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The Damned: The Light at the End of the Tunnel (MCA, 1987)

The latest issue of General Speech, along with Halloween inching ever closer, has me listening to the Damned. Tom from General Speech’s list of 20 underrated non-album tracks had me reaching for the Friday the 13th EP and the Damned But Not Forgotten compilation, and those releases gave me a hankering for The Light at the End of the Tunnel, a weird as hell 1987 compilation that has a special place in my heart, even though the CD copy I got 25+ years ago is long gone.

I remember ordering The Light at the End of the Tunnel from Columbia House when I was quite young. It must have been 1992 or 1993, just as I was digging past the MTV-approved grunge that was taking over the world. Mostly I was finding pop-punk, and I listened to my fair share of Green Day and NOFX and Screeching Weasel around that time. However, as one of the few recognizable punk names in the Columbia House catalog, this release from the Damned made it into my possession. I had no idea, but it’s a very strange introduction.

Looking atwhere the Damned’s critical legacy has landed, The Light at the End of the Tunnel offers a track list that is, shall we say, idiosyncratic. The compilation came out on the Damned’s then (major) label, MCA, and perhaps that’s why the band’s albums for that label, Phantasmagoria and Anything, are so well-represented. The collection starts off with “I Feel Alright” from the first album (starting with a cover rather than an original is only the first of many strange choices the compilers made), then segues into the title track from 1986’s Anything, followed by two non-album singles, 1982’s “Lovely Money” and 1984’s “Thanks for the Night” before the next album track, Machine Gun Etiquette’s brilliant “Plan 9, Channel 7.” The track listing doesn’t just ignore chronology; it seems deliberately chaotic.

On the surface, The Light at the End of the Tunnel seems like that nonsensical music industry monstrosity, the “greatest hits / rarities” compilation, which pairs an artist’s best songs with the chaff that wasn’t considered good enough for the higher-profile releases. The thing is, though, that despite its length and breadth, The Light at the End of the Tunnel never dips in quality. The Damned put out several classic albums, but their non-album singles and EPs hold some of their best songs. And while it’s weird that there are three covers here, it’s hard to deny that the Damned had a knack for transforming other artist’s material, as apparent on their version of Love’s “Alone Again Or.”

Speaking of Love, if I can discern any sort of organizing principle for The Light at the End of the Tunnel, it’s that it emphasizes the Damned’s roots in pre-punk pop and psychedelic music. I’ve spent a lot of time with the Damned’s first five albums, and even though this release contains a lot of those songs, you end up with a different impression of the band than you get from listening to the albums. The Light at the End of the Tunnel is missing some of my favorite songs (how do you leave off “Wait for the Blackout?”) but, by omitting so much, it reveals the Damned’s surprising depth. Amidst all the punk bashing and crashing, there was a sophisticated, thoughtful pop band lurking below the surface.

The Light at the End of the Tunnel also shows how the Damned love to stretch out. The collection is littered with four and five-minute tracks (even the single “Grimly Fiendish” appears in its 12” extended mix). The most stretched-out moment, though, is “Curtain Call.” This track took up the entirety of side 3 of 1980’s The Black Album, but the Damned’s US label I.R.S. omitted the track for their single-disc version, which is the version I have. “Curtain Call” is a great song… besides the psychedelic wanderings you would expect from a track of its length, it has a great chorus with one of Dave Vanian’s most memorable vocal performances. Including “Curtain Call” is a big part of what tilts The Light at the End of the Tunnel toward that portrait of the Damned as sprawling and grandiose, but it’s also a big reason why I’m still revisiting The Light at the End of the Tunnel all these years later.

What’s up Sorry Staters?

It’s been quite a journey to let my body and mind readjust to normal routine after this past weekend. Daniel, Usman and I have returned from playing a gig in Asheville with the almighty Warthog. I had a blast, and appreciate the dudes in Warthog for traveling to come play NC’s little mountain town. The gig itself was way more packed than I expected, and it was definitely overwhelming considering that’s the most people I’ve been in close proximity with in about 2 years. Between the rager of a gig, hiking to scale huge waterfalls, and chilling hard with old friends, I gotta say that I really needed that. Plus, I got tested and am covid-free!

Now on to important matters: this new Quarantine LP. I’m going to attempt to withhold some excitement and not totally dork out. Seriously though, I think this is one of the best hardcore records I’ve heard in years. When I first listened to Usman’s test pressing he received a few months ago, I remember my mind being blown at just how different it sounded. Agony manages to ride that balance between incorporating incredibly weird elements into the music while also remaining firmly rooted in traditional, tough-as-nails hardcore punk. It’s clear that the 4 dudes involved are just capable of putting together songs that have moments of mind-blowing and unexpected complexity, but also clearly just wanna let it rip and melt faces. The guitar work has me drooling at every turn. These moments of ambient dissonance that make me feel like aliens are invading are really just a tasty, thick bonus layer atop the shredding riffage. The drums are just insane… in the pocket and nasty, but also so tasteful. Also, the singer Jock’s vocals are just perfect. There’s no weak moment, he’s unrelenting and mean as fuck. Plus, the songs have so many hooks that it’s like they went fishing for ‘em. I can’t stop my brain from repeating, “MEDIA.PSYCHOSIS. MEDIA. PSYCHOSIS.” If I understand correctly, I think Quarantine is mostly Jock’s whole deal. I believe he’s a transplant to Philly from Boston. And like, if he does have a heavy hand in the songwriting, then it makes total sense because I definitely hear some MASS hardcore creeping in. The rhythmic style of the riffs reminds me a lot of Out Cold – and I’m not just saying that because I love Out Cold, I really do hear it. Now we gotta address the elephant in the room: in the midst of all the ripping hardcore, there are synth interludes. Yeah, you heard me. Which I dunno, to me at first this just seemed super off-brand? But somehow it fits. It’s almost like the interludes function less like something funny and more like creepy, minimal atmosphere that adds to the menacing personality this LP exhibits. I didn’t know I wanted a creepy synth version of “Lost” by Jerry’s Kids, but now I’m happy that it exists.

So yeah, clearly I’m really into this LP. Honestly, the sheer amount of content jam-packed into this LP might be kind obtuse and difficult for the general hardcore fan to absorb. Personally, I find it exciting. This band will lead us into the future.

No more blabbering from me. As always, thanks for reading.

‘Til next week,

-Jeff

Hello and thank you for reading,

I don’t really have a nice write-up for you. I realize it’s been a long time since I did some deep nerding too, but I have just been too busy to set time aside. I’ve packed up a lot of the SISTEMA EN DECADENCIA 12” so I tossed it on last nite. Shit man, I was not ready for what this hot slab is packing... It is so fucking noisy, like shimmering in noise. Not in a lo-fi way, though; it sounds good. Haha yeah I don’t like lo-fi kinda shit. Being a noisy band doesn’t do it for me on its own either though… this band is fucking pummeling. The drumming is insane like MOB 47-style fast but still somehow has a little groove? I’m playing the bandcamp page now. Maybe the stereo here sucks or maybe the LP sounds way better than the digital. I listened to the LP at the shop yesterday and the sound was insane. If you like bands like GLOOM or COLLAPSE SOCIETY, this is right up your alley. You can grab a copy from our webstore here. Thank you for reading, peace!

This week I don’t have a staff pick for you as such, but I thought I’d still check in and let you know where my head is at. One reason I don’t have a staff pick is because I’ve been so busy with Sorry State stuff I have had little time to do anything but work. With the new Scalple, Lasso, and Cochonne releases keeping us busy, plenty of new distro stock coming in, and coordinating upcoming projects and the day to day work around here, I’ve been left with very little of what feels like my own time. While I feel overwhelmed, I’ve been working to keep myself from getting stressed out, spending a little time each morning prioritizing what I need to do each day and trying not to beat myself up if I don’t get to every single thing I planned to. That’s always a struggle as this type of self-imposed pressure is often the fuel that powers me to run that extra mile, but I think I’m doing OK.

One thing I made time for this week is getting outdoors. Here in North Carolina, the weather is unbearably hot between June and September, and everyone is too hot-natured to get outside much once the weather cools from November to March. That leaves a brief window in spring and fall when you try to get outdoors as much as possible. I can’t imagine living somewhere like Southern California or Italy where the weather is pleasant all year long… it seems like everyone would just waste the days away, confident there’s another one that’s just as good coming a few hours later.

I try to walk a few miles each day, usually on the trail by my house. I walk down the hill to the Neuse River, where the trail winds along the fast-moving river, crosses a bridge over Crabtree Creek, then empties into a park, Anderson Point, with a pleasant mix of manicured and wild spaces. I have a bunch of favorite spots along the trail. Of course, the bridge is a highlight. While the sight lines aren’t great (the thick steel railings are chin-high), if you stand on your toes or climb up a little, you can see a long stretch of river, and when the water is clear enough (maybe 50% of the time), you can see lots of fish. Sometimes I see a big creature—I think it’s a river gar—that’s 6 or 8 feet long. There’s also the beaver damn, which walls off an area that can be a large pond or bone dry depending on how much rain we’ve had, and the wildflower areas in the park, which attract an extraordinary number of butterflies, dragonflies, and other insects.

Usually I listen to music on large, over-the-ear headphones when I’m taking my walks, but lately I’ve been carrying the headphones more than wearing them. They’re hot, which inhibits my enjoyment of the weather. Sometimes I’ll go months without taking them off, and whenever I remove them for the first time in a while, I’m struck with how noisy and alive the area is. The sounds that stick out most are the birds calling to one another high in the trees. I think I heard something on the radio a while back about how the forest canopy is its own very unique ecosystem, which has prompted me to daydream about what it would be like to wander around up there.

What’s up Sorry Staters?

So this week, I’m tempted to go ahead and write about the new Quarantine LP, cuz for my money, it could easily end up being the best record of the year. I need to take a copy of the LP home and really dig into it to write something proper. I know my fellow Sorry State staff feels similarly, so I’m sure we’ll all gush about it next week.

Before I write about records or anything I’ve been listening to this week, I wanna acknowledge the gig coming up in Asheville this Saturday. If you’re in the greater NC area, I will obviously encourage you to try and make it if you can. The mighty Warthog are coming down from New York, and I’ll be pulling double duty on guitar in both Public Acid and Scarecrow. Even with my lingering anxieties about covid, Public Acid has already played some cool gigs this year – BUT this will be Scarecrow’s first gig in our home state in well over a year, so I’m stoked on that. It’s at a place called the Grey Eagle, which I know nothing about but I’ve heard is a cool ass venue. Hope to see some of y’all punks there.

Between getting ready for the upcoming gigs and all the energy that we’ve been putting into the hot new releases on Sorry State coming out for pre-order over the last week or so, I want to keep my blabbing to a minimum this week. I’m exhausted. But hey, what else is new? I really wanna talk about this Lasso record. I think Scalple and Cochonne both kick ass, but I already had some familiarity with those bands, both musically and also with the people involved. If I remember correctly, Lasso from Brazil reached out to Sorry State out of the blue to have us check out their new recordings. Daniel had me take a listen to see what I thought. I couldn’t have been more than a few songs deep, and I remember thinking, “Dude, we have to put this out!” I just remember being super impressed with the ferocity but also how tight and interesting the music sounded. The guitar stuff is right up my alley because it has that dissonant, leftfield melodic chording that always scratches my Die Kreuzen itch. It reminds me a lot of what I was (probably unsuccessfully) trying to nail in one of my previous bands Vittna. I wouldn’t exactly say Lasso has any gothy vibes, but their music does hit these moments of eerie, otherworldly discomfort that makes you grit your teeth. But for all their moments of abnormality, this record is 8 tracks of all-out aggression. The drums are absolutely pummeling, the vocals are throat callusing… And I’m not even saying you have to be an open-minded punker to appreciate Lasso. But for all you Sorry Staters out there who are hesitating, get with the program. Lasso rips.

This record is still available for pre-order, but the limited version is almost gone! Don’t worry, the whole pressing is on beautiful yellow vinyl:)

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

‘Til next week,

-Jeff

Good morning, good afternoon and good evening to you all wherever you are. I hope this past week has been a good one for you. I don’t really have a proper staff pick for you this week as per usual I haven’t managed to get my act together and write anything worth your reading time. Writing is not my strong suit. However, I would like to briefly mention one record that came into my hands this week and it certainly is worthy of being a “staff pick” and your investigation. The record is Mesh & Lace by Modern English.

Released in 1981 on 4AD in the UK and through Beggars Banquet in some countries, the copy I have now is one of those and was pressed in Canada. Modern English came from Colchester, Essex in Southern England, the same town that would birth Blur a decade later and are of course most known for their worldwide hit I Melt With You. That song came from their second LP called After The Snow from 1982. Mesh & Lace was their first album and follows on from their first few singles in being a darker affair than their later work. Those singles and the first album are much more in the post-punk camp than new-wave and Mesh & Lace has more in common with the type of stuff Joy Division were making. It makes sense that the 4AD label would sign them.

I am not trying to front and say that I am a big Modern English fan. Like most I thought they were a one hit wonder band and did not give them much thought until a friend turned me on to Mesh & Lace. I bought the CD and hoped to come across the vinyl one day. It took way longer than I thought to finally own a copy. Amazingly, in over twenty years of looking, I had never seen a copy in the wild. This past weekend I was given an incredible surprise when Daniel told me that the incoming mail had a package for me. I opened it and it was a copy of the album. Daniel had found someone with a copy and bought it for me. How kind, thoughtful and totally rad is that? Seriously. Working at Sorry State already rules but when your boss does things like that for you it almost brings a tear to your eye. Thank you Daniel, you are the best.

Playing back the album this week from vinyl felt good. I hadn’t listened to it in ages, and I think it has held up very well. The sound is almost hipper and more relevant now than it was then. I have a couple of those early singles but still need their debut Drowning Man from 1979. That song is killer. So is Gathering Dust. If you ever see those whilst record shopping grab them. I myself might even dig into the bands later discography as I know there are some gems on the second and third albums. Perhaps you’ll join me?

Anyway, here’s a link to one of my fave tunes on Mesh & Lace to get you started or to remind you of how good Modern English were. This song is called Move In Light and is quite good.

Thanks for reading. Thank you Lord Lupton and I’ll see you next time.

Peace & Love - Dom

Hello, and thank you for reading my brief Staff Pick,

I have been anticipating the QUARANTINE LP since I heard the tape earlier this year. I wrote about it when we got copies, if you read that. ‘Agony’ is fucking insane. I don’t care what kind of hardcore you like, this record is for you. Buy it now, seriously. This is the best record I have heard a long while, straight-up. It’s not trendy, it is straight up not-give-a-fuck hardcore. The songs are so fucking good, often times I feel like I am listening to cover songs. Does that make sense? The songs are so well written, they seem familiar and perfect in this way that it feels like listening to a favorite cover song. It’s weird, I’m not sure if I’ve ever felt that way about a record before... does that mean I am gay? Buy it now. Or tomorrow I mean if you're reading this Thursday; its release date is Friday 10/7/31 and we have two monstrous distro stockpiles. Thanks for reading, ‘til next time... Oh shit, I guess should maybe tell you I’ve been fan-boying the fuck out of the drummer for years now.. I was so lucky he sent me a test press of this shit. I’ve been playing it non-stop since I got it. I actually made Daniel a tape dub too cos I was so obsessed haha. Anyway, my frequent and punishing questions to Chris, the drummer, eventually turned into me interview the vocalist (and song-writer) of QUARANTINE, Jack. I should have helli copies printed by tonite, so you can expect to find copies of that in your SSR mail-order!! Alright, cheers.

It’s finally the best month of the year! Of course I spend my days off trekking to Spirit Halloweens and driving around neighborhoods looking at decorations. This is the first year I’ve lived somewhere where I’ll be able to participate in Trick R’ Treating and give kids candy and I want to make it awesome! A while ago, a customer told me about how his mom would play haunted house sound effect records on Halloween to spook anyone that came to their door. I immediately started scheming and figured out how to do the same thing. I don’t think the jangly chains and creaking door sounds will scare today’s kids as much, but hopefully I can put together some decorations to scare the shit out of children. Don’t worry, we’re going to be a full size candy bar house so it’ll be worth the scares for the kids. I’ve been rooting around my collection and listening to a bunch of the Halloween records and decided to share some of my favorites.

Alfred Hitchcock: Ghost Stories for Young People

I mean, it’s a record with the master of horror. If you don’t play it in October, why even own it? My favorite part of this record is the beginning where Hitchcock sets the mood and asks you to turn the lights off. Spoooooooky! The stories are short, cheesy, and GREAT.

Cherny Berg & Gabriel Dell: Famous Monsters Speak

This was the very first Halloween record I got and it’s been on rotation throughout the years because it’s so entertaining. One side is Frankenstein, the other is Dracula. I’m such a sucker for things that pretend to be real and this record starts off with an introduction by a scientist, talking about how these monsters are ‘actually real’.

Goblin: Suspiria score

This needs no introduction (hopefully). Hands down one of the best and most iconic scores, it HAS to be played at any Halloween gathering.

Tales from Beyond the Pale: The Grandfather

I wrote about other TFBTP records way back when I first started. My favorite release from that label is hands down this one, though. It is TRULY freaky and so well done. Narrated by The Tall Man from Phantasm, if you don’t get shivers up your spine from this one, check your fucking pulse.

Various: Great Ghost Stories

CLASSIC. I love this record so much. The cover is great, the stories are cheesy… this is a perfect Halloween record.

Ghostly Sounds

This is the newest buy in my Halloween section. Grabbed it from a box at work with way more Halloween records (maybe coming to our bins soon...shhhh) and it does not disappoint. I started collecting Halloween records because of the art on the covers, but I quickly figured out that the sounds in the grooves are just as good. This one has all the classic sounds and will hopefully bring a good spooky ambiance to our house when the Trick R Treaters come by.

This week I thought I’d give you a quick roundup of what I’ve been reading (besides the new issue of Razorblades & Aspirin, of course, which I cover in the Featured Releases section). As a wise man once said, check it out!

