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What’s up Sorry Staterrrrs?

Another month is coming to an end in just a couple days. Before you know it, Justin Timberlake memes will flood your social media feed. April was a pretty good one for me, though. Several killer local gigs here in Raleigh. What a concept, right? Deletär absolutely killed when they played here last week. Killer riffs, even more killer dudes. Wish we could’ve gotten to hang out more. Anyway, let’s see what shenanigans await us this month…

By the time this newsletter comes out, Sorry State will have already had my staff pick in stock for a couple weeks. Old news? Well, technically by definition, it really is. LA’s own Decry released their debut LP Falling in 1984, and it ought to be revered as an all-time banger classic punk record. Look at that bright pink album cover! It’s iconic, dude. This new pressing is on fancy pink color vinyl. You know the kids love that. But why do I get the impression that this record isn’t getting any love? Maybe I’m projecting, but I rarely hear my peers who love 80s hardcore hyping it up. I figured the feeling on the street would be that there was more excitement surrounding this reissue because… IT’S FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER. It’s hilarious, unlike any other record from the 80s, you go on Discogs and there’s only 2 listings for Falling: the original Toxic Shock pressing from 1984, and this brand new pressing now out 40 years later. How is that possible?

Let’s talk about what’s going on with Decry musically for a minute. Personally, I lump in Decry with other Southern California punk and hardcore of the era that conjures images of sketchy kids with flannel shirts around their waists flying off the stage at the Hollywood Palladium. Background music that sounds like a perfect soundtrack for skaters blasting airs out of a backyard pool. While the band is a little rough around the edges, Falling is full of big riffs and big shout-along choruses. The title track “Falling” will get your fist in the air, chanting along, and make you immediately wanna go stage dive. Lyrics still harken back to a vivid dystopian image of Reagan-era hopelessness. Exaggerated and possibly not the most informed lyrical content, but still enough to get your blood pumping. Just the aloof, snarling delivery of a song like “American Way,“ with lyrics like “Go to church, go to school. Be another one of societies’ tools. This is your American way, Mom and Dad drive their Chevrolet.” Like the idea of a bunch of LA punks scoffing and rolling their eyes at the idea of driving a brand name automobile. Hilarious. Some songs do touch some gnarly subject matter, like “Suburban Death Camp.” For my money though, the hit single off of this record is “My Bloody Dream”. “Is this real? Am I CRAZY??” Such a ripper.

Decry have a similar rock’n’roll edge that I might compare to bands like Agression. And while they’re not covering Elvis tunes or anything, Decry also fit right in with a band like Tales of Terror. In my mind though, Decry’s rock’n’roll attitude and influence in the guitar playing has a sonic personality and attitude that feels purely like they could have only come out of Los Angeles. This is no Doug Moody production—this record sounds thick and powerful with a pinch of Hollywood studio pixie dust on top. You can hear a bit of the snotty, speeded out aggression of Wasted Youth still in the mix. But then again, when you see old photos of Decry, most of the dudes in the band have grown their hair long and teased it out. The fashion sense man… let’s just say you can see a bolo tie or 2 working its way into the outfit. It’s not a difficult stretch of the imagination to see these dudes trying on some leather pants a few years later. I don’t think I’d venture to say we’re quite in Guns N Roses territory. Decry still embody that snotty, nihilistic, punk attitude. They do a somewhat outta tune rendition of “Sonic Reducer” by the Dead Boys. Rough as it may be, Decry’s take on the song is really perfect for them. I think they feel right at home interpreting the snotty attitude of Stiv Bators and the crude, destructive attitude of the song. I guess some of these dudes did later go on to play in that band Junkyard along with Brian Baker from Minor Threat. So, all in all, I guess their leather pants/cowboy boots/hot rod cruising rock’n’roll dream did come true.

Anyway, check out Decry if you’re not super familiar. And maybe Junkyard too if you’re feeling feisty… or not. Whatever haha.

