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Hello and thanks for reading.

Surprise, I am writing about yet another Swedish band. There are still a few other recent releases from Sweden I have been jamming, but I am going to pace myself and just go one at a time. This week it’s PX-30 from Uppsala. I should have done some proper nerding before writing but unfortunately, I did not. I say that cos PX-30 has the same guitarist from HERÄTYS. That has significance to me cos I think HERÄTYS is one of the greatest contemporary bands ever to exist. I guess I should say that my definition of a contemporary band would be one who formed in 2000 or after. If you don’t know them, you can check out their 12” here. Or maybe I should call it an LP? I don’t know. It’s two different recording sessions, one on each side. My friends and I always debate which side is better, haha. My last conclusion was that the B side obviously had way better sound/production, while I still found the songs on the A side to be more memorable. Maybe that will change one day, though. Those B side riffs are really kicking around my head after this latest listen. They have a few other 7"s, and luckily for you these records are not hard to find if you’re just now hearing how excellent this band is.

Anyway, PX-30 has been on my radar since they dropped a digital version of this LP all the way back in May of last year. Insane it was that long between the recording and the record actually coming out. I think a big hold up was the artwork, but man if you ask me this super captivating, unique, thought-provoking and complex artwork they came through with in the end was definitely worth the wait! The sound of HERÄTYS can be found in PX-30 in a sense, but the bands don’t really sound the same. The riffs are unbelievably catchy and played locked-tight with the drums that are grooving hard as fuck. They have a tendency for songs to evolve into breakdowns or mid-tempo parts. Typically, this is a formula I really do not like, but every now and again there is a band like PX-30 who pulls me in deep enough for me to forget my standards on breakdowns.

The vocalist of PX-30 is named Martin, and we became friends when we played in Uppsala on our European tour in 2022. I remember when we met. He said something like, “Probably no one is going to come to the gig. I’m sorry. I will be sure you get 100 euros, though.” If I remember right, it was a bad time for a gig cos everyone was at a fest or on holiday or something. I guess we had planned that tour a little too late in the summer. I can’t remember when it was exactly, but in almost every city they told us to tour earlier in the summer next time cos so many people were away on holiday. There were a few gigs, like Uppsala, where we played totally alone. I didn’t give a fuck, though. I think I’ve mentioned before how I hold Uppsala in high regard. I guess it dates back to BOMBANFALL for me, but when I first became obsessed with Uppsala, I did not know who they were. My introduction was via Your Own Jailer, a killer label operated by Jan Jutila, who released and also played on some essential records throughout the 90s. I’ve gushed over this guy before, and I am way off topic.

So back to Uppsala, I think we played there cos we could not get a gig in Stockholm, but obviously I was very happy to visit this place that was so legendary in my mind. Yeah, we played alone, but holy shit there were like 80 people there or some shit by the time we played. After the gig, we drove to Stockholm to sleep with a mate, so we didn’t really spend much time with Martin. But I thought it was a pleasure to meet, and we kept in touch after. When I let him know of our plans for touring in Sweden again, he insisted we play Uppsala again, as it was not on the initial itinerary. Obviously, I wanted to do this, and I insisted the PX-30 play. I was so happy that in the end we played there with both GEFYR and PX-30. I can’t express how happy and grateful I am to have shared a stage with both of these bands.

This time after the gig, we hung out hard with Martin at his flat. We had a lot of good laughs, some drinks, and snacks. I learned that PX-30 is actually a paint marker that people use for graffiti. I’m sure that was obvious to others, especially with the band’s logo choice, haha. But my noob ass does not know shit. Martin gave us some PX-30 hand-dubbed promo cassettes before we parted ways at the end of tour. He also gave me a PX-30 marker that will remain un-opened, and I will cherish it until the day comes that I materialize our memories and bond of friendship in an act of vandalism. Fuck, I really have not talked about much of anything again and I need get to work. Buy this record; you won’t be disappointed. Cheers and thanks for reading. Thanks to everyone for your support. If you’re reading this Martin, Hi :)

Hi Sorry Staters, I hope you are doing well? Thanks for clicking on our newsletter again this week. It’s been quite the few weeks since we last graced your inboxes. We had a busy weekend at the store during the Hopscotch festival and hooked many of you up with some of the great records that Lord Daniel brought back from Denver. Not content with that, he hit the road again last week for an out of state record buy and came home with a nice haul full of all sorts of goodies. We’ll be working on that collection next week, and you’ll start seeing the highlights appear soon. Not that you need to wait to pay us a visit. Our bins are packed with great records right now and there are plenty more waiting to take their place.

This week I want to highlight a record that I am embarrassed to say had been sitting on my shelf here at the store for weeks without getting a spin. It was personally dropped off to me one day when I wasn’t working, and I feel bad for forgetting about it and not giving it any attention since then. Not that I would ever talk about a record out of guilt of not listening to it or because we are trying to hype it or something. This one is good, and I have been enjoying it.

It’s the second album from Silver Scrolls titled Mind Lines and released by Three Lobed Recordings.

