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Hey there everyone. Thanks for clicking on our newsletter this week. Hopefully you all have had a good week. That’s something that living in America is becoming increasingly difficult to do under the current regime, who seem hell-bent on enriching and protecting themselves and making America NOT great again. Fuck ‘em. Their day will come.

It’s hard to believe that the summer is just about over here, but the constant rain and the imminent beginning of the football season are reminders. Congratulations to Crystal Palace, who bookended their F.A. Cup win from last season with a Community Shield win to begin this season. A victory over my Liverpool no less.

My personal summer dentist chair surfing continues this week with a thrilling root canal. Sounds like great fun. I’ll be out of action for the day, but have some old movies lined up on the DVR and there’s always a stack of to be played records leaning up against the hi-fi. After barely recovering from the last procedure, I’ll be back on the liquid and soft food diet again. I am looking forward to having this all behind me. Along with the expense.

This week in the store we restocked our international section with one or two cool compilations and reissues of hard to find and expensive albums, and I’d like to draw your attention to some of these. Although I haven’t been able to do my radio show Worldy much these past few weeks due to my mouth being out of operation and my partner Matt being away (he’s currently in Brazil and hopefully bringing back some cool records for the show), several of these releases I wanted because they would be great for our show.

Mulatu Astatke: New York - Addis – London. Strut Records

I mentioned the king of Ethiopian music the other week when talking about one of his contemporaries, Hailu Mergia and the musicians he played with. Well, now we have a great compilation on the master himself. Whether as an introduction to his music or to fill in gaps in your collection, this compilation is terrific. Spanning a decade from 1965-1975 and arguably his most productive period, the comp pulls from a variety of releases that would be tough to find as originals, and not all have been reissued. Curated by Miles Cleret, the founder of Soundway Records, for Strut Records. Both label names should be recognized by those of you buying cool vintage Afro and Latin music as for over twenty years they have been one of the best reissue labels in the market for this type of music. Anything that you see on either of these labels is guaranteed to be good music and presented in good sound quality and with informative liner notes. Buy with confidence.

Experience Unlimited: Free Yourself. Strut Records

So, Strut again with a nice reissue of an album that originally came out in 1977. This is a cool soul and funk record out of Washington D.C. that was released on the jazz label Black Fire, the same label that released the great records from Oneness Of Juju from Virginia. Original copies have always gone for decent money, but there have been reissues over the years. The US label Now And Again did a repress a few years back, and there was a Scorpio version too. Now And Again do a great job with their reissues, like Strut. Now And Again’s comes with a nice booklet, and Strut’s comes with a new essay from bandleader Gregory Elliott, known as Sugar Bear, and sports repros of the Black Fire labels on their pressing. I believe both come from the same remastered plates done by Bernie Grundman, so either will sound good. This record has become popular again recently after a New Balance commercial featured the song Hey You.

Various: Perú Selvático. Analog Africa

German reissue label Analog Africa has been making obscure but quality music available to the greater music-buying public for close to twenty years. They began concentrating on music from the African continent, but in recent years have branched out to other corners of the world. All their releases are of the highest quality sound and packaging wise, and you can buy any of their records blind. This set focuses on the cumbia music scene of the Peruvian Amazon between 1972 and 1986. It comes with a fabulous, annotated booklet full of record information and great color photos. The music itself is great, and if you have fallen for the magical and unique sound of cumbia music from other South American countries, then you’ll surely love this compilation. Highly recommended.

Rob: Make It Fast, Make It Slow. Soundway Records.

Soundway label again with the second album cut originally in the late 1970s by a Ghanaian artist known simply as Rob, full name Rob “Roy” Raindorf. I might have talked in these pages before about Rob’s first self-titled album from 1977 on the Essiebons label; this is the follow-up from the following year. Both albums would cost you a packet as originals, if you could even find them, so we owe thanks to Soundway for making these gems readily available. If you like Afrobeat funk with a touch of gospel, then this is the record for you and possibly my pick of the bunch out of these reissues. It was certainly the one I was most excited about getting a copy of. I’d encourage you to go take a listen and potentially add this one to your collection. The band backing him sounds great; the horn section kills it. The songs have humor, politics and a touch of religion on the more gospel-sounding tunes. Rob has a terrific delivery, and if you dig artists such as Fela Kuti, then this should be a no-brainer purchase.

Various: Nigeria Special Volume 3. Soundway Records

Various: Roots Rocking Zimbabwe. Analog Africa

Two more killer compilations from the aforementioned labels. The first follows on from two previous excellent volumes of mostly 1970s Nigerian Afrobeat and Highlife, with this one going into the 1980s and highlighting the use of synths and more modern methods of music making. The second concentrates on music made in the Zimbabwe townships during the latter half of the 1970s. The music styles here take in Afrobeat, Latin, Highlife and traditional African sounds.

I’ve only given these a couple of spins so far, but have been digging what I have heard. The quality level is on par with all the other compilations the respective labels have released. Remember, I said you could pretty much buy any of these going in blind. For lovers of retro Afro sounds, you can’t really go wrong.

Various: Ayo Ke Disco. Soundway Records

On this collection, we move to the South China Seas, and to Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand for funky, disco and soul influenced music made in the late 1970s and early 1980s. As with all the previous collections, you’d be hard pressed to come across any of these records as originals, making these types of sets essential and great value for money. This one is curated by label manager Alice Whittington, who does a fab job on the selections, and the label as always presents the music with great sounding mastering. Matt played a track from this one on Worldy recently and it got a good response. Another one to give the thumbs up to.

You’ll have to excuse me for not giving you any detailed artist information on any of these, but honestly most of them were new to me. I trust the judgement of the compilers and the quality control of the labels though. I have many of their releases in my collection and can firmly vouch for their respective worthiness. Again, buy with confidence. Okay, that’s it for now. Go check out our website or pop into the store to see more of these types of things and to get more information. We didn’t order a ton of these, but will restock asap any that sell out. Don’t forget that you can add your email to any sold out product and receive a notification when we restock it.

Cheers folks. See you next time.

-Dom

What’s up Sorry Staters?

Is it the end of days? Seems like many people I know are currently dealing with difficulty in their personal lives, even beyond the horrifying news of the world. I’m only kind of joking, but the weather lately seems like a symptom of the universe. I seem to remember that I was talking about rain in the previous newsletter as well. This time, it’s no longer cute. With the way it’s been storming in Raleigh the last few days, the amount of water has amassed to biblical proportions. My apartment flooded. Luckily, no damage, but I will probably need a dinghy soon. A friend told me on the phone last night that Mercury’s not in Gatorade anymore, so hopefully we’ll see everything and everyone feel better soon.

