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Frigöra: Fullständig Frigörelse 12" (General Speech) General Speech Records brings us a vinyl discography with bonus material from these mid-90s Japanese crusties. To be honest, I wasn’t too familiar with Frigöra before this record. I knew them as that Japanese band with Swedish lyrics, but I didn’t know their music because it fell into one of my blind spots. In 1995-1998, when these records were coming out, I was still listening to NOFX and Pennywise, and by the time I got hip to Japanese punk a few years later, these records were nowhere to be found. Eventually I’d grow obsessed with finding out about older Japanese punk, but Frigöra weren’t far back enough to have the vintage patina of 80s bands or even early 90s groups like Bastard. I’m pleased to learn all about Frigöra today, as I probably appreciate their music today more than I would have at any time in the past. Fullständig Frigörelse captures two iterations of the band with different rhythm sections, the first of whom recorded a self-titled 7” and a split with Diskonto, and the latter their 12” EP, Dance of the Plague Bearer. The earlier version of the band is as steeped in 80s Swedish hardcore as you might expect. While they have Mob 47’s insane tempos, they also capture some of the magic from the Shitlickers EP, particularly on their 1995 self-titled EP, which has something of the uniquely desperate tone that only Shitlickers had. Frigöra’s sound changed a bit for the 12”, the new drummer playing with less groove, the rhythms getting more fractured, and the guitars incorporating multiple distorted tones for a wider sense of dynamics. While the cover art and title might make you think Dance of the Plague Bearer is a stenchcore record, it really points the way toward bands like D-Clone and Lebenden Toten who took the Disorder / Confuse / Gai sound into the psychedelic stratosphere. Fullständig Frigörelse is packed with General Speech’s typical care, with crisp graphics and a fold-out insert that reproduces the graphics from the original release with nothing in the way of heavy-handed historicization.

Major brain fog has come over me this week, so this might be a short one! I hope everyone has had a great week and has picked up some really great records. I have been really nostalgic recently when it comes to music; honestly when am I not? I seem to always go back to the records I listened to in high school and college to try and grasp a glimpse of how fun those days were, not having a care in the world. Having to be an adult with bills sucks. Summertime also makes me want to listen to a lot of pop punk from the late 90s and early 2000s.

The Huntingtons—High School Rock. I never thought I would own this record, as older 90s Tooth & Nail Records are becoming very hard to find and very expensive. I was lucky enough to stop by this shop in Wilmington on the way to beach and there it was on the wall, and signed by all the members. I knew I could not leave the store without it! This band is legendary for one big reason. Joey Ramone ended up doing some shows at CBGBs before his death. If I remember correctly, he had a bunch of bands submit recordings of them doing Ramones songs as some sort of competition to see what band he would front as what would become his last time playing live at CBGBs before his death in 2001. The Huntingtons have had numerous Ramones cover albums put out on Tooth & Nail Records and Burnt Toast Vinyl, as well as a bunch of original records on those same labels. High School Rock is one of my favorites, if only because it’s the first one I heard from the band back in the late 90s. This is as good as it gets when it comes to Ramones style pop punk. Please check them out if you haven’t heard them. There is also a video of the show on youtube. Until next time. Thanks for scrolling all this way down at the bottom to read my pick this week!

What’s up Sorry State readers? I hope everyone is having a nice week. It’s been hot and rainy here in Raleigh, but what’s new? Almost a year ago, I wrote about the Norman Blake album Whiskey Before Breakfast. Coincidently, I finally just came across a copy of his 1972 album, Home In Sulphur Springs. Another album full of some of my favorite songs he’s written and some incredible picking. I really love all the instrumental tracks on here, especially Warp Factor #9. Usually once a week on one of my days off, if the weather is nice, I like to go on a hike at Umstead State Park here, especially in the summertime. This song always makes me think of cruising down the trails there alongside the river and the light shining through in patches through the canopy of the forest. I probably just listened to this song while doing this one time and it’s secretly burned into my memory, but also the instrumental just gives off so much emotion and paints a vivid picture, all without lyrics. My favorite track on here, though, is Randall Collins, which is the song that originally got me hooked on Norman Blake via Billy Strings. It’s just such a cool song. Other highlights on the album include Cattle In The Cane, Ginseng Sullivan, and Bringing In The Georgia Mail. This record is essential if you’re into this kinda music and I’m happy to finally own a copy.