Fans of local North Carolina heroes Polvo are probably already hip to Silver Scrolls as the band is made up of two members of that highly influential group. Namely singer and guitarist Dave Brylawski and drummer Brian Quast. In Silver Scrolls they are assisted by unofficial third member Greg Elkins, who besides mixing and engineering the recording is credited with organ and other incidental sonics. Brian Q also takes on bass duties and adds vocals and additional guitar. It’s a collaboration similar to their first album from 2020 called Music For Walking.

I am not a big fan of some of the genre tags that Polvo got lumped with. Honestly, nothing sounds more unappealing to me music wise than “Math Rock.” And “Post Rock” is not much better. No offense to any bands who fall into those categories. It’s my ignorance and lack of sophisticated taste that makes me feel that way. That being said, I’m not a complete luddite and can appreciate music with a progressive bent.

Looking across the internet, I found Silver Scrolls being tagged as Indie Rock, Pysch Rock, Post Rock and even Classic Rock, but thankfully no one seems to say you need a calculator and protractor to listen to Mind Lines. There are a lot of rock genres on the record. Not so that you would automatically classify it as one or the other, but rather if you enjoy listening to a variety of guitar-based music then you’ll recognize and appreciate and (one would hope) enjoy those on display here. It’s all done subtly though, and doesn’t bash you over the head with anything too obvious. Some songs have a classic kind of verse, chorus structure, verging on being catchy pop songs and the others have a more soundtrack kind of vibe. Then in other songs they rock harder. To my ears at least. For an old fart like myself, I can hear elements of Neil Young, Tortoise, Lou Barlow, 80s Alternative, Sub Pop, right through to more recent instrumental groups like Budos Band. It’s these, sorta, and a whole lot more. Call it what you want, but just don’t call it the M word Rock. One thing’s for sure, it’s American music. Sounds from the last fifty or so years filtered through the minds of the players and carefully arranged in a new but familiar fashion. And I would say done in an authentic to them way. These aren’t two dudes who think they’re in The Family Stone or playing Civil War Reenactment dress up as their favorite bygone musical style. It’s just them with no pretense playing some good tunes and riffs. Plus, they have a song called Indoor Cat. Nice one chaps.

Kudos to all involved in the recording, mastering and manufacturing process too. My “Mental Clarity Red” vinyl sounds great. I’ll post a link here for you to take a listen and in the meantime bug Daniel and the band to drop off a copy or two for the store so you guys can grab one. Hopefully they haven’t sold out already. Thank you BQ for bringing me a copy.

A quick addition to mention before I go. We just got in the first vinyl pressing of the 2003 album called Boomslang from Johnny Marr & The Healers. This great album was the first real steps Johnny made towards establishing himself as a solo artist. It only came out on CD at the time and the project didn’t last too long. They played a few shows, and I was able to catch the New York appearances. The album is like a lost 90s Brit Pop album that, had it come out five or six years before 2003, would easily be held in much higher regard. Perhaps now with 90s Manchester nostalgia peaking and Johnny’s solo career in full steam more people will get hip to this record.

The deluxe reissue comes with a second disc of extra tracks that were recorded at the time but didn’t make the cut for the album or were used as single B-sides. There’s no filler there (other than the chunk of vinyl debris that was in my copy and scratched my record as I removed it). If you are a fan of Johnny’s guitar playing, you owe it to yourself to check this one out.

Okay, back to work. These records won’t price and clean themselves. Cheers and thank you as always for your support.

-Dom

A+P: S/T 12” (Jupiter Records, 1981)

My pick for this week is the self-titled LP from the German band A+P, originally released in 1981. I picked up this LP a few years ago from the great Double Decker Records in Allentown, Pennsylvania. Given the paucity of information available about this record online, I can’t imagine I knew much of anything about it before picking it up, but I feel like I had seen it on some German punk discography or another. Maybe it was a total blind buy, but regardless of why I bought it, I think it was a pretty good score as I’ve returned to this LP many times over the years and always enjoy it when I throw it on. The music here—there 16 songs, so there’s quite a lot of it—is eclectic, but all pretty punk, ranging from snotty, post-Sex Pistols Europunk to more experimental moments that clearly take influence from Public Image, Ltd. Like a lot of music from 1981, it sits on the bubble between the initial punk explosion and the fully formed hardcore that would take over pretty much everything in the coming year or two. A+P sounds like they have all the youthful aggression and snottiness they need to be a hardcore band, but they don’t have that template available to them yet, so all those feelings come out in their music in interesting and idiosyncratic ways.

Unfortunately, I have very little information to share about A+P. Maybe a German-speaker could find more info, but about all I could find is that the band is from a town called Starnberg in Bavaria in the far southern part of Germany, south of Munich. To many Americans, Germany is just Germany, but anyone who has traveled around the country (even someone like me who’s mostly just spent time there on DIY punk tours) knows Germany is a massive country with many culturally distinct regions. Navigating those differences is daunting to a dumb, monolingual American like myself, and while Germany produced a massive amount of punk vinyl in the 80s, rarely can I connect the dots and understand how the different bands relate to one another (if they even do). Each band seems like an island, and it’s hard for me to hear common threads that run through the punk from different regions in Germany the way I can for the US, the UK, or even Sweden and Japan. Some quick research tells me Bavaria has a history of punk bands from the early band the Pack (a great band featuring, oddly, a member from Amon Düül II… their killer LP has been reissued several times and isn’t too hard to find) to full-bore hardcore like Vorkriegsphase. A+P’s LP came out in 1981, the mid-way point between the Pack’s LP in 1978 and Vorkriegsphase’s EP and LP in 1983, but I couldn’t tell you how or if they’re related.

