News

Hey there everyone! Thanks for clicking on our newsletter and taking a read. We hope you are doing well and are getting excited about all the cool stuff going on in the world of music and particularly here at SSR. We have so many brilliant things to share with you. New releases, re-releases and, of course, the Sorry State Festival coming up next month. That will be upon us before we know it and will be a weekend to remember. Check all the details elsewhere here in the newsletter and get your tickets and travel plans sorted.

Talking about travel plans, I am on the verge of leaving for my trip back to the UK and I am a mix of anxious nerves and excitement. It’s been ten years since I was home, and in the meantime I have barely left Raleigh or NC, let alone the country. My head is spinning. I’ll be back for SSR Fest, though. While away, I’ll miss the Shakori Hills Grassroots Festival and the Bluegrass Festival here in town but was fortunate to be here for this past weekend’s Hopscotch Festival, which was an absolute blast. Kudos to all involved in making this little fest such a success. As with any festival, you don’t always get to see everyone you want to, but you often end up seeing something that you weren’t familiar with that blows you away. On the latter point, I was so glad that I caught spiritual free jazz group Irreversible Entanglements. They were amazing and we should be stocking their new record very soon.

I had to man the fort here at the shop whilst ESG played, but Daniel went along to represent Sorry State and reported back how good they were. The classic hip-hop element was very strong this year with Digable Planets, Kool Keith, Denzel Curry and Prince Paul all performing. On the country music side of things, I caught a little of Margo Price’s set. She’s one of the fewer new country artists that I have followed, and it was cool seeing her live. Tight, pro band backing her too. However, for me, the highlight of the weekend was having my wig blown off by the sheer volume and power of Dinosaur Jr. They were magnificent, and I loved every second of their killer set. Next to My Bloody Valentine, the loudest group I have witnessed. I’ve been fortunate enough to have seen them a few times over the years, as well as some of the J. Mascis solo projects and collaborations, and although I won’t front and say I am a super fan, I will say that Dinosaur Jr. were one of the new breed of American bands that I got into when I began spending more time this side of the pond in the late 80s. Them and Fugazi were door openers to a whole new world to me at the time. The UK scene was a little flat around that time, with shoegaze just beginning and Britpop a few years away. Everything coming out of the US, rock and hip-hop, seemed much more interesting. To my ears anyway.

Dinosaur Jr. don’t require any deep dive from me here as I am sure you are fans or at least familiar with them, but I will say that it was beyond dope seeing them again and they played a lot of the “hits,” including finishing their set with their version of The Cure’s Just Like Heaven, one of my favorite covers even with the sudden ending. A tough record to DJ if you aren’t ready. I still have my 12” of that song, which was a hit back in the UK when released, and it came with a cool etched B-side. Worth noting about the show was the equipment set up. Gear heads will know more about it than I do, but I believe J was playing through four Marshall stacks with vintage heads and was even using a twin reverb at ear level for a monitor. It was loud, but in an awesome way. For the exact set up, I’ll refer you to Jeff or our good friend Mike, who were both there and know all about this type of stuff. It was impressive, that’s all I can say.

All told, a fun but busy and hectic weekend, which also included a little bit of festival magic for me. I ran into friends I hadn’t seen in years, and we got to hang out and that really capped the weekend off. Good times.

Not exactly a “staff pick” this week, but I hope that you’ll forgive me. My mind is overflowing with way too much stuff right now. If nothing else, maybe I’ll inspire one of you to pull out an old Dinosaur Jr. record and give it a blast.

Cheers everyone – Dom

What’s up Sorry Staters?

Yet another week has breezed right past me. What even happened? Oh, I guess I went to Hopscotch here in Raleigh this past weekend. I was lucky that Daniel got hooked up with a few extra wristbands for the festival. So, I thought, why would I not go see Dinosaur Jr. for free? I thought they sounded really great. J Mascis at one point at the end of their set said, “Anything you guys want us to play?” I yelled out, “Lou’s Anxiety Song!” I don’t think they thought it was very funny haha. For some reason, I also went to see Cro-Mags at Slim’s, a tiny little dive bar here in Raleigh. Paranoid Maniac totally RIPPED, and besides that, I don’t really have much positive to say about my experience that night.

