News

Hello and welcome to another edition of the Sorry State Records newsletter! It’s a busy week with a ton to tell you about. We have a pre-order for a new release on Sorry State from Helsinki, Finland’s Yleiset Syyt. Record Store Day is this Saturday, and we’re carrying a couple hundred of the Record Store Day exclusive releases. Alongside helping us release the new Yleiset Syyt album, La Vida Es Un Mus brings us another new release of their own: the new album from Tokyo’s UK82 rippers Raw Distractions. We also have some tour news, a bunch of new pre-orders, new distro stock, some staff picks… all the stuff you come to Sorry State for. So let’s get to it!

Read the full newsletter here!

Record Store Day is this Saturday, April 18, 2026, and once again Sorry State is participating! One thing I like about Record Store Day is that every store is free to make it whatever they want it to be, and we definitely do things the Sorry State way… super chill and with the focus on the records rather than the hype.

We open at noon and we’ll have a big selection of RSD exclusive releases. Folks usually start lining up in front of the store hours before that, and everyone will be admitted and served in the order in which they arrived.

Below is a list of all the RSD Exclusive titles we ordered. There is no guarantee we will get all of these, but we should have most of them. Some titles we’ll only have one copy; others as many as a few dozen. As usual, we tried to order heavier and the punk and metal titles are customers care most about.

Also as usual, our remaining stock of Record Store Day exclusives will go live at 8AM Eastern US time Sunday, April 18, 2026. Feel free to bookmark this page, though products won’t be visible until that time.

If you have any other questions about Record Store Day, use the live chat on our website or email sorrystatecontact@gmail.com and we’ll get back to you as quickly as possible.

13TH FLOOR ELEVATORS: WE ARE NOT LIVE (RSD)

A-HA: ANALOGUE

AGAINST ME: NEW WAVE B-SIDES

AIKO,JHENE: TRIP

AIR: AIR MOON SAFARI: THE ATHENS CONCERT

ALCATRAZZ: NO PAROLE FROM ROCK 'N' ROLL (RSD)

ALICE COOPER: REVENGE OF ALICE COOPER

ART OF NOISE: SEDUCTION OF CLAUDE DEBUSSY - BLUE VINYL

AYERS,ROY: DADDY BUG

BAD BRAINS: LIVE (RSD)

BENNETT,TONY: MTV UNPLUGGED

BLACK SABBATH / IOMMI,TONY: SEVENTH STAR

BLASTERS: RARE BLASTS: STUDIO OUTTAKES AND MOVIE MUSIC

BLUR: LIVE AT THE BUDOKAN

BOWIE,DAVID: EXCERPTS FROM OUTSIDE

BOWIE,DAVID: HALLO SPACEBOY

BROWN,DANNY: GROWN UP (RSD)

BUCKLEY,JEFF: LIVE A L'OLYMPIA

CAIN,ETHEL: INBRED

CAMPER VAN BEETHOVEN: TUSK

CAPTAIN BEEFHEART / MAGIC BAND: LICK MY DECALS OFF BABY

CARS: HEARTBEAT CITY LIVE

CARTER, JAMES, CYRUS CHESTNUT, ALI JACKSON & REGINALD VEAL: GOLD SOUNDZ: A JAZZ TRIBUTE TO PAVEMENT

CHAMELEONS: CASSETTE BOX (RSD)

CHARLES TOLLIVER ALL STARS: RIGHT NOW… AND THEN (DELUXE EDITION

CHARLI XCX: PARTY 4 U

CHERRY,DON: BLUE LAKE (RSD)

COLTRANE,JOHN QUARTET: FRANCE 1965: THE COMPLETE CONCERTS (RSD)

COLTRANE,JOHN: TIBERI TAPES: A PREVIEW OF THE MYTHIC RECORDINGS

COPELAND,STEWART: RHYTHMATIST - TRANSLUCENT BLUE VINYL

CREAM: WHEELS OF FIRE: LIVE ATT THE FILLMORE & WINTERLAND

CURE: ACOUSTIC HITS

CURE: GREATEST HITS

DACUS,LUCY: (NEW LUCY DACUS SONG)

DADA: EL SUBLIMINOSO

DAVIS,MILES: NEW SOUNDS

DEAFHEAVEN: KEXP SESSIONS

DEAN,OLIVIA: BBC RADIO 1 LIVE LOUNGE

DEF LEPPARD: SLANG

DIJON: HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT GETTING MARRIED

DINOSAUR JR.: LIVE IN HOLLYWOOD 1991

DJ KOCO AKA SHIMOKITA - CUBAN 45 / VAR (RSD): DJ KOCO AKA SHIMOKITA - CUBAN 45 / VAR (RSD)

DOORS: STRANGE DAYS 1967: A WORK IN PROGRESS PART 2

DR FEELGOOD: OIL CITY CONFIDENTIAL - O.S.T.