One thing I find interesting about A+P’s LP is how well-produced it is. The recording is great for what it is, with a straightforward and unadorned sound (I think there’s only one guitar track), but rich, clear tones and a mix that gives each instrument space. Also curious is the LP’s unique gatefold sleeve. I’ve never seen anything exactly like it. Not only is it a gatefold, but also the gatefold folds out a second time to a huge 24-inch square, sort of like a poster sleeve, but there are still pockets for the vinyl and insert, the latter a half-size booklet in a classic punk cut-and-paste style. The inside of the gatefold is a classic-looking punk collage, while the fold-out reveals well-done black and white portraits of the four band members, all of whom look very young. This made me wonder if the band members were rich kids whose parents splurged for a quality studio and spared no expense on the printing, but the LP is on a label called Jupiter Records. I hadn’t heard of Jupiter before, but a quick look at their Discogs page makes me think they were a big label, starting in 1973 and releasing hundreds of records, mostly German pop music that looks like it would be of zero interest to anyone reading this. By 1981, when the A+P LP came out, they were distributed by TELDEC, a huge German label. It’s wild that an A&R person would have taken a chance on this raw, unpolished punk band, but even crazier that they apparently spared no expense on the packaging.

A+P released a 5-song follow-up EP in 1982 on a different label, Soilant Records. There’s a song on the EP called “Soilant,” so perhaps the label was connected to the band… certainly Soilant’s other releases have a punkier look to them than Jupiter’s, judging by their Discogs page. A+P’s EP has a bigger, tougher, hardcore-influenced sound, and it goes for a few bucks on Discogs, so who knows if I’ll ever connect with a physical copy of that one. The EP was bootlegged in the early 90s and A+P’s LP has been reissued many times over the years… maybe one of those reissues has liner notes that can shed more light on the band’s story? If anyone has knowledge to share, I’d love to hear it.

Homemade Speed: Faster Is Better 7” (Not for the Weak Records) Those of us in the mid-Atlantic hardcore scene have been aware of this group of young miscreants making noise in the Norfolk / Virginia Beach area for some time, and I’m stoked the rest of the world now gets to acquaint themselves with this group’s fresh take on raw, fast hardcore punk. As befitting the band’s name and the record’s title, the A side of Faster Is Better is a blistering sprint inspired by bands like early D.R.I., Septic Death, and Deep Wound who pressed against the limits of their drummers’ right hands and their listener’s processing capacity. The short instrumental—which sounds like they plucked it from a long-lost Mystic Records 7”—makes it clear Homemade Speed isn’t afraid to squeeze in a hook here and there, then the other three tracks are off to the races. While hardcore this fast probably all sounds the same to many people, I think Homemade Speed has a unique sound on their blistering parts, anchored by a drummer with a unique swing to his fast beat and a habit of punctuating bars with Minor Threat-esque compact snare rolls. The four songs on the B side slow things down just a hair, but the grooves are similarly slinky, allowing the chaos to shine through on moments like the climactic double-tracked guitar solo in “Nothing Left.” If you’re a fan of the blisteringly fast, raw, and wild hardcore punk we like to push here at Sorry State—particularly if bands like Shaved Ape, Meat House, and G.U.N. have been on your playlist—Homemade Speed’s debut EP is essential listening.

What’s up Sorry State readers? I hope everyone had a nice August. I can’t believe summer has already come and gone by in the blink of an eye. A couple of weeks ago I made my yearly pilgrimage out to Seattle to visit my dad and spend some time in the city and enjoy all the nature that surrounds it. While exploring the city, I came across a bunch of different record stores. It’s always interesting to see the different types of record shops when visiting somewhere. Sometimes you’ll come across a bunch of stores that just sell brand new records and nothing really interesting. Luckily, I found Wall of Sound Records on this trip. A small shop on a corner caught my eye and I saw some records through the windows, so I figured I might as well check it out. I’m glad I did. They had a really great selection for a smaller store, especially their International/World section. I could tell the owner definitely made it a point to have a stacked section and knew what he was doing, as it was full of tons of cool reissues of hard to find records. I wasn’t even necessarily planning on buying any records cause flying with them can be stressful, but there was some stuff that was too good to pass up. While flipping through, I saw a record that caught my attention, The Roots Of Chicha (Psychedelic Cumbias From Peru). I held it up, and the owner said, “that’s a really good one” and that’s all I needed to hear. I’ve been listening to a lot of psychedelic cumbia on YouTube on random playlists and mixes, so I was happy to find some on vinyl. The whole thing is full of bangers and it’s always nice to have a compilation so you get a taste of a bunch of different artists. Of all the songs on here, though, I think the three tracks by Los Mirlos are my favorite: Sonido Amazonico, El Milagro Verde, Muchachita del Oriente and La Danza de los Mirlos. The whole album is amazing and full of groovy, fun tunes, so I highly recommend checking it out if that appeals to you. I also picked up another really cool record while there, but I may save that for the coming weeks to write about.