Hi and thanks for reading. I got my LAMA box set in the mail the order day, and I want to write a bit about that. But first, I wanted to briefly mention these two reissues we have back in stock. I wrote about BARN AV REGNBUEN and SISTE DAGERS HELVETE about one year ago, when we returned from tour with some distro copies. PUBLIC ACID also played at Blitz in Oslo on the way to K-town like we had done the year before. I met up with my homie Bård again and I grabbed a nice stack of his reissues to restock Sorry State. Both of these bands rip, especially BARN AV REGNBUEN. Compared to other Norsk bands I think they are a bit underrated. Bård explained to me that the sound on SISTE DAGERS HELVETE was improved from the original pressing, as the band was not happy with the original pressing on Rock-O-Rama. They had a few compilation appearances, which are included on this reissue as well. BARN AV REGNBUEN compiles their 7” on X-Port Plater, their absolutely raging flexi that was released the year after, and some bonus tracks that I have no idea where they came from. If you don’t have these reissues already and like Norwegian hardcore, I consider them essential!

Moving on, I think LAMA was the first Finnish hardcore band. I could be wrong, or maybe it’s just a matter of opinion. Maybe this opinion is crazy to a Finn, haha. I know they weren’t full-blown distorted like KAAOS or CADGERS, but they certainly walk a fine line between punk and hardcore. LAMA began in the late ‘70s under a different name and their first record came out in 1980. RATTUS was another Finnish hardcore band who began in the late ‘70s with their first record coming out in 1980 as well; however, the sound was not nearly as pummeling as LAMA. RATTUS kinda had a ’77 sound up until their legendary 1982 Rajoitettu Ydinsota EP, at which time they were clearly under the influence of DISCHARGE. I am not sure what LAMA’s influences were early on, but on their 1983 7” Ajatuksen Loppu I can certainly hear some DISCHARGE.

LAMA was from Helsinki. They released four 7”s and an LP between 1980 and 1983. I’m not too familiar with their line-ups and related bands, but I know they had some ties to UNICEF. UNICEF was just a drunk punk band who was also from Helsinki, and they had a revolving line-up. I read they didn’t like to be paid at gigs, instead requested to be paid in booze—Sorbus more specifically, haha. It’s funny the title track on their sole 7” is actually a Skrewdriver cover sung in Finnish… Rane Raitsikka was in UNICEF, and he was also playing bass in LAMA. He was not an original member though; the only record he played on was Ajatuksen loppi. He got his nickname from Epe, the singer of LAMA. The name came from when he had placed small bombs he found at a construction site in Lepakko between some tram tracks. Juha “Jusa” Ranta was also in UNICEF and LAMA. He was not the original drummer of LAMA but he played on all their 80s records (I think).

So, these LAMA 7”s have been reissued before. Back in the ‘80s the original label who released them all, Johanna, compiled them onto a 12” entitled …Ja Mikään Ei Muuttunut. Svart had previously done a reissue of this as well, actually. Back in 2009 Finnish label Combat Rock Industry reissued all the LAMA 7”s in their original format. I don’t have any of those pressings, but to me it’s always cool when stuff is reissued on their original format. One could argue the 12” compilation is better cos most of the 7”s have only 2-3 songs each on them. But their third 7”, Väliaikainen, has four tracks alongside one of the coolest foldout posters ever. These 7” reissues have been hard to come by, and you’d likely have to pay over double the original retail cost to secure a copy on the second-hand market. I think they were each limited to 500 copies.

Svart always keeps the cost of box sets considerably low for what they contain, and I really appreciate that. They reproduced the LAMA 7”s sleeves quite well and the sound is excellent. The discs sound nice and crisp, and the bass really carries through. The box itself is fairly flimsy, but I don’t care about that. I kinda dislike box sets in general and put the actual box on a shelf never to be seen again, and then I file the records individually, according to country, in alphabetical order.

Svart has a pre-order up for LAMA’s s/t 1982 LP now. They’ve previously reissued this, but again like most LAMA reissues, coming across a copy of that in the USA in the last handful of years has not been so common. If you don’t have that one, you’re definitely gunna need it too—and Sorry State will certainly have copies. Continuing about LAMA reissues, I wanted to point on that we have some copies of this LAMA live cassette Onks Marko Täällä? from 1982. This is kind of a nerdy archival reissue. You’ll probably never see one of these in the wild, so it’s great that the Finnish Hardcore label gave this one an official reissue, and on its original cassette format.