DROPKICK MURPHYS: KNOCK ME DOWN

DUFF,HILARY: (MINE)

DURY,IAN & THE BLOCKHEADS: LIVE IN LONDON 1980 - ORANGE VINYL

ELECTRONIC: 1996 REMIXES 1999

EN VOGUE: EV3 (RSD)

EUPHORIA: A GIFT FOR EUPHORIA

EVANS,BILL: AT THE BBC (RSD)

FALL OUT BOY: SO MUCH FOR (2OUR) DUST: LIVE AT MADISON SQUARE

FLAT DUO JETS: BOOGIE ON YOUR HEAD

FLYING LOTUS: 1983

FOR SQUIRRELS: BAYPATH ROAD

FOREIGNER: FOREIGNER 4 LIVE TOUR 1981-82

FRANK,JACKSON C.: JACKSON C. FRANK

FRANKIE GOES TO HOLLYWOOD: RADIO ONE SESSIONS 1982-1983

FREEMAN: FREEMAN (RSD)

GARCIA,JERRY: REFLECTIONS (50TH ANNIVERSARY) (RSD)

GITS: ETCETERA (RSD)

GOATSNAKE: DOG DAYS

GOBLIN: SINGLES COLLECTION 1975-1979

GONG: FLYING TEAPOT (RSD)

GOTAN PROJECT: BEST OF (RSD)

GRANDE,ARIANA / ERIVO,CYNTHIA: WICKED: ONE WONDERFUL NIGHT (LIVE) - O.S.T.

GRATEFUL DEAD: BOSTON MUSIC HALL BOSTON MA 6/11/76

GUARALDI,VINCE: IT'S ARBOR DAY, CHARLIE BROWN / CHARLIE BROWN'S

HARDY,FRANCOISE: FRANCOISE HARDY IN ENGLISH

HARRISON,GEORGE: DARK HORSE

HARRISON,GEORGE: EXTRA TEXTURE

HENDERSON,JOE: CONSONANCE: LIVE AT THE JAZZ SHOWCASE (RSD)

JAMAL,AHMAD: AT THE JAZZ SHOWCASE: LIVE IN CHICAGO (RSD)

JAYHAWKS: 2 METER SESSIONS (RSD)

JAZZ DISPENSARY: MAGIA BRASILEIRA / VARIOUS: JAZZ DISPENSARY: MAGIA BRASILEIRA / VARIOUS

JENNINGS,WAYLON: WHEN THE BALLADEER MET THE DUKES

JESUS & MARY CHAIN: SOME CANDY TALKING (RSD)

JETT,JOAN & THE BLACKHEARTS: LIVE AT THE RITZ NYC 1981 (RSD)

JUDAS PRIEST: LIVE IN LOS ANGELES '90

JURASSIC 5: QUALITY CONTROL

KHRUANGBIN: WHITE GLOVES II / M. BLANC (RSD)

KING,FREDDIE: FEELIN' ALRIGHT: COMPLETE 1975 NANCY (RSD)

KING GIZZARD & THE LIZARD WIZARD: BIG FIG WASP

KISS: SPECIAL KISS TOUR
LANEGAN, MARK: BUBBLEGUM

LATEEF,YUSEF: ALIGHT UPON THE LAKE: LIVE AT JAZZ SHOWCASE (RSD)

LEMONHEADS: CREATOR
LENKER, ADRIANNE: LIVE AT REVOLUTION HALL

LIL PEEP: CRYBABY

LINCOLN,ABBEY: THAT'S HIM

LONDON SUEDE: COMING UP AT THE BBC - HOT PINK VINYL

LUNACHICKS: WE CAN BE WORSTER

MADONNA: CONFESSIONS TOUR: LIVE FROM LONDON

MARS,BRUNO: COLLABORATIONS

MC 900 FT JESUS: WELCOME TO MY DREAM - 35TH ANNIVERSARY (RSD)