In other news, we have announced the finalized lineup for the Sorry State 10th Anniversary Weekend! As well as all the venues where the 4 shows will take place. I’m so excited. By the time this newsletter goes out, I’m pretty sure the pre-sale tickets for individual shows will be up for sale on our webstore. GET YOUR TICKETS NOW. It’s a no-brainer. Let’s rage.

Alright, staff pick time. So, we just got in a stack of these Tiikeri 7”s. How appropriate that I decided to wear the one pale yellow shirt I own when talking about this pale yellow 7” sleeve. As some of you know, I first discovered Tiikeri with their LP Punk Rock Pamaus!!! that came out earlier this year. I already wrote about them in my staff pick from a few months ago. But am I gonna talk about them again? OF COURSE. Sorry, not sorry. This 3-song single originally came out in 2021 and was self-released by the band. But thankfully, the always impeccable Tom over at General Speech just released a beautiful reissue. Aaaand… he’s already sold out too! But Sorry State still has copies! I guess it just goes to show you, there’s something about Tiikeri that’s connecting with all of us punks out there. What can I say, dude? This band is just too infectious. Maybe it’s because we’re all living in a world that happens to be in a particularly bleak state of affairs, and instead of having a stark black & white cover and just being “heavy”, a light-hearted, melodic, and (dare I say?) “fun” punk record coming out is a well-deserved breath of fresh air.

I’m pretty sure all 3 of the songs on this 7” are also on the LP from a few months back. But again, this single first came out in 2021 and I’m almost certain it’s a different recording session. And even though I love the LP, I think I prefer the sound of this single. Even as bubblegum poppy as the songwriting is, the sound is just a bit more raw and gritty. The title track “Punk On Rakkaus” which means “punk is love” (aaaww) is the A-side—and when I say this is a “single,” you should see this thing! On the A-side, the actual grooves for the song are so small, and there’s so much dead wax after the track ends that it’s comical. Almost like they took those LA punk 12” singles I always joke about, and then shrunk it down to miniature size. It’s awesome. Tiikeri’s music, to my ears and as described by General Speech, is like a love letter to late 70s Finnish KBD-style punk and classic punk in general. I feel like Tiikeri’s connecting with that idea resonated with me more after experiencing the band’s presentation on the 7” format. The sleeve is a folded in such a way that instantly reminds of me of old Finnish punk EPs that I’ve literally held in my hands. The band has such a strength for replicating a vintage punk feeling with authenticity.

Okay, but now we’ve gotta talk about the artwork. I can’t help it. As a record nerd, the packaging grabs my attention. On the original pressing, it looks like the band hand-drew the layout for center labels over blank white labels. It’s a big-hole 7”, and Tom took that design and beautifully replicated the hand-drawn aesthetic as a printed label. It looks so great. The word “tiikeri” in Finnish translates to “tiger” in English. And they have a fuckin’ mascot. A little cartoon punk tiger with a studded bracelet. I mean “punk is love”? The layout is smattered with anarchy “A’s” inside of hearts. This record also includes a 16-page booklet, and every page is loaded with goofy and rad cut’n’paste/photocopy eye candy. There’s this one page inside the booklet that’s like a game: There’s a crude drawing of Sid Vicious in his underwear, and there’s and outfit that’s made to look like it’s taped to the page, but you can cut out the clothes and dress him. Let’s see, what else? We’ve got cartoon mice with safety pins through their ears, politicians with vampire fangs, punk crossword puzzles… I really wish I could read Finnish, because so much of the content of the booklet is handwritten text. Maybe I’ll venture to translate it one day. The advertisement for this record on the promo poster says “do you suffer from pogo-less leg syndrome?”, implying that this record will be the remedy you need. I mean, these Finnish dudes are just having a laugh really. And yet, you get this feeling that it’s also a labor of love—so where does the joke end and the passion project begin? It’s a fine line.