How’s that for an opening? Let’s move on, shall we? Here’s my staff pick, which is a record I’m particularly excited about.

The debut vinyl release Operación Masacre by Ayucaba really snuck up on me. Released on Metadona Records, I was stoked that we could get a stack of copies for Sorry State. Before I get into the nitty-gritty and describe this record for all you fine readers, let me preface by saying that I feel certain this LP will be one of my favorite records of the year. What’s funny is that even before I knew a whole lot about this band, I randomly encountered most of the people in the band in my travels with Public Acid earlier this summer. A few of them were in Sheffield for Noise Annoys. Several of them were in Copenhagen for K-town Hardcore Fest. When we played in Barcelona, I went to an after-gig party at a bar where the bass player was DJing killer punk and dance tunes. But I still hadn’t heard this band yet. Pretty funny.

Here’s my underqualified, truncated band bio: For those that are unfamiliar, Ayucaba is based out of Barcelona. And while it may be corny to use this term, they’re kind of a supergroup of sorts. While they are based out of Barcelona and I’m sure all the members currently live there, a few people in the band relocated from South America. The singer Cromi I believe is from Argentina, and I remember her from previous bands like Inyeccion and Farmaco. One of the guitar players, Juan, relocated from Colombia, and I met him at Noise Annoys because he still plays as one of the two guitarists in Muro. The bass player Mateo is also from Colombia, but most of you readers will probably mainly know him from his artwork. He’s done the artwork for tons of record covers you might recognize over the years, including, more recently, the front cover artwork for the Plasma LP released on Sorry State. Funny how the punk world just seems smaller and smaller.

Apparently, an earlier incarnation of Ayucaba had similar members, but it was a different lineup. Mateo was originally the lead vocalist and Cromi played bass. They basically switched places. The band even released a demo cassette with Mateo singing a couple years back. I’m not sure exactly what the reason was for the two members switching their roles in the band, but to me, the current arrangement seems pretty damn cool the way it is.

Okay, now that I’ve gotten all that out of the way, I gotta say when I first heard this record it was on a YouTube upload, and it kinda blew me away. Firstly, I love the tone of the recording. It’s raw and organic, but not really noisy. It still sounds super thick and punchy, but the guitars have this grittiness and texture you can almost feel tingling your ears. It looks like someone from Rat Trap in Bogotá mixed and mastered the record as well, which makes sense because the sonic textures remind me of the Muro records. Ayucaba incorporates elements into their sound that are a bit metallic, but without sounding blatantly “metal.” The description of this LP from the label draws many comparisons to other bands that Ayucaba maybe kinda sounds like. I suppose I could hear the band drawing influence from heavier Japanese hardcore like mid-80s Execute or the motörized pace of G-Zet. Still, it’s difficult for me to pinpoint any particular vibe they’re specifically trying to imitate. I don’t think their goal is to capture or rip off any particular band’s style; it just feels like a genuine and powerful amalgamation of sound.

The first track on the record, “Sistema = Siniestro,” slowly fades in with this thunderous tom roll pattern on the drums, then the other instruments come chugging with an almost call-to-arms marching type rhythm. Then, ATTACK! The song erupts into this mid-paced crunchy riffing. Cromi has true character in her voice, sounding totally vicious. Seems like she’d be a magnetic and imposing front person. The song launches into a revved up, but groovy fast beat, and when I hear the vocals in a ghostly whisper chant “Sistema Siniestro,” it sends chills down my spine. I don’t think Ayucaba is scared to incorporate elements of experimentation or the bizarre, but this still doesn’t take away from the driving force and aggression.

This might sound weird, but Operación Masacre really feels like a proper album. Like, not just a random batch of killer riffs thrown together. Rather, a well-executed, thoughtfully structured, song-based punk-metal full-length which showcases all the band’s strengths. The structures of the songs ride a fine line between elegance and power. On a song like “Cocaina,” the intro reaches a moment where most of the instruments drop out. The drummer rolls on the hi-hat like steamroller, and the bass builds tension barreling on this killer riff. Then a long snare roll with rhythmically pulsing, hi-pitched guitar feedback grows even more intensity before it all explodes. But then, just when you think the speedy pace of the song will continue, they cleverly and unexpectedly break down into this slow beat with a repetitious melodic guitar lick over top. The lead guitar work is a primary feature of the band’s sound, often prominently loud in the mix. Somewhere between the acrobatic Maiden-esque melodicism versus overwhelming swirls of delayed-out psychedelia. Then sometimes downright gunslinging wah-wah rippage a la later-era English Dogs.

The band doesn’t shy away from sweeping, extravagant song arrangements. But also, nothing feels forced or jagged. Using the word “epic” feels a bit silly, but it feels like Ayucaba makes songs that are supposed to move the listener. It comes across as cathartic and powerful. Fists raised triumphantly in the air type shit. The title track on the record, “Operación Masacre,” is actually an instrumental. The track has this sinister, dark ritual kind of atmosphere, the drums just pounding on a plodding, entrancingly repeating groove with guitars chugging overtop before the guitar plays this circular riff and summons a sacrament of evil… Or I dunno, something like that. I got carried away there. Blacked out for a second. But it really sets a tone of tension and beckons anticipation for opening the B-side of the record.

Last but not least, the packaging on this record looks beautiful. Not unlike the Muro records, the sleeves look totally DIY with screen-printed artwork that looks super crisp. It comes with a huge foldout poster that includes the lyrics. Then finally, there’s also a striking red obi, all of which are hand-numbered out of 300 copies. You know nerds like me love that shit. Funny enough, the skull on the obi layout looks very similar to the Chaos Produzioni label logo. Maybe it’s no coincidence that I thought about drawing comparisons to later Wretched records like La Tua Morte Non Aspetta or the In Controluce 7”. Ayucaba is definitely not as bombastic or chaotic as Wretched, but I hear it in the melodic and powerful riffs.

Fuck man, even after drafting that lengthy, verbose description, I still feel like I have way more to say about this Ayucaba record. For me, it’s hitting all the marks. It looks badass. It sounds badass. And it feels like it was made with grace and intention by true DIY punks who are lifers in the community. As of the day this newsletter is coming out, I think we’ve still got a good number of copies left. Do yourself a favor and gitchu one. That’s all I’ve got. As always, thanks for reading.

