News

Hi strangers! So happy to pop in this week and talk about music with you. I hope everyone is doing well. Missed ya’ll!

It’s kinda weird to say I’m even doing ok against the backdrop of this fucked-up country and world. So, I guess me doing ok just means I have my physical health, I moved to a house I love, and I just got an adorable angel baby puppy named Bowie. I wanted to name him Ian MacKaye, but my daughter would’ve had a meltdown. Instagram was much more partial to Bowie as well. Oh, and I went to Iceland for a week. (hashtag blessed!). Please catch the overt sarcasm in that.

But truthfully, life is weird when there is a looming black cloud over your head no matter what happy things may come along. But, being happy as a state of mind seems ridiculous. I think we are meant to have moments of happiness if you can find them. And that’s it if you’re lucky. Which begs the question, why we can’t just have moments of depression or anxiety instead of a whole-ass existence? Man, isn’t this staff pick a blast so far? Reading too much nihilistic philosophy. Let’s change things up.

Okay, so I’ve been trying to keep up with newly released ragers and the like, but damn it’s hard when you take a break from record hunting and chatting with friends about the latest and greatest. I came back to life/started to see people in person and speak to them in April/May of this year after a 4-5 month hiatus, and felt so out of the loop. I never took a break from music, but definitely relied on nostalgia music mostly through these past several months.

So I checked out five or six releases from this year, and I was kinda hooked on the new EP from Skull Cult, Can’t You See What I Mean? Admittedly, it was the cat on the cover that drew me in initially. Anyway, they hail from Bloomington, Indiana. I don’t hear too much/anything out of those parts, so that’s cool.

So I’ve heard this band before, and some of the older stuff was just a bit grating. When it comes to noise punk / weird punk, it could go either way for me. I like it as long as it has something, just something, grounding it just a little. It’s gotta feel like they aren’t up there just fucking around. So I much prefer this newest EP over the last. First one released by the band since 2018!

So Skull Cult definitely dialed down the abrasive weirdness and increased the catchiness. Good move. Thankfully, it’s still somewhat chaotic, and it’s still weird, but I think they found their sweet spot. I have to mention that some of it could be looked at as egg punk, but the only really eggy part I picked up on was the intro to the Rocker and a little bit of Organization. But the record has great blown-out guitars, frantic vocals, good bass lines, and frantic drums that collectively make the record. It’s just better. And the vocals often sound like what that cat on the cover may sound like in a street fight, and that works here.

It’s more grounded and focused than previous works. I guess you’d have to hear the older stuff to make up your mind on what style you like. It doesn’t deviate so much from past EPs in terms of the foundation, but the execution of it just makes more sense. Language is for sure my favorite on the record. I just like the line “and there’s nothing you can DO about it,” with the emphasis on “do.” It’s short and sweet. The vocals aren’t insane on that one, but it feels like old nostalgic punk.

You definitely get some variety in these five songs. Some are more synthy and melodic, and some more chaotic. It all just fits together to make one well-rounded EP. There is a good balance. Like, if a song is lower tempo, the vocals will be much more abrasive. I think that’s what records like this need. Typically, we don’t want to hear a sing-songy voice on a lower-tempo punk track. I don’t know; you might.

I think the record is an easy listen. If you do like punk stuff like this that is a little synthy and melodic, you will probably enjoy it. It’s also kinda garage. I don’t know; it’s something different.

I have so enjoyed being a part of the newsletter again! Thanks for listening to me ramble, and give me some grace as I haven’t done one of these in a long time! Have a great weekend coming up.

If you scrolled down this far, and read my words, thank you!

-Angela

Hi and thanks for reading. Today I am shamelessly using this space to promote two new releases on my label Prescription. I am honored to release this split 7” with two of my favorite d-beat/kängpunk bands: DESTRUCT and SVAVELDIOXID. DESTRUCT has just embarked on a short tour with Japan’s LiFE. If you are anywhere close to one of their gigs, you’d be a fool to miss it! The standard covers have killer artwork by Wombat of SMT. They were beautifully screen printed by Monolith, based out of Oakland. A local friend, Jeff from PARANOID MANIAC, screen printed some bonus mail order sleeves, which were done with silver ink on black paper. I am super happy with the result. Of course, Sorry State will have copies of the split soon, but if you fancy the limited version, you can order from bunkerpunks.bigcartel.com and secure your copy before they sell out. This record took much longer than I expected to come out. The original prints were lost in the mail back in May. Then that printer I normally use happened to be shut down for two months. Maybe one day they will show up… haha. The screen-printed alternative was much more expensive, but in the end, I am happy to have more deluxe packaging.

