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Class: A Healthy Alternative 12” (Feel It Records) Tucson, Arizona’s Class is back with a brand new album and their second Record of the Week nod from Sorry State, though all four of Class’s previous releases have been worthy of said honor. From the jump, Class has sounded to me like a band out of time, a relic from a bygone era where crafting a perfect pop song was way higher on a band’s to-do list than getting their look right or perfectly replicating the guitar tone on whatever collector scum 7” whose sound they’re trying to replicate. This is probably why people have trouble describing Class’s music succinctly, because their sense of style is amorphous and flexible, able to shift to serve the song, which is Class’s true master. Class’s raw, high-energy productions and big guitar sounds mark them as punk, but they’ve always reminded me most of the ’77-era UK bands who were unwilling or unable to fully embrace punk’s year zero mentality. I’m thinking of the Lurkers, the early Stranglers, 999… The “power-pop” tag also gets thrown around, but Class’s songs generally lack the saccharine immediacy of bands like the Exploding Hearts or the Number Ones (though fans of the latter will fall pretty quickly for the magical pre-chorus in “Not an Idiot”). This means it might take you a spin or two longer to sing along, but it also means Class’s songs don’t wear out your ear or grow stale with repetition… I can listen (and have listened) to A Healthy Alternative over and over and its hooks just sink in deeper. If, like me, you’re too old and cranky for straight bubblegum, but can’t fully get rid of your pop sweet tooth, A Healthy Alternative has the perfect balance of sugar and salt.

Hello Sorry Staters! Another week, another pick from yours truly. This week has been busy with incoming preorders and tons of other new releases for you! I also stay busy by making sure that we have new used stuff going out daily. Still listing CDs, so if you are into metal we have a ton of great stuff for you.

One of the new releases that we received recently was Timmy Vulgar’s Genetic Armageddon. Boy oh boy was this one hell of a ride. The A side is an avant-garde electronic psychedelic fever dream. Full of spacey guitars and off beat drums mixed with some synth that sounds like a clan of aliens talking from another planet. It’s a fun ride if you like free jazz.

Side B is another story. It comes off as a poor man’s Bob Dylan, but for me, that’s a really good thing. Lyrically, it’s a depressing song about running out of booze. You can definitely tell it was recorded in a bedroom and for me, that just makes it so much better. You can feel the pain of him running out of booze. We all have been there, right?

This EP is not to be missed. It’s all over the place in the best way and I love it. Do yourself a favor and buy this record. It has two great songs on it that will not necessarily be in your head, but I guarantee you will not forget them.

What’s up Sorry State readers? I hope everyone has had a nice week. I can’t believe how fast the weather switched up here in Raleigh. I actually got a little chilly this past week leaving work! I think one night it even got down to the 40s in the middle of the night. I’m not complaining though. It feels good to be throwing on a sweater again. Continuing on with our theme for the spooky season, I’ll be writing about another horror movie this week. Last Tuesday I had the pleasure of seeing Maniac Cop (1988) on the big screen at the Alamo here in Raleigh and had a blast. Written by Larry Cohen and directed by William Lustig, this is a slasher film about a murderous zombie cop who returns from the dead to wreak havoc on the sleazy and gritty streets of 80s New York. Wow, a movie about an evil cop who can’t stop murdering innocent people, how did they come up with that idea?! Surely nothing like that ever happens in real life. When word gets around town that there’s a maniac cop going around killing people, a panic and distrust of the police consumes the civilians. Hell, one lady just shoots a random cop that pulls her over, fearing she may become the latest victim. My favorite piece of dialogue in the movie comes from a scene of a news report about the killer. They’re interviewing people on the street and one guy delivers this golden line, “Ya know, cops like killing people. That’s why they’re cops.” This is when our faithful hero makes his entrance, the always groovy Bruce Campbell. He plays a character named Jack who is a policeman cheating on his wife. His wife starts growing suspicious of Jack being out late and taking night shifts and starts suspecting that he may be the maniac cop. She follows him one night to a hotel room only to find him in bed with a fellow female officer. She storms out of the hotel room and is immediately killed by the real maniac cop. Jack is then arrested on suspicion of murdering his wife while the real killer is still out there. The rest of the movie follows Jack trying to prove his innocence and find the real killer. I won’t spoil the second half of the movie in case you haven’t seen it and this sounds like it could be up your alley. It’s a fun slasher to watch this Halloween season and has some merit to it. It’s always cool when a movie that seems like a half-baked idea can end up delivering a message that (unfortunately) still rings true to this day.

