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Institute: Ragdoll Dance 12” (Roach Leg Records) Over four albums and several EPs, Institute has firmly established themselves as one of underground punk’s preeminent bands. Each record is a joy when it comes out, and their entire discography remains in constant rotation for me… they’re a band I can always listen to, and that I never seem to tire of. After a run of strong records on Sacred Bones, Institute has moved to Roach Leg Records (in the US) and La Vida Es Un Mus (in Europe) for their new album, and they sound artistically reinvigorated on Ragdoll Dance. While the last couple of records on Sacred Bones—Subordination in particular—seemed to lean into the more straightforward, almost hardcore elements of their sound, Ragdoll Dance sounds to me more open-ended, almost playful. If you like Institute singer Moses Brown’s solo project as Peace de Résistance, you’ll love Ragdoll Dance, as that project’s take on high-minded yet gritty art-pop bleeds into Institute’s sound here, particularly on the track “Wonder,” whose dark, chiming guitars bring to mind Siouxsie and the Banshees at the height of their creativity. That being said, “Plateau of Self” and “Uncle Sam’s Hate” are straightforward, go-for-the-throat rockers that keep Ragdoll Dance in the record store’s punk section. Raw and real production and performance, great songs, ambitious aesthetics… Ragdoll Dance has it all.

What’s up Sorry State readers, I hope everyone is having a nice week. The official signifier of fall (for me) has finally arrived here in Raleigh, the State Fair. I know lots of people have mixed feelings about the fair. Some love it, some hate it, and some just like going for the food or people watching. I happen to be one of the people who loves the fair, the rides, exhibits, carnies and all. It just has such a distinct feel to it that’s never really changed to me, and I have a blast every year. That doesn’t really have anything to do with the record I’m writing about today; I’m just excited for the fair, man. Anyway, I sometimes seem to obsessively dive into things I get into, especially music, movies, etc., and go down a rabbit hole. Today I would like to talk about the Gram Parsons rabbit hole I’ve been going down this year. It all started back in March when I went to a Billy Strings show (shocker) in Charleston, South Carolina. He did a cover of the song Hickory Wind, which was unknown to me at the time, and I remember hearing it and being like, “man this is a really good song.” The next morning, while in the cheap, sketchy, smoker friendly motel room we had gotten, I thought of the song again and looked it up to see who it was by and was surprised when The Byrds popped up. I was confused. “The Byrds made this country song? I thought they were a rock band?” I returned to work and regaled Dominic with stories from my trip. The song came up, and I told him how much I liked it but was confused it was a Byrds song. That’s when Dominic introduced me to the wonderful world of Gram Parsons. The fact this guy just joined this rock band and was like, “nah fuck this, we’re making country music now” was so cool to me. Especially cause I feel like the end result could be so horrible, but it ended up sounding so amazing and authentic. I started listening to Sweetheart of the Rodeo a bunch and it quickly became a favorite album of mine. What really solidified this interest in Gram was when Billy came here in June and played a couple shows, he did a cover of Sin City, also unknown to me at the time, and I had the exact same thought of, “man this is an amazing song.” After the show I look it up and what do you know, it’s a Flying Burrito Brothers song. I started learning more about Gram Parsons’ story and realized what an incredibly interesting, badass, impactful, and tragic life this man had. It blows my mind this was just a dude who was my age doing all this stuff. Sweetheart of the Rodeo is just about a perfect album to me. Amazing original songs and very thoughtful and timeless covers of country and folk classics. This album just has it all for me, even a murder ballad! My favorite tracks on here are You Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere, I Am a Pilgrim, Hickory Wind, and Pretty Polly. Music is like a map and if you look in the right direction and start following it, you can be led down a path of incredible discoveries you might not have found otherwise.

Hi Sorry State readers! Hope everyone is doing well! I’m getting over some kind of unanticipated weird stomach bug, but I think the worst is behind me! I didn’t think about it until now, but I’m so glad this shit happened to me now and not during Sorry State Fest! I can’t believe it’s just days away! Ok, this staff pick is gonna be long, so let’s just get going.

I knew I would write about the Screaming Death four-way split since I heard it for the first time. Usman handed me my copy and I played it right away at near full volume with the door opened to the outside as he was bringing in boxes. So I’m pretty sure everyone within a half-mile radius could hear it. I kind of thought the speakers were gonna blow, but it was the perfect jolt I needed to carry me through the rest of the day. The moral of the story is play it loud!

Sixteen brand new tracks by four killer hardcore bands including Destruct, Scarecrow, Dissekerad, and Rat Cage. It’s been in the making for a couple of years, and well fucking worth the wait. Every band understood the assignment, which I can only imagine was “make sure this thing will melt faces.” It’s pure, raw, blistering hardcore.

Two bands per side, with Destruct leading the way. And they come out swinging. More like punching. With brass knuckles. Huge sound, with riffs that rip through your eardrums like a chainsaw, and some of the sickest fastest drums I’ve ever heard. Pretty incredible. Exhibit A: the insane fills on the song Omnicide. If you’ve got a craving for no bullshit d-beat hardcore, Destruct is all of that.