Alongside this split is a debut cassette from Uppsala’s SHITCONTROL. If you haven’t heard this tape yet, you can check it out here. While SHITCONTROL isn’t doing anything new if you ask me, the execution is simply perfect. They deliver eight tracks of absolutely raging DISCHARGE style Swedish hardcore. They even recorded on a 4-channel Portastudio, the same way MOB 47 did! I got very excited when I learned the bassist Robin was previously the guitarist of ANGER BURNING. I wrote about ANGER BURNING some years ago. All of their records are so good, and I think When is a modern masterpiece. If, for some reason, you haven’t heard that LP, do yourself a favor and check it out immediately. When talking to Robin, he informed me that their drummer Calle played in the ‘90s band DISCONTROL. I had never heard of them, but holy shit their side of this split smokes. The tone is so gnarly, it’s insane. They weren’t from Uppsala like SHITCONTROL is, but they definitely sound like something you could have heard on the Uppsala Crust Compilation. Because of this compilation and the label Your Own Jailer, I always thought Uppsala was the coolest place ever for 90s hardcore. While most countries had whack and/or boring hardcore through the ‘90s, Sweden had some of the best shit I have heard to this day. Japan obviously follows the same theme as well. Anyways, Sorry State will have copies of this tape as well, so stay tuned! That’s all for today then. Cheers and thanks for your support.

Hi there Sorry State newsletter readers. I trust we find you well.

A quick bit of housekeeping before I proceed. In these pages last week, I was giving the thumbs up to Finnish jazz and to Ville Valavuo, whose recent album I really liked. I said I wasn’t aware of his other projects, but that wasn’t true. Jeff reminded me about one that we stock here at Sorry State and one that yours truly promoted when it came out, namely Modem and their Megalomania LP. Sorry Ville, I didn’t mean to forget that one. We are all fans of that record and are looking forward to seeing you next month when you hit Raleigh on your US tour.

For those of you into cool synth-based electro pop, check Modem out on that tour and pick up a copy of their album, if you haven’t already.

Okay, with that addressed, what else have I been listening to this week? Inspired by John Scott’s French vacation, I recently picked up a nice French pressing of an album by the original Ye-Ye girl herself, Sylvie Vartan from 1967 called simply Sylvie. The album has her covering some Motown numbers like Same Old Song and You Keep Me Hangin’ On, along with a few other rock and pop hits of the day. My favorite so far has been L’amour Est No. 1, which has a cool fuzz guitar riff going on in it. The album packaging also must be mentioned. A gatefold, with great photos of Sylvie in the studio on the inside and a cool color pic of her on the back cover wearing a sharp military jacket. Tres chic. This French RCA pressing sounds great too. Cheers to the US dealer on Discogs who gave me a great price on it and santé to John Scott. I hope it’s nice in Nice mate.

Here at the store, we have been enjoying stocking represses of two great groups, Broadcast and Stereolab. I love them both. The Stereolab reissues have all been well done, with plenty of bonus material and sounding great. Fill your boots on any missing in your collection. The Broadcast demos and BBC sessions however are a must for fans. Highly recommended if you haven’t heard these versions.

With that in mind and having already spoken about Modem, if you were still hungry for more sophisticated, cool electro-pop that has always been tough to get on vinyl, then you must pick up the reissue of 604 by Ladytron. The band’s debut from 2001 still sounds fresh almost twenty-five years later. Another fine act from Liverpool, let it be noted. They had a bit of a time with their record labels over the years, resulting in vinyl pressings of their albums becoming in short supply. I was shocked to see the current prices on their back catalogue. Fortunately, as with Broadcast and Stereolab, their music does seem to be getting new vinyl pressings. Their follow-up to 604, Light & Magic, is also now available, and their critically acclaimed third album, Witching Hour, is about to get an anniversary repress. So that’s good news. We’ll make sure we get copies of those in for you. I wish for Light & Magic the original UK artwork was used, but I guess most people only know the US version and so it makes sense to use that, but I wonder about the thought process back in 2002 for then label Emperor Norton to release the record with the close-up shots of the band members as artwork instead. Not that it’s a bad cover; just different. They probably couldn’t go with a cover that didn’t show the group and looked more like it was a Factory or Creation Records release from ten years ago. Maybe?

I admit to not being a huge fountain of knowledge on Ladytron, but they are an internationally recognized and successful group, and a quick click of your mouse will take you to all the information you should need. Because their albums haven’t been so widely available on vinyl, as with many artists, I just haven’t had the opportunity to come across copies and spin them. I don’t tend to listen to much music that isn’t a record. I know that sounds like a crazy luddite. I just don’t stream and download that much, if at all. It’s always been records for me, with tapes being okay and then CDs. I just like physical media. That’s all to say that I had 604 and Light & Magic on CD, but that’s as far as my listening to them went, unless I heard them out somewhere etc. I’ve been enjoying listening to 604 again after so many years, and this current vinyl pressing sounds decent to my cloth ears.

I’ll sign off with copying excerpts apparently taken from the record’s original press release at the time. Whether that is true or not is almost immaterial as they are perfect descriptions:

• ‘methadone ABBA’

• ‘Kraftwerk meeting Nico in the 24-hour chemist’

• ‘the hit stage version of Brave New World’

• ‘a teasing glimpse of how Britney Spears might have sounded, had she been born in the GDR and a heroin addict........’

There you go. If that appeals, then you know what to do. See you next time. Thanks for reading our newsletter and supporting the store and the artists that we stock. It means a lot to us all.