MCGREGOR, FREDDIE: SHOWCASE

MEGADETH: HIDDEN TREASURES

MISFITS: FAMOUS MONSTERS

MITCHELL,JONI: FOR THE ROSES

MODERN LOVERS: MODERN LOVERS
MOONEY SUZUKI: PEOPLE GET READY

MOTLEY CRUE: LIVE WIRE

MOTORHEAD: LOST TAPES VOL. 7: LEMMY'S 50TH BIRTHDAY, LIVE IN

MOTORHEAD: ON PAROLE STEVE WILSON

MOULD, BOB: BODY OF SONG

MUFFS: LIVE AT FORT APACHE

MUTEMATH: MUTEMATH

MY SOUL IS LOST: UNKNOWN & FORGOTTEN (RSD) / VAR: MY SOUL IS LOST: UNKNOWN & FORGOTTEN (RSD) / VAR

NEW YORK DOLLS: ONE DAY IT WILL PLEASE US TO REMEMBER EVEN THIS

NGOZI FAMILY: GATE CRASH '78

ORCHESTRAL MANOEUVRES IN THE DARK: UNRELEASED ARCHIVE 1

PANAMA LATIN TREASURES / VARIOUS: PANAMA LATIN TREASURES / VARIOUS

PARAMORE: ALL WE KNOW IS FALLING

PATTON,CHARLIE: PRIMEVAL BLUES RAGS & GOSPEL SONGS (RSD)

PAVEMENT: PERFECT SOUND FOREVER
PEACHES: NO LUBE SO RUDE

PETTY,TOM & THE HEARTBREAKERS: LIVE AT THE PARADISE ROCK CLUB, 1978

PHOENIX: ALPHABETICAL

PHOENIX: UNITED

PINK FLOYD: LIVE FROM THE LOS ANGELES SPORTS ARENA, APRIL 26TH

PRIMAL SCREAM: 1987 EPS

PRINCE BUSTER: BLUE BEAT LABEL PRESENTS PRINCE BUSTER ON TOUR

PRINE,JOHN: BBC SESSIONS

PRINE,JOHN: FOUND DOGS (RSD)

PROFESSOR LONGHAIR: LAST MARDI GRAS

RAMONES: LIVE IN SAN FRANCISCO

RZA / JUICE CREW / BIG DADDY KANE / CRAIG G: BOBBY DIGITAL PRESENTS: JUICE CREW (RSD)

RZA: MAN WITH THE IRON FISTS - O.S.T. (RSD)

SAKAMOTO,RYUICHI: END OF ASIA (RSD)

SCOTT-HERON,GIL: REFLECTIONS (RSD)

SEX PISTOLS: JUBILEE

SISTERS OF MERCY: FIRST AND LAST AND ALWAYS THE JAPANESE EDITION

SKID ROW: LIVE AT THE MOSCOW MUSIC PEACE FESTIVAL

SLINT: UNTITLED (ALBINI ROUGH MIXES) (RSD)

SONIC YOUTH: DIAMOND SEAS

SQUIRREL NUT ZIPPERS: ROASTED RIGHT: EXPANDED EDITION

SRC: MILESTONES

STALK-FOREST GROUP: ST CECILIA: THE ELEKTRA RECORDINGS

STAX: KILLER B'S / VARIOUS: STAX: KILLER B'S / VARIOUS

STONE TEMPLE PILOTS: LIVE AT ROLLING ROCK 2001

STRANGLERS: RARITIES

STRAY CATS: RUMBLE IN BRIXTON (LIVE) (RSD)

STRINGS,BILLY: TINY DESK

STRUMMER,JOE & THE MESCALEROS: GLOBAL A GO-GO

SUGAR: FILE UNDER EASY LISTENING - THE SINGLES COLLECTION

SWAMP DOGG: SWAMP DOGG GETS HIS POOL PAINTED (RSD)

SWIFT, TAYLOR: ELIZABETH TAYLOR 7”

T.REX: SONGS FROM MARC - OPAQUE ORANGE VINYL

TALKING HEADS: CBS/COLUMBIA DEMOS

TAYLOR,CECIL UNIT: FRAGMENTS: COMPLETE 1969 SALLE PLEYEL (RSD)

TEARS: HERE COME THE TEARS

TEENAGE FANCLUB / FAIR,JAD: WORDS OF WISDOM & HOPE (RSD)