Alright before I go, for a long time I thought Väliaikainen (1981) was my favorite LAMA shit, but lately I really lean towards their 1980 debut Totuus Löytyy Kaurapuurosta. Hilariously, the title track ended up on an 80s television ad for some Finnish oatmeal brand named Elovena. It’s not actually LAMA playing the song in the commercial and they’ve altered the song a bit, but it’s still a pretty good laugh. Alright, I think that sums it up for this week. If you haven’t gotten your copy of the LAMA box set yet, what are you waiting for?! Cheers and thanks for your support.

Hey there Sorry Staters! Thanks for clicking on the newsletter and taking a read. We always appreciate it. I hope your July is going well. My summer of dentist chair surfing is continuing well. Had a couple of fillings today and next week I have a triple extraction and bone graft to look forward to. Yay! I’m still not done either. The big one comes last. Certainly, as far as expense goes. Oh well. What else am I going to spend thousands of dollars on that I don’t have?

This week I thought I would shine a spotlight on some cool vintage sounds from the African continent. We recently stocked some interesting titles from the always impressive Awesome Tapes From Africa label along with one or two others from the Born Bad label from France and the always reliable Numero Group.

The other week, John Scott and I were listening to several cool records online, and I checked to see what we could order for the store and managed to get one or two in for you guys.

Firstly, we were loving the keyboard sounds of Hailu Mergia from Ethiopia. If you have dipped your toes into the world of Ethiopian jazz and funk, then you’ll be familiar with that unmistakable sound even if you don’t know the names of artists like this. Awesome Tapes From Africa, a great reissue label, has done us all a favor by making this wonderful music readily available to us here in 2025 on the other side of the world. Hailu Mergia played the organ, keyboards and synths and has had a career lasting over fifty years. We got in his first record, Tezeta, originally released in 1976, that has him backed by the famous Wallias Band. That group was formed by Mulatu Astatke, arguably the most well-known and successful of the Ethiopian new school. He was also a keyboard and organ player, but crucially brought the sounds of the vibraphone and a Latin influence on to the local scene. If you have listened to any of his records and liked them, you’ll no doubt enjoy the music of Hailu Mergia.

The second record we have by him, Shemonmuanaye, was recorded later in the 1980s and utilizes then current synths in addition to the already used organ. On this record, he revitalizes the sounds of the previous decade and creates a unique mood. Whenever we have had this spinning in the store, someone always asks who’s playing. This record and the previous one mentioned have a very calming and chill vibe to them. There’s nothing too crazy or funky here but just nice pleasing music. It’s hard to really describe. Just gentle, repetitive grooves over sparse drum machine beats. It can sound almost mystical in places and has a very hypnotic sound. One for a summer’s day to relax to or great to have on whilst working. Highly recommended. A companion record would be the collection of unreleased recordings from Charles Stepney called Step By Step, which I have spoken about here previously. If you dig that lo-fi retro groove thing.

From Cameroon, we have a cool collection of music from Frances Bebey called Psychedelic Sanza 1982–1984, released by Born Bad Records. Bebey was a multi-instrumentalist, writer, poet, singer and producer whose career spanned three decades. As the title informs us, these recordings stem from the early 1980s. Still a very fertile period in his career. There are a lot of interesting and cool sounds on this one. It’s folky, it’s funky, it’s soulful, it’s humorous. Bebey has a great vocal delivery, and his lyrics are funny in places and politically spot on. He sings in both French and English. This one has been getting a lot of spins on my turntable, and my favorite track so far has been one called Forest Nativity.

The same label has a compilation of slightly earlier, mid-70s recordings that we are trying to bring in, but for the time being our distributor is out of stock. We’ll keep trying for you as that set has some bangers on it too.

Lastly, from Nigeria, you shouldn’t sleep on Lijado Sisters’ Danger LP. We spoke about the Numero Group reissue of their later album, Horizon Unlimited, here in the newsletter before. That record came out originally in 1979 and has a more disco edge to the funk sound. Danger is from 1976 and on this one the sound is more afrobeat, but with psychedelic touches throughout. Great guitar playing from Biddy Wright, who played several instruments on the album and produced it. It’s a terrific record, doesn’t outstay its welcome and has a Nas sample on it, if that sort of thing interests you. As with the above records, highly recommended.