Cheers - Dom

What’s up Sorry Staters?

How’s everyone doing? As I mentioned before, this time last week when the newsletter came out was my birthday. I had a great one and was riding the high for a few days after. Thanks everyone for all the b-day wishes, including some of you newsletter readers who reached out! Very cool. Honestly, I haven’t really given many new releases proper attention since last week. Because of that, for my staff pick, I’m just gonna write about records I was given as gifts from my Sorry State compatriots. Usman and Daniel each hooked me up with records that I’ve been on the hunt searching for years! I’ve been so stoked blasting these rippers.

Firstly, I’ll talk about the In ControLuce 7” single by Wretched. It’s funny, I think I name-checked this record when I wrote about Ayucaba a couple weeks ago. Little did I know that Usman would be giving a copy one week later haha. When I hear most people discuss 80s Italian hardcore, Wretched is one of the first bands people mention. My brain immediately envisions the most explosive, raw, chaotic hardcore imaginable. But what’s interesting about In ControLuce is that it’s quite a musical departure for the band. Released in 1988, a much later period release by the band, the 2 songs are a totally different vibe than chaotic early sound on EPs like Finira’ Mai? I think this might have been the band’s final release. And I gotta say, I just love it. It’s still hardcore, but with much more melodic guitar work and catchy songwriting. You can hear some of this experimentation incorporating more ambitious, melodic guitar work on La Tua Morte Non Aspetta, but even that record, with its huge, cavernous-sounding production, still sounds totally like the songs could fall apart at any moment. The drumming in particular on In ControLuce, as opposed to any other Wretched record, are super groovy and in-the-pocket, played with restraint. And while the title track is great, I just love the B-side “Libero E Selvaggio.” This is a weird word to use, but it’s like… beautiful. Haha. The vibe of that song is much more anthemic, almost like UK82, but still kind of dark and brooding. This might be a weird comparison, but it’s almost like comparing mid-to-late 80s era Dischord to the first 6 7”s – or like Salad Days vs. Filler. It’s just like more mature and refined, in a way. Then again, the guitar stuff also kinda reminds of stuff from Tuomittu Elämään EP by Varaus, so what do I know? I just find that after I’ve been bludgeoned by the Wretched/Indigesti split 7” one too many times, I always come back to the 2 songs on this single. I kinda wish that Wretched had a whole LP that sounded like this.

Okay, so speaking of Varaus, and Finnish punk in general, now let’s move onto Kohu-63. It’s funny, a few weeks ago, I was texting with a friend whom I met while Public Acid was in Europe, and while we were talking, she was at the Puntala festival in Finland. She got to see Pohjasakka, which is rad, and we were just talking about our favorite Finnish hardcore bands. While I love Mellakka, Rattus, and so many other bands, this Valtaa Ei Loistoa 12” by Kohu-63 has really become one of my favorites over the years. So much so that I probably blabbed about it all the time, and Daniel remembered and cheekily found me a copy while he was in Finland this summer! So rad. But yeah, there’s just something about this record. First of all, it’s only 8 (really more like 7) songs, so it’s the perfect length for a hardcore 12”. Also, I just think this 12” EP has such bright, clear production. Kohu-63 is from Tampere, but I would say that they’re not as gritty or gnarly as their hometown peers, like say Kaaos, for example. Valtaa Ei Loistoa came out in 1982 on Poko Records, and to me has more in common sonically with a band like Lama. Still a bit tuneful and catchy, especially the vocals, which I personally really like. But I think more-so than the first Lama LP, which came out the same year, Kohu-63 is so much more propulsive and raging. The song “Valtaa I” even has a gang-vocal chants with an almost kinda UK Oi! vibe to it. But then when you get to a song like “Huorra,” they amp up the power and speed almost akin to Gang Green territory. The band all hit one big chord, then the drums come barreling in. But once the strings start, the guitar player attacks the riff so ferociously, playing through all those strings so blisteringly fast that I bet my dude’s cuticles were bleeding in the studio! The mid-paced stomper “Puhtaat” is great, but I swear the first time I heard it I was like, “is this a weird cover of ‘Hang Ten In East Berlin’?” Maybe they somehow got a hold of The Detours version if that compilation made its way to Finland? Or maybe it’s just a total coincidence haha. This Kohu-63 song isn’t on Youtube, so I guess you’ll just have to find a copy on vinyl to hear what I’m talking about. Come to think of it, a few of the songs from this record aren’t online anywhere. Someone should change that maybe. Or not. The record ends with a gang chanted a capella “Oi! Oi!” type thing, and they keep just saying “Barmy Army” over and over. Pretty funny. Love this record.

Anyway, that’s all I’ve got. Thanks for letting me gloat about my recent scores.