I was especially stoked to hear new music from our local legends, Scarecrow. And they delivered. The new tracks are next level. Holy shit. One of the standouts for me is Compensation. That main riff is just so good. You know a riff is good if you find yourself singing it. You know what I mean? Like when you ask a friend if they’ve ever heard a song, you may sing some lyrics or mimic the beat. But if you sing a guitar riff, then it’s a damn good riff. Also love the super crunchy distorted bass outro in the track, The Agreement. It’s all in the details for me, and I really appreciate that about Scarecrow.

The vocals are as sick as ever. Particularly on the song Space Race, which is my new favorite Scarecrow song. It’s the perfect track to close out the first side of this record. I live for a good drum breakdown, and the one in the latter half of that song takes the cake. It’s followed by the meanest, cleanest, razor sharp guitar and meaty bass. It’s just explosive. Stoked to hear it live now that I’m more familiar with it. Speaking of….

I just realized if you’re going to Sorry State Fest, you will see both Destruct and Scarecrow perform!

Now where was I? Oh yeah. I love that this is an international effort with four bands from three countries. So how could you do an international hardcore split without some Swedish hardcore? You couldn’t. Well, you could, but it’s no secret how much the executives over at Bunker Punks HQ love Scandi hardcore, so it makes total sense.

Enter Dissekerad. I will admit that of the four bands, I know the least about this one. And it’s not on purpose. There’s just a LOT of hardcore surrounding me at Sorry State, in front of me, behind me, to the right and left of me, over the speakers, and in human form. But that’s also why I love albums like this that introduce me to things that I’ve never heard.

One important detail I learned is that one of the members (Poffen) is from Totalitar, and I do know Totalitar. Other Dissekerad members have been around forever too, playing in bands like Avskum, Institution, and Makabert Fynd. So yeah, they know what they’re doing. Poffen brings his familiar mean and raspy vocal style to this raw and classic d-beat hardcore. In all honesty, I don’t think I’m cool enough yet to listen to Dissekerad, but they rip.

Rat Cage, hailing from England, is the last band on the record, and I’ve listened to and enjoyed many of their releases. The band is a one-man machine that I just can’t imagine any hardcore fan not liking. Rat Cage is the total package. Right out of the gate, the song Kill the Autocrats just grabs you by the throat with some of the meanest and most satisfying vocals I’ve heard in this genre. The word I’m looking for is savage. Rat Cage has a unique way of delivering very no-nonsense, no frills hardcore in a way that’s still catchy. And sometimes a little thrashy.

The song Blitz Raid Bombers is a great way to close things out. The killer riff and pummeling drums in the intro lead into a powerful, anthemic song. Actually, a lot of Rat Cage songs sound like anthems, which are a lot of fun to listen to. The first and last track are my favorites in their bunch.

I gotta wrap things up, wow. I can’t imagine all the work that went into this project, but when you get it in your hands and hear the music, you will see it came together pretty damn perfectly. And trust that this thing looks even better in person. The artwork, the sick inserts, the quality of all the tangible stuff, the cool details, and not to mention the grade A production of the music. It is so impressive! Hats off.

Thanks so much for reading! Hope to see a lot of you this weekend at the Fest! Until next time.

-Angela

Hello and thanks for reading. This is my third attempt at my staff pick this week. I have a lot on my mind with the fest and GOLPE/ELECTRIC CHAIR tour coming up and of course I am dealing with last-minute obstacles. Originally, I wrote about the founding of our old house/venue spot The Bunker (R.I.P.), and how Jeff and I originally began our label together, Bunker Punks Discs & Tapes. I felt like my writing was a bit disorganized, and just a bit much. So I scrapped that altogether, and here we go instead. As usual, there are a ton of great new releases in stock this week at Sorry State. One of them is this HERESY reissue that I can’t get enough of. To be honest, I was not familiar with this release prior to this reissue. I heard HERESY as a teenager, but I have always just passed them over. Fuck, I have been missing out! I’m not sure why I passed them over in my younger days cos I was fan of the blast beats and they certainly blast at times. I wonder what wasn’t clicking for me? I’ve been listening to the CONCRETE SOX / HERESY split a lot as a result as well. Fuck, it is killer. Why did I shy away from CONCRETE SOX in the past? Maybe it was the metallic factor? Maybe I found the vocal style too off putting? As I get older, I try not to box shit in. I can imagine myself thinking the vocals were not brutal enough to match the music or some stupid juvenile shit. I’m really digging their 1986 LP as well. My homie Chris Hardy was always talking about that LP, but I still passed it over. Damn, I sure did fuck up, til now haha.

A few more things I have been enjoying this week are this killer KRIGSHODER compilation and this DELCO MF’s compilation!!! These are both bands I have written about in the past, and I am very happy to get their stuff on 12” format. When I was just a bit younger, I didn’t really pick up 7” compilations if had all the EPs already. However, as time goes on, the idea of flipping records less but hearing just as much music is much more appealing! Haha. The KRIGSHODER compilation was desperately needed in my opinion, as this band is unbelievably good while the actual tape version sounds pretty shitty. I’m sure I will write more about both these releases in a later staff pick, so I will move on to what I really wanted to talk about this week.