THIEVERY CORPORATION: CULTURE OF FEAR (RSD)

THIN LIZZY: LIVE IN CLEVELAND 1976

THIRD EYE BLIND: RARITIES & FIRST DRAFTS

TV GIRL: NIGHT IN QUESTION: FRENCH EXIT OUTTAKES

U-ROY: FEEL JAH SPIRIT: U-ROY MEETS THE AGGROVATORS

VAN HALEN: LIVE IN NEW HAVEN CT 1986

VARIOUS: SALAD DAYS: MUSIC FROM THE DOCUMENTARY FILM

VARIOUS: POWER POP! AMERICNA POWER POP FOR THE NOW GENERATION 1977-81

VARIOUS: STUDIO ONE SOUND
VERLAINES: READY TO FLY

VIDEO GAME LOFI: POKEMON LULLABIES / O.S.T.: VIDEO GAME LOFI: POKEMON LULLABIES / O.S.T.

VIOLENT FEMMES: BLIND LEADING THE NAKED

WALKER BROTHERS: NITE FLIGHTS

WEEN: EUROPE 90

WEEZER: 1192

WEILAND,SCOTT: LIVE (RSD)

WELLER,PAUL: WHEN YOUR GARDENS OVERGROWN / BOY ABOUT TOWN

WESTBOUND SOUND: SINGLE MINDED (VARIOUS): WESTBOUND SOUND: SINGLE MINDED (VARIOUS) (RSD)

WHITE,IKE: CHANGIN' TIMES

WHO: QUICK ONE

WILLIAMS,BUSTER: PINNACLE (RSD)

WILSON,BRIAN: ON TOUR (LIVE) (RSD)

WIRE: READ & BURN 03 (RSD)

XMAL DEUTSCHLAND: PEEL SESSIONS

XTC: LIVE BOOTS: LIVE AT EMERALD CITY 1981 - 200GM

We’re back with another report on the latest titles to hit the pre-order section of the website.

First off, I have to note that both albums from the viral sensation are now up for pre-order! Grab their first album Vol. I and their second album Vol. II now. Street date on these is June 12.

There are a couple of cool comps in this week. La Contra Ola is a collection of post-punk and synth wave from Spain, 1980-1986, while the subtitle for Up in My Mind say it all: “15 Fuzzed Out Acid Tabs From The Lysergic Sixties.”

A couple of big mainstream and mainstream-ish titles are up for pre-order this week. Top of the heap in terms of popularity is Olivia Rodrigo’s third album you seem pretty sad for a girl so in love. The Strokes also have a new album; it’s called Reality Awaitsand we have it on regular black or indie exclusive black ice glitter vinyl. Danish indie / post-punk darlings Ice Age also have a new one called For Love of Grave & the Hereafter and that’s available on black or “blessed shore blue” vinyl.

There are a couple of cool items for fans of old, weird, below-the-radar music this week. J.A. Seazer’s Kokkyo Junreika is one of my all-time favorite albums, and one of the shining highlights of 70s Japanese avant-rock. It’s always been near-impossible to find, so grab this new pressing if you like that kind of thing. Also up for pre-order is a new pressing of Rock for Kropp Och Sjal, the final album by Swedish post-psych (if that’s a thing?) legends Gras Trad Och Stenar. And the always-reliable Guerssen Records brings us a split single from two Zamrock pioneers: Ngozi Family and Crossbones.

Neil Young’s MTV Unplugged album is getting a repress. Previous pressings sell for hundreds, so jump on this if you need it.

Lastly, for the indie / alternative old heads we have a new pressing of Meat Puppets’ 1991 album Forbidden Places and a new split 7” from Mike Watt and J Mascis where the two legends cover one another’s song.

Check the pre-orders section of the website for over 300 pre-orders we’re currently running!

Hello and welcome to another edition of the Sorry State Records newsletter! Sorry the newsletter is a day late, but I didn’t manage to finish things up before the Indikator B / Totalna Tama gig in Raleigh last night. Both bands were great, and I strongly recommend catching the tour if you get a chance.