‘Til next week,

-Jeff

Longtime newsletter readers will remember a section called “Featured Releases” that used to appear at the bottom of the newsletter. Each week in this section I wrote about several new releases in addition to the Record of the Week. I really miss doing that, and I hope I can bring that section back one day, but lately things have been so busy here that the newsletter has become something I bang out in half a day. I can just about get a staff pick and a Record of the Week description done in that time, but adding descriptions of 6 more new releases on top of that is way too much for one person to accomplish every week without going insane. Maybe one day I can hire enough staff that I can spend two entire days on the newsletter each week. Until then, maybe I’ll turn my staff pick over to contemporary releases from time to time rather than only writing about old records. To kick things off, here are four recent punk/hardcore releases that are in stock at Sorry State right now, that are flying under the radar, and that I think are excellent. I’ve included links to listen and buy should you find yourself intrigued.

Fuerza Bruta: Ecos De Chicago 10” (Warthog Speak Records)

Bandcamp / Buy it from Sorry State

Chicago’s Fuerza Bruta has been around a while now, and some of their previous records have been popular at Sorry State, but I have heard little chatter about this new 4-song 10” on Warthog Speak Records. I associate Fuerza Bruta with the skinhead / oi! world, but when you actually listen to their music, it really doesn’t lean too hard on any conventions of oi! music, except for the gang vocals in the choruses. The dance / electronic record they released a few years ago shows their willingness to color outside the lines, and they’ve always reminded me of early Leatherface in that you can tell it’s steeped in traditional punk (particularly 70s and 80s UK punk), but unbound by that scene’s dictates and willing to go wherever the music takes them. Nowhere is the Leatherface comparison more apt than on the closing track here, “Lado a Lado,” which is built around some very Frankie / Dickie two-guitar dynamics. Another winner from this now-veteran band.

Ignorantes: Las Promesas Que Te Hacemos Te Las Puedes Meter Por El Culo 7’’ (General Speech Records)

Bandcamp / Buy it from Sorry State

Ignorantes is another band whose previous releases have been buzzy, but whose newest record appears to be flying under the radar. Perhaps that makes sense here, as this single differs from Ignorantes’ previous material. While most of their previous (many) records were tupa-tupa-style pogo punk, these two songs go in a more blatantly melodic direction. The vocals, while still charmingly off-key and punk as hell, are almost sing-songy melodic, and there’s the addition of some rather sunny-sounding keys playing melodies that wouldn’t be out of place on a Screeching Weasel record. While that might make it seem like Ignorantes has gone soft, the recording and performance are still of the punkest, lo-fi, sub-KBD variety. I love the packaging here too… they printed the covers on the thinnest possible newsprint stock, mocking the very idea of “mint” condition. This is down-in-the-gutter music, dirty and flawed, but by adding a dollop of sugary pop sweetness, Ignorantes has created something unique, fresh, and exciting here.

Psychic Vampire: Sophomaniac 12” (self-released)

Bandcamp / Buy it from Sorry State

While Fuerza Bruta and Ignorantes are well-known bands, I understand not being hip to this killer 12” from Minneapolis’s Psychic Vampire. While the band had a few extremely limited previous releases, this self-released 12” is the first time I’ve heard them, and that they only pressed 100 copies tells me they’re not planning on appealing to the masses. They also promote their record with a Maximumrocknroll review that consists almost entirely of incomprehensible inside jokes. Still, that fucking killer Drügface artwork should have clued you in that something interesting was happening here. Psychic Vampire shares a member with Citric Dummies, and while Psychic Vampire is more straightforwardly hardcore than Citric Dummies, I hear a similar sort of quirkiness here (particularly during the not-infrequent interruptions of hooky lead guitar). Ultimately, Psychic Vampire lies in the space between punk and hardcore where so many interesting and under-appreciated bands live. Their drummer beats the fuck out of the kit, they’re fast as hell, and their singer’s raspy shout would have the pop-punkers cowering the corner, but their incorporation of melody and their blithe dismissal of hardcore’s musical conventions are apt to alienate that scene too. If this clicks with you, though, I imagine it’ll hit hard.

Amerol: demo cassette (Helta Skelta Records)

Bandcamp / Buy it from Sorry State

Here’s my quick pitch for this Amerol demo: imagine Eve Libertine moved to the US in 1982 and joined up with a ripping young hardcore band. Amerol is from the isolated city of Perth on the west coast of Australia, and their demo comes to us via Helta Skelta Records, who have been documenting that city’s fertile punk scene for many years. There are a lot of different sub-styles of punk represented on the label, but (as if the always-killer Keith Caves artwork didn’t already clue you in), this one is for the US hardcore heads. The label’s description mentions No Thanks and Sin 34 and those are fine comparisons, but maybe undersells it a little. Amerol doesn’t really step outside hardcore’s conventions, but their music is full of little twists that make it clear they’re not content to copy from the rule book… see the strange timing on the intro to “Desperate Living” or the dissonant lead guitar stuff happening at the end of “Crossfire.” And then there are the vocals, which totally elevate the whole enterprise, the singer’s heavy accent oozing style and charisma, barking out rapid-fire venom when the songs call for it and weaving in those Crass-esque melodic lines that beg you to sing along. Wrap it all up in beautifully warm 4-track-style production and you have something really special.