I can’t remember how long it was ago when Mattis from DISSEKERAD wrote me and proposed the idea of doing a 4-way split record. He said he wanted to do something old school, haha. It was late 2020 or early 2021 I’m guessing, and he said RAT CAGE and DESTRUCT had already agreed. Initially I didn’t like the idea of a split in general, but naturally I was excited cos members of AVSKUM and TOTALITÄR are in DISSEKERAD, haha. Of course, I think RAT CAGE is excellent, and I am a super fan of DESTRUCT, so there were other factors influencing my excitement. Everyone in SCARECROW pretty much immediately agreed to do the split. So we stopped writing for an LP, selected 3 of our favorites from what we had already written and wrote a brand new one intended for the split. We rehearsed the hell out of em while we could and throughout 2021 all 4 bands recorded. DISSEKERAD recorded the earliest, in May 2021. I guess I take the time to point this out, cos this split has really been in the works for ages. We even got a test press that we rejected due to a low hum in one channel. Amazingly though, they cut a new test in less than two weeks, and it sounded amazing. Still, though, the record was at the plant for over a year. This is where I will begin to lose track of my writing, cos there is so much that went into this. From the tracks themselves, to the amazing full-color artwork by Joe BB that was also adapted into the killer poster design by Alex D; I feel honored that Jeff and I released this record. It is the first 12" release on our label. Initially I told a story about how we formed a label and the releases that lead up to this LP. It’s quite emotional for me. I’m sure anyone reading this who came to The Bunker remembers it as a very special, unique place. We were so lucky. It did take a lot of work though, and that work evolved into Jeff and I creating a label together. I am happy now the name forever lives on with our label, Bunker Punks Discs & Tapes. I should probably just end it here, cos I can’t keep any concision regarding the compilation, as so much went into it. Before I go, I do want to say BPDT couldn’t be what it is today without Daniel/Sorry State. Before I worked here, I hand wrote all of our mail-order addresses and dropped them off. With the volume in which we do mail-order now, there is no way in hell we could do that without the technology and shipping supplies Sorry State has, that Daniel is so generous to let us use. Not to mention the space to store our releases and put them together; some people have to rent a spot for that kind of stuff, but we are lucky to squeeze our stuff into the midst of Sorry State’s warehouse. There is no way in hell I could fit an additional 1,000 LPs in my apartment comfortably. On top of all that stuff, we distribute tons of our releases through Sorry State. There is no way as many people would know about our label if not for Sorry State. That goes for so many other bands/labels as well. Daniel fucking rules, thank you so much dude. Anyway, if you want to check out the tracks, you can hear them here. You can grab a copy from Sorry State here if you want one, but also there is a limited to 50 t-shirt being printed by Joe BB that is only available here. There are not many left, so if you do want one be sure to act fast. Alright that’s all then. Thanks for reading, and thanks to everyone for the support. See you at the fest!!!

What’s up Sorry Staters?

Lemme tell ya, it’s been a busy week this week. Between trying to squeeze in a practice for my bands almost every night and getting together all the last-minute preparations for the Sorry State anniversary, now I am WIPED. I can’t wait to get home after working at the store tonight where I you’ll find me crushing a big ol’ tub of Chinese food. All that said, I think everyone who has gotten a weekend pass for the big event will be stoked on all the goodies we’ve been working hard to put together. Weekend passes are sold out by now, I think? If you still wanted to experience the event on the 20th and 21st and have still been debating getting tickets to the individual shows, you should just go for it at this point.

By pure coincidence of demonic bliss, Friday The 13th happens to fall in the month of October this year. It’s kind of a shame that we release the newsletter on Monday now, because it’s currently Thursday the 12th as I’m sitting here writing this. So all of you readers will be consuming my Friday-themed staff pick after the fact. Oh well. What more appropriate record could one talk about on a particularly spooky occurrence of this date than The Damned’s Friday 13th EP? It’s funny, the other day I was talking about how Poison Idea is probably my favorite band, and Angela called me out and said something like, “Oh really? I’ll inform The Damned.” Haha. Who actually declares a definitive favorite band? For me, it changes on a day-to-day basis. In actuality, The Damned is right up there and compete for the number 1 spot at any given moment.

Friday 13th feels like a transitional record for The Damned. It’s like the perfect in-between moment sandwiched right in the middle of the Black Album and Strawberries. I love this early 80s period of the band. They start incorporating some 60s-inspired psychedelic influences into their songwriting, but also begin to drift slowly more into the macabre with their aesthetic and presentation. Thankfully, they haven’t reached the melodramatic “Phantom of the Opera” goth vibes of Phantasmagoria quite yet (don’t get me wrong, I fuck with that on occasion as well, hehe). But this EP just feels like a perfect little moment. Over the years, “Disco Man” has become one of my favorite Damned tunes. A lot of the songs on the first Damned album are based around Stooges-esque bluesy riffing, and I would say a song like “Disco Man” is a pretty far cry from that sound in terms of songwriting. The melody writing and chord changes feel so refined and sophisticated by comparison. The meandering, haunting repetition of the refrain of “Are you ready?” that closes the song gives me chills.

The next song “Limit Club” opens with some straight up Transylvanian atmospheric organ and falls into this creepy, moody groove shrouded in a cloud of smoke. But then the smoke clears once you realize the gods are “la-la-laughing”. Then “Billy Bad Breaks” is possibly one of the Damned’s catchiest tunes they ever wrote with the SICKEST bassline from my man Paul Gray. In a way, this song feels like a sister song to “Smash It Up,” but maybe even more urgent and upbeat. Makes you wanna clap your hands with a group of people dancing all in a row like dorks. It’s some serious 80s movie school dance scene hours and I’m totally here for it. And to close out, they do a reworking of the Stones’ “Citadel” from their appropriately most psychy record, Their Satanic Majesties Request. The Damned do a great version, giving it a good kick in the ass and punching up the energy in the song. For a long time, I just assumed it was a Damned tune. Just sounds like a song they might actually write.