Hi Sorry State fam! Feels like forever since we’ve hung out! Hope all is well with everyone. It is scary how fast the year has flown by. The fact that Hopscotch is this week is nuts. I’m not going this year, but it feels like it was maybe 3 months ago that I was there last year. I really wish the Hopscotch gods would let us pay for individual late night shows at least, because ISS, Mutant Strain, and Zorn are playing a show that would be really fun to see.

Jesus, as I was adding the intro to my staff pick I was overcome by the worst smell permeating my abode. My cat pissed on the couch as though he’d been saving it for weeks. He is just a spoiled little demon who communicates his unhappiness with not getting 24/7 attention by pissing on furniture. The one day we forgot to put something on top of it to keep him off. I have another cat, Luca (yes from the song) who is an angel in every way. But Julien (named after Robert Downy Jr in the dark indie flick Less than Zero) is not. Maybe it’s the name. He was bound for trouble.

Oh well. Let’s get into it.

My pick this week is the latest release called We are Making a New World from the band Gimic. This is the second EP from the Bristol band known for their unique blend of punk and punk-adjacent sounds. Gimic is packed full of flavor drawn from punk, hardcore, art-punk, post-punk, and everything in between. It’s dancey and fun and manic and agitated and totally unleashed. The opening track called Irrational Demographic sucked me right in with its mean and taunting vocals that sound like a weapon that could lay you out in one minute and 47 seconds. I get that same feeling when I hear the singer from the band 7 Year Bitch. Totally different genre and style, but the vocals project a special kind of “fuck around and find out.”

They have big substantial riffs, tempo swings, and style shifts that keep it interesting start to finish. The closing track (same title as the record) is absolutely fucking killer. It’s my favorite but Irrational Demographic is a close second.

So on this last banger of a track, they ease into the song with a slower tempo. The bass and guitar start really clean and infused with a little groove, soon to be roughed up by the singer’s raw but measured words. This song is a blast. It’s that slow build when you’re heading up the steep hill of a roller coaster. Bad analogy because you know what’s about to happen in that situation, but the song’s next step isn’t so obvious. The only commonality is that both start slow then go fast.

It isn’t long before the speed builds, the bass gets faster and more melodic, and the guitar just rips. My favorite part is how the singer starts out with an almost spoken word style (for like 15 seconds, and it’s not a monologue, she’s just not quite singing yet). You see how defensive I just got there, to make sure you knew it wasn’t a spoken word song? Is there something in between spoken word and singing? If so, that intro part is that.

But very soon after that, she just seamlessly delivers a fast and incredibly infectious verse with such a catchy flow and great melody. It makes for a totally killer verse that makes you want to move. That’s the cool thing about Gimic. You could use these songs as a soundtrack to your meltdown OR to jump around and dance and have fun with.

What I love about this record most is when the bass and guitar are rather chill and clean, as it’s the perfect backdrop for the erratic and sometimes threatening vocals. I’m really drawn to the blending or meshing together of two totally different things. In pretty much any context. You know, like leather and lace (I borrowed that one), sweet and spicy, polite punks. The list could go on and on.

Something else I dig about this record is that it really is a mix of the things that characterize different sub genres of punk, but it’s hardcore at the foundation. If you listen close you catch some simple and dry art punk and the deconstructed nature of post-punk, some early 80s Dischord, classic snotty UK punk, and other unexpected twists and turns. They’re passionate, they’re all-in, and anything but predictable. Gimic is one to look out for. They know what they’re doing. More please.

Thanks so much for reading ya’ll! Until we meet again my friends…

-Angela

Hello and thanks for reading.

Surprise, I am writing about yet another Swedish band. This week it’s MEANWHILE, from Eskilstuna. There is a ton of other killer shit out right now, namely a few other Swedish rippers that have my attention… but it’s too much for me to get into today. So, I will stick to MEANWHILE and I will keep it brief. MEANWHILE played Skullfest in Pittsburgh a few weekends ago. They were excellent. It was everything I could have hoped for really. We also played the fest, but we played the day before. It was crazy to see Kenko, the drummer of MEANWHILE, wearing one of our shirts on stage. It blew my mind, haha. It means he watched our set… I wonder if he bought it before or after we played? Cos I don’t think I played very well, even though I heard some encouraging feedback after our set. I guess he still decided to wear it after he saw us, which means he probably thought we were sick. Hell yeah. I had been seriously looking forward to seeing them, as I am a huge fan of MEANWHILE.

If I am going to talk about MEANWHILE, then I need to talk about DISCHANGE. Actually, I need to go a bit further back into Swedish hardcore history and mention NO SECURITY first. I was just gushing over Kenko, but in reality, it is Jallo Lehto who I have been a fanboy of since my teenage years. Jallo was the drummer of NO SECURITY. He also did Finn Records with another dude named Jari Juho. I don’t think that dude did bands, though. Jallo joined TOTALITÄR on drums after their first few EPs. This is where I first became aware of his existence. While he was not a founding member, I consider him just as original as the rest since he has played on like 85% of their releases, including every full-length LP. Finn Records did not have their first release until 1989, but I consider them pretty essential when it comes to Swedish hardcore. Aside from releasing a lot of TOTALITÄR, they released stuff from other notable bands like SVART PARAD, ASOCIAL, and DISFEAR. DISPENSE was another absolutely killer band they released. I think they are criminally underrated.