At Home No. 3 zine

The other day Jeff was tidying up around the store and produced a few copies of this issue of At Home zine. I’m not sure where they came from… perhaps the editor sent us a couple of freebies? I apologize for not getting back to whoever gave them to us! I hadn’t heard of the zine before, but an interview with Ian Mackaye was enough to draw me in, and I’m glad I investigated further because there’s some quality reading here. My favorite pieces are the interviews with Mackaye and Tim McMahon of Mouthpiece. I’ve read plenty of interview with both of them, but these interviews focus on shows both musicians played in South Carolina in the 90s, which provides an interesting angle. It made me think a lot about my own experiences going to shows in Virginia and North Carolina in the 90s, and I even went over to the Fugazi live archive to sample the audio from the first time I saw Fugazi live (Norfolk, Virginia 1995). I’m not sure how to get this zine, but if you see it, grab it.

Razorcake #124

Razorcake is such a steady presence in the punk scene that it’s easy to take it for granted, but I still check out every new issue. (It helps that they always send a big stack to Sorry State for free, which we then hand off to our customers.) This issue’s cover star is Martin Sorrondeguy, and he’s another person whose perspective I’m always interested in hearing. Here he talks with Michelle Cruz Gonzales of Spitboy, and as you might expect, the conversation is fascinating. Martin’s lengthy interview is reason enough to grab this issue, but as usual Razorcake is crammed to the gills with interesting art and writing.

Cometbus #54

About a year ago, when I got COVID, my friend Shane in Portland sent me a cool care package full of books, records, and zines to keep me occupied while in quarantine. (Thanks so much, Shane! I miss you, buddy!) Unfortunately, the package didn’t arrive until just as I was finishing my quarantine, so it’s taken me some time to look at everything, and one of the last pieces was this issue of Cometbus, a 2011 issue which chronicles Aaron’s trip to Southeast Asia with his old buddies in Green Day. I wrote about the most recent issue of Cometbus a while back and I was surprised how much I liked it. I’ve been aware of Cometbus forever, but I’m not sure I’d ever sat down and read an entire issue before then. I loved that issue, and I loved this one too. While I don’t have an inherent interest in what Green Day was up to in 2011, Aaron’s reflections on how people and friendship evolve over decades is fascinating, and I devoured all 97 pages in two sittings. New addition to the to do list: read more Cometbus (though I’m still terrified of the tiny handwritten text in the Cometbus Omnibus that has lived on my bookshelf for well over a decade now).

Joe Banks: Hawkwind: Days Of The Underground: Radical Escapism in the Age Of Paranoia (2020; Strange Attractor Press)

I’m only about halfway through this book, which one of Sorry State’s Instagram followers recommended after I posted about Hawkwind’s Hall of the Mountain Grill album. The book is dense with information about Hawkwind and I’ve learned a lot, but despite its density it’s a light read that keeps the pages turning. The writer has a strong sense of Hawkwind’s contribution to rock music and to British culture, infusing the book with a fan’s enthusiasm without drifting into hagiography. I wish Banks took as much time setting the scene as some rock biographies I’ve read. The book jumps right into the beginning of the band with little attention to the members’ lives before the group, and a minimal portrait of the London counterculture from which they emerged. I’m sure plenty of music heads will appreciate the fact that Banks doesn’t spend hundreds of pages describing Ladbroke Grove in the 70s, but it sounds like a fascinating place. (I know a little about the area from reading books about the early days of Rough Trade, which was headquartered in that part of London.) Maybe I need to find a book just about that counterculture scene? Anyone have any recommendations?

What’s up Sorry Staters?

This week for my staff pick I’m writing about the new LP Absortos En El Tedio Eterno by Algara, just released by the fine folks at La Vida Es Un Mus. I remember when Sorry State stocked the first 7” by this band and I don’t think I ever really gave it a fair shot. To me, they looked like an anarchist version of a costumed Fat Wreck band like Masked Intruders or the Aquabats. I guess I have a tendency to avoid punk records that put off a perceived aesthetic of silliness. But yes, looking further into it, I now understand that the intention behind Algara wearing masks is to remain anonymous in delivering their political agenda. And damn, now that I’ve given this LP a listen from start to finish I have to say shame on me for not giving this band more of my attention.

Speaking strictly from a musical standpoint, Algara is kinda all over the map. The first few songs on the LP have an energetic post-punky feel to them, with earworm catchy single note guitar lines. But by the time you hit the halfway mark on this LP, all constraints are lifted and it’s time for drum machine! I’m picky about a punk band’s usage of drum machine, but for Algara, I think it really works. A song like “Hedonistas” really caught me off guard. After a bunch guitar driven, up-tempo numbers, this song really stands out with its slow tempo and cold, sparse Gary Numan-esque instrumentation. The singer is really charismatic and sassy in their vocal approach. I feel like they harbor a lot of venom behind those catchy vocal melodies. Even though Algara are from Barcelona, something about the energy of the singer and the riffy garage-paced feel reminds me a lot of Sorry State alumns Smart Cops. But I gotta say, the more melancholic, synth-based tracks on this record I’m drawn to much more. That may be purely be because I happen to think those songs are the better songs on the record. “Máquina, Cuerpo, Soga” is my personal favorite. I wish I understood Spanish better because I imagine beyond the music, the lyrical content is the core driving force behind this band.

Definitely a cool and interesting record. If you haven’t checked out Algara yet, do yourself a favor and scoop a copy of this LP from your friendly neighborhood Sorry State.

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

‘Til next week,

-Jeff

Hey there Sorry Staters, I hope we find you well this week. Another full week of life with plenty going on. More legends in music, entertainment and sports passing away unfortunately. Special mention to Jazz organ legend Lonnie Smith, who put out a bunch of cool records in the 60s and 70s. Pop singer Barry Ryan, he had a huge hit in the 60s with the song Eloise that The Damned covered well and had a hit with. Also remembering Liverpool FC legend Roger Hunt, who also passed this week. He is the club’s second highest goal scorer of all time. May they rest in peace.

The past week has been a good one football wise though. Liverpool had a good result in Portugal against Porto in the Champions League and the world got to see Barcelona and Real Madrid get beaten. The Madrid result was a shocker, although minnow team Sheriff from Moldova has been getting some upset results this season. It will be interesting to see whether they can continue their run.

Music wise, this week I have been listening to and enjoying the new E.P. from Los Angeles band Smirk. Seems like they are getting good reviews from folks who have seen them play, apparently being one of the better groups playing at this year's recent Goner Fest according to reliable sources. We brought in their LP on Feel It Records earlier this year and I confess to not giving it the full attention I should have. This new E.P. is out on Total Punk and should do well for them. I say them because they are a band who play shows but are mostly the brainchild of main man Nick Vicario and this seven-track record does kind of sound like a solo studio project, albeit with a little help here and there. Vicario has another band called Public Eye, and we have carried their records here at Sorry State. The last one was pretty good, as I recall. Post punk sort of sounds mixed with a Pavement like attitude was how we described it. With good lyrics.

This new E.P. being on Total Punk sits comfortably with some of the other bands the label has released. The sound is indeed wiry punk and honestly, I could see our own Rich and ISS playing a double bill with these guys. The analogue approach coupled with good songwriting is always a winner in my book. Smirk aren’t necessarily breaking any new ground with what they are doing but at least they seem to be doing it well and you get the sense that you are still listening to something new even though you are getting comforting retro sounds coming at you at the same time. I’m always partial to a good E.P. You get four or five tracks, and nothing generally outstays its welcome and typically the cuts are exclusive to that release and often a track will stand out more than when buried on a full-length LP. Do you know what I mean?

Early to say which is my favorite track but I’ll leave you with Precious Dreams which I like.

Check it out and if you like them, you can buy the E.P. plus LP from us. Plug, plug.

That’s all I got for you. Peace and love and see you next time – Dom.

Hello readers, and thank you for reading.

“Power For Them, Pennies For You” was initially released with Demo Fest back in December of last year. It was a digital only release I am pretty sure, as a benefit. I am stoked that DHsK made physical copies of this release! DHsK is from Asheville, so naturally, I am even more excited there is another raging band in North Carolina. This tape is 5 tracks of straightforward, no-nonsense hardcore with a heavy Scandinavian influence. They have some breakdown parts that are reminiscent of other U.S. bands TØRSÖ and G.L.O.S.S. They cover fucking HERÄTYS too, one of the greatest bands that existed in the past decade or so… I lost my mind when I heard that cover track. If you don’t know HERÄTYS check ‘em out. Anyway I think this tape is so killer and you should give it a listen and grab a copy from our webstore! Our copies are out for delivery today. Thanks for reading, back to work for me. ‘Til next time...

This week I’m going to write about a couple of things rather than focusing on just one, ripping off the format that Rich uses for his picks. Hopefully Rich is back soon with another staff pick. I haven’t caught up with him in a few weeks, but I know he’s been super busy. I think right now he’s on the road traveling to Gonerfest. I’m sure our loyal newsletter listeners can agree that sounds like an interesting thing to write about HINT HINT RICH.

Ronan Fitzsimmons: The Toy Dolls: From Fulwell to Fukuoka book

The Toy Dolls have been on my mind lately. Of my few post-lockdown trips out of town, two of them have been to Philadelphia, and on both trips I stayed with my friends Jim and Amy, both of whom are big Toy Dolls fans. Shout out to Jim and Amy! I’m pretty sure that on both trips I told the story of when I got to see the Toy Dolls live. I can’t remember the year, but it was in Richmond in the late 90s, and they were fantastic. I didn’t know much about the Toy Dolls other than that they were an old UK punk band, but that was enough to get me to the show. Maybe it’s because I had no expectations, but the Toy Dolls blew me away that night, and their set lives in my memory as one of the best punk gigs I ever saw.

About a month ago, Scarecrow was in Richmond for a gig and, as usual, we stopped by Vinyl Conflict to check out their wares. I spotted this book on the shelf and grabbed it immediately. I have quite a few books like this that were printed and distributed primarily in the UK and it was a giant, expensive pain in the ass to get them, so even if this book sucked, I was willing to take the risk at only twelve bucks. Thankfully, though, it’s a great read.

From Fulwell to Fukuoka is based mostly on a single long interview with Olga, the Toy Dolls’ founder and mastermind. Over the course of the interview, the author and Olga discuss the entire history of the Toy Dolls and they go deep, even if (as the author notes) the rounds of pints take their toll after a while. The author is a die-hard Toy Dolls fan who grew up in the Northeast of England, just like Olga and most of the band members. He’s knowledgeable and passionate about the band, and Olga’s answers to his questions are rich with detail, if self-deprecating (he dismisses about 90% of the Toy Dolls’ output as “crap”). Olga’s recollections are rounded out with details culled from other sources, and the author spends a lot of time explaining the references in the band’s lyrics. There is some summary of Coronation Street plots, but the book remains readable throughout, thanks to the author’s combination of wit, humor, and passion for the Toy Dolls’ music. There’s also a surprisingly touching section at the end where fans share their stories of how they discovered the Toy Dolls and what the band means to them. From Fulwell to Fukuoka reminds me of Parks and Recreation, hilarious and unexpectedly heartwarming at the same time.

The Fall: Live in London 1980 12”

Loyal newsletter readers might remember several months back when I wrote at length about the recent Fall live album on Castle Face Records, throwing around the idea of a series of staff picks about live albums by the Fall. I’ve listened to Live in London 1980 five or six times since I had that idea, but even with all that attention I haven’t come up with an “angle” that could support an entire staff pick. I think said everything I have to say about Fall live albums in general in that piece, so I’ll just fill you in on the details on this record.

Live in London originally came out as a cassette on the Chaos Tapes label in 1982. The Fall was an odd fit for Chaos Tapes, whose other releases were by bands like Discharge, Chron Gen, and G.B.H., but the release sold out its edition of 4,000 copies, making it to #7 in the independent charts. The recording is magical (it became known among fans as “The Legendary Chaos Tape”), capturing one night of a two-night stand where the Fall showcased material from the recently released Grotesque and numerous songs from Slates and Hex Enduction Hour, neither of which they had recorded yet. Some of the newer songs are rough around the edges, but you don’t want a bootleg to sound exactly like the studio versions, do you? According to Mark E. Smith, the label pressed up the recording from the wrong gig and the other night was the better performance, but this may be a bit of attempted myth-making. While hardly exceptional, the sound quality is solid and the band’s intense performance shines through the grit. Mark E. Smith famously hated London, and one gets the sense he channels some of that ire into this performance.

The Fall: The Wonderful and Frightening World of the Fall 12” (1984)

Spending so much time listening to Live in London 1980 gave me a hankering for some Brix-era Fall, so I pulled out this gem. Coming just before the landmark This Nation’s Saving Grace album, Wonderful and Frightening captures a very cool moment in the band’s history. While Perverted by Language always sounded tentative to me, like they were still figuring out how to integrate Brix into the band (though the album has its proponents… I know it’s Dave from Cochonne’s favorite Fall record), and This Nation’s Saving Grace is so perfectly synthesized and realized, Wonderful and Frightening splits the difference. It’s not so much that individual tracks seem to look forward or backward; rather, songs like “2x4,” “Lay of the Land,” and “Slang King” have something of both the art rock / pop sensibility Brix brought to the band and the amphetamine jitter of the Grotesque / Slates / Hex era. It’s also, despite its title, a ridiculously fun record. Paired with a too-late-in-the-evening cup of coffee, it prompted me to clean my entire house, a process that stretched well past midnight.

Hey there Sorry State Gang. I hope all is well with you. We mark another week off the calendar and say goodbye to summer and hello to autumn. How time flies. I’m hoping that we’ll still have some nice fall weather down here in Raleigh so that I can get my Exotica night in. We had to cancel last week due to the threat of rain and are going to try again for this week. Damn pandemic preventing responsible social gatherings.

As I didn’t get to play the records I had pulled for the evening on the night, I’ve decided to feature one of them for a special mention here. I hope you don’t mind. It’s called Africa Speaks, America Answers by Guy Warren with Red Saunders Orchestra under direction of Gene Esposito and came out on Decca in 1957.

This record has been in my collection for a while but did not get the proper attention it deserves. I had it in a box of other similar odds and ends sitting in a back-room closet. Most likely because it’s a bit of a beater copy found at a thrift store that has some weird marks on some tracks, making them almost unplayable. Fortunately, most of it plays great, and I was pleasantly surprised when I previewed it for potential play at my gig. It is an awesome record, and I am angry at myself for letting it sit unappreciated for so long. However, I played a cut on Worldy this past Monday and will slip another in at tonight’s gig. Even with the weird scuffs that make a swooshing sound when the needle passes through the grooves on the first track and a half, I have played it several times at home this past week and it am really digging it.

Naturally, my ignorance of this record is not shared by the world in general. Turns out the album is quite collectable and highly regarded critically and a nice original copy will set you back a few bucks. In addition, Guy Warren is a total bad ass and worthy of your investigation. I can’t do his career justice here, but basically he has been credited with introducing the African “Talking Drum” to the Jazz world and inventing Afro-Jazz. Such was his virtuosity on the drums that he became known as “The Divine Drummer.”

Born Warren Gamaliel Kpakpo Akwei in Ghana, West Africa in 1923, which was then known as The Gold Coast. He was an exceptional student, athlete and musician, graduating with honors. During the Second World War, he worked for the Office of Strategic Services (OSS), the American Army department concerned with secret operations and intelligence. He worked as a journalist and broadcaster, becoming one of the first Africans to have his own show on the BBC.

He played in local bands but in the mid 1950s moved to the US as he was eager to ingratiate himself into the American Jazz community. In Chicago, he joined up with Gene Esposito and his band as percussionist and arranger. It was with Esposito and American drummer and band leader Red Saunders that he made his first album, Africa Speaks, America Answers for Decca in 1956.

During his dozen or so years in America, he worked with many of the jazz greats, Charlie Parker, Duke Ellington, Max Roach and Louis Armstrong being four of the biggest and most recognizable names. In 1974, he returned to Ghana after becoming disillusioned with America and the west but in between recorded several more albums under his own name and played on quite a few others. A couple that came out in the UK during the late 1960s are very desirable. He even has a music library album called Native Africa on the legendary UK KPM label, those of the famous green covers.

The Africa Speaks album is where it began, though, and I can see why people are willing to part with their cash to own a copy. It’s more than just a record of music; it has historical and cultural significance. Jazz was changed just as much with his drum sound and authentic African language chants as it was with the Latin influence that had previously turned the jazz world on its head.

My poor prose would never do such great music justice, so I think I will just leave you a link to the whole album and let you all judge for yourselves. I promise it to be a rewarding experience. Click here to dig in.

As always, thank you for reading and I hope I was able to steer you towards something enjoyable that will enrich your lives for listening. Peace and love - Dom

In an ideal world, I would just write about TURNSTILE again, cos one write-up simply will not do ‘Glow On’ justice! Instead of punishing you with a repeat Staff Pick, I would like to mention a few releases. Some time ago we got this 12” from MESS released on Mendeku Diskak. Mendeku Diskak is a label based in the Basque Country. I remember getting it in and thinking about the killer Japanese band ME♀SS. Their 1986 flexi is unfuckwithable!!! I’m sure I’ve mentioned it before. Unfortunately, I never took the time to listen to the new MESS cos of the old ME♀SS I love so much. Yesterday I had an order for one and tossed a copy on the turntable for the hell of it... man was I in for a treat!!! This shit is top-notch UK82 style. This release sounds like it could have been on Riot City or No Future. Of course, it is just a bit more modern sounding than the hot slabs on those labels, but in a nice crisp kind of way. The leads remind me especially of BLITZ. I hear bands who often try this style and it just comes off too ‘tough’ for me, but MESS perfectly executes this style. Shit man, as I am writing this I see the MESS has dropped a new album this month! Check it out. I will too.

