This week rather than a standard staff pick I’m going to go per-zine on you. For the past few days I haven’t felt like listening to music. In retrospect, I realize I’ve had a lot going on inside my head and I haven’t given myself time to process it. I guess writing this piece is partly an attempt to make sense of it.

I don’t know if you can tell, but Sorry State has been busy. I try to talk to my mom on the phone at least once a week, and between phone calls she checks out Sorry State’s social media accounts to keep tabs on me. This week she told me she read between the lines of our posts that I was frazzled and had a lot going on. Maybe she’s sensitive to that because she’s my mom, but I wonder if anyone else gets that impression too. Sometimes I’m not even aware of how hard I’m working, but after several months of 60-70 hour work weeks I’m fatigued and stressed. Between the Rudimentary Peni LP, the Miss Veola collection, the whole saga with the Golpe and Zorn records, and everything else that happens here daily, I’ve been going pretty much non-stop.

Road trips have always been one of my favorite ways to clear my head, and last Friday I drove to our pressing plant in northwestern Virginia and back, spending over 9 hours alone in the car blasting music and listening to podcasts. I also stopped in Richmond and spent a little (too little) time with some friends like the Vinyl Conflict folks and Sam at Feel It. It was nice to have some solitary time and to listen to music on the drive, but it was such a long and busy day that I didn’t come home feeling refreshed.

The next morning I woke up and drove to Wilmington, North Carolina (about two-and-a-half hours from Raleigh) for an impromptu memorial for my friend Osamu. I wrote about Osamu’s passing last November, and aside from a Zoom memorial service, the people who loved him haven’t been able to get together and mourn his passing. Last Wednesday was his birthday, so most of No Love met in a park in Wilmington where there is a tree planted in his memory. Osamu’s parents joined us and invited us to eat Japanese food at their house afterward. We sat around, traded stories about Osamu, and felt his absence. Like the road trip, it was something that I needed to do, but it left me feeling drained rather than restored.

This week is also the anniversary of the protests that happened all over the country—including Raleigh—in the wake of George Floyd’s murder. There’s a locally famous photo of cops in riot gear lined up in front of a giant, colorful mural that says “Welcome to Raleigh,” and many people shared it on social media this week. I know my experience pales compared to the trauma experienced by people of color in our country, but in retrospect those protests fucked me up. I’ve always considered myself a leftist and a radical. I believe in equality and peace. However, before the protests those were abstractions to me… they were things to talk about in graduate seminars or over beers outside a show rather than anything born of personal experience. I realize now that my privilege allowed these concepts to be abstractions to me; as a straight, white, middle class man, the system was (ostensibly, at least) working in my interests, shielding me from the uncomfortable zones where my privilege rubs against someone else’s needs, wants, and rights.

As I wrote about a year ago, I was standing on the edge of a tense but peaceful protest when a line of cops in riot gear raced into the crowd with batons drawn and started beating people indiscriminately. A line of horse-mounted police joined them from another direction. Cans of teargas whistled by and then hissed acrid, blinding smoke. The scene was violent chaos, but it wasn’t a spontaneous eruption. It was a coordinated attack by the police on unarmed, peaceful citizens. Before that moment, “State Violence, State Control” was just a catchy chorus, but it rings differently to me now, particularly when I reflect on that fact that what was, for me, a unique experience, is a condition of everyday life for people who weren’t born into my social conditions.

After overdosing on music and media on Friday and having an emotionally tiring weekend, I entered a busy week feeling drained. Eventually I realized that what I needed was space. This statement is an uncomfortable fit for a newsletter whose existence is largely based on selling you products, but I didn’t need to find the right music or the right pill or the right anything to make me feel better. I needed stillness. I needed to sit with myself, my humanity, silently, letting these thoughts and emotions swirl around until they ran out of momentum. That process is far from complete, but I’m working on it. I’m sorry that it means you have less hyperbolic jibber jabber about punk rock to read this week, but hopefully it means I can find my way back to that more pleasurable headspace in time for next week’s newsletter.

What’s up Sorry Staters?

This week I’m gonna write about a record that literally just arrived in the mail at the store the same day this newsletter is going out. Later on, Daniel will probably put together a much more eloquent description for this record. But for now, hopefully I can throw out some one-syllable adjectives that will make you all wanna check out the new LP from Detestados!

Detestados are a punk band based out of Austin, TX. I heard this LP on bandcamp a few months back and was excited for the vinyl to be released! Looking at some of their previous recordings, it looks like Detestados has been an active band for several years, their first release being a cassette on the fantastic Todo Destruido label. This eponymous debut LP is the band’s first release on vinyl, and I’m pretty sure the record was self-released by the band.

The first song is a mid-paced, kinda classic pseudo-melodic punk stomper, almost like a clunky, obscure tune off of an old KBD comp. But this first impression is quite misleading, because by the time you get a few moments into the second track, you realize you’re in store for some ripping hardcore punk! The drums kinda play at an extra fast pogo-beat type style. I feel like I can definitely hear some influence from early Mexican hardcore bands like Xenofobia or Atoxxxico. But unlike the rawness of those bands, the guitars are actually pretty clean, but played with unrelenting ferocity. A smattering of tasteful, classic sounding earworm riffs come at you like repeated blows to the head. Weirdly though, there is something uniquely Texan about the guitars too where even with all their shredding, they are also kind of bluesy? Jangly open chords, some ZZ Top-esque slide guitar… you name it. The singer’s voice has kind of a weird effect, almost like a tight echo that makes their voice sound kinda distant. The vocals are snotty and raspy and sound super cool. And to top it off, they do a super accurate interpretation of “Corona” by the Minutemen, all sang in Spanish of course. But like, they totally nail it. It’s killer.

A big thing that stands out about this record is how raw the production is. Yes, raw, but not in a like treble-cranked-on-full-blast noise punk kinda way. It definitely sounds old. I would not be surprised if the band recorded this on a 4-track tape machine. It’s not shitty sounding though, it’s got a total vibe. Honestly, I think it’s like super punk haha. Everything about the presentation of the LP: the photo of this old man with busted teeth singing karaoke or something? Blank center labels. Single-sided insert. No frills, just raw fucking hardcore punk. I’m all about it. Do yourself a favor and jam this badass LP!

That’s all I’ve got I think. Thanks for reading.

‘Til next week,

-Jeff

Hey there, everyone in Sorry State Land. I hope you all had a decent week. Cool.

This week my piece in the newsletter is going to be sloppier than usual. My computer wasn’t cooperating with me yesterday so I am starting this today, Thursday morning, a lot earlier than I am usually reasonably functional. Thank goodness Daniel keeps us in coffee here at Sorry State.

Rachel mentioned the other week how she keeps finding gems deep in the bins here at SSR and last week was no exception for me. I went thumbing through the compilation section (I love a good comp) and pulled my pick for this week out of there. It had been here for over six months, giving folks plenty of opportunity to snag and so I didn’t feel too bad about buying it.

It’s from 1980 on Optional Music and called Can You Hear Me?

For those of you that do not have this killer record in your collection already, please allow me to give you the run down. Basically, a live document of San Francisco punk bands recorded at the Deaf Club during 1979 featuring Dead Kennedys, Offs, Mutants, Tuxedo Moon, K.G.B. and Pink Section. Initial reaction? Wow! What a fantastic document of a nascent local scene. The sound quality is awesome too, a rarity in cases like these and it comes with a great insert telling the story. I’ll basically crib from that as they pretty much said everything that needs to be said.

The San Francisco Club For The Deaf was located in the Mission District and at the time used to rent out their space to interested parties for $50 a night. Offs manager Robert Hanrahan happened across the place and went up the stairs to investigate. Fast forward a few weeks and on Saturday night, December 9th, 1978, the first party took place with Offs, Mutants and On The Rag playing. Admission was $2. Throughout the rest of 1979, a series of events and gigs were held. The list of bands that played there is like a who's who of punk and underground groups from the time and is too long to list here. Because the shows were essentially unadvertised other than posters and flyers distributed locally and amongst the scene, the Club remained underground and as the liner notes state, the weekend punk imitators didn’t get the chance to take over. Apparently, though, the main problem was from the locals who were not impressed by the punk invasion of their territory. Trouble came from neighborhood tough guys trying to start fights and other locals calling the cops and making noise complaints. This did cause the odd temporary closure and the eventual end of the club for good towards the end of that first year. Short-lived but to anyone that attended any of the nights the place remains almost mythical. To quote Jello Biafra, “The magic of The Deaf Club was its intimate sweaty atmosphere, kind of like a great big house party. The club remained raw to the very end…”

I think any of us who has spent time going to underground shows and events knows exactly what he means. You can’t beat the vibe of house party gigs and the like. Am I right Bunker Punks? Back when I was in England in the late 90s, my friends and I hosted several parties in off the path venues and the like. We found social clubs that had rooms to rent and hopefully had a license to sell booze. We hosted in a Rowing Club and ended up getting banned from there and a couple of other places when the parties got too popular and loud. Ha ha. Good times.

You should be able to find a copy of this document easily as a quick glance at Discogs saw several copies for sale and not too expensive either. You should snag one for under $20. Try to get one with the insert though as it does have some good photos and other quotes and information, including the full list of all the bands that played there.

Listening again, I like all the contributions from the bands included. Everyone brings it. Dead Kennedys and Tuxedo Moon were the two main names I knew but I am happy to get some material from the others also. In particular Offs, whose 7” single covering The Slickers’ Johnny Too Bad, which has been on my want list for a while. That 45 is a cool double sider with the song 624803 on the flip if you ever see it. Unfortunately, these two songs are not on the Deaf Club LP but there is footage of them playing the club which I’ll leave a link to here. It’s worth watching to get an idea of the place and see the faces in the crowd. There are one or two that you may recognize.

Another interesting note for me was hearing the voice of the DJ who introduces the bands. Its Johnnie Walker, spelled Johnny on the record. He was an English radio DJ who began his career on pirate radio stations like Radio Caroline in the 60s before joining the BBC and Radio One. He fell out with the BBC after calling the Bay City Rollers “garbage” on air and moved to the US for a few years, ending up in San Francisco on local station KSAN. Kudos to him for ingratiating himself into the local underground scene. He did eventually return to the UK and back to Radio One, rejoining in 1987.

Okay, that’s all from me for this week. Thanks for reading. Go listen to this comp and find yourself a copy. You know it makes sense. Here’s a clip of the Kennedys doing Police Truck to whet your appetites. Dig in.

https://youtu.be/Cn8gJgft8

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

This write-up will be brief, as I’m sure you don’t need to read here to know about this killer 12” Sorry State has just released by Golpe!!! There has been some serious delays in the pressing, but alas they have arrived... and they look and sound amazing! This band is amazing. I’ve been anticipating the release since late last year. If you keep up with my staff picks, you probably know I am a sucker for “classic” sounding shit, or bands that play with an obvious homage to Discharge. Golpe is not that; they sound modern as hell, but in the absolute best way. The slow parts are not tough, and the fast parts feel like I’m on a roller coaster clinging for my life. Golpe is actually just one person named Tadzio, from Italy. I was obsessed with a previous project he had called Komplott. It is similar to Golpe in a way, but it is much more straight-forward and raw. Definitely worth checking out if you dunno it! Alright that’s all for now, back to mailorder.

The Guild Of Funerary Violinists: The Art Of Funerary Violin

I’m having a hard time figuring out what to write about. Most of my recent acquisitions have been $1 and based on cover art alone and I feel like I’ve talked about the bargain bins enough. Y’all know I spend a lot of time there. I went digging through my own shelves... they’re getting a lot of neglect because I’m still buying way too many records now that I work at a record store. I pulled out one of my favorite things I’ve gotten this year to jog my writer’s block. Maybe it’ll help.

We had a copy of this in the back of the classical section and I didn’t find it until we sold it on Discogs and pulled it for some other lucky asshole. I added it to my Discogs want list, posted it on Instagram, ya know #sadgirlshit. That’s how I found out my old boss, now a friend, owner of Holy Mountain Printing hand screen printed the sleeves for the first pressing of this release, like the one I just packed up for someone. Like, he himself probably pulled the ink on the copy we had in store. If you know anything about Holy Mountain now, you know Danny is way too busy running his cool ass empire to be near ink so it was cool to see something in the wild from the old days.

I attribute this to my now borderline obsession to dig through all the odds and ends at the store when I can. This record remained ‘the one that got away’ for so long. Lo and behold Danny is the perfect gift giver and gifted me the copy from his personal collection for my birthday this year. I’ll admit I didn’t listen to the record in the store before I shipped it and I didn’t search for a recording online... honestly I didn’t care; I knew I’d love it and I needed it. When I put on the copy I got, I think I listened to it at least three times in a row.

I love instrumental music and I love creepy shit and the violin pieces on this record are haunting and mesmerizing. It also unlocked a memory I forgot from high school: an instrumental, string heavy album I downloaded from some blog and listened to until I lost the files. I’d forgotten about it and how much I loved it until this record reminded me of it. Disemballerina’s self-titled album is a fucking masterpiece and I’m so glad I found it again.

Here’s a link to my favorite track on The Art of Funerary Violin and the one that reminded me of what I mentioned above.

And here’s Disemballerina’s 2010 album that was in the recesses of my mind and now hasn’t left my speakers in a long time...

American primitive guitar, field recordings of frogs and some coolass organ drones… this new Daniel Bachman double LP is CHILL AS FUCK. I feel like I just woke up in a crystal store after mismanaging my microdoses. I mean, look at that cover! If it doesn’t scream “HOMEMADE SOAP” I don’t know what does. An A+ Appalachian “Pure Moods” zoner for sure. It also serves as a neat soundtrack for the new Legend of Kansai Hardcore book from the folks over at F.O.A.D. Boy, they sure did wrangle up some cool interviews and pictures for this thing. Did you know Cherry from Zouo was once roommates with Glenn Danzig? As my teenage nieces would say: NO CAP! I don’t think SSR is stocking this record OR book, but you should write ‘em nasty messages on social media until they come around. Peace, friends!

XV: S/T 12” (2019)

I was super excited to get my copy of this LP by Michigan’s XV in the mail this week. About a year ago, perhaps a little more, I was driving around listening to the Dynamite Hemorrhage podcast when they played a song from this album. I can’t remember which one, but it stuck out enough that I had to irresponsibly tap out a note to myself on my phone to look up the band when I got home. After a little searching (XV is not a very Google-friendly band name), I found XV’s Bandcamp page only to learn their LP was limited to 100 copies and had already sold out. I checked Discogs and copies were already selling for around $70, not that any of the 100 lucky souls who picked it up would part with one. So, I bought a digital copy via Bandcamp and added it to my Discogs want list in case a copy popped up.