What’s up Sorry State readers? I hope everyone has had a nice week. I can’t believe we’re almost at the end of August already; this summer has been flying by. Later this week I’ll be heading to France for a vacation, and I’m pretty pumped. I’ve never been before. We’ll be spending a few days in Paris as well as Nice and Menton. If any readers have any sort of recommendations, send em my way! I’ve been trying to shift into French mode before the trip (I’m even wearing my Deletär shirt while writing this) so I’ve been listening to all sorts of different French music. Today I’m focusing on one of my favorite earlier discoveries, Troupeau Bleu by Cortex, originally released in 1975. I remember first finding out about this album in high school cause MF DOOM sampled Huit octobre 1971 on One Beer and I thought it was the coolest thing ever. I then checked out the rest of the album and fell in love with it. My favorite track on here though has always been Prélude à Go Round. The slower start and the way the vocals come in all dreamy-like has always done it for me. Top to bottom, though, it’s a great listen with some serious grooves going on throughout it. I still need to secure a copy of this myself. I’ve never come across one in person, so maybe I’ll just have to bite the bullet and consult the world wide web. Maybe I’ll get lucky and come across it in France. Hopefully I’ll have some interesting stuff to write about after this trip. Au revoir!

Hi and thanks for reading. Today I will write briefly about two different things. Before I get into the image above, I want to share this compilation a friend of mine, CLT, just showed me. I don’t think there is a physical format of this comp. CLT shared it with me from a geocities link, haha. I shared the YouTube link cos it’s easier to navigate, especially if you don’t speak Italian. CLT told me he thinks all the bands are composed of young punks. NARKAN and APOPTOSI were two names I recognized, and I know they are younger punks. We actually have the APOPTOSI 7” in stock at the moment. There are ten bands total, and I enjoy some more than others. Overall, it’s a great listen. It’s refreshing to hear some new shit from a new generation. Check it out if you aren’t familiar!

Alright, the image I used above I pulled from this lecture I just watched.

Originally the artwork, Waiting, was created in the early 1900s by Udo J. Keppler, who was an American political cartoonist. Simon Johnson delivered this lecture, “Disease Environments, the Mortality of Europeans, and the Creation of Institutions in the Colonial Era.” He won a Nobel Peace Prize recently. I don’t pay attention to that shit, and institutions are typically a farce in my opinion. I don’t know anything about this guy, but the stuff he says in this lecture is spot-on. He doesn’t use big words, and it’s fairly simple to follow what he says. I will probably have to watch it a few more times to really retain everything, though. Basically, what I took from it was how he explains how industrialization has led us to the countless terrible global issues we have today. If you have thirty minutes to spare, I’d suggest checking it out. Alright, that’s all for today. Much love.

Hello to you, and thanks for clicking on our newsletter. We can’t say it enough, how we really appreciate it. The world keeps getting more bonkers by the day. It’s hard watching the news without despairing, but burying your head in the sand and pretending things aren’t going on isn’t the answer either. We all need something to distract us from the grimness, though, and should take it wherever we can get it. Music, film, books, art, sport, food, the list goes on. Celebrate life and the good things. Obviously, for us here at Sorry State it is music, but we all enjoy other aspects of the arts and culture. Even sport with a couple of us. LoL.

This week my record listening has covered a lot of territory. I’ve been diving deeper into a lot of those reissues of music from other parts of the non-Western world that I touched on last week. I’ve been listening to obscure metal albums from bands I hadn’t heard of that we have here at the shop from a collection we recently bought. With John Scott about to jet off to Paris any day now, he’s been playing a lot of Franco playlists here at the store. Plenty of yé-yé, French girl pop goodies, which I love. Any time the song Les filles c’est fait pour faire l’amour by Charlotte Leslie comes on, I am tapping my feet and nodding my head. That one was and still is a 60s Mod floor filler.

Talking of French pop, we listened to the French cast version of Hair this morning. I recently picked up a copy on Discogs. I explained to John Scott that I have a bit of a thing for collecting different versions of the Hair soundtrack. It came out around the time I was born, and I’ve been a fan of its composer Galt MacDermot and his music for a long time. He has sadly passed away now, but the Canadian released lots of cool and interesting soundtracks and records. Mostly in a jazz-funk vein, and many on his own Kilmarnock label. Hip-hop producers have been sampling him for years and that fact, along with the quality of the music, has made many of his records expensive items should you wish to own originals. Even some reissues command top dollar.

Anyway, moving on. I wanted to give a proper shout out and plug for a record that we got in here a while ago and that has been growing on me each time I’ve given it a spin.

Ville Valavuo: Commemoration Songs. Ultraääni Records

I know that we often talk about punk and hardcore bands from Finland, but not so much the jazz and funk that comes out of the country. It’s no secret that all of us here love Finland, its people and for that matter the rest of Scandinavia. The guys have been over there more recently, but I still have fond memories of my visits years ago back in the 90s when I worked on the ships. Over the years I’ve discovered a lot of great music coming out of Finland that was in a jazz and funk vein. Most folks may have heard of Jimi Tenor, perhaps. He’s terrific and has been making interesting music for over three decades now. Sort of future jazz if you like, with electronic influences. Warp Records was a good label for him. His partner, Nicole Willis, has put out some great soul and funk records backed by the Finnish band Soul Investigators. Members of that group are behind one of my favorite record labels, Timmion Records, which has consistently released cool and interesting records. One of their releases, TR-78 by Didier’s Sound Spectrum, released in the early 00s, is one of my desert island discs. Such a good record. Funky, instrumental album that sounds like a lost soundtrack or sound library record from the 70s that was made by musicians who were time traveling back from the future. If that makes any sense?

