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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

What’s up Sorry Staters?

Not much news since last week. Seems like Sorry State has been getting in some killer new releases since I’ve been back though. Between the Electric Chair / Physique split, Subversive Rite, The Berserk, Total Nada, and then reissues like the Lama box set, and now all the La Vida stuff that’s coming up (Death Side BABYYYY), there’s plenty to be excited about!

Coming up this weekend, I’ll be playing my first gig since I’ve returned stateside. Public Acid is playing a gig in a 7-Eleven parking lot. Yeah, you heard me right. It’s also on July 11th, so it’s at a 7-Eleven on 7-11. Free slurpee day, you say? Woohoo! I’m sure it’ll be hilarious, stupid, and awesome. And HOT. Summertime hardcore fun in the sun, I suppose. There’s no cost to attend the show either, but they are taking donations for mutual aid in Richmond, which is awesome. I believe the location of this mythical 7-Eleven is near Richmond, but not exactly actually inside Richmond. I hope this event is as romantic as the Ramones told me that it would be. I’ll report back.

Speaking of all these new releases, this new cassette by The Damage is killer. This band basically formed out of the ashes of Quarantine from Philly. I remember being super pumped and excited about Quarantine when they first came around. Was a bummer when that band sorta fizzled. The Damage have 4 songs on this demo tape, which picks up right where Quarantine left off, honestly. Considering it’s the same dude on vocals, as well as the same 2 dudes playing the strings, it’s not surprising that this new project would have some musical similarities. It is funny that it opens with a sample from the clip of Negative FX’s last show when Choke says “We ain’t gonna stop, FUCK YOU!” Appropriate sentiment to start with. Of course, there’s gonna be some things that sound familiar. Namely, Jack’s burly barking vocals, which sound perfect for mean as fuck hardcore. That said, this tape feels fresh to me. I think it rips.

Not unlike Quarantine, I think what strikes me about the way these guys write songs is that at first impulse, I feel like I’m being pummeled by direct, tough-as-nails, go-for-the-throat hardcore—but upon closer inspection, there’s some wild ass stuff going on. Jagged, neck-breaking rhythmic complexity, some odd-time stuff, demented spoken word vocals, some unexpectedly cool and dissonant Black Flag/Die Kreuzeny guitar stuff. Even the graphic design on the tape has some whacky, irreverent, yet kinda ominous imagery going on. A big thing that I notice is that I love the sound of this recording. It’s a different drummer, whom I believe is Daniel from KOS/Dark Thoughts. The drumming sounds dialed, but the drums aren’t recorded super bombastically. Instead, they sound super dry and punchy, like an oldschool recording. I wouldn’t be surprised if this recording was at least partially straight to tape on a 4-track. As opposed to Exile, the last Quarantine record, this Damage tape sounds super raw and organic. If they do a proper vinyl release after this, I personally would be stoked if they stuck with the same approach recording-wise.

Anyway, grab this tape if it’s not on your radar yet. I think that’s all I’ve got. As always, thanks for reading.

‘Til next week,

-Jeff

My selection for this week is another pickup from my recent trip, which I wrote all about in last week’s staff pick. I was actually hoping to find this record while I was in Sweden, and when I saw a copy at Trash Palace, it went straight in my pile.

The Rude Kids: 1984 Is Here to Stay... 12” (Sonet Records, 1981)

Some months ago, I came across a mention of this record on some list or another and added it to my “to listen” list. While I knew nothing about 1984 Is Here to Stay, I knew the Rude Kids’ earlier records well. I’m certain my introduction to the band was the blazing “Absolute Ruler” on Killed by Death #2, probably the best volume of KBD (if it’s not the best, it’s certainly my most played). Over the years I picked up copies of their first three singles. I remember my copy of their second single, 1978’s “Stranglers (If It’s Quiet Why Don’t You Play?),” came inside another completely unrelated LP. I can’t remember what record it was, but I bought some LP online and when it showed up, there was a copy of the Rude Kids single inside the jacket, picture sleeve and all. Looking back, I probably should have contacted the seller, but hopefully the statute of limitations is up on that one. Around a decade ago, I picked up a copy of the Rude Kids’ first LP, Safe Society, and there was a solid year where I listened to it almost constantly. Starting off with “Absolute Ruler” and also including the first single, “Raggare Is a Bunch of Motherfuckers” (which you might remember from Bloodstains Across Sweden), Safe Society is a top-notch ’77 punk LP, up there with the best UK and American bands. If you love the Damned’s first album, you should definitely check it out… it has a similar, Raw Power-on-amphetamines kind of feel.