I think NO SECURITY is fairly underrated in the world in international hardcore. Most people have probably heard of them cos they did a split with DOOM in 1989. They formed in 1985, but their impact was really felt in the later 80s and into the 90s, where most notable Swedish bands existed in an earlier wave. They never had an LP, and they only released one proper 7" in 1988. The rest of their material was spread onto some cassettes and four different splits. I think this isn’t the greatest formula for releasing your stuff, but man, they are one of the greatest Swedish hardcore bands ever to exist if you ask me. Most of their stuff was released between 1987 and 1989, but they had a split 12" in 1990 and a split 7" in 1995.

Kenko joined the band in 1989 on guitar. I think he only appears on the ‘90s records, though. Before his time in NO SECURITY, he was playing in death metal bands. After he joined NO SECURITY, he and Jallo cooked up a new project: DISCHANGE. However, in this band, they switched instruments! DISCHANGE has such catchy and memorable riffs. I think this is an obvious symptom of the riffs being written by an insane drummer. Between 1989 and 1991, they weren’t really an active band, since it was just the two of them recording everything. It wasn’t until 1991 when they recruited a few more guys and started gigging live. They released a masterpiece entitled Seeing Feeling Bleeding in 1993. This full-length followed two split 7"s they had released the years prior. Oddly enough, on the center label of their 1991 split with E.O.W, they credit themselves as both DISCHANGE and “MEANWHILE.” This is the only place where I saw the name mentioned until they formally changed it in 1995, when they released their debut, Remaining Right: Silence, under the new name MEANWHILE. This LP is so damn good, just as good as the DISCHANGE LP in my mind.

Alongside their name change, there was an evolution in the sound of DISCHANGE/MEANWHILE. I associate DISCHANGE with a much heavier sound and meaner riffs. Although, that it is clearly still heard on MEANWHILE’s Remaining Right: Silence. I mean, it was at Sunlight Studios, haha. But on their following LP in 1996, The Road To Hell, you can hear them leaning super hard into the catchy side of things. I know they still have straight up DISCHARGE songs on each record; I just mean I can really hear this evolution in the guitar playing that makes the band shine even more. The way Kenko plays d-beat is so groovy, with Jallo’s super-catchy riffs, the combination is just too good. In 2000 Sound Pollution released their third LP, Same Shit, New Millennium. Their first two LPs were actually only available on CD originally. It wasn’t until 2008 that Feral Ward reissued both of those on vinyl, alongside their final LP, Reality or Nothing. Between 1995 and 2008, they released four LPs and four EPs. I think each of these records is legit excellent and worth listening to. While I favor their first LP a lot, their 2005 7" Ghostface Democracy is so unbelievably good. This one was interesting cos it really sounds like they turned the dial up to 11 on DISCHARGE, namely Hear Nothing See Nothing Say Nothing. I’m sure anyone who has heard this record knows how damn good it is. But to be honest, I think the artwork is pretty bad and I understand if someone would pass it over based on the art, haha. While artwork may not be their strong suit, they certainly make up for it with what’s actually on the record.

Alright, well shit, it doesn’t seem like I talked about much of anything and I didn’t really talk about this reissue much either, haha. This reissue is brought to us by Fight For Your Mind Records, a killer label from France who first got on my radar with their TOTALITÄR release. While MEANWHILE records are not painfully hard to find if you look for them, I am happy this is back in print! For being such a big fan, I actually don’t have this record. This pressing of Same Shit, New Millennium has been remastered by Communichaos, which was something else that also got on my radar via TOTALITÄR. I remember seeing it often in the recording credits of their 2000s records. Communichaos is actually operated by Kenko, which is yet another reason I am such a fan of him and his bands. The original artwork for the LP wasn’t so bad, but it really took a turn for the worse with the reissue... haha. (I am sorry if the artist is reading this.) Don’t let the artwork fool you and check out the LP! These 19 raging, riff-heavy tracks will without a doubt have your fist pumping and head banging from start to finish. Cheers and thanks for reading.

What’s the story Sorry Staters? Are you doing okay out there? We’re glad to be back with another newsletter. Lots and lots going on as usual. There are new titles on our label upcoming and several highly anticipated releases on other labels that we will be sending your way asap. Not content with the number of used records we were sourcing from the immediate area, Daniel travelled to Denver last week and brought back a nice collection of Indie Rock, Pop Punk and Alternative albums. We’re working as fast as we can to have them ready for the Hopscotch Music Festival weekend that is just around the corner. Not that we are short of great used records to offer you currently should you walk in the door. It warms my heart seeing the joy in your eyes when you come in the shop and snag that prize. That’s what it’s all about. There are few things in life that can inspire, satisfy, unify and save us as well as music does.