Alright next note is DEATH SIDE. I’m sure most everyone has seen the new 7" plus DVD release being talked about heavily on social media. This release is coming soon on Break The Records. I didn’t think it would be possible for us to get copies at the shop, but it looks like we will get a small amount for distro! Hell yes!!! Keep your eyes peeled cos these are bound to sell-out extremely quickly. “Two out of the four songs were previously released for digital charity benefits, but the remaining two songs are completely unreleased. These songs were recorded in ‘89 for Slice Records’ compilation ‘Game of Death’ when each member recorded their own vocals. How these songs remained hidden is truly a mystery. The DVD contains footage from the late 80s to the 90s compiled with current interviews with the members. Much of this footage is also unreleased and has never been uploaded to the internet. The liner notes are written by ZIGYAKU of GUDON (愚鈍), SYSTEMATIC DEATH, BASTARD, JUDGEMENT, HALF YEARS, etc. who alongside DEATH SIDE, built the history of the hardcore scene in Japan as we know it.”

Did you see Svart Records is doing a PYHÄKOULU re-issue?! I am so excited! I don’t think we have solidified our copies yet, but I am certain we will get some for distro. You can read about it here but I will still paste some info from the page here. So exciting!! On top of loving this band, I love Svart re-issues! “This band-approved compilation includes PYHÄKOULU’s tracks from their split with ABORTTI-13, their self-titled 12″, Sankari EP, live recordings from 1987, and previously unreleased studio quality tracks the band recorded in 1989 just before calling it a day. The audio material has been carefully restored and remastered from the original tapes, and the package comes with a thick booklet full of old photos, interviews, lyrics, flyers and other memorabilia.”

Alright, DISARRAY. I decided to write about this cos it was my obligatory weekly ‘Now Playing’ post haha. I have no idea if Black Water keeps this in print or if these are just copies from the initial pressing in 2014, but Sorry State just re-upped on copies. I first heard DISARRAY when Black Water released this discography, I think? I can’t remember, but I don’t imagine me diving deep into ‘80s Japanese hardcore until around that time cos I was too busy obsessing over Swedish and Finnish hardcore. (That probably still applies today.) I moved to NC in 2014 and that is when I got access to internet at home haha. Soon after, a friend showed me Soulseek, and I went nuts on international hardcore downloading rampages. Before that time, I would have to sit outside Panera Bread or Starbucks on a laptop to steal internet and download shit off 7" Crust Blogspot or Anarcho-Punk.Net if I wanted to hear stuff like that. Anyway, there is a chance I heard DISARRAY in those days, but I am just gunna put all my praise on Black Water for properly introducing me to the band. The flexi is great. It was released on legendary ADK Records. I think this release is what they are most known for. When I first heard this flexi, I remember confusing it a lot with THE EXECUTE’s flexi. While the sounds/song-writing have some strong similarities, not much can match THE EXECUTE. When I heard DISARRAY’s second EP, it caught me off guard cos it is much more melodic and catchy than their flexi, but I still enjoy it almost just as much as the flexi. Even if you already have the flexi and the EP, this 12" is worth grabbing cos it has their 1985 demo as well. This demo has a handful of previously unreleased songs alongside a few songs that have been re-recorded, played with even more raw intensity! The sound on this tape is excellent. Before these recordings appear on the record is their 1984 demo. It is cool to hear this, but to be honest, the sound is not good at all. It is still the perfect fit for a compilation 12" though. Peep our web-store to grab one!

Speaking of Black Water, I have another note. I have been highly anticipating the NIGHTFEEDER EP coming soon on Black Water. I wrote about this band previously when we distro’d their debut cassette release. I’m assuming it is delayed just like every thing in vinyl production right now. Black Water is a fucking excellent label. I love the re-issues they do, and I love lots of the current bands they release. Alright thanks for reading everyone, ‘til next time...

Charles Kuralt from the Bob Timberlake Collection

Yesterday Dominic found a really plain looking record in a collection Daniel had just picked up, but one of the few bits of text on it was a North Carolina address, so he handed it to me. Not much comes up on Discogs, but a quick google search came up with some really expensive box sets. Like literal hand made wooden boxes with a book, this record, and some Bob Timberlake prints. If you’re from or have lived in NC for a while, you know Bob Timberlake. Every southern grandparent had one of his landscapes hanging in their house; his paintings are almost as ubiquitous as the nature he paints. Growing up with these images lining thrift stores and inoffensive walls in locations I can’t quite put my finger on (but know I’ve been to), I took for granted how state specific his work is.

I put on this record not fully recognizing Charles Kuralt’s or Bob Timberlake’s names, and as the words describing the surroundings I grew up around came on the speakers I started remembering why the record felt so familiar. The internet helped me put a name to the paintings I grew up seeing and the signature on this record. I knew who Bob Timberlake was, but I didn’t know who he was... ya know? When I looked up Charles Kuralt on Discogs, I realized I’ve owned a record he’s on for years! I found ‘North Carolina is My Home’ years ago; it was the start to picking up records having to do with my home state. Charles Kuralt was also a prolific host on CBS, so I’m sure I’ve seen his face before. My parents are transplants to the south so I didn’t grow up as steeped in Southern culture as some, but hearing Kuralt describe traditions that are so distinctly North Carolina—the tobacco sheds dotting the landscape far outside of town, apple season in the fall—made me feel nostalgic and homey.

I can’t find any recordings of this record online, but I dug into my collection and pulled out another NC gem. This was a bargain bin find I picked up because there was an NC address on the sleeve and I absolutely love it.

Dulcimer is a great instrument and very, very Appalachian. I have a lot of zither music in my collection, so it makes sense I would gravitate towards a record with a dulcimer on the cover. The Strayaway Child is a great collection of Appalachian folk songs and also happens to be one of (if not the) only record from an NC based group that I can find a recording of online. I would love to show y’all Stoney Runn, too, but alas, nothing comes up Google. If you ever see this record on Discogs, or more likely in a bargain bin, you should grab it. Somehow a group of teens got into a recording studio and a small run of vinyl pressed in Cary, NC. Not sure how it happened, but the music is great!

I’ll leave you with the best/worst NC song I found on North Carolina is My Home: the title track.

Celtic Frost: Parched with Thirst Am I and Dying (1992, Noise International)

A few weeks ago I picked up the vinyl for this 1992 compilation album by the almighty Celtic Frost. I’ve owned the CD of Parched with Thirst for years, but picking up the (slightly abridged) vinyl version prompted me to dig back into this weird and wonderful record.

Even on the surface of it, a Celtic Frost compilation album seems like a curious proposition because the band reinvented themselves, often rather drastically, with each album. It’s a long way from the primitive eruption of Morbid Tales to the more measured and confident Vanity / Nemesis, and there are numerous detours along the way. Parched with Thirst doesn’t attempt to make sense of Celtic Frost’s complicated artistic trajectory, nor does it revel in the band’s eclecticism. As you might expect from Celtic Frost, the selection of tracks and the sequencing is idiosyncratic, at first glance kind of strange, but with some indescribable logic holding it all together, even imbuing it with a strange magic.

While I was researching what people had to say about Parched with Thirst, I encountered frustration from listeners who couldn’t put the record into a particular box. It’s not a greatest hits collection or highlight reel from across the band’s career. Nor is it a “rarities” compilation; while it includes rare and unreleased tracks, there are several previously released album tracks too. It’s unclear what Parched with Thirst is or who it is for, but part of being a Celtic Frost fan—I’d say one of the best parts of being a Celtic Frost fan—is surrendering yourself to the band’s unintuitive logic, trusting them to take you wherever they’re going to take you.

For all of this conceptual and philosophical muddiness, Parched with Thirst is an engaging listen, questioning conventional wisdom about the band’s artistic peaks and valleys. “Downtown Hanoi,” a track from Cold Lake that appears here in a version re-recorded in 1991 (though not drastically different from the original), sits right next to “Circle of the Tyrants,” a classic track from the classic Emperor’s Return EP, and it doesn’t sound weird at all. John Peel famously said of the Fall that they were “always different, alway the same;” perhaps the same statement could apply to Celtic Frost?

Along with the eclectic mix of tracks from earlier in Celtic Frost’s career, Parched with Thirst is bookended by two unreleased tracks, “Idols of Chagrin” and “Under Apollyon’s Sun,” both demos intended for Celtic Frost’s next album, though the band abandoned the project. Original drummer / not-so-secret weapon Stephen Priestly programs the drum tracks for these two songs (more successfully for “Idols of Chagrin” than “Under Apollyon’s Sun”), and the riffing and songwriting are characteristically left of center. “Idols of Chagrin” is an intriguing song, with a grungy main riff and reverb-soaked production held over from the hair metal era, but with a heavy and nasty bridge part that sounds like classic Frost. I’m sure Under Apollyon’s Sun would have been a divisive album, but I wouldn’t have it any other way.

What’s up Sorry Staters?

I found myself midway into my week, and once again, not even close to being dead set on what to write about for my staff pick. As much as I’m stoked about the Genetic Control reissue, Imploders 7”, and a whole bunch of other new releases we’ve recently stocked at Sorry State, I can’t stop listening to this new tape by Personal Damage.

Consistent with the weird world of punk we live in in the modern era, I discovered this Personal Damage tape through the wonderful world of the internet. At first, I had no idea this was the case, but apparently, a few people from Hate Preachers are in this band. So duh, no wonder this tape is so damn good. Within the first 10 seconds of the first song, “Shits Fucked,” I already knew I would love this shit. The guitar riffs have that specific rhythmic style that to me is an obvious nod to early 80s California hardcore. Specifically, I hear a lot of Wasted Youth or Anti. But then the vocals kinda hit an aloof tunefulness that reminds me of Shawn Stern from LA Youth Brigade. Lyrically though, it’s kinda the opposite where the dude seems less earnest and more snotty, almost humorous at times. When I got to the track “I Need A Cup”, I had a nice little chuckle to myself. So yeah, I guess this band don’t take themselves too seriously, but goddamn does this thing rip.

I would have loved to lock down a physical copy of this demo for myself, but I guess it’s already sold out. Hoping that Personal Damage makes another run of these bad boiz for all our sakes.

Keepin’ it brief this week. As always, thanks for reading.

‘Til next week,

-Jeff

Hi friends, hope everyone is doing well?

The busy week continues for me personally, with the first of hopefully a series of DJ curated evenings at a cool spot here in Raleigh, The Longleaf Hotel & Lounge. Outside too. For the entire night I’ll be spinning Exotica, Tropical Latin and other mid-century Tiki Hut favorites. Easy listening for those not needing their BPMs in the hundreds whilst enjoying a craft cocktail. I’m hoping people will respond and enjoy it. I’ve wanted to have a venue and audience for this type of music for a while but typically when employed as a DJ the expectation is to be keeping the dance floor busy and rocking the joint with choice tunes and not chilling them out with gentle Latin grooves etc. It’s one thing to slip in a few of these types of numbers into the beginning of a set but another to make it the whole evening. It felt funny packing my record boxes and not including some of my go to bangers. Still, this gig is an early evening one and I think it’ll be fun playing Exotica for people.

Over the years, whilst digging for records in thrift stores and bargain bins, I have managed to collect quite a few Exotica records. For the most part, they had such great covers enticing the buyer with visions of far away places and mysterious sounds. In the mid-1950s through early 1960s, the craze for music like this, along with anything Latin, was at its peak. There are literally thousands of records that feature a mambo rhythm, bongos and other exotic percussion instruments. One name associated with the Exotica craze was Martin Denny, an American who lived in Hawaii. He released a bunch of records with the title Exotica and other similar inspired names. In 1959, he scored a huge hit with Quiet Village, a tune written by Les Baxter, another American musician who was scoring hits with his own blend of Jazz and Afro-Latin sounds. As well as these albums, Baxter was also busy scoring soundtracks, something he continued for many years to come. Similar to Baxter and Denny was a fellow named Enoch Light who made a name for himself by experimenting with recording technology and who released tons of records showcasing new stereo recording techniques, etc. A lot of these records have covers of pop hits and feature percussion instruments to the fore. In 1959, he formed Command Records and was one of the first to try and push the quality of recording to higher levels.

As I packed my record boxes for the gig, it was obvious how big an influence these names had on the genre and how many of their records I have managed to accumulate. In all honestly, these records are maybe not killer all the way through and to our modern ears sound dated, but on each one there are a couple of nice little moments, and I am hoping that I can select a good batch of tunes from my collection to entertain folks with. Wish me luck. It should be fun.

Next time you are out digging for records and see some of these exotic covers, I encourage you to investigate. They’re usually cheap and somewhat easy to find, but of course, in today’s upside-down world, maybe that is not the case for some of the better ones. Good luck.

That’s all I have for you this week. See you next time.

Cheers - Dom

Man, this album is the absolute pinnacle of the Hardcore of today! What an excellent album to follow up with! Oh shit, I guess you don’t know what album I am talking about… I am too busy to take a photo of the cover cos I’m fucking Hardcore dancing while I blast the LP instead. Turnstile, everybody. I see all you salad-eating pansies out here talking shit, but I want to see who the fuck can hang with me and my crew in the pit. You probably can’t take the heat this hot ass slab radiates. There’s no shame in that. You are just weak-minded, with poser blood pumping through your veins. All you want is the latest hype, the latest fads. All you want is D-beat and Japanese hardcore. You are blind. Turnstile is woke. All the trends will die, and Turnstile will still stand, proudly wearing their fucking Hardcore Heavyweights of the World Championship title belt. Turnstile is for the trve punks and Hardcore freaks. This album is so revolutionary. Me and my friends were at our weekly circle jerk (thank God we are back on schedule, Covid really fucked that up!) and my homie Chad threw on the new Turnstile, “Glow On.” I lost my mind at how good it was. I busted a nut immediately. “Don’t Play” is one of my favorite tracks! While Turnstile mostly reminds me of 311 mixed with a little Red Hot Chili Peppers, the ripping guitar on this track plus the gang vocals really remind me of The Casualties! What a great song! The fucking pinnacle of hardcore, you guys! You can listen to it here. Even though they have some absolutely ripping parts in the song, they still remind me so much of 311. (Another killer fucking band!) The song ‘Freak Out’ by 311 must be a really huge influence on Turnstile. There are so many parallels between the two bands. Hell yeah! So last week I had to cast another poll aside from HC Knockouts, but this time on my IG account @bunkerpunks. I had to ask the world this huge debated question!

To be honest, I knew 311 would take the cake! Turnstile fucking rule and have the capacity to crush 99.99999% of competition, but you can’t beat the originators. I know I go on about 311, but I know that Turnstile has other influences aside from 311 (and R.H.C.P.). But I really think they take influence from other killer artists like Rage Against the Machine, Dave Mathews Band (it’s true!), Good Charlotte, and of course 25 Ta Life. Sorry State sold our copies of ‘Glow On’ lightning fast (of course what a great fucking album, album of the decade!) but don’t worry, we have a restock on the way, for all you trve Hardcore motherfuckers. Alright everybody, keep glowin on!

Reverend Jim Jones: Last Sermon at the Peoples Temple

This record probably isn’t everyone’s cup of tea. Hell, even when I put it on, I asked myself why I purchased it. It’s hard to listen to, but I’m so fascinated by Jim Jones and the cult he created, I found myself just sitting there, mouth open, while it played. Cults, serial killers, most true crime is fascinating to me and it’s been a cool experience watching it go from a fringe interest to something that is widely consumed by the public.

One of the most popular podcasts on the subject, Last Podcast on the Left, had an episode about a new graphic novel depicting Ed Gein’s life. Why bring him up? Well, the interview was great (just like most of the episodes of that podcast) but there was a moment that stood out to me and made things CLICK in my head. They talked about how Ed Gein has become this character, more than a person, and some of that is probably attributed to the lack of media there was to document his case. There are very few pictures of Gein, no videos, and he spent most of his time alone in his house. In the interview, they attribute Gein’s larger than life cultural persona to the lack of media surrounding his life and crimes. So many of the fascinating true crime stories have minimal media to consume, so we’re left with eyewitnesses and experts telling us about it. Jim Jones and his cult are a bit different.

There are tons of photos of Jim Jones, his followers, and the lives they created for themselves in Guyana. Anyone with a feigning interest in this cult has probably seen the aerial footage after the mass murders. For me, it is hard to quantify; it is hard to view Jim Jones as real. It is hard to see the aftermath photos and think about the bodies laying there. 918 people died, and that’s an impossibly large number to wrap my head around. Hearing the last recordings on this record has added voices to the bodies, grounded these individuals as people and not merely “cult members.” Jones recorded most of his drug fueled rants that were blasted on speakers all over the commune, day in and day out. There are hours of incoherent rantings you can listen to but, to me, it just made him more fantastical. How did a person like that exist?

The recording on this record, the last moments before the mass murder/suicides make the events at Jonestown so much more real. You can hear people crying, you can hear his followers trying to justify this decision, you can hear and FEEL the chaos erupting. So why the fuck did someone press this on vinyl? I’m not sure, but my morbid curiosity on all things Jonestown has been quelled by this release. I know this is the closest I’ll be to that event and it is STILL incredibly hard to wrap my mind around as something Real that Actually Happened. I can’t tell you why or what makes me want to delve deeper into these fucked up facets of humankind, but I’m glad I’m not the only one.

I’m not going to share a link to the recordings at Jonestown; it’s easily found by a quick Google search. I respect that not a lot of people would want to hear it, so I’m going to leave you with a trailer for the movie ‘The Sacrament’. It is a modern retelling of the last moments at Jonestown and will bring you just as close to this event as the record brought me…if that’s something you even want.

Stomu Yamash’ta and Masahiko Satō: Metempsychosis (Japan, 1971)

An idiom I repeat often in the world of records is, “when it rains, it pours.” It’s not uncommon for a dry spell of finding used records for the store to be followed by a bunch of collections coming all at once, sometimes more than we can handle or afford. This pattern also holds for individual titles. I can’t recall seeing an original pressing of Funkadelic’s Maggot Brain before 2021, but we’ve had three copies this year. There was one point a few years ago when we had four Beatles butcher covers in stock at once, though we haven’t seen one since.

Lately the unseen hand that controls the vinyl taps seems to have turned the knob labeled “Japanese records for Daniel.” I’m sure anyone with a passing familiarity with the newsletter knows what a Japanophile I am, so I always have a healthy want list from that magical island, but things have been dropping in my lap lately. Even when I was in New York with Public Acid, we walked into a random record store that we passed on the street and I found an original pressing of Creation’s first album from 1975. So weird. I’m sure I’ll cover plenty of these records in future picks.