Punk is love, baby. Get you some Tiikeri in your life. It’ll brighten your day, I’m sure of it.

Is that all I’ve got? I guess so. As always, thanks for reading.

‘Til next week,

-Jeff

Ian Glasper: Silence Is No Reaction: Forty Years of Subhumans book (2023, PM Press)

As a decades-long fan of the Subhumans, I was super excited when I heard the band was getting an official biography. They’re one of my favorite groups ever, and while I know their music very well, I didn’t know much about the Subhumans’ history and backstory. Weighing in at nearly 600 pages, Ian Glasper’s monster tome offers a treasure trove of information. Maybe it’s a fans-only affair, but Subhumans fans like me—and I know there are many—will love it.

I first heard Subhumans when I was a teenager in the mid-90s. A pen pal included a couple of songs from The Day the Country Died on a mix tape and I loved them, their subtle tunefulness standing out from the gnarlier sounds from most of the other bands on the tape. I don’t think I found any of the Subhumans’ records until I saw their first reunion tour in 1998, when I picked up The Day the Country Died at the gig. That show was incredible, and it left a big mark on me. As I picked up the band’s other records in subsequent years, my love for them only deepened. As much as I loved The Day the Country Died, the way they leaned into their adventurous side without compromising the punk intensity was also very important to me, showing me you could be ambitious and follow your own path without compromising your principles.

I developed that understanding of the Subhumans almost exclusively through listening to their music, but Silence Is No Reaction confirms Subhumans are the good guys I thought they were. The book goes into the nuts and bolts of how the band functioned (and continues to function!) on an almost day-to-day basis, walking us through their decision-making at every stage of their development. You learn all about how they formed, signed to Spiderleg, started the Bluurg Records label, why they chose the recording studios they used, the sequencing, creating the artwork… everything. If you’ve ever read a music biography and thought to yourself, “I can’t believe they glossed over x,” this is not that book.

That can be for better or for worse. The book can get a little tedious, for instance, as it traces each of the band’s tours (particularly during their reformed era, when the members lived in different countries and did little as a band aside from tour). Ian Glasper has written several books on 80s UK punk, and if you’ve read Burning Britain (his book on UK82), The Day the Country Died (anarcho punk), or any of his others, you know what you’re getting into. I love it, but I am also a full-on nerd who does things like listen to 3-hour-plus episodes of the You Don’t Know Mojack podcast about SST Records releases I have never heard and will never hear. I want to know it all, and Silence Is No Reaction delivers.

Silence Is No Reaction is also packed with photos and scans of flyers, lyric sheets, set lists, press clippings, and other artifacts. Every third or fourth page is filled with images, and while the heroic live shots are cool, I love the candid shots of the band just hanging out. Sometimes they might be out of focus or awkwardly composed, but many of them are so evocative of their time and place, offering windows into worlds that seem so different from my experiences. Reading the book made me feel embedded in the band’s world, and its intimacy made me feel even more connected to a band I already counted as one of my favorites. I also felt that connection when I browsed the detailed listing of of the band’s gigs, which not only lists the dates and cities, but usually the venue, opening bands, and number of attendees as well. Of course, the first thing I did was look up the gigs I saw, remembering who played, who I went with, and everything else that comes flooding back. The book makes me feel like those aren’t just my isolated memories, they’re times I shared with the Subhumans and all their other fans.

We had some copies of Silence Is No Reaction in stock at Sorry State, but we’re sold out at the moment. I’ll do my best to get a restock in soon!