I’m sure you’ve all been waiting with bated breath to hear about the results of last week’s big sale and I’m pleased to tell you it generated the money we needed! To say I am overwhelmed and humbled is a massive understatement. I wish I had the time to write personal thank-you notes to everyone who stepped up and bought something, but things are just too crazy right now. But seriously, thank you to everyone who helped us out. Many of you made some very big purchases and many also just gave us money rather than or in addition to buying something, which I never would have expected. The whole thing is not yet a done deal as we still have to get approved for the loan to cover the rest of the sale price, but hopefully my next message you to about this will be in a few months’ time when the sale has closed and Sorry State officially owns the shop. I hope everyone who helped us out gets a chance to visit the shop sometime and see what you helped to make happen.

I got a lot of really nice messages of encouragement, but in general I’m taking the huge response to the sale as an endorsement of what we’re doing, especially with this newsletter. It seems like y’all want us around for a long time, doing our best to stock the latest and greatest punk rock from across the globe and giving you our personal opinions and recommendations in your email every week. I’ll do my best to keep up my part of the bargain.

Speaking of which, we’re back to business as usual this week. The Shaved Ape LP is still up for pre-order, but if you want the limited color vinyl, you probably shouldn’t wait too much longer. We also have some big preorders that are now shipping and a heap of other new arrivals to tell you about. So let’s get back to doing what we do…

Click here to read the rest of the newsletter!

We’re back with another report on the latest titles to hit the pre-order section of the website.

Converge recently announced their second new album of 2026. It’s called Hum of Hurtand we have it in red/yellow and indie exclusive “fist in the gold” color versions. NOFX’s skewering of then-President Bush on War on Errorism is also back in print… it seems so quaint considering the fresh horrors we face these days. The two albums that were Megadeth’s commercial peak, Countdown to Extinction and Youthanasia have new pressings, the first time in a long while these two titles have been available in non-picture disc versions. And Jungle Records brings us a new singles compilation from anarcho legends Conflict.

State of the Art is a pretty cool-looking compilation of US punk and new wave. I’m not sure who curated it, but the track listing looks very interesting, with a mix of KBD obscurities I know (Hugh Beaumont Experience, Rock Bottom & the Spys, and Non Compos Mentis), alongside a much longer list of obscurities I know nothing about. That’s a comp I can get into.

It’s a good week for shoegaze as the comeback album from Failure is coming out soon and nearly the whole catalog from Whirr has fresh colored vinyl pressings.

I know the punks love Memphis rap, so you might be interested in this double LP of early Triple Six Mafia originally released between 1991 and 1994.

As I said last time, I like to point your attention to noteworthy jazz reissues, and I’d say this reissue of Miles Davis’s legendary Birth of the Cool on Blue Note’s Tone Poet series qualifies. I have a few Tone Poet editions, and they are among the most beautiful and best-sounding records in my collection. I don’t own a copy of Birth of the Cool on vinyl, so I’m going to grab one of these for myself. And if you’re looking for something a little more out-there, Coltrane’s Impressions also has a new pressing on Verve’s Acoustic Sounds series.

There’s lots more in the pre-orders section from John Spencer, Sparta, the Rapture, Earth Crisis, Floating Points, Cannibal Corpse, and many more!

Just a quick note to inform you two of our biggest recent pre-orders, the Bikini Mutantsreissue on Sealed Records and the new Powerplant album Bridge of Sacrifice are both shipping now! The warehouse is slammed at the moment with all the orders from the sale and these two large pre-orders coming in, but we’re nearly caught up, so future orders for these titles should ship pretty much immediately.

Photo: Daniel, Seth, and Osamu (RIP) building fixtures before the store opened, fall 2013.

Before we get into the usual newsletter bits, I have something I wanted to talk to you about. The short version is that Sorry State is buying the space that houses our shop! This is kind of unexpected but very exciting and also extremely overwhelming and stressful. We could really use your help coming up with the cash for the down payment, so we’re having a big sale to generate some funds.

Now for the longer version:

A few months ago, Sorry State’s landlord informed us they had decided to sell the property that houses our downtown Raleigh shop. Sorry State has been in our current location since we opened in 2013—13 years!—and we really did not want to move. While I haven’t mentioned it to anyone but the people who work here and a few close friends, Sorry State’s future has felt pretty up in the air for the past few months. The landlord put our space on the market at the beginning of the year, so we’ve had potential buyers coming in for viewings for the last few months. That’s been enormously stressful, watching strangers poke around our closets and cabinets while our future hangs in the balance. No one who viewed the space seemed interested in providing cheap rent to a punk record shop, so I assumed we’d be facing either a huge rent increase or eviction. However, after a lot of ulcer-inducing back-and-forth, Sorry State is now under contract to purchase our space! (To be clear, we’re just talking about our retail space—the shop floor and our small back room—not the whole building.) I probably don’t need to tell you this is huge for us. Sorry State will have a permanent home, and we’ll gain many of the benefits homeowners enjoy, most importantly a monthly payment that isn’t subject to the whims of the market. We hope to continue doing Sorry State for many years to come, and owning our space will go a long way toward making that a reality.