Anyway, I was lucky enough to find this copy of 1984 Is Here to Stay before I had taken the time to listen to it online, so my first experience of the record was on vinyl, and this is a great-sounding copy of a well-recorded record. While I think 1984 Is Here to Stay is great, it’s very different from the Rude Kids’ earlier stuff. While it sounds bad on paper that they’re not nearly as fast and have lost much of their off-the-rails energy, in my opinion they make up for it with stronger, subtler playing and a big emphasis on hooky songwriting. Some songs are anthemic enough to bring to mind Twisted Sister’s first album, but the music is denser and moodier, reminding me of the Professionals (particularly the guitar player, who sounds just like Steve Jones in places). After I formulated that “Twisted Sister meets the Professionals” equation in my head for a while, I realized that what 1984 Is Here to Stay really sounds like is the Dictators’ Blood Brothers. The big production, over-the-top hooks, frontperson with a big personality, tongue-in-cheek lyrics, but consistently upbeat and energetic… if you ride for Blood Brothers, you’ll hear a lot of similar qualities here, and I’m pretty sure you’ll like them. Plus, 1984 Is Here to Stay is a 6-song, 45rpm 12” (best format!), and the Rude Kids are wise to keep things brief and to the point.

The first track on the b-side, “Next Time I’ll Beat Björn Borg!” (which also came out as a single in 1980 with a memorable picture sleeve) feels like the record’s anchor, serving as it’s longest, most ambitious, and best song. The Rude Kids throw all their best moves at you on this one: huge Pistols-inspired riffs, a monster chorus… even a great middle eight part. It’s a fuck of a long way from the savage, explosive “Raggare Is a Bunch of Mothers,” but it’s still great. It shoulda been huge, I tell you! It’s as good as the best Dictators songs I think, and has a combination of heft and pop sophistication that will appeal to folks who love any Ramones albums past the first three.

The Rude Kids released two more singles after 1984 Is Here to Stay. I haven’t heard them, but if I’m lucky enough to visit Sweden again, you bet they (along with the “Björn Borg” single) will be on my shopping list.

The Damage: demo cassette (Damage United) Maximally fast, loud, and mean music from this Philly crew on their debut release. If it sounds familiar, that’s because 3/4 of the members were in Quarantine, with Daniel from Kinetic Orbital Strike and Dark Thoughts being the recent addition to the lineup on drums. Somehow the Damage ratchets up the intensity even more from their previous band, which I would have hardly thought possible until I heard it. The Damage plays like they have something to prove, pushing their sound to the absolute breaking point in terms of speed, heaviness, and downright meanness. The first three tracks are just ridiculously fast, blazing along at Jerry’s Kids-esque tempos that are so impressive in their own right that it takes a few listens for it to sink in how dense and hooky the songs are. When the Damage finally takes the pedal off the floor for the final stomper, “Why Try,” it feels like a mid-paced song in context, but it’s actually faster than a lot of “fast hardcore” bands’ fastest songs. Imagine standing in an open space with 25 pitching machines assembled in a circle around you, all hurling 90-mile-per-hour fastballs constantly, from every direction, for six minutes. That’s what listening to this demo feels like.

Hello Sorry Staters! Here I am for a second time writing this as I forgot to save my draft the first time! Don’t be like me, always save your work! It has been one hell of a scorcher these past couple of weeks here in North Carolina, but I have made it out alive. I know we have had a little break sharing our picks and what we are listening to during the week due to some of the Sorry State crew being out of town for tours and what not, but we are back! I have not had much brain space to listen to new stuff because of things going on in my personal life that have just mentally drained me. It has basically been sleep, eat and work for the past couple of weeks, but I have finally found a few days to just sit with some new releases that I have been excited about.