Okay, that’s my lot. Some cool summer (or anytime) jams for you. Go take a listen and see what you think and snag yourself a copy. Why not?

Cheers - Dom

What’s up Sorry Staters?

Welp, one thing is clear over the last week or so: Y’all punk ass mofos LOVE Death Side. The amount of pre-orders we’ve been receiving is overwhelming, but good on you Sorry Staters for stepping to the occasion. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised. This top-tier odds n sods collection for Death Side’s non-album tracks is long overdue. I’m personally stoked to have the tracks from the Chaos UK split and all the various compilation appearances in one convenient place on an official release. As much as I love Death Side, I have not yet managed to track down all of the many comps they’ve appeared on. The energy and anticipation felt from you all has been very exciting, to say the least.

I told you last week that I would report back about my weekend, and so here goes: The 7Eleven show was a total blast. I arrived around 4PM in the charming suburb of Midlothian, VA, about 20 minutes outside Richmond. The appearance of the outdoor shopping center where the 7Eleven was located looked eerily similar to somewhere like Cary, North Carolina. That may mean nothing to some of you readers, but let’s just say it certainly appeared to be a clean, nice, upper-crust neighborhood. The reflection of the sun off of the asphalt was blistering, but it was a bonding experience for everyone involved. We all suffered together. I immediately grabbed my free slurpee, as is customary on July 11th, and joined my friends who were hanging out on the tailgate of a pickup truck. These were the summer activities I’d been craving. As I would walk into the 7Eleven to buy more beer, I would interact with strangers who were totally confused about the crowd outside. “So… WHAT exactly is happening??” It was super funny.

The scene began with a small gathering that would sneak their respective refreshing alcoholic beverages into 7Eleven plastic cups. As the crowd started swelling, it devolved into hordes of 20-somethings irreverently roaming the parking lot with open containers. I think 12 or 13 bands played? It was a long day, but the changeover from one band to the next was very snappy. I remember watching Cicada play, thinking to myself that surely the kids dancing in that signature side-to-side mosh style would inevitably lead to some road rash from spills onto the concrete. I climbed onto the back of a stranger’s truck to watch Invertebrates from a high vantage point. I just marveled at this wild gathering of freaks raging to hardcore under the sun. It was a beautiful thang. As it got closer to the end of the night, former 7Eleven employee and host for the event, known simply as “Joker,” grabbed a megaphone to alert the crowd. Not surprisingly, noise complaints had gotten out of control and Joker gave everyone notice the gig might get shut down and that everyone in attendance needed to clear out as fast as possible. Destruct and Public Acid both played truncated sets. PA only played about 5 songs before we wrapped the whole thing up. Totally worth it.

Well, that ended up being a more long-winded summary than I expected. Now let’s talk about something completely different…

Recently, I cheated on Sorry State once again and went to grab some records from the homie Rachel over at the Pour House. She gave me a heads up, because I guess some dude who was a big horror movie fan and metalhead came and sold some of his collection. I grabbed the soundtrack Trick Or Treat by Fastway, which I was pumped about. But I also grabbed a missing record to complete my Hellion 12”s. Well, I probably still don’t quite have everything, but whatever. I don’t know how many people are super familiar with Hellion. The band was based out of Los Angeles in the mid-to-late 80s. The band was most notably fronted by a woman named Ann Boleyn, who also founded independent label New Renaissance Records.

Now, even though they were from LA, I would describe Hellion and the whole New Renaissance scene as a totally counter movement to the all the 80s glam and hair metal bands playing along the Sunset Strip. But the sound is not exactly thrash either. Hellion falls under a category I affectionately refer to as “Night Metal.” Think about the creepier sounding Dokken riffs, like the intro to “When Heaven Comes Down.” Still following? It’s like, heavier than Ratt, but it’s also not quite speed metal. Like, rather than dayglo-colored spandex under neon lights, it’s more like bedazzled leather pants in smoky, dark alleyways. But obviously, all still within the streets of LA. Hellion’s style of metal is also marked by a penchant for drama in presentation, and also no shame in displays of virtuosity, both in the guitar playing, but also in Ann Boleyn’s signature snarling yet flamboyantly operatic vocals.