Black Uniforms: Faces of Death 12” (Unrest Records) Unrest Records gives us the first ever official vinyl reissue of this Swedish metal/hardcore monster. Black Uniforms is most famous for featuring Cliff, Anti-Cimex’s guitarist during the 90s, whose distinct riffing style shaped Absolute Country of Sweden and Scandinavian Jawbreaker. If you like those records (or Cliff’s later band Driller Killer), you should check out Black Uniforms, as his style is fully on display here, including a few licks that later make their way into the Cimex oeuvre. While there’s a lot of thrash metal influence in the riffing, the harsh vocals and the drums’ relentless d-beat, which rarely breaks the rhythm with fills or accents, keep things sounding very punk. (Also helping punk up Faces of Death is a medley of Moderat Likvidation songs that closes the record’s a-side.) Faces of Death is similar to the records English Dogs and Broken Bones were making in the mid-80s, and I think the songs on it are just as great as great as the ones on all-time favorites like Forward into Battle and Bonecrusher. Unfortunately, though, the production on Faces of Death is murky. I only knew this record from downloading crappy vinyl rips, so I was curious if this official reissue offered a big improvement in sound. It certainly sounds a lot better than any of those rips in terms of fidelity, but I still think the guitar-forward mix blunts the rhythm section’s impact. With a stronger mix, I think Faces of Death would be in the “all-time classic” category, but even if it falls a notch lower than that, it still fucking smokes. I certainly jumped on the opportunity to grip this record for less than several days’ wages, and if you like any of the aforementioned groups, you won’t regret following my lead.

Hello and thanks for reading. Today I am writing about HEIMAT-LOS. While it seems most of my friends have known this band for ages, they are a recent discovery for me. Technically I had heard them when we had the reissue of Rapsodie En France Vol. 1. I listened to that compilation non-stop when it was reissued, but I did not remember HEIMAT-LOS at all when their name came back into my life. FINAL BLAST was the only band I knew at the time from the compilation. I could be forgetting someone, but FINAL BLAST was probably the first French band I really heard. It was yet another discovery thanks to the Hardy Boys, on yet another drunken night where Michael DJ’d records loud as fuck til like 3AM. He put on their split with RAPT at some point, and their side immediately stood out to me. I still think that side of their split is absolutely perfect. Again, I had never heard French punk before, so it was cool to hear the heavy UK82 sound in there. Going back to HEIMAT-LOS, one thing that really got me hooked on their sound is how they can be so anthemic yet so fuckin’ hard at the same time. I wonder if they were influenced more by UK82 or Oi! bands… at times that is splitting hairs though, haha. I still don’t know much French punk/hardcore, but all the bands I’ve heard seem pretty rooted in that anthemic sound, or they are noisy as fuck and fast. I was trying to remember how or why I started checking out HEIMAT-LOS, cos usually someone or something has guided me into a new band or album and I have been playing their stuff non-stop for like a year now. Then I remembered, it was something that happened SCARECROW played in Paris last year on tour, haha. At the time, the name HEMIAT-LOS didn’t mean shit to me, so this encounter was way more exciting to Daniel and Jeff. We showed up early to the gig (for once), and we were looking for a place to turn around and park. Due to some tricky maneuvering in the busy and aggressive as hell French streets, we ended up backing into someone’s car. The owner of the car was sitting in the car when we hit them, and she immediately got pretty frantic. This person, like 90% of the people we encountered in France, did not speak any English. As you can imagine, this made the situation even more stressful. Eventually a guy associated with the venue or gig came over and translated between our driver and the woman. Things calmed down a bit, and they came over to the bar to share some wine and do (what I assumed was) insurance paperwork about the incident. Before they headed over to the bar, there was some type of conversation with the woman, Jeff, and Daniel. I think she realized we were a hardcore band or something, and mentioned that her husband used to play in a hardcore band from Paris... and that band was HEIMAT-LOS. What a small world, haha. Since we’ve returned from tour, HEIMAT-LOS has been a constant go to for me and I have slowly been securing copies of their releases. It’s hilarious they have two splits with KROMOZOM 4. Fortunately, their records are not ridiculously expensive, so they have been fairly easy to cross off my want list (with the help of some good mates overseas). Alright that’s about it for today. I’m sorry for not writing about anything new, but maybe my little story was worthwhile. If you didn’t grab that Rapsodie En France compilation when we had them, you can still find copies in USA here. It’s an excellent compilation, and it comes with a sick booklet. And of course, if you don’t know HEIMAT-LOS, I would check them out. Thanks for reading!