Anyway, I’ll take advantage of any opportunity to talk about The Damned. I’m gonna try to avoid walking under any ladders and steer clear of black cats this weekend. I’ll probably just stay safe at home and curl up with some films featuring Jason Voorhees.

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

‘Til next week,

-Jeff

The other day, John Scott and I were talking about how difficult it is to formulate our staff picks lately. Right now things are pedal-to-the-metal busy at Sorry State, and while I always have music playing, I haven’t felt immersed in anything, so it’s difficult to answer the question “what have you been listening to?” While putting up flyers for the Anniversary Weekend all around North Carolina, I picked up a few bits and bobs at the record stores I visited, and I’ve played those, but I’m not ready to write about them yet. So, this week I thought I’d write about an old favorite that I’ve spun a few times lately: the Fall.

I consider myself an introvert, by which I mean social interactions tire me out, while time alone energizes me. It’s not an all-or-nothing thing… I love people, but without regular doses of solitary time, I feel like I’m losing my mind. I know plenty of people for whom the exact opposite is the case, and they go stir-crazy when they’re alone too much. My wife, Jet, is one of those people, but the older we get, the more we learn how to support one another. Case in point, my friend Mike’s birthday party at the beach that I wrote about in my staff pick last week. We left for the beach Friday evening after work, and while some of my work days at Sorry State consist almost entirely of sitting alone in my office staring at a computer screen, this wasn’t one of those. I had gone out to Durham to put up flyers that morning, stopping at all the local record stores and chit-chatting with my colleagues. I raced from there to a meeting with Amanda from RUMAH to go over details about the punk market and day show for the Anniversary Weekend, then went straight into a long Zoom meeting with the vendor for Sorry State’s new inventory and order management system. (Did I mention our Anniversary Weekend is coinciding with a major technology overhaul? GREAT TIMING!)

By the time we got on the road to the beach, I was already spent. Jet is in the middle of applying for a new job she’s excited about, and she really wanted to talk about that on the drive down. However, my nerves were fried after a day filled with social interaction (so much small talk!) and I needed to spend some time in my head, especially since we were driving right into a full-on party situation. In the past, our conflicting desires might have resulted in a huge fight, but Jet was supportive, and even suggested we listen to an album I like to relax. She suggested the Fall’s second album, Dragnet.

I hadn’t listened to Dragnet in ages; in fact, when I went to play it, I realized it wasn’t even in my Apple Music library. Crazy! Thankfully, it was easy enough to dial up, and it was just what the doctor ordered. Maybe one reason I don’t listen to Dragnet very often is that it’s just so good that it’s tough to do anything but pay attention to it while it’s playing. It grabs you by the throat, leading off with the classic “Psychic Dance Hall,” then the hits just keep coming... “A Figure Walks,” “Dice Man,” “Before the Moon Falls...” fuck, what a record! For me, those tracks represent the apogee of the early Fall sound... naïve melodies, rickety execution, the 3 R’s... they’ve totally figured it out here. Then there’s “Spectre vs Rector,” which points the way toward the more stretched-out and artier sound they would hone over their next few records, particularly Slates and Hex Enduction Hour. By the end of the drive, as the “deluxe edition” submerged us in a sea of bonus tracks (five separate takes of “Rowche Rumble!”), I felt like a new man.

Incidentally, Dragnet is one of only a handful of records I own redundant copies of. My first copy was a slightly battered first pressing that was a gift from my friend Tom Ellis. This is ages ago, when Static Shock Records was but a glimmer in Tom’s eye, and I was driving his old band the Shitty Limits on their second US tour. Tom asked me if I needed him to punk post anything over for me. I jokingly said “an original pressing of Dragnet,” and he made it happen! Then, some years later, I was browsing at Bull City Records in Durham and I found a pristine UK second pressing priced attractively, as everything at Bull City is. I had to upgrade, but since my starter copy has so much sentimental value, I don’t think I can get rid of it.

The Fall came up again this weekend while I was doing a bunch of repetitive work. A lack of foresight on my part resulted in a colossal stack of print material that needed to be scored and cut by hand... I’m talking dozens of hours of work, which would be tough to pawn off on SSR’s staff since we’re all slammed at the moment. I’ve been spending every spare moment at my kitchen table plowing through that, with records, podcasts, and movies to keep me company. Not that I’m complaining! My hands being busy and my mind and ears being free is my ideal state of affairs. Yesterday afternoon I listened to the new episode of my favorite show on BBC 6 Music, Stuart Maconie’s The Freak Zone, and Hex Enduction Hour was their featured album this week. I was happy to hear the tracks they played, though I got this weird impression that Maconie was holding back on giving any praise to the album. Maybe it’s because his BBC6 colleague Mark Riley plays on it?

I’m in trouble if Mark E. Smith is my guardian angel, but I appreciate the Fall swooping in to carry me away to my happy place twice in the past couple of weeks. If you’re familiar with Sorry State at all, you know my drive to hear and learn about new (and new-to-me) music is massive, but it’s nice to remember how soothing your favorite band / song / album can be, even when it’s as knotty and abrasive as the Fall.