At Pour House, I grabbed Hellion’s 1983 eponymous 12” EP. I was stoked to see that it was a first pressing on independent label Bongus Lodus Records (which I can only assume is self-released by the band under a goofy label name). As expected, the records are in typical 80s metal condition, promo corner cuts and all. For me, the banger off of this EP is a track called “Driving Hard”, which really, even with its grandiose execution, is still not far off from glam metal. Maybe with a little Priest injected. I mean, come on, the song says “baby”. Not heavy. But awesome? Oh yes. But to really get an idea of the musical trajectory of Hellion on subsequent records, I highly suggest checking out the title track from their debut full-length Screams In The Night. When she does the vocal imitation of the guitar riff at around like 1:38? Forget it, that’s the shit.

Because it’s probably the record I’ve owned the longest, I’ve also always had a special place in my heart for the 1988 12” EP Postcards From The Asylum. I love the song “Nevermore.” Killer riff, super catchy. They also do a pretty badass cover of “Exciter” by Judas Priest.

Okay, then one last thing I wanna mention about New Renaissance Records before I bore you all too much. The label in my mind is significant for releasing several series of compilation albums that highlighted underground heavy metal bands. Most notably, the Speed Metal Hell and Thrash Metal Attack series of compilations. New Renaissance also released this compilation that I personally have a soft spot for called Ladykillers, which spotlights women playing in metal bands during that era. Some bands on this comp are better than others, but it’s a fun listen. Hellion is on it of course, but then the comp also features a track by Jaded Lady, who you might remember singer Terry O’Leary as one of the talking heads in Decline of Western Civilization - Part II. Pretty cool.

Alright, I gotta wrap it up. Hope my updates about Slurpees and Night Metal at least kept you briefly entertained. As always, thanks for reading!

‘Til next week,

-Jeff

A few months ago, I wrote about the old Spanish punk compilation Punk Que? Punk for my staff pick, and in my write-up I mentioned how much I enjoyed the two tracks on that comp by KGB and that I’d like to hear the band’s other material. Amazingly, our friend Marko in Finland read my babbling and got in touch, offering to sell me his original copy of KGB’s lone single. Marko and Usman have been pen pals for a while and were already planning to meet up while we were in Helsinki last month, so Marko hand-delivered the single to Usman and it’s my staff pick this week:

KGB: Treblinka 7” (DRO, 1983)

Man, what a single! One thing I love about a lot of old Spanish punk is that the bands often wear their ’77 influences on their sleeve, and that’s certainly the case here, with both the a-side and b-side of this single being upbeat songs with big singalong melodies in the chorus. I compared KGB to the Dickies when I wrote about Punk Que? Punk, and while these two songs aren’t as sunny-sounding as that, they definitely have a similar combination of super tight playing and pop songcraft chops. I think KGB’s bass player is their not-so-secret weapon. The bass is way in the front of the mix on the single’s two tracks, and the way the bass player’s runs cascade across these relatively straightforward chord progressions really makes them pop.

The production on these two tracks is really strong. The recording isn’t lush or overdone, but the drums and bass have rich and clear tones that keep these tracks chugging along. There aren’t a ton of overdubs, but some keyboards help bring “Treblinka” to a big climax, while the falsetto backing vocals on “Luftwaffe” practically beg you to join in singing. I have a feeling that if I spoke Spanish the urge to sing along would be even stronger, but it’s pretty darn strong as it is.

The packaging on the single is excellent too: a beautiful 3-color print on heavy, textured paper that folds out multiple times. It’s thoughtfully designed and looks classy as hell, whether it’s folded down to 7” size or all splayed out. This is what collecting old punk singles is about… I’m sure I could have dialed these songs up on YouTube, but hearing them at maximum fidelity and getting to interact with the great packaging really helps bring the whole thing home.

Thanks once again to Marko for the hook-up, and for everyone else who reads the newsletter so closely. Please get in touch if you’re ever able to hook me up with something I’m looking for. Speaking of which, now I really need to track down the KGB LP on Vomitopunkrock Records, which appears to collect songs from their two rare cassette-only releases.