So, fast forward to this year and the Ville Valavuo album. Recorded over several sessions last year in Helsinki and mixed at the beginning of this, it’s a one-man band effort as far as I can tell. Credit for all instrumentation, programming, recording, mixing and layout go to the artist. He’s a guitarist and visual artist associated with several groups and projects, the majority of which I admit to not being familiar with. When we received copies of Commemoration Songs here at the store, Danny said to me that I might like this one. He was correct. It’s categorized as an avant-garde jazz album on Discogs, which I suppose is correct, although that tag typically makes me approach with caution. Ha, ha. I’m not actually a big free jazz lover as it goes. When things get too crazy and out there, I tend to lose interest. I prefer structure, melody and my saxophones not to sound like a gaggle of geese being strangled, if possible. Mercifully, there isn’t tortured honking going on with this one. The vibe is more laid-back and spiritual. If you have been enjoying the records made by Nala Sinephro, which incorporate electronic instrumentation to give the music a spacey, magical feel, then you’ll probably like this Ville Valavuo record.

The album consists of eight tracks, four per side that are variations on a theme that comments on the commodification of the world at the expense of human rights. A world where making money is the all-important thing. A world where our consumerism only helps keep the systems in place that hurt us. The music here is supposed to provide the listener sanctuary from all of that. Honestly, I think that has been accomplished. Like all of us, I have found the state of the world a lot to handle currently, and being able to immerse oneself into a headspace for a few minutes that takes you out of that and transports you to another place is very much welcomed. I’ve put this record on the turntable several times and have found myself flipping it a couple of times before taking it off and finding something else. You don’t have to do that. One listen at a time will still take you away for the thirty-odd minutes that the record lasted. It’s a good one to have on late at night or even early in the morning when you are reading, for instance.

At around the same time that this record came to us here at the shop, I picked up a couple of 45s that one of our distros had copies of. Two slices of more up-tempo, Mod-leaning jazz that also comes out of Finland. Both singles were released on the New Look Records label, which is an offshoot of Timmion Records, the label I mentioned previously. The music on these comes from The Jukka Eskola Soul Trio and The Sami Linna Quartet. I liked both. If you had told me both had been recorded back in the late 1960s or early 1970s instead of 2019, I would have easily believed you. Really nice soul jazz. Jukka Eskola plays trumpet, and Sami Linna is a guitarist, backed with a grooving rhythm section, nice percussion and organ. All four sides are winners. Time to discover Finnish jazz if you haven’t already. You’ll need something to act as a sorbet between courses of crushing hardcore. Right? Check them out and see what you think.

Okay, I must cut this off now. The deadline has already passed, and Daniel fines us whenever we submit late. He’s a hard taskmaster. Just kidding. He is, of course, the best boss ever.

Cheers guys. See you next time.

-Dom

What’s up Sorry Staters?

A newsletter coming out on my birthday, who woulda thought? What a cause for celebration! This time last week, all I would have wished to get for my birthday would be a Shop-Vac and a boat haha. I’m so happy it’s not raining today. Not much to report on the personal front this round. I’ve got pizza to eat and margaritas to drink later, so I’ll keep this one brief:

If you remember last week, I gave some love and attention to that Ayucaba LP. I hope as a result, some of you readers gave that ripper a listen. But along with Ayucaba, we stocked several other releases on Metadona Records. The other record that really stood out to me is this 12” by Lakra. Big thanks to Lakra for wearing party hats to celebrate my birthday.

When I first saw the cover of this record, I thought maybe it was a reissue of an old band. Like, seriously. Everything about it: the way the band is dressed, the graininess of the photo, even the way the band’s logo is placed. The graphic design honestly looks like something Puke N Vomit would throw together on one of their Finnish reissues haha. Of course, I come to find out that Lakra is a new band, and this 12” is their very first release. I don’t want to assume, but based on photos I’ve seen it looks like this band might be pretty young, which is rad. Also very interesting, this band is based out of Mallorca. Now honestly, before reading about this band, I didn’t even know where the hell Mallorca was! I’ve learned now that it’s an island off the coast of Spain, southeast of Barcelona. It makes me wonder what the punk scene is like considering the isolation of playing punk in a place that’s completely waterlocked. Pretty wild.