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

‘Til next week,

-Jeff

Lora Logic: Pedigree Charm 12” (2024 Record Store Day version, Hiss and Shake Records)

The Record Store Day release I was most excited about this year didn’t arrive at Sorry State until the week after RSD. Wrapped up in the business of RSD, I had forgotten about the deluxe reissue of Lora Logic’s 1982 album Pedigree Charm, which was a UK RSD release with only a limited number of copies available in the US. We ordered copies for Sorry State, but I didn’t realize until a few days after RSD that we didn’t receive any. I quickly checked Discogs and found several UK sellers still had the release in stock, but while I was weighing my options and coming to terms with the spendy proposition of having one of these things shipped over from the UK, I got a shipping notification from our distributor showing we’d have a few copies arriving later in the week. I’m glad I wasn’t too quick to pull the trigger on ordering a copy from the UK. (It’s still in stock as of this writing, BTW.)

My staff picks over the past few years have touched many times on my love for Pedigree Charm. I first wrote about it in March 2021, shortly after discovering the record, and as I grew more obsessed, I explored adjacent records by Essential Logic (Lora Logic’s previous project, formed shortly after she left X-Ray Spex) and Red Krayola (whose members contributed to Pedigree Charm). The main draw for this deluxe RSD edition was a six-song bonus 12” featuring, among other tracks, a 3-song John Peel session I didn’t know about, recorded shortly before Pedigree Charm as they were working out the album’s final arrangements. Already well familiar with the main album on disc one, when I got this record home I jumped straight to disc 2.

Side 3 of this deluxe reissue is essentially the 12” single of the standout track “Wonderful Offer,” beginning with the two b-sides “Stereo” and “Rather than Repeat” before the extended 12” mix of “Wonderful Offer.” None of these tracks are new to me as I have the original 12” single of “Wonderful Offer,” and they’ve also appeared on previous reissues. (“Stereo” was on the double disc CD compilation Fanfare in the Garden, and both tracks appeared on Aerosol Burns & Other Misdemeanours (1978-1983), a collection of Lora Logic / Essential Logic non-album tracks that was only available as part of 2022’s Logically Yours box set.) Still, I’m happy for the opportunity to revisit these songs. “Stereo” features some beautiful examples of Lora’s baroque sense of melody on both saxophone and vocals, its wistful vibe evoking the deserts of North Africa and the Middle East. “Rather than Repeat” is more upbeat, starting with a free-sounding saxophone part before a funky bass line fades in. It’s dense and funky art-punk that sounds like something that could have been on the first Magazine album, but curiously there is very little percussion on the track even though the instruments lock into the rhythm as if it had a strong, danceable drumbeat. It’s almost like they did a Can-esque funky art jam and then deleted the drum track from the mix, leaving the other instruments floating unsupported in this ghostly way. It’s really interesting. As for the 12” mix of “Wonderful Offer,” it basically just adds a handful of extra bars to the track, making room for some extra slapping and popping on the bass. I prefer the album mix, but I’m happy for the opportunity to soak up more of this album’s fabulous bass playing.

Now onto side B and the three-song Peel session, which finds a pared-down three-piece lineup running through “Martian Man,” “Pedigree Charm,” and “Rat Allé” from the album. While my favorites on Pedigree Charm are the more danceable tracks like “Brute Fury,” “Wonderful Offer,” and “Hiss and Shake,” the three tracks they played at this session represent the album’s artier side, which is just as well since Pedigree Charm’s cracking rhythm section wasn’t present for the session. On first listen, I was taken aback by how different these versions sound from the album. I haven’t A/B’d them closely enough to tell, but it seems like some parts of the songs are still in flux, and the mixes are radically different from the album, putting the spotlight on instruments and melodic lines that took a back seat on the album mixes. The ukulele-esque guitar on “Martian Man,” for instance, is more present in the mix here, which along with the dense percussion emphasizes the song’s tropical feel, though filtered through the rickety sound of UKDIY squatter post-punk. The title track, “Pedigree Charm,” here reminds me of the Specials’ lounge-influenced second album More Specials, something I’d never considered before. Super-fans of the album like me will find these session tracks vital and fascinating, but it’s hard to say what you’d get from this if you haven’t yet fully digested Pedigree Charm.