‘Til next week,

-Jeff

Those of you who have been punk record nerds for at least a decade might remember when Ugly Pop Records reissued two records by Sweden’s P.F. Commando in the mid-2010’s: 1979’s album Manipulerade Mongon and their 1980 single Nu Ska Vi Ha Kul!. According to Ugly Pop, some people consider Manipulerade Mongon the first Swedish punk album, but that’s a conversation for someone with a deep knowledge of 1970s Swedish record release dates, and I am not that person. What I can tell you is that P.F. Commando rips, and I’ve continued to revisit those two records since Ugly Pop reissued them. Manipulerade Mongon is as definitive a first-wave European punk album as you’ll find. It always reminded me of the Dead Boys’ Young, Loud, and Snotty. The records are similar in that you feel you’re hearing punk rock being invented in real time. I’m sure P.F. Commando and the Dead Boys were working from a similar set of high-energy rock and roll influences, and both bands seemed to think to themselves, “what if we twist the anger and aggression knobs until they break?” Both records are snarling, menacing, and malignant. They also both bear an audible debt to the Stooges’ Raw Power with their hard-charging rhythms, piercing guitar sounds, and dramatically clashing chord changes. It’s the good shit.

The Ugly Pop reissues are where my knowledge of P.F. Commando began and ended until this summer, when I came across a copy of P.F. Commando’s second album while I was in Sweden:

P.F. Commando: Jag En Duva LP (Mamma, 1980)

This was a total blind buy for me… I did not know P.F. Commando had other records or whether they were any good. The copyright date on Jag En Duva is 1980 and the cover art is interesting (minimal and punk-looking, just like Manipulerade Mongon, though the back cover looks kind of like a vintage wedding invitation), so I figured that, unless the band took a major stylistic left turn, I’d probably hear at least something I like.

It turns out that I needn’t have worried… Jag En Duva totally rules! That being said, it’s a very different record than Manipulerade Mongon. That sense of menace is largely gone, and the band has grown tighter and more confident. The songs are still high-energy and rooted in the same rock and roll tradition as, say, the Raw Records bands in the UK, but there’s more of a sheen on it this time, with chiming guitars bringing a lot to the table, adding another layer of depth and textural richness to the songs. Jag En Duva reminds me of the early records by the Boys, high-energy and rocking, but embracing melody and letting go of some of punk’s default toughness. Maybe some hardcore folks will think they’re watering things down, but I think they gain more than they lose here.

Interestingly, while the band has expanded its horizons, the singer really hasn’t. There isn’t as much grit and rasp in his vocals on Jag En Duva, but they’re still mostly shouted and mostly out of tune. I wonder what the band thought about that at the time? They were clearly working toward something more composed and approachable, yet the singer still seems hell-bent on just howling. I actually think it really works, though, even if the contrast is striking at some points. There’s annoyingly out of tune and charmingly out of tune, and this falls decidedly in the latter camp for me. Unlike Manipulerade Mongon, though, the lyrics on Jag En Duva are entirely in Swedish, so I don’t know if they’re still as provocative as first-album cuts like “Auschwitz,” “Failed Abortion,” and the classic “Get Fucked.” One can only hope.

One track from the single Ugly Pop reissued, the title track from Nu Ska Vi Ha Kul!, appears on Jag En Duva. That song is kind of an oddball for the band with its ska rhythm, but otherwise it’s a pretty good indicator of how Jag En Duva smooths out the first album’s rough edges. If you have that Ugly Pop single, you can revisit that track for a sense of where things went on Jag En Duva (the cut “Rough Sound” from that single, though, is much more like the first album). It might be easier, though, to just dial Jag En Duva up on your favorite streaming service… even though the record has never been reissued in any physical version, it’s available (along with the first album and Nu Ska Vi Ha Kul! single) everywhere.

Now that I’ve heard the main part of P.F. Commando’s discography, I’m interested in checking out what else is out there. There’s a 1979 cassette-only release called In a Pose that contains over 45 minutes of music. It’s on YouTube and dipping my toe in makes me want to grab a copy of the vinyl reissue, which came out in 1997 (I don’t see an original cassette copy falling in my lap). There’s also P.F. Commando’s first release, 1978’s Svenne Pop EP, which Ken Rock reissued in 2012. (I wouldn’t be surprised if Sorry State carried that when it came out, though I can’t remember at the moment). Despite the title, it sounds (and looks!) pretty fucking punk to me. They even, like their peers in the Rude Kids, have a song about Raggare. It looks like I’ll be hunting for a reissue of this one too, as it looks like originals sell in the $500 range.

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

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

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

What’s up Sorry State readers? I hope everyone is having a nice week. I got to travel to Chicago this past weekend for a quick trip, and it was a blast. I’d never been before and always wanted to go, so it was fun finally getting to check it out. What a cool city. I even got to catch a nice afternoon Cubs game at Wrigley and it was a perfect day in the 70s and blue skies. Doesn’t get much better than that. This week I’m gonna be writing about the new Billy Strings and Bryan Sutton record, Live At The Legion. This may seem like déjà vu, as I was lucky enough to attend the show this live album was recorded at back in April of last year (and already wrote about it). I was real excited to see this was getting a physical release. It’s so cool to own an actual record of a live show you were at, hearing all the banter in between songs and remembering it all. This show was at a small bar in the back of an American Legion post in Nashville, so you can hear a pin drop. My favorite little detail was at one point you can hear a glass bottle get knocked over, and I remember seeing the person sitting by me accidentally kicking it over. This is a great show from top to bottom with a real relaxed feel and flow to it. I could try to name some of my favorite tracks off here, but I’d end up naming pretty much every single one. This was one of the coolest nights of my life, and I’m so happy to have it immortalized on a slab. I even got to meet the man himself after the performance and exchange a few words. Definitely a night I’ll never forget as long as I live, and I can’t wait to be an old man and throw this bad boy on and tell people I was there. Thanks again, Billy and Bryan! We still have a couple copies in stock of the Indie exclusive version if you’re interested in picking up a copy.