One of main reasons I chose this record this week is because I needed to just put something on and have it sound good in the background while doing mundane things to keep my mind calm and relaxed while I concentrated on a task. I know I have written a lot about shoegaze and dream pop in other picks, and it is no secret that they are some of my favorite genres these days. New York City’s Hotline TNT just released Raspberry Moon a few weeks ago and it is becoming one of my favorite records of the year so far. One thing that made me laugh when getting the record was the hype sticker. It reads “The Next Phase In New American Shoegaze.” I wonder what Third Man executive thought this was anywhere near a true statement? It seems to be quite the tall order as there have been countless AMAZING new shoegaze artists coming out in the past 5 years. The record itself to me leans more toward alternative noise rock with nods to shoegaze, as opposed to being the new phase in American shoegaze. Don’t get me wrong, though; this record is packed with super fuzzy and noisy hooks that reel you in track after track.

If you are in the mood for something different that will put in you a good head space, then I think this record is for you. Third Man did a great job on the packaging. You get a gigantic poster and what seems to be a 180 gram record. The color we have in stock is cool I guess, nothing that really pops. Lots of great stuff is coming out this summer so keep an eye on the website for updates as we continually get new stuff in daily, and hopefully I can get caught up enough to list more that used CD collection that everyone has been consistently picking from! Have a great 4th of July holiday if you're in the States and if not have one anyway! Until next week!

Hey, hey, hey Sorry Staters! It’s been a while. How is everyone? That’s a loaded question considering all that is happening around the world. We sincerely hope that you and your loved ones are happy and safe. It’s a scary time, especially if you live in certain places where you may be fighting for your very life. It makes talking about anything less seem trivial, but if history has taught us anything it’s that the arts are the last bastions of free speech and that great creative things can come out of adversity. Art, music, and culture are the things that will keep us sane and moving forward so that together we can escape this dystopian nightmare.

Traditionally the summer slows down as far as new music releases go, but that doesn’t mean that new records haven’t been coming into Sorry State these past few weeks. There have been plenty. Jump on over to our webstore for a quick glance at some of the latest new arrivals. In our physical downtown Raleigh store, the quality used records supply hasn’t been turned off either. We’re always hunting for fresh vinyl and welcome locals and those further afield to contact us if they are interested in selling their records. We always get the best killer shit from our customers, so don’t forget, if you are feeling the need to purge your collection a little, get in touch with us and we’ll help to pass on your music to new ears and put a ‘lil dough in your skyrockets at the same time.

On that topic, one of our customers stopped by recently and sold us some nice records, including some killer jazz heat. The man had good taste. After we had concluded our deal, he casually mentioned that he was a musician and had a record that he would love to see in as many stores as possible. Our “policy” at SSR is to always try to take a copy or two of touring bands’ record if they pop in the shop or to stock a local band’s record. Within reason, of course. If it’s totally out of our wheelhouse, then maybe not, but we try to support as much as possible. Anyway, he left us three copies of his record and I said we’d get it on the floor for folks to see. He described it as Psychedelic, which got my attention, and I made a note to give it a listen when I could. I’m sure I don’t have to tell anyone who has worked in music and especially stores, all about the ton of promos you receive from new artists and bands and how many calls and solicitations you get for records that you have never heard of. It can tend to make you a little bit jaded. I always try to give everything a fair chance. I’ve been introduced to a lot of great bands and artists from their first promo or self-released record. My ears have always been reliable to me over the years, and I tend to be able to tell when something is good. That all being said, this fellow’s record is very good in my opinion and it’s going to be my pick for this week.

Faun Tempol: La Oprika – 2024

The band, as far as I can tell, is two blokes, Carter Gaj and Thomas Simpson, and they are based here in North Carolina. I’m not sure whether they are locals or transplants like me. Anyway, it’s good to shine a light on local talent. The album is presented as four sides of listening and although not expressed anywhere as far as I can tell, they do sort of represent four slightly different suites of music. It’s modern psychedelic music taking in several generations of bands and artists that have trodden the psych path before them. There are dips into exotica, world music, soul and jazz all intertwined within the songs but without overtaking anything. This is still a record with guitars and drums and songs that “bands” could play. It’s not all about texture and mood, although there is plenty of that, there are some cool poppy tunes and some more rocking moments here.