If you’re new to Pedigree Charm, though, thankfully the album appears in its entirety as disc 1. As I noted, I’m a super-fan, and this is the third vinyl copy of Pedigree Charm in my collection, joining my original 1982 pressing and the copy included in the Logically Yours box set. If you don’t own the album, this deluxe reissue is a great opportunity to pick it up, though unfortunately being a double-disc UK RSD import, it’s not as cheap as I would like. However, it’s the only time they’ve reissued Pedigree Charm apart from the Essential Logic discography, and it’s nice to have the LP in the spotlight rather than buried within an intimidatingly long track listing. If you’re not familiar with the record at all, I’d start with the dance-y songs I mentioned above: “Brute Fury,” “Wonderful Offer,” and “Hiss and Shake.” To me, these songs sound like they’re drawing influence from the black American music of the time, particularly electro with its high-energy rhythms and funky, catchy bass lines full of slapping and popping. If you’re a fan of ESG and the Tom Tom Club, you’ll really like these tracks, as the sound is similar and the playing and the songwriting are just as strong.

Flower: Heel of the Next / Physical God 7” (Peace of Mind Records) The first release on Peace of Mind Records is a new two-song 7” by New York city’s Flower. While this 7” has a much rawer recording than Flower’s excellent 2022 album Hardly a Dream, it otherwise continues the path Flower forged on that record, and the band’s existing fans will love it. Heel of the Next / Physical God is a two-song single, but it’s quite long, its two songs’ running times adding up to well over 8 minutes of 90s-inspired metallic punk. While Nausea is the band everyone references when talking about Flower, I hear plenty of other bands who fuse metal and punk in their sound, particularly Amebix and early Neurosis. Like those bands, there’s an epic sweep to Flower’s music, that quality manifesting in the song’s ornate structures—both tracks have many parts that build and circle back on one another in interesting ways—and in the grandiosity of their chord progressions and riffs, which evoke wide-open landscapes more than the hemmed-in feeling of New York city’s streets. As on Hardly a Dream, there’s also a bouncy quality to some riffs that I might find off-putting if the members had huge muscles and basketball jerseys, but knowing they’re dyed-in-the-wool crusties, I’m able to bop along without the feeling that I’m compromising my scene affiliation. (By the way, their bass player once told me Biohazard was a key influence for them… I do not know if they were joking or not.) The powerful lyrics and strong vocals, alternating between rapid-fire cadences and hooky chants, also carry over from Hardly a Dream, as does the incredible artwork, once again with a Crass Records-style poster sleeve, and the illustrations are even stronger this time. Flower is a great band who has carved out a lane for themselves that few other bands occupy, and if you’re a fan, you definitely shouldn’t to skip this excellent record.

Another week, another pick! This week’s pick will definitely have to be The Mall’s Time Vehicle Earth. I picked this record up and played it when we got it in based solely on the artwork by Indonesian artist Ibayarifin alone. The art depicts a vast, dystopian future and what looks to be time machines coming from or flying to this planet that one can only imagine from the music is open fields that go on for miles and miles.

At moments, you can close your eyes and imagine you are in a movie set in this futuristic timeline. The Mall’s music is dark, bass heavy and minimalist electronic music. On the title track, “Time Vehicle Earth,” you can tell this album would make for a perfect soundtrack for a dystopian nightmare fueled movie. Just add in some killer fight scenes with aliens or a car chase like in Mad Max and this would track would fit perfectly.

