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Featured Release Roundup: April 16, 2020

Faux Départ: Vie Ordinaire 12” (Destructure) Vie Ordinaire is the 3rd release Sorry State has carried from Lyon, France’s Faux Départ, and it’s their best one yet. Faux Départ reminds me of North Carolina’s Personality Cult. Both bands combine Marked Men-style power-pop / melodic punk with post-punk angularity, and both have grown more sophisticated in their pop songwriting with each subsequent release. Also like Personality Cult, Faux Départ makes their recordings sound great, with a balanced mix that finds space for every instrument’s subtleties to come through while still maintaining a high energy level and a sense of rawness. Faux Départ is equally adept with a jerky, post-punk-influenced tune like “Le Casse” as they are with the closing track “Fantôme,” which offers a dramatic series of powerful melodies and great backing vocals that add to the song’s climatic feel. Fans of Marked Men, Personality Cult, and similar bands on labels like Dirtnap should give this a spin.


Reincarnate: Take It or Leave It: Demos and Rarities 12” (Splattered!) Splattered! Records offers up another NWOBHM reissue, this time featuring the obscure band Reincarnate. The b-side of this LP compiles their lone 2-track single, a heavy hitter than any fan of NWOBHM will enjoy. The charismatic vocals and intricate riffing remind me of peak-era Diamond Head, particularly on the heavier b-side track, “Metal in Disguise,” which I could imagine 80s Metallica covering in an alternate universe. While these two tracks are prime NWOBHM, the four demo tracks on the a-side are for completists only. These tracks sound like a more embryonic version of the band and have a rough sound, a spotty vocal performance, and what sounds like some minor issues with the source tape. If you’ve been dying to hear more than just the two tracks from the single, I’m sure you’ll love to hear these, but your average metalhead will stick to the two rippers on the b-side.


Dissekerad / Earth Crust Displacement: Split 7” (Rawmantic Disasters) In case you don’t remember, Sweden’s Dissekerad comes from the broader universe of Totalitär-related bands, and along with members of Makabert Fynd features Poffen from Totalitär’s trademark vocals. You won’t find any surprises on this side of split (not that you’d want any!), just catchy, well-constructed d-beat in the vein of Sin Egen Motståndare-era Totalitär. As for Germany’s Earth Crust Displacement, their two tracks come from the same session as their D-Takt Noize LP from 2017, and while I haven’t heard that record, these two tracks are solid, Totalitär-style d-beat that’s a hair sloppier and noisier than the Dissekerad side. The drummer has a penchant for long, insanely fast snare rolls, putting them at the end of nearly every bar. With straightforward d-beat it’s all about a band’s particular quirks, and at least for these two tracks that seems to be one of Earth Crust Displacement’s signatures.

No streaming link for this one, sorry!

Heavy Nukes / Earth Crust Displacement: Spit 7” (Rawmantic Disasters) Sweden’s Heavy Nukes delivers four new tracks of total Shitlickers worship here. If you haven’t heard the Shitlickers you should rectify that, but think blistering fast metallic riffing and raw, blown-out production, like you took Anti-Cimex’s Victims of a Bombraid and turned both the “speed” and “gloom” knobs up a few notches. As for Germany’s Earth Crust Displacement, their three tracks differ from the songs on their split with Dissekerad, having a faster and meaner, Shitlickers-esque vibe. The last of their three tracks is a cover of the old German band MxVxDx and that one has an epic, almost orchestral tone to it that reminds me of the grandest moments on Discharge’s Why? 12”.

No streaming link for this one, sorry!

Street Weapon: Quick to Die 7” (Not for the Weak) Debut 7” from this band out of Virginia Beach, Virginia. According to the label, most of the band members are barely out of high school, which rules. While I listen to a lot of old guy hardcore that’s very conscious of how it exists within the larger historical framework of punk and hardcore, Street Weapon seems more genuine and unaffected, like they’re just shooting from the hip and throwing together elements of stuff they like. I hear elements of Negative Approach-style oi!-tinged hardcore, New Breed-style NYHC (particularly in the breakdowns), a hint of thrash metal in the riffing, and some of that Gag / Bib-style hardcore that’s all about catchy mid-paced riffs. Even with all of those elements, Street Weapon doesn’t sound schizophrenic, but open-minded and un-self-conscious. If you’re into the more 80s-inspired end of the capital H Hardcore scene, check out what the younger generation is up to.