Hi and thanks for reading. I still have not really been listening to records. Probably not what you came here to read, but it is what it is. I hung out with my good friend Danny the other night and he played me a bit of jazz alongside some cool Japanese stuff like 奇形児 (KIKEIJI) and 第四インターナショナル (THE 4th INTERNATIONAL). I don’t think I knew THE 4th INTERNATIONAL until Danny played me the flexi when he originally got it. If you aren’t familiar with it, you can check it out here. I’m always impressed with the sound quality of ‘80s Japanese flexis. It’s a shame flexis usually sound like shit these days, especially if they are double-sided. This flexi is not only double-sided, but in true Japanese fashion it’s also an 8”. I don’t think KIKEIJI is nearly as obscure, with their 7”s being released on ADK Records; they were also reissued back in 2012. I didn’t discover them until those reissues. We used to have those in stock not too long ago, but it looks like we’ve sold out. I think KIKEIJI’s debut flexi was the first release on ADK. It was recorded in January 1983. Later that year, ADK released a proper KIKEIJI 7” entitled Plastic Scandal, and this was the one we jammed over at Danny’s. Maybe it’s an unpopular opinion, but I favor their 7” over the flexi. It just seems like their sound came together more. They still have a bit of weirdness to them, but I think the songwriting is much catchier. The drumming style is overall much more punk, and I think the guitar solos are better.

Sticking with ADK and moving on to the photo above, MASTURBATION is one of two records I’ve spun on my own time this week. The other one was MALINHEADS. I think Probegepogt Aus Spandau is one of the most raging German hardcore 7”s I have ever heard. If you don’t know it, I would suggest you check it out! You can find the 2010 reissue for fairly cheap if you keep an eye out. So anyways, I think this MASTURBATION was the first proper 7” released on ADK, and it’s quite rare. I was lucky to land this in a recent trade. I love to trade, but it seems it happens less and less these days. I traded more records than I can count in the previous two years. This was only my second trade of the year, and we are already six months in. I’m not in the position to be buying expensive records, so I was especially stoked on this. I landed their 被害妄想 12” a handful of years ago for dirt cheap, and that’s the material I was most familiar with. The 12” is cool, but the 7” is way cooler. The 7” starts with that drudging kinda sound you hear on the 12”, but they still have some punk sounding shit that I think the 12” lacks. Its production is way more raw, while the 12” has that sorta lo-fi sound that you often hear from stuff on ADK. If you aren’t familiar with MASTURBATION, you can check it out here.

I’m still primarily listening to rap/hip-hop. I’m currently listening to DJ ZIRK. I remember when I first heard this shit I was blown away to hear tons of samples that TRIPLE 6 MAFIA also used. I’m assuming they lifted them from DJ ZIRK, but I really have no idea as I am not well-rounded on this shit. While I love ‘90s NYC rap, I love ‘90s Memphis shit just the same if not more. The sound is entirely different. I feel like NYC shit focused more on lyrics, while Memphis was more centered on the beats and samples. JUICEY J’s Vol. 9mm tape is a masterpiece in my opinion. I first heard Memphis shit when I was serving time in juvenile detention centers as a youth. They gave us some computer time at one of the facilities I was in. I think we were supposed to be doing schoolwork or something, but one of the kids I was locked up with managed to download some old TRIPLE 6 MAFIA shit. That was dangerously against the rules, haha, making it even cooler for me to hear. Alright, I guess that’s all for today. Thanks for reading. Much love to my friends out there, and thanks for the trade, Ian!!!

Hey there everyone. Hope you are well, and thanks for reading our newsletter this week. For those of you north of the equator, I hope that your summer is going well. We have had some hot and humid days here in Raleigh, but the last couple of days saw the temperature drop significantly, and today as I write we’re experiencing biblical levels of rain. Very un-summer like compared to previous weeks, so it’s a little ironic that my pick this week is very much associated with the summer. In a lot of people’s minds at least.

With all the hullabaloo over the Oasis reunion shows this summer, I have found myself going on a bit of a 90s BritPop nostalgia trip. I have been playing a lot of live shows on YouTube and trying to find gigs I was at, as well as listening to live LPs from some of my favorites from that era. One of our distributors recently had some early Suede LP reissues available, which I ordered for the store. I added in for myself a copy of their fantastic live performance from Brixton Academy in 1993 that was released as a film at the time and titled Love & Poison, but never as a record. I had a bootleg tape for years and so was pleased to finally get a vinyl record of this show. Suede was an amazing band live. Like The Verve, their gigs were special, emotional events, especially in those early days. I wasn’t at this Academy gig, but saw them a bunch of times, including a couple of their famous fan club gigs. Talking of Verve, watch their US Tour film from 1997 called Do Not Panic; it’s a great example of how powerful they were live. That film, along with the footage from their hometown heroes’ gig in Wigan at Haigh Hall in 1998, is essential watching if you haven’t seen them and like the band. Richard Ashcroft of the Verve has been opening this summer’s Oasis shows.

A recent record purchase from a nice lady who brought in cool stuff to sell yielded another live album by another one of my favorite 90s bands, Ride. This record was a bootleg and compiled performances recorded in France, taken from the band’s tour for the Carnival Of Light album in late 1994. The sound quality is excellent, and if you like this period of Ride, I highly recommend checking it out. I know some Ride fans prefer the earlier more shoegaze stuff, but I think they moved into the mid-90s BritPop era well, and I remember liking Carnival Of Light when it came out. They too, as evidenced from this record, were a good live band. Another that I was fortunate enough to catch a couple of times.

Anyway, all this to say, that in the process I rediscovered another band from this period that I really liked and hadn’t listened to in years. Namely, Dodgy. I noticed our one-stop had reissues of their second album Homegrown from 1994 and a collection of their classic A’s and B’s called appropriately, Ace A’s + Killer B’s, and so ordered a copy of each for the store.

I remember really liking Homegrown when it came out, and the lead track especially. That song, Staying Out For The Summer, is terrific and kickstarted a run of hits and success for the three-piece band. Ironically, the album didn’t get released until the autumn of 1994, but the next spring and summer of 1995, you heard Staying Out… everywhere.

Dodgy was a pop band that wrote catchy songs, with great close vocal harmonies, reminiscent of bands from the 1960s like The Hollies and The Easybeats, to name a couple. Perfect for that moment in BritPop when 60s nostalgia was running high. They weren’t by any means a retro band, though, sporting sixties clobber and Beatles bowl cut hairdos. The influences in the songwriting might have been there, but not the look or the aesthetic. I liked them when they came out because their first album was produced by Liverpool’s Ian Broudie and they were involved in political causes and fights, like supporting the dockers and electoral reform groups. They were also one of the first groups to visit Bosnia and play in Sarajevo after the siege ended. They supported the War Child charity and returned to Bosnia the following year. When a lot of groups were yucking it up and partying, they were out there putting their money where their mouths were and doing good work and supporting worthy causes.