With tracks like “Nostalgia,” you can imagine that you are in a dark and grimy Berlin nightclub. Every one in the club dancing, drenched in sweat and pounding their fist in the air to the beat. This is by far my favorite track in the album. The hard thumping bass is reminiscent of hard techno in Europe and those influences really show through in this track.

My relation and love of dance music comes from when I was first introduced to it in my years living in Greenville at its house show/underground music peak. There was house party or show almost every night of the week. One of my fondest memories of underground dance music would have to be at a very popular show/party house called the 9th Street House. This place had shows often. One in particular was when a guy named OCDJ performed. The dance floor (or if you lived there, the living room) was packed full of people dancing, drinking and having a great time. The floor was bowing in from the sheer amount of people and the constant state of it being wet from beer being spilled.

The music was so loud it felt like your brain was being rattled from the bass. People were just dancing and not giving a shit about anything or anyone around them. This is the freedom I felt through punk music and this was the same feeling I was getting through electronic music. This is when I really opened my mind to what punk really could be, and how expansive it could be.

If you want something different and really good check out this record. You will not be disappointed. Mark Plant’s work on this album is something special. It’s darkwave dance music with a punk rock ethos.

What’s up Sorry State readers? I hope everyone had a good Record Store Day! I picked up a cool new release I wasn’t aware of till I saw it: Sun Ra’s Pink Elephants on Parade. This is a compilation of live recordings from Sun Ra and The Arkestra performing songs from old Disney movies (Dumbo, Snow White, etc.) but jazzed up in that special Sun Ra fashion. These are the type of releases I love for RSD: weird shit you never knew you needed. I also love all the live album releases, but I know some people feel differently about that. These recordings are from different shows, but you can tell the energy at all of them was just fun and loose. You can hear laughter in the voices of The Arkestra while they’re singing. My favorite track on here is Whistle While You Work. It has a real upbeat swing to it and I can’t help but whistle along to it and have it stuck in my head for the rest of the day. Me and Dom were listening to it at the store the other day and were moving around there like the seven dwarves. Anyways, I hope everyone scored whatever they wanted and enjoyed a nice Saturday at their favorite Record Store!

Hi Sorry State fam! How is everyone? I hope you had a successful RSD if you participated! The last few days have been kind of shit. Wow, that was a harsh segue. I will sum it up by saying that life can be so draining. But for some reason, I woke up on Sunday in a pretty good mood, and I had a really nice day. I even went to the grocery store, and not once did I want to ram my cart into someone just for being in the same aisle I was in. Trust me, that was a major turning point. Anyway, it’s a new day, new week, and a new temperature outside, so let’s get started.

My pick this week is the 15 Minute City EP by Hygeine, brought to us by Static Shock Records. Fun fact: this EP marks the 15th anniversary of the band and the record label. DIY UK post-punk at its finest. I’m even reminded of Wire when I listen to it, particularly the second track (L.T.N.). In my opinion, this may be their best material!

The song 15 minute city is a whopping (almost) three minutes. It’s got a dry and arty post-punk sound that is layered with a fun, anthemic chorus, and a noisy, chaotic bridge. This is a song you will surely want to hear more than once. The next two tracks play off one another really nicely. L.T.N. is perfectly sandwiched in between 15 Minute City and Petrol, as it’s much shorter and more straightforward. It’s very tight with a stop and start style, and no nonsense approach. The faster and more urgent style is the kind of post-punk I typically gravitate toward. On the other end of the spectrum, the closing track (Petrol) is lighter and more sing-songy. All three songs just work really well together.

The music talks about the struggles of city life and labor operating in a society where big companies have more power than big government. Delivered with a heaping dose of sarcasm and disdain. And that’s what punk is for, right? It certainly helps anyway. I think you will really like this one. Give it a try! Thank you for reading! Until next time!