The opening track sets the mood and pace with a ten plus minute epic entitled Acting Like A Child that fans of Temples, Mercury Rev, The Flaming Lips, Tame Impala and other 00s psych bands would appreciate. That track slips into an avant-garde like tape loop and electronic track which gently eases next to an acoustic guitar strumming and an effects laden intro vocal before the full band sound kicks in and ends the first side with a song called Fools Count that features some nice lead guitar.

Side two begins with one of my favorite songs on the record, a catchy ditty called Sleeping Couch. Slightly reminiscent of the psych-pop sounds that Welsh bands were making in the 90s. Stand up Super Furry Animals and Gorky’s. This is a real earworm track and I enjoy it more with each subsequent listen. Following track Soup Du Jour has some nice keyboard/mellotron stuff going on over a Can inspired drum beat. Good song. The side ends with a funky guitar groove instrumental track titled Fukuyama 5, that again features some tasty lead guitar licks.

Side three opener, Hermit Song, gets into the world music inspiration with what sounds like aboriginal chants and digeridoos playing. Or something like that. Amor Fatigue continues the record and it’s another fine pop song, embellished with sound effects, like a whole bunch of clocks on the outro. The third side concludes with a song called Vines. Dreamy vocals float along on top of a gentle groove which made me think of 60s sunshine pop groups produced by Curt Boettcher, like Sagittarius and Millennium. Albeit through a modern lens. I’d say that if these psych-pop groups are your bag then you will most likely dig this album.

Lastly, we flip the record to the final side. It begins with another funky guitar groove track called Cheesies On The Board, that could have been stolen from a Sly And The Family Stone recording session outtake. This song nicely segues into next song, Materia Prima, a beautiful South American flavored love song lament. The journey is closed out by one final instrumental called Death Clop, which sort of reprises a little bit of everything we just heard. And there it is. Album finished.

I enjoyed the trip and will say that each repeated listen has brought out new sounds and tones that I missed previously. It’s well recorded and sounds good. All key ingredients for a decent record. I believe the lads in Faun Tempol pulled it off, and I recommend psych-pop fans to go check this one out. We have a copy still here at the store and I’ll investigate getting some more copies if it looks like y’all are interested. Big up to Carter for trading some cool shit with us and stopping by to introduce me to his record. I love it when stuff like that happens, and I discover a record that I may never have found otherwise.

Okay, back to work. What to play after listening to La Oprika? How about the 1968 UK psych classic from the group July? Yeah, that sounds about right. See you all around these parts next time.

-Dom

What’s up Sorry Staters?

Wow, feels crazy to be using that catchphrase again after all this time! I was just checking a moment ago, and it looks like the last Sorry State newsletter we sent out was back in May? Psycho. And of course, I didn’t even appear in the last newsletter because I was already in the middle of my European tour, probably in like Barcelona or something. It also feels strange that even though I’ve already been back home in North Carolina for a while now, this is still my first opportunity to even acknowledge my return from Public Acid’s journey overseas. In some ways, I’ve readjusted to normalcy. But even having been back for a couple weeks, I’m still carrying a bit of the post-tour blues. I had such an amazing time on tour, to the point where I kept jokingly saying that I might just not come back. I would think to myself, “I suppose I could just miss my flight.” Kidding of course… Or am I?