Hello and thanks for reading.

Today I am writing about two records. I have been waiting for us to get the new SVAVELDIOXID for a minute, and YELLOWCAKE totally caught me by surprise last week. The homies at Not For The Weak delivered this ripper, alongside Total Peace. I think this record is insane. I am super selective these days about what 7"s I actually buy. Even records I enjoy I may not buy cos I know I probably will never play the actual 7". Usually it’s cos they are kind of short, and obviously cos 7"s aren’t cheap as fuck anymore. When I heard this YELLOWCAKE record, it was a no-brainer for me, though. Funny enough, the last 7" I bought as also a NFTW release. YELLOWCAKE has been on my radar since they played here a few years ago. They took me by surprise back then, and they have just delivered an amazing follow-up to their debut. It’s not that they are playing anything super original or special, but the execution is just nuts. Live they had such speed and power, and they deliver just that on this EP. The first EP was great, but the sound is a bit less developed compared to the new one. It seems like they really found their sound on this one. I don’t make this comparison like ever, but they really remind me of FRAMTID with their fierce, pummeling intensity. They also do some things I would not expect. I appreciate that they don’t box in their songwriting style, but make it all fit together just right. If you missed this one, check it out!

Sweden’s SVAVELDIOXID is back with another record! I guess the last one came out about this time last year? I think there was a holdup with the artwork on this one, which delayed them, cos they recorded it in March. It still feels like they are a busy band, and I find myself enjoying each record even more than the last. They re-visited Sunlight Studios for this one, with Tomas Skogsberg on recording and mixing duties. This record sounds even more death metal than the last. Surprise, haha. I love this touch, though. While they sound pretty damn heavy, it still reminds me of traditional hardcore punk like BOMBANFALL. I might be crazy, but I feel like they are getting faster with time as well. The drummer plays so locked in… his perfect groove really hits the spot. I think the artwork on this one is great, too. I feel like I see them less these days, but I think it’s funny they chose 10" format. Ironically, I just mentioned last week when I wrote about a different one; I am pretty sure all 10"s are just 12"s cut down these days. I’m more than happy to add another to my collection, though. Check this one out if you missed it. I think we were low on stock already, but hopefully we can restock if it’s sold out by the time you’re reading. Alright, I guess it’s a short one this week cos that’s all I’ve got. Cheers and thanks for reading.

Greetings Sorry Staters. Another week of world crazy and another week where the only thing that just about makes sense is music. I think I’d go mad if I was anywhere else than surrounded by records right now. My sanity owes a lot to having the privilege of being a part of the Sorry State family. Daniel might argue that his sanity is put into question with the weight of responsibility that comes with being the skipper of the good ship Sorry State, but he’s doing a brilliant job and we all love him so much. He takes such good care of us that it’s truly an honor and a pleasure to work here.

I’m sure one of my colleagues will write elsewhere this week about the new hot nugget from our friends Yellowcake titled A Fragmented Truth, but let me add my two thumbs up. I was really impressed with this one. The group has brought some new ideas into the mix with some interesting guitar stuff going on and other textures and sounds. Not that previous releases have been lacking, but this one really has progressed in leaps and bounds. Nice job folks. Go check it out and grab a copy.

At the store recently, several of the recent collection buys have had good blues records in them. Locals into quality blues have been snatching them up, but we still have plenty more bangers in the bins and a few that have yet to hit the floor. For those of you not within travelling distance to our store who might want to pick up a nice blues record, we have a few new reissues up on our webstore. I recently stocked a great collection by legend Otis Rush, which I would like to recommend to you today. It’s a nice gathering of his sides recorded in the 1950s for the Cobra label that also includes a few bonus cuts of alternative takes.

I’ve been a blues music fan for as long as I can remember. As a kid getting into Elvis, Johnny Cash and other rockabilly and country stars, it was an easy step to Howlin’ Wolf, Muddy Waters et al. The blues had a baby, and they called it rock ‘n’ roll. Over the years, I have collected a sizable number of blues records (and CDs) covering recordings made literally over the last one hundred years. Although I like the older acoustic country Blues records, my preference is for electric blues, especially Chicago blues, that was cut between the mid 1950s and 1970s. If it gets funky like the stuff Lowell Fulson did, that’s great. If it gets psychedelic like on Muddy Waters’ Electric Mud album, even better.