Collate: Generative Systems 12” (Domestic Departure Records) We love Portland’s Collate here at Sorry State—we’ve named two of their previous releases (2018’s Liminal Concerns and 2019’s Communication) Record of the Week—and with Generative Systems, they score the rare Sorry State hat trick. Collate’s music is grounded in the original post-punk sound, but unlike so many groups infatuated with this era, they sound vital, contemporary, and punk as fuck. Collate is a 3-piece and they do that Gang of Four thing where the bass holds down the melody while the guitar functions as more of a rhythm instrument. While the guitarist is fond of Andy Gill-style stabbing, the bass and drums are lithe and rubbery, reminding me of ESG’s ability to lock into a simple, danceable groove. Slick production can pull the life out of this style, but Collate recorded Generative Systems on a cassette 8-track and it has the gritty, lo-fi charm of records like the Fall’s Dragnet. And as with the Fall, there’s an air of menace to Collate’s music that runs counter to how straightforward and danceable it is. The lyrics are as spare as the music, working with Discharge-level word counts and often employing jargon in this threateningly fuzzy way, which I find poignant… as a former academic, I’m sensitive to the ways rhetoric is weaponized in order to reinforce or upset social pecking orders. While the analog recording and debts to 70s post-punk mean Generative Systems doesn’t exactly sound contemporary, it also doesn’t sound retro. I even hear hints of Fugazi in places (particularly on the songs Collate’s guitarist Jason sings)… I suppose Fugazi took a lot from Gang of Four themselves, but I think that comparison comes to mind because of the powerful ensemble playing and the music’s vitality. Musically powerful, lyrically astute, and just fucking cool… Generative Systems is another essential record from this brilliant band.

What’s up Sorry State readers? I hope everyone has had a nice week. We’re chugging along here at Sorry State. I feel like there’s a bunch going on right now with the 10th anniversary festival coming up in just a couple weeks. I’ve been kinda struggling to come up with something to write about cause I feel like I’ve listened to a bunch of different stuff this week, so it’s hard to narrow it down to one thing. I was going thru some records I have here at the store and I came across this GÜIÑA: Que Justicia 7" I had back there and realized I had never written about it. GÜIÑA is a band from Santiago, Chile that released this 7” after a tour around Europe with PIÑEN. That’s about as much info as I can find about them. I did learn that a guiña is a cool ass cat that lives primarily in central and southern Chile. I hadn’t listened to it in a minute, so I threw it on and it was just as good as I remembered. I really liked this one off the bat. I think we got it in a couple months ago and just the artwork alone was enough to grab my interest. This thing rips from top to bottom and flies by at four tracks. I like the vocals a lot on here too, even if I don’t know what they’re saying. It sounds loud and angry tho. We still have some copies available at the time of writing, so snag one if you wanna hear some good fast shit.

Hi Sorry State readers! Hope everything is doing well. I’m so glad it’s October! Like a lot of people, I love the fall, the cool evenings, flannel shirts, denim jackets, Halloween candy, and scary movies. I suppose you can do a lot of those things anytime, but it doesn’t have the same appeal. I’ve never heard anyone speak ill of the fall, but that person may very well be a psychopath. That’s all I got. Moving on..

My staff pick this week was so easy. It’s the Cherry Cheeks CCLPII (translation = their second LP). It just released a couple of days ago and I completely forgot until I saw it in one of our customers’ orders. So, shout out to anyone who purchased this, as your purchase was my kick in the ass. I had been looking forward to their second LP, but it’s hard to keep up with everything. Sometimes you have to pick and choose or you will be broke and all of your money takes the shape of plastic discs filling up your living room. But this one I had to have on physical media. I love Cherry Cheeks. I loved their debut record (2021). I did a regular staff pick about it last year, and I put the debut LP in my write up of my 2022 favorites despite the record being released in 2021. That’s how much I loved it. I cheated the system just to get it onto my list. We don’t have the first LP anymore, because people really liked it. Come to think of it, the Cherry Cheeks EP released prior to this record moved fast. Normally I would say this part at the end of my staff pick to remind you not to sleep on this one, but there are no rules here.

A little background. The first LP was created by Kyle Harms as he was living in Orlando during quarantine. Remember that? Seems like people either became insanely productive during this time or they regressed and had to learn how to walk and talk all over again, and there wasn’t much of a middle ground. For Kyle Harms, it was the former. Now he’s moved out of Florida and onto Portland, and has a full band to tour with. Yay! There are many one or two person projects I really like, but it obviously makes things a bit more difficult in terms of touring, and more importantly, translating all the unique sounds to a live show.

So, the second LP (appropriately named LPII) had some big shoes to fill because the debut is a top-to-bottom banger. Happy to report that their second full-length has the same big energy, huge hooks, layers upon layers of weird noises and synth, and a balance of humor and seriousness. The first side is more like the first LP. Very manic, anxious, and fun as hell. The song Bunny Does Ice is a standout track for me on the first side. The lyrical content is pretty self explanatory. The second side is a little bit darker with more straightforward punk agitation. You hear this in the closing track, Ad Shark, which has my favorite lyric “product placement, what do you know? You sold the ad space on your fucking tombstone.” Pure Power is another great track (you can listen to that one for free on Bandcamp). It starts with a very simple distorted riff and then after sounding normal for too long, it introduces some spacey, swirly, twirly sounds. This is the most Devo-core track, particularly the outro.