I almost feel weird mentioning stories or details from the tour. Not sure if you readers care to read them anyway ha! We’ll see how this goes now that the feeling of returning home and reminiscing all the many moments isn’t as fresh on my brain. I’ll keep the highlight reel short:

The UK shows with our buddies in Tramadol were great. Our driver Dom is an absolute legend—he’s one cheeky rock’n’roll maniac. Trish, our good friend who plays in many great bands you all know from Philly, filled in bass for the first leg of tour and crushed it. She also kept us laughing constantly. Noise Annoys fest was so killer. So many great bands. Finally got to see Muro, who were just totally amazing live. Rat Cage brought the fuckin’ heat. Gefyr from Sweden ripped so hard it was insane. The Croatian bands Koridor and Indikator B were so rad to see live. Big thanks to Bry for an amazing time and also helping with booking the first half of our European dates. Met many cool and wonderful people this round at our gigs in France. It was also great to visit Basque Country and Barcelona for the first time. Speaking of which, the couple days we got to spend in Athens were absolutely incredible. Takis and Vangelis from Plektani were the most welcoming hosts and so cool to hang out with. The show was killer, we got to eat the most amazing food, and getting to witness the sprawling view of the city from atop the Parthenon was pretty wild.

Then we flew to Sweden for the Scandinavian half of the tour. The platinum chiller Wilhelmina drove us, just like she did on Scarecrow tour the year before. She rules. Funny enough, Usman met up with us in Sweden and just came along with Public Acid in the van. Then Daniel suddenly showed up in Helsinki! My other dudes at Sorry State just couldn’t resist coming along for the ride haha. Had a wonderful reunion with everyone in Vidro upon arriving to Umeå. Then we took the ferry to Finland to begin our run of gigs with the mighty Kriegshög! Feel so lucky I got to watch that band absolutely dominate on stage every night, only to learn they’re also incredibly sweet and awesome people. So rad. Kohti Tuhoa and Ignorance who played all the Finnish shows with us were awesome as well. Our show in Stockholm was totally killer. The show at Blitz in Oslo was a total rager. And of course, K-Town was the perfect finale. All the gratitude to Christina, and all the organizers/volunteers at the BEST punk festival. So many other people, details, debauchery, blah blah I could mention, but I’ll quit blabbing. Like I said, feeling a bit depleted returning home, but when I sit and think about our killer month-long adventure, I feel very grateful.

So anyway, I did manage to buy a bunch of records while I was on tour. Mainly found stuff visiting record stores in Sweden and Finland. I think I came back almost exclusively with Swedish and Finnish punk from the late 70s and early 80s. Since my last visit to Sweden, I made a point to brush up on my Swedish punk classics, and I had a decisive list of records I was looking to find. Lucky for me, Trash Palace in Stockholm had the goods. This store organizes their punk singles by region or country, so you can just go dig through box that’s all Swedish punk 7”s. Looking at the list of stuff I was looking for, they had pretty much EVERYTHING. I honestly wish I could have gotten more records, but some of the more high-ticket collectory priced items I had to pass on. Maybe more next time. But I was stoked! I made it back with a few punk singles that (to me at least) feel like cool Swedish deep cuts I maybe would have only found while I was over there.

I got a ton, but I’ll talk about just a few records. The 1st record is by a band called Kontaktlim, which I was really excited to find. They only released this one single in 1982. The first track, and the big hit “Kontaktlim” opens with this melodic guitar pattern that falls into a category that I always refer to as “New Age Blitz” style riffs. The vocals are a bit eccentric, but super tuneful, almost making me think of Stiff Little Fingers at times. But the sing-songy vocal style I feel like is something I love about punk from this era that is distinctly Swedish. Funny enough, this band is an early punk band from Eskilstuna, which is where No Security is from. The 2nd record I’ll talk about is by this band Usch. Usch is made up of 3 women and 1 dude, which is super cool. This 4-song EP was released in 1979, and for being that early, the guitar sound is super noisy and grimy, and even though the vocals are mostly melodic, to me the drive and unhinged power of the songs is already hinting at hardcore. The first track clocks in at just over 1 minute. Total banger, little sleeper hit rager of late 70s Swedish punk. Then lastly, I was super stoked to find this particular single by a band called Slobobans Undergång. I can’t remember how I discovered this band a while back. I assume they’re from Gothenburg, since this single came out on GBG Records. The band has several singles, but for me this one from 1980 entitled Kommer Du Bli Lönsam Min Vän? is THE one. Something about the cover with Frankenstein’s monster sick in bed caught my attention as well haha. This band has some kinda kooky weird little passages. But thankfully, no ska parts. But in general, it’s super heavy guitar-driven, riffy, catchy punk. All the songs on this single are great, but the total banger, which is the whole reason I wanted the 7”, is this track called “Atomkrasch”. It just kicks in with this raging riff and catchy shout-along chorus. Total bop, it rules.