In the 1980s I was a big fan of Stevie Ray Vaughan and he, along with another hero, Jimi Hendrix, both always mentioned Otis Rush and how big an influence he was on their style. Stevie went as far as naming his band Double Trouble after one of Otis’s Cobra singles. Mike Bloomfield, Peter Green and Eric Clapton were also disciples. With such heavy endorsements, I had to check out Rush and have picked up his records over the years as I found them. He has a lot of good ones. During the 1990s, he released a good modern blues record called Ain’t Enough Love Comin’ In, which included Small Faces keyboard man Ian McLagan. A few years later, when living in New York, I got the chance to see him play live, and he was great. Sadly, soon after, he suffered a stroke and retired from touring. In 2016, he appeared on stage in Chicago for a festival and although he didn’t play, he was honored by the mayor of the city who declared June 12th to be Otis Rush Day in Chicago.

With such a long career, I will leave you to pull up his Wiki page for full details. To summarize, though, he left his birthplace in Mississippi and followed in the footsteps of other Delta bluesmen and made his way to Chicago, where he formed his own band and performed in clubs around the city. Between 1956 and 1958 he cut eight singles for Cobra before they went bankrupt, and it is these recordings that form the core of his legacy. He moved to the Chess label in the sixties and cut a couple of sides for them and one for the Duke label. Towards the end of the decade, spurred by the blues revival on both sides of the Atlantic, he cut a killer record titled Mourning In The Morning at Fame studios for the Cotillion label, an Atlantic Records subsidiary, that had a nice soulful feel to it. I really like that one.

His style is a little different, and like my hero Jimi Hendrix he played left-handed with his guitar strung uniquely to give himself a distinct sound. Vocally, he’s a strong tenor and like a lot of singers learned his craft singing gospel in church and brings that into his sound.

His first single for Cobra was I Can’t Quit You Baby and could be said to have defined his style for the rest of his career. It was the label’s only national hit too, and of course would end up being covered by a certain rock band from England on their debut a decade plus later. Backing Otis on most of these Cobra sides were the cream of Chicago bluesmen, which included names like Willie Dixon and Little Walter. Ike Turner also features on guitar on many of the recordings.

It’s all killer stuff, and at the time only came out on singles. He didn’t record an actual album until the aforementioned one on Cotillion, released in 1969, but collected here on this edition you couldn’t ask for a better blues album.

Here at Sorry State, blues has historically not had many fans amongst the staff, but since John Scott began working here, I have found a buddy who loves it as much as I do. With his additional interest in country and bluegrass as well, I have found myself listening to and rediscovering tons of great records both familiar and new to me. We were jamming this Otis Rush collection the other day at the store, and it got the thumbs up from several of our customers, not least from our good friend Mike, who knows a thing or two about a good riff and solid axe work. Trust, if Mike gives a record the seal of approval you can buy with confidence. This is blues you can use.

You can click here to see a great clip of Otis Rush from the 1960s playing his signature song live taken from the awesome American Folk And Blues Festival archives.

Thanks for reading and see you next time.

Cheers- Dom

A few weeks ago I was on the 185 Miles South podcast talking about Italian hardcore. The idea behind the segment was that it would be a “starter pack,” a concise introduction to the scene pitched at people who know little or nothing about it, which of course means there were plenty of killer bands and records I didn’t get to talk about. Case in point, Peggio Punx. I know little about the band’s history, other than that they were from Alessandro in the northwest part of Italy (the region where most of the best-known Italian bands were from), that they existed for at least a few years before they released their first record, and that they put out three EPs in the 80s.

Their first, 1983’s Disastro Sonoro, is a gem of 80s Italian hardcore. The most striking aspect of Disastro Sonoro is the near-total absence of distortion on the guitar, which immediately sets Peggio Punx apart from their peers in the Italian hardcore scene. Peggio Punx didn’t avoid distortion because they didn’t want to be as aggressive or as intense as the other hardcore bands; rather, the guitarist achieves that intensity by simply playing harder and faster, their right hand sounding like it’s in danger of buzzsawing right through the instrument. Rather than the strumming bleeding into a unified roar, each blistering note feels like a cut from a razor-sharp switchblade. Along with the unique guitar sound, the songwriting is memorably punky, the songs brimming with vocal hooks like the “ahh-ahh” parts in “Pubblicita” and the chanted chorus of “Scemo,” and the drummer has some tricks up is his sleeve too, with lightning-fast tom work that sticks in your head as firmly as any guitar or vocal hook. If you dig what you heard in the Italian hardcore starter pack, Disastro Sonoro is essential listening in my book.