I really appreciate the versatility of his vocals in that they would probably work with most any kind of punk music or weirdo rock. It’s fast and sharp and catchy and fun, and everything good about egg punk. I like egg punk, but it really varies from band to band. I either really like it or I don’t like it at all. And I think what makes Cherry Cheeks so appealing to me is that they fill up all the space. They utilize every second and you don’t have time to question what you think of it. You’re too busy being entertained. It’s like being sucked up into a weird circus tornado and spit back out when the music is over. And by that time, you’re sold. Anyway, I haven’t spent near as much time with this one as the first LP but I am really digging it! If you like fun, give this record a spin. Thanks for reading! Until next time!

-Angela

Hello and thanks for reading. Today I am writing about two things I have been spending my free time absorbing this week. For the first time in over three years, all my LPs are out of boxes and (more or less) alphabetized on a shelf. It feels pretty good, especially being able to locate where an LP is when I wanna jam at any given time! Well, except for a few that I can’t seem to find... We will see how long that shit stays organized anyways, though. My 7”s are not kept alphabetical at all. I do have to keep contemporary records separate from 80s bands. And of course, I have the “90s banger box” that contains all my favorite 7"s that were released in the 90s. About two years ago I actually separated my 80s 7"s based on country after I saw that’s how a friend kept his stuff, haha. Some nerd shit right there, but it does make it way easier for me to find records I want to play. Anyway, getting to the stuff in my photo up there; I want to mention the book before getting into the record. I didn’t know about this book until very recently, when a dear pen-pal of mine suggested it to me. I was gushing with excitement over this upcoming Råpunk book and he mentioned The Encyclopedia of Swedish Punk in reply. Even though each book covers a slightly different span of years, I am sure lots of stuff will be mentioned in there that has already been covered in this Swedish Punk book. However, it seems the writers have a much different approach to what they are documenting. While they both have an archival approach to them, the Swedish Punk book is certainly directed more at record nerds. The Råpunk book seems to be loaded up with tons of photos and a lot less text, almost more like they are documenting the time and scene rather than focusing on records alone. I don’t have a Råpunk book yet, so I won’t say much more about that book in comparison. I really love how The Encyclopedia of Swedish Punk really is an encyclopedia. There are tons of band photos, and pretty much each band has a biography. Of course, the writer tells you about the members of each band, and mentions other bands they were in. I really appreciate that. There is a map of Sweden depicting which city each band came from. It doesn’t get much better than that if you ask me, haha. I haven’t had a ton of time to examine the book, so I wonder what errors I might discover. As there is always going to be at least one error when compiling something this big. In the beginning of the book, the author, Peter Jandreus, mentioned he first started on this project in the mid 90s. I can’t imagine trying to compile a decade long history of punk from a prolific country like Sweden thoroughly and accurately, AND without the internet. He said the book took over a decade to make. I think it finally came out in 2008. I like the way he formatted the content. It’s really easy to follow and jump around. There are full color scans of each record cover and a bit of information on the release. There is also a “valuation” scale for each release, which is a cool addition I think. Each record has a number of stars next to it, from 1-10. Of course, 10 stars is rare as fuck, and 1 is common. Naturally, this addition made me very curious. I’ve peaked around and it’s very interesting to see some records rated like 7 stars go for $100 or less. I know the “value” of any record is subject to change over the course of years, but I still found some a bit shocking. The only thing I wish it had was information on pressing quantity. That would be top content for a record nerd like me. The book also leaves out cassettes. Maybe that just would have added too much stuff to track down and document? Understandably so. But as a result, I noticed that BLACK UNIFORMS is only mentioned in passing and I haven’t seen any mention of NO SECURITY yet. TOTALITÄR is specifically mentioned but only to say they were a 90s phenomena, and their 1987 7" debut is omitted from the Encyclopedia. I’m sure the Råpunk book will fill in these gaps for me, as it is focusing more on the second wave of punk in Sweden, raw punk. In the end, I find the Swedish Punk book to be extremely useful already and I expect to discover many bands I have never heard of, especially bands from the late ‘70s! It reminds me of the Flex books, but overall maybe a bit nicer in presentation and format. Another thing I am really enjoying is that often times there are stories about the bands, ones that you’d probably never hear about unless you were from that time and place. There are some pretty good ones, as Sweden was a country of much alcohol consumption, haha. If you’re a Swedish punk/HC fiend or just want to learn more about it, I would strongly suggest you pick up a copy. I found this link here where you can get a copy from the publisher. It looks like it would be like $50 after shipping from Sweden to USA. I just searched periodically the last few months and found my copy on Ebay for $35, so if you have patience I would go that route.