Anyway, I think that’s all I’ve got for this round? We’ll see if I get back around to talking about new releases that Sorry State has in stock. SOOO much new shit to listen to since I’ve been gone. It’s kinda overwhelming. But as always, thanks for reading.

‘Til next week (let’s hope lol),

-Jeff

So much has happened since I wrote my last staff pick that I hardly know where to start. I guess the big news is that I got to spend a couple weeks in Europe. I bought tickets to this year’s K-Town Hardcore Fest hoping that I could actually make it, and in the end I not only went to the fest, but extended it into a little (mostly) solo vacation where I spent a few days each in Helsinki and Stockholm. I’d only been to those cities on tour, and anyone who has been on a tour knows you rarely get to see much of the cities you visit. I planned the dates so that I would intersect with the Public Acid / Kriegshög shows in both cities, and the days when I wasn’t hanging with that crew I spent sightseeing and record shopping. I was nervous about doing a solo vacation, but it turned out great. I saw some amazing sights like Suomenlinna in Helsinki and the Vasa Museum in Stockholm, ate as much good food as my delicate stomach would allow, spent a good amount of time just sitting in parks and other green spaces reading and relaxing, walked a ridiculous number of miles, and of course bought a ton of records. I’m sure I’ll be talking about those in my staff picks for some time to come.

The Public Acid / Kriegshög shows I got to see were totally epic. The Scandinavian leg of Public Acid’s European tour was virtually identical to the tour Scarecrow did last summer, so there was a persistent feeling of déjà vu as I found myself in the same spaces and (happily!) catching up with many of the same people. The Helsinki and Stockholm shows were in the same venues Scarecrow played, but fortunately I got to see some bands I hadn’t seen before: Ignorance in Helsinki and Prisão in Stockholm. The Helsinki show was great, but I was distracted with catching up with people, so I didn’t get to pay as much attention to the bands as I would have liked, though I made sure to watch Kohti Tuhoa closely as they played a bunch of new, as-yet-unrecorded music they’ve been working on. The after-gig karaoke was ace too. The Stockholm show was one I’d put near the top of my all-time favorite shows I’ve ever seen. The venue, Kafe 44, is just perfect, a little rectangular-shaped sweatbox that immediately gets over-filled with people and sound. Prisão kicked things off, and they were awesome. Lucas, Vidro’s guitarist, is the singer, and untethered from the guitar he’s able to lean into his acrobatic antics. Public Acid was next, and they just leveled the place. I’ve seen Public Acid dozens of times and I always say they’re my favorite current band, but tonight’s show was really special. They were tour-tight and exploding with energy, and while the rough moshing usually keeps me near the back of the room when I see them in the US (particularly in Richmond), tonight I planted myself right in front of the stage, pumping my fist and singing along the whole time. Marty even handed me the mic a couple of times, though for one of those I blanked on the words and just made a ridiculous attempt at a Marty-esque noise in the mic. After Public Acid’s set, Kriegshög took the stage and made it their own. Whereas Public Acid was wild and kinetic, Kriegshög rode a wave of simmering tension for their entire set, only occasionally and briefly erupting into full pandemonium. By the time it ended I was a spent, sweat-soaked mess. It’s been years since I had that much fun at a show I didn’t play.