The big news (for some) in music this week was the announcement of the Oasis reunion. The brothers have buried the hatchet and next year will see a series of concerts across the UK. Tickets went on sale this week and a few people I know were lucky enough to score theirs. Good luck to all hoping to get in. If things go well with these shows, then there is no reason to assume that other countries won’t get dates. Love ‘em, hate ‘em or could care less, there’s no arguing that the band has a global fanbase and after fifteen years since they split, people are eager to see them. Again, some of you reading may be thinking why? Especially here in the US where the band, definitely and not maybe, has their haters. As a Brit living in America more than half my life, I can see both sides of the argument over the merits of Oasis. Are the later records that good? Not so much, but the first two albums and the singles and B-sides released during those first few years are good. They’re way better than just good of course, and to many are rightly considered great and cherished records. Perhaps you had to be around at the time and tuned in to all the happenings, but as someone who did witness the 90s firsthand, they were a big deal. The impact Oasis had on the music scene in Britain cannot be underestimated. The Britpop years were fun times for the most part, and Oasis were central figures during those heady mid-90s years.

Although I was working on the ships and out of the country for most of the time, I was always catching up on the news in the music press and had friends send me videos of TV shows where bands would perform. The early hype about Oasis was real and organic and happened because people who saw them instantly knew that they were different, with a clear star in their frontman, Liam. Any time I was on leave I would try to see as many shows and concerts as possible, and managed to catch Oasis live during those first couple of years. The first time was in a small pub venue where Liam and Noel had a ruck on stage, as I remember. Next was at their Earls Court shows, which were a lot of fun. That was at the height of Britpop and their popularity. The atmosphere around those shows was amazing. I missed going to Knebworth, the big outdoor gigs, and after that didn’t get to see them until years later in America. The very last time was in New York, but that time I only got to say hello to them at the stage door. I was friendly with the guitarist in the support band, and he had promised me a ticket and came through, but didn’t make it a plus one for the missus. I was trying to get another ticket and waiting when Oasis pulled up. Unfortunately, we couldn’t get both of ourselves past security with just the one ticket and so I gave it to a girl who was also there ticketless. My good deed. The wife and I went and had dinner instead, I think.

Going back to those early years and the 90s, one thing I remember was how music was bringing people together. A lot of the tribes were coming together and blending. We were all listening to a lot of different things and turning each other on to new and old stuff that we were hearing. I know my world view definitely expanded in the 90s, and that was due in no small part to all the different music genres I was being exposed to and the cultures and places and people that music came from. It was cool doing so much travelling then and working alongside so many different nationalities of people. I took full advantage and soaked up as much knowledge and experience as possible. Wherever I was in the world and whoever I was with the one thing, if nothing else, that we could communicate on was music. Many of my treasured memories from this period are centered around music. I’m sure that’s the case for most of us. It’s no surprise that the announcement of the Oasis reunion and shows has been met with such interest as nostalgia for the 90s is still running high. I think in no small part because of the shit show of the last few years that we have all had to live through. People are yearning for a time of togetherness and freedom and being able to party and to have fun however they want. Like the line lifted from the film Wild Angels and used by Primal Scream for Loaded: “We wanna be free. And we wanna get loaded. And we wanna have a good time. And that’s what we’re gonna do.”

It was a time of togetherness back then, at least among some of the youth cults that had been so separate up to that point. Perhaps it didn’t last long, but for a while it seemed that punks and mods and soul boys and rockers and ravers and heads could have a good time together. Not that Oasis represented all these audiences. They were themselves, but their spirit and swagger was something that anyone could see was cool and so lots of different people liked them. It got a bit laddish and boorish from the audience side of things fairly quickly unfortunately, but you are always going to get knobs in any scene. However, the atmosphere of excitement around the band through those early years was real and something that can’t be bought or manufactured. It helped that they had some good tunes to go with the look and attitude. Say what you will about the later records. It can’t be argued that the first two albums and those singles weren’t bangers and anthems. If the likes of Rock ‘N’ Roll Star, Columbia and Cigarettes & Alcohol don’t get you fired up, then you need to check your pulse. Songs like Slide Away and Live Forever were instant classics. Then there were all the non-LP sides that came out on B-sides or stand-alone singles. Literally enough good songs to make an entire album. The Masterplan collection stands as just a good an album as Definitely Maybe or What’s The Story Morning Glory.

Interestingly, their 5th single, Whatever, that came out before Christmas 1994, didn’t make it to the Masterplan album. I always liked that one. Released between the two albums, it is a classic slice of Britpop featuring a singalong chorus and a string quartet section which became almost de rigueur for a minute back then. Lyrically, the song is uplifting and positive and actually more apt for today’s times than then. The B-side (It’s Good) To Be Free continues the theme and makes for a good pairing. My 12” copy adds on Slide Away from the debut album and the CD single also included the Noel acoustic song Half The World Away that later would be used for the theme to the TV show The Royale Family. A very funny show that featured the sadly departed Caroline Aherne, a fabulous comedic actress who passed away too early from cancer.

Anyway, with all the Oasis talk going on this week I thought I’d listen to some of their records that I have in my collection. I haven’t pulled them off the shelf in a while, I’ll be honest, but I enjoyed playing the first two albums and those early singles. The nostalgia washed over me big time. Was it really that long ago? I also gave a spin to their demo tape recordings that I have on a bootleg LP. That legendary tape with the image of the Union Jack flag swirling down a plug hole and with the Oasis name over the top contains confident versions of songs that would be massive and a couple that never made it to proper recorded versions. It’s to their debut as the Spunk album was to the Sex Pistols and their Never Mind The Bollocks album. Kinda.