Happy Newsletter day Sorry Staters. Even though we have switched our drop day to Mondays, we’ve still kept our deadline for our picks to Thursdays, which isn’t anything odd, but writing for the future this week is a little weird. Today, Thursday, is the first day of the Hopscotch Music Festival here in Raleigh and this year’s line-up is particularly strong. I’m hoping that by the time you read this, if you went, you had a killer time. Not even sure who I’ll end up catching, but it doesn’t really matter. Live music. It’s ace.

If you were in town and had a chance to stop by our store and pick up something tasty, thank you. Thank you everyone for your support. You keep the wheels rolling and the lights on, which means that we can keep stocking more new records by more bands and in turn support them.

There’s so much new stuff coming through our store, let alone elsewhere, that it is literally impossible to keep on top of it all. Two examples I would like to use as my picks for you readers this week are the bands Heavenly Blue and Tha Retail Simps. Both bands from Canada and although a little different in sound, both following the long lineage of garage and punk bands that have kept the original spirit of teenage rock ‘n roll alive and well. As someone raised on Pebbles, Back From The Grave and KBD comps, I hear a lot to like in both bands.

Prompted by the recent arrival of the latest Retail Simps record Live On Cool Street and a 45 from Heavenly Blue, I gave a good listen to everything we had by both bands. Retail Simps changed their Tha to Thee and might be adding an extra e with each new release. Very Oh Sees and Headcoats of them. This is the first slice of wax that we have had from Heavenly Blue, carrying their two previous cassette releases. They are out on the Sewercide label whilst the Simps are currently on Total Punk. That should be the end of anyone’s review saying they’re on the Total Punk label. I mean, what can you say? Those guys have a deserved reputation akin to Crypt, Sympathy For The Record Industry, Bomp, Stiff and many other fine labels for high-level quality releases. You almost don’t need to hear it before you buy it. The best compliment one can give a label.

I liked the new Heavenly Blue 45. The simple garage aesthetic of the plain brown sleeve and stamped band logo appealed to me. It looks like an old single from the late sixties or early seventies. Sound wise, the band have added a little fidelity polish to proceedings, but keep to the garage punk of their demo tape, although as Jeff and I listened we wondered whether there was a different vocalist. The singer seemed to be less growly, we thought. Good stuff though. Four tracks, with the first Push On Thru reminding me of a slowed down take on The Wailers’ Out Of Our Tree. Slightly. I can’t tell you too much about the band other than they come from Halifax, Nova Scotia and that you should give them a listen and check ‘em out live if they come to your town or you are in their neck of the woods.

As for Thee Retail Simps? Do you like garage punk? Have you attended a Goner Fest? Do bands like Dead Moon, The Make-Up, Thee Oh Sees, Smirk, Blues Explosion, King Khan & The Shrines float yer boat? If you answered yes to any of those questions, then you probably are already hip to what these guys are doing. For those playing catch up like myself, don’t sweat; we have both their records currently in stock and you should check ‘em out. Two winners I think.

These guys are from Montreal, Canada, but if you told me Memphis, it would make total sense. The music is very much American but with the Euro X factor going on, which makes for an interesting and fun listen. On the latest record, they expand on their sound and throw in a few curve balls. When I was listening, I had to check once or twice to make sure it was the same record. Not that the stylistic changes are so dramatic, but there is more going on than just simple, drunken garage rock. You get some of that for sure, but you also get some clever song writing and mood setters for your money too. Neato packaging too with a poster included.

Whether you are an old school head or not, these guys might well become your new favorite band. Maybe.

Okay, I must finish this and get on with work and then get out and see some music. Thanks for reading. See you next time.

Cheers - Dom

What’s up Sorry Staters?