-Angela

Greetings Sorry Staters. Thanks for taking the time to read our newsletter and for all your support. Whether that’s from reading this, using our webstore or visiting us in person. It means a lot. You guys treat us so well. One of you even calls on each of our birthdays to wish us the best. How nice is that? Talking of birthdays, one of the gang, Seth, celebrated the other day (soz I couldn’t come out) and had people over. He took the opportunity to give Daniel this totally amazing diorama of the Sorry State store that is so f’in cool. Like a fantastic, detailed doll’s house but full of miniature punk and metal records instead. We’re still figuring a way to display it at the store, but will post pictures once we have it installed properly. Nice one Seth.

Another busy week for us at the store made especially so by Record Store Day, which will have happened by the time you are reading this, but right now it’s Thursday for me writing and we still have several boxes of RSD titles to be delivered. This year the day falls on 4/20, which should make it fun if you live in a part of the country where enjoying the herb won’t land you in jail. For those of you reading outside of the United States, I understand how confusing it is to look at America and figure out how life and citizens’ rights can change drastically depending on which state or even county one lives in. Trust me, it’s a major head fuck for many of us and now with the attack on women’s rights going on it’s just getting worse. Please dear God can the voters make all this Maga shit go away in November? Please.

Back to Record Store Day. Without getting into a big debate about the pros and cons of it, I still feel there is cool stuff getting released. As a music lover first and foremost, and someone who’s preferred listening format is vinyl records, I appreciate when an unreleased piece of music is made available or when a super rare and hard to find record gets repressed. If they do it right and keep the price accessible, then what’s not to like? Anyway, did you find something cool for yourself? I’ve got my beady eye on one or two things, so we’ll see whether I’m able to snag something once the day is done. It does seem that there are a few things we ordered where we didn’t get as many copies as we wanted. Such is the case with more and more stores getting in the game. No big deal.

In other store news, we recently acquired a decent cassette tape collection. Jeff teased with a glimpse of some last week. Lots of cool Metal, Indie, Alternative and hip-hop titles and covering the 90s era where vinyl versions of some of these either don’t exist or were pressed in small quantities and can be tough to find. Tapes, although having their own shortcomings, can sound great and for the most part are a cheaper way to collect music than vinyl records. We’ll be putting these guys out on the floor as space permits over the next week or so. Local tape heads come through and check them out. I snagged one by female rapper Antoinette that I didn’t know about from 1989 called Who’s The Boss? I liked it. Good funk sample-based stuff similar to Salt ‘N’ Pepper and MC Lyte. Recommended. There were also a ton of cassette singles which I am still trying to match covers with tapes. I found a Public Enemy Fight The Power taken from the Do The Right Thing soundtrack. Cool ‘cos it has the extended version on it.

Vinyl wise, we got a bunch of cool stuff in this week. Obviously, the latest Taylor Swift was top of everyone’s want list, but in addition to that I can highly recommend the Montaña record. These guys are from Spain, and you can read all about them in Jeff’s staff pick elsewhere in this newsletter if you haven’t already. Cool post-punk stuff.

My pick for you though is the reissue of the Aspirations album by Australian punkers X. A killer record that will fit right in with your Saints, Radio Birdman and Victims LPs. We just got in a repress of this record from the good folks at Dirt Cult Records.

X were from Sydney and formed in 1977, recording their debut in late 1979 for a 1980 release. Original pressings have been tough to score over the years, but several labels have kept it in print, so finding one isn’t too tough, but due to the quality of the music any version has become desirable, hence this most recent pressing being made available to satisfy the marketplace. I don’t own an original,but have a repress from the early 00s. To be honest, I only discovered the band for myself in the 90s from hearing the single I Don’t Want To Go Out on a compilation. My radar was already tuned to the Australian scene, although my preferences were for the 60s groups in the main. However, anything like Radio Birdman and The Saints from the punk era hit the spot too.