1984’s La Città È Quieta... ...Ombre Parlano replicates Disastro Sonoro’s formula with six raging hardcore tunes, but for me it’s not quite as strong, mostly owing to a murkier mix. The drums and vocals are super loud—usually a good thing on a fast hardcore record—but the guitar is nearly inaudible in places, which is frustrating because you can hear just as many cool licks as Disastro Sonoro. The bass sound is robust, though, and reveals the bass player was just as furious as the guitarist. A standout on this EP, though, is the b-side opener “Solitudine,” which features more of the crazy tom work we heard on Disastro Sonoro, but even more over the top. Don’t get me wrong… La Città È Quieta... is still a rager, but it’s just a little less distinctive and striking when compared to its predecessor.

Peggio Punx’ last record of the 80s was the 12” EP Ci Stanno Uccidendo Al Suono Della Nostra Musica!! E.P.. Like most of their peers, Peggio Punx reworked their sound when they made the jump to big vinyl, attempting to do something more varied and musical than the flat-out assault of their earlier EPs. Ci Stanno Uccidendo features more variation in tempo, rhythm (including some funky and reggae-influenced grooves), and texture, though there are still glimmers of the manic quality that made Disastro Sonoro so great. As with La Città È Quieta…, it’s hampered by an odd mix that puts the booming drums front and center, and the more conventional distorted guitar sound isn’t as good a match for the guitarist’s riffing style. Ci Stanno Uccidendo is an OK record, and it’s still hardcore punk, but to me, Peggio Punx’s transition into their second era isn’t as successful as some of the other 80s Italian hardcore bands’. Whereas Indigesti, for instance, was able to leave their old sound behind on their debut LP, Osservati Dall’Inganno, and create something that sounded totally fresh and nearly as exciting, Ci Stanno Uccidendo just kind of waters down what made their previous records so great.

So yeah, one fucking great record, one excellent one, and one pretty good one… while perhaps not enough to get Peggio Punx into the God tier, it’s a respectable showing even in a country where the bar for hardcore was extremely high. Incidentally, until I just looked at Discogs, I did not know Peggio Punx released two full-lengths: 1990’s Cattivi Maestri and 1992’s Alterazione Della Struttura. If anyone knows about those two, please hit me up… I’d love to hear this band broke the pattern of diminishing returns and delivered a late-career ripper.

Yellowcake: A Fragmented Truth 7” (Total Peace Records / Not for the Weak Records) Phoenix, Arizona’s Yellowcake returns with their second 6-song EP, once again a split release with their hometown label Total Peace Records and east coast powerhouses Not for the Weak Records. As much as I loved Yellowcake’s first EP, Can You See the Future? (which we named Record of the Week in November 2023), when I saw the band play live I thought they were even better than the record, and I hoped their follow-up would reach the bar they set at that gig. Now that A Fragmented Truth has arrived, it exceeds all expectations. While very much the same band, Yellowcake takes a gnarlier turn on A Fragmented Truth, shifting the focus from the driving, fist-pumping rhythms of Can You See the Future? to something more jagged. The sound on A Fragmented Truth is slightly murkier and denser than the debut, and it’s altogether more punishing, de-emphasizing the agile stops and starts in favor of sheer, pummeling force. Yet, as the label’s description astutely notes, there’s a strong emphasis on textural variation here… frequently, Yellowcake is pounding away at what appears to be maximum intensity when a guitar track blindsides you with an attack from a frequency range that didn’t seem to exist a moment earlier. Similarly, the vocals sound even more dialed in here, taking the same approach as the first EP, but with a sound that’s both coarser and richer in tone. A must for fans of the noisiest, nastiest hardcore, A Fragmented Truth captures an already great band getting even better.

Hello Fellow Sorry Staters! This week I have been busy working on organizing the chaos of all the pre orders that we have active right now. So many amazing records are up for preorder right now! A few of my favorites are Chain Cult: Harm Reduction 12” on LVEUM and the new Alvilda: C’est Déjà L’heure 12” on Static Shock Records. Go check them out!