I ‘ll leave it there. No need to go on any more about a group that everyone knows and that probably half of you reading our newsletter don’t care for. That’s okay. For those that do like them and were trying for tickets, I hope you got lucky.

Cheers all. See you next time.

-Dom

What’s up Sorry Staters?

Man, how long has it been since the last time we sent you fine folks a newsletter? 3 weeks or something? Sorry to deprive you Sorry State readers for so long! I guess Scarecrow’s been outta town a bunch. And also, Daniel’s been busy taking all these flights to places like Denver purely for pleasure, no business ventures whatsoever. Hehe. I want to report any fresh personal updates, but at this moment I’m having a hard time wrapping my brain around what the hell has even happened since the last time I checked in…

I think since the last newsletter, Scarecrow made our way to and from Pittsburgh for Skull Fest. Had a pretty damn good time, I must say. My main highlight would be seeing Meanwhile live for the first time. They threw the fuck down, and all the punks ‘n crusties went nuts. Always good to see old friends as well. Thanks again Krystyna for having us. (I have no idea if she reads this or not haha.)

I had a birthday pass by since we last spoke. Another trip ‘round the sun, as they say. Don’t quite feel like an old man yet, but yeesh. Lifer status incoming. I did lock down a pretty significant birthday gift for myself. Nice 7 inch-size platter with some bricks on it, if ya know what I’m sayin’. I’m stoked.

There are some local gigs in Raleigh coming up I want to mention. Hopefully by next newsletter I’ll have flyers made. Firstly, Ejaculators are… coming (oof, didn’t think about that as I wrote it), and I’m stoked for those KBD-style synth-laden punks to debaucherously throw down in Raleigh. That show is October 20th at RUMAH along with Meat House and DE()T. Then on November 10th, BLOODSTAINS are playing at Kings. Meat House is doing a run of East Coast dates with them as well. Hopefully those start getting publicly announced soon. The gig on November 10th is Bloodstains with Shaved Ape, Meat House and Reckoning Force. Get HYPED.

We’ve had a smattering of new inventory arrive at the shop lately. I decided to choose a record for my staff pick that I had little-to-no prior knowledge about. This Indikator B 7” on Doom Town Records has really grabbed my interest. I’m pretty sure we stocked a tape by this band a couple years ago. I’m pretty sure the band is from Croatia? Someone can correct me on that if I’ve been misinformed. I don’t know why, perhaps because of that Koridor record we also got from Doom Town, but I half expected Indikator B to sound like post-punk. It’s not at ALL. This 7” is like a raging hardcore record. And when I say it sounds 80s, it like—REALLY—sounds old. Something about the dark, yet thick, warm sounding recording really captures a vintage feel and kinda cold, tense atmosphere.

I’m not even sure exactly what to compare the sound of the music to. The label description says something like “Indikator B carries on the classic sound of Yugo-punk tradition” or whatever. I’ll be honest and say that I need to be more thoroughly educated about 80s punk and hardcore from this region of the world. I guess one band I know from that general region is UBR, and I think musically that’s a pretty good jumping off point for describing Indikator B’s style. And even though UBR is from Slovenia and not Croatia, I swear there is one riff that sounds like Indikator B totally lifted from one of the tracks on the UBR 7”. Hey, ain’t complaining. But then, in terms of the feeling of darkness, I guess I do detect a bit of Midwest US hardcore sensibility like the dissonance of Mecht Mensch or something.

The pace of most of the songs is that kinda bouncy, what I often call “in-between” speed of playing. Like, super groovy, mid-fast, almost UK82 speed with thick, pounding drums keeping that rhythm in the pocket. One thing that stands out to me is that even compared to the band’s detectable influences, the vocals are NOT just grunting or screaming. The singer is actually carrying a melody most of the time, which to me is a big selling point of the band’s songwriting. Of course, I have no idea what the singer dude is saying in the lyrics, but there’s a few of these unexpectedly catchy sing-along moments with some “AH-AH-AH’s”. It’s killer.

Anyway, the inspiration for me to continue advocating for this Indikator B has run dry, so I’ll just leave it there. But I would really hate for this record to fly under the radar because people aren’t paying attention. It’s a great record. I highly recommend checking it out.

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

‘Til next week (uuuh right?),

-Jeff

The Damned: The Black Album LP (Chiswick, 1980)

Lately I’ve been trying to shake up the way I listen to music on my own time (i.e. off the Sorry State clock). I write most of the content for the Sorry State newsletter—including the descriptions for the Record of the Week and each week’s Featured Releases—and doing that work for so many years has left its mark on how I listen to music. I have a philosophy about how I approach these pieces of writing. They’re not record reviews; instead, I always refer to them as descriptions. This distinction reflects a difference of intent. I’m not trying to tell you whether the record is good or bad (after all, I’m trying to sell these fuckin’ things). Instead, I try to give you context and information to help you figure out whether you might be interested in a record. Often my descriptions end with if/then statements that try to connect a release with its audience: “if you like classic power violence, then check this out;” “if you like post-punk but think it’s gotten kind of stale, listen to this band because they make it sound fresh again.” An essential part of this practice is putting my own tastes and preferences aside and getting into the head of a band’s intended listener. I’m always asking myself the question, “who is the audience for this record and what does that audience like about it?”