Anyways, I’ll talk about the record. It’s actually a single-sided 12”, and only has 5 songs. So yeah, it’s basically an EP. The first song, “Desconocimiento General,” starts off with this incredibly gnarly, gritty sounding guitar tone. The band kicks in, and we’re off to the races. This first song chugs along at that sorta in-between fast tempo, almost what I call a UK82-style pace. But then right at the end, the bass rips into this all-over-the-place riff and explodes into this loose and chaotic double-time fast beat. I dunno man, my first impression hearing this band is that style of hardcore Lakra plays is just so fuckin’ mean-sounding. Like gritty, grimy, primitive and intense. Not unlike the way I described the appearance of the record, the sound of the record being so raw and immediate that Lakra also feels like an old band playing classic, super aggressive hardcore. No frills, just fury. So lively and powerful. The singer’s voice is super loud in the mix, which I’m a huge fan of. He sounds ferocious as hell, like a barking dog. It’s almost like you can hear the scraping texture of his vocal cords along with all the mucus glooping inside his throat. Then there’s backup vocals too, which sound like “non-dude” vocals to me. I don’t know what pronouns this person uses, so I won’t assume. But the contrast in their voices sounds really cool together.

The label description mentions a few more contemporary bands that Lakra sounds like. I’m pretty sure Orden Mundial is mentioned. Personally, I think Lakra sounds more classic, and I was having a difficult time thinking of older hardcore bands that sing in Spanish that Lakra kinda reminds me of. But if I had to throw out one band as reference, they kinda remind of IV Reich. IV Reich has the aggression of thrashy hardcore, but sort of the bounciness and catchiness of Oi! and UK82. And then also IV Reich is an interesting comparison because they had a woman in the band who did vocals along with the main singer dude. Pretty cool. But whatever old band Lakra may or may not sound like doesn’t really matter. They’re introducing a grimy, intense, yet anthemic take on hardcore, and it feels totally fresh and vital to my ears. Give it a listen if you’re so inclined.

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

‘Til next week,

-Jeff

7 Seconds: Alt.Music.Hardcore LP (Cargo / Headhunter Records, 1995)

The other day I was rocking this collection of early 7 Seconds material while packing your orders, and it really took me back. Like many people probably, 7 Seconds was one of the first hardcore punk bands I heard. I remember this hippie girl in one of my classes in high school gave me a dubbed tape of Walk Together, Rock Together. I guess she could see that I was getting into punk and as she was going the hippie route, 7 Seconds wasn’t really for her, so she hooked me up. Of course I loved it, and Walk Together slid right into a listening diet whose backbones were Screeching Weasel, Bad Religion, and incessant playing of the Minor Threat discography CD. When I first got on eBay in 1997, one of the first things I did was search for 7 Seconds. The internet in 1997 was not the nearly unlimited font of information it is today, and I didn’t even know 7 Seconds had records besides Walk Together. I quickly found a CD of The Crew, and it totally blew my mind when it showed up. It was even better than Rock Together! The production was heavier and grittier, the songs faster… it was exactly what I wanted to hear. Then I found Alt.Music.Hardcore, which my then-girlfriend had a CD of. It blew my mind once again because I liked Alt.Music.Hardcore even better than The Crew! The songs were even shorter, rawer, and meaner… yeah, The Crew reminded me of Minor Threat, but the songs on Alt.Music.Hardcore particularly reminded me of Minor Threat’s first 7”, when the band was at their most direct and aggressive. I was smitten.

Alt.Music.Hardcore compiles 7 Seconds’ first three 7” EPs: 1982’s Skins, Brains & Guts (originally released on Alternative Tentacles), 1983’s Committed for Life (originally on Squirtdown Records), and 1985’s Blasts from the Past E.P., which (if I’m remembering correctly) was itself compiled from a scrapped recording session that was meant to be 7 Seconds’ debut album, United We Stand (it was eventually re-recorded and re-titled The Crew). There are 7 Seconds recordings from before this (demo tapes like 3 Chord Politics and Socially Fucked Up), but for me this 1982/3 era of 7 Seconds is a real sweet spot. Kevin seems to be a naturally great vocalist, but as he learned to control his instrument, I think he got a bit too smooth, especially for rough hardcore like this. On these 7”s, it feels like he intuitively understands what makes for a great vocal, but his delivery is looser, even chaotic at times. For me, that’s a best of both worlds scenario, integrating the charisma and personality of a great vocalist with the rawness and immediacy of someone who is figuring things out on the fly. And while 7 Seconds always seemed to struggle with keeping a consistent lineup, they sound great on these recordings. I’m not sure if that’s because the songs were so simple or because the band was really locked in at this stage, but everyone at least sounds like they’re on the same page, which isn’t the case with later records like New Wind, where it sounds like parts of the band are pulling in different directions.