Despite not having the vinyl, I listened to the album a lot in the coming months. XV reminds me of a lot of music I already love—particularly the rougher and more ramshackle end of the Rough Trade / UK post-punk scene and the most chaotic and lo-fi songs by the Fall (“Spectre vs Rector,” “Papal Visit,” etc.)—but they doesn’t really sound like anything else. The playing is so loose and chaotic that the music seems to dissolve in front of you, yet there are loads of hooks that I look forward to every time I listen. The vocals are distinctive too, with the main singer employing this nasally valley girl kind of sound and more disaffected-sounding backing vocals from the other members. The lyrics deal with the typical banalities of modern life, like the catchy opening track “Lamp” (my copy of the record came with a pencil emblazoned with the song’s chorus, “I would like a lamp.”). While most of the record is steeped in the artiest, most lo-fi end of the punk/DIY spectrum, the record ends with an extended period of silence and then the most shambolic cover of Black Flag’s “Nervous Breakdown” I could imagine. Like XV’s own songs, it drifts in and out of focus, Black Flag’s teenage frustration recast as a wandering, medicated haze. It is glorious.

Information on XV is scant. Some Discogs searching revealed a connection to fellow Michigan band Tyvek and several other projects whose names I’d never heard. Despite being very unconnected to XV’s world, when I bought the digital version of the record I was added to their list of Bandcamp followers. A few months later I got a notification when XV released a cassette of ephemera called Basement Tapes, which I bought immediately, and then during last month’s Bandcamp Friday I got a notification there was a new pressing of the album, this time on Gingko Records. I could not hand over my PayPal bucks fast enough, and now that the LP is in my hands, once again I can’t stop listening to it.

Unfortunately this repress seems to have disappeared as fast as the first version, otherwise I would have tried to get copies for Sorry State. However, XV’s Bandcamp site lists some distros and shops that are carrying the record, so if it moves you, you can try reaching out to those places to find a copy.

What’s up Sorry Staters?

Let me preface what I’m about to write by saying that I’m a DUMBASS. Here comes some serious embarrassment…

Earlier this week, Daniel and I were both working at our warehouse location. Daniel typically plays music in his office while he’s working. He asked if I would mind if he played the Michael Monroe solo record that I wrote about in my staff pick from a few weeks back. I was stoked that my glowing endorsement made Daniel wanna give the record a closer listen. I asked him what he thought about the record. Daniel said he liked it, but he thought the cover of “Shake Some Action” is not as good as the original… I sat there for a second, stunned, and asked, “Wait… ‘Shake Some Action’ is a cover?”

Like I said, I’m a dumbass. For those of you that read my staff pick where I talked about Nights Are So Long by Michael Monroe, I pointed out “Shake Some Action” as my clear favorite song on the record. I definitely wrote about it as if Michael Monroe wrote the song. I very much appreciate all you readers who noticed this for not calling me out and making me feel embarrassed for not knowing that it’s like THE most well-known song by Flamin’ Groovies. At this moment of realization, my palm hit my face with full force. I even asked Daniel, “in all the years I’ve worked at the store, how have I never heard this before?” With a big smile, he just responded, “I have no idea, it’s a pretty famous song.” Hilarious. Then Daniel told me that if I’ve really never heard it, I should cue it up.

I went and sat at my work computer and put my headphones on so I could shamefully give the original version a listen. The track started playing, and almost immediately, I felt a tumor-sized lump develop in my throat. Even having heard the Michael Monroe cover and having a previous awareness of the melody and structure of the song, all the elements that make this song so great stood out so much more in the Flamin’ Groovies version. The ear candy was hitting me like a sweet ton of bricks. I almost felt emotional. Have you ever had one of those moments where you hear a song for the first time and you almost feel angry that you’ve never heard it before? As I was sitting there silently while the sound that was hitting my ears isolated me from all other stimuli, it literally felt like one of those moments where you hear your favorite song for the first time.

While I love my hardcore, metal and “extreme” music in general, I’ve always had a weak and mushy patch of flesh that is vulnerable to the syrupy pop tunes. Not unlike the subtle melodic mastery of songs I love like “Hangin’ On the Telephone” by The Nerves or “Black and White” by The dB’s, “Shake Some Action” scratches that itch perfectly. Every moment of this song is a hook, right down to the perfectly arpeggiated guitar melody. But the songwriting rides the line perfectly, because it’s not so sweetly poppy or corny in a way that makes you feel like you’ve got a mouthful of saccharine bubblegum. It’s also funny because while I’ve admittedly never listened to Flamin’ Groovies, it also seems like none of their other songs measure up to how well they nailed it on “Shake Some Action?” Even weirder that this song came out 1976 and the band already had records out in the late 60s. You can totally tell that Flamin’ Groovies still had a foot in the Byrds-influenced sounds of the 60s, but to me, this song fits along with proto-punk and hints at what’s to come. Everyone who already loves Flamin’ Groovies is probably thinking “Duh Jeff.”

I feel like a big dork now. Is my face red?

Thanks for reading.

‘Til next week,

-Jeff

Here at Sorry State Towers, we listen to all sorts of music during our shifts. It’s quite a choice deciding what goes on the turntable next. Something we all agree on and love are the original Two-Tone groups that spearheaded the Ska revival of the late 1970s and early 1980s. Recently, through some connections made in Japan by Usman, we were able to bring in very cool Japanese pressings of early singles and albums by The Selecter and The Specials. I will never tire of hearing these records and the quality of those pressings was superb. Plus, the Obi strips and inserts made them extra cool. Duly inspired by the voice of Specials frontman Terry Hall, I came home and pulled out a record he did in the early 00s in collaboration with another artist and it is that one that I am choosing as my pick for this week.

Terry Hall & Mushtaq: The Hour Of Two Lights. Honest Jons. 2003

When The Specials were active, I thought they and Terry Hall were the coolest people on the planet. Against the backdrop of the political landscape, threat of a Third World War, racial injustice and union bashing, groups under the Two-Tone umbrella along with others really meant something and were a beacon of hope for the new generation. It was a sad irony that a movement that was built on racial diversity and socialist ideals was almost derailed by right wing fascists that had co-opted the skinhead movement. Early gigs were tremendous fun, but there was always a sense of danger in the air from some sections of the crowd. Anyway, when things began to break apart and Terry went on to form Fun Boy Three with Neville Staples and Lynval Golding, I followed them also. It can be argued that the FB3 records aren’t as good as the records made with Specials, but I would say that they are different and certainly more pop but still good records. It was a changing time and people were experimenting and bringing different aspects of sound and culture into their music. Some corners hated what Paul Weller was doing with the Style Council for instance or how The Clash had changed. I went with the flow. All of this set the ground for the post second summer of love and the mixing of the tribes that was the 1990s, I think. The 80s has a lot to forget for sure but I think in the world of music a lot of the changes were for the good and helped to expand people’s views and tastes.

Terry Hall put out a couple of solo records in the 1990s, Home from 1994 and Laugh from 1997. I wouldn’t say either of these are essential but for fans of his there are moments. Of the two I probably enjoy the latter more. The production is a little fuller and it has a retro 60s pop feel in places. Certainly, don’t expect anything hard or heavy on either of these records.

Fast forward to the new millennium and we find Terry partnering up with Mushtaq for this one-off project that is labelled as Electronic, Tribal and Downtempo on Discogs. I guess some of that is true but like all decent records that stand up years later, it almost defies categorization and doesn’t sound that dated. I’ve dropped tracks from this record when DJing to good reactions. People recognize Terry’s voice but can’t place the music. It makes for good transitions into other styles also.

The artist Mushtaq is mostly known as being a member of the group Fun-Da-Mental, where he was known as MC Mushtaq. Fun-Da-Mental were popular during the 90s and were the perfect example of the tribes mixing. They combined hip-hop sensibilities with Indian and Pakistani elements through use of clever samples and were quite political with strong civil rights and Islamic messages in their lyrics. It is this Middle Eastern/Asian aspect that Mushtaq brings to the project and I think it works out brilliantly.

Lead track Grow sets out their stall perfectly and is worth the price of admission alone. The blend of sounds from the Middle East provides mystery and hooks in equal measure. Hearing Terry’s distinctive vocals amongst these sounds is a cool juxtaposition. Being as the record was released on Honest Jons, it is not really surprising that Damon Albarn makes an appearance. He lends his voice to tracks and plays Melodica. On the song Ten Eleven hearing his voice does remind you of his other group, Gorillaz , which may be a good thing or not depending on how you feel about those records. I don’t think it distracts and fits in with the vibe of the rest of the record.

Elsewhere, title song The Hour Of Two Lights is a highlight along with lone promo single They Gotta Quit Kicking My Dog Around which came out as a single-sided 10” for all you collector nerds out there. Second song A Gathering Storm predicts the future with uncanny accuracy. I wish I could write more eloquently about the music itself and describe it better for you in detail, but that’s not my strong suit. All I can do is point you in the direction of stuff that may or may not float your boat. I do stand behind all my choices though and will never pick a record because it is rare and obscure or because it is expensive or the hip new thing as the only deciding factor. These are albums that I have built a relationship with since discovering them and my primary thought is always that someone else might like to hear them if they haven’t already.

Here are a couple of links to get you started. I hope you like ‘em.

Before I sign off, I just wanted to give a shout out to my DJ buddy Matt Pape whose Brazilian inspired mixtape I had on the other night as I watched the Man Utd Vs Liverpool game. I enjoy watching matches with the volume off and music on and there were moments where it blended perfectly, especially when Bobby Firmino scored twice. It was the perfect soundtrack and had me dancing around the room in celebration. We might not have had a great season this year but beating Utd in their place is always worth cheering about. The Brazilian magic carried over on to the next game when our Brazilian goalkeeper scored a last-minute winner and kept our hope of a Champions League spot alive. Thanks again Matt. You can find his show, Worldy, and his mixtapes in the archives of TheFaceRadio.com

As always, thank you for reading and enjoy listening to your records. Until next time - Dom

Irreal “Demo 2018” (Manic Noise 04)

This demo originally came out in 2018 on Spanish label Sangre Azul. I don’t think I had heard of this label until this week. Since they originally released this killer demo, I decided to dig deeper into their catalog that dates back to 2014. The sound is pretty much all over the place but each release is killer. I haven’t found a band I disliked yet. If yer looking for raw HC Maquina Muerte was pretty sick, it reminds of 90s Disclose. Pantalla was really cool too, raw as fuck, but in a different kind of way. Desenterradas was fuckin excellent, but be warned they are not hardcore. It reminds me of Crete, my literal all-time favorite local band. There were a few bands in the catalog who I enjoyed who share this like all-encompassing mid-tempo vibe. The riffs and rhythms are great, but the songs don’t like ever “take off.” I think most bands who do this would turn me off, but what I heard sounded really good. Nine times out of ten when a band plays mid-tempo HC it is too tough for me or just like rocked out shit, and that is a line that is easily crossed for me haha. The only rocked out shit I like is Skitkids. No I do not like Thin Lizzy. Anyway, Irreal plays lots of mid-tempo HC but they never cross that line. When they play a “hard” part it’s more like teeth-grinding outta yer head style, not like, “Now I will punch the nearest person in the FACE!” kinda vibe. I didn’t know who Irreal was until the EP that came out last year on LVEUM. It immediately caught my ears with their primitive but compelling song-writing, the perfect combination. Sorry State has some copies of that EP in stock if you slept on it. I try to pay attention to everything we got in the shop, but it’s easy to fall behind. I didn’t realize we got copies of the Irreal demo or the Hellish Inferno tape like three weeks ago! Hellish Inferno was a Staff Pick of mine back in January when the band had just released the tape. They were limited to 50 copies only, so of course they went fast. Manic Noise has done as all a favor by putting more tapes from these killer bands into circulation.

Doug Kershaw - Ragin’ Cajun (from the collection of Miss Veola McClean)

I’m keeping this week short and sweet. Especially because I’m talking about a record that’s sealed (again) and have no plans of popping that shrink off. I always make these arbitrary rules for myself and end up breaking them. After my first tattoo I told myself I’d get no color tattoos...third tattoo was full color. I should know by now not to hold weird expectations for myself!

I really thought my last SSR Pick would be the only record in my collection that would never be opened. But then, as I’m sure you’ve seen on our social media, we acquired an absolutely insane collection from Southern Pines NC native Miss Veola McClean. There was a lot of talk about where a lot of the records came from. We assumed she acquired a lot in her quest to collect all things relating to Black culture, just picking up more artifacts without a ton of consideration. None of us had the pleasure of meeting Miss Veola before she passed, but I think we are getting to know an interesting side of her through these records. Before anyone dug into the boxes, there was a handwritten list of a lot of the collection, leading us to believe she acquired the majority of the records from someone else’s curated collection. But now we’re finding SIGNED RECORDS! Some are just signatures from the artist but Daniel found a Richie Havens record actually addressed to Miss Veola. Now, we’re learning that a lot of this music IS her curation. Not only that, but now we know she met a lot of cool artists in her lifetime.

ANYWAYS, I mention all of this because I purchased my first record from her collection. I say first because I’m sure there will be WAY more. I hope at least one of you read my pick about Cocaine and Rhinestones and started listening to it! One of my favorite episodes is about the Kershaw Brothers, Rusty and Doug. Definitely one of the more fascinating episodes from the first season of that podcast. LISTEN TO IT! As I was trying to find something on our Discogs for a customer, I, of course, found a record I had to buy. Doug Kershaw’s Ragin’ Cajun album is a country cajun classic so I’ve been looking for it anyways. This copy, though? SIGNED! And from Miss Veola’s collection; I logged into my personal Discogs account so quick and bought that shit up.

Sealed records, though. That was the whole point of this. This signed copy is sealed in the shrink and signed ON the shrink. I thought about carefully opening the record and trying not to ruin the signature, but I know it’d happen over time. Even putting my fingers over the Sharpie marks made me nervous, so I took the record home and immediately grabbed a frame off my wall and put ‘er in there. I always thought it was silly to get 12x12 frames to put records in but look at me now. I love that I have this artifact from country music AND this amazing woman’s collection.

Go on our Discogs and come to the store to shop Miss Veola’s collection. I know you’ll find something you just have to pick up!

Il Balletto Di Bronzo: Ys (Italy, 1972)

After a few years of searching I nabbed a copy of this album, so why not brag about it in my staff pick?

Il Balletto Di Bronzo were from Naples, Italy and were around from 1969 until 1973. They released their first album, Sirio 2222, in 1970, and while I haven’t heard that record, my research tells me it’s more in the psychedelic / blues rock vein than their follow-up album Ys, which critics regard as their masterpiece.

Il Balletto Di Bronzo tend to be classified as an Italian prog band, and I’ll tell you right off the bat that’s a genre I know nothing about. From what I’ve read, the Italian prog sound is marked by pastoral motifs, lots of flute, and acoustic guitars, which sounds of a piece with the British prog groups who were working around the same time. Ys, however, doesn’t sound pastoral to me at all. It is a loud, rambunctious, beast of an album, more in line with the side of prog that bleeds into proto-metal: think early King Crimson or post-Syd Pink Floyd’s heaviest moments. While these references are more obscure, Ys also reminds me a lot of Flower Travelin’ Band’s great Satori album and Amon Düül II’s classic Yeti, though the compositions here are even wilder and more complex than either of those.

I wish I could tell you more aboutYs, but it’s something you really need to listen to in order to appreciate. It’s not for everyone; the layered keyboards, high-pitched vocals, and dense, classically inspired rhythms are the opposite of the punk rock most of you came here looking for. However, there’s always a place in my collection for records that sound like nothing else, and Ys fits that bill.