This 1971 album from Stomu Yamash’ta and Masahiko Satō was the record that opened the floodgates, and it’s one I had been after for a while. Metempsychosis is one of Julian Cope’s top 50 picks in his Japrocksampler book, but it’s one I had trouble learning about. I found Cope’s description of the album intriguing, but at the time I could only find short snippets online (the full album has since appeared on YouTube). The album hasn’t been repressed since 1976, and it seems like few copies made it to the West.

Metempsychosis intrigued me for several reasons. It seemed like one of the more avant-garde titles covered in Japrocksampler, and I liked that the drummer gets top billing. I love drum-centric jazz with dense polyrhythms, and fusing that with traditional Japanese percussion sounded like a wild idea. Stomu Yamash’ta (sometimes also Yamashita) also seemed like an interesting figure. He was only 24 when he recorded Metempsychosis, and was already a rising star in the jazz world. With his long hair and flowing robes he cut a memorable figure on stage (captured dynamically on Metempsychosis’s cover photo), and he was already considered one of the top percussionists in the world. The Japanese record industry was trying several tacks at making Yamash’ta a star, of which Metempsychosis was one. Yamash’ta has had a long and successful musical career, his most famous moment for Western listeners coming in the late 70s when he led the jazz fusion supergroup Go, which also featured Steve Winwood, Al Di Meola, Klaus Schulze, and Michael Shrieve.

The other name on the cover of Metempsychosis was also a huge draw for me. Like Dennis Bovell, whom I wrote about a couple of weeks ago, Masahiko Satō’s name (sometimes spelled Satoh) just keeps coming up. His soundtrack for the 1973 animated film Belladonna of Sadness is a record I return to again and again, and while its sound is grounded in Miles Davis’s work on records like Bitches Brew and Live Evil, there’s something about Satō’s take on that style that just gets me… maybe it’s how he takes those epic, stretched-out jams and compresses them down to scene-length bursts of creativity? Satō’s album with his project Soundbreakers, Amalgamation (also released in 1971), is another record from Cope’s Japrocksampler list that intrigued me, and getting a physical copy has been a highlight of this recent deluge of Japanese vinyl to hit my collection.

Satō serves as composer for Metempsychosis, so it seems relevant to share Satō’s bio on Apple Music, which I discovered last night:

Masahiko is a Chick Corea-influenced pianist who also plays electric keyboards. His compositional depth is not considered as strong as his playing.

What a diss! I couldn’t disagree more about Satō’s skills as a composer. On Metempsychosis and Amalgamation, Satō’s compositions remind me of Bill Dixon, another of my favorite avant-garde jazz composers (and the subject of another of my previous picks). Like Dixon, Satō takes influence from 20th-century classical composers like Olivier Messiaen and Pierre Boulez. Suspicious of conventional melody and harmony, Satō is fascinated by density and volume, often contrasting bursts of of loud horns creating dense, complex chords with long passages of near-silence. As with Bill Dixon’s records, you need to be mindful of where you set your volume knob when you listen to Satō’s work.

Circling back to Metempsychosis, it’s pretty much exactly what I wanted to hear: Satō’s orchestration and composition skills laced with lots of dense, complex percussive patterns. It’s a wild ride.

Researching this pick, I’ve also discovered a few other records I need to check out. Right now, I have Stomu Yamash’ta’s 1971 album Red Buddha playing on YouTube and I am intrigued. I also realized I didn’t talk about the artist who receives third billing on Metempsychosis, Toshiyuki Miyama & The New Herd. I see that group has a huge discography, and I’ve heard their 1970 collaboration with Masahiko Satō, Canto of Libra. 1971’s Canto of Aries, this time a collaboration with Masahiko Togashi, appears to be part of the same series and I’ve seen it mentioned in lists of notable Japanese jazz records. I also want to find a copy of Pianology, Masahiko Satō’s 1971 collaboration with the German pianist and composer Wolfgang Dauner. That record has been reissued a few times in recent years, but don’t often pop up in the US.

What’s up Sorry Staters?

Honestly, I feel like the Meat House label is doing God’s work. I get stoked every time Sorry State stocks new releases from this label because they seem devoted purely to the very specific goal of getting rare and often obscure punk singles from the Los Angeles area back in print. I’ve always been attracted to the late 70s /early 80s California punk sound, and often I feel like Meat House re-releases exemplary, yet unsung gems from this era of punk rock.

About a year ago, Meat House reissued the first single by The Hated. While at the time the Hated were a band I was fairly unfamiliar with, I thought this single was super cool. At the same time, Meat House also reissued the super rare Waiting For The Bomb Blast single by Long Beach greats Funeral. Now, I wouldn’t say that the Funeral 7” overshadowed my attention toward the Hated single, but something about the burgeoning 1981 speed and ferocity of the Funeral single really grabbed me. With such poetry like “Politicians are sick, they all suck my dick!”… how could my attention not be diverted?

BUT NOW… The latest 2 releases from Meat House are out, and thankfully The Hated’s full catalog is once again available at reasonable prices for nerds like me. Man, how fucking killer are these 2 singles? Whereas the first single still had a foot in early LA punk, the Jan Brady-period single Pressure / Stereotype is a one-two punch of perfect punk with updated power and production. This single is on par with the legendary sounds of Dangerhouse, but also increasing the tempo and hinting at the oncoming Orange County fury of TSOL and the like. I mean FUCK man, the pure cynic view on suburban blight with direct but poignant lyrics: “Hate your job, hate your kids, hate your wife, hate your life”… you don’t get much more classic punk commentary than that. But for 1981? Still comes across as pretty earnestly scathing and visceral for the time. It’s anthemic dude. Catch me raging at like 2am just shouting “PRESSURE! PRESSURE! PRESSURE!” I’m hooked. BUT THAT’S JUST THE FIRST RECORD.

The Marsha Brady-period 4 Song EP for whatever reason has the kind of artwork that is instantly attention-grabbing for me. This looks like a classic punk EP that everyone should know about. Maybe in terms of speed and aggression, this record takes a step back as opposed to the aforementioned single. But that’s not to say this record isn’t just as powerful. The second track on this EP presents a melodic and innocent, but also bleak commentary on the state of your immediate reality. The hook screams “I’m afraid to leave my house today!” I dunno, even with my new-come familiarity with these songs, I just feel the frustration this band was evoking. These records feel like a missing link between bands like the Adolescents and other amazing bands from this era. Maybe I’m gushing and overusing ALL CAPS due to my excitement blasting these records right now, but I think this shit is killer. The symptoms of my ever-worsening case of Pretentious Record Collector Disease™ is now leading me to believe that I must own every original Hated single (with picture sleeves of course).

Do yourself a favor and snag both of these reissue EP’s.

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

‘Til next week,

-Jeff

Greetings dear readers and thank you for clicking on our corner of the internet again this week. I apologize for missing deadline on last week’s newsletter. A combination of only being able to write dog poop and a computer mishap is my excuse. It’s been another full two weeks of news and events in the meantime. Most of it not good. We’re looking at you Texas. It really does break you down reading the news. It would be easier to ignore it, but of course we can’t. We just find ways to bring our blood down from boiling point. Obviously, for us, music is our tool to help soothe our souls or fire them up. Thank goodness for that.

Before I continue, I wanted to acknowledge the sad news of the death of genius artist, producer Lee “Scratch” Perry. I won’t get into how great Perry was. I’m sure you are more than fully aware and have some of his records in your collection. More informed and eloquent people than me have done him justice since his passing and during his life. There are some great books about him such as People Funny Boy by David Katz and every music paper and magazine worth its subscription has done a piece on him. Hey! Weren’t we just looking at an old Grand Royal magazine with Perry on the cover? Like so many of us, his music has become woven into the fabric of our being, and he was one of my musical heroes. His photo hangs on my kitchen wall. Last week over on Worldy, the day after he died, Matt and I played a full show of Lee Perry music and productions, all pulled from our personal collections as our tribute. If you need some good reggae and dub in your life, you can check it out here.

Talking of my buddy Matt, he and I are going to be DJing this week at the opening of the Hopscotch Festival here in Raleigh. We’ll be providing tunes and good vibes somewhere within Wristband City. At the time of writing this, I don’t know the exact details, but we’ll be there from 10 AM until 3 PM on Thursday and Friday. Maybe I’ll see some of you there. A big thank you to Daniel and my colleagues for covering for me so that I could do this. It’ll be fun and Lord knows we need some of that. A full weekend of listening to music. Cool. Whatever your feelings are concerning the lineups for festivals is one thing, but I have always had a good time at Hopscotch and seen some good live performances, often when I didn’t expect to. Hopscotch has day parties too and they are a good way to see some live music either cheaply or free. In the past, it’s been a blast and let’s hope this year will be the same. Obviously, under different circumstances this time around with this damn pandemic. But that’s a whole other rant and not for here.

I don’t know about you, but often in between periods of listening to killer stuff, be it new or old, especially if it is loud and powerful, I need to put on something very different. It might not be a top tenner or a dance floor smasher, but it just needs to take my head someplace else. Typically for me that is found in older music and so for this week I would like to steer you towards a record that came out in 1970 on Warner Brothers called simply, Pride.

This has been stuck in my car CD player for the past week and has ear wormed me big time.

I used to have thousands of CDs, but over the years due to storage issues, lack of use and need for funds, I have sold most of them. I probably have just a couple of hundred left at this point. I kept this one because it has the two albums producer David Axelrod made in 1968 with garage band The Electric Prunes along with the Pride album. The CD also contained a bonus disc of instrumental versions, which is very cool, and I wish there was a record that had those on it. Future Record Store Day idea.

I am going to assume most heads know who the late David Axelrod was? He is up there with the legends on the back of the recordings he made for himself and those of others that he produced. You should go look him up if you are new to him and listen to his music and read his story. The record collecting world has long valued his records and the hip-hop world especially. Go ask Dr. Dre.

Mass In F Minor and Release Of An Oath were the two concept records Axelrod wrote and arranged for Electric Prunes producer Dave Hassinger at Reprise Records, who was using the Prunes’ name but not much of their musicianship. They played some parts, but much of the music was played by other musicians. For the two records, members of The Collectors, a Canadian psych band and Climax from Colorado were employed respectively for the two recordings. These were bands Hassinger was working with, but Axelrod however preferred his guys, various members of the famed Wrecking Crew of session musicians and it is their playing that forms the meat and potatoes of the albums.

Basically, they were concept records built around Catholic Mass rituals and other religious themes and not at all like the previous garage-psych sound of The Electric Prunes. The records released on Reprise were minor hits and prompted Axelrod’s main employer Capitol Records to demand he make records like that for them. Axelrod was Capitol’s head of production at this time and had been writing, arranging and producing hits for them since 1963 when he joined as A&R man. He produced records for jazz great Cannonball Adderley, singer Lou Rawls, actor David McCallum, South African Letta Mbulu and so many others and pushed the label towards signing more black artists. As mentioned, Axelrod used core members of the Wrecking Crew for his recordings. Drummer Earl Palmer, bassist Carol Kaye, guitarists Howard Roberts and Tommy Tedesco formed the backbone of many of his recordings. The beats played by Earl Palmer are very prominent in the records and those, along with some other unique sounds, are perfect for hip-hop sampling. Dr. Dre sampled the song The Edge for his track Next Episode to great effect. That song, The Edge, was produced by Axelrod for one of David McCallum’s albums. The popular actor put out several records and Axelrod produced them. They are not amazing all the way through, but there are some moments.

Axelrod made three records under his name for Capitol, Songs Of Innocence in 1968, Songs Of Experience in 1969 and then Earth Rot in 1970. Using the same core of musicians as on the Electric Prunes sessions just minus the Prunes. All three albums are concept based, this time using the poems of William Blake for inspiration on the first two and then environmental pollution for the third. Axelrod combined classical music with jazz and rock and r n’ b and molded them into something quite unique and special. Without getting into a long review of them, let’s just say they are all terrific, particularly the first two, and I’ve left you links to all three plus the Prunes albums for you to check out. If this is old hat for you, please forgive me.

After these three records comes the Pride album. This was a one off for Warner Brothers that Axelrod’s manager arranged using the name Pride as the artist. It was a collaboration between David Axelrod and his son Michael, who wrote the lyrics. Singer Nooney Rickett, who had been with Love, was the vocalist. The album has similar touches to the previous Axelrod albums but is more of a folk psych record with dashes of Spanish guitar and maracas giving it a Mexican folk flavor. The drumming is still on point and there are nice stabs of twelve string guitar. It’s not very long and in the grand scheme of things not that mind blowing, but it has a charm and perhaps because I am such a fan of his other records, I like it a lot. It’s not that easy to find an original, but there is a recent reissue on vinyl. The funny thing is that when people talk about Axelrod and his records, this one hardly ever gets mentioned. Probably because of the title, but for some reason it has been the sleeper in his discography that many people missed. I’ve read reviews comparing it to late era Love and The Byrds, which is fair, but I also think it has similarities to Rodriquez’s Cold Fact album in places. Admittedly not as good as that, but somewhat in the ballpark. It has the Axelrod touch though. Check it out when you are between things to play and need something mellow but with some substance. I hope you like it.

Okay, thanks for reading and see you next time. Cheers – Dom.

I’ve stayed away from writing about music for most of my SSR Picks because my coworkers do phenomenal jobs each week and I know I can’t keep up. But I don’t only listen to bargain bin weirdos and country music (I mean I do 90% of the time) so I guess writing about something else was bound to happen! I spent yesterday listening to a bunch of metal tapes from the 90s and found a few bands I now LOVE. They’ve been kicking around the store way too long for how good some of the music is! I guess old metal tape collectors are kind of niche, but I’m slowly putting the items online, so if you fit the bill, keep an eye out on our used section! Here are my favorites from my shift yesterday:

Octinomos: Demo 2 (1994)

Some good ol’ 1994 Swedish black metal. I love this because the low production quality helps instead of hinders and creates a really dark and bleak sound. Nothing super revolutionary, but the vocals are amazing paired with the guitar tone. I can’t find much info about any of these tapes or the artists behind them, but it looks like Octinomos last released a record in 2001. It’s their only vinyl release listed on Discogs so add to want list.

Mindrot: Faded Dream (1992)

Someone snatched this up as soon as I posted it on the Instagram story and who can blame them? This cassette is from 1992 and one of only a few releases by this band. It doesn’t feel strictly one type of metal, with a lot of thrashy, doomy, other metal subgenre-y riffs over the vocals that sometimes get more yell-y than scream-y. Even though Relapse Records picked them up in the late 90s, this band’s discography is way too short, making this cassette totally essential.

Various: Diabolical Netherworld II (1993) & III (1994)

I didn’t find much info on these compilations, but whoever put them together fucking killed it. Looks like it was some dudes in a band called Moonburn, but they only have one release on Discogs and a bunch of dead ends on Google. I really enjoyed the two compilations of this series we have in the store. It mixed some unknowns with some classic black metal bands, but the quality is high on every track. The bands on these comps span most of Europe, with most becoming defunct before the 1990s ended, unfortunately. It looks like the guys in Moonburn were the only American band on Vol II, so I’m going to assume these compilations were bringing over a lot of new music to the States. It’s so cool to think about the history of these specific objects and how they hopefully informed a budding metal fan. Our copies are still available on the web store to be loved by someone new!

This week I don’t have a pick for you as such. Instead, I want to use this space to talk about what a great time I had tagging along for Public Acid’s New York and Philly shows last weekend. I think we all struggled with the idea of going on the trip given the covid situation in the US seems to be getting worse rather than better, but now that everyone is back home and has negative test results I can breathe a sigh of relief and reflect on what a great time I had.

The shows themselves were awesome. I’ve been going to shows long enough to recognize when I’m seeing something special, that (usually fleeting) moment when a band is at the height of their powers, and that’s the feeling I get when I see Public Acid in 2021. In terms of their performances, Public Acid is a total force, and their three post-lockdown sets give me that feeling of the stars aligning, of a band playing the music people want to hear at the moment they want to hear it. PA’s sets both nights crushed, and people went off. These were perfect punk rock moments.

The other bands were also awesome. I got to see bands I already love (like Dark Thoughts and No Fucker, who sounded even better than they did the first time around), new bands whose recordings had already gotten me excited (80HD), and even get blown away by a band I knew nothing about (ICD10). I spend so much time listening to new releases that it’s tempting to think I know about everything going on in the punk scene, but even all the stuff that comes through Sorry State only scratches the surface of what punk and hardcore have to offer right now. I hope that, as the world opens up, more of you can reconnect with your local and regional scenes. And when you do, tell me who the good bands are so we can stock their releases at Sorry State!

Even more important than the music was connecting and reconnecting with so many humans I hold dear. First and foremost, I’m so appreciative of the time I got to spend with the people in Public Acid. Even small tours like this one can be stressful and can bring out the worst in people, but our time together was totally chill. Beyond the fun we had from moment to moment, it was great to strengthen and deepen these relationships. I also got to reconnect with people I’ve known for 15+ years (like Jesse from No Fucker and Zach from ICD10), have great conversations with people whom I’d only met briefly or corresponded with, and meet a bunch of new people too. I’m astounded by the number of people who took me up on my invitation in the last newsletter to come up and say hi. It made me so feel so good to know that not only do people read this thing, but they appreciate and value it too. Thank you so much to everyone who paid me and the band any bit of kindness this weekend, particularly the very special people who booked the gigs, put us up, and ensured we had a great time. And I apologize if I was weird or awkward to anyone… my energy level waxed and waned over the weekend, but I didn’t meet or hang with a single person who wasn’t cool as fuck.

So many times my conversations (with both new friends and old ones) turned to how much we care about punk. A year and a half without shows, as hard as it was, reminded me how much fun all of this is and how important it is to me. And as I get older—I turn 42 in a couple of weeks—I realize the punks are my people, my family. The NC punks are like siblings, and going to these larger shows is like visiting extended family or a gathering of tribes. I’m sure plenty of people think I’m a fool for dedicating so much of my energy to punk, but immersing myself in the community this weekend made me feel great about the life I’ve carved out for myself.