I’d say that Homegrown, their second album, is my favorite of theirs. It begins so strongly with the aforementioned Staying Out For The Summer and continues in a mostly happy and jaunty fashion, but if you listen to some of the lyrics closely, you’ll pick up a darker edge layered into the pop tunes. Album closer Grassman is definitely about drugs, something that the scene was awash with back then, whether it be a bit of smoke or harder stuff like coke and smack. Thankfully, a bit of herb and beer was enough for me back then. I’d already been scared off trying harder stuff by Grange Hill in the 80s and the Zammo storyline. That’s a reference for all the UK 80s kids reading. The vibe for Homegrown though was more about weed, and to drive that point home, if the title hadn’t already done it, some early copies of the album came with cannabis seeds included. So that you could grow your own. Get it?

Listening back to the album now, it fits right in with my love for smart, sixties-inspired pop, and I am reminded of the band from Arizona that I like, The Resonars, who I have written about here before. Those guys are probably a little more overt in the psychedelic sixties influences, but both bands share great vocal harmonies and know just when to insert a good guitar solo.

Dodgy hit the highs the following year with the album Free Peace Sweet. That album continued their run of hits. Unfortunately, still not reissued and quite pricey to find, just like their first album. Thankfully, for those that care, you can get a lot of the key tracks from that first album and the third, plus single sides on the A’s & B’s collection. The songs In A Room and Good Enough will always bring a smile to my face and take me back to those days.

Go check them out if this your first time hearing about them or give yourself a reminder like I did if it’s been a while. The band was well loved in the UK and had several chart hits, but didn’t make much of an impact stateside. After the release of their third album, singer Nigel Clark left the band and performed as a solo artist. The remaining duo brought in new members and carried on as a five-piece, releasing a fourth album in the early 00s. After an almost ten-year hiatus, they returned and have since released two more albums and played out live again. I admit to not knowing much about these 00s releases, but still like those first three albums and believe they have more than passed the test of time.

Cheers guys, see you ‘round here next time.

Dom

What’s up Sorry Staters?

If you remember last week, I was just talking about how much I’ve actually been enjoying the summer heat for once. But just as I say that, all of a sudden it feels unseasonably mild outside just in time for August. This week has been gloomy, sometimes a bit rainy, and borderline chilly when it gets dark out. Very strange. I know it’s just a false sense of comfort before the brutal heat returns and lasts until October. But as a result, I’ve been listening to a lot of moody, vibey, yet comforting tunes. I walked into work today before writing this, and after experiencing grey skies, I decided Blitz’s Second Empire Justice would be a nice listen.

My staff pick is a little different, though. Yet again, I recently made a pitstop to our friends over at the Pour House record shop. Like I mentioned in a previous newsletter or two, I’ve gotten some cool records there lately. To my surprise, Pour House once again got a killer batch of used punk records! (I may or may not know the source of said recent punk records suddenly appearing at our sister shop *wink*wink) Some of the records I scored may be saved for a future newsletter. But one record I was stoked to grab within the last week is a copy of Nightmare City, the debut full-length by The Alley Cats.

I’ve always loved The Alley Cats’ Dangerhouse single, as well as their track contributed to the Yes LA compilation. But for whatever reason, even when I’ve stumbled across the band’s LPs while working at Sorry State or while visiting other record stores, I’ve never taken them home. Shame on me. A few months back, I remember Daniel writing in the newsletter about his recent acquisition of the 2nd Alley Cats LP, Escape From Planet Earth. After Daniel similarly mentioned an Alley Cats record eluding him, I realized I must not let this one slip. This copy I got of Nightmare City looks minty fresh with the insert too, so I was stoked. I’ve heard this record many times, but I was looking forward to digging deeper into the record on my home stereo with more focus and attention.

How would I explain The Alley Cats? I usually associate them with the first wave of punk bands emerging out of Los Angeles in the late 70s. Still, they’re kind of an oddball band, I suppose. They’re a 3-piece—guitar, bass, and drums, obviously—with guitar player Randy Stodola and bassist Dianne Chai alternating lead vocal duties. They’re a bit quirky, both lyrically and musically. Sometimes rockin’. Sometimes more mellow. Surfy? Boogie-woogie? Nah, maybe that’s a bit far. But they seem like an odd duck compared to say… X, I guess. But yes, still more straightforward and easier to digest than Black Randy.

The album opens with the title track, “Nightmare City,” which sets a much more brooding tone than one might expect. This cold, droning bassline grooves over a propulsive, almost anxious, drumbeat. Right-hand hi-hat dexterity throwin’ the fuck down. Randy and Dianne sing the lead vocal in unison, giving a sense of haunting, otherworldly atmosphere. A recurring theme seems to be “the city at night,” where the next couple of songs have street scene titles like “Night Along The Blvd” and “King of The Street Fights.”

Randy sings lead on these geographically titled songs, giving these esoteric, poetic musings. His voice is definitely… peculiar, I would say. I feel like his approach to a vocal falls somewhere between the stylings of Lou Reed and Fred Schneider haha. I must admit, while I dig the quirkiness of his voice from time to time, I much prefer the songs where Dianne sings. In between these two streetlight serenades is a song called “One More Chance to Survive”, and once I hear Dianne’s voice start singing, I’m like, “oh fuck yeah.” I can’t help it! Can we also take a moment just to appreciate Dianne Chai? One of the unsung heroes of that early LA scene. Great singer, shredding bass playing, full of charisma. I feel like she’s a bass player’s bass player, playing with aggression and grace not unlike Suzi Quatro.

I think Nightmare City is a great record throughout, but side B is really where I get hooked. Overall, I think the energy just picks up. But my feeling this way may be partially due to my familiarity with the first couple of tracks. Side B opens with a reworking of their Dangerhouse single “Nothing Means Nothing Anymore”, opening with that unmistakable surfy, almost Dead Kennedys-esque intro riff. What’s cool is that unlike the single version, Randy and Dianne sing dual vocals once again, rather than just Randy singing, which I think sounds totally killer on this song. Then the band follows that up with serious fire, launching into a new version of their cut off of Yes LA, and for my money, their MEGA-hit “Too Much Junk”. They play a lean, mean version, amping up the tempo and making the arrangement much lighter on its feet. They are cookin’, man, lemme tell ya. If you’re unfamiliar, this song has gotta be one of the band’s most straight-ahead rockin’ tunes, with a bluesy, circular earworm of a riff and HUGE hooky sing-along chorus. I must say, even for the raging tempo and urgency with which they recorded this LP version, I think I still prefer the Yes LA version. I think the slower pace works better, because you can feel the groove is more in the pocket. I also think Dianne’s vocal performance is stronger and more classic sounding. Maybe that’s just me.