The Berserk: Where’s the Dictator? 12” (self-released) Debut 12” from this new band from Philly whose demo we carried a few months back. Given the personnel involved, I knew this band would be good, but I was blown away by how fresh and vital the Berserk sounds without straying outside the relatively narrow bounds of fast hardcore punk. The title track, which kicks off the record, is a little different from the other songs, working within the early Chaos UK template with a fast tupa-tupa beat and rubber band bass sound, but infused with the precision and power of the best early US hardcore. While the Berserk is super tight and locked in, the vocalist is loose and unhinged, his syllables splayed across the beat like loose entrails. That dynamic between fist-pumping tightness in the music and savage insanity in the vocals remains compelling throughout these seven tracks, whether the Berserk is playing at an Out Cold-esque groovy fast tempo (“Liquidate Society” and “Never Absolved”), a menacing stomp (“Razed Catholic”), or dipping back into that Chaos UK / Disorder / Confuse wildness (“Next Invasion”). The recording showcases the band perfectly as well, achieving a great balance of grit, punch, and clarity. Anyone who likes fast, old school hardcore should give this record a shot… the Berserk delivers everything you want from a fast hardcore record while bringing a ton of their own unique personality to the table.

Hello Sorry Staters! What a week! I hope everyone in the states had a good fourth even though our country is going to shit in front of our eyes. Here’s to drinking beers in the pool with friends! I have been holding off on writing about this record until I had it in hand. We unfortunately have not gotten our copies in just yet, but it has been on constant rotation since it came out. King Gizzard and The Lizard Wizard recently went on tour playing some amazing locations in the EU and streamed it all on YouTube to give the folks that couldn’t make it a sort of couch tour. It was absolutely amazing, seeing them play some rearranged older songs and even playing some older songs on their rolling synth table named “Nathan,” much like their album The Silver Cord. So This week my pick had to be the new album Phantom Island.

The album is very accessible for new listeners, much like Flight B741. Flight B741 took a few listens and to watch some live performances for me to really “get” the vibe of the record. You can tell the record was made around the same time and that these songs were the songs that might not have been filled out much, but the addition of the orchestra on the recording made it perfect. It’s like a full sounding, almost in your face experience when played loud, naturally. It is very much a jazz, soft rock and (dare I say) yacht rock vibe, but they do it in the best way possible. All members of the band have moments where they are allowed to shine when it comes to vocals. Which to me is always a breath of fresh air, having different vocals on different songs. It doesn’t make it sound like a different band, but just adds another level of musicianship to the record. These tracks will for sure play out well live when they start a jam with some of tracks. It’ll be really interesting to see what they do with these songs live. They have announced a few dates this summer playing with an orchestra in each city, which should be really amazing, especially if they incorporate some non Phantom Island tracks.

We are getting in a lot of really great collections at the store, so if you are local please come check us out! We are still listing a ton of CDs. At this point it seems as if we will have enough CDs to list for years to come, so please keep checking back. Lots of cool stuff in that collection. Some other notable favorites that we have got in recently that I have been listening to are the Slads/Sikm split 7” and the new Envy—All The Footprints... reissue. So until next week! Hope everyone gets a chance to go outside and enjoy the sun and go experience something new! Cheers!

What’s up Sorry State readers? Holy cow, it feels like an eternity since I’ve done one of these, so apologies if I’m a little rusty. I missed the return newsletter last week cause I was in Memphis visiting my mom for the week, which was very nice. Not much has happened since the last newsletter before half the Sorry State crew was over in Europe. Their stories are much more interesting and entertaining than mine. I was, however, introduced to an album I’ve totally been diggin since Dom showed it to me a couple weeks ago, The Baby Huey Story: The Living Legend. I got a copy of the newest reissue that Rhino just put out and from what I can tell it seems to be very well done and high quality. Baby Huey died in 1970 of a heart attack at the age of 26 and this album was released posthumously the following year in 1971. The album starts off with an infectious groove that doesn’t let up for the entire record. Plenty of funky and groovy basslines and breaks that have been sampled countless times by producers years later. The standout track has to be the almost ten minute version of Sam Cooke’s A Change Is Going To Come that truly is a psychedelic journey, full of Baby Huey’s loud, piercing shrieks. That last part kinda sounds like a knock, but it’s definitely not. I love them. I also really like the instrumental version of California Dreamin on here. Maybe many of you have already heard of this album, but if you’re like me and haven’t or just never bothered to check it out, do yourself a favor and do it!