This week my listening has been very focused on a genre that I really knew nothing about. One thing I have challenged myself with this year is learning different genres of music that I normally would not have naturally put on to listen to. This week’s genre is funk. I’ve always just put funk into the box of what someone would think about funk commercially. You know, like James Brown or Funkadelic. I wanted to dig deeper and find those super nasty bass guitar hooks and hard-hitting drums with the constant grunts of Ugh! I have come across a few good playlists on Spotify, but recently saw this record at the store and picked it up just from the description on the back alone. The compilation album is called “Tighten Up Tighter: A Choice Collection of Funk 45s” on Pure Records based out of New York. There are some really good, hard-hitting tracks like The Soul Diggers’ Soul Dig Part 1 and Brother Williams’ Cold Sweat.

As I take this journey to learn even more about funk, I know there are some readers that have some great suggestions for tracks I need to check out. If you even have a suggestion for a great playlist or compilation record, please write in and let me know! Thanks again for reading this week and make sure to check out the site, we are always listing new items for ya’ll almost daily! Until next time!

What’s up Sorry State readers? I hope everyone has had a nice week. It’s finally October! Everyone’s favorite month! The leaves all change and the air becomes crisp again. The NC state fair comes to town, pumpkin carving, and of course, watching a bunch of horror movies. Much like my music listening habits, I tend to enjoy “older” movies. Not to say I don’t like new movies and haven’t loved a bunch of new stuff that’s come out, but specifically movies from the 60s to the 80s just do a little something extra for me. Maybe it’s the way it’s shot, the film, the costumes, the music, whatever it is, it clicks with me. Especially for horror movies. I get it, with all the technology we have nowadays you can create some truly insane stuff and have it look realistic. But what’s the fun in that? I wanna see some practical effects! I wanna watch someone get killed in the goofiest looking way possible. We’re lucky here in Raleigh to have some great theaters that do a lot of really cool showings, The Rialto has Grindhouse Club, which usually has a showing on Tuesday nights, and The Alamo Drafthouse here does Terror Tuesday and Weird Wednesday, which I’m always a fan of. If you live in the area and it sounds like it may interest you, I’d definitely check it out. The movie I’m writing about today was shown for Terror Tuesday, but honestly could almost fit the criteria for Weird Wednesday better. I’m talking about the 1982 film Basketcase, directed by Frank Henenlotter. The movie starts off with a doctor getting his face ripped by a shadowy creature that we don’t get a good look at. What could it be? It’s a weird little deformed blob of a conjoined twin with psychic powers that was cut off at birth from his brother of course. How could you not guess that? At the heart of it, this movie is about two brothers with some form of weird twin telepathy getting revenge on the doctors that performed the surgery to separate them all those years ago. One brother just happens to secretly carry the other freakazoid brother around in a basket and feeds him dozens of hamburgers at a time. There are some truly bizarre acting choices in this movie, but one of my favorite scenes is when the main character Duane gets 80s movie drunk and explains the entire story of him and his brother to his sex worker neighbor who then has her underwear stolen from the freak brother. This is a very goofy movie, but honestly weirdly kinda pulls off some sentimentality with the whole brothers aspect they roll with and in the end is a pretty enjoyable watch. If you’re a fan of 80s horror and this one has flown under the radar for you, give it a watch.

Hello and thanks for reading.

I have not found myself in the mood for writing the last week, so I apologize for the state of my staff pick. It feels like it’s been a minute since we’ve had a consistent newsletter, but there’s a bunch of great records in stock and I wanted to mention a few. I also need to go back and talk about a previous staff pick cos I learned some integral information since then. But more importantly, I need to talk about hurricane Helene first. I think most readers know about this hurricane and the devastation it has caused in the southeastern United States. I’ve had some friends from overseas hit me up cos they hear North Carolina, but we are lucky enough to have been a few hours north of the floods. I don’t want to get into how the US can afford to send billions to Israel to fund a full-on ethnic cleansing, but can’t afford adequate relief efforts to these communities that are suffering complete and total loss right now. I wanted to drop this link to our friends at RUMAH. If you are able to send some funds to help with supplies and essential items, you can find a number of trustworthy places via that link. If you live in the triangle, it’s also got information on how you can help by volunteering. If you’re in Raleigh, be sure to come out to the Halloween cover show! All the money from the door will be used in relief efforts. There is also a benefit on the 14th at Kings and Neptunes. I’m sure there will be more benefits to follow. Let’s stand together and look out for each other. The systems in place fail us, but we are not powerless without them. They need us; we don’t need them.