What’s up Sorry Staters?

As some of you may know, this past weekend I hit the road with Public Acid to play in both NY and Philly. It was a blast. Met some cool people, caught up with some old friends, heard some rad bands and also picked up some records along the way. Thanks to all the other folks in Public Acid, the homies Merm and Daniel who were along for the ride, and all the people who helped with the gigs and put us up. After the whirlwind of this adventure, I think it’ll be nice to cool off on gigs for a while.

One person I ran into in NY was Jesse, who used to play in Extended Hell as well as many other killer punk groups over the years. He hooked us up with a few copies of the brand new 7” by his new band Suffocating Madness. I was itching to check this record out when I got back from the trip. No surprise, this thing rips.

While I’m sure the Swedish riff masters of yesteryear are owed a small debt, Suffocating Madness sounds even a bit more vintage hardcore than other bands I’ve listened to on the Roach Leg label. This EP sounds raw and dirty but still punchy and warm, not like a dumb noisy, tin can raw punk recording. I would not be surprised if the dude who’s been recording all the stuff for Active-8 recorded this session as well. There’s a specific analog sonic signature that I feel like I’ve noticed with recordings done at this studio. Everything sounds kinda pushed into the red, compressing beautifully with a warm, spongey, gritty texture. Sounds cool as hell. I don’t know if it’s due to the vocalist Pancho, but I can’t help thinking that Suffocating Madness kinda sounds like the early Varukers singles. In the midst of his barking, Pancho’s voice does hit some distinct pitches. It’s not like the vocals are sing-songy or “melodic” by any means, but I can’t help but think of the chanting of early UK hardcore. My favorite track on the EP is the last song “Disassociate”, which has some serious Motorhead riffage. Not sure if that’s what they’re going for, but some of the riffs in this song are pretty rockin’. The single-note, chugging riffs on this track hint at a minor key, which gives the song this moody, bleak feeling.

As I’m writing this, Sorry State does not have the Suffocating Madness 7”s available on our webstore. But the boxes of records have arrived at the store, and I plan on getting them up on the webstore by the time the newsletter goes out this week. Don’t sleep on this ripper!

That’ll do for now I think. As always, thanks for reading.

‘Til next week,

-Jeff

Hi,

I’ve been fucking blasting music a lot the past 10 days or so. Maybe more? Maybe that seems silly to say cos this is something I used to do every single day but I have fallen out of the habit over the past year for a number of reasons... Anyway I think this means I’m in a good mood. Or maybe it means the opposite and I just don’t want to think about all the shit that stresses me out. My drive to work is about one hour, so I have plenty of time to think haha. I currently have only one CD in my van and it has been blasting on repeat. I been singing along too, even though I don’t really know any of the words. Oh side note if you care, I have been jammin’ with a band for sometime now. We have like five or six songs. I do vocals. It kinda sucks but the people are cool so whatever. Anyway, this compilation ‘I Thrash Therefore I Am’ introduced me to some of my favorite bands of today. I remember picking this up simply cos it had Anti-Cimex on it. This was enough incentive to buy an unfamiliar record cos they were a band I had instantly fell in-love with. Who didn’t right? But I had never heard Mob 47 or Moderat Likvidation before. Man was I in for a treat. Don’t even get me started on Enola Gay and Existenz... these are some of the best tracks on this motherfucker. It’s a real shame that my young dumbass ears did not appreciate these two bands when I first heard the LP. They took me some time to warm up to. I think cos they don’t wear their Discharge “influence” on their sleeve like most Swedish bands I am obsessed with. I’m assuming most readers know but if you don’t, this compilation is actually a 12" reissue of a tape that came out in the ‘80s. The LP version doesn’t have all the tracks, while the CD version I been jammin’ actually has more tracks than the original tape. The photo up there is the back of the CD booklet. It’s similar to the 12" cover and the original tape cover, but with a lot more “color” hahaha... This photo below is the cover of the CD version. Bless whoever’s heart made the artwork to this shit. While the sound was improved, I think it’s safe to say the artwork was not. Alright thanks for reading, peace!

I spent last week (safely) traveling through the San Juan Islands off the coast of Washington State. I spent 98% of the week busting my ass hiking up mountains and biking like over 50 fucking miles but I still somehow was able to spend a good amount of time looking at and thinking about records. I was unexpectedly able to spend a little under 24 hours in Seattle with a friend from high school at the end of the trip, so I spent much of my nights last week looking up record stores to go to. I would’ve easily and happily spent my time trekking from one side of the city to the other but my wallet, legs, and friend said otherwise. We hit some cool spots and I wanted to share a couple of the things I brought home with me!

Various: Israel Song Festival 1971 12”

Honestly can’t remember if I’ve mentioned the section of Jewish and Israeli records in my collection, but it is quickly growing and is equally nostalgic for me as it is informative. I grew up going to temple pretty regularly and while I had (have) my gripes with what I experienced, I always gravitated towards the music. This is a recording of the competition that started in the early 60’s that was a pre-competition of sorts for the Eurovision competition. I just looked all this up, I’ll confess. I have been finding other festival recordings of various genres and have loved all of them so I was excited to find this!

Beekeeper: Seafarer 7”

My first stop in Seattle, I’m sure this won’t surprise a lot of West Coast readers, was Singles Going Steady. My friend lived right around the corner which gave me ample time to look at all the odds and ends in the store. I found a few holes in my collection and had a lot of fun picking out some random 7”s based on cover art. Something about the name Beekeeper combined with the old photo caught my eye. After seeing it was made in 1992, I thought I had a good chance at liking it. It’s in a similar vein as some of the old radio copies I wrote about a few weeks ago; grainy, feedback-laden grunge type stuff that was well worth the few bucks.

Instängd: Mitt Svar På Ingenting 7”

New thing that keeps happening: not thinking twice about picking up old Sorry State releases at other stores. I had some great stuff to pick from at Singles Going Steady but opted for this 7” from 2007. I thought it was cool that it predates the store! If any of y’all haven’t dug through the Sorry State bandcamp, you’re missing out on some serious heat like this one.

Fuck the Facts: Die Miserable 12”

This band has had a special place in my heart after I saw them live at the (now dead, RIP) Jinx in Savannah while I was in college. It was such a POWERFUL fucking show, I can’t even remember who Fuck the Facts played with. I don’t have any of their releases on vinyl and can’t remember a time where I came across them in a store so I snatched this out of the bins quick as hell.

Arch Oboler: Drop Dead! An Exercise in Horror! 12”

I mean this screams my collection, I had to buy it. If I hadn’t worked so hard on my horror records during most of last year, I would’ve tried to buy way more in Seattle. It’s really cool going to a different city on a different coast and seeing how different their bargain bins are. I spent most of my time shopping in the bargain sections of various stores (who is surprised?) and instead of Grandma’s Collection of Country and Classical, there was a wide variety of international music, radio plays, and all my favorite types of oddball records to look through. This record, though, is already one of my favorites in my collection and I’ve only listened to it once. Bite size stories from every facet of horror; it’s absolute perfection.

Zulu: My People...Hold On/Our Day Will Come 12”

I didn’t get this in Seattle but it came the night I left so I couldn’t listen to it until today. THE ZULU RELEASES ARE FINALLY ON VINYL AHHHHHHH!!! And the packaging is stunning, with an awesome screen printed b-side. As of writing this, Sorry State has already sold out of the few copies we got so good luck getting your hands on it somewhere else!

Dennis Bovell is a name that keeps coming up in my travels through the world of records. I think he first came on my radar as producer of the first Slits album, Cut. His name came up again when I was learning about one of my staff picks several months ago, the classic lover’s rock track “Silly Games” by Janet Kay, which he wrote and produced. I’ve also been dipping my toe into the deep waters of the Adrian Sherwood / On-U sound universe of music, and Bovell’s name comes up again and again in that reading. When I saw that Lora Logic, the subject of a few of my staff picks, played sax on a track on Bovell’s 1981 album, Brain Damage, I knew it was time to investigate further. It took a minute to locate a decently priced copy in the US, but one arrived last week and I’ve been digging in hard.

Bovell was born in 1953 in Barbados, but grew up in the same London of the late 60s and early 70s that shaped so much of the music I hold most dear. Fascinated by the first wave of dub reggae, Bovell jumped right into the music world and started his Jah Sufferer Sound System, whose operation briefly landed him in jail, though his conviction was overturned on appeal. He started the London reggae band Matumbi in 1971 and that group had some success, which launched him into the world of songwriting and record production, and he was off to the races. Bovell is one of those people for whom a thoroughly researched discography would be miles long. There are experts who could tell you way more about Bovell’s music and career, but I’m coming at his work from the odd angle of being a white American punk born in the late 70s, so forgive me if my understanding of his life and work isn’t as rich as it could be. I know the universe of music he made and influenced is massive, and I am eager to learn more. Maybe I’ll update you on that journey in future staff picks.

I think the first dub reggae I heard was a CD compilation called Dub Chill Out. I’m not sure why I bought it, though I remember I picked it up at the same shop where I bought the Minor Threat discography CD that changed my life. Dub Chill Out must have been budget-priced, and I probably picked it up because it was cheap and I had read about dub’s influence on punk. I doubt I had heard any reggae music outside Bob Marley before that, but that CD wrecked me. For my seventeenth birthday my dad, recognizing how much I loved music, installed a high-powered amp and nice speakers in my crummy little truck. Everything sounded amazing on it, but the dense bass on Dub Chill Out was the ultimate, with the heavy grooves shaking your bowels when you were inside. It would be years before I heard PiL’s Metal Box, but Dub Chill Out prepped me for it and instilled in me a lifelong love of crushingly heavy bass.

While the Jamaican dub compiled on Dub Chill Out clearly inspired Bovell, his music isn’t a straightforward homage. Bovell adopted the heavy grooves and experimentation with studio effects, but I’m guessing the technology he was working with was a little different (and possibly more advanced), since his music is less stark and minimal and employs a wider pallet of studio effects. Like the Adrian Sherwood productions that have piqued my interest, Bovell loves finding weird sounds, and Brain Damage is crammed with them. Along with this maximalist approach, the synthesizers and studio effects Bovell employed on Brain Damage help date this record to early 80s Britain, and it’s steeped in the same vibes as many of my favorite records from that time and place.

Brain Damage’s eclecticism also stands out to me. Part of that might be the way the album was assembled. The list of credits is a mile long, with nearly every track featuring different players. I imagine Brain Damage’s tracks must have been conceived individually and compiled as an album, since there are dramatic stylistic shifts from track to track. While there’s plenty of heavy dub, there’s also ska and other popular music styles like disco and funk. I even hear a bit of the British music hall tradition in the songwriting, a style I know from its influence on bands like the Kinks, the Specials, and Madness. As with the sound of the record, this peculiar stylistic mix stamps Brain Damage as a product of late 70s / early 80s Britain.

Another thing that draws me to this era and the style of music is how heavily integrated it was. Lora Logic brought me to Brain Damage’s Discogs page, and the track she plays on, “Bettah,” is a heavy reggae track with political lyrics that still feel relevant today. As humans, we still deserve better than society is delivering for us. While the sentiment and the core of the sound seems grounded in the experience of West Indian immigrants in London, when Lora Logic’s instantly identifiable sax comes in, it’s something else. Logic’s sound is always off-key, brittle, and marked by a shaky, uncertain vibrato. With just the sound of her horn, Logic signals that Bovell’s demands for a better world don’t just apply to his own community, but all the freaks, the weirdos, and the marginalized. At least within this community, the punks and the dreads recognized they were in the same boat, and they valued one another’s culture, style, and creativity. Together they created something that likely never could or would have existed otherwise.

What’s up Sorry Staters?

For my staff pick this week, I’m writing about the debut LP from this band Lacerate out of Cleveland. I remember Sorry State carried this band’s demo tape, but I’m pretty sure that was like 5 years ago or something? I think I recall checking it out back then, but I couldn’t really remember how Lacerate sounded. Funny enough, I instantly connected the dots when I saw this LP cover, fashioning a similar big ol’ RAMBO knife for artwork just like their demo tape. After some time has gone by, Lacerate finally gets the vinyl treatment courtesy of Konton Crasher.

I gotta say right off the bat that the quality of the music and playing grabbed my attention. I think both the riffs and songwriting on this LP are truly excellent. The way this band constructs a song is right up my alley. I hear a bit of Poison Idea, maybe a bit of Totalitär, but also not really? The label’s description of the record mentions a whole lot of bands that are all from different countries and that to me all sound entirely different haha. But taking that into consideration, it is hard to put my finger on exactly what style of hardcore to compare to what I’m hearing. I feel like this is not a straight up d-beat record, and to me sounds way more like US hardcore—sure, maybe the more euro-influenced end of US hardcore, but still… I think the guitar tone is just about perfect. Bright and cutting, where it almost sounds clean, but still played with style and ferocity. It’s tasteful, sounding more like organic, no frills hardcore than like if the guitar player used a Metal Zone pedal or something. I wouldn’t necessarily say I have any gripe with the record, but I will say that the vocals are pretty unconventional. Not like they’re a hurdle by any means, but I think the vocalist sounds quite unique and took me a moment to get used to. Follow me here: the singer almost sounds somewhere between Tam’s vocals on Turn Back Trilobite and Born To Die In Gutter-era Discharge. Sounds hard to imagine, right? You might hear what I mean when you check this out. I was definitely pleasantly surprised to find out about a raging band I didn’t know too much about. For all you punk-ass mofos out there who are hesitating to pull the trigger on this stark, black & white record cover with a big Crocodile Dundee knife on it, definitely give this a shot. “That’s not a knife!”

Short and sweet this week. As always, thanks for reading.

‘Til next week,

-Jeff

Hey there, readers, and thanks for pulling us up on your computer device again this week. Another week with more doom and gloom in the world and iconic figures departing us, but without getting too depressed about that, let’s try to concentrate on the good things in our lives and stuff that makes us happy. As you are reading this, it must mean that one of those happy things for you is music. Snap. That’s why we are all here and why I love coming to work and being around music all day.

This week I confess to not having a proper staff pick to add to the newsletter. This entry is being composed at the traditional last minute with not too much to say, certainly nothing too clever or witty or informative, but hopefully you’ll forgive me. I have been having some ongoing back and leg pain issues that leave me pretty wiped out by the end of the day and unable to do much of anything least not write some intelligent prose. So, for this week I’m going to quickly highlight two records from our bargain bin I plucked and thought were cool. We try to keep a decent bargain bin section, so next time you are in the store, remember to look down at the floor bins and at the display bin by the counter and flick through. It has been said that our cheap stuff is the equivalent of, if not better than, the entire stock of some other stores. Maybe? I know we make sure there are always some goodies in there for the diggers and those on a budget. A great place for beginners and old hands alike.

From our Jazz bins, I found one called The Jazz Life! This was a compilation of tracks recorded in 1960 and 1961 that hadn’t been previously released and was compiled by Nat Hentoff, the notable Jazz critic and writer, to coincide with the release of his book of the same name. It came out on the Barnaby label, a subsidiary of Janus Records who distributed it, and was culled from unreleased Candid Jazz recordings. The roll call of artists playing on the sessions is like a who’s who of jazz. Names include Charles Mingus, Max Roach, Booker Little, Kenny Dorham, Eric Dolphy, Kenny Clarke, Booker Ervin and even Lightnin’ Hopkins. The Hopkins track called Black Cat recorded in New York is brilliant and worth the price of admission alone. Another highlight is the cut Lord, Lord Am I Ever Gonna Know, which was recorded in Paris with Lucky Thompson as leader on tenor sax and featuring inspired drumming from Kenny Clarke and some tasty piano from European Martial Solal. It’s cool stuff, man. Dig!

To contrast the hip, cool jazz, my next find was from the Funk and Soul bins and here I have selected an album on Motown from 1977 by Mandre that sports a great Daft Punk-esque cover of a robot in a tuxedo. The sound is pure space funk disco and is awesome. And as Space Funk™ is the new hip thing, I was happy to discover it. Mandre was the alter ego of Andre Lewis who was the keyboard playing founder member of the funk-soul group Maxayn, named after his then wife Maxayn Lewis. As an avenue for his experimentations in electronic sounds and keyboards, Mandre was the name given to his new project after Maxayn disbanded. Signed to Motown, he released three records, of which this is the first. His identity was kept a mystery behind the robot mask. For sure, Daft Punk knew about this guy. Naturally, these futuristic records went largely unnoticed at the time, but over the years curious crate digging DJs and collectors have made a lot of the records from this era desirable and hip again. Sometimes the prices creep up on these things, but for the most part, certainly in recent years, it has always been easy to find these late 1970s and early 1980s major label releases. Perhaps that will change as a new audience discovers them and the prices of classic era funk and soul records continue to climb and become out of reach for the music fan on a budget.

I haven’t fully digested this album yet but have been enjoying it. The track Solar Flight stands out and gives you a fair representation of the goodies held within the rest of the record’s grooves. Apparently late-night listeners to Philly radio station WDAS-FM would have heard this as DJ Tom Brown used it on his show. Fun fact, Andre Lewis was a tester for Roland and was one of the first musicians to take possession of and record with the Roland TR-808 and worked with Roger Linn on developing early digital drum machines. Nifty.