The last few songs are great too. “Give Me A Little Pain” is a super melodic, up-tempo New Wave number that feels like it should be playing in the background during the night club scene in a John Hughes movie or something. “Black Haired Girl” is maybe the sleeper hit on this record, such a rager. Powerful riffing that hints at what sounds like the style that a lot of the Huntington Beach and Orange County bands would adopt not too soon after.

Nightmare City was released in 1981 on the Time Coast label. Funny enough, Time Coast is a Los Angeles indie imprint that I mostly associate with the early releases by Ratt. Yes, THAT Ratt. Hey, that was LA, baby. Then later, Time Coast would release The Zarkons, which was the post-Alley Cats new wave band with funky outfits. The Alley Cats would only release one more full-length, which I mentioned previously. That 2nd LP came out on MCA, and I imagine the band’s attempt at major label success wasn’t the most fruitful. Escape From The Planet Earth has some bangers on it. Funny enough, when I checked Discogs today, it looks like a reformed Alley Cats released a record in 2025? With Randy Stodola being the only static member. Wild. But for me, Nightmare City should have been recognized as the band’s tour de force. It’s like a classic of the era, but I rarely hear people talk about it. I hate to use the term “underrated,” because I hear it so often that the term doesn’t hold much water. The Alley Cats’ importance does feel a bit understated, I would say. They should be championed as the shredding musicians, great songwriters, and outright outer space weirdos that they are. Gotta love an underdog story though, right?

Anyway, that’s all I’ve got. Go check out The Alley Cats if you’ve been resisting all these years. A misshapen part of the LA punk puzzle. As always, thanks for reading.

‘Til next week,

-Jeff

This past December, my wife came down with pneumonia just before Christmas, so we didn’t get to visit any family. Thankfully, I didn’t get sick, but I still had to stay at home… I didn’t know if I would get sick at any moment, I was afraid of transmitting germs to elderly relatives, and Jet also needed me to stay home and take care of her. Thankfully, that’s all long behind us (Jet made a full recovery), but it meant that when we got together for our annual family vacation last month, we had some Christmas gifts waiting for us that no one had been able to give to us. My mom gave me a big stack of books, and I wanted to write about this one for my staff pick this week:

Michael Azerrad: The Amplified Come as You Are (HarperOne, 2023)

I’m sure I’ve said this in the newsletter many times before, but I am a Nirvana baby. Nevermind came out a few days after my twelfth birthday, and it was perfectly timed to hit me with full impact. I had loved rock music since I was a little kid and was already curious enough about it to have gotten deeper than what MTV and radio were feeding me (skateboarding had made me hip to Suicidal Tendencies and I was also exploring Slayer and Metallica), but Nevermind struck the perfect balance between the tunefulness the mainstream trains you to like and the more aggro / dangerous sounds I was getting interested in. I jumped on the Nirvana bandwagon relatively early in Nevermind’s ascent and I stayed with them for the entire ride, listening to all of their albums incessantly. Even today, hearing Nevermind takes me right back to where I was then… I can remember what shoes I wore, the boom box I played it on, and exactly how my backyard was laid out. Those were formative times.

Other Nirvana fans probably remember that Michael Azerrad wrote a book called Come as You Are: The Story of Nirvana, which came out in 1993. It was the first book-length biography of Nirvana, and it was timed to coincide with the release of In Utero so that it could ride the wave of publicity surrounding that album. I definitely read Come As You Are at the time, probably multiple times. I developed my taste for reading about music as a teen, and back then it was tough to find a book that wasn’t about classic rock, which wasn’t of much interest to me. I still read books about the Beatles and the Rolling Stones because I wanted to know about music, but the music I was reading about didn’t mean that much to me. Honestly, I didn’t even really know it. My parents were really young and listened to contemporary rock radio, not the oldies stations that so many of my friends’ parents listened to. I remember reading a book that analyzed the Beatles songbook in excruciating detail, but I’d never heard 90% of the songs they were writing about. I suppose that primed me for listening to the You Don’t Know Mojack podcast, where I still listen to hours-long dissections of later-era SST releases I haven’t heard and probably won’t ever take the time to check out.

Anyway, the conceit of the book I’m writing about, The Amplified Come as You Are, is that Azerrad is revisiting Come as You Are, reflecting on the book, analyzing and updating what he originally wrote. It’s a full reprint of Come as You Are, but every few paragraphs Azerrad’s 2023 voice (set in a different typeface) interrupts the narrative. Given when Come as You Are was written—In Utero hadn’t even come out, so obviously no one knew Kurt would take his own life, that Dave Grohl would start the Foo Fighters, etc.—there is a lot to update. I heard an interview with Azerrad on The Music Books Podcast and the conceit sounded interesting when he explained it, and it is indeed a gripping read. I haven’t been able to put the book down.

A few things stand out as key themes in The Amplified Come as You Are. The first is suicide. It’s staggering how much suicide came up in the original Come as You Are. It feels like on almost every page Kurt is saying he’s going to kill himself or making some sort of reference or analogy to suicide. As Azerrad notes again and again, the signs were right there for anyone to see, but it seems like he and everyone else dismissed it as Kurt being melodramatic or just depressed, but with hindsight it’s clear that he was thinking about suicide almost constantly, normalizing the idea and getting used to it in his own mind, paving the way for him to actually do it. The lesson, of course, is that if you know someone who does the same thing, heed those warning signs. Try to help them, or at least listen to them. Ignoring those cries for help only reinforces the sufferer’s idea that no one cares and they won’t be missed. I’m not a psychologist or a counselor, but if you care, just try to do something.

That leads to the second big thing that strikes me about the original Come as You Are, and that’s how young and immature the members of Nirvana were. Kurt was 24 when Nevermind came out, and the other members of the band and most of the other key players in the story were around the same age. I’m 45 now, and I often still feel lost, alone, and totally without perspective. I look back at what I was like when I was 24, and I think about how self-obsessed, narrow-minded, and immature I was, and that’s kind of how Kurt was too. Azerrad notes repeatedly Kurt’s pattern of passive aggression. If he wants something from someone, he never tells them directly, but acts hostile to signal something is wrong, then descends into a deeper spiral of anger and alienation when the target of his displeasure doesn’t do what he wants. There’s this hilarious quote from Dan Peters (the drummer for Mudhoney, who was also briefly the drummer for Nirvana) where he blithely sums it up: “their communication skills at that time were kind of not happening.”