I’ve been stoked to see the excitement surrounding our announcement of Sorry State’s 10th Anniversary celebration. Looking forward to announcing the final lineup with all the bands playing, along with the schedule of when and at what venue they’ll be playing. I know there are possibly some folks out there that don’t need a weekend pass and realistically can’t make it to both days or all the shows. We’ll be selling tickets for the individual shows soon too, so fear not. Perhaps Daniel is already planning on making some announcements in this edition of the newsletter that I don’t know about. Can’t wait!

Really, I should probably be hyping up a new record we’re stocking at the store. Oh well. Instead, I’m gonna talk about a record I was raging to while already a few beers deep. Classic. But hey, it’s been a while since I’ve talked about an old record! The other week, I made my second appearance on Mike from Analog Attack’s What Are You Listening To? podcast. All around cool dude, Scott Langlais showed off his copy of Toxic Reasons’ fourth album Bullets For You. Honestly, it had been quite a while since I’d listened to this record, but Scott inspired me to bust out my copy and throw it on the turntable. For years, I would have claimed that Killed By Remote Control is easily my favorite Toxic Reasons LP. After going into listening to Bullets with fresh ears, now I’m beginning to question my dogmatic perspective on this issue. I was pleasantly surprised at how much I was raging to this record. And now, if someone were to argue that Bullets For You is Toxic Reasons’ best album, I might go along with it.

I love Toxic Reasons, but I know they can be a divisive band for some punks out there. I’ve straight up heard people talk shit about the third and fourth records in particular. Their third entry, Within These Walls, is certainly their softest record. Dare I say new wavey? Toxic Reasons’ logo of the merging of flags was always a clear indication that they incorporate some English sensibilities into their brand of US hardcore punk. On the third record, it definitely sounds like they took some cues from English bands that got more melodic. There’s New Age-era Blitz type guitar parts all over that record—and there are honestly moments on that record that I really like. I mean come on, the cover art on Bullets For You is the same image on the insert of Voice of a Generation. Called ‘em out! Hehe.

But enough about that. I don’t know if “return to form” is the correct way to explain Bullets For You, but they definitely take a clear step toward more aggressive songwriting than the previous record. In some ways, I think Bullets is the band’s heaviest record, but also with some of their strongest and catchiest songwriting. Seriously, I think this record just kills top to bottom. For one thing, there’s no reggae numbers. Which I even think the band does well on an early single like “Ghost Town,” but it’s a welcome decision to avoid them in my book. The more aggressive, faster paced songs almost kinda remind of that slightly metal-inflected sound of English Dogs or Broken Bones. The vibe is kinda like they took the musical elements of a ripper track from an early record like “Destroyer,” but honed a more matured approach to hardcore punk songwriting. There’s some totally killer, speedy guitar licks that sound like the guitar player listened to Kirk Hammet’s guitar shredding on Kill ‘Em All one too many times. What’s fuckin’ brilliant about Toxic Reason’s approach to the ripping tunes though is that on top of the Fast Eddie-style gunslinger guitar riffing, they have huge, sing-along choruses. The song “It’s A Lie” shifts out of this more mathy, punchy descending transition right into a gang chanting “whooooa oh, it’s a lie!” It’s just begging for clenched fists waving in the air and the crowd chanting along. Probably the song most people know off of this record is “God Bless America” because it came out as a single a few years prior. I think that song only appears on the US pressing, and honestly, as much as I do like the song, it’s definitely not my favorite. The whole A-side is just ripper after ripper. Then, the last song on the record is “Gotta Believe,” which is easily the most melodic track. But it’s great! It’s got this sort of mournful, yearning undercurrent to the lyrics and the mood of the melody. This song almost kinda reminds of a song Grant Hart might write on a mid-era Husker Du record.

If you’ve avoided the later era Toxic Reasons output because you were convinced there was nothing cool to hear on them, then it’s time to change that. Do yourself a favor and check out Bullets For You. I hope you love it as much as I do.