X chose their name at the same time that the Los Angeles X were forming and both bands were unaware of each other. The Australian X was formed by bass player Ian Rilen, who left Rose Tattoo (he would rejoin them later in the 80s), and guitarist and vocalist Steve Lucas, guitarist Ian Krahe and drummer Steve Cafiero. The band played the Sydney scene and quickly became popular with those clued up on the punk music coming from the UK and USA. Krahe became known for his guitar playing style whereby he didn’t use a pick and would bloody his hands thrashing away. He would sadly pass away before the band recorded Aspirations. So as a three piece and with Lobby Loyde of Rose Tattoo producing, they recorded their debut, apparently in five hours. Loyde would end up in the producer’s chair for X’s second and third albums later in the 80s. Most people seem to agree that their second LP At Home With You from 1985 is their strongest record, but there is something about the raw, short and sharp impact of their debut that appeals. It is short too, just over a half hour but in the world of punk that almost seems like a double album opus. My favorite track is I Don’t Want To Out, which has a great funky bass line and a funny vocal chorus. That cut was selected for a single release and good luck trying to find one of those. There are a lot more good songs on the album: opener Suck Suck followed by Present and then Simulated Lovers are all worth the price of admission. They even make like The Jam and throw in a cover of the Batman theme for good measure.

If you dig this period of the band and like good Aussie pub rock/punk, then definitely check out Live At The Civic ’79, which was released by Dropkick Records 2004. It’s a good quality recording done for radio at the time. In addition, Dirt Cult have put out a 7” E.P. called Hate City that has tracks recorded as early as 1977 and are the only ones to feature the original four-piece line-up. We have a few available along with the current repress of the Aspirations album. Check ‘em out. My only complaint with the current reissue of the album is the changed artwork and the lack of any insert with band and track information. Not that you need a full bio necessarily with the internet, but some details and some photos might have been nice. Still, the music is what counts, and Aspirations is a great punk record worthy of any collection and this version will deliver the sounds to you if nothing else. The artwork change was apparently sanctioned by only surviving member, Steve Lucas, so it is with reason and not bad, but I prefer the original.

Okay, I must stop here and get this in before deadline. Thanks for reading.

Cheers - Dom

What’s up Sorry Staters?

By the time this newsletter comes out, the Shaved Ape/Meat House/Starving Bomb benefit gig for the Palestine Children’s Relief Fund will be behind us already. Weird to write this preemptively. I really hope that show goes well. I’m fuggin stoked for it and hope the punks and freaks come rage and support the cause. Also, the day this newsletter comes out will be the same night as the mighty Deletär’s infiltration of Raleigh! So pumped for that gig.

Man, my staff pick this week caught me off guard. Sometimes, we stock records here at the store of which I have no prior knowledge or point of reference. Then, upon first listen, the record knocks my socks off. Okay, here’s the kicker though: especially a few years back, the genre descriptor of “gothy post-punk” really was the kiss of death, wasn’t it? I remember a period where contemporary DIY punk was way too oversaturated with bands that tried to do their best Joy Division impression. We’d stock record after record like that at Sorry State, and after a while I just remember finding all those bands exhausting. If your objective is to sound like 80s goth band “X”, I think the difficulty is whether you can actually write a good song or not. You can decorate the gothic castle of your dreams with all the correct sonic gargoyle statues and spooky drapery you want. Dark, moody vibe? Check. Chorus and delay on the guitars? Check. Wailing, low-pitch, budget Ian Curtis vocals? Check. Anybody else yawning yet?