I think I’ve said before I don’t know a ton of Norwegian hardcore, but what bands I do know I absolutely love. PSYKISK TERROR has always been one of those bands where I’ve heard very little from and I’d die to hear more. When I heard Cease Fire! was working on this back in February, I really could not wait. For ages, the only material I was familiar with was their track on the X-Port Plater 7" compilation. I didn’t know about the tracks on the Molde Punx compilation until 2020, when it was reissued on LP. Their tracks here are much more in the vein of punk, instead of that pummeling yet melodic hardcore sound I associate closely with Norway. These tracks also appeared on the Raped Ass Vol. 2 cassette. I can’t really remember but it was probably around that time I discovered via Discogs that PSYKISK TERROR had an appearance on this Noize Of Norway cassette from 1985 as well. I felt like a dummy for missing these tracks before cos I was already familiar with this cassette because of SVART FRAMTID. They have songs on there that were never released anywhere else! I almost managed to get a copy in 2020, but unfortunately in the end the guy couldn’t ship to me cos of Covid-19. Maybe one day... At least now I can enjoy those PSYKISK TERROR songs in all their glory cos they are compiled onto this reissue. The first few songs that start off the reissue are from that cassette. The tracks sound a lot more like Swedish hardcore than I expected. They remind me pretty heavily of CRUDE SS, actually. In comparison to the early tracks on the Molde Punx comp, here it sounds like the band was going for more of a DISCHARGE sound, but they hadn’t fully evolved into that melodic sound yet. I think the band had a revolving line up, so that probably added to the changes in songwriting. The A side finishes off with their track from the Nå Eller Aldri 7" compilation on X-Port Plater I mentioned earlier. There is a nice booklet that is included with the LP. It’s got tons of photos of the band, flyers, their squat, and some other stuff that really captures the time and place. Inside the booklet they explain when working on the latest BANNYLST reissue, they discovered PSYKISK TERROR tracks that were never released! The B side starts off with a few of these songs. The sound here is much more in the vein of what I expected; raw and pummeling hardcore with a melodic edge. Hell yes. The B side finishes off with two songs that were previously released on an LP compilation that I have never heard! I had never heard of this comp Smelling Just Another Bad Breath, but it looks cool as hell. It was released in 1986 by German label, Double A Records, and it’s got tracks from all over the world. I’m just now learning about the compilation, so I have no idea yet if it features all exclusive tracks or what. In the end, I think this is yet another great release from Cease Fire!, especially given that it’s the first time PSYKISK TERROR has been given some attention they deserve. It seems there are a handful of excellent archival type labels going right now, and Cease Fire! is one of them. I can’t wait to see what is next! Anyway, I should probably get running... Grab one of these. PS: Thanks for reading, and thanks to everyone for your support!

What’s up Sorry Staters?

I’m writing this a little later in the week than I do usually. Just got back from a quick visit to the beach this weekend to celebrate my buddy Mike’s birthday. I think I’ve still got sand between my toes, and it definitely still feels like there’s a couple bottle’s worth of Modelo in sloshing around in my belly. But I had a great time; I wish I could have stayed longer. Now I’m behind the counter at the store, doing my usual Sunday shift in a foggy state of mind. Good news is that after a warm weekend at the beach, this morning it was so chilly outside that I had to throw on my denim jacket. As the air gets cooler and you see people cluttering their yards with Halloween decorations, I know it’s getting to be my favorite time of year. Speaking of which, the Sorry State 10-year anniversary is less than 2 weeks away! (Holy shit). If you’ve been debating getting tickets last-minute, now would be the time! Don’t sleep.

In other news, me and Usman’s label Bunker Punks Discs & Tapes just put our latest release up for sale on our website! Screaming Death is a compilation, or “4-way split” as we like to say, featuring exclusive new tracks from Dissekerad, Rat Cage, Destruct, and our band Scarecrow. This project has been in the works since early 2021, and we’re so excited it’s finally seeing the light of day. All the recordings from each band came out amazing, and we wanted to make the presentation just as special as the tunes on the LP. Joe B did the incredible cover artwork, which is printed on a heavy weight reverse board jacket. The record also comes with a double-sided insert and a huge foldout full-color poster that I personally was hoping would come across as reminiscent of the posters that came with 80s Pusmort releases. For now, Screaming Death is only available on our website, but I’m sure we’ll stock copies at Sorry State very soon. Hope everyone checks it out and is as stoked on it as we are!

As I said, the shift in season around October is my favorite time of year. I’ve written about this in the newsletter in years prior, but I love to try and binge as many horror or trashy exploitation flicks as I can leading up to Halloween. This staff pick doesn’t really have much to do with punk, or records in general I guess, but I thought I’d change it up and talk about a movie. The other night, I rewatched Clive Barker’s Hellraiser. I watched 2nd installment as well, and it had been a looong time since I’d seen that one. So wild, all the alternate dimension labyrinth stuff. But I still think I prefer the first movie.

For those that are interested and perhaps unaware, the plot of the movie involves a character named Frank who unlocks a mysterious puzzle box which summons these demonic hell-spawn beings called “Cenobites”. The Cenobites crave suffering, and basically torture and reduce Frank to a bloody pulp. Later, the character Julia discovers Frank (or what’s left of him) in the attic of the house that she and her husband just moved into. Frank is her husband’s brother, whom Julia had a secret affair with. She begins luring men into the house and murdering them to sacrifice for Frank so that he can drain their life and become “whole” again. And there’s a lot more that happens, but I’ll leave the synopsis at that.