What’s up Sorry Staters?

The other night, I went on a beer-fueled record spinning marathon, as I often tend to do. There are many punk records that I’ve had in my collection since I was a teenager, but I don’t often revisit. On the other hand, there are certain records that I’ve had for a long time and have remained in constant rotation. One band that I always come back to, and that remains just as killer as when I first heard them, is Skitkids.

I honestly can’t remember when I first heard Skitkids. I think when I first started learning about the band, it was while they were still active. I’m pretty sure I bought their last record, Besöket Vid Krubban, around when it first came out. Unfortunately, I never got a chance to see them. I’m pretty sure they toured USA at least once. I always associate my discovery of Skitkids with my venture into expanding my horizons and learning about more international hardcore in general. I don’t know if any of y’all reading this will understand where I’m coming from, but the timeline of my mind routinely being blown by new and exciting bands is not so segmented. Like, it’s not like I was singularly into American hardcore for a while, and then I moved onto the next thing. The influx of constant exposure in my late adolescence was just like an uninterrupted wave of energy, and really, it all kind of blurs together. Not to say I’ve heard everything there is to hear already, but I do sometimes miss that feeling of being overwhelmed by all the new stuff I was hearing on a regular basis.

Anyway, back to Skitkids. I think I’ve listened to every single one of their records a few times over the last week or so. (Except for the 12” version of their first tape, Skitfucked By The State, which somehow has still eluded me.) I remember sending a photo to my buddy Chris of a bunch of records I’d been listening to, and in reference to Usman and myself, he just responded: “Damn, y’all some Skitkids lovin’ mofos.” And rightfully so! I remember getting exposed to many other early Swedish hardcore on the crustier end of the spectrum around the same time. But while you can sense some dirt and crustiness lurking beneath the surface, Skitkids had a different vibe to me when I first blasted Onna For Pleasure at maximum volume. It’s like taking the most raging, gnarly aspects of Swedish hardcore, but mixed with Motörhead. It’s perfect. Even having said that, I don’t want that description to mis-categorize the way the band sounds. Skitkids doesn’t read as a punk-metal band like Inepsy or something. They still manage to stray from the herd, coming across as pure fucking hardcore. I wish I had a way to articulate this better, but what Skitkids has going for them is just HUGE rocked-out riffs. Like, for days. It’s insane. Maybe this is kind of dorky to say about a band that was still current when I was listening them, but I remember the guitar playing being hugely influential on me. I wanted my bands to have riffs that were that just as badass and memorable. And what’s interesting, is I feel like I’ve noticed people lump Skitkids in with other Swedish hardcore bands and tag them with the “D-beat” moniker, which to me is not only totally inaccurate, but also pretty diminishing. Skitkids are a unique and raging beast. I posted about them on social media the other night and a lot of the homies messaged me and were still showing them some serious love. Still killer, and always will be.

That’s all I got. Thanks for reading.

‘Til next week,

-Jeff

Greetings all. I hope you had a good week. This one began for me with getting my second Covid-19 vaccination and like a lot of folks I felt some aftereffects. I was pretty out of it Tuesday and still feeling achy yesterday. As a result, I am not very prepared with my staff pick for this weeks’ newsletter. This one will be short and sweet as I don’t have too much time to get into too many details.

I thought I would choose a record that I just received in the mail. It’s been on my want list for a while and I had always thought I would find a copy one day in the wild but being as it was released in 1992 and only on vinyl in the UK and Europe, Brazil and South Korea, it hasn’t been that easy. Flush with stimulus money, I decided to search for a copy in Europe and to hell with the shipping costs. That transaction ended up being more complicated than it needed to be – record graded NM/NM and actually more like VG/VG. The dealer and I exchanged our thoughts, and the matter was resolved. I probably will upgrade to a better copy if one comes by but until then I can make do. It was disappointing, however, opening the box and not finding a beautiful copy. We are very much aware of this at Sorry State and try to ensure all our dispatched orders are as they should be and will always make right any mistakes that might happen. So do order with confidence. In fairness to my guy, he did provide a full refund which I wasn’t asking for or expecting, so kudos to him for the customer service.

The record I am talking about is Homebrew from Neneh Cherry, released in 1992 on Circa, a Virgin label. This was her second solo LP, her breakthrough coming a few years earlier with the big hit being Buffalo Stance. Cherry was born in Sweden to a Swedish mother and an African musician father from Sierra Leone who was in Stockholm studying engineering. Her parents separated early, and her mother married jazz musician Don Cherry who raised her and from whom she took her name. Career wise, Cherry began in London providing vocals for among others, The Slits and Rip Rig + Panic and New Age Steppers. She also ingratiated herself into the Bristol scene, making connections with Massive Attack with whom she worked and apparently helped bankroll. The Bristol connects featured on Homebrew with some production credits going to Geoff Barrow of Portishead. Whereas debut album Raw Like Sushi from 1989 sold well and produced hits, Homebrew was not as commercially successful. That seems a little odd when you look at it. The record features guest vocals from Guru of Gang Starr and Michael Stipe of R.E.M., who were both big names at the time. The album also featured a song, Move With Me, that was in the film Until The End Of The World. That is a pretty interesting movie if you are not aware. Directed by Wim Wenders, it is a long sci-fi type film that wasn’t that well received at the time but did get better reassessments years later. The soundtrack features not only Neneh Cherry but a whole host of other top names. Lou Reed, Can, Talking Heads, Nick Cave, R.E.M. Patti Smith, Depeche Mode and U2 who provided the title song. It’s a good collection of songs and the majority of them were all unique to this film or the versions used were different to other released versions. In the director’s cut of the film, which is over four hours, plenty of other artists are used that didn’t make it to the released soundtrack. I recommend checking out the film if you get an opportunity and the time.

As an artist, Cherry has tried to resist being pigeonholed but on Homebrew you could say that the style is Trip-Hop with strays into Jazz and Funk territory. One tune called Buddy X ended up getting a remix that featured Notorious B.I.G. and fans of his seek out this particular 12” claiming it to be one of his rarest appearances. I’m not so sure about that but it is a dope single and I’m glad to have a copy.

After all these years listening to my CD copy of the album, it has been great to finally own an LP version. I would say it is my favorite album of hers although I am a fan of her other work and to my ears listening again recently, I would say it has held up pretty well. It’s certainly her most accessible album and should appeal to young and old listeners alike. I’ll leave you with links to a couple of cuts and hope that you enjoy them as much as I do.

The rest of the album is well worth listening to and I encourage you to do so if you liked these two songs. That’s my lot for this week. See you next time. Peace and love – Dom.

Yo what up,

Once again, I’m not really writing about a specific record. Or this time a specific band even, so don’t bother reading if you don’t wanna read me blabbing with not much of a foundation.

I like 90s shit a lot. There are some bands I like that started in the 80s and kept it up through the decades, but not a lot come to mind. There are plenty of killer bands who started in the 90s, who took clear influences from great bands from the decade before. And then there were a lot of bands who sucked in the 90s too, haha. In the 80s it’s like damn near every band rips, but when the 90s came along there is a lot of shit to wade through to find the gems. When I say there was a lot of bands who sucked, I do legit mean I think some bands straight up sucked but mostly I mean there were a lot of bands who were expanding/experimenting and pushing the boundaries of what is considered “punk.” That’s cool; I respect that. I still don’t want to watch or hear the shit, though. No Security was a fucking killer band. The started in the mid 80s (in Sweden) and were active into the mid 90s. They put out only killer records, and I think the records just got better and fucking better as time went on. Totalitär is a band just like that too, of course.

I’ve been spending a lot of time watching live videos of bands. Maybe I said that some Staff Picks ago? I can’t remember. I guess I’m just missing gigs a lot. Scarecrow got offered a few outdoor gigs. I guess we will see what happens. Outside seems safe, but I’m still apprehensive about the idea. Haha anyway, this video is absolutely killer and I watch it frequently. Over the weekend I poked around that account and they have some fucking killer videos!! That No Security link I dropped has a lot of views, but there are some other vids that only a few hundred views that are really cool to see like this 16 B.U.H. video and fuckin especially this D.T.A.L. video! You can’t watch those videos on yer phone though; they will sound like complete shit. The next stuff I wanted to mention has great sound though.

S.O.D. was another killer Swedish band. Both their EPs are full-throttle killer fuckin hardcore. I always thought it was interesting the second EP is just recordings from the same session as the first EP that had not been released. Which is not out of the ordinary to do, but they decided to release in 1990 which is what I found interesting. In 1990 I’m pretty sure S.O.D. was not active, but I could be wrong. The vocalist, Göran, had moved to South Africa and started a band called Surf or Die. I know he was definitely back in Sweden by the 90s cos this account has several videos of them tearin’ it the fuck up, this one is my favorite. It’s important to note that I think the only OG member from the initial line-up in these vids is the vocalist, Göran. I could be mistaken, though. I do know the drummer in those vids is the one who uploaded all this shit though! Also, here is an autographed picture of me being a total nerd holding my S.O.D. 7"s! Hoehnie from HöhNIE Records was super cool and hooked me up with the autograph cos he and Göran are close friends.

Another killer Swedish band who I love from the 80s that continued on (well past the 90s) is Asocial. Their first EP was released in 1984, and later repressed in 1992. I remember when I learned it was repressed in the 90s I was surprised haha but then I found this fucking sick video of them playing all the 80s hit tracks, but the gig is from 1997. It makes me wonder if they were active that whole time and I just had no idea, and that’s why they repressed the EP 8 years later. Man, that gig in the video was with Extreme Noise Terror and S.O.D. What a fuckin line-up! I was watching a video of ENT playing in the 90s over the weekend. Unfortunately I couldn’t find it again today! Hearing them playing all the early songs, but with even more brutality and tightness, was fucking insane. They played shit off Phonophobia too, which I really enjoy. They played a song or two from Damage 381, which is when I trail off on the band’s timeline... the 00s ENT shit sucks, eh I don’t know maybe... I remember jamming Law of Retaliation a lot when it came out haha.

Alright back to work. I hope I have left you with something of interest. Poke around that account’s videos, because there are a ton of cool bands I didn’t mention. Oh, I guess I never mentioned why I used that Kuro EP as my Staff Pic. This is another example of an 80s band who continued to put out killer shit in the 90s (haha even though this EP only has 2 studio tracks.) A note about 90s Kuro though; the only OG member was the guitarist. I think the vocalist may have passed away by that point? But I am not sure. I do know that the guitarist and vocalist both have since passed away. Ah, one more thing... if you happen to have the 1992 pressing of the first Asocial EP, would you please email me so we can compare the covers??? haha, my email is in.decay@yahoo.com. Alright, that’s it for real now. Thanks for reading. ‘Til next time...

Not much to say this week other than:

1. Holy shit there’s an OFFICIAL Screamers record?!
2. Daaang, these first five Pat Garrett demos sound GREAT. I’ve been bumping bootlegs of this stuff for years, but Superior Viaduct has it sounding markedly better than ever before. That crispness! That panning! I’m verklempt!
3. Y’all ever bumped the No Dogs In Space podcast? They have a two-part series documenting the history of the Screamers AND followup interviews with drummer KK Barrett and late-era keyboardist Jeff McGregor. It’s very well-researched and very un-snooty. Highly recommended.
4. Booya.

While I have a big record collection, I work diligently to keep it in order. I see a lot of collections as part of my job, and some of them come to resemble hoards more than collections. My attitude is that I try to be thoughtful about the analog media I bring into my life, but I give myself free rein to hoard digital photos, documents, and especially music. I have hard drives upon hard drives full of rips and downloads, more music than I could listen to in ten lifetimes.

While our buddy John handles it every other day of the week, on Fridays it’s my responsibility to take Sorry State’s mail to the post office and the DHL depot on the far edge of Raleigh. This means I spend a lot of time in the car, and since it’s Friday, I’m usually feeling ready for the weekend. Especially during springtime, I like to blast music with the windows down and enjoy some time when I’m not staring at a computer or stressing about some issue or another. With such a big digital music library, I like shuffle mode, but I prefer to shuffle full albums rather than individual tracks. While Apple removed the album shuffle function from their music app a long time ago, there’s an app called Smart Shuffle that restores that functionality.

Here are a few things that came up on album shuffle while I was driving around last week. Recurring feature? Maybe?

In School: Cement Fucker 7” (Thrilling Living, 2016)

What. A. Ripper. I loved this 7” when it came out, and five years later it sounds even better to my ears. In School’s music was so dense and complex that I think it went over many people’s heads at the time, but it’s so angry and raw. Nowadays I hear more bands taking influences from the quirkier end of the 80s hardcore spectrum, but In School was already nailing the tightly sprung rhythms and intricate guitar/bass dynamics of the early Die Kreuzen material. This is such a killer record.

D.L.I.M.C.: July Cassingle (self-released, 2015)

D.L.I.M.C.’s series of cassingles were blowing up on YouTube around five years ago as well, and this is another one that still sounds great to me. I don’t know much about D.L.I.M.C.; I believe it’s a solo project from Mark Winter of Coneheads / CCTV, but aside from Discogs, I don’t have any info to verify that. Anyway, what I like about D.L.I.M.C. is that it has a lighter, breezier tone than Coneheads or CCTV. The project reminds me of the Dead Milkmen, particularly the way the vocals and lyrics are the focal point, which contrasts a lot of the other music I listen to, where riffs are the focal point and vocals and lyrics can feel like an afterthought. Speaking of lyrics, “Fest Punk” is great, the kind of spot-on, sarcastic critique of the punk scene you don’t see enough of these days.

Heresy: 20 Reasons to End It All CD (Toy’s Factory, 1992)

20 Reasons to End It All compiles several vaguely non-canonical Heresy releases: the Whose Generation EP, 20 Reasons to End It All (which itself is a comp of two BBC sessions), and Live at Leeds. Napalm Death’s Peel Sessions LP was my last staff pick, and Heresy also benefitted from the BBC’s habit of bringing non-commercial music in for high-fidelity recordings. Some people prefer Heresy’s earlier material, but I’ve always loved the later stuff too. While the material isn’t as immediate (and is pretty all over the place stylistically), the dodgy recordings that plagued their earlier releases aren’t as much of an issue.

What’s up Sorry Staters?

I’m gonna try to keep this one short and sweet, but y’all need to hear about this record!

Last week, we got in 2 new releases from Alonas Dream Records, a label that usually reissues a lot of punk and hardcore from the greater Chicago area. Initially, because the Assault & Battery LP was so mesmerizing, my tunnel vision diverted my attention away from the OTHER killer record that came in.

Evil I was a band from the Chicago suburb of Lombard, IL. It seems like their existence as a band was a short-lived, because as far as I can tell, not much is known about them. This LP that Alonas Dream just put out is a recording from 1983 that was originally only released on cassette. The tape seemed to have poor circulation, mainly distributed by the band at gigs. At first I wasn’t so sure about the bright orange cover art… I found it a bit off-putting, but I decided to give this record a listen anyway. And DAMN, the moment I dropped the needle on this platter I was blown away! This recording is one of those unsung hardcore gems that I imagine if it had been released on vinyl back in the 80s, it would probably fetch big bucks these days.