As for K-Town Fest… man, what an amazing experience that was. People kept asking me if I was back this year because I was playing, but I was just attending because I had such a great time the year before. I can’t stress enough what a well-run festival it is. The collective that runs Ungdomshuset and the Fest is the most effective and organized punk collective I’ve ever seen, and it seems like they’ve thought through every aspect of the fest ahead of time to make sure everyone has as much fun as possible. Once you’re inside the festival area, you’re in a punk utopia where all the bands are great, the people are cool, and everyone is there to have fun. (Not to get too political or sanctimonious, but I put a lot of this down to K-Town’s anti-hard drugs policy… it seems like cocaine is as common as beer at many fests, and it would be hard to argue that doesn’t influence the vibe.) People come from all over Europe (and even further) for the fest, so the first day is kind of overwhelming as you say hi to a million different people, some of whom you know pretty well and are excited to see, and many others whom you may have only met briefly in some far-away city. By the second day, you’ve locked in and found the people you’re hanging hard with, though as late as Sunday I was still running into people who I hadn’t seen at all for the first two days.

As for the bands, it would be overkill for me to report on every set I watched, but I can hit a few highlights. First, I should say that K-Town is one of the best environments in which you can see a hardcore punk band. The venue’s sound is excellent, with top-notch house equipment and a staff who are very experienced at making hardcore punk bands sound great, and the crowd is just so welcoming. I’ve played places where it feels like the audience is giving off a vibe of “show us what you got,” but at K-Town it seems like everyone is just excited and wants to see the bands rip. And the bands you would expect to rip definitely did… the Kriegshög and Public Acid headlining sets were insane, and Cicada and Necron 9 lived up to the much-deserved hype their recent recordings have gotten. The Sorry State bands that played—Golpe, Plasma, and Lasso—were all incredible, and I felt very proud to be involved with them.

There were a few surprises, though, mostly from bands who had put out good records, but whose live shows were even better. Poland’s Traüme really knocked me out on the first day. I had listened to their LP on Quality Control HQ quite a bit, but live they were something else. The singer had a ton of charisma, and I gained a new appreciation for the guitarist’s dense, complex, but catchy chords. (I believe Traüme’s guitarist also pulled double duty at the fest playing bass for Golpe.) The Netherlands’ Oust was the biggest surprise of the fest for me… I thought their record was cool, but they were on another level live. I walked in the venue just as their set started, and the band was playing a kind of hooky, bouncy brand of hardcore that reminded me of Golpe, and they had the entire room dancing… like 500 people, all the way to the back of the room, bouncing in time with the music. Eventually, I realized the singer wasn’t on the stage. They had one of those super long microphone cords that let them roam around the entire venue (they eventually even wandered into the courtyard outside), and while I usually hate when bands do that because you can’t see anything, in this case it really worked. It felt like I was in Children of the Corn or something, trapped in a field of tall, writhing bodies, then at random times a crazed Dutch singer would leap out of nowhere and be screaming in my face. And as if that weren’t exciting enough, when Oust’s singer explained the lyrics between songs, they had this wild, fire-and-brimstone delivery that reminded me of a Pentecostal preacher. There was this one moment when they were explaining a song about the “manosphere” (look it up if you want to get depressed), and everyone was so fired up that if you had lowered Joe Rogan from the ceiling, I feel confident the crowd would have ripped him to shreds within seconds. The other big surprise of the weekend was the Greek band Plektani (ΠΛΕΚΤΑΝΗ). It feels weird characterizing them as a surprise because we were huge fans of their LP here at Sorry State and I have played that record a ton, but, as good as that record is, it pales compared to how insanely powerful this band was live. They were just so fast, so heavy… no frills, no antics, no gimmicks, just hardcore punk played with maximum power, precision, and energy. I’m extremely thankful I got to see their set.

Unfortunately, by Sunday night I was coming down with a nasty illness. I hadn’t been taking care of myself all weekend, skipping eating and resting in favor of watching more bands and chatting with friends. I could feel a fever coming on Sunday afternoon, and by the time Public Acid played their encore I was spent… I bolted out of the room and back to my hostel, where I alternated sweating and freezing all night, my throat too raw and sore to let me fall asleep. I was in a similar condition for the entire flight home (four hours from Copenhagen to Reykjavík, 6 more from Reykjavík to Raleigh) and the first thing I did when I woke up the morning after getting home was go to the doctor (a viral infection, so they couldn’t do anything for me aside from suggesting Nyquil and breathing steam). It was nearly a week before the congestion cleared enough for me to hear out of both ears, so I couldn’t even listen to my records. Eventually I got around to that, though.