Hello and thanks for reading. Today I am not writing about a record, but a book. I haven’t really been listening to records lately. I listened to a C.O.C tape this morning, and I listened to this KOHTI TUHOA LP the other night when HELL IS HERE stayed over after their gig in Raleigh. I think KOHTI TUHOA is easily one of the best bands I have seen live. I am lucky to say I have seen them four times. They play so tight. They can maintain pummeling speeds with super catchy riffs, alongside some of the hardest dancing grooves on other songs. Obviously I am already a fan of classic Finnish hardcore, but I can genuinely never get enough KOHTI TUHOA. If for some reason you haven’t yet checked this band out, listen to their last LP. They’ve got a decent amount of studio output, with their first record coming out in 2014. We have a few of their 7”s in stock at the moment. I was pretty drunk in Finland, but I think I recall them saying they will record for a new LP sometime. I can’t wait for that. Speaking of Finland, if you haven’t ordered a copy of the new LAMA boxset—you without a doubt need one!! I will probably write about that at a later time, once my limited version arrives from Svart Records.

Moving on to my staff pick. I am kind of ashamed to admit that I don’t really read books. I have only read two proper novels this year, and that’s more than I’ve read in the last ten years combined probably. When I was a kid, I used to love reading. I remember there being some shit when I was in elementary school where you would get little rewards for each book you read. I think it was just like little stickers on a sheet, haha. I am kind of competitive, so something like that would definitely give me motivation to read more. My housemate has been reading heavily this year and he’s been suggesting books for me to read. The first one I read that he suggested was Inferno. I forget who wrote this one, but it’s related to Dante’s Inferno in some way. The author references it, at least. It was a pretty good book. There was a good twist near the end, and the author did a great job at actually projecting images into your mind.

I started Animal Farm the other night. It’s a pretty short read, so imagine I will finish it next time I sit down to read. I remember we were forced to read this one in high school. Like the majority of my schooling, I paid little to no attention. We watched the movie afterwards as well, which I can also barely remember. George Orwell’s 1984 is kind of renowned in the world of punk, or at least it used to be. I wonder if the young punks these days would know what “big brother is watching you” would be referencing? It’s been a very long time since I’ve read that book. I think I will re-visit it after Animal Farm. George Orwell wrote both of those.

George Orwell was an Englishman who went and fought fascists during the Spanish Civil War. I read that he was shot in the neck and lost one of his vocal cords, but luckily, he survived. Animal Farm was written in late 1943/early 1944 as an allegory of the Russian Revolution. But it is, in many ways, what is happening here and now. He had difficulty getting the book published initially due to its political nature. It was feared the novel would upset the alliance between Great Britain, the United States, and the Soviet Union. It was finally published in August of 1945, the same month that the US dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. If you haven’t read this book and you would like to, you can read it for free online.

So, I just finished Tender Is The Flesh by Agustina Bazterrica. This book was originally entitled Cadáver Exquisito and it was written in Spanish. It was translated to English in 2020 by Sarah Moses. My housemate gave me a pretty brief introduction before reading, so I went in kinda blind. I figured it would be fucked up though, since he seems to gravitate towards bizarre or gross topics. This book is set some time in the future, but it doesn’t describe what year it is supposed to be. In this future, all the animals (besides humans) have been killed. This is due to a virus that infected all the animals, which made them unsuitable for human consumption. Some believed it was a government conspiracy to decrease the human population. They believed this because cannibalism became a standard practice after the transition. There were regulations on which humans could be eaten, and humans were bred in captivity for human consumption. It’s a pretty horrific book to be honest. The processing of humans for meat they describe is shocking and revolting. But in reality, these processes and procedures are virtually the same for the animals led to slaughter right now in the world as we know it.

The book focuses on a main character who works at a processing plant. He recently had an infant child die, and his wife left him. His dad is in hospice care and suffers from dementia. He seems to just be going through the motions of life while continuing grieve the loss of his child and seemingly hating his job. At some point, someone brings him a gift. The gift is a “female head.” Which is a woman who was bred in captivity. She has no vocal cords, so they cannot communicate. Most people would eat her or sell her. Some people even kept humans alive as they slowly eat them in their own home, as this was the freshest meat. Instead, the main character befriends her and gives her a name. I don’t really want to describe more of the book cos I don’t want to give any spoilers for anyone who hasn’t read it and would like to. While the book is really sad and about a dystopian future, I think it was a captivating read. There was a huge plot twist in the end that totally caught me off guard and fucked me up. I found a free version online that you can read if you want. Alright, I think that’s about it for today then. Thank you for reading, and thanks to everyone for your continued support.