Charmingly and somewhat humorously titled Official Bootleg, this collection of tracks just has so many elements that I love in my hardcore. The vocalist Carol is amazing and a huge part of the band’s sound. Her vocal style kind of reminds me of Sin 34, but with so much more intensity that is sometimes tuneful and catchy, but still dripping with seething rage and character. That said, the music is amazing as well. The guitars are sonically dense and heavy, almost like SS Decontrol, but also the sound changes and morphs into a high-pitch, noisy tone that catches you off guard. Classic sounding riffs weave into noisy, chaotic moments that are certifiably Midwestern kinda like Mecht Mensch. Honestly though, these sections also bring to mind the most disgusting and dissonant moments of Black Flag. But don’t let that comparison deter you, because for the most part Evil I plays raging fast. The band is so tight and has so many cool songwriting ideas where a charging hardcore song will be broken up with complicated punches and rhythms. I wish I had the vocabulary to convey what a crime I feel like it is that no one really knew about this band until now!

If you’ve been sleeping on Evil I, then you’re missing out. Do yourself a favor and check out this LP.

That’s all from me. Thanks for reading.

‘Til next week,

-Jeff

Green Day: You Know Where We’ll Be Found 12”

Alright, this is a fun one for me. Yada yada yada I’m a big Green Day nerd yada yada yada who cares, but I think there are a couple of neat anecdotes about this unofficial live record from Mind Control Records. For starters, the first set on this record is an acoustic set, and after a bit of research I discovered that this performance was part of the Bridge School Benefit Concert that was put on by Neil and Pegi Young. But something didn’t add up for me: the jacket for this record says this concert was in 1996, but their setlist included lots of songs from their album Nimrod which wasn’t released until 1997, and even (what I believe was) the live debut of the song “Warning” which was released on the album Warning in 2000. It seemed strange that a 1996 set would have so many unreleased songs. So, after a bit more research I found out that Green Day did not play this benefit concert in 1996; this is totally their set from 1999 (which I think you can find footage of online). The jacket has a typo, a pretty obvious typo, which seems like a big thing to miss! Maybe it’s intentional in order to throw off anyone who would object to the release of these songs because it’s an “unofficial” release? I don’t know, man. It’s also easy to believe that someone just fucked up.

One more cool thing about this performance is that I believe it was Jason White’s (Pinhead Gunpowder, etc.) first show with Green Day. Billie Joe introduces him as a friend who is playing with them that night right before they play “Warning”, and he has been a part of their live show (for the most part) ever since.

The second set is a classic loud Green Day set (not acoustic) at King’s College in London. The jacket says this concert was in 1996 too… Once again, not true, this concert was in 2000. In some of Billie Joe’s stage banter he even makes a joke about Napster and Metallica (y’all remember that, right?). Once again, seems like a really big thing to miss when laying out the credits and details on the jacket, but whatever.

Overall, I don’t care for listening to live records except for Green Day and The Ramones. You can really hear the intensity of their live show, even on wax. And if anyone has ever seen Green Day (especially back then) they always had some sort of whacky stage banter or crowd interaction. This record ain’t for everyone, but as someone who collects any all Green Day, I dig it 100%.

Greetings everyone in Sorry State land. Sorry we missed you last week, but we got buried in work and work for us means records and that means good news for you guys. Whether it be through our webstore or in person at the store, there is a ton of great shit available and in styles and price points to suit almost everyone. The racks are heaving.

These past few weeks have had me listening to a lot more Jazz than normal with April being Jazz Appreciation Month and this past Friday being International Jazz Day. Sorry State has always had a good jazz section and it is nice to see these records sharing breathing room with all the punk and metal that the store is known for. Doctor D has always been making good connections over the years, and a series of great collections has come through the store. Locals like myself were treated to seeing hen’s teeth rare slabs alongside good solid staples whenever we went in. This tradition has continued since I have started working there. We have had so many killer records pass through it really is awesome. In addition to the high-ticket items, there is a good middle ground selection and the bargain bins always reveal a nugget or two for those prepared to bend a knee. Definitely keep your eyes and ears open for news of a very deep and cool jazz and soul collection coming soon but, in the meantime, get yourself down to the store and have a rummage. We put out a good collection of soul, jazz and r & b titles that won’t break the bank with particular focus on late 70s and early 80s era releases.

That being said, my pick this week is not soul, jazz or even psych, but a good ol’ slab of ’77 punk. For the past few weeks, in between everything else, I have been giving a good rinse to a record that Jeff turned me on to one day in the store. It’s Raxola and their self-titled LP from 1978 on Philips. I can’t believe I hadn’t heard it before, as it is exactly the type of punk/rock ‘n roll record I love. Just another reason working at Sorry State is so damn cool.

All you seasoned punks out there are likely very aware of Raxola, but briefly, here are some details. I won’t try to come off as all knowledgeable on this one as I only just discovered them. Raxola, standing for Revolution Axis Open Lights Ahead, were from Brussels, Belgium and formed in 1977 by guitarist Yves “Eef” Kengen. He had previously been in proto-punk band Bastard alongside Brian James who by this time was off doing a similar thing with The Damned. Raxola’s sound is total 1977-1978 punk in all the best ways. They, along with The Kids and Hubble Bubble, were one of the first local Belgian bands on the punk scene to record an album. Not an opportunity so easy back then. If you dig The Kids (why wouldn’t you?) then there is plenty to love about the Raxola album. In fact, if you like pretty much any punk band active during that golden period, you will love this record. I hear the aforementioned The Damned, early Wire – especially vocally, The Undertones, The Saints, The Heartbreakers, the list goes on. Raxola sits comfortably with any of these guys, and I feel like a total newbie for only having just discovered this record. If you are like me, we can be slightly forgiven as originals of the album have been rare and pricey for a good while now and reissues didn’t appear until the late 00s. The version I grabbed was the 2017 pressing by Veals & Geeks on pink vinyl. Nice.

Most of the tracks stick to the classic two-minute pop format but there are a couple of longer cuts and in particular the song Thalidomide Child, which clocks in at over six minutes. This song is noticeably different and almost sounds like an American group from the Mid-West or something. Much darker and twisted. That song closes side one and when you flip over to side two and the song Anxious begins, you may again hear familiar reference points both contemporary and future. Second to last track, I Can’t Sleep, is the other tune to go over the three-minute mark and in the music, I hear a strong Wire type sound. Closer, Am I Guilty, wraps everything up superbly and again, could have been a song from the first Wire or Damned LPs. I don’t know, but this whole record sounds like the blueprint for so many bands that came after and I wonder whether it was influential or not. You always hear in interviews bands talking about seminal records that shaped them and informed them, so I am interested to know where copies of Raxola ended up in the years after its release.

The band reformed a couple of times over the years and released a second LP back in 2017. Visit Raxola.net for more information.

Anyway, I sure am grateful to Jeff for putting this on the turntable that day and I heartedly encourage you to seek out a copy for yourselves if you are like me and new to them and to take a listen on the old internet. Thanks for reading and happy listening.

-Dom

Yo what up,

Daniel decided not to do the Newsletter last week, which is cool with me cos I was so overwhelmed with all the Rudimentary Peni orders I woudnt’ve even known what to write about. I think Daniel was swamped with Rudi P too and that’s why he wanted to skip, rather than having a sub-par Newsletter. I’m not kidding, including wholesale I have shipped out around 1,000 copies. And that’s just me. Jeff and Daniel have shipped out a shit ton, too. Ahhh...

I got into punk like age 13, middle school. I’m pretty sure The Casualties were the very first “hardcore” band I ever heard. Being young and so new to punk, I didn’t understand the cliques in “the scene.” At that age my listening sessions would include my Circle Jerks, Minor Threat, Casualties, A Global Threat, Discharge, GBH, Antischism, Dead Kennedys, Rudimentary Peni and Crass CDs. It’s funny how some of that stuff I almost never listen to anymore and some of the stuff I still listen to on an almost weekly basis. I still have every one of those CDs. Unfortunately, I don’t have any of the booklets anymore. When I was about 15 my parents were completely fed up with my punk shit. My dad came into my room with trash bags, ripped all my posters off the walls and stuffed ‘em into the bags with all my clothing and CDs. He then took it all outside and lit that shit on fire. Haha that sounds kind of insane, like a movie. I hated them for a long time after that. I remember crying and yelling at him like, "You think this is gunna change who I am?!?!!" Look at me now...I was lucky that all my actual discs were in one of those CD binder things, so they were safe from the fire.

I’m pretty sure Antischism was my doorway into Rudimentary Peni, with their cover of Sacrifice. I do remember that the first Rudi P song I checked out was Cosmetic Plague. It’s insane that they can have a song that plays the same fucking riff the entire time and it still sends chills down my spine to this day. That is my favorite Rudimentary Peni song. In the lyrics, Nick Blinko addresses what the real, deep-rooted issue is with humanity. And then he even explains how to overcome this behavior. With what seems like simple wording, he delivers extremely complex concepts and understandings. It blows my fucking mind he would shout like a mad-man like that and still have the ability to play guitar.

I guess my Staff Pick isn’t actually directed at an album in specific this time, although I have a lot of anticipation for the Death Church reissue coming out next on Sealed Records. I originally picked up Death Church and Cacophony on CD at the same, with some of CDs I listed earlier. It was my first time at a record shop; unfortunately I can’t remember the name. And even more unfortunately, I bought the damn CD versions cos I didn’t start buying records for another handful of years. Ironically, my dad was cool enough to buy me those CDs that day (I don’t think I had a job quite yet, haha but my dad did demand I get a job at age 13 cos that was the earliest age you could legally work at in Indiana at the time.)

Cacophony fucked me up. It was like too “scary” for me, haha. It certainly grew over time, but I don’t throw it on as often as other records they did. Death Church instantly drew me in. While I have been a Rudi P fan for over 15 years, regrettably I don’t have a whole hell of a lot of their record pressings. Discharge was like that for me for a while. The records were so commonly found that I just kept putting off getting myself a copy. Luckily I do have all those now, but I only had both Rudi P EPs and a bootleg of Death Church (until the other day!). I was talking to Daniel sometime in the past year and discovered the first pressing of Death Church came in a fold-out sleeve. It killed me that I didn’t have this, and it killed me even more that even I didn’t know this already. Haha and I died again when I saw what price they go for now. If I would’ve just grabbed one ten years ago, or even just five years ago... I expected to wait a really long time, or end up having to pay out the ass to secure myself a copy. But I can’t even tell you how lucky I was to find this first pressing recently for about a 1/3 less than it goes for now, and it was already in the US.

Alright, I’m not really talking about much of any importance, so let me touch on these links below to wrap it up. Please click the first link and watch. I’ve watched so many times. It is so fucking funny. I love Nick Blinko, and seeing footage of him is rare enough as it is. The second link is really fucking cool, I’m sure a lot of people have heard it though. It’s an interview that took place just before Cacophony was released with a person from the US and Grant the bassist of Rudi P. You’ll hear some cool info about the band, as well as some “rumors” debunked (some of the rumors I had never even heard haha.) It was really fucking cool to hear they went to a Discharge gig and decided to start a band. Thanks for reading my friends, much love. ‘Til next time...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7nexBhIsVfQ

Patrick Magee: Selections from The Marquis De Sade

This, um, might be a weird one. I’ve been going a little Discogs crazy, and it led me to do something I’ve made fun of in the past: pick up a sealed record without the intention of opening it. I found this record with a selection of the Marquis De Sade’s writings and smashed that buy button way too fast; I couldn’t say no to a sealed copy! Let me explain myself, though, because I’m sure those of y’all that recognize his name are wondering why I’m writing about him.

(For those of you that don’t know him, the Marquis De Sade is the namesake of the word “sadism.” He was a French nobleman and writer in the 1700s who was known for his radical views on sex, violence, and religion. His writings are as bad as you’d expect; full of non consensual acts, degradation… ya know, the works. Maybe you were a weirdo in high school like me and sought out the most fucked up media you could consume and it led you to the Italian movie 120 Days of Sodom that’s based on, yep you guessed it, De Sade’s writing.)

Why would I bring this up? Why am I admitting to buying that record as soon as I saw it on Discogs? I mean, I’ve already admitted an undying love for My Chemical Romance and country music, why not keep it going? I watched the 1975 movie based on De Sade’s writing in high school and had to find out more about the mind that created it. I was interested in him in the same way John Wayne Gayce and Richard Ramirez interested me...how could someone that fucked up exist? Fast forward to junior year of college and studying abroad in a tiny, idyllic village in the south of France, one of only two abroad options my college offered, and finding out two weeks in that castle ruins at the top of the town housed none other than De Sade himself. I had no idea when I applied to the abroad program and only realized after teachers kept making jokes about his writing not being available in the school library.

Okay, anyways, I keep going on tangents. Back to what I was originally saying. I found this record from 1965 where the actor/director Patrick Magee reads some of Marquis De Sade’s work. I didn’t really think twice about purchasing a sealed record; it was the best price and grading combo. I’ve bought a ton of sealed records for the same reason and have had no qualms ripping open that shrink and putting the record on my player. But not this one. Do I really want to sit there and listen to Marquis De Sade’s writing? I’m not sure.

The back of this record touts De Sade as one of the greatest minds of all time, ignored because of the subject matter he wrote about. That... makes me want to listen to the record even less. I’m glad I own another weird facet of history, but I can’t say I condone De Sade as one of the greatest writers of all time and all that jazz. You can write as fancy as you want, but horrible things are still horrible things. And, holy shit, did he do some horrible things (pun not intended but, I’m definitely going to point out that it’s there).

I wonder how many times you’ve already read the words “Electric Chair” in this newsletter? Five? Ten? Twenty? (Note: how about zero? We ran out of stock on these so fast that I decided we’d wait until the repress arrives to heap on the much deserved praise. —Daniel) You’re probably all real smart cookies who skipped straight to MY section, so I’ll just assume this was the first.

Anyway, Electric Chair… the Olympia band… let’s talk about ‘em. The four-piece’s first EP, “Public Apology,” dropped via the Stucco label in 2018. The sleeve had a cute little drawing of a masked executioner pulling a power switch, and the record within boasted the most convincing take on early 1980s American hardcore we’d heard in a minute. Jerry’s Kids, Final Conflict (MN), Adolescents… it was all in there. The music was tough, but it was catchy as hell, and it was PUNK. Opener “Roll the Dice” may even be the best PUNK song released in the past decade. It still gets stuck in my head at least once a week. Great shit!

Then, in 2019, Electric Chair got picked up by vanguard monolith Iron Lung Records for its “Performative Justice” EP. The band went with a snazzy full-color sleeve this time (a real-life punk hand pulling a power switch) and upped the production a bit from “Public Apology”’s suitably rough basement-quality sound. The group got faster and snottier, too. Poison Idea became a much bigger point of reference, and so did The FU’s. Basically, it was REAL RAGIN’. I saw the Chair perform at the Bunker (RIP) here in Raleigh around this time, and boy howdy was it awesome. The band nestled in that sweet spot between slop and precision that made everyone in the room come ALIVE. Man, what I wouldn’t give to be back in that room right now.