Anyway, keep an eye out for either of these in your local record spot depending on your tastes, but always remember to dig in the dollar bins as you never know what you may find. Until next time friends. Peace and love - Dom

Hi,

I’m sure a lot of readers have heard this band regardless of how new they are, but I am still choosing to write about it cos I’m sure there are some who have yet to hear this fuckin’ hot ass reel. I am under this assumption cos the youtube sensation No Deal uploaded it, and when they upload everyone and their mother knows about it. Ideation is a new band from Tallahassee, FL. I know it’s members of Armor and Protocol, but I don’t know much else. What I do know is the recording sounds amazing. Everything is pushed to the max. Regardless of its intensity the riffs are loud and shimmering in their clarity. The mix on the drums is simply excellent. Although this shit could’ve been recorded in a tin can and it would probably sound sick cos the drummer is so, so damn good. The songs are pretty short, ranging from about 50-80 seconds. It feels like they cram a lot into the short amount of time, though. The songwriting has a fair amount of change-ups. A lot of times when bands do shit like that, I feel like it takes away from the intensity or “pummeling” aspects of the songs. Ideation manages to have some of these characteristics, but executed in perfect taste. Their tempo/rhythm changes just bring even more raw intensity to the songs. The songs are extremely catchy while simultaneously filling you with the urge to punch the person next to you in the fucking face. It’s an excellent tape. I managed to get my copy of this tape from Tallahassee transplant, Seamus (What up!), but I am hoping Sorry State will lock some distro copies down soon. In the mean time you can listen and buy a copy here. Thanks to all my loyal readers and wanna give a shout to Ashley, Sabrina, Tonya, Tina, Gina, Sylvia, Debra, Christina, Sonia, Paula, Inga, Carla, Greta, Barbara, Inca, and Darla.

Essential Logic: Wake Up 12” (1979)

A few weeks ago I wrote about my history with Essential Logic (capsule version: I bought their double CD discography some 20 years ago, didn’t really like it, but I’ve since come around in a big way) so there’s no need to go into that here. Since I got so excited about Lora Logic’s solo album, though, I’ve had my eye out for the Essential Logic records I didn’t have. And whattayaknow, this four-song 12” walked into the store the other day! I scoop things from Sorry State’s used stock for myself all the time, but it’s rare a record pops up that is literally on my want list. I often feel inundated by music and sometimes I can get overwhelmed by checking out all the new releases for the newsletter, but this was a case where I couldn’t wait to get this record home and onto my turntable.

Unlike post-punk bands who trade in icy, minimalist cool, Essential Logic are true maximalists. The band itself is large: a six-piece with two guitars and two saxophones, with Lora switching between alto and tenor sax and vocals. So many people playing at full force can kick up quite a racket, and indeed Wake Up blares like few others in its class. However, the songs are maximalist not just in their performance, but in their construction too. These tracks are knotty beasts, jammed full of stops, starts, and quick changes in rhythm, all of which the band executes precisely. I’ve been spending a lot of time with the new Gauze album, and I see similarities with Essential Logic. Both bands throw ideas at you faster than you can process them, and while this can make for a disorienting first listen, I find myself rapt on subsequent spins as I untangle these compressed studies in rhythmic diversity.

While Wake Up shares this sense of density and complexity with the Lora Logic solo album that so engrossed me a while back, it has a different, grittier sound. While there is some overlap in personnel beyond Lora herself, from what I understand, the Red Crayola was more or less the backing band for Pedigree Charm, and their playing on that record has a studied approach. Wake Up, however, sounds like the band is hanging on four dear life, navigating these songs’ baroque arrangements like someone who is just learning the art of plate spinning. There’s something to be said for both approaches, but the four tracks on Wake Up sound like a bolt of raw energy.

What’s up Sorry Staters?

I still feel like I’m recovering from a couple gigs that Scarecrow played this past weekend. Currently, I’m only functioning because of the sheer amount of caffeine I’ve been ingesting over the last couple days. It’s all worth it though, I had a blast. Thanks again to Greenough in Norfolk and the legendary Pat Walsh in RVA. But just be warned, I’m writing this staff pick feeling even more drained than usual haha.

Muerte En Paraíso is the latest release by Mujeres Podridas from Austin, TX. When this newsletter first goes out on Thursday evening, these records will not be available on our webstore quite yet. I wanted to give all of our readers a heads up, because I think this record is KILLER. We’ll have our copies up for sale first thing when we open on Friday, August 20th (which is my birthday, woohoo!).

I was lucky enough to see Mujeres Podridas play live in their hometown when one of my bands was on the bill at This Is Austin, Not That Great fest. They totally blew me away. I felt like they totally just owned the room while they were playing. My ears were totally fresh. This was before I had heard any of their cassettes they had out at the time. As the band took the stage, I was surprised to learn that Mujeres is made up of a couple familiar faces from several other fantastic Austin punk groups like Criaturas, Kurraka, and Vaaska – among others. But unlike the Scandi-influenced riffing or dark, moody hardcore of their previous bands, the songwriting in Mujeres seems to recall an earlier moment in punk.

The front cover of the record is very striking and colorful. Almost kinda looks like Jonestown Aloha by BGK or something. But while I’m looking at the cover, I can’t help but think that the arid Austin climate isn’t exactly close to the ocean haha… But vibrant beach scene depicted in the cover art does seem appropriate once you drop the needle on this LP! On songs like “Al Revés”, the guitarist hits some surfy melodic leads that kinda remind of Agent Orange. In general, Mujeres Podridas’ sound is very reminiscent of late 70s/early 80s California punk. The songs are somewhat straight forward, but also refined and well-crafted that makes me feel like I’m listening to a classic punk record. The singer Dru, who’s done vocal duties in many of her previous bands, just has one of those unrivaled voices in punk that’s instantly recognizable. That said, Dru seems to have such an ability to be versatile and flexible that her approach to singing is totally distinct from band to band. As opposed to the gnarly and intense vocals in Criaturas, the vocals are much more restrained, almost intimately whispered. The tuneful, yet sinister singing in Spanish also hints at bands like Paralisis Permanente. So maybe imagine Paralisis Permanente thrown in a blender with a couple anthemic numbers from the Dangerhouse catalog, namely songs by The Bags or The Avengers. For me, Muerte En Paraíso is a record created by some seasoned punkers trying to make music that gets to the heart of the matter. Dying in paradise might not be so bad if this slab of wax were blasting in the background. Do yourself a favor and scoop this when it goes up for sale on Friday.

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

‘Til next week,

-Jeff

Greetings one and all. Cheers to you all and thanks for clicking on us once more this week. With so much shit going on around us the whole world over hopefully we provide a much-needed distraction and break. Summer heat is melting our brains down here in North Carolina but thankfully not our records, of which we have tons. Our regular visitors know what I am talking about and if you follow our Friday New Used Arrivals Drops you will too. Last Friday they were busting down our doors and lined up a dozen strong waiting to get at those records as soon as we opened. It was cool and made me so glad to see all these folks excited about their music.

This week as the world continues saying their farewells to Hip-Hop Legend Biz Markie I would like to give my space in the newsletter to quickly mention something cool that he did that I have been enjoying. The other week whilst looking through the last of my stack of music magazines that I have held on to, I saw an issue of Grand Royal Magazine and remembered it had a free Biz Markie flexi disc with it. I flicked through the pages and thankfully it was still there. Awesome.

I used to be a rabid buyer of the music press, buying the weekly newspapers and monthly mags. I literally had tons. When I moved from England to New York my Dad decided to throw them all out as he was worried the weight would damage the attic floor. Pity, as there were old NME, Melody Maker, Sounds, Record Collector, Mojo and other papers and magazines going back to the late 1970s. When I moved to Raleigh from New York I was forced to leave a lot of newer ones behind also. Finally, a couple of years ago I let almost all the remainder go and hung on to some Wax Poetics, Shindigs and two Grand Royal editions. It’s good to purge and declutter but I do love a good music mag.

Grand Royal, as you know, was the name given to the Beastie Boys’ musical empire. Record label and, for a brief while, magazine along with their other adventures. The magazine only ran in physical format for four years and for more information I shall direct you to an article from Flood magazine that tells the story well. Read it here.

The issue with the Biz Markie flexi came in was number two and it’s a killer read, having a great piece on Lee Scratch Perry as the main feature. I learnt so much from that article and the color panel photo showing a lot of the records Perry made gave me a hunting list for years to come. I’m still crossing titles off the list and probably will never get them all. In addition to the Lee Perry story, there are articles from Thurston Moore and Ricky Powell, to name two contributors, and tons of great record reviews and period photos and advertisements. The inside back cover even sports an ad for the upcoming debut album by the Foo Fighters. I wondered at the time how this post Nirvana project would sound and certainly didn’t predict an album of Bee Gees covers twenty-five plus years later. Lol. Not hating, just funny.

The Biz flexi has the genius giving us his rendition of the Elton John classic Benny & The Jets along with some Biz bonus beats. I’m so glad that I had that still and playing it back made me smile. The track was performed in concert with the Beastie Boys and came out on the compilation The Sounds Of Science. It felt like a good way to honor Biz by mentioning it today and here is a link for you to check it out.

Coincidentally, as I was thinking about Biz Markie, I was playing a Big Daddy Kane CD in the car. He pays tribute to his friend Biz on the track Mr. Pitiful, and his words seem a good place to end my short tribute. Rest in peace Biz Markie and make everyone smile in heaven. With you behind the decks, there are going to be some great parties up there.

See you all next time friends. Peace and love – Dom

Hello readers, and thank you for reading.

Today I’m not writing about anything special really, cos everyone knows who Doom is. I heard Doom early in my punk years via the Police Bastard EP. What a fuckin’ great EP. While I enjoy it very much, I pretty much stop listening to anything by Doom after the mid-90’s. It gets a bit “tough” for my liking. In 1993 they released The Greatest Invention...which is one of my favorite ‘later’ 12"s. Sonarize announced they were releasing three Doom 12"s at once: Rush Hour of the Gods, Doomed From The Start, and their Peel Sessions. I was instantly most excited for the Peel Sessions re-issue. Ever since I first heard their Peel Sessions, I could not stop listening, and it quickly became my favorite of their releases. But isn’t that the case for like every band’s Peel Session? Doom’s line-up changed quite a bit over the years, but unfortunately I do not know the changes well at all. Did you know Doom shared members with Extreme Noise Terror? And both bands together had a side project called Excrement of War. I first heard Excrement of War on their split with Dischange. They have a full-length that came out in ‘94 only on CD, but it’s just been re-issued for the first time on vinyl. Sorry State has copies on the way! I had coincidentally been bumpin’ E.O.W. when I heard about this re-issue. I actually didn’t know until I was watching this cool video that all these bands shared members. Again though, Doom’s line-up changed over the years, so the diagram is not an accurate representation of their Peel Sessions line-up. Alright that’s all I got right now. If you don’t own Doom’s Peel Sessions, pick it up right now cos it belongs in every single record collection. ‘Til next time...

I’ve been traveling (and taking Covid tests) like a mofo lately, so I’ve had shockingly little time to sit down and jam records. Shit sucks! I mean, it rules seeing flesh’n’blood friends and family, but my vinyl and magnetic tape ride-or-dies have been horrifically neglected over the past few months. It’s time to change that mess! Here are six newish releases tickling m’fancy this week.

(Counterclockwise from top left)

1. Cerebral Rot “Excretion of Mortality” - Vicious, viscous PNW death metal. #THICC
2. Neos “Three Teens Hellbent on Speed” - Canada’s finest EVER export. The gold standard of blazing high school slop. If you don’t own the original EPs, you NEED this. If you do own the original EPs, you’re a nerd and you’re probably gonna get this anyway. Mad bonus tracks… massive booklet… a total no-brainer.
3. SQK Fromme “S/T” - If you’re fucking with that Neos lp, you should probably be fucking with SQK Fromme (pron. “Squeaky Fromme”), too. Cats from Hologram, Kombat, Closet Christ, etc. bringing the real chaotic/Koro freak shit. I just saw these D.C. fools tear it up under the bridge in Richmond and was pretty floored. Do not miss. (Funny SPK nod, btw.)
4. Scarecrow “Promo” - Speaking of tearing it up under the bridge in Richmond, I also just got done roaddawging for SSR homies Scarecrow. It fucking ruled. While I could take or leave the jabronis who make up the band (jk), these tunes are too sick to skip. Scandi assbeater central!
5. Fatal “6 Songs” - A couple of the aforementioned jabronz plus the OG singer from Out Cold. (don’t forget the period) beating butts in a more Americanized Hardcore® kinda way. They even got Cousin Eric (White Stains, Loose Nukes, Direct Control, etc.) to pen a couple tunes. I like this A LOT.
6. Liars “The Apple Drop” - Yo, there’s a new Liars record? Something about that font and cover photo is bumming me out, but I’m always gonna ride for Angus Andrews’ ostentatious nursery rhyme drone. Hot, cavernous stuff here. Another one!

Zappa (film, 2020)

My partner was out of town all last week, so I spent more time in front of the TV than usual. Inevitably, I ended up watching some music documentaries, among them this Zappa documentary. I’ll watch a well-done documentary on just about any artist or style of music, and even though I’ve never gotten into Zappa’s music, the seal of approval from the hosts of the podcast You Don’t Know Mojack was enough for me to dial up this film on streaming.

Jeff, Dominic, and I were talking about music documentaries a few weeks ago, and I noted how the documentary seems to be an essential element in today’s playbook for transforming a has-been into a “legacy artist.” This occurred to me when I watched the recent HBO documentary on the Bee Gees. That documentary used a lot of footage from the Bee Gees’ episode of Behind the Music, which reran relentlessly on VH1 in the 90s, when I must have seen it a dozen times. Behind the Music presented the Bee Gees (at least partially) as kitsch, but the HBO documentary went to great lengths to argue that the Bee Gees were serious artists who left their stamp on the history of 20th and 21st-century popular music. I remember lots of shots of Barry Gibb gazing pensively over a body of water, presumably contemplating the triumphs and travails of a long and influential career, and of course a long string of talking heads attesting to the group’s brilliance. Which is all fine with me. I like the Bee Gees, and I’m happy to drag all of those copies of Saturday Night Fever out of the bargain bin and into the upper racks.

Zappa also seems at pains to cement its subject’s critical legacy. We see footage of Zappa jamming with John Lennon and Yoko Ono, the usual smattering of talking heads proclaiming his brilliance, and many scenes that emphasize his credibility as a musician. He worked with the London Philharmonic. He was one of the first composers to rely on computers. There are several shots of Zappa’s massive archive where he stored master copies of nearly every piece of music he made. God knows he made a lot of music, and whether you value any of it, you have to admit at least some of it was innovative. The snippets that appear in the film even make Zappa’s music seem like something I might want to listen to.

A couple of weeks ago, Usman wrote in his staff pick about liking an artist’s music while feeling alienated from them politically. The Zappa film attempts to mitigate this issue somewhat by emphasizing that Zappa played music with women and people of color when that was uncommon. That’s great. However, what I come away from the film remembering is the way Zappa dehumanized other people, an issue that seemed to grow worse as he aged. It’s very taboo in our present culture to treat people differently based on categories they fall into, and Zappa didn’t seem to do that; instead, he treated everyone like shit. Not to get into Kantian ethics or anything, but Zappa seemed to view people as tools, as means rather than as ends that have value in themselves. Women were there for him to sleep with. Musicians were there to realize his creative vision. Everyone else just seemed to be in his way.

Obviously I didn’t know Frank Zappa, but he appears arrogant and self-absorbed. I see this not only in stories of people’s interactions with him but also in his approach to music itself. massive archive was testament to the fact that he thought all of his ideas were worth recording and saving (the film argues that this quest to document his ideas consumed him later in life, particularly after he realized he was terminally ill). There’s no sense that some of his ideas were better than others… they’re all valuable because they are Zappa’s ideas, and he had little time or patience for ideas that didn’t originate with him.

Zappa’s arrogance also comes across in the famous trope that his music was too difficult to play. His pioneering work with computers was borne out of his frustrations with getting human musicians to realize his ideas. In the early 80s, Zappa hired the London Symphony Orchestra to perform and record his classical compositions. The film shows footage from Zappa’s appearance on Letterman where he states these musicians were about 75% successful in delivering what he considered a “perfect” performance. The implication being that Zappa’s mind was so brilliant and his work so complex that even word-class musicians couldn’t wrap their minds around it.

Like a lot of arrogant people, Zappa also seemed insufferably whiny when things didn’t go his way. Zappa was bitter that his music wasn’t more successful and thought the media blacklisted him after he ended his contract with Warner Brothers Records. After he left Warners, he started his own label, Barking Pumpkin Records, and he touted the fact that his music was independent, insisting that it was only possible because of the freedoms afforded by market capitalism. In the film, he snidely notes that his music isn’t the result of government assistance or private patronage. However, believing in the power of capitalism didn’t prevent him from whining that his difficult, patently uncommercial music didn’t make him more money. To me, he sounds like the right-wingers who are against “big government,” except when it comes to their own entitlements and welfare.

I realize that I am talking out of my ass here, and that I am giving Zappa heads an engraved invitation to punish the shit out of me. I’m not really trying to talk shit or call out someone who has been dead for over two decades; rather, I’m trying to work through my own complicated feelings about Zappa’s music and the film (which I must note was enjoyable and gave me a ton of food for thought). Maybe someday I’ll even get into Zappa’s music. I joked to Dominic that I would probably love Zappa if he were British, and many of the criticisms I made above could be applied just as much to artists I adore (like Mark E. Smith, for one). I also appreciate the irony of criticizing someone for thinking their every musical whim deserves a hearing while flinging my half-formed musings into the inboxes of thousands of people who I’m certain couldn’t care less what I think of the new Zappa doc.

Hello to you all and thanks once again for checking in with us. I hope we find you well this week. Here in North Carolina, we are getting reminded that it is summer in the south with temperatures hitting the triple digits. Phew! Hot. Hopefully you are finding ways to stay cool and remember never leave your children, pets or vinyl in a parked car, even with the windows open.