(An aside about Dan Peters. One thing I’d kind of forgotten that this book reminded me of is how fucked Nirvana’s treatment of Dan Peters was. They had kicked Chad Channing, the drummer on Bleach, out of the band and started playing with Dan Peters. They played one show with Peters and wrote and recorded the song “Sliver,” and were just about to leave for a UK tour. Just before the tour, they secretly auditioned Dave Grohl and decided they wanted him as the drummer. They didn’t tell Peters until literally the last minute… he had already done press and taken publicity photos with the band in advance of the tour. Kurt even, during an acoustic radio appearance, said on the air that the band had a new drummer when they hadn’t even told Peters yet. This is all pretty fucked, but it made me think of a personal story. One of my ex-wife’s good friends was Dan Peters’ niece, and when she got married, Peters came to the wedding, which I also attended. I didn’t talk to him directly as I was too shy, but I eavesdropped on some of his conversations, and it seemed like all anyone wanted to talk to him about was Nirvana and Kurt. These were total norms at the wedding, people who almost certainly didn’t know Mudhoney, so to them he was just this guy who had known Kurt Cobain. Peters insists his experience with Nirvana wasn’t painful, but surely it must have been, and worse I’m sure he has to revisit it all the time in situations like that wedding.)

This portrait of Nirvana and Kurt—dark, dysfunctional, immature—is so different from the version of Kurt I recently lived with as I listened to The Cobain 50 podcast a few months ago. (I wrote about my first impressions of the podcast in a previous staff pick, but I stayed with it for the whole series and enjoyed it.) Azerrad notes repeatedly how eager Kurt was (at least in some contexts) to secure his underground bona fides. Usually this meant downplaying his interest, as a young man, in heavy metal and classic rock and emphasizing his connections to the punk underground. Kurt’s list of all-time favorite albums, which was the basis for the The Cobain 50 podcast, is totally pitched this way. While some personal touchstones like Aerosmith and the Beatles appear, the bulk of the list is K Records-approved, politically progressive underground groups like the Raincoats, Kleenex, and the Marine Girls. There was so much of that music on the list that I kind of came away with the impression that Kurt was deeply ingrained in the Olympia scene that introduced him to all that stuff. But Come as You Are paints Kurt as kind of a redneck interloper to that scene, holed up alone in his apartment smoking cigarettes and experimenting with heroin while the rest of the Calvinists (Kurt’s derisive term for the followers of K Records founder Calvin Johnson) played kickball and listened to Talulah Gosh or whatever. Kurt was enormously self-conscious about the poverty and lack of cultural sophistication he grew up with, and that self-consciousness sometimes manifested itself as a need to impress more cultured or sophisticated people, though at other times he lashed out at these people, knowing he’d never truly be one of them. That’s something I can absolutely relate to, and I wonder if it’s one reason I latched onto Nirvana so thoroughly when I was young.

Also like Kurt, I have struggled with the depression demon my entire life. While The Amplified Come as You Are has totally engrossed me, it’s also left me in some pretty dark headspace. I’ve had some personal changes in my life over the past few weeks and months that I’ve been ruminating on and struggling to make sense of, and the portrait of depression in the book calls to me like a siren song. While I’ve been in some pretty dark places in my life, I’m lucky to have something in me that pulls me back from the brink. (Or maybe I’ve just been lucky so far?) Part of Kurt’s brilliance surely came from the fact that he could and would dive deeper into the void. The Amplified Come as You Are makes me feel like I’m following him further down there than I ever would have ventured myself, and it’s fucking scary. After all, he didn’t come back. So yeah, great book, but trigger warning: it’s fucking dark.

If you are struggling or in a crisis, you can call or text 988 for help or chat at 988lifeline.org.

What’s up Sorry State readers? I hope everyone is having a nice week. This week I will be writing about the Grateful Dead, so probably 99% of y’all can stop reading now. I honestly wanted to write about something else cause I know most people reading this couldn’t care less, but it’s what I’ve been listening to the most lately and this year marks 60 years of the bands formation and we just randomly got this cassette from a collection so why not let it rip? I get it; the most popular, mainstream Grateful Dead stuff is from the late 80s/90s and it’s pretty bad, hokey, whatever you wanna call it. Unfortunately, that’s a lot of people’s first and only impressions. Not saying everyone would like the earlier material, but I think some people would be surprised to hear what the Grateful Dead sounded like in their early years, specifically ’65-’70. Today I’m writing about the album released in 1973, Bear’s Choice: History of The Grateful Dead (Vol. 1). The “Bear” in the title refers to Owsley Stanley, who recorded this material at a couple different live shows three years earlier in 1970 at the Filmore East in New York City. Owsley provided quite a few “extracurriculars” for the band as well as acting as the band’s soundman at this time. The album starts off with excerpts from a very laid-back acoustic set by the band, mostly covers including Katie Mae, Dark Hollow, and a version of Wake Up Little Susie that I’ve always been particularly fond of. The second half of the album features only two songs, mostly due to the first one being a ripping 18 minute cover of Howlin Wolf’s Smokestack Lightning, followed by Hard To Handle. The band’s lead man at the time, Pigpen, has a bluesy, raw voice that really lends itself to these tracks. Anyway, if you’ve ever been “Dead-Curious” I’d say a great place to start would be here and the Live Dead album. Don’t knock it till you try it!

Hi and thanks for reading. I still have not really been listening to records lately. My life has been a mess, and I am trying to get myself under control. I still have a stack of records I need to listen to that I brought home from Finland and Sweden back in June. I have been reading some books here and there in my free time. I’ve been listening to BIG L and MOBB DEEP quite a bit, though. I have some of their records, but I have been listening to them online while I work. They are classics in my opinion, although I don’t always agree with the topics and language they use, haha.

The photo I used above is the foldout poster I mentioned last week from the LAMA Väliaikainen 7”. If you still haven’t grabbed one of these box sets—what are you waiting for?! A Sorry State supporter from Finland, Joona, wrote me after my last staff pick and let me know some cool trivia about LAMA’s track Väliaikainen. I was not aware this song is actually a cover of a Finnish songwriter named Tapio Rautavaara, and it originally came out in 1955. Wild. I know the Finns love cover songs, but this still caught me off guard.

The DEATH SIDE reissues have finally arrived at our HQ. It sucks you can’t order them from us at the moment, but I am hoping we can get some more copies soon. Daniel and Jeff have been chipping away at the mail-order queue, so if you haven’t gotten a tracking update for your copy, I am sure you can expect an update before the week is over. I wanted to mention this here cos I was SUPER impressed with the packaging on this one. The massive booklet is so nice and well-done. Nice work, Paco!!! This reissue has been needed for ages now.