So, now it’s time for Electric Chair’s much-anticipated third EP. It’s called “Social Capital” and was also released by Iron Lung. I have it on the desk in front of me, but I haven’t listened to it yet. It looks cool. It’s shiny. And, of course, there’s another power switch being pulled by a punk on it. Oh, and hey, there’s a fancy foldout lyric sheet, too. Check out that cool poster side with band pics! It’s a buncha street toughs poking holes through a pretty orange wall with their own body parts. OH MY!

I’ve purposefully avoided listening to this thing until I could get a hard copy on the turntable. The anticipation has grown too large. How can they possibly do it again? I’m dropping the needle now. BOOM. (my head exploded)

Napalm Death: The Peel Sessions (Strange Fruit, 1989)

I went crazy with my description of the new Rudimentary Peni album for this week’s Record of the Week, so I’m going keep my pick short this week. I’ve had a bootleg LP with Napalm Death’s Peel Sessions for years, but this week I scored the original Strange Fruit pressing, which sounds better. The word “extreme” gets thrown around a lot in underground guitar music circles, but the Napalm Death Peel Sessions are among the most extreme sound recordings I have ever heard. It’s like they took the very concept of “music” and attempted to turn it on its head at every level, to deliver the ultimate auditory nightmare. Both sessions feature the same lineup that recorded From Enslavement to Obliteration, and while I love that record (and the underrated follow-up EP, Mentally Murdered), the Peel Sessions are even better. There’s something perverse about forcing the BBC’s engineers to record these sounds, but, lord bless them, they did it, and by my estimation they did it with all of the skill and attention to detail they would have given a symphony for a Sunday morning classical program. I know there are records heavier / uglier / noisier / more intense in the power electronics world, but an arsenal of effects boxes and directly manipulating tape are performance-enhancing drugs. If you’re looking for the craziest thing human beings have ever created with guitars, drums, and vocals, this may be it.

What’s up Sorry Staters?

Somewhere, lurking in the streets of Cleveland, there stand 3 pillars of true punk wisdom. You may find these figures claiming their usual spot at Now That’s Class talking mad shit or already day-drunk at a backyard barbeque. The band’s namesake alone, a reference to Limp Bizkit’s finest hour, only further captures the intensity of what lies within…

Alright, all kidding aside, I love this EP. Woodstock ’99 features a couple of my buddies from good ol’ NC. The band is made up of 3 out of 4 people that were in Cement Shoes. But after relocating to Cleveland, it seems like my dudes not only cranked up the “no fucks given” attitude in their music, but also in their whole vibe and lifestyle. I gotta say, it is pretty refreshing to feel like a punk record is not so serious for once.

Each song, both literally and figuratively, is a unique artisan dish of deep-fried redneck cuisine. Even with their silly, aloof and often contemptuous disposition, this record still fuckin’ RIPS. I find myself flipping between cracking up and being like “Damn, this is killer.” My boy Trev’s vocals sound like a demon, taunting you with menace that makes you feel simultaneously secure, like you’re in on the joke, but also really nervous, like something bad is about to happen. But once again, what the fuck is up with punk bands only pressing 100 copies these days? You should snag one while you have the chance.

To quote the masters themselves: “Popeye’s chicken is fucking awesome,” and you know what? So is this EP.

Thanks for reading. ‘Til next week,

-Jeff

The Muffs: Big Mouth / Do The Robot 7” - I’ve been waiting for an excuse to write about The Muffs but I haven’t owned any of their records until now (but ya know it was the 90s, not a lot of Muffs vinyl out there)! I unfortunately wasn’t introduced to the Muffs until after Kim Shattuck had passed. Once I heard their first self-titled album, I fell in love and wondered how they had flown under my radar for so long. Then I felt kind of annoyed that so many of my peers were fans and no one told me! Anyway, the more I listen to this band, the more I think Kim Shattuck has such a natural talent for melody and song structure. I have listened to that first album so many times in the past two years I could probably recite all the tunes from memory. Strangely enough, I always find a new way to appreciate them after so many listens. It’s melodic, angsty and loud… kinda like if Green Day was a bit more garagey and took themselves a little less seriously. This single I picked up the other day has a great track from their first record called “Big Mouth” on the A-side and a cover of The Saints’ “Do The Robot” on the B-side. “Big Mouth” is a classic Muffs song that is rockin’ and melodic about betrayal and vengeance (so classic). I had never heard the Saints cover until I picked up this single. It’s cool for sure, but “Big Mouth” is definitely the stronger track. I love The Muffs!

Various: WGH Authentic Virginia Gold 12” - I don’t have a lot to say about this one. I picked this up cheap recently at Vinyl Conflict because I was intrigued by the title and the cover. I thought it was a collection of Virginia surf bands, which would be awesome! But instead it is a collection of some of the top hits played at a Norfolk, VA radio station. It’s chock full of classics like Strawberry Alarm Clock, James Brown, The Association, etc. This seems to be a very limited press on cool rainbow sunburst vinyl. The vinyl is pretty beat and skips every now and then, but I have been enjoying revisiting some classics and educating myself on some artists I had never heard. Very glad I picked it up!

Hey there, all of you in Sorry State Land. How was your week? This was another crazy one, right? We had two holidays to celebrate, 4/20 and Earth Day. Try to plant a tree for every one you smoke. We had the trial verdict come in for the George Floyd murderer-correct one but hardly a celebration of “justice served” as a man is still dead. Then in the middle of all that we had the news of the European Super League and that bombshell and the potential death of competitive football to deal with. If any of you follow the footie, you will know that this was massive. I have been a Liverpool FC supporter for close to fifty years and was close to saying fuck it and never following sport again. Thankfully the backlash was so severe that within forty-eight hours the plan died the death it deserved. Most of you probably have no idea what the hell I am talking about. Although the Beautiful Game is very popular in the US, so maybe you do? If that is the case, then you understand the magnitude of what happened. But this is a music newsletter and not a sports journal, so let’s talk about records instead, shall we?

I’m going to make my entry short and mention just one record this week, that album being Motherlight by Bobak, Jons, Malone, originally released in 1969 on the UK label Morgan Blue Town. More commonly known as just Motherlight instead of the artists, who sound more like a law firm than a musical act. You are certainly forgiven for never having heard of it or seeing a copy as only in the last twenty years or so has it been widely discovered. Old school psych collectors would exchange original copies for decent money, as they were pretty rare and just did not show up. In the late 80s a couple of different reissues popped up, which was the first chance for the wider record buying public to get a copy, but it wasn’t until the early 00s and in the last decade that official and widely available versions became available.

I remember my old boss in the New York store I worked at had an original copy and always spoke highly of the record and so when a copy of one of the 80s reissues came through, I bought it. We later stocked a CD version which sold very well. Over the years, I have really grown to like the record. I wouldn’t say it is the most mind-blowing psych-prog record ever but in its just over thirty minutes run time it certainly doesn’t outstay it’s welcome. It has a unique ambiance to it with a slightly ominous tone. Music and vocals are almost muted, and nobody gets carried away with over-the-top solos or screaming. The setup is pretty much keyboards, guitars and rhythm section with some studio magic sprinkled on top.

So, who were these solicitors posing as a rock group? They were actually three accomplished multi-instrumentalists who worked mostly as studio engineers and session guys. Wil Malone had graduated from his 60s psych band The Orange Bicycle and was the chief songwriter and composer. He played keyboards, lead guitar and supplied the vocals. The year after Motherlight was released, he released a solo LP of mostly acoustic folk. Jons was really Andy Johns, the younger brother of Glynn Johns who was already an established producer and engineer. Andy followed in the family footsteps and went on to become a name himself within the industry. Mike Bobak, a graduate from a couple of different London based bands in the 60s was also a staff engineer at Morgan Blue Town Studios and like Johns went on to have a successful career working as a producer and engineer.

The sound of Motherlight, if I had to name drop a few other bands names to give you an idea was somewhere between Pink Floyd, Procol Harem, Kaleidoscope, Mighty Baby and the types of one-offs that Apple Records seemed to sign and record during their heyday. Highlights are the title cut, the incredible On A Meadow Lea and House Of Many Windows. The trio of musicians used their knowledge of studio tricks to really produce something special and different. Coming out as it did at the fag-end of the 60s, it combines psychedelic elements with more progressive sounds and also some of the back-to-roots rural folky feelings that bands were introducing into their music. Recorded mostly on studio down time, the record was released with little fanfare and promotion and the “band” had no plans to perform live. As a result, as good as it is, it duly disappeared from public view and remained mostly unknown for the best part of twenty years. As I mentioned up top, there have been some reissues since then and we just got in a few copies of a current pressing at Sorry State. I highly recommend lovers of this era of British psychedelic and progressive music to investigate and grab themselves a copy. I would be shocked if you were disappointed. I’ll leave a link to On A Meadow Lea for you to check out.

Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy. Until next time, friends.

-Dom

I think I ended up on Relapse’s mailing list after buying the Detestation re-issue. I was sitting at work early one morning and got an e-mail announcing they had just released the pre-order for a Zouo re-issue and I was totally caught off guard, haha. I guess they did G.I.S.M. so I shouldn’t be surprised if they get a bit more “obscure” with a Japanese release. I always assume everyone who reads my Staff Pick knows all the same shit as I do when it comes to music, but maybe I am really wrong. Sometimes I wonder if the bands I feature on Hardcore Knockouts are more obscure than I think, based on the low amount of total votes cast on certain Knockouts. That said, I will give my take on Zouo even though you probably already know this shit. To me, Zouo is a very popular band, legendary even. They have influenced a tremendous amount of bands internationally from the mid ‘80s onward into today. They really pushed the boundaries pretty early in the game of extreme/harsh sonic elements in hardcore punk. G.I.S.M. is a band that sounds similar to Zouo in the same kinda “bunchafuckeduppeople” way, and predates Zouo, but G.I.S.M. has such a definitive metal approach to things while Zouo does not really at all. I consider Zouo a band for punks while metal-heads may like G.I.S.M. and not Zouo, if that makes sense.

I remember when I got the Frustration 7", a re-issue on Crust War that includes Zouo’s two tracks from the Unlawful Assembly 12". I was bummed it only had two songs, but at the time I didn’t understand the tracks were taken from a compilation, and the band only had four other studio-recorded songs released! Regardless of the number of songs, I was instantly obsessed. They are actually pretty long songs too, yet they don’t get boring to me. When I read the lyrics, I became even more obsessed. They are written in a such a cold, fucked up manner. Not in the dismissive, apathetic way that some people write, though. The words illustrate the vocalist’s deep contemplation and understanding of society and the way humans have been conditioned to treat each other. I got the Final Agony 7" re-issue on Crust War around that same time, too. I don’t think I had ever heard proper rips of the EP, so going into it I really didn’t know what to expect. And man... the fold-out poster really fucks me up, it is SO insanely cool. Relapse sized that down and it is featured on the back cover of the re-issue. They also include an insert that has all the lyrics and a pretty cool collage of artwork/pics of band. I do wish overall the Relapse re-issue had more stuff, like cool info/history of the band. But it is certainly a solid release, and it sounds damn good. All Zouo’s studio output was released in 1984 originally. The recording on Final Agony seems pretty “lo-fi” compared to the compilation tracks, but I think it’s kind of an illusion which I will do my best to explain.

On the compilation tracks, I think the band experimented more with presenting a “sonic atmosphere” that is not just fast-paced hardcore punk. On the comp tracks and EP, the vocals have varying effects on them and they are pushed to the front of the mix. But again, on the compilation tracks, there are additional elements of noise/sound effects that overwhelm the entire recording at times. It really fits into the song’s composition, and that pushes the band into the “pioneering” category, in my opinion. Back to the EP tracks; I feel like the band relied on their Discharge roots just a bit more with their song writing. But not just the writing, even the recording process... this is what I meant by the “lo-fi illusion” I mentioned above. I read the guitarist recorded 3 separate guitar tracks, each one to be panned in a different fashion on the sound spectrum. It gives the entire recording an extra layer of fuzz, really pulling off that Hear Nothing wall of sound. When you can hear the drums playing alone, they actually sound like they were done with very nice production. It’s just the guitar tracks (and vocals at times) that really take over most of the sounds you hear, which makes the whole recording sound a bit more “lo-fi” with all the fuzz that’s going on.

Alright, I will wrap this up. The first side of the disc is their complete 6 tracks of studio-output. The back side is all live recordings. I think most, if not all, of the live stuff was previously released on the 2012 Black Lodge CD/DVD box set and also A Roar Agitating Violent Age 12" (which was released in 2011 on Crust War like the 7" re-issues.) The Relapse Bandcamp page actually has a shit ton of extra live recordings that were not released on the LP. Like I mentioned when I began, I think this re-issue could have been more exciting, but overall it was done well. I can only compare to the re-issue 7"s I have, and I think the sound on this re-issue is excellent! (You can ask Rich to compare it to his original Final Agony EP...) The 7" re-issues from 10 years ago did a really really good job on the packaging, and I had hoped the Relapse re-issue would be a bit more exciting but it’s definitely solid, minimal in a punk way. If you don’t have those EP re-issues I mentioned, I’d grab this 12". The 7"s re-sale now for upwards of $30, so if you don’t already have em and wanna get more Zouo in yer life this is the way to go! kk thanks for reading, ‘til next time..

Cocaine and Rhinestones

I think it’s time. I’ve alluded to this, and I’ve tortured my coworkers with it, so it’s only fitting I expose myself in the newsletter.

I fucking love country music.

It started out innocent enough: going to bluegrass shows with friends in high school, picking up a few bargain bin country records because of their cover art in college. Now, country is probably the most represented genre in my collection. I attribute it to most country records being under $3 and the podcast Cocaine and Rhinestones.

You may know Tyler Mahan Coe from his other show, Your Favorite Band Sucks, or through his outlaw country singer father, David Allen Coe (he doesn’t associate with or talk about his father, don’t worry). But Cocaine and Rhinestones is better than all of that. It is easily the best podcast I’ve listened to in years. Before you write it off—because who wants to listen to a podcast about country music, right?—this podcast is a must listen for anyone interested in the 20th century music industry. Sure, it’s focused on country artists, but it’s rich with information about how the industry worked back in the 50s, 60s, and 70s. TMC’s deep dives into specifics like the careers of songwriters and producers, as well as following the rocky road a lot of artists had working with record companies, shed a new light on the (few) country records I had before listening to this podcast. This show has made digging through the country section at record stores so much more entertaining. I now have context to put behind the cowboy hats and beehive hairdos I flipped past without a second thought before.

The show first aired in 2017 and promptly stopped after season 1. Devastating. I felt like I was JUST getting into it and then there were no more episodes to consume! But a few days ago the podcast feed was resurrected and Tyler Mahan Coe has started publishing season 2! Seems like perfect timing to hopefully introduce y’all to this rabbit hole. All the episodes are fascinating in their own ways, but I suggest listening to the three-part series on Jeannie C Riley’s “Harper Valley PTA.” It’s incredibly in depth about the career of a “one hit wonder” and the people that were behind the scenes making the song so successful. And, honestly, that song is punk as fuck if you look at the context.