This week I was inspired to pull some records off the shelf and give them a play based on a conversation I was having in the store with a customer the other day. The gentleman was buying some cool records, one of which was an XTC album – here at SSR we’re all partial to a little XTC – and we started talking about their side project, the fake 60s band The Dukes Of Stratosphear that released the awesome 25 O’ Clock LP in 1985. I mentioned to the guy that we had a record in the store compiling singles put out by English artist Nick Nicely and that he should buy it as his early singles had been a big influence on Andy Partridge and XTC and inspired them in some way to form the Dukes. His single Hilly Fields (1892) b/w 49 Cigars from 1982 is a great 60s psychedelic inspired 45 and you can definitely hear how it would have appealed to someone like Partridge, who also shared a love for records made in the original psychedelic era. Go give them a listen. The Dukes Of Stratosphear record is awesome and positively dripping in psychedelic sounds. Mellotron, fuzz guitar, backwards tape, phasing, you name it. All the 60s studio tricks are used. The cover art especially tells you what sort of record to expect, looking like a cross between The Nuggets cover and Cream’s Disraeli Gears. Although initially XTC didn’t announce that it was them, it’s obvious when you listen who is singing and playing. They adopted fake names for the project and appeared dressed in appropriate garb for press photos. By this time in the early 1980s, the nostalgia for the 1950s that had ruled the 70s had now switched to the 60s and it seemed kind of cool again. They followed up 25 O’ Clock two years later with another mini-LP called Psonic Psunspot which continued where the previous record had left off. Both records are essential listening for fans of 60s psych and XTC. Here are a couple of examples from each LP to check out.

25 O’ Clock and Vanishing Girl both the lead tracks from each record.

XTC were not alone in putting out a side project record inspired by the 1960s and, in fact, The Damned beat them to it by a year with their release Naz Nomad And The Nightmares: Give Daddy The Knife Cindy on Big Beat Records from 1984. This record was packaged to look like a lost soundtrack to an obscure 1960s low budget teen horror movie from America. On it The Damned cover garage and psych songs from the time plus throw in a couple that they wrote themselves. It’s not bad and if you are into this type of music, you will find a lot to like. Whether they bested originals like The Litter’s Action Woman or The Electric Prune’s I Had Too Much To Dream (Last Night) is debatable, but they gave it a good shot. For lovers of the Nuggets type 60s garage-psych, this is a nice addition to your collection. It is The Damned after all.

The tradition of groups being inspired by the 60s and forming side project bands to indulge their love continued and another cool record that captures the spirit of the original era was one that came out of the Seattle grunge scene in 1997 by a band calling themselves The Wellwater Conspiracy. This group was formed by members of Hater who were themselves a side-project featuring members of Soundgarden and Monster Magnet. They put out a record called Declaration Of Conformity that sips from the same spiked tea that the Dukes and Naz Nomad drank, but updates the sound just a little. For their inspiration, they drew from Syd Barrett mixed with some 13th Floor Elevators and even a touch of early Stooges. In fact, they cover Lucy Leave by Barrett. I picked this record up when it came out and didn’t really know who was behind it and just took it on face value. It didn’t really matter to me who was behind it, and I liked the mystery. Wellwater Conspiracy continued and put out more records in this vein, albeit with different line-up changes, with several notable names coming through the ranks. I can recommend checking into all their records if you are not already familiar with them. I only have the first on vinyl and it’s probably my favorite. The covers and originals are all well done. In addition to the Syd cover, they tackle Sandy by The Carnabeats and Nati Bati Yi by The Spiders who fans of Japanese Group Sounds era might be aware of and I think they do a decent job. Go take a listen.

Lastly, let’s jump to 2008 and the release of The Last Shadow Puppets and their The Age Of The Understatement LP which was another 60s inspired side project, this time featuring Alex Turner from The Arctic Monkeys and Miles Kane formerly of The Rascals and The Little Flames. Regardless of your opinions on Arctic Monkeys, I know they are not everyone’s cup of tea, there is no argument that Alex Turner is a terrific wordsmith and live the Monkeys put on a good show. I have seen them several times, more in the earlier years, including two great hot and sweaty shows here in Raleigh. Together with scouser Miles Kane they put together The Last Shadow Puppets as a side project to indulge their mutual love of 60s pop and garage. The two had met when Kane’s band had supported The Monkeys at early gigs and he added guitar parts to some of their tunes, notably the song 505. For The Last Shadow Puppets album, they added orchestra to the recordings and in some ways emulated the sound that artists like Scott Walker had on his great 60s pop records. The title track is a good place to begin to get an idea if you haven’t heard them and I like second single Standing Next to Me also. The whole album is good, and I wholeheartedly recommend it. They took a bit of a hiatus between this album and their next due to commitments to their main bands and solo careers, but did make a follow-up album. Not so good in my opinion, but not horrible either. The first one is the way to go, though.

Alright, that’s enough from me. Four examples of records that were made by artists in love with the 1960s and all four decent attempts, I think. Dig in and hopefully enjoy. See you next time. Peace and love- Dom

I saw this artwork and immediately recognized it was Joe B’s art. So I put the record on right away haha. His art is so amazing, on multiple layers. His illustrations are always so expressive to me, almost “theatrical” in a way. The way he lays his collage out is always so damn eye-catching. It always maintains a constant motion on the page. The foundation of his art is the most important layer to me, his meaning. The feelings and ideas expressed in his art always seem very intentional and thought-provoking. These three elements together make his art so damn powerful, and just straight up bad-fucking-ass. He is probably one of my favorite contemporary artists, and I hate art. Maybe I’ll elaborate on my hatred for art at a later date hehe. Most of my friends think I am stupid for having this opinion but whatever. It kind of goes hand-in-hand with the fact that I don’t view myself as a musician.

Alright anyway then, this Exil LP! I knew nothing about this record before I saw it in store. About 30 seconds into the LP I knew I would love it haha. I fucking gooooooos. It sounds like Swedish hardcore, on the catchy side. Well, the band is actually from Sweden. I do hear a slight “Japanese” edge to it though. I am always looking for an LP I can put on that fuckin’ bangs all the way through but doesn’t get boring with the repetitiveness. I like that; all bang, no bore hehe. I love EPs alot, I have many more EPs than LPs, but sometimes I don’t wanna be flipping every 5 minutes. This LP is not crammed full like like Ni Maste Bort or something, but it has ten tracks with an average of at least 2 minutes per song. Most of the tracks are fast-paced hardcore with urgent d-beat drumming, but they do have a few mid-paced songs. The slow song on the A side I actually like a lot. I am really inclined to hate mid-tempo songs (unless they are played Dischange/Meanwhile style) but this one gets me fucking amped. We actually had stocked this LP before I left town but I didn’t make time to write about it. I’m pretty sure we sold out of the initial copies and we are on the restock. Exil: Warning is definitely worth a listen and you can pick up a copy from our web-store here! Alright, thank you for reading and thanks to everyone for the support! ‘Til next time..

Various: West of Memphis- Voices for Justice

I briefly mentioned some true crime related records in another SSR pick and I’m feeling compelled to write about one of them. I was scrolling through Facebook and came across an ad for the app Cameo. For those of y’all that don’t know, different celebrities (I use that term VERY lightly) have accounts and you can pay them to record personalized videos for you. Scrolling through the app’s celebrity list is pretty wild; from TikTok users, 90 Day Fiance stars, and old washed up actors, there are some odd names on the list. The one that made me stop and laugh was Damien Echols. Yes, the accused Satan worshipper of the infamous ‘West Memphis Three’ case in the 90s is now making short personalized videos for anyone that will pay. He spent most of his life on death row where he studied magic and was later released after a lot of public outcry. The West Memphis Three is one of the most well-known cases of the Satanic Panic that hit small towns in the 1990s. If you haven’t seen the three part documentary ‘Paradise Lost’, it is a must watch. It was filmed during the height of the investigation and really brings to light how fucked the whole thing was. It’s also an amazing time capsule of a 1990s small town wrapped in fear.

Before Echols was released, there was apparently a benefit concert, another documentary, and this record was released to raise awareness of the injustice that happened and raise funds to help get this innocent man out of jail. I found this compilation and didn’t know any of that information. I just bought it because of its relation to a story I found fascinating. I still have yet to see the documentary of the same name but, like this record, there are some pretty impressive names attached to it.

I have to say, I’m indifferent about the majority of this compilation, but it’s worth owning for the tracks where Henry Rollins reads some of Echols death row letters backed by music from Nick Cave. It’s heart wrenching to think that this teenager’s young life was completely ruined by hearsay; even more frustrating is the incompetence of the justice system for allowing someone to be locked up for almost 20 years with minimal evidence against them.

Like every other slightly alt girl in the world, I love listening to true crime podcasts and the main theme I find, the main reason some serial killers were so successful, is from how shitty the police investigations generally were. I could go down a deep hole about how we need to abolish the prison system and police forces, but that’s not really what I’m writing about today. Although I fully believe in abolishment, I will say it is pretty nice to see the difference 20ish years makes for someone like Damien Echols. He went from an edgy teen to a death row inmate to one of the foremost voices on modern magic, and you can even personally connect with him through that silly app. I guess everyone needs to make a living somehow! He has changed his narrative and isn’t viewed as someone who missed out on 20 years of their life, but as someone who was strong enough to make it through that long of solitary confinement.

With so much negative shit happening in the world, it’s easy to get bogged down by hopelessness, but something as silly as a (kind of shitty) compilation can remind you that changes can be made with the right and enough voices behind it.

Pink Fairies: Never-Neverland 12” (1971)

This week we got in a brand new reissue of the Pink Fairies debut album, 1971’s Never-Neverland. Considering how much trouble I had tracking down a vinyl copy of this album when I decided I needed one, I thought I’d shed some light on this record for those of you who might not have checked it out.

The Pink Fairies were movers and shakers in the early 70s London underground scene, and they’re connected to scores of other bands you might have heard, including the Pretty Things, Hawkwind, Motorhead, the Deviants, Twink, Tyrannosaurus Rex, and doubtless many more. Unsurprisingly given all these connections, I came to Never-Neverland in a roundabout way. While I’ve known the Pink Fairies’ name for a long time—I’m pretty sure I bought their 1976 single on Stiff Records in the mid-90s—I hadn’t heard any music that grabbed me. I took another look at the Pink Fairies when I noticed three records I like—the Pretty Things’ S.F. Sorrow, Twink’s Think Pink, and the Rings’ 1977 Chiswick single—all shared a member, drummer / vocalist Twink. It still boggles my mind that one musician was present and engaged with so many of the great flowerings of the British musical underground, from the 60s R&B / mod scene to high psychedelia to the hippie free festival scene to pub rock and punk. What a life!

I’m no historian of the Pink Fairies, and it seems like you need to be one to understand the series of events that led up to Never-Neverland. The Pink Fairies was a name that floated around London’s underground scene, getting attached to various projects with a wide variety of lineups. Eventually, a band coalesced, led by drummer / vocalist Twink and augmented with 3 members from the Deviants, who had dissolved during a disastrous American tour. This new version of the band, based in the London hippie enclave Ladbroke Grove, eventually connected with Hawkwind and began playing the same circuit of free festivals and impromptu gigs, many of which ended with musicians from both bands taking the stage as Pinkwind for an epic jam session.

Polydor Records signed the band and released the scorching single “The Snake,” a blistering fast, hard-rocking song that reminds me of the MC5 at their most electric. “The Snake” was backed with “Do It,” an extended version of which appears as the first track on Never-Neverland. Maybe I’m crazy, but the lunging rhythm of “Do It” reminds me of Black Flag, and if you’re a punker coming to the Pink Fairies for the first time, it’s the perfect gateway drug for the band’s sound.

As for that sound, while it’s similar to Hawkwind, the Pink Fairies of Never-Neverland still had plenty of high-energy R&B in their sound, and they brought an amphetamine-fueled energy to their psychedelic rock. Unlike the Sabbath end of the hard psychedelia spectrum, there isn’t much blues influence on this album, instead cramming echo-drenched lead guitar excursions into the more compact R&B sound of the early Pretty Things, Rolling Stones, and Them.

After Never-Neverland, this lineup of the Pink Fairies dissolved. The band’s next iteration eventually fell under the control Larry Wallis, who left the band after 1973’s Kings of Oblivion to join Lemmy in the original lineup of Motorhead. The Pink Fairies have reformed countless times with a huge cast of characters, and dozens of archival releases have wheeled out studio and live material from all these different versions. Maybe one day I’ll find time to pull that thread.

What’s up Sorry Staters?

I’ve always found releases on the Discos Huayno Amargo label very alluring. I grabbed the Scythe 7” a few years back and not only is it musically cool, but particularly the packaging really grabbed my attention. Beautiful screenprinted sleeve that looks makeshift and DIY, but also special and unique. Sorry State recently stocked a few new titles on Huayno Amargo and the record that to me was most reminiscent of the label’s previous presentation is the Hwanza 7”.

Hwanza is a hardcore punk band based out of Seoul, South Korea. This 7” I’m writing about is actually a re-release of their 2019 demo tape. For me though, this recording is definitely deserving of the vinyl treatment. Maybe I was already in this frame of mind after listening to the Pesadilla flexi, but based on the packaging alone, you might expect Hwanza to sound like a noisy raw punk band. The mid-paced first track slithers with some chromatic riffs that sound kinda like more contemporary bands like Glue. I hesitate to make such a high caliber comparison, but the barking vocals almost remind me of John Brannon. The singer really brings some intensity and power to the band. And really, the sound of the songs isn’t too far off from Negative Approach either. I hear a lot of different influences going on. So, when you combine the raw 4-track style production, the gruffness of the vocals, the semi-clean and frantic riffs, and the hectic but also direct songwriting… Hwanza sounds like an early 80s US hardcore band to me. The playing is kinda loose, but absolutely ferocious. A riff will begin a song and it launches into a blast of fury, all toppled by totally reckless howling. This dude’s snarling. Kinda makes me think of YDI? I’m having a hard time putting my finger on it.

I just love hearing what is going on in hardcore in other places in the world. Not unlike Slant, it does seem like the Seoul hardcore scene has an inclination toward incorporating some parts that are mosh-worthy, meat and potatoes, and HARD. Still, it’s not as if I think Slant is slick by any means, but by comparison, Hwanza is a little rougher around the edges. Personally, I think that’s cool.

Not to sound like a broken record, but I really do find the packaging compelling. Once again, it’s an all screenprinted ordeal. The black and silver ink on red background looks so cool. It’s minimalist yet dynamic, raw yet beautifully designed, organic yet clearly hand-made… I dunno, I probably sound cheesy, but I think Discos Huayno Amargo’s sleeve designs are true works of art. Also, the lyric insert looks sharp and classic. The singer of this band reached out and sent Sorry State a link to English translations of the lyrics. That was rad.

Welp, I don’t think I have much else to say. Check this record out. It’s cool.

As always, thanks for reading.

‘Til next week,

-Jeff

Hey friends! Thanks for clicking on us again this week, we appreciate it. We know there are plenty of other internet diversions and things to read whilst sitting on the bog, so thank you.

Another full week here at Sorry State Towers, tons of dope records being added to our inventory, new and used, so come on in.

On the new tip I must mention the latest Durand Jones And The Indications album Private Space. Their third full length sees them taking off into space and adding more synths to the mix, giving the record a more modern edge to the retro soul-funk sound of the previous records. I love it and for me, these guys can do no wrong. Certainly, one of the best current soul groups playing today. My man, Kurtis Powers over at The Face Radio has been spinning them on his show from day one and it has been great to see their rise to success. We have copies in stock and have the beautiful “Red Nebula” version. Check it out here.

Personally, this week I have been rocking hip-hop. I typically always manage to play at least one rap record a week, often more. My tastes go back to the old school for the most part and anything released between 1985 and 1995 is the sweet spot. I can remember during the early 80s back in England becoming exposed to the new sounds coming from America. It was exciting, there was nothing like it. I still have a distinct memory of being in school one day and a friend handing me a cassette tape of this new style of music, which he had labelled “Scratching Music” on the tape. Mind blowing. By the time I had joined the ships and flown to Miami in late 1988, the Golden Era TM of Hip-Hop was just beginning. Each week when we came into port, I would rush to the music store and load up on CDs of the latest releases, aided by the newly started The Source magazine, which I subscribed to from its beginning. My cabin was the spot for hanging out and listening to music, even the ship’s DJ used to come down and get tips and borrow things from me. Over the years, I have parted company with most of my CDs and tapes, but do have one or two still. One tape that I played until it literally broke was a compilation of artists that recorded for the label Wild Pitch. It came out in 1994 was called simply Wild Pitch Classics and had so many of what had become and were becoming some of my favorite hip-hop tunes. Artists included Gang Starr, Main Source, Latee, Ultramagnetic MC’s and Lord Finesse. All kicking in with great cuts. Perhaps my fave, though, were the two songs from Staten Island’s UMC’s. I fell in love with their good times but conscious style of hip-hop and really can’t recommend their 1991 album Fruits Of Nature enough. It’s still a record I pull out and play and the cuts One To Grow On and Blue Cheese have been in my DJ cannon whenever a happy party vibe is required. In fact, I slipped one in on the latest episode of Worldy this past week. You can click the links to check ‘em out. Good times.

After my tape of Wild Pitch Classics broke, I found a CD version a few years later which is almost worn out too now and then only just this year whilst perusing a Discogs listing I found a promo vinyl version that a dealer had. I added that to my cart along with a Big Daddy Kane album and a couple of 12” singles he had. Great prices too. I was pumped, but then the curse of the postal service struck, and my package got lost. Oh well, too bad. Just about to give them up when three months later a miracle happened, and they showed up. Awesome. Over the years I probably have most of the tunes from that compilation either on album or 12” single but there is something about the running order and selection that still gets to me, and I am instantly taken back, and my mind becomes flooded with memories. Such is the power of music. Brilliant.

I’ll wrap it up there for this week. Thanks for reading. I hope you have some fun with your records this week and are making those connections. There’s nothing like it is there?

See you all next time. Peace and love – Dom.

Hello, and thank you for reading. I’m still out of town, but heading home today. So here we go with more random shit... My good friend back home, Sali, loved Wolfpack. I never got into them back then. Although over the years I have accumulated their handful of EPs. As I got each one, I slowly started to dig the band more and more. The sound was originally too “polished” for me I think, and there are definitely some elements I really don’t like at all. Namely the breakdowns, hehe. But what really fucks me up is back in the day when I was hanging with Sali, I never knew Tomas Jonsson from Anti-Cimex was the original vocalist of the band. I’m pretty sure I didn’t discover that until I found this video. Unfortunately, I don’t know anything about this footage but it appears to be filmed while they were gigging in Germany. The video is mostly them playing live, but the interview stuff and random bits between really makes it worth it. Jonsson seems like he’s wasted and the shit he says is hilarious. Regardless of the laughs, I love watching the live footage. The shit is mean. Even though some of the riffage gets a bit “epic” their songs maintain this constant pummeling edge. Jonsson has always been an insanely powerful vocalist. I assume most people have read this interview from 2013 with him, but if not here you go! I think this is like the last interview he did? I could be mistaken, and would love to know if there is more recent stuff. Now that I think of it, I’m not sure if I’ve ever read a proper interview with Jonsson. Alright that’s all. Thank you for the support. ‘Til next time...