Hey there everyone. How are you doing? In despair at the state of the world? Yeah, me too. Hopefully, though, none of you must spend the summer on a dentist’s chair instead of a sun lounger like I am. An attack of chronic toothache forced me to go see professional help and what they found wasn’t good. Luckily all can be fixed, but I have multiple teeth that need filling, pulling or capped. Yay! Fun times, and as we know, not cheap. Still, I suppose if I were to spend a couple of thousand dollars on anything other than records, then my own health isn’t a bad investment.

It was “Independence Day” this past weekend here in America and, following a couple of days later, my birthday. I wasn’t in much of a mood to celebrate either or do anything, and spent my b’day listening to records and watching old movies. I was also in a funk over the extremely sad news that we heard last week concerning the death of Diogo Jota and his brother Andre Silva. In case you weren’t aware, they were professional footballers and died in a car crash in Spain. Jota played for Liverpool FC and as a supporter I have been affected by this in a much deeper way than when other famous people die. He just helped us win the Premier League title three months ago, played for the Portuguese national team who won the Nations League, and just weeks ago married his sweetheart and mother of their three children. It’s a tragic loss. I know it’s mad that we mourn celebrities and public figures so much when there are literally thousands losing their lives all over the world. That point was also brought home over the weekend here in America, when the news of the deaths in Texas came through due to flash floods. Sadly, the death toll from that event is in the three figures and climbing as I write. Of course, their lives matter just as much as a professional athlete or movie star, but when a human being does something special that touches you in some way, you don’t have to have met them or know them personally to feel sad and a sense of loss when they pass, especially when it’s premature.

Anyway, with that all said, it has put me in an odd head space as far as trying to write about a record or something that I want to recommend to you all. That dilemma was solved, I believe, when I came to work this morning and caught up with the store’s comings and goings over the last couple of days. I saw that a record I had ordered had come in. John Scott and I gave it a listen and enjoyed it, so it’s going to be my pick this week.

Marta Ren & The Groovelvets – Stop Look Listen. Record Kicks. 2016

This is a wonderful retro soul & funk album from the Modernist scene of about a decade ago coming out of Portugal. To honor Diogo, I thought it fitting to select a record from his home country. Although the music here is straight up sixties and seventies American R&B inspired and sung in English, all the players (as far as I can tell) are Portuguese.

Marta Ren has a powerful soul diva voice that is front and center throughout the album. The band back her up superbly with hard, tight and fast playing, perfectly nailing “that” soul sound that countless artists search for. If you own anything on Daptone Records, Colemine, Big Crown and similar labels that specialize in modern but vintage-sounding soul and funk, then this is a record for you.

From what I can tell, this was a project put together by musicians in the Porto scene specifically to showcase Marta Ren’s vocal prowess. All the players, including Marta herself, had been members of other bands and projects in Portugal. A lot of the music they were making wasn’t necessarily retro soul music. Marta’s previous groups, namely Sloppy Joe and Bombazines, had played Ska and Reggae in the former and a more modern Funk sound with the latter. The backing group on Stop Look Listen was dubbed The Groovelvets and were plucked from several of Porto’s local scene groups. Musical director Sergio Marques, who plays bass, conducts the musicians here to fine affect. His background was more in a hip-hop and pop rock sort of thing. The producer is listed as New Max, alias Tiago Novo, and he was in a group called Expensive Soul with Sergio. Anyway, between them they do a great job and have produced a stellar, fun soul record.

There are too many highlights to pick out just one song, but currently I like the second cut on the album called Release Me. They made a video for that one and released several of the songs as 45’s, which were quickly gobbled up by the modern funk 45 crowd. Next favorite song might be So Long, followed by one called Smiling Faces. All good. Final track, I Wanna Go Back, name checks some of Marta and the group’s heroes and inspirations. Under forty-five minutes, eleven songs and never outstaying its welcome. The album itself has been repressed a couple of times since first being released in 2016 due to its popularity. Around the time, Marta and the band were a hot ticket on many of the European stages and in particular the British scene took to her by all accounts. This record, though, was the only album the group and Marta made together. A few more songs popped up as 45 B-sides and secret tracks on the CD edition of the record, but that was it.

I must confess to not being hip to this record when it first came out, although I recalled her name when I noticed one of our distributors had copies in stock. I like that label, Record Kicks, and have some nifty 45s they have put out. Hopefully they’ll have more copies for us to order for you guys.

I’ll leave a link here so you can go check the record out. Play it in between your Sharon Jones albums and something from Lady Wray and you’ll be in the right place if you’re looking for soul.

Thanks for reading and happy listening.

Peace – Dom