Relapse Records’ first bold step into the Japanese hardcore reissue game was certainly fraught with controversy. From unobtainable limited versions to pre-order website crashes to that whole swastika debacle (good band name, btw), the label was swallowing shit well before anyone had actually seen or heard its “Detestation” repress in real life. It just didn’t seem fair for such a seemingly well-meaning product. I mean, it’s a legit vinyl issue of Japan’s most notorious and heralded hardcore LP—one that hasn’t been in regular circulation since the mid-1980s (and even that’s stretching it). Y’all ease up a bit!

Sure, Relapse’s 2020 G.I.S.M. update wasn’t perfect. The higher-contrast art with fake, glued-on obi strip was baffling as hell, and the quieter, darker mix fell a little flat, too. But you know what? WHO CARES?! It’s a solid-enough reissue of a stone-cold classic, PLUS you don’t have to worry about Sakevi beating down your bootleg-buying door with a gol’dern baseball bat for owning it. A win/win, I’d say!

Assuming Relapse’s intentions stay true, I’m 1,000 percent on board for this new wave of artist-authorized East Asian cult punk repackagings. And up next: ZOUO!

I totally get following “Detestation” with a Zouo compilation because that’s exactly how Japanese hardcore trickles down. First, you hear G.I.S.M. and your world is changed. What IS this alien sound? It’s so psychotic! So demonic! I’ve never heard anything like this! Wait… IS there anything else like this? Is that even possible? Then somebody more in-the-know hips you to Zouo and the worldchanging starts all over again.

With a smaller catalog and a less-storied past, it makes sense you gotta dig past Tokyo’s G.I.S.M. to get to Osaka’s Zouo. But once you get there, OH MAN. We’re talking HardcoreHeavyMetalMayhem at its finest. Riffs and grunts and Satan, what more do you need? Zouo is basically Venom with mohawks, and I can think of few things more appealing than that.

The band’s lone ep, “The Final Agony,” is a true monster of hardcore… hellish, bizarre and—most importantly—HEADBANGABLE. It’s perfect. Unfortunately, it’s also pretty difficult to track down. There was a 2011 reissue on Crust War that’s become outlandishly pricy ($40+), and a 1984 AA Records original is gonna set you back at least 10 times that IF you can even find a copy.

Being a shithead record gremlin, you know I had to get that AA original, but the sucker whitewhale’d me for a LOOONG time, including a fruitless and heartbreaking Turkish money order I’d rather not get into. But, hey, I was FINALLY able to secure my own little 7” slice of Hell this past winter. It was a sweaty purchase, no doubt, but one I’ll never regret. After all, “The Final Agony” is one of the best 7”s ever made.

And because I’m lucky enough to sit here with a 1984 original AND this new 12”, I can do the A/B legwork for you and say RELAPSE NAILED IT. “Agony Remains” sounds GREAT. It’s very faithful to the original: crunchy, cacophonous, and grimy as fuck. It’s mid-fi heretical thrash at its most mid-fi and heretical.

The A-side gives you all four tracks from “The Final Agony” plus Zouo’s weirdly raging contributions from the “Hardcore Unlawful Assembly” compilation. As much as I appreciate faithful reproductions from head to toe, these six tracks flow together so well and sound so good together, any gripes I could find with Relapse’s faux-distressed cover art or barebones insert sheet are pretty much moot. At the end of the day, I’m just stoked these all-timer tracks are finally available to the mass market. The fact that you can walk into a record store and pick up an officially licensed, sweet-sounding Zouo reissue is fucking awesome, and the thought of some 12-year-old kid stumbling onto “Bloody Master” on Spotify warms the cockles of my drying, pre-middle-aged heart.

Oh yeah, the B-side compiles a buncha iffy-sounding live tracks that I’d put squarely in “For Fans Only” territory. Swing by my tent if you’re ever in the neighborhood.

The Fall: Live at St. Helens Technical College 1981 (2021, Castle Face Records)

This is MY staff pick section for the newsletter at MY record store, and if I want to go full Fall nerd mode on you, then there ain’t shit you can do about it except keep scrolling!

The impetus for this descent into Fall nerd mode is a new release from Castle Face Records (home of the Oh Sees and a lot of other stuff): Live at St. Helens Technical College 1981. As a Fall fan, I dutifully bought this record and listened to it, and it set my mind reeling. I plan to give you the skinny on this record below, but there’s a lot I want to say generally about the Fall and Fall live recordings. I’m going to dip my toe into these waters for this staff pick, and if it seems interesting, I’ll wade out a little further.

One great thing about the Fall is that they always seemed to approach their songs as works in progress. This is something I first understood when I spent some time with the essential The Complete Peel Sessions 1978-2004 6-CD box set that came out in 2005. By the time I heard that box I was pretty familiar with the first dozen studio albums by the Fall (and the associated singles), and I noticed the Peel Sessions versions of songs were often very different from the “official” studio recordings. Any deep Fall head should be able to point out some key Peel Sessions tracks. I’m partial to their session from March 31, 1981. Not only does it capture one of my favorite eras of the band, but also the faster, tougher-sounding Peel Session version of “Lie Dream of Casino Soul” blows away the version released as a single that year.

You can hit the Fall message boards if you want to get into the weeds about the best versions of particular songs, but my takeaway is that the Fall’s approach to studio recordings was scattershot and arbitrary. Whereas a band like Iron Maiden does extensive pre-production before they go into the studio then integrates the finished songs into a highly choreographed stage show, this wasn’t the case for the Fall. Some Fall albums capture the band ripping through a batch of songs that are well rehearsed and fleshed out from a songwriting standpoint (like This Nation’s Saving Grace), while others (I’m looking at you, Room to Live), feature a tired-sounding band trying their best to get through songs despite not having really found the groove. Sometimes, as with the Peel Sessions version of “Lie Dream,” we can find a version of a song that’s way better than what the record company got.

The “Peel Sessions versus studio versions” debate is key to Fall fandom, but it’s possible to go even deeper than that, and that’s where the live albums and bootlegs come in. The big variable here is fidelity, as some recordings come from soundboards, while others run the gamut from terrible to very good audience recordings. When you dig into these, you learn that, besides there being a pretty big difference between the Fall on a good night and the Fall on a bad night, they often didn’t “finish” a song before wheeling it out in front of an audience. Fall live albums and bootlegs are full of alternate arrangements, fragments, castoffs, and embryonic versions. You can take a trainspotting approach to these differences, but I contend that often these differences reveal things in the music you wouldn’t hear or appreciate otherwise.

TL;DR version: the Fall was never the same band two days in a row. This makes the world of Fall bootlegs very exciting.

There’s plenty more to say, but I’ll leave that for when I return to this topic. For now, let’s get back to the record at hand. Castle Face Label owner / Oh Sees frontman John Dwyer describes Live at St. Helens Technical College 1981 as a “bootleg soundboard recording,” but when you hold the thing in your hands, the vibe is pretty luxe. Unlike the parade of horrible packaging adorning the never-ending series of Fall live albums on labels like Cog Sinister and Hip Priest, Castle Face has put together a very nice product. They dug up beautiful black and white photographs from the actual gig and presented them as an eye-catching gatefold, even springing for a little pocket to hold the 7” EP that contains the last two songs of the set (and that 7” also has a picture sleeve that matches the rest of the package). It feels prestigious, and it will look very nice filed alongside the rest of my extensive Fall vinyl library.

When you drop the needle, the album starts off promising with a track called “Blob ’59.” This is one of those weird little fragments I mentioned above that are exciting to find on a Fall bootleg. While there is a track with a similar title on Grotesque, the version on Live at St Helens is essentially an embryonic version of “Lie Dream of Casino Soul.” If you listen, you can hear that song’s main guitar riff just taking shape and toward the end Mark rattles off a few lyrics that would make it into the song’s more familiar versions (which they would record mere weeks after the gig captured here). Score!

After that, you get something I don’t expect when I approach a Fall live record: a well-rehearsed, confident version of the band playing a set of classic songs that hew pretty close to their album versions. The recording even sounds fantastic, with a beefy drum sound and all the instruments sounding great. The lineup is the five-piece Slates lineup, and the set list features tracks from Slates and Hex Enduction Hour along with a few from Grotesque and a couple of older songs, “Rowche Rumble” and “Muzorewi’s Daughter.” It’s hard to imagine a better set list… “Leave the Capitol,” “City Hobgoblins,” and “Prole Art Threat…” fuck! While there are always more songs I would add, what they string together here is god tier.

That’s the good. Here are the inevitable quibbles. A few months after this gig, mercurial percussionist Karl Burns rejoined the band. The drummer on this record, Paul Hanley, stayed on as well, giving birth to the legendary two-drummer lineup that would record Hex Enduction Hour, my favorite Fall album. The Hex Enduction Hour songs on this record sound great, but the two-drummer versions on Hex (and later live albums like Fall in a Hole) are superior. This reminds me of an analysis of Black Flag I once heard (but can’t remember where): Damaged is a bunch of songs written for one guitar and played with two, while My War is a record written for two guitars and recorded with one. Both Hex Enduction Hour and Damaged are records where there’s almost too much going on, with so much sound crammed in that it feels unstable, accentuating the menace present in the songs themselves.

My other quibble is the recording. On one hand, it sounds fantastic… like I said, all the instruments and the mix sound great, and in that respect it’s a lot like the quickly produced but sonically precise recordings bands got when they went to Maida Vale to record a Peel Session. On the other hand, soundboard recordings, when they don’t have any mics capturing the audience or the ambient room sound, can sound flat and sterile, and that is arguably the case here. This is a cliche, but I think the Fall were in dialogue with the audience when they played live. Since their arrangements were always a bit half-formed and fuzzy, they had a lot of room to respond to the energy of a particular room or crowd (can you imagine the Fall playing along to a click track?). You can’t hear much of the crowd here, and it’s a bit like eavesdropping on someone talking on the phone where you can only hear one half of the conversation.

So, that’s more than you ever wanted to know about Live at St. Helens Technical College 1981. I have a few Fall live albums in my collection and I’m not averse to adding more, so I’m pretty sure I’ll be returning to this topic.

What’s up Sorry Staters?

This week, I chose a record that is a bit different from the usual punk and hardcore I gush about. I’ve touched on this concept in previous newsletters, but there seems to be an era as the 70s transitioned into the 80s where earnest rock ’n’ roll became super unfashionable and almost more like gimmicky pastiche. I remember someone saying to me once that Valley of the Dolls by Generation X was the last sincere rock ’n’ roll record. But I think that if there’s one band that flew the flag for traditional, glam-influenced and heartfelt rock ’n’ roll on into the mid-80s, then it’s Hanoi Rocks.

For the longest time, mainly because of their association with Motley Crue, I assumed Hanoi Rocks sounded like a cheesy and sleazy heavy metal band. And while I’m sure some influences from their contemporaries couldn’t help but creep into their songwriting, Hanoi Rocks have way more in common with 70s bands like Mott The Hoople or Slade. I’m not sure how much success Hanoi Rocks had while they were around, but they released a string of solid albums between 1981 and their disbandment in 1985.

Sorry for the long exposition there, but I’m finally getting to my point: There are moments musically on a lot of those Hanoi Rocks records that I think are cool, but I don’t think the records ever fully grabbed me enough to get super into them. I remember a friend telling me once that the singer Michael Monroe’s first solo record is better than any Hanoi Rocks record. I bought a beautiful copy of that solo record a while back (a Japanese pressing with the obi!). Lately, I’ve been revisiting my copy of Michael Monroe’s solo debut, and I just can’t get enough.

Nights Are So Long, released in 1987, is like the perfect blend of softness and edge. There are moments that are sweet and intimate, but if you poked fun at him singing about love, Michael Monroe could definitely still kick your ass. The lyrical content of the record exhibits bad boy behavior, but the trashiness comes across as more fun and innocent rather than cringey and misogynistic. I would not say that Monroe’s lyrics on this record are the most unique or poetic sentiments by any means. Still, I find that if I can dive into listening to this record with all pretenses suspended, I totally buy into the hooks and find myself singing along. The record is beautifully recorded with perfectly overdriven, lush and pure sounding guitars. And as the platter continues to spin, pretty much every song is great, each with their own charm and huge, hooky chorus. My favorite track “Shake Some Action” by the title alone leads you to believe it will be a cheeky and possibly suggestive song like “Cherry Pie” by Warrant, when really, it’s a melodic, melancholic yet hopeful lamentation. I also don’t really think that Michael Monroe is the most naturally gifted singer in the world, but he approaches his vocals with so much conviction and attitude that I can’t help but be charmed by it. It’s clear that Monroe is a fan and has diverse taste. While the glam classics of the 70s are a clear influence, you can still definitely hear early punk affecting Monroe’s style. He even covers “High School” by the MC5 on this LP.

As far as I know, Hanoi Rocks were Finland’s biggest export in terms of producing a well-known rock band. I think the success of Hanoi Rocks is directly responsible for Finnish hardcore punk bands moving toward a more rockin’ sound. The most notable example is members of Riistetyt transforming into Holy Dolls and Pyhät Nuket.

I think one thing Michael Monroe and Hanoi Rocks gained notoriety for is their outrageous look and presentation in photos on their album covers. At first glance, you might flip past a Hanoi Rocks album in a record store and assume that they sound like Poison or something. You also might be quick to write them off, thinking that they were just tastelessly adopting the fashion of the time. But as a counter to this notion, I recently I saw a video on YouTube of Michael Monroe doing What’s In My Bag at Amoeba Records and he looks EXACTLY THE SAME. To me, this further illustrates that the way the band looked was not a pose and was not indicative of a lack of substance. He also just seems to have a big, friendly and charismatic personality, so of course the way he dresses is a bit eccentric. Plus, in my book, what the hell is wrong with looking cool? Personally, I’ll pass on watching a bunch of dorky schlubs attempting to hack their way through badass rock ‘n’ roll. In this Amoeba video, Monroe, along with Sami Yaffa of Hanoi Rocks, put their deep knowledge and taste on display with album choices that are dominated by blues, soul and early rock ‘n’ roll. Weirdly, Michael Monroe seems to be a big Nazareth fan? I found that pretty funny.

As mentioned above, here’s my favorite track if you wanna check it out...

Thanks for reading.

‘Til next week,

-Jeff

Hey there all you fine Sorry State friends and family. How has your week treated you?

Mine has been good for the most part, thankfully. I was able to get my first shot of the vaccine on Monday. It was a huge relief and I am very grateful. We are still not completely out of the woods, but there seems to be an end in sight. My arm was pretty sore for a couple of days, though. Good thing I had plenty of great records and music to keep my mind off it. I’ll admit to using some of my stimulus on records and have brought several good ones into the house this week, including decent OG copies of a couple of big hitters and several nice cheap and cheerful platters. Just like the Peanuts cartoon, whenever I feel low, I buy a new record and feel better. I won’t brag about which ones here, but I may pick one or two to talk about at some point.