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

‘Til next week,

-Jeff

This was a long week for me, with a busy workweek leading into a grueling weekend spent helping at the store during the day and catching shows at Hopscotch in the evenings. I’m not sure how many people outside Raleigh know about Hopscotch, but I enjoy going every year. It’s a corporate music festival, but one with a reputation for booking more interesting indie and underground bands. Hopscotch takes over every venue in downtown Raleigh, and I’m pretty sure hundreds of bands play over the course of the weekend. This year I saw a lot of different stuff, including Pavement, the spiritual jazz ensemble Irreversible Entanglements, and the classic New York dance-punk group ESG. There was a stand-up comedy show this year, and Sarah Sherman’s set had me doubled over. And, in something of a Hopscotch tradition, there was a punk show at the tiny dive bar Slim’s, this year featuring scorching sets from locals DE()T and Paranoid Maniac alongside headliners Cro-Mags. The Cro-Mags set was crazy, but they only played like 4 songs from Age of Quarrel. It was a fun weekend, but it wore me out.

None of that has anything to do with my staff pick this week, which is a formative record from my youth just reissued on Vinyl Conflict Records.

4 Walls Falling: Culture Shock 12” (Vinyl Conflict Records)

I grew up in Virginia, and 4 Walls Falling was one of the first local hardcore bands I heard about. I think my high school girlfriend’s older sister had dated someone who played bass for the band… whether or not that was true, said girlfriend had a CD of Food for Worms that she played to death. I’m not sure how I felt about Food for Worms at the time, but when I started going to shows in 1995, 4 Walls t-shirts were everywhere, probably the second most common shirt at any show after Avail, whose shirts were ubiquitous. I understood they were an important band, which led me to pick up Culture Shock. I remember I was at the Outer Banks on vacation with my family, and I looked in the yellow pages for record stores. I found one and went there, and surprisingly they had a great selection of punk. Browsing the CDs, I came across Culture Shock, having no idea it existed until I saw it in front of me. I remember playing the CD on the tiny boom box I had brought to the beach, and I know immediately this record was the reason people were still wearing 4 Walls shirts several years after the band had broken up.

I played Culture Shock to death over the next few years, and even now I can sing along with all of Taylor Steele’s rapid-fire lyrics. I responded right away to 4 Walls’ brisk tempos, big riffs, and sometimes quirky, always interesting rhythmic changes. While 4 Walls were often viewed as part of the youth crew scene, their music didn’t fit that template comfortably. Unlike the comparatively primitive Revelation bands, 4 Walls’ music sounded progressive, even adventurous. I had little point of reference for their style at the time, but listening to it now, I wonder if Bad Brains’ I Against I was a big influence, particularly its groovy metallic rhythms. 4 Walls also differed from the youth crew world in their lyrical approach, which had more in common with bands like Crucifix and Subhumans. Lyrics often came from a personal perspective, like “Filled” and “Price of Silence,” whose subject of struggling with how to respond to racism had particular resonance for this southern teenager. But more often, Steele wrote about a bigger picture where powerful institutions control and exploit the public and the environment, as in “Culture Shock” and “Greed.” I soaked up Taylor’s message like a sponge, and it helped to prime me for the anarcho-punk I was discovering at the same time. 30-something years later, the lyrics on Culture Shock still sound on point to me.

Familiarizing myself with the rest of 4 Walls Falling’s discography in the pre-Discogs / YouTube age was a slow process. When I was still in high school, a friend put the Burn It b/w Happy Face single on a mix tape and I loved those tracks. Even today, I think this single might be 4 Walls’ shining moment, sounding a little more intense and punk rock than Culture Shock’s more staid production, and with songs that hint at the progressive character of their later work, but keeping, even topping, the intensity of their earlier recordings. Once I got online in 1997 and discovered eBay shortly after that, “4 Walls Falling” was one of my first saved searches. Their shirts turned up way more than their recordings, and at one time I had a pretty gnarly collection of original 4 Walls Falling t-shirts. Eventually I picked up the two EPs that came between Culture Shock and Food for Worms. I remember being blown away when I bought a copy of the Burn It / Happy Face CD single for completion’s sake and it had an extra track! I even reassessed Food for Worms every once in a while. I don’t think I got a copy of their first EP until the late 2000s, and while I think some people consider that their best record, after being weaned on the later stuff, it didn’t do much for me. That record sounds to me like they’re still trying to figure it out.