This is all fine and good for writing for the newsletter, but I’ve noticed this practice of self-erasure makes it difficult to access my own feelings on music. When I listen to something new, my habit is to see it from this objective perspective, analyzing the choices the artist makes and why. I’m sure most people reading this can identify with the sensation of hearing something and thinking, “this is good, but I don’t think I like it.” Maybe the band is skilled at playing, or maybe the singer exudes undeniable charisma, or maybe they make a sound you’ve never heard. Those are things you can appreciate on an intellectual level, but do you like it? Does it move you? I’ve kind of trained myself to see the good in whatever I listen to, but in doing that, it feels like I’ve lost that sense of identification—this is mine—that’s necessary to truly love a piece of music. I sometimes worry that if I heard something I could love as much as the Adolescents or Koro or Can I would just process it in this robotic fashion and move onto the next thing without giving it the opportunity to get its hooks in me.

I’m not sure how I came up with this solution, but lately whenever I listen to a record from my personal collection, I’ve been assigning it a rating out of 5 stars. I’ve long kept a sporadic listening journal, so I just note the rating there. Thinking about how I rate an album has totally shifted the way I listen. When I’m listening for the newsletter, I’m trying to locate the record within a context: what is the artist responding to? What are they trying to say? Who are they trying to say it to? But when I listen with this rating system in mind, I’m thinking about my personal relationship to the music. The context is myself, my background and tastes. What does this music make me feel in my body? How does it change my headspace? Is that a pleasurable change? Am I excited to spend more time with this, or am I eager to move on to something else? A 4- or 5-star record has to get me up and dancing, singing along, or at least intellectually engaged. It’s gotta “spark joy” as they say. A lot of the records in my collection are 3’s and 3.5’s: interesting, competent, not a waste of time, but I’m not gonna cry if someone takes it off in the middle and puts on something else.

The Damned’s The Black Album is a motherfucking 5-star record. I was listening to it because I recently came across an original double-LP Chiswick pressing. The copy of The Black Album I’ve had in my collection since forever is a later pressing on Big Beat Records, and while I like the cheeky Beatles rip-off sleeve, it sadly trims the original release’s track listing to fit on a single LP. From what I can tell, all the single-LP pressings of The Black Album simply omit the second disc in the set, ending the album with “Therapy.” While I could take or leave the live versions of Machine Gun Etiquette songs on side D (though they are well-recorded and quite different to their studio versions), the real crime is losing “Curtain Call,” the 17-minute epic that takes up all of side C. The Black Album starts with “Wait for the Blackout”—one of the Damned’s very best songs—and delivers one singalong pop hit after another until you reach “Curtain Call,” where the view suddenly widens and the musical landscape stretches to infinity. It’s the perfect way to end the album. Sides A and B are such a visceral experience, all the singing along pulling me out of my head and into my body, clearing my mind, setting the stage for “Curtain Call,” whose sprawling openness feels like a meditation. It’s a trip, a journey, and one I love going on.

So yeah, the Damned rule. Sorry if my piece this week was too heady or abstract or rambling… I live a weird fucking life and this is the shit I think about. Now go out and listen to something you really like.

Savage Pleasure: S/T 12” (Toxic State Records) After a demo cassette a few years ago, Toxic State Records unleashes the debut vinyl from New York’s Savage Pleasure into the world. If you haven’t heard Savage Pleasure, the first thing you might think when you listen is “whoa, this band really sounds like Amebix,” and while that’s a fine thing, I worry that belaboring the comparison will get in the way of appreciating what a fantastic album this is. There’s something about the way Savage Pleasure deploys dynamics that keeps me flipping this record over and over. While they pack the LP with hooky metal riffs, Savage Pleasure largely avoids the grand gestures—breakdowns, flashy guitar solos, big chord changes—that form the highlight reels of most hardcore punk records. Instead, their sound churns (a verb I come back to whenever I try to describe their sound), seemingly as regularly as the tides, but like the ocean, possessing an undeniable power. Tempos shift gradually in a Celtic Frost-ian way, with just enough variation to ensure the music never gets stale or repetitive. As the record’s synth and acoustic guitar intro sets the scene, Savage Pleasure pulls you into their world with “The Sickening Fear,” and it’s like a fog has descended, blocking out the rest of the world and saying “you’re with Savage Pleasure now.” The album is quite short—only 20 minutes, which feels brief given the cinematic scope—but there isn’t a moment that feels redundant or half-baked. When you’re in Savage Pleasure’s world, you’re there completely. There has been a lot of creative energy in this UK crust-influenced corner of the underground lately, and certainly if you’ve been enjoying recent records by Industry, Rigorous Institution, and Subdued, check out Savage Pleasure. But I think this is more than just a RIYL record, so try following Savage Pleasure into their world, and if you’re anything like me, you’re going to want to stay for a while.