Last week we traveled north to bear witness to the mighty MOB 47. These guys are old. I guess Christoffer, the bassist, ain’t quite as old since he is a newer member. I think Åke said he was 62, shit. I’m not tryna talk shit by talking about their age, but give praise that they are still full-on rocking at this point in their lives. So sick. Naturally, I am a huge fan of MOB 47. I was very excited to see them. But of course, I wondered how well they would actually perform at this age. I didn’t wanna get my hopes up, but man, they were so damn good. I really didn’t expect it. After the gig we hung late at Patrick’s house, where I proceeded to grill the fuck out of Åke about MOB 47 and of course, DISCARD. I don’t want to spend too much time writing about it, but I asked Åke about the two different DISCARD sessions and where the songs were used. And most importantly, I asked him about DISCARD’s logo that rips off DISCHARGE. I was talking to him and said I knew about the art in Really Fast Vol 3, but said from my understanding they didn’t have a DISCHARGE rip-off logo until the 1990 7”. Åke corrected me and explained how they did it—in the ‘80s. I wanted to explain this cos I was so wrong when I previously wrote about DISCARD. It’s probably cheesy and unimportant to most, but it’s super significant they had done something like this so early on. Thinking back now, I wish I had asked him and Chrille even more questions, haha.

There are some reissues we have in stock I wanted to mention, cos I consider them essential. SWANKYS Very Best Of Hero has just been released by General Speech in the USA! I don’t think this band needs an introduction, and this record has been dying for a reissue for decades now. General Speech has added an additional insert that includes the history of SWANKYS. While it is brief, it is awesome to read. I didn’t quite understand the history of GAI and SWANKYS, so I really appreciated it. If you didn’t know, SWANKYS and GAI were the same band, just under different names at different times. They were initially forced to change their name to GAI, as SWANKYS had been banned at clubs due to extreme performances. General Speech did an absolutely amazing job on the reissue, down to the actual sound of the record. The packaging is almost identical to the original. It’s super nice and slick—in a good way. There are just some subtle, and tasteful, changes to denote it is a reissue. I know General Speech has more reissues lined up after this and I really can’t wait. I think this record is essential for every collection, so grab one if you have not!

I also wanted to mention this reissue I have been playing the hell out of, We Can’t Help It If We’re From Florida. The artwork and title of this compilation is hilariously awesome. Especially cos the bands fucking rip. To me, this is a whole new world. I’ve heard of two of the bands before, but never heard any of these songs. It’s funny to me they chose 10" format for this reissue. I know the original was a 7", but this one has bonus tracks so obviously it could not fit on the original format. From my understanding, these days all 10"s are just 12"s cut down to size. 12"s sell better than 7"s, and I think 10"s sell the worst. To me, I don’t care about the size, as long as it’s good. Again, this record is all new to me. I think all the bands are super cool. Maybe MORBID OPERA is one I wouldn’t jam so much, haha. I know I heard ROACH MOTEL before cos we had some 7"s come through the shop, but hearing em again on this compilation really made em stick out to me. HATED YOUTH obviously rip so fucking hard, shit. I had no idea. I’ve seen the name around forever, but my ignorant ass never checked them out. Now I need to find one of those 7"s previously released on Burrito Records. I think these compilation tracks are a different session from what was released on that 7"? I actually picked one of these 10"s up from my buddy Chris a few weeks ago cos I wasn’t sure if we’d get distro copies. He told me to check it out, and I instantly grabbed one, haha. If you don’t know shit like me, check this compilation out and you’re gunna one grab one. If you already have the original, maybe you’ll be tempted to grab it for the bonus tracks, haha. Alright, I think that sums it up for me today. Free Palestine.

Hi everyone. Thanks for clicking on our newsletter. Hopefully things are well with you. As you can imagine, we are still trying to deal with the aftermath of Hurricane Helene and the terrible flood damage that our brothers and sisters here in the mountains of western North Carolina (and other places) endured last weekend. I’m sure you have seen the pictures and videos. It’s just terrible. So very sad. Our hearts go out to the residents of Asheville, Boone and all the other communities whose lives have been forever changed by this catastrophic weather event.