Another highlight of my 4 Walls fandom was when they played a reunion show in Washington, DC in June 2000. I had missed the band’s original era by a couple of years, so I was super excited to see them live. I thought they played a great set. The show was also a stacked bill with Rain on the Parade, a very early Strike Anywhere, No Justice, and a demo-era American Nightmare.

Vinyl Conflict’s new issue of Culture Shock was a great opportunity for me to revisit this record, and I enjoyed the improved mastering job and the additional inserts, which offer archival material alongside testimonials about the band’s impact. It always intrigued me that Culture Shock was the first release on Jade Tree Records, and there’s an essay from Darren Walters that fleshes out that story. I’m curious to see if younger people respond to 4 Walls Falling’s music. I feel very close to it, and while it evokes a particular time and place for me, it’s also oblivious to the musical trends of its time in a way that makes it kind of timeless, and hence ripe for rediscovery. Check it out and, if it moves you, we have you covered on your very own copy.

Enzyme: Golden Dystopian Age 12” (La Vida Es Un Mus) Surely every punk with a social media account knows Enzyme just completed a triumphant North American tour. These Aussies are so damn cool-looking and photogenic that the algorithm loves them, and I feel like I saw classic-looking photos of their live antics daily while they were here. While the attention on Enzyme’s live show is deserved (they slayed at the date I caught in Richmond), I haven’t seen as much chatter about how fucking great their new album is. Seriously, Golden Dystopian Age is a face-melter, intense yet mind-bending, and with hooks! Enzyme’s sound takes a lot from the Confuse / Gai family tree, and that style can go either way for me… bands who add little to the formula are a dime a dozen, but there are bands like Lebenden Toten and D-Clone who make that sound the foundation of some of the most innovatively warped music in the entire underground. Ezyme belongs in the latter category… across Golden Dystopian Age you’ll not only hear a wide range of different distortion tones and textures, you’ll also get disco beats, electronic sequencer rhythms, and epic intros and outros. You never know what crazy sound will come at you next, and the wildness of it is so over the top I grin with delight when I listen. For all its progressiveness, though, it never feels like Enzyme is forcing you to listen to “experiments…” the songs are packed with hooks, with memorable moments like the wild drum pattern in “Chewing the Fat,” the infusion of disco in “Masquerade,” and the chanted choruses, which feel as firmly lodged in my brain as classic Steve Ignorant diatribes. Golden Dystopian Age is highly compressed, jamming so many ideas into its brief fourteen minutes it feels like it’s bursting with creativity. Its brevity also makes it extremely replayable, which only makes the hooks sink in deeper. Far more than just a souvenir from a memorable tour, Golden Dystopian Age should go down as one of punk’s most exciting triumphs of 2023.

What’s up Sorry State readers, I hope everyone has had a nice week. Sometimes you just wanna listen to some loud, fast and fun punk and Fuck Music City by Schizos delivers that. This 7” arrived in our most recent package from Goodbye Boozy Records (which was full of other great titles) and it's a certified shredder in my book. I can’t lie, I was originally drawn to this record when I saw the back cover, which is a picture of two dudes taking a dump and pissing on the Nashville skyline. Dominic and I gave it a spin and I was immediately a fan on the first listen. The A-side definitely has a Memphis garage sound, which if you know me, is right up my alley. Pull It was the standout track on this side with its catchy and memorable lyrics. The B-side of this record surprised me though, with it being a three and a half minute rock song. It fucking rules though. You could tell me this was some 80’s rager and I’d totally believe you. All I can think when listening to this record is how sick it would be to hear this band live. This is your next soundtrack for when your slammin cold ones.