Now that we’re under contract, our next hurdle is coming up with the money for the down payment. This is a huge amount of money for us. The down payment is equivalent to over TWENTY times our monthly rent. It’s not an insurmountable obstacle, but it’s a lot… especially at this time of year, when sales are typically slower and Record Store Day bills are starting to arrive. Of course, I’ll be emptying my meagre savings account and looking under every couch cushion in the vicinity, but those things alone won’t get us over the finish line.

We’re not asking for a handout… this isn’t a matter of life and death, and we wouldn’t want to take money or attention from charitable endeavors that need it. But, at the same time, we could really use your business right now. If you’ve been thinking about buying some records, we’d love it if you did that pretty soon! If there’s a recent release you’ve been meaning to pick up, a classic you don’t already own, or if you just wanna splurge… anything you could do would be awesome! Even if you only have a few bucks, you can always pick up some cheap new-to-you music in our clearance and used sections. We also have gift cards if you want to treat a friend or save your record splurge for later. Every dollar you spend with us moves us toward our goal.

We have a couple of enticements for you, too! First, today we’re launching a pre-order for the Shaved Ape LP on Sorry State, which we know a lot of you are going to want. Second, we have some discount codes for you. If you spend $100 or more, enter NOLANDLORDS to get 15% off your order. If you really want to put a dent in our down payment, spend $300 or more and enter NOMASTERS to get 25% off your entire order! (Note: gift cards ARE eligible for the discount.) If you’re local, we’re doing the same deal on everything in the shop. Both deals will last through this weekend, April 5.

Even if you can’t help right now, I want to thank everyone for your support over the years. Sorry State wouldn’t be here without our employees, customers, vendors, bands, and everyone else in our community. Thanks so much for all you’ve done and continue to do to keep us going.

Now, on to the newsletter…

Read the full newsletter here!

Sorry State's newest release is up for pre-order! Shaved Ape's Loveletter to Hardcore comes out on April 22. Right now you can hear the title track on Sorry State's Bandcamp and pre-order it from us on standard black or limited opaque turquoise vinyl. Here's the full description:

Shaved Ape delivers the follow-up to their much-loved 2022 demo cassette with Loveletter to Hardcore, five more blistering tracks of ultra-fast, ultra-mean, ultra-lean hardcore punk. The m.o. remains exactly the same as the demo: Vince takes a lifetime of frustration, angst, and energy and channels it straight into a cassette four-track machine, leaning on his decades of experience as one of hardcore’s best drummers (see his work in White Stains, Loose Nukes, and Sickoids), a drummer’s ear for a straightforward but effective riff, and a voice hell-bent on exorcising some demons. And since the first tape never got the vinyl treatment, we put those songs on the b-side, giving you a full LP (OK, 45RPM 12”…) of white-hot hardcore punk, wrapped in a swoon-worthy sleeve featuring a vintage Chuck Hults photo of young Riky Barnes ripping it up.

Hello and welcome to another edition of the Sorry State Records newsletter! Let’s start this week’s issue by wishing my dog Patti a happy 5th birthday!

My wife is at a ceramics conference in Detroit this week and I couldn’t bear to leave my little girl home alone on her birthday, so she’s hanging out at the SSR warehouse today, which I think everyone loves. Hopefully I can get this week’s newsletter out relatively quickly so I can hit the pet store before it closes and get her a big ‘ol bully stick and some freeze-dried chicken so she can celebrate her big day in style.

As for the world of recorded music, this week we once again have three hardcore rippers for our featured releases. What can I say? I like the stuff. And two of the three are from our neighbors just up the road in Richmond, where you can find one of the biggest and most vibrant punk scenes in the world. Though we currently have an epically long list of packages we’re expecting, our mail carrier’s loads have been light this week, so there isn’t a ton in the new arrivals section. But we make up for that with news on the next Sorry State release (the long-awaited return of Shaved Ape!), a new pre-order from Choncy on Feel It Records, a fresh round of pre-orders, and similarly fresh new batch of staff picks covering, as usual, a very broad range of music. We also have a first this week, with a staff member’s spouse taking over their pick… thanks so much to Danny’s wife Molly for her contribution! The whole of this week’s issue is well worth a read, if I say so myself.