This new LP by Montaña is antithetical to all of these negative trappings of post-punk I’m describing above. I played this record, and within 10 seconds I was already hooked. Hailing from Seville in Spain, Montaña has many sonic identifiers that tempt me to draw comparisons to other bands. But whatever, this record is just really GOOD. I think the strength of the band is that they know how to write hooky, catchy, and intelligently constructed songs. For my money, this band’s take on mining familiar sounds of post-punk/new wave/whatever stands head and shoulders above hack imitators. For one, I love that even with an incorporeal feeling of melancholy moodiness detectable, Montaña exchange the typical drudging broodiness for uplifting, frenetic energy in their songwriting. The opening track “6:45” is a perfect example, where the frenzied, relentlessly moving bassline meets a vibrant, hooky guitar melody. Funny enough, the herky jerky, unyielding bass and rhythm section kinda remind of Gang Of Four, and they have that song “5:45”… Coincidence? But they knock the musicianship out of the park. Brilliant counterpoint occurs between the propulsive basslines and the often syncopated, ethereal guitars. The second track “Negro Calor” opens with a bass part that immediately has a catchy guitar line that comes in with an unexpected, angular rhythm that rubs against the pulse of the bass. Moments of complex rhythmic intensity seamlessly transition into euphoric, spaced-out dreamy releases of tension.

Gah-DEYUM I love what the guitar player is doing on this record. It’s like total ear candy. While it is drenched with effects, I don’t gather that the guitar player is just trying to squeeze a bunch of pedals on his pedalboard unnecessarily like an obnoxious, nerdy guitar store employee. The variety of textures feels deliberate and heightens certain passages in the songs. The role of the guitar functions less like a vehicle to lead the listener’s ear for chord changes, and more like another layer of melodic complexity against the vocals. It’s like an additional dressing… that special sauce, baby. It’s funny, the guitar player every now and then will hit these chord accents with a particular delay cadence that sounds so much like “I Ran” by Flock of Seagulls. I don’t mean that as a diss at all. I really like Flock of Seagulls haha.

Speaking of the guitarwork against the vocals, the woman singing is the pot of gold under the rainbow obscured by the clouds. Another remarkable element within an already excellent backing band. All the lyrics are sung in Spanish of course, which for whatever reason is a bonus for me. Whether it’s Paralis Permanente or whoever, I think Spanish singing, even just sonically, sounds at home and rad over this style of music. Her voice and approach to the singing just oozes charisma and personality. She’ll do these explosive high-pitched squawks that (I hate to even go there) remind of Siouxsie on tracks like “Head Cut.” I guess a more contemporary comparison I could make is Violeta from Rata Negra—more just as a reference point for lively, talented singers in a similar vein. And that’s not to take anything away from the singer of Montaña—she’s got her own thing going on of course.

I think 8 songs is the perfect length for a record like this. All the songs are around 3 minutes in length and jam-packed with hooks and interesting, clever song structures. The record doesn’t overstay its welcome, and it also leaves the listener wanting more. The recording is also incredible. Crisp, clear, punchy and all the players in the band shine. It sounds professional, which is a funny word to use I suppose. Not slick exactly, but just expertly executed. The record comes housed in this unassuming brown cardboard jacket. The feel of the record is very DIY, with silkscreened minimal, graphic-designy looking artwork. I think this record is also a pressing of only 300 copies or something like that. I think the record is so damn good that it feels like it should be on a bigger indie label for some reason. But the fact that it’s not on a bigger label, and maintains a real deal DIY punk sensibility only adds to the record’s allure in my book. Maybe I wouldn’t have even listened to Montaña if they were on Sacred Bones or whatever haha.

It’s funny, the band is called Montaña, which I assume means “mountain” in Spanish. But here in North Cakalaky, I keep forgetting about the tilde on the “ñ” and keep jokingly calling the band Montana. The best post-punk to ever emerge from the hills of Missoula. This record is great. If any of the references or comparisons I made tickle your fancy, then I highly recommend checking it out.

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

‘Til next week,

-Jeff

The Undertones: Hypnotised LP (Sire, 1980)

After my foray into the literary for last week’s staff pick, let’s swing way in the other direction and talk about a classic punk record everyone should know. Saturday was Record Store Day, and as I usually do on Record Store Day, once things calmed down in the shop I went out to buy lunch for the staff. I suggested this spot I like called Vegan Community Kitchen, whose food I love but rarely get to eat because they’re way out in the burbs, completely on the other side of Raleigh from where I live. I figured it would be a good treat for Record Store Day, and that their hearty food—their specialty is vegan kebab—would be satisfying after an intense day of work. The weather on Saturday was great in Raleigh. It had been almost 90 degrees on Friday, but Saturday was cooler, and while the sun wasn’t out, it felt like a relief after the premature heat of the past few days. So as I hit the highway to pick up lunch, I rolled the windows down and dialed up an old favorite to listen to.