What struck me about the movie after having not seen it in quite a while was how amazing the practical effects look. The bloody, drippy flayed corpse version of Frank slowly gaining more and more skin looks so insane. Totally disgusting, yes, but also quite impressive. I can’t imagine what the “goop” budget was on this movie. So many frames of goopy, drippy, shiny crimson. And sometimes, with gross, gory effects in movies, if the visual looks kinda cheesy or just not well-done, the suspension of disbelief is kinda ruined. It can totally take me out of it and cause me to not take a movie seriously. Then again, sometimes I love low-budget movies where the vibe is totally campy. But with a movie like Hellraiser, I find myself totally immersed and transfixed. The scene where Larry is being pulled apart by chains and delivers the classic line, “Jesus… wept,” gets me every time. There’s definitely an element of titillating, yet horrifying sexuality thematically on display in this movie. Sure, it’s demons from Hell torturing people, but it’s also basically just extreme sadomasochism. Interesting ideas to digest while watching this thing.

To tie it back to punk, I remember the last time I watched this movie was when Scarecrow and Vidro were on tour together. After our show in Boston, we drove a little bit to Worcester to stay with Andy from Innocent and his partner, Elise. I had a blast hanging out there and was stoked to walk into their living room and see it decorated with horror ephemera everywhere. Hellraiser was already playing on the TV, so I only got to see bits and pieces of it. What was really funny was to watch Vendela, the singer of Vidro’s reaction to the movie. She had this look on her face looking at me kinda like, “you actually enjoy this?” Haha.

Anyway, I’m hoping to chime in with more spooky season themed staff picks in the weeks to come. But for now, that’s all I’ve got. As always, thanks for reading.

’Til next week,

-Jeff

I’m starting my staff pick this week with no real plan… I guess it’s just going to be a per-zine / brain dump-style piece because I’m not equipped for too much else. Right now the planning is going hot and heavy for Sorry State’s big anniversary weekend. I think all the major pieces of the puzzle are in place: the travel is booked, the bands have somewhere to stay, and venues and equipment are sorted. So, fingers crossed, all systems are go for the actual shows. However, because I’m terrible at making life easy for myself, I planned a bunch of extra stuff that is still coming together.

The biggest of these is the goodie bag that everyone who bought a weekend pass will receive. I doubt many people even noticed we told them they’d get a goodie bag, and even fewer people have expectations about what might be in it. But I want it to be fucking awesome. The original idea came about because it’s Sorry State’s birthday and I heard somewhere (I may be making this up) that nowadays at kids’ birthday parties, not only does the birthday kid receive presents, but every kid who attends the party also gets a goodie bag full of knick-knacks. I took this idea and ran with it, but of course left it until late in the fest planning process, so now I’m trying to pull everything together under a tight deadline. Friday afternoon I had a scare that the actual bags wouldn’t arrive on time, but I decided to put aside my anxiety and not worry about it this weekend. The universe rewarded that attitude, and I had a message in my inbox Monday morning saying the printer can make the deadline. Of course, nothing is final until I have them in hand, but it’s a big relief.

To digress even further, I took a much-needed few days off from fest planning this weekend to go down to Atlantic Beach, NC and celebrate my friend Mike’s birthday. Mike is the fucking best. If you’ve been to Raleigh, you almost certainly know him… he’s one of those people who is always down to help friends. When we put out the call that we needed places for bands to stay during the fest, within minutes my phone was ringing with a call from Mike offering to house as many punks as he could cram into his place. Mike is also a total music gear nerd, and he’s providing part of the backline bands will use all weekend. His generosity will ensure every band sounds great.

So, this weekend, my wife Jet and I took the quick trip down to Atlantic Beach to hang out with Mike and a solid crew. Jeff was there too, and given the season, there were many horror-themed 80s hair metal music videos blasting on the house’s TV. Besides doing normal punk party stuff, we also spent some time on the beach, went to a tiny record store that had way too many records I wanted to buy, and went to a seafood festival on the waterfront that had lots of great Eastern NC people watching. I love going down to the coast in the fall when it’s less crowded and the weather is milder, and doing that with a bunch of homies was even better. I felt bad, though, because I was exhausted after burning the candle at both ends the entire previous week at Sorry State. I’m sure I wasn’t as much fun as I would have liked to have been, and I also kept falling asleep. I fell asleep on the beach, watching TV, in the car… pretty much everywhere. But at least now I feel rejuvenated and ready to lean into this last stretch of event planning. Huge thanks to Mike for the welcome breather, and to the whole crew who made for an awesome weekend.

Since it wouldn’t be a staff pick without mentioning some music, how about if I reveal a component of the goodie bag? I have a lot of love for everyone who is coming to our anniversary party, and what does an emotionally stunted record nerd do when they want to express their feelings? They make a mix tape, of course! I thought it would be a nice memento to have a tape with a song by every band that played. Since a lot of the bands are people I talk to regularly, I knew some of them have upcoming releases they are working on and I bugged them to let us preview a new track on the tape. Everyone was stoked on the idea and a good chunk of the tape is unreleased tracks. Last week, the mix tape was pretty much all I listened to as I selected songs for it and went through draft after draft of the track listing to get the flow just right. You’d think I would be sick of it after listening to it on repeat all week, but even after I sent off the master to be duplicated, I kept playing it. It’s a pretty awesome tape, and since the bands on the tape are the same bands playing the fest, I think it’s going to be a pretty awesome fest. Now I just have to keep my fingers crossed the cassettes arrive on time. It’s going to be right down to the wire.

Oh, and please don’t write us asking for a copy of the tape (or anything else in the goodie bag). We only made enough for the people coming to Raleigh for the weekend, and we want it to be a special thing just for the people who made that effort. We know it’s not possible for everyone to attend, but all the music on the tape will make its way into the world eventually.