We all need to come together now and help in whatever way we can. Of course, the quickest and easiest way to help is to donate funds. As a former American Red Cross worker, I can vouch for the good work they do in disaster responses as one option for a donation, but there are many other charities and organizations that are out there helping, and I encourage and urge you to find one that works for you.

By the time you read this, I will have been a part of a twelve-hour marathon DJ event here in Raleigh that was organized to raise funds for the Kamala Harris campaign and to help with voter registration, but was tweaked in the aftermath of the storm to include raising funds and accepting donations of needed items for those affected by the storm. As I write before the event, I will assume that all went well, and that we raised a lot of money. Fingers crossed. If nothing else, though, I hope we provided a good time and much needed fun and a break from all the gloom and doom.

Back in the world of records and music, here at the store we are continuing to do our best to keep the bins filled with as many great records as possible. We have bought some good collections recently, filled with lots of cool and interesting records, and I have been enjoying learning about records I was unfamiliar with and nerding out on all the details. Often when going through collections we have bought, there are records that aren’t in the best of shape and not really fit for sale. It obviously doesn’t matter when the records are perennial bargain bin fodder to begin with, but it can sometimes be a bummer when you find a good record but beat to crap. I like to do my best to resurrect the ones that still have life in them. Sometimes a couple of passes on the vacuum cleaner can make all the difference. Also, I can still value a record if at least the key tracks play decently. As a DJ, you can get lucky that way. The money track plays fine whereas the rest has skips, pops, etc. Of course, sometimes the reverse is the case, and the only good cut will have a massive scratch over it. Anyway, I have been checking out some of these beaters and one that I thought was cool is a record that came out in 1967 on World Pacific Records by an artist known as Kali Bahlu. The album is titled Cosmic Rememberance.

It’s a real trip. The record is just four long tracks and isn’t easily classified, but is based on Indian sounding sitar music mixed with spoken word poetry and psychedelic elements. It’s the only record the female singer is credited with and not much is really known about her. The record label World Pacific had Ravi Shankar on their roster and released an album by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, so it kinda makes sense. Other label mates included Chet Baker, who was releasing Mariachi Jazz records. Ms. Bahlu has been described as a kindergarten teacher reciting verse to a class of hippies coming down from an acid trip. That’s just about right. LoL.

Her voice could be a little annoying to some ears, and that is the main “instrument” being heard over the gentle sitar and tabla backing. The poetry is a mix of space cadet wonderings and cosmic consciousness. You’ll either be charmed or annoyed by it. I’m not sure how many listens one would give this record over the course of owning it, but I enjoyed giving it a couple of turns on the ol’ rekkid player. The “best” track is probably the fourth and last called A Cosmic Telephone Call From The Angel Liesle And The Buddha. How’s that for a title? The forest children were definitely taken on a journey of cosmic remembrance.

The record comes in a great painted slightly psychedelic cover featuring Kali Bahlu and some of her pals and cosmic children. Inside the gatefold we get an essay from the artist explaining her thoughts regarding the album and a nice full-size photo of her looking very 60s girl cool.

I’m certainly curious about what else she did as an artist and what her story was after this record and before it. I shall try to find out, but for now we shall just have to leave it there. If mystical sixties hippie shit does it for you, then keep an eye out for this one next time you are digging through the bargain bins. Although having said that, it seems that folks will pay over $20 for a decent copy of this record, but it has been reissued and with a couple of bonus cuts, apparently. Click here for a sample.

Take away? Apparently, the Buddha drinks coffee.

Cheers everyone - Dom

What’s up Sorry Staters?

Once again, it feels like it’s been a while since I’ve checked in. We’re well into October now, and I always love this time of year. The weather starts getting a bit cooler, and as Halloween approaches, I get excited to binge trashy horror movies. We’ll be decorating the storefront here at Sorry State to get into the spirit. There’s also gonna be a Halloween cover show on the 31st, which I’m excited about. It’s gonna be a benefit gig, with all proceeds going toward support for disaster relief in Western North Carolina.

Before that gig though, I wanna reiterate that The Ejaculators are coming to play Raleigh on October 20th along with Meat House and DE()T at RUMAH. Should be a killer gig. Don’t miss it!