I’m sure I don’t have you tell you how great the Undertones are. Everyone knows “Teenage Kicks,” but if you know little beyond that, I strongly urge you to check out their first two albums and all the surrounding singles and b-sides. I’ve always had a particular fondness for Hypnotised, their second album. While the Undertones’ first album has a unique youthful charm that makes it many people’s favorite, I love the slightly more mature version of the Undertones you get on Hypnotised. The band members are still very young, but they play with such confidence and power here, the excellent recording accentuating how precise yet alive their playing is. They were just a great fucking band at this point, and while I’m sure they could have pulled off more complex music, they kept things pretty straightforward. Never ones to show off, the songs on Hypnotised are still the unpretentious pop the Undertones had been writing up to that point, but the Undertones weren’t rubes. The opening track, “More Songs About Chocolate and Girls,” is totally self-aware about where the band was in their career. The chorus articulates exactly why so many bands struggle with their second album: the songs need “a lot less time but a lot more care.” The Undertones crammed Hypnotised full of hits… the title track with its all-time classic chorus, the brilliant slice of life of “My Perfect Cousin,” the gentle psychedelic pop of “Wednesday Week.” Aside from the cover of “Under the Boardwalk,” which I always skip, it’s pretty much nothing but bangers.

That the Undertones become such seasoned and capable musicians feels like a validation of punk’s promise that anyone could do it. Aside from their natural talent, the Undertones didn’t appear to have anything going for them. They were really young, not particularly attractive (apologies to them), and about as far from the cultural center of the British isles as you could be, in a city beset by poverty and brutal political violence. But they made great fucking music, and it took them far. And while fame exposes cracks in many bands, success only seemed to hone the Undertones’ songwriting and performance chops. The band would move away from punk on their third and fourth albums, but Hypnotised captures them at this perfect moment when they were still a punk band, but also just a great band full stop. In that respect, Hypnotised reminds me of the Ruts’ The Crack and the Stranglers’ No More Heroes, smart and aggressive punk records made by bands with big-league playing chops captured in good studios with major label recording budgets.

So yeah, if it’s springtime where you live, break out your copy of Hypnotised, take a big breath of fresh air, and blast it as loud as you can.

Bato: Human Cancer 12” (Not for the Weak Records) The wider world last heard from Bato on their 2019 7” Ravages of Time, but those of us who have seen the band live in the intervening five years knew they were brewing up something special for their long-planned debut LP. Now Human Cancer is out, and it’s ready to melt faces. Arriving via Norfolk’s prolific Not for the Weak Records, Bato shares a member with their label-mates Reckoning Force, and fans of that band will recognize guitarist Jordan Greenough’s lightning-fast, ultra-precise riffing right away. Also like Reckoning Force, Bato boasts a member of Socialcide (Bato has Socialcide’s drummer, while Reckoning Force features their bassist). If you’re one of the smart folks who has been snapping up every Not for the Weak Records release as it comes out, you’re going to love Bato, as the ultra-fast, musically dense hardcore punk that is that label’s trademark forms the foundation of their sound. Human Cancer can feel relentless on the first listen, riffs coming at you with overwhelming speed and ferocity, one right after the other, but the energy never drags. While Bato rides riffs just long enough to set the hook, they always have a tempo change or a cool little trade-off between instruments to keep the song moving. The songs are well-written, even subtle, feeling cooked down to where they’re as lean as they can be, all flavor and no filler. That sense of density combined with Bato’s consistently manic tempos makes Human Cancer a demanding yet exhilarating listen.