So let’s get to it!

Read the full newsletter here!

The test press for SHAVED APE's forthcoming 12" has been approved This release features 5 new straight-up ripping tracks on the A, with their sold-out demo cassette tracks on the B side for good measure. If you haven't heard SHAVED APE yet, you can stream the demo on our bandcamp page while you get stoked for their follow-up! We'll be rolling this bad body out very soon, so keep an eye on our social media and the Sorry State newsletter.

Time for another update on new titles to hit the pre-orders section of the Sorry State website! As usual, we’ll only touch on a small selection of the new items that went up recently, so check the site for all 300+ current preorders!

Heading up the new releases this week is the new album from Darkthrone! We have their new album Pre-Historical Metal available on three colors: black, transparent orange, or coke bottle green (which is the indie exclusive). Revelation Records brings us the debut from Birdlegs, a new punk supergroup drawing members from AFI and the Nerve Agents, among others. Next up is the new album from Sunn O))), who have made the jump to indie stalwarts Sub Pop for this latest self-titled album. We also have the new double album—their fourth—from long-running indie group American Football on goldenrod mixor red tape vinyl. One of Dominic’s faves, Wales’ Super Fury Animals have a new early rarities and demos collection called (appropriately) Precreation Percolation. And I didn’t even know they were still active, but we also have a new album from indie / post-punk darlings Downtown Boys called Public Luxury. And last but certainly not least, Japanese garage legends Guitar Wolf have a new album called More Jet.

As usual, there’s lots to talk about in the new reissue department too. Leading the charge are the Butthole Surfers, which is only kinda-sorta a reissue… After the Astronaut was meant to be the follow-up album to their 1996 surprise hit Electriclarryland, but was shelved due to disputes between the band and their label. Now it’s finally coming out and you can get it from us on standard black or indie exclusive opaque white vinyl. 70s French punk group Guilty Razors have a new collection LP bringing together their full discography (which was just one LP and one 7” single), and we also have a collection LP from early Seattle post-punk group Chinas Comidas… I’ve always picked up their records on the rare occasions when I find them, so it’ll be nice to have them all in one place.

On the heavier end of the reissue spectrum, I’m pretty interested in this reissue on Tee Pee Records from obscure Nova Scotia 80s thrash band Schizoid… I haven’t heard it, but it looks very promising! Slowing things down a bit (OK, a lot…), Sub Pop is repressing Earth’s long out of print third album Pentastar: In The Style Of Demons. Purveyors of killer sub-underground psych and heavy rock reissues Ancient Grease Records have a collection LP from obscurities Punch, who only released a single back in the day. Real Gone Music’s Deicide reissue campaign continues with 1995’s Once Upon the Cross, while Peaceville brings another early Sigh record back into print with 1997’s Ghastly Funeral Theatre. Oh, and if you were waiting for the Danzig reissue mania to spread to Danzig 4… boom, we got you.

Finishing up on the poppier end of things, 00s indie / post-hardcore darlings Piebald take the next step in their reunion journey with their first post-breakup album of new material. It’s called Tales for the Rages and we have it on hot pink or strange purple vinyl. Kasey Musgraves has a new album coming out called Middle of Nowhere and we have that on two colors as well: whiskey or rodeo clown. Foo Fighters have a new album up for pre-order, and I guess old Dave is gonna compete for your dollars with his own daughter Violet, whose debut Be Sweet to Me is available on black or blueberry jam vinyl. And finishing things off, Death Cab for Cutie have a brand new album called I Built You a Tower coming out on Anti Records.

Hi there and welcome to another edition of the Sorry State Records newsletter! I hope everyone is doing well. We’re chilling here, dealing with the crazy weather we get in the springtime here in Raleigh. I love that this week our featured releases are three scorching new hardcore punk 7”s… it doesn’t get much better than that! And there’s plenty more to tell you about besides, including some cool new arrivals, a fresh batch of staff picks, and the usual stuff we flood your inbox with (most) every week. So, without further ado…

Read the full newsletter here.