While The Crew, Rock Together, and even New Wind have received deluxe reissues on Trust Records in the past several years, sadly these early 7 Seconds EPs have been out of print for quite some time. They were last issued In 2013, when Chicago’s Lifeline Records re-released each of the 3 7”s compiled on Alt.Music.Hardcore. Those versions seem to be relatively available on the used market for cheap-ish prices, but digital versions never made it to streaming. It would be great if the youth of today could dial these up (either individually or as a compilation) and hear these tracks easily, because it’s my favorite 7 Seconds material. In fact, the whole 7 Seconds digital discography could really use a redo. Thankfully, the Trust Records expanded editions of those first three albums are available, but aside from that, things are scattershot. There nothing pre-The Crew (besides the 7”s compiled on Alt.Music.Hardcore and the aforementioned demo tapes, there’s also the full United We Stand session that Cargo / Headhunter released in 1991 as Old School), and arguably the better records from the post-New Wind era are also missing. I always had a soft spot for Praise (which I think is the strongest of their melodic / U2 era), and the grungy Out the Shizzy is good too if you can let go of any expectations you might have for a 7 Seconds record. And I’d probably stream Live! One Plus One from time to time too, if it were available. I know all this music originally came out on a plethora of different labels and the rights issues are probably a fucking nightmare, but it would be nice if the band’s profile on streaming services reflected the general arc of their career rather than a few scattered points.

While we’re talking about 7 Seconds releases on streaming services, I might as well share my thoughts on Change in My Head, which is Ian Mackaye’s remix / re-imagining of the New Wind album. When I read that this was happening, I was super excited to hear it, so I’m glad Trust threw it up on streaming rather than making me buy another (expensive) copy of New Wind to hear it. Ian’s remix basically makes 7 Seconds sound like they were from DC… Change in My Head has a similar vibe to DC bands from that time like Marginal Man and Rites of Spring. This is a good thing in my book, and I think Change In My Head is much stronger than New Wind as it originally came out. But it’s still an album that finds the band in a messy transitional stage where they didn’t quite know who they were. Ian’s remix makes the band sound more consistent, but the title tracks (both “Change In My Head” and “New Wind”) and “Still Believe” still sound like a different band compared to the more melodic tracks. Ian’s mix helps those melodic songs a lot… I really love “Tied Up in Rhythm,” for instance, which never stuck out to me on New Wind. Some will still say Change in My Head is an exercise in turd-polishing, but I kinda like it and have returned to it a few times.

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!

Hi and thanks for reading. I have listened to one actual record since I last wrote. Instead of boring you with the Buddhist philosophy I have been reading, I will write briefly about a few records instead. First, I will take this time and space to help promote the upcoming SVAVELDIXOID / DESTRUCT split 7” coming soon on my label Prescription and Children of the Grave Records in France. This split has been in the works longer than expected. I had the artwork mailed back in May, but unfortunately USPS has lost the parcel. And then of course another obstacle: the printer I use has been shut down for over a month while they move. The new screen-printed covers should be shipped this week, and I hope to release this bad boy before the month is over. Of course you can expect to find copies via Sorry State, but I will have a variant limited to 50 copies that will be only available on the Bunker Punks webshop. DESTRUCT will have some advance copies of the split at Skullfest this weekend. If you’re attending the fest, keep your eyes peeled and you can secure a copy before the proper release date!

If anyone knows me to any degree, they probably know I am a super-fan of DESTRUCT. I would even say I am their biggest fan, haha. Bands that can steamroll you like this live are few and far between. They are easily one of the best bands I have ever seen. I have been a fan of SVAVELDIXOID since I first heard them ages ago, and I am honored to be releasing some material from them. I feel like each release I hear from them just gets better and better. They seem to have a slight touch of like death metal or something, and I mean extremely slight—but I am all here for it. Their roots stand firmly in traditional Swedish käng, like that of BOMBANFALL. If, for some reason, you aren’t familiar with this band I would suggest you check em out right away! I don’t think any bands of the time had this type of intensity. A lot of bands had abandoned this straightforward style by the late ‘80s, but instead BOMBANFALL amplified the traditional Swedish hardcore sound with a much heavier and darker approach and made an absolutely perfect record.

Alright, moving onto some stuff we have in stock at Sorry State. AYUCABA instantly caught my ears and eyes. Not only is the packaging extremely cool, but their songwriting style is also just as cool. This 12” is my introduction to the band. I know they had a demo in 2023, but I haven’t heard it. In this album’s description, they mention they have a new vocalist since their debut, and I love the vocal style. The songwriting is on the metallic side, but it’s certainly still just hardcore punk. Some elements remind me a bit of ENGLISH DOGS, but it really reminds of the EXECUTE at times as well. I feel like pulling off metallic hardcore punk without sounding too polished or cheesy is no easy task. This record was super refreshing to hear, and I have been anticipating our copies to arrive since I heard them on bandcamp. Check it out, and I imagine you might enjoy it as much as I do.

Metadona Records released the AYUCABA 12” alongside this debut LAKRA 12” that I really dig. It’s only five songs, so I was apprehensive about buying a copy, but after listening a few times I decided that definitely needed a copy for myself. LAKRA’s sound is not particularly unique, but they execute this classic sound very well with some hints of a more contemporary style. I can’t get enough of the guitar tone. The drums definitely sound modern, but that guitar sound they got sounds 80s as hell to me. They are from Mallorca, which unfortunately my ignorant ass has never heard of, haha. This is an island that technically belongs to Spain. As I mentioned, I don’t know anything about this island, so please forgive me if associating it with Spain is offensive. I would suggest you check this one out as well, and you might enjoy it as much as I do. OK, that’s all for this week. Thank you for reading, thanks for your support, and much love to my friends out there.