Also, I think this is the first time I’m announcing that BLOODSTAINS from Southern California are coming to play Raleigh as well! Along with support from Norfolk’s ragers RECKONING FORCE, and also semi-locals SHAVED APE and MEAT HOUSE. At King’s on November 10th! A rager for the season, I feel sure.

What else have I been doing since the last time I wrote for the newsletter? I suppose I haven’t even talked about Public Acid and Invertebrates’ Midwest tour surrounding Unlawful Assembly fest in Milwaukee. It was a short run of shows, but MAN, did we have a blast. I would hop in a van and travel with the combination of mofos in those 2 bands any day. Between duckpin bowling in Indianapolis while goofing off and talking like Fonzie, getting extra cheesy at the Mars Castle, and my first experience with reluctant hospitality and excessive taxidermy at the Third Man Records’ green room… there was more tomfoolery than most HCPMF’s would be able to handle.

So, let’s talk about Cicada. I was obviously previously familiar with this band because they’re based out Richmond. I often run into the dudes in the band at shows and stuff. I’ve seen Cicada play in Richmond several times and always thought they were great. But on this Midwest tour, Public Acid gigged with them in Chicago, and also at the fest in Milwaukee. Firstly, we played together at The Empty Bottle in Chicago. The sound was excellent, and granted, it had been quite a while since the last time I saw Cicada, but fuck… they just blew me away. They opened with a cover of “Easy Targets” by Cheetah Chrome Motherfuckers and fuckin’ nailed it. My jaw hit the floor. The crowd just totally exploded with energy. Then during their set at the Cactus Club in Milwaukee, the guitar player Brendan had a moment where he played alone, spiraling on this long, drawn-out guitar riff which was an extended rendition of the opening track on the band’s demo tape. With like total command of the crowd, I just watched all these kids creepy crawl over/dogpile onto one another in this mess of anxious, violent, anticipatory energy. It was so raging and insane. I just stood there after they finished playing, just going, “Holy shit.” And experiencing Cicada live on this trip was all before I’d even heard their new EP.

Cicada has a new 7” entitled Wicked Dream, appropriately released on the Unlawful Assembly label. Sorry State always tries to stock as many copies of the new releases on Unlawful Assembly as we can, but they often can only afford to give us a handful of copies. I half expect this new EP to be sold out by the time this edition of the newsletter comes out. The primary recorded output by Cicada I’ve digested over the last year or so is the band’s demo… ya know, which clocks in at under 4 minutes of music total. The cassette I have is pretty lo-fi from a recording standpoint. It totally works for them and still sounds totally raging. But after seeing Cicada in Chicago and experiencing how powerful the band sounded, I personally hoped the recording on their new 7” would do them more justice. Admittedly, the recording on this new record is still pretty raw. But I would say it’s a sonic facelift compared to the cassette. And granted, Cicada having a super modern, slick sounding record would probably sound totally weird and out of place.

How do I describe Cicada’s music to one of you readers who might be unfamiliar? I mentioned CCM earlier, which I think is a fairly detectable influence. The way I feel about Cicada when I hear them is that they draw from some of the MOST weirdo, outsider bands within outsider music, and blend those reference points into a potent and effective Molotov cocktail. How appropriate that a label based out of Milwaukee put out the band’s record, because surely whoever writes the riffs in this band must be a fan of Die Kreuzen. Like, MUST be. Then, the singer Jordan has this vomitous but burly low-pitched growl that for sure makes me think of United Mutation. But beyond these 80s hardcore comparisons, I think there is something unique and special about what Cicada is doing in the current landscape of hardcore punk. It feels true to form, but also completely fresh and out of left field. It’s chaotic, frantic, and dissonant. But still, there’s something about the way the band stitches musical ideas together that feels clever. It’s intelligent, while managing to definitely NOT be prog-y in any way. These songs still go for the throat in the most maniacal of fashion, but also, the band is playing their asses off. It doesn’t feel like the band is throwing riffs at the wall in a noisy mess and seeing what sticks. In fact, the conviction and intention with which these songs are put together makes me kinda… jealous, I guess? Maybe if you’re the type of hardcore listener whose platonic ideal is Agnostic Front, then Cicada will surely not be the band for you. But for me, this band is ticking ALL the boxes. Dare I say, best current hardcore band in America? Honestly, I might.

Enough gushing. But if you’re able to get your hands on a copy of this 7”, whether from Sorry State or elsewhere, I give it my highest possible recommendation.

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

‘Til next week,

-Jeff