Between the killer recent collections of used records and all the new releases and reissues that have been flooding into Sorry State, there is too much great music to listen to in any given day. I pretty much am only not listening to music when I sleep. All other hours there is something spinning. It’s the only thing that quiets the noises in my head. Ha ha.

Okay, let’s talk about a couple of records that have been on the turntable this week.

Last week on The Face radio top man and DJ Kurtis Powers played The Chi-Lites version of Inner-City Blues, the Marvin Gaye classic. It sparked a conversation with listeners in the chat forum about other versions and just how many there are. I chimed in with my contribution for a good version coming off of a Music Library record called Persuasive Jazz Album 20. Since it’s Jazz Appreciation month and because in the news we are seeing continued examples of injustice and people still feeling the blues both in the cities and out of them, this record will make a good choice to start off with this week. I wish I could provide information regarding the artists involved, but they are not credited on the release and research doesn’t come up with too much. I can tell you that the Persuasive Jazz series came out on a New York based label called Ebonite, which was itself a part of President Records, a UK based label. That label had The Equals and The Pyramids signed and played a big part in breaking the Miami disco sound in the UK with KC And The Sunshine Band among others. The Ebonite label may or may not have been a tax scam label and specialized in providing incidental music for TV/Film & Radio. Most of their many releases were covers of, or sideways versions o,f current pop, jazz, soul and funk hits. Number twenty has an almost sixteen-minute version of Inner-City Blues along with very cool covers of Show Us A Feeling by Roy Ayers and Ordinary Pain by Stevie Wonder, although titled Ordinary Man here. All three are pretty good cover versions, and the musicianship is first rate. I wish I had more information about this release and the others, but it seems that some change hands for decent money because they have drum breaks or good samples or like this particular one are just good records and perfect for DJs looking for something slightly different. I wish I had a sound clip to link so you can check it out, but if you ever see the distinctive but generic black and white Ebonite sleeves whilst out digging for records, I encourage you to investigate.

Sometime before the shutdown last year I found a good record whist digging, but unfortunately it had quite a bad warp on it. It was a copy of Odetta Sings by Odetta on Polydor from 1970. The other day Doctor D put it in the de-warping machine and was able to fix it and so this past week I have been able to enjoy playing it. The album has Odetta singing songs by Elton John, Randy Newman, Paul McCartney, James Taylor, Mick and Keith plus a couple of her own compositions. It was recorded in part at Muscle Shoals Sound Studio in Alabama with the core house band of musicians that had recently left nearby Fame Studios and also in part at Larabee Sound, which was also a newly opened studio in Hollywood, California. On the L.A. sessions backing is provided by, among others, Carole King, Bernie Leadon, Bob West and Russ Kunkel. In Muscle Shoals the musicians were pretty much the same guys that played on soul hit after soul hit for mostly Atlantic Records artists such as Aretha Franklin, for example. Names like Barry Beckett, Roger Hawkins, David Hood and Eddie Hinton should be very familiar to anyone who has read the liner notes to any of those great mid to late sixties Atlantic and Fame recordings.

The album also features a host of great singers on backup duties, with Merry Clayton and Clydie King being two of them. The record also has a nice, tasty drum break on the Odetta penned cut Hit Or Miss. That track and Movin’ It On also written by Odetta are kinda the best two cuts on the record and it is a shame that instead of the covers they didn’t just do a full soul album of her own songs. A bit of a missed opportunity considering all the talent on hand. Not that any of the covers are bad, because they are not. The songs are all from top songwriters and performers. The version of No Expectations by The Rolling Stones is given a good interpretation, for instance.

Odetta, full name Odetta Holmes, was literally known as the Voice Of the Civil Rights Movement through her records of American Folk and Blues that she began recording from the mid to late fifties and throughout the sixties. All the sixties folkies were under her influence in some way or other; Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, and Janis Joplin were fans, as were Harry Belafonte and Mavis Staples. So apparently was Rosa Parks and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., who called her the Queen of American Folk music. Her legacy and importance cannot be underestimated, and if you are not familiar with her life and work, I as always encourage you to do some digging and pick up some knowledge. The world sadly lost her in 2008 after illness and just a month before she was lined up to perform at President Obama’s inauguration ceremony.

Here’s a link to the song Hit Or Miss for you to check out:

Lastly, before I sign off, a quick mention of a reissue I picked up on the Honest Jon’s label albeit with different cover art than the original. In 2011 they reissued the 1980 album The Return Of Pipecock Jackson by Lee “Scratch” Perry. This was originally released on the Black Star Liner label out of Holland and is notable for containing the very last tracks recorded at the famed Black Ark Studios. For one reason or another an original of this has eluded me over the years. Not because it is rare or expensive, you just rarely see it in record store racks.

Probably because it is a bit of a lost Lee Perry album, coming out as it did at the end of the seventies, which was his most prolific and successful period, and when everything in his world was upside down and chaotic, it wasn’t considered a classic like all the previous albums. The Lee Perry “divine madness” had been present on all his records to some degree, but perhaps on this one it shows a little too much for some? I don’t know.

The story behind the circumstances in which the record was created is told very well in the liner notes written by David Katz, the author of “People Funny Boy: The Genius Of Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry,” an essential biography of the artist. I only wish the font used on these liner notes wasn’t so small. You need binoculars to read these things. Also, why did they not use the original cover? Was it a rights issue? Regardless, the cover is a good photo of Perry and the music itself is what counts. As to that? Well, if you are a fan of reggae music and like his style of production and his unique voice and use of language, there is a lot to like. As a document of the very last tracks to come out of his Black Ark Studio, it is essential. I’ll leave with a link to one cut I have been enjoying and leave you to follow the rabbit holes if you so desire.

Take care, everyone. Until next time. Records rule!

-Dom

Hello friends and other readers who maybe we can be friends too in the future,

My Staff Pick is not a record, although there are some records on there... My Staff Pick is a fundraiser to help out protestors who get snatched up in the streets. There is cool shit on there, so check it out and donate some money if you have any to spare. And honestly, it could be you one day who is sitting in jail (or worse) from protest and you are praying that people can bail you out. So for real, take a look and donate some shit. There is a $5 option for a sick ass Public Acid banner I made too. It’ll all be up there for two weeks. I wrote more about the Raffle above that you probably already read where I highlighted the SSR bundle and explained more or less how it works. I hope yer all doing well. ‘Til next time...

There sure were a lotta new SSR drops getting me hyped over the last week… tapes and 7”s and LPs, OH MY. There was so much radical stuff, in fact, that I’ve barely half-digested any of it. Since I don’t feel qualified to critique anything in depth and I’m already prone to long-windedness at the tail end of this already dense staff pick section, here’s a quick rundown of my favorite recent marketplace additions:

Perro de Prenda, “Vol. 1” (B.L.A.P. Tapes) - Reissue of this Austin, TX group’s first cassette from 2019. I never heard this’un back when it was originally released, so I’m real glad B.L.A.P. (remember those individually lettered Rolex cassettes?) rebranded it. There are probably some apt old Latin American hardcore bands I could try and compare the Spanish-speaking Perro de Prenda to, but this tape really has me thinking of Italy’s Attack Punk Records first and foremost. If you dig that kinda oldschool rawdog int’l HC punk sound, look no further. Real ragin’ shit!

CDG, “Unconditional” (Domestic Departure Records) - Daniel’s Fall- and TVPs-dropping description from last week’s newsletter pretty much slammed this “Anglophonic” US post-punker nail on its head. Toss it in the middle of your “Wanna Buy a Bridge?” playlist and see if any fellow pandemic partiers notice.

Vitamin, “Recordings 1981” (Don Giovanni Records) - Speaking of old Rough Trade bangers, it’s hard to mention violin-inclusive post-punk without thinking of The Raincoats. While the one preview track posted for this Boston art-punk troupe’s new archival release definitely bears some resemblance to the almighty strained’n’funky ‘Coats, the rest of this collection treads in more Americanized pools of no wave, Ubu and Talking Heads—all topics touched on in the album’s liner notes. This also kinda makes me think of an earlier, more immediate Thinking Fellers Union Local 282… if THAT means anything to anybody.

Kyoufu Shinbun, “Death Training” (Bitter Lake Recordings) - So I’ve barely scratched barely scratching the surface of this triple-LP monster, but I’m smitten with at least three sides of it so far. If y’all fuck with Japanese DIY, line-in drum machine punk or Boiled Angel, TAKE IMMEDIATE NOTE. Additionally, if you peeped (and enjoyed) that annoyingly awesome Pilgrim Screw tape I championed a few weeks ago, Kyoufu Shinbun is a no-brainer.

The Worst: The Worst of the Worst CD (Parts Unknown Records, 2004)

Here’s a peek behind the SSR curtain: I spend all day Wednesday drafting the Record of the Week and Featured Releases descriptions for the newsletter, then when I wake up on Thursday morning I throw together my staff pick at the last minute. Sometimes I know what my staff pick will be ahead of time, but often what I just scan my “recently listened” pile and see what I feel like writing about.

This week I noticed this CD reissue by New Jersey’s the Worst sitting near my stereo. I listened to a podcast yesterday in which Brian from Night Birds talked at length about the Worst, and that’s close enough to serendipity in my book. So here we are.

The Worst of the Worst compiles four sessions by New Jersey’s the Worst: their self-titled 7” and Expect the Worst 12” (both on legendary New Jersey label Mutha Records), a 6-song “unreleased LP,” and a 1979 live gig from Max’s Kansas City. It’s a lot of music, but it’s all worth hearing.

The Worst was unique in that they played with the big sound and blistering tempos of early 80s hardcore, but their sound was rooted in the nihilistic punk of the Stooges circa Raw Power and the Dead Boys.

As the date on that live set hints, the Worst started early in the game and gigged in the late 70s NYC punk scene (particularly at Max’s) until they were essentially banned and retreated to their home turf of South Jersey. There they joined the scrappy scene around Mutha Records, playing alongside fellow Mutha bands like Fatal Rage and Chronic Sick. Despite jumping scenes, the Worst’s sound stayed the same, and even the unreleased 2nd LP tracks on this CD have that mix of early hardcore speed and power and punk sleaze (though, having lost their original vocalist, they aren’t quite up to par with the released records).

The story of how the Worst got banned in New York is worth repeating. I wouldn’t say it’s the Worst’s claim to fame (the music on their two records is claim enough in my book), but it’s significant. As the tale goes, someone affiliated with the Worst’s camp (in Stuart Schrader’s excellent liner notes for this CD, it’s a roadie; in Brian’s account from the podcast, it’s the guitarist) was hanging out in NYC in a party that included Sid Vicious and Nancy Spungen. Sid was whining for drugs and the aforementioned Worst affiliate was elected to go score. They completed their task, returning to the party with enough drugs for the entire room, but Sid commandeered the stash, took it all, and overdosed. (This isn’t the overdose that killed Sid; it was one of the earlier ones that almost killed him.) The Worst were already on thin ice with NYC clubs thanks to their singer’s Iggy-inspired antics, and almost killing a punk icon was the straw that broke the camel’s back, making them personae non grata in the NYC scene.

It’s kind of crazy that, aside from a dodgy bootleg in the early 00s, we haven’t seen any vinyl reissues by the Worst. I would love to have vinyl copies of their Mutha releases, both of which are top shelf punk records. The 7” is a little punkier and catchier, and the songs (particularly the anthemic “High Velocity”) stand toe to toe with the Dead Boys’ nastiest recordings. Things get more straightforward on Expect the Worst, which has an FU’s-type punk-informed-hardcore sound, and while this flattens out some of the dynamism in the songwriting, that’s counterbalanced by the more vicious playing style. While this CD’s booklet notes there were 1,000 copies pressed of the Worst’s 7” and 2,500 copies of the 12”, the records are difficult to find and sell for north of $500. I’m skeptical there are 2,500 copies of the LP out there given how infrequently it turns up, but at least that number gives me some hope of laying my hands on one.

What’s up Sorry Staters?

I’m not sure if Daniel drew your attention to what I’m going to talk about in this edition of the newsletter or not, but here we go anyway…

Recently, the team here at Sorry State started doing a bit of housekeeping around the shop. For a good while now, we’ve had a few long boxes of used punk 7”s that have just sat around, either because they weren’t selling at the store or because we just never got around to pricing them (whoops!).

The other day, I dove into dealing with all these records. I brought a few of these 7” boxes to our warehouse location, and I’ve been slowly but surely listing them for sale on our Discogs page. Daniel came up to me at one point and asked if he could flip through the 7”s in the box I was getting ready to look through. Even though most of the records in this box were nothing super crazy or rare, Daniel and I were both surprised and erupted simultaneously, “Man, there’s some cool shit in here!”

One record Daniel pointed out to me was a 7” by this band Fogna. I had never heard of them, but the cover art invoked me with an ominous glow that I could have sworn whispered, “I fuckin’ rule. Listen to me.” And so I did, and of course this record was right up my alley. Fogna only released this one record in 2009. Funny enough, it was initially self-released by the band on CD-R only. Thankfully, it was re-released properly as a 7”, which was limited to 300 copies, and each 100 of those 300 were on a different color vinyl (this copy is on clear, SCORE!).

The record opens by slowly luring you in with goosebump-inducing noise and sudden distant grunts that made me feel like I should prepare for some power electronics or something. I imagined being in a dark club with blacklights flashing while dark figures emerge from a cloud of smoke. But as I was losing patience, waiting damn near 3 minutes for the alluring smoke from the FOGna machine (see what I did there?) to clear, the music finally kicked in. I realized I was in for some killer, but dark and nasty, hardcore.

I hate to make this comparison immediately because it’s almost too obvious, but the atmosphere of the music and particularly the vocals remind me of La Tua Morte Non Aspetta-era Wretched. Have I used this record as a comparison in my staff picks before? Oh well, I don’t care. I really do get that vibe. Everything feels like Groundhog Day right now. And even making that comparison, I wouldn’t say this perceived layer of darkness is exactly goth-sounding, but what can I say? This record makes me feel that slow thump of the heart and spine-tingling sensation of macabre suspense one might find while watching a Vincent Price monologue. I’m kidding, but yeah, this record is a tad spooky. The guitars are chorus-drenched with a sophisticated sense of dissonance, kind of like Die Kreuzen. But the rhythms are more barbaric and evil, almost like proto-black metal or something? This record has a lot going on. And still, I find it all fits together like a tightly wrapped, blood-soaked package.

The production has this cold, austere feeling to it. Not quite like a robot, but sort of… synthetic. And as I kept listening, it occurred to me: those are NOT real drums! So it turns out, Fogna is only two people from Sicily. And side-note—I don’t know if they sing in proper Sicilian language rather than Italian, but the vocals sound a lot like Italian hardcore to me. Does anyone know if these two folks played in any other bands? But anyway, I looked at the credits on the sleeve and it clearly reads: one person plays bass and sings, the other person does guitar and DRUM MACHINE. But honestly, I find this record so captivating and think the music is so cool that this discovery doesn’t even bother me.

I told Daniel I wanted the record, and I brought it home. I’ve listened to it 5 or 6 times already since I’ve been writing this. Another non-expensive gem found and added to the collection. Hell yeah!