I picked up one of these DESTRUXION AMERICA 12”s last week. This record isn’t doing anything new, but I think it’s a good listen. While I hear some similarities to other contemporary bands, I do hear something else going on in there I don’t really hear from bands these days. If you haven’t heard this one, check it out!

We got these STRUL LPs in stock the other day. STRUL has been around for a while, and I initially checked them out when Jeff and I released the SLAN 7” in USA. STRUL and SLAN share one member, and both bands make some ripping Swedish hardcore. When I initially checked out STRUL they didn’t really stick out to me, but this new LP Fuck Strul is a certified ripper. Jeff and I jammed a copy in the store the other day and I had to grab a copy. If you haven’t checked this one out yet, I would suggest it cos you’ll likely need a copy as well.

Oh yeah, I don’t think I have mentioned FRIGÖRA here yet. This is another reissue that has been needed for ages now. Their 7” and Dance of the Plague Bearer LP go for big bucks on the secondhand market these days, especially for being 90s records. I don’t have either of those records, so this one was even more essential for me. Aside from compiling all their material, General Speech added three unreleased tracks to this record. So sick. I don’t have a copy yet, as I mail-ordered directly from General Speech cos I had to get that limited color vinyl on this one, haha. If you aren’t familiar with FRIGÖRA, you can stream the entire reissue here. I know this style isn’t for everyone, but it hits the spot for me. Alright, that’s it for this week then. Thanks for reading, and much love to my friends out there.

Hey there everyone. Thanks for taking the time to check in with us this week. Hopefully it serves as a distraction from the horrible news and bs that’s all around us these days.

We have had a lot of cool shit come through the store in the last week or so. Restocks on current bangers, reissues of classics, and more obscure deep cut titles. One that caught my eye and has proved to be a winner is my pick for you this week. It’s a compilation too, and anyone who knows me will tell you I love a good comp.

Various Artists – All The Young Droids (Junkshop Synth Pop 1978-1985). School Daze

This is a lovingly compiled collection of obscure and under the radar synth pop and DIY sounds from a bygone era. It has been curated by Phil King, bass player from Lush (among his many credits) and put out by Glasgow-based label School Daze, which is a subsidiary label to Night School Records. They have done a nice job indeed. Twenty-four tracks of synth-based pop and punkier sounds from artists whose names, for the most part, will be known only to the keenest collectors of music from this period. Almost all the tracks originate from the United Kingdom, but there are one or two Euro and World entries included for good measure. The collection comes with a nice booklet, reproducing sleeves and providing artist and track information. The copies we received were on pink vinyl, and there is supposed to be a clear version too. These are stated to be in a run of just 500 each, but there looks to be a more available black vinyl pressing. Obviously, once we sell the copies we have here, there is no guarantee that we will get more of the same, but hopefully we should get something. Should demand require it, naturally.

Synth pop, I know, isn’t everybody’s cup of tea. Often looked down on by some, as a genre it’s almost a poor cousin to the cooler punk and guitar-based styles of the day. Every genre has good and bad examples of the respective music. I would argue that, if anything, a lot of the synth-based music being made during this pioneering period of the late 1970s and early 1980s was far more progressive, new and exciting than a lot of the stodgy rock music being made then. I’ve always had a soft spot for it, probably beginning with my love for Soft Cell, Human League, Heaven 17, OMD and the like. I still dig those records out and enjoy them to this day. I’m not opposed to pop music at all. A good tune is a good tune at the end of the day.

On this compilation, the focus isn’t on the known names, but rather those who were on smaller labels and those who just put out one or two records independently. There are some names, like Ian North from Milk ‘N Cookies fame, who might be recognized, but probably not this track by him. One of my favorite tracks is “I’m On A Rocket” by Harry Kakoulli, who was in Squeeze. His contribution is potentially the more post-punkish of the set and has guitars on it too. Great cut that sort of reminds me of the stuff Elton Motello was doing. Kakoulli released one album in 1980 under his name and it’s not too bad. It includes the Rocket track and a couple of other good ones. You should be able to find it cheaply, especially in the U.K.

For me, the cuts that work the best on the compilation are those like Kakoulli’s which are less than obvious synth pop. Out of the twenty-four tracks, it’s the ones that pull out all the pop cliches that are the least interesting. You’ll always have one or two tracks on a double LP collection that aren’t your faves, especially when digging into more obscure selections, but thankfully on this one there aren’t many. I’ve only had the record a week or so and played it a few times, but didn’t hear anything that made me say, “this sucks.” Naturally, individual experiences will vary, but dollar for dollar this set is great value in my opinion.

For archivists, historians and just those interested, the full-size color booklet is a treasure trove of information. Informative notes, photos, record sleeve scans and even a rundown of the electronic instruments used on the records heard. Phil King is no stranger to curating compilations of this nature, but on this one he has done an exceptional job I believe. Kudos, sir. It sounds great too. To make the package even more attractive, you will find some real rarities and some unreleased tracks that those of us stateside are very unlikely to stumble across in the wild.

I’ll leave by repeating the quote from NME music journalist Nick Kent that is printed in the booklet.

“And then came the rise of synth pop: blokes with dodgy haircuts hunched over keyboard-operated machines stuffed with wires and do-it-yourself tone oscillators making sounds like a brood of geese passing gas in a wind tunnel. Whoopee! This is the way the ‘70s ended: not with a blood-curdling bang but with a cheap, synthesized, emasculating whimper.”

Hilarious. He thought he was being clever by putting down the music, but of course, as we all know, electronic music wasn’t the end of pop, rock or anything else. It continued to grow and evolve and spawn a whole new culture. Whether you like it or not. The dinosaurs of bloated ‘60s and ‘70s rock are the ones that sound dated now and barely hold up, whilst a lot of the “new” music made back then still sounds fresh today. I’ll take Depeche Mode over Foghat any flippin’ day, mate. Kent was also wrong in thinking synth-based music was new. He obviously hadn’t heard of Wendy Carlos or Delia Derbyshire or picked up a copy of Switched On Moog, which coincidentally we had a copy of the other day, and I was jamming in the store and sold right off the turntable. Don’t be a Luddite. Sewing machines didn’t end the world, and neither has a Moog synth. Will we eventually be killed by robots in the future? Possibly. But for now, let’s enjoy the noises they can make.

Cheers and see you all next time.

-Dom