Various: Bippp- French Synth-Wave 1979/85

This amazing compilation was in the new Forced Exposure order we got in recently and it unlocked some old memories I’d forgotten about until now. I want to take you back to the good ol’ days before MediaFire was ruined and Blogspot was THE place to get any type of internet entertainment. People used to make a living off of their Blogspot—wild. I can’t remember how, but I stumbled upon a blog called Cosmic Hearse and I ate up every single post. It really informed my taste, even more than I probably realize, because so much of the music I listened to has lodged itself in the recesses of my brain. I lost all the files I downloaded like five computers ago, but I seem to keep finding the records at Sorry State. Thanks, Daniel, for having impeccable taste, I guess. I think I briefly mentioned this blog when I wrote about the Scam 7” I got from Sorry State years ago. The first record I put on our staff pick bulletin board was Comus’ ‘First Utterance’ that I also found out about on Cosmic Hearse and later purchased at Sorry State. I can now add this to the list!

This record feels like a dark smokey room in an art school where everyone unironically wears all black and turtlenecks. Does that make sense? This is definitely the bleakest music to make me tap my foot, and it reminds me a lot of the weird keyboard artists I sat through at house shows in college. I haven’t listened to this since I lost the files on a computer in high school, so I haven’t been able to delve very deep into this genre in the past 24 hours. The description from the label says this comp features the ‘cream of the crop’ and without knowing much outside of it, I’m going to just go ahead and agree. I know a good amount about French art in this time period and this music is the exact sound I’d expect to be the backdrop. Experimental, dark, oddly beautiful, and absolutely revolutionary.

I’d write more but I have to delve face first in these memories and unlock other music I found on Cosmic Hearse. If you’re interested in finding some real gems, some well-known now, some still lost to the ether, Cosmic Hearse is still around although all the download links are dead and it hasn’t been updated since 2012. RIP

http://cosmichearse.blogspot.com/

For whatever reason, my brain isn’t seeing things in the wide-angle, synthetic view that I try to take with my staff picks, so instead this week I’m just going to tell you about 5 things I’ve recently listened to.

Poly Styrene: Talk in Toytown 7” (1980)

Despite being a pretty big X-Ray Spex fan, I’ve never checked out Poly Styrene’s solo material. In fact, when I came across this single I had forgotten she had a solo career, and consequently went in with zero expectations. “Talk in Toytown” is a reggae-inflected, synth-heavy song that I like. While it doesn’t have the anthemic exuberance of X-Ray Spex, it has similar artsy cool to her old bandmate Lora Logic, who I’ve been listening to a lot lately.

Destroy All Monsters: What Do I Get 7” (1979)

Third single by this post-Stooges Ron Asheton band. We’ve had those singles come through the shop a few times and I’ve always passed on them in favor of things higher on the want list. Now I’ve fixed the first of three mistakes. I listen to Destroy All Monsters’ compilation CD all the time… it’s in that pocket of hooky rock and roll where I’d place the Heartbreakers.

Various: Recommended Records Sampler 2x12” (1982)

The copy of this double LP I picked up is warped and the first couple of songs on each side don’t play, but there’s still a wealth of great music here. Recommended Records released a slew of music in the 80s with an eclectic roster that drew from across the left field, from free jazz to post-punk to 20th century classical. All of that and then some is represented here. While some artists on the label are a lot to handle in larger doses (I struggle to get through entire Residents albums), the sampler format works well here.

Pink Lincolns: Back from the Pink Room 12” (1987)

Florida’s Pink Lincolns are one of those bands I stumbled onto semi-randomly in my youth. I can’t remember if I knew their name because Ben Weasel wears a Pink Lincolns shirt on the insert of a Screeching Weasel record, or if I just ordered all three volumes of their Sumo Fumes series of EPs because they were super cheap, but I had them when I could count the number of pieces in my 7” collection on my fingers and toes. The Pink Lincolns may very well be the band who introduced me to Wire, which is crazy to think about. Anyway, Back from the Pink Room still sounds good to me, snotty and obnoxious like Boogada-era Screeching Weasel, but with more nuanced, UK 77-influenced songwriting (think Buzzcocks and Generation X). I come back to this record every few years and I’m always glad I did.

Public Image Ltd.: Commercial Zone 12” (1984)

I thought I wrote a little about Commercial Zone when I chose Public Image’s Live in Tokyo as my staff pick some time ago (turns out I was remembering incorrectly), but I have been on the lookout for this record for a while and finally got a copy. I love the first three PiL albums, but nothing later in their discography has ever moved me. Commercial Zone, a kind of “lost” album between the third and fourth ones, which is about as close as we’ll ever get to another great PiL album. Some of these songs appear on This Is What You Want, but they’re de-sucked here. They might lack the monstrous tone of original bassist Jah Wobble, but they still have some spark of PiL’s original brilliance.

What’s up Sorry Staters?

Every week, when the time comes to write one of these bad boys, I always try to see if I can bring some attention to a new release we have available in the store. But I gotta be honest, with the exception of the Neos reissue, I haven’t given proper attention to any new release. Definitely not enough to write a thoughtful description. It’s not that I don’t care. I think the new Sial 7” is amazing and inventive, but I haven’t spent enough time with it. Maybe I’ll write about Sial next week by the time it sells out haha.

Instead, I’ve just been listening to The Damned a lot. Big surprise, I’m back on my bullshit. As I’m sure is also the case with many of Sorry State’s punk-ass readers, I love The Damned. Like, I loooooooveeee The Damned. I think I’ve probably told just about everyone I know that Machine Gun Etiquette is for sure in my top 3 favorite records… by any band EVER. Lately though, surprisingly enough, Strawberries has been moving up the ranks as one of my favorite Damned albums. I don’t know why exactly, but this record is really resonating with me lately. Maybe it’s because of the kind of mood I’ve been in.

Now, as much I know some people think the first Damned album is the be-all end-all, I’ve also learned there’s a whole category of Damned fans out there who think that their prime was basically 79-84. Like, no Brian James necessary. Once the band broke down their creative restraints and made an ambitiously leftfield record like Machine Gun Etiquette, it does seem like moving forward that the experimentation flood gates were totally open. By the time you get to the Black Album, you have 17-minute long epics like “Curtain Call”. Still, amongst all these forays into adventurous and unusual songwriting, The Damned still always manage to squeeze in some amazing 3-minute pop bangers.

A song off of Strawberries that I’ve reacquainted myself with lately that’s really grabbed my attention is “Under The Floor Again”. Listening to this song the other night, I came to the realization it might be one of the band’s all-time best. This song in particular is such a lush and ethereal composition. The vocal melody is classy in its pop familiarity yet sweepingly sophisticated as it flows with the subtle chord changes. I will say that Dave Vanian seems to have a penchant for the dramatic. It’s not exactly musical theater, but Vanian’s performance does have a certain performative flamboyance to it. Still, unless you’re a total curmudgeon, all pretense is easily suspended when you realize that whatever perceived extravagance thinly veils complex, mature and expressive songwriting. I think more noticeably on this album than previous moments in their catalog, The Damned incorporate clear influence from 60s psychedelia – oh yes, sitar included. When you blend that ambitious 60s influence with a campy, yet sincere goth sensibility, you’ve got magic. Then out of nowhere, the band breaks into this slow, dreamy passage with ghostly vocals that sounds like it could have been on a Pink Floyd record. And I mean that in a good way. It’s amazing. Also, Captain Sensible’s lead guitar playing during this passage is so killer. The lyrical content describes a rather depressing loss of hope and the begrudging decision to disconnect from normalcy in order spend life underground. Perhaps metaphorical? Or maybe not? All you need is darkness, isolation, beer – and then maybe you feed the rats every once in a while. Yeah, pretty goth. Somehow, I do identify with the sentiment sometimes.

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

‘Til next week, I’ll be under the floor again,

-Jeff

What’s up Sorry Staters? Are you feeling good? I certainly hope so. We missed you last week, but the big dawg needed his break. We haven’t been slacking here in the meantime. There’s been a ton of great used records processed and some cool new stuff added to the bins.

Personally, I have had the roller coaster emotional ride this week. Some shitty life stuff mixed in with some good things. To hell with the bad stuff and cheers to the good things. With your indulgence I shall tell you about a good thing that happened to me and use that as my focus for my pick this week.

So, for several years now I have been a listener to an online radio station based in Brooklyn called The Face Radio. Started by one man, Kurtis Powers, with a two hour show each Sunday, it has now flourished into a full schedule with full days of new and diverse shows seven days a week. For the past few weeks, I have been guesting on one of the shows called Worldy hosted by DJ Matt Pape. His format is an open one, music without borders but not necessarily World music as it is typically viewed, hence worldy. I like that, as it keeps things open and doesn’t end up in a musical cul-de-sac. Anyway, Matt and Kurtis invited me to join the Face DJ family officially and so now Worldy will be co-hosted each Monday by Matt and yours truly. I’m well chuffed. We are going to have a lot of fun and although perhaps not the slickest on the mike will guarantee top quality tunes presented with sincere passion. Hopefully that comes across and we provide a fun couple of hours.

This past Monday we did an all-Latin music special that took in Afro-Cuban, Jazz, Salsa, Boogaloo, Funk and Disco. I think it was a fun listen. You can check it out here in the archives. We called the show Cuba Libre, and I played a song called that from the album which will be my pick for you all this week. The album is called Ritual by Nico Gomez And His Afro Percussion Inc. It came out on Omega International in 1971 and was released in Holland primarily, with a pressing also in France and Australia. Featuring an instantly attention-grabbing sleeve, it is chock full of Latin funk bombs and has been a DJ favorite for many years, demanding top dollar. I first became aware of it in the late 1990s when I picked up a facsimile pressing that was available back then. I had no clue what it was, but knew instinctively that it was going to be good. It’s since become a must have in the record box when out spinning records of this sort. There’s barely a duff track on the whole thing but people pay big money for the title track Ritual and one called Lupita, plus the one I mentioned, Cuba Libre. There was another reissue in the early 00s and finally a full reissue from Mr. Bongo in 2013 that should make it easier for you to track down. Rather than me describe how awesome those tracks sound, just click the links above and let your ears tell you for yourself.

Nico Gomez, real name Joseph Van Het Groenewoud, was born in Holland and spent his childhood living in the Caribbean where he became a musical prodigy and proficient in Afro-Cuban and South American styles. Moving back to Europe, he developed a career starting from the late 1950s as a band leader, composer and musician. He plied his trade primarily in Holland and Belgium and among other projects he was in the Chakachas who were a European-Afro-Cuban studio group that went on to have a huge hit with the song Jungle Fever in 1970. Most would agree though that the Ritual album is the one.

I won’t keep you much longer but did want to quickly mention that we just got in a couple of cool reissue singles from Breakout Records. They have put out the two 45s by English band The Cybermen that originally came out in the late 1970s on Rockaway Records. Particularly the first self-titled E.P., these are good punky pop new wave records and worthy of your $9. Fans of John Peel rock, KBD and Doctor Who step this way.

Okay, thanks for reading. I hope I have steered you towards something good and I’ll see you next time. Cheers – Dom.

Hello readers,

Thanks for reading. This Staff Pick will be a bit unorthodox, as I am on vacation with my partner Red. The picture above was taken yesterday, in the backyard of where we’re staying. I'm very grateful to be able to take a vacation like this; it is a privilege. The house where we stay has a fair amount of records actually (and a ton of books) since it was Red's grandparent's crib. There is not much that interests me though. It's mostly like Beatles and other '70s rock alongside a lot of classical music. I listened to the first Hawkwind LP the other day. That was my first and probably last time haha. There is a Bad Brains 12" here though too... it’s kinda warped and sun-bleached to hell. It's just a re-issue too, but I don't care it's still coming home with me, with permission of course haha. I don't own any Bad Brains stuff. When I was young I heard the were shitty homophobes so I had always completely avoided their music. I remember hearing HR had apologized for such behavior over the years. I don't know if it that is true, but I ended up checking them out eventually. The 1982 cassette is fucking insane. It's a shame they were (are?) shitty bigots. It's also strange to me that a band with such ideologies could make it so "far" in the world of punk. But, I wasn't around back then so I have no idea how things worked. It's not like MDC could post online after the gig and say Bad Brains was homophobes.

Another band I had always avoided from a young age was Skrewdriver. I grew up in Indianapolis, Indiana. When I was getting into punk and hanging out there was lots of spikey punks and plenty of skinheads. Sometimes Skrewdriver would come up, and skinheads would defend their first album tooth and nail. I didn't care if "first album wasn't racist" I still never gave them my time of day. These people were wrong anyway when they thought the band wasn't initially "racist." Let me give a little history on the band before I explain why Skrewdriver was always fucking racist. It's kind of funny that the band wasn't really into Skinhead when they began, but after pressure from their label they adopted the attire. I can't remember where I read that, but the Discogs page says it too so I assume it’s accurate. However the Discogs page is wrong about their '77-'79 line-up.

Whoever wrote that is mistaken, cos the line-up was not the exactly same during those years. The popular story is that Ian Stuart started the band, they broke up in the late '70s but reformed in the early '80s releasing Back With A Bang! (The bang is racism I guess haha.) Yes, the band did break up in the late '70s and reformed with Ian Stuart being the sole original member. Yes, they lyrics became blatantly racist when the '80s came around. But it is not just to say the band was not racist in their early years. During their All Skrewed Up era the band in fact played R.A.C. gigs and B.N.P. benefit gigs alongside other right-wing bands. So anyone who claims the first line-up is not racist, is under the wrong impression. The very wrong impression. Yeah, the songs do not contain hate speech on All Skrewed Up, but they were played at militant right-wing gigs. As a result of gigs like this, skinheads went out to terrorize immigrants and blacks alike, and they especially targeted business owned by these demographics. Enough said.

I got into the Templars at a young age. They seemed cool for a number of reasons but namely cos they were Oi! and didn't have hate songs. I mean hey, they had a black guy in the band... I was always weirded out about the patriotic lyrics that popped up in some of their songs though. As I got older, I closely re-evaluated songs like Stick To Your Guns. When I listen to it now it just sounds like some rhetoric you'd hear from the NRA. How did I not see it like this before? It's funny how you interpret things in different ways as you get older. But there is not many ways you can interpret this video of Templars covering Case of Pride (Skrewdriver) in front of an American flag haha. Alright that's all for now. Thanks for reading. I hope everyone is well. Oh shit, I forgot to mention... to be transparent, I do own a copy of All Skrewed Up. I picked it up on tour in like 2015 at Reckless Records. I understand why people defend it so much, cos it is in fact a very well written album. Welcome to the paradox. Alright, thanks for reading. I hope everyone is well. 'Til next time..

I haven’t felt inspired by any of my recent acquisitions. Lots of flea market and thrift store purchases because...why not? If the cover is cool enough, it’s worth spending $1 or less on ‘em. Honestly more embarrassed by my other purchases; am I really old enough that all the music I listened to in middle school is getting a vinyl repress? The nostalgia is deadly for my record budget! I’m already losing Sorry State cred on our Instagram, I can’t do it on the newsletter too. So I looked through my shelves and stopped at my ever growing Star Trek section and decided to pull some out and write about one of the less embarrassing facets of my collection.

I’m more of a TNG gal, but vinyl wasn’t big in the early 90s so I’ve accepted that most of the Trek records I own will be from the original series. As much as Captain Kirk bugs me, I have to admit I’ve grown fond of these radio plays and read along records. These short, simple stories are the perfect way to get in my Star Trek fill without sitting down for an episode that inevitably turns into four more and falling asleep on the couch.

I started my Star Trek record collection with a few of the movie soundtracks and slowly came across so many other cool things! My absolute favorite is definitely the Trek Bloopers I found at a used book store a few years ago. I mean, come on, William Shatner bloopers? So fucking funny. And my very first Record Store Day purchase was Trek related, of course. The repress of ‘Mr. Spock’s Music from Outer Space’ was a no-brainer for me. But after I put it on...I can’t say I’m a big fan of Leonard Nimoy’s voice but my collection wouldn’t be complete without it.

I just think it’s a cool thing- letting two of my interests combine. The more I dig into my collection for the newsletter and the more I buy, I feel like my records are becoming a great reflection of my interests and taste. I have some really cool true crime related records I’ll talk about eventually. I’ve started grabbing records (usually classical) if they have an old painting I like or recognize from my art history classes. All of this is to say, I guess, that the further I dig myself into this record collecting hole, the more reasons I find to expand my collection or dig through a section at a store I’d normally glance over.

Seeking respite from a nigh-endless barrage of recent hardcorepunkmetal mania, I was thrilled to stumble onto the new(ish) split from West Coast freaker stalwarts Bastard Noise and Amps For Christ in the SSR racks the other day.

Now these are—of course—two projects I love and respect, but they’re also two projects I’ve failed to follow closely over the last decade or so. Still, I could roughly assume some traits about what I was purchasing, and thankfully I assumed correctly.

Man Is The Bastard offshoot Bastard Noise continues to churn terrifying hellscapes recalling Gollum as he spouts humanity’s last rites from the bow of a sinking ship, and OTHER Man Is The Bastard offshoot Amps For Christ gloriously persists in that singular realm of energy-starved cyborgs jamming prog-noise-bluegrass for birds. These things bring me great comfort, and this record appropriately rips.

Big ups to Raleigh’s To Live A Lie Records for securing such behemoths of weird, and apologies to Eric Wood for the bootleg shirt (a friend made like 15 of ‘em in 2006). <3