Thanks for reading.

‘Til next week,

-Jeff

What’s up everyone? How are you? Not sure about where you are but here in Raleigh we went from winter to summer overnight (typical North Carolina weather) and this being the City Of Oaks, we are now knee deep in yellow pollen. Fine if you drive a yellow car and dress in yellow and are not affected with allergies. For the rest of us, it can be a pain. However, what it does signal is that spring is here and the sunshine and warmer weather has me reaching for my Latin, Reggae, Afro, and Brazilian records.

Talking of Brazil, we have started to stock titles from the UK label Mr. Bongo, whose focus is on Brazilian and world music with some jazz, soul, and funk titles also. They reissue rare and out of reach albums but also put out a fantastic compilation series called the Mr. Bongo Record Club which is into its fourth volume now. For those that are seeking rare groovy gems, retro and contemporary, this series is a must. Check them out.

Mr. Bongo have reissued so many great albums over the past few years. One of my earlier staff picks was the Os Brazoes album from Brazil, which they did. An awesome Afro-funk album they have is the Funky Rob Way album by Rob. Originally released in Ghana in 1978 and well worth investigating and one we brought into the store. Check this:

A terrific record that Mr. Bongo has reissued twice now and helped make known is one by Swedish singer Doris: her lone solo album from 1970 called Did You Give The World Some Love Today Baby that appeared on the Swedish Odeon label. It’s a jazzy, groovy pop record at heart, but it has three tracks in particular that DJs, producers, and record collectors all clammer for. Those tracks, Don’t, Beatmaker and You Never Come Closer are golden. I have always had a soft spot for this type of sound. Cool femme vocals over a funky, beat laden arrangement. In the late sixties and early seventies there was a sort of big band renaissance, especially in Europe. If you are familiar with Johnny Harris the British band leader and his work with Lulu, Tom Jones, and Shirley Bassey and particularly his own album Movements from 1970, then you should have an idea of the sound on the Doris album. I first heard a DJ play the cut You Never Come Closer as part of the warm-up for a gig I was attending back in the early 90s. It struck a chord with me instantly, but I didn’t know who it was until a year later when I picked up a compilation and the track was on there. Owning an original of the album was out of the question, so I had to wait until 1998 when it got its first reissue. It has always served me well at DJ gigs. Here’s a link:

April, in case you hadn’t heard, is Jazz Appreciation Month and we are all encouraged to investigate, listen to and read about Jazz. That’s not a problem for me as I listen to Jazz every day. I typically enjoy my morning coffee whilst listening to an album and have a decent sized Jazz collection to pick from each day. At the store we have a pretty good Jazz section too and the other day I was playing a record that I have a copy of already but just enjoy listening to. It’s one by Eddie Harris called Excursions that was released in 1973 on Atlantic. I’m a big fan of records that punch well above their weight, and this is definitely one of those. The sort of record that if it had been recorded by an unknown artist and released on an obscure small label would have collectors forking out big bucks for a copy. I think we sold the copy I was playing in the store for $15. A friend of the store was in shopping and he recognized what I was playing and liked the record too. He bought it as it was an upgrade on his copy. I think we still have another copy in the store for someone. The record is a double and includes material from a few years earlier in addition to the 1973 material. For those unfamiliar with Eddie Harris, briefly, he was born in Chicago and popularized the use of an electrically amplified saxophone, although he also played keyboards. He had a hit with the song Listen Here that appeared on his Electrifying Eddie Harris album from 1967 and later in partnership with Les McCann recorded the live set Swiss Movement at the Montreux Jazz Festival. That album was successful and became one of the best-selling Jazz records ever. On Excursions the sound is funky and in places like on lead track Drunk Man has some weirdness that you don’t typically hear on a jazz record. For the drunk man vocal sound Eddie sang into his horn and amplified electronically his voice through various gadgets. Several of the musicians on the date were young, up-and-coming performers who, although mostly barely past twenty, had already become in demand players. Drummer Leon Chancler stands out. He was only twenty yet had played on countless sessions already by this point, as had piano player Larry Nash who at the time of these recordings was also just twenty yet was already working as musical director for singer Merry Clayton. On the older cuts, names on the musician list include Ron Carter, Melvin Jackson and Billy Higgins to name three you may have heard of. The majority of the older material was taken from the Electrifying sessions, but two cuts date all the way back to 1966. You’d think it would be very inconsistent as a result, but the title of the album is Excursions, and it is meant to be a trip through time and the mind of Eddie Harris, and I think does just that. Highly recommended. Check out Drunk Man:

Lastly, to continue with the Jazz but on a Latin tip, a record by the prolific Quartette Tres Bien and their album called Boss Tres Bien from 1964 on the Norman Records label. This was one of a dozen records the combo cut in the sixties and if you enjoy Ramsey Lewis, Billy Larkin & the Delegates, Afro-Blues Quintet, and Young Holt Unlimited, you will love these guys. It’s accessible music that is both pop and hip at the same time. What we might term Mod Jazz.

All of their records are pretty easy to find and shouldn’t be very expensive, and each has at least one or two really good cuts on it. They mostly recorded for Decca but have one album on Atlantic and the first couple on Norman. This album was their third and first for Decca, but oddly my copy has the cover for the first album and is still on the Norman label. So, they must have had some arrangement to release on both labels. I’m not sure how that came about, but it is interesting. Anyway, money track is the title cut Boss Tres Bien, which has a cool and lush Latin vibe to it. Perfect for sunny days whilst sipping on a refreshing beverage. It’s been a DJ track for me and never fails to get heads nodding and folks in the right mood. Check it out:

Well, there you go. That’s your lot for this week. Plenty for you to investigate and explore. As usual, there is more detailed information available if you are curious. I hope I picked out at least one thing you can dig and groove on. Music is subjective and each of us has our own relationship with it. Time and place, I always say. Music is mood and when the mood of the music meets ours at the right moment and in the right circumstances, it can be so uplifting and magical. As music junkies, we all know that feeling. I have felt it with all the records I talk about and just want other people to experience that also. I humbly hope you will find something to enjoy and I thank you for reading. See you next time.

Cheers - Dom

Okay, anyone that knows me probably predicted I would pick this record as my Staff Pick. But even if you know me well, maybe you didn’t know how much I had been anticipating this release. Nervous SS is a band from Macedonia. It’s actually a solo project, just like Rat Cage. I first heard Nervous SS cos Blagoj from the band hit up the Bunker Punks email praising Scarecrow and asking if we wanted to do a split. Haha, I guess we could’ve been Rat Cage in this case... maybe we fucked up. Jeff and I thought Nervous SS was killer. We had never heard of the band before, but we aren’t super into the idea of split releases with our band. I responded to Blagoj telling him we thought his band ruled but would have to pass on the idea. Instead I proposed another idea to him... soon after, Bunker Punks released a US version of his then-current full length Future Extinction. This LP had just been released on D-Takt & Råpunk Records, so it felt really cool to do a release that D-Takt had originally done. We had just began forming a relationship with Jocke from D-Takt around that time too, cos he had released the European pressing of Scarecrow’s Revenge E.P. As much as I hate the internet, I am so grateful to develop relationships with people overseas as a result.

Okay maybe I’ll talk about the split a bit? I like Rat Cage, but I’m not crazy about them. I have all their records, I think. They go hard, and they go fast. It’s honestly killer shit, but the riffing doesn’t always do it for me. It’s catchy, but not in the ways my ears perk up to. That said, I think this Rat Cage material is the best so far. Some of his songs are so fast and locked-in on this split, I like just can’t… got damn, it rages. Nervous SS.... I wasn’t sure what to expect, aside from Totalitär-esque riffing. Blagoj knows exactly what the fuck he is doing. When the record is over, I am bummed. I’ve listened to it almost every day since I got it, and sometimes I play the Nervous SS side a few times in a row. The artwork on this split is SICK. It’s the same artist Rat Cage has featured for previous releases. It’s cool too cos the covers are printed in like a shiny silver ink. Each band finishes their side with a cover song of a not-so-hardcore band, a nice touch. To me, it’s hard to have a split where both sides are compelling listens. I think this split qualifies and deserves a place in every record collection.

Okay, I’m tired and I have a lot of work to do so I’m gunna stop here, but I wanted mention something else. I can’t remember how I discovered this band, but I’ve had this tape downloaded for a handful of years. When I first heard it I became obsessed. I do not like metal, so this is a big deal for me, haha. Of course I tried to find out more about the band when I found them, but couldn’t find a damn thing! This tape doesn’t even exist on Discogs. I have seen two photos of them online, so I know it is real haha.

I think this band is the same band as Valkyrie, the all-woman metal band from Japan but I’m not 100% certain. I saw the other day someone had uploaded a full rip of the tape! Very cool. Yet another time I like the internet... now I can tell people to check em out, rather than before when I had to play my own download at em haha. I haven’t met a single person yet who knew who this band was prior to me sharing the info, but each person who hears it thinks it rules also! Maybe that’s just cos I’m not friends with any metal-heads... Anyway, if you like metal, or don’t, check it out. Thanks for reading my words. ‘Til nex time...

Weed: A Rare Batch (Classic Jazz Vocals)

Anyone remember way back when I started in October (god has it been that long? I still feel like such a newb here)? My first staff pick was one of my favorite records, “Youth Against Drugs.” As much as I love laughing at that sort of stuff, it is the product of a much darker aspect to American history and current policy. The War on Drugs might not produce the overdramatized warnings like it did when that record came out in 1971 but it’s still the reason our prisons are bursting at the seams, lives are being ruined and lost, an entire industry is being stunted.

I also work for a local CBD company, and have been cannabis-adjacent for most of my professional life and being heavily steeped in this budding (haha that was on purpose) industry is equal parts exciting and fucking FRUSTRATING. I watched my white passing boss rent storefronts and make products with relative ease while black and brown business owners were being raided and stopped by governmental red tape. There are people sitting in North Carolina prisons for selling the same thing you can get at a bougie dispensary on the West Coast. Meanwhile, I’ve spent most of the past two years selling something that is only a few chemicals different from what’s illegal here. My hope for NC (and the rest of the country) to wisen up has waxed and waned over the years but the past few legalization announcements have me a bit hopeful.

I could go on but this is supposed to be about music. I’m patiently waiting for some Discogs purchases that I can’t wait to write about so I dug into my compilations this week as I wait. Thinking about legalization, pulling a shift or two at the CBD store...I guess I was drawn to this record this week. I love this comp so much; couldn’t say no to a joint holdin’ grandma! I didn’t know any of these artists when I purchased this but every single song is so good. I obviously looked up the record label almost immediately; with a name like Stash, I was excited to see what they released. Unfortunately their discography is far from extensive but I’ve definitely added the majority of it to my want list. I’ve linked to a playlist with the tracks so definitely give it a listen if jazz vocals about weed is your thing.

Any Nervous Gender fans in the house? If so, you gotta peep this new mini-doc on YouTube.

Part 4 of an “EASTSIDE PUNKS” series chronicling L.A.’s woefully under-documented OG Hispanic punk presence (Thee Undertakers, The Brat, Stains), this 18-minute go-round drops tons of hot goss on one of the worlds’s finest, most outlandishly dark industrial/synth/punk groups EVER.

I’ve been interested in freaker music for about as long as I can remember, but few records get me as nightmarishly hot and bothered as Nervous Gender’s sole 1981 LP, “Music from Hell.” Such sounds! Such lyrics! And, good God, check that layout!

Over the band’s initial late 70s/early 80s run, a motley hodgepodge of queer Latinx artists, British weirdos, androgynous lesbians, 8-year-old drummers and local scenesters (Screamers, Germs, 45 Grave, Wall of Voodoo, etc.) forced audiences down psychotropic rabbit holes of clinks, clanks and all kindsa gross body stuff. Now, finally, there’s a hi-res pro/am video to shed light on it all!

Takeaway no. 1: Nervous Gender was from Los Angeles, NOT the Bay Area. I always assumed due to the group’s bizarre synthesizer hellscapes and Subterranean Records association that it had to be from somewhere around San Francisco, but duuuuhhhh… I was wrong. Anyway, there’s a lot of cool info, interviews, videos and pics included, so I highly recommend checking the aforeposted YouTube link on your next lunch break.

I would also use this space to link you to a stream for the new MNK PROJECT collection LP on F.O.A.D. Records, but the world has yet to deem the internet worthy of this HYPER RARE Japanese punk HYPERRARITY in any sort of digital format. Excessive capital letter usage aside, I can’t stress the obscureness of MNK Project enough. You ain’t gonna find this band in the Flex! book, and I don’t think the Discogs page that lists its unobtanium sole 7” even existed until last year.

So, before I get too carried away, there IS a promo video for this LP with one song on YouTube HERE. Go ahead and open that in a new tab and let the tune wash over you. I know a lot of folks’ appreciation of Japanese punk starts and stops with Gauze, G.I.SM. and a handful of Burning Spirits bands, but if the words “ADK Records” mean anything to you, PAY ATTENTION: MNK Project is the chronological followup to the band Gaddess (aka Goddess) from the legendary “ADK Omnibus Vol. 1” compilation.

Now, I don’t expect most people to ride my wave, but as far as I’m concerned, that first ADK comp is thee greatest Japanese punk release of all time. It’s raw as hell and exciting from start to finish, and each of the four bands brings a unique flavor of fucked-up-ness to the party: 1. Sodom is totally crunched-out nihilism, 2. Sekinin Tenka blends atonal art with pogo-y punk, 3. Cain churns out a wild’n’warped game-show new wave, and—finally— 4. Gaddess makes seriously unsettling, shrieky and BRUTAL no wave.

It always struck me just how gnarly and mysterious the band sounded… sometimes thrashing… other times sulking… but always PAINED, even when approaching some approximation of catchiness. It’s just really radical (as in “extreme”) sounding music. Then, the group’s insert photo is a happy teenage friend group hugging and smiling in a field! Of course Throbbing Gristle got there first, but props to Gaddess for playing with such polar aural/visual dispositions.

With MNK Project, some small amalgam of former Gaddess members (I have no clue, tbh) gathered to produce a five-song 7” in 1985 that was “allegedly” limited to 100 copies and never distributed. WHAT. A. SHAME. The EP, which comprises the entire A-side of this F.O.A.D. comp, throws an incy bit of sheen on Gaddess’ ominous punk and whateverwave to produce absolutely THRILLING hardcore-adjacent feminine bursts one could see appealing to fans of ADK Records hardpunk, early Sonic Youth or even Brix-era The Fall.

Things continue in this direction with the unreleased (c’mon, this is all pretty much all unreleased) eight tracks that make up the B-side, even getting a little more commercially palatable at times, and NOT in a bad way.

Basically, this record is kinda blowing my mind. I expected to like it, but I didn’t expect to LOVE it like I have. I’ve probably spun this thing 20 times in the past week, which is pretty nuts for my microscopic attention span. Well, actually this kinda skronk may be PERFECT for a microscopic attention span and that’s why it’s sticking so hard? At any rate, GET THIS RECORD. I think I hassled the big man at Sorry State enough to pick up some copies, so keep your eyes peeled. Peace!