some deep cuts I love include the Unruled 7”, the Stretch Marks 7”, the Genetic Control 7”… definitely some serious bangers. But another band I love from Toronto is Youth Youth Youth. They released one 12” EP in 1983 called Sin, and until now in the Lord’s year 2023, the record has never had an official reissue.

The reissue is on a label called Blue Fog Records, which is a Toronto-based label that I think puts out lots of different kinds of music, definitely not just 80s hardcore punk reissues. There are some graphic design elements that they abandon from the original that I miss, but overall, I think it’s a pretty slick, clean looking reissue. You get a lyric insert and a printed inner sleeve with what I always refer to as “punk porn”—just a totally jam-packed collage of cool old black n white photos. Not unlike another compilation that I have called Repackaged, the A-side is the og 1983 EP in its entirety, and then the B-side is demo recordings. . The demos kinda remind of more song-based CA hardcore like Shattered Faith or Code of Honor. But by the time we get to the actual 1983 EP, musically, YYY play fast hardcore, but are definitely on the more melodic, tuneful end of the spectrum. What really stands out to me about YYY though are the lyrics and the singer’s delivery. He’s got that kind of self-serious, earnest demeanor, with often poetic, prophetic lyrics. A couple of the songs rather boldly and emphatically titled things like “Philosophy” or “Greed,” where a Canadian teenager breaks down some heavy topics with defiant conviction and seemingly no sense of irony whatsoever. Which honestly, I’m not even trying to poke fun at it. I just feel like it’s a rare thing to experience nowadays. It’s funny to even draw this comparison, but the vibe is not unlike 7 Seconds, but lyrically, YYY are probably more well-read I would say. Honestly, I feel like Bad Religion’s Suffer owes a debt to Youth Youth Youth from 5 or 6 years prior. YYY is definitely more hardcore and rougher around the edges, but the musicianship is top-notch and they’ve got that similar jangly guitar style and melodic riffing. Even the bass player’s (Paul Bishop’s?) rumbling, scale-walking style reminds me a lot of Jay Bentley.

All that aside, I think this YYY EP is an underappreciated gem of 80s Canadian hardcore. I’m stoked that this record is back in print so all of us hardcore nerds can rage to it without having to track down an original on Discogs and worry about it getting through Canadian customs haha. We’ve sold a few, but we’ve still got a good amount of copies of this reissue in stock here at Sorry State. So scoop one if ya can! Glad to be back on this newsletter grind.

That’s all I’ve got. As always, thanks for reading.

‘Til next week?

-Jeff

No Allegiance: Mad 12” (Destiny Records, 1986)

One of my favorite moments of 2023 so far is when Scarecrow played with Lasso in Norfolk, Virginia a few months ago. The bands all stayed at the newly opened Not for the Weak Records, and after the gig everyone hung out at the shop late into the night, sipping beers and listening to music. Eventually things degenerated (as they tend to do) into drunken OpIvy and Specials singalongs (with Greenough displaying an impressively deep command of even the densest OpIvy verses), but for most of the night Chris from Bato was spinning hardcore deep cuts from his collection. There were jams galore, including a handful of things I didn’t know… how had I never checked out the Special Forces LP? My want list definitely grew by a few items that night.

Another band Chris played for us that night that I didn’t know was Germany’s No Allegiance. Actually, after some subsequent research I realized I did know No Allegiance, at least kind of. The band’s original name was Porno Patrol, whose underrated 1984 7” I was familiar with. However, Porno Patrol (wisely?) changed their name to No Allegiance in 1985 and released two LPs, Mad and No Cash Value, on the singer’s label Destiny Records. Destiny Records has a long history, including at least a few cool records like the Porno Patrol 7”, the Combat Not Conform LP, Cheetah Chrome Motherfuckers’ Live in SO.36 LP (which I still need a copy of!), and Squandered Message’s Getting Blunt LP. It appears the label’s tour booking arm also helped to bring a bunch of American bands to Europe in the 80s… I’m guessing the label’s releases from US bands like Capitol Punishment, R.K.L., M.D.C., and Verbal Abuse coincided with those bands’ tours. I bet there are a lot of stories to be told about all that.

Back to No Allegiance. I was in New York for Another Lost Weekend, and of course I hit a bunch of record stores while I was there. I hadn’t been to Generation Records in probably 15 years. The last time I went, I’m pretty sure the store sucked… if I remember correctly, the upstairs was all CDs and merch and all the vinyl was downstairs, but I don’t remember buying a single thing. This time around, it was a different story. There were lots of crazy records on the wall (for crazy prices, of course), and while I didn’t buy any of that stuff, I found a lot of cool, more reasonably priced records in the used LP bins. (Side note: every record store I went to in New York just calls their entire used section “new arrivals,” which is probably a good way to get people to look through everything.) There were a bunch of 80s German hardcore LPs, which I have to assume came from the same collection. One of them was No Allegiance’s first album, Mad, which I eagerly nabbed.

Sometimes when you hear a band at a party after a few beers, add it to your wantlist, and track down a copy weeks, months, or years later, it doesn’t hold up as well as you remember. While Chris had played No Cash Value, No Allegiance’s second album, Mad was no disappointment. In fact, I think it’s pretty killer. It reminds me of better-produced US hardcore records from the mid-80s, when bands started getting stronger recordings… I’m thinking of records like the FU’s Do We Really Want to Hurt You and DRI’s Dealing With It… bigger-budget records from bands that still played loud and fast. RKL might be another good comparison. Basically, if you like the bands that were still riding for hardcore in the mid-80s without going melodic or metal, you’re probably going to dig this.

It looks like both of No Allegiance’s records fly so far under the radar that they barely sell for anything on Discogs. (I paid the New York City premium price for my copy, but I’m OK with it.) So, if you can track down these records, they shouldn’t cost you much at all. And if you ask me, they punch way above their weight.