Since this is my staff pick, I should pick one of those records to highlight. I’m going with this single by the Helsinki band Problems? from 1979. I picked this one up at Stupido Records in Helsinki. I actually stopped in Stupido the day arrived in Helsinki since it was just down the street from my hostel, but I stopped in a second time on the afternoon of the Public Acid / Kriegshög show, where I was surprised to run into my friend Markku. I was bummed because I didn’t think I’d see Markku on this trip since he lives in Turkku, but thankfully he came down to Helsinki for the gig and we got in a little hang time. I always joke that Markku is like a magical record fairy, and his magic definitely worked this time. I already had a big stack of LPs that I was buying, but when Markku went to the counter, suddenly a box of rare 7”s emerged that I had no idea existed. There were a few things I knew and grabbed right away, and a few things Markku told me I should get, including this 7”. I knew about Problems? from the Pohjalla compilation and I actually grabbed a few of their albums on this trip, but these two songs are the cream of the crop. The a-side, “Tapan Aikaa,” sounds like something that could have come out on Good Vibrations Records with its big pop hooks and kind of plaintive delivery, while the b-side, “Tahdomme Tilaa,” is a nastier one in a kind of Euro-punk style with a very memorable guitar hook.

The packaging is cool on this one too, and very indicative of its time and place. Like a lot of my Finnish punk singles, the same image is printed on both sides of the picture sleeve. It’s also somewhat small… from what Usman told me, the main Finnish pressing plant delivered 7”s in clear (but slightly hazy) plastic bags rather than in paper sleeves or on a spindle like many other plants. The bag was just meant to cover the vinyl, but Finnish bands and labels handmade picture sleeves at a slightly smaller than usual size so they fit in this bag. Well, now that I’ve bored everyone by writing about how Finnish vinyl manufacturers shipped records in the 80s, I think it’s time to wrap this up. See you next time!

Electric Chair / Physique: Split 12” (Iron Lung Records) Iron Lung Records teams up two of hardcore’s most important bands for a devastating split LP. This split caught me by surprise given Electric Chair’s reduced activity since their drummer moved to Australia and the fact that Physique just dropped an LP and an EP not too long ago, but it’s an extremely welcome surprise as these are two of my favorite bands going. When I first listened to this split, what struck me is that it captures both bands at an interesting stage where they know exactly who they are, are confident enough to push at the edges of their respective sounds, but not restless enough to fuck with the formula too much. Basically, both groups are at the height of their powers here. Electric Chair comes with one of their cleaner recordings that really shows off what a great and powerful band they are. They start off with a rare mid-paced song, “Weed Out the Rat,” before careening into four blasts of their trademark flying-off-the-rails hardcore. The vocals (free from the “underwater” effect on Act of Aggression) are catchier than ever, and the lead guitars stand out even more than on previous records, wrenching out both uncomfortable squalls of noise and blindingly fast melodic runs. There’s even a near-blast-beat at the beginning of “Can’t Quit Drinking.” I’m still digesting, but I wouldn’t be surprised if, years down the line, I consider these songs Electric Chair’s high-water mark. As for Physique, they are similarly inspired here. I always say that this kind of highly stylized d-beat hardcore is a game of inches where subtle adjustments in guitar sound, rhythm, or vocal approach can really change the vibe, but Physique always sounds fresh and exciting without relying on a trainspotter’s knowledge of d-beat history. What I find most interesting about their tracks here are the rhythms, which break out of the overly familiar Discharge/Disclose beats that undergird this style. “Drowning in Debt,” for instance, is this choppy mid-paced track where, if you squint, the beat bears some traces of “A Look at Tomorrow,” but it feels like distinctly its own thing (or, if they’re borrowing it from another song, it’s not obvious to me which one). The trick with this style is walking that fine line between doing everything the style demands (and doing it well!) and adding something new to the conversation, and no one rides that sweet spot like Physique. On paper, I can see how this split might not be that exciting—two bands who have been around a long time and have a lot of other records, most of which you probably already own—but the proof is in the pudding, and once my needle lands on this slab, the last thing I want to do is pick it up.