Vile Reality: Detached cassette (self-released) Detached is the second cassette release from this ripping band out of San Diego, California. Vile Reality reminds me of one of my favorite bands from the 00s, Socialcide. (Fun fact: Sorry State was all set to put out Socialcide’s next record, but unfortunately the band dissolved before that happened.) Like Socialcide, Vile Reality plays a fast and negative take on classic USHC (not as fast as Siege or Deep Wound, but faster than average) with a touch of classic NYHC, which comes out on mid-tempo tracks like “Control.” The riffing and songwriting are top-notch; while these tracks are pure hardcore, there’s something about the way they’re constructed and played that makes you want to stand up and thrash around your record room. Another unique thing about this record is the subtle industrial undercurrent that comes from little touches like the unique distortion on the vocals (which sound like Pushead from Septic Death) and the spacey wah-wah guitar sound at the end of the closing track, “Immobilized.” It’s too bad this isn’t on vinyl, because this is top notch hardcore.


The Cowboys: Room of Clons 12” (Feel It) Indiana’s the Cowboys seem to be establishing themselves as the Guided by Voices of modern DIY punk. While the most obvious similarity is the volume of music they release (Room of Clons is, depending on how you count, their seventh or eighth full-length in six years), the similarities don’t end there. Besides the evident ability to write hook after hook, the Cowboys have a lack of fussiness that reminds me of GBV. While a lot of bands work very hard to make everything they do conform to some grand vision (whether it’s one they’ve developed or one they’ve swiped from another artist), the Cowboys seem to write and release music with the same nonchalance with which I make and eat sandwiches. While the recipes are all great, their ingredients differ from track to track—on Room of Clons alone you’ll find acoustic and electric guitar (the latter of which itself employs many different effects from track to track), piano, synths, and even kazoo. The songs also reference different genres, from the quirky new wave of “Wise Guy Algorithm” (which sounds like the Undertones meets Dow Jones and the Industrials) to the Bauhaus-esque goth-glam of “The Beige Collection” to the piano ballad “A Killing,” to the Kinks-style barroom jaunt “Ninety Normal Men,” to… well, I could keep going but I think you get the point. Just to extend the GBV comparison, the critical cliche is that their records are inconsistent, but I’ve never been one to go through an album track by track assessing whether I like each song. I’m sure there are people who could do that with Room of Clons, but I prefer to bask in the album’s eclecticism, to enjoy it like a travelogue of sounds, genres, and styles. I hope (and wouldn’t be surprised if) the Cowboys eventually have their own tribe of super-fans who immerse themselves in the band’s catalog with the devotion people give to bands like GBV, the Fall or the Grateful Dead. When that happens I’ll be gloating, telling the newbies about how they toured through North Carolina just about every year, never playing to more than a few dozen people but always ruling, and what a pleasure it was to digest their eclectic and brilliant discography as it came out. And, by the way, god bless Feel It Records for serving the cause for the past several years, enabling us to watch this long and rewarding story unfold.


Staff Picks: April 16, 2020

Staff Picks: Daniel

Steve Hillage: Fish Rising LP (Virgin; 1975)

This week I have another LP that Dominic tipped me off to when a used copy came through the store. I love extended psychedelic guitar freakouts, and this title supplies in spades. While I see it’s categorized under “space rock” on Discogs, it reminds me less of the tripped out, stoned vibes of Hawkwind or early UFO and more of the frantic orgy of notes I associate with the first few Mahavishnu Orchestra albums (particularly The Inner Mounting Flame), which I also love. Sure, it’s a little looser than that, more rock and less jazz, but if you like John McLaughlin’s style this is worth checking out. For my money, there’s not a dull moment on the record.

As a side note, when I was reading about this album online, someone pointed out that in an episode of The Young Ones when they’re having a big party, someone trashes some of Neil’s records and he says “oh no, my Steve Hillage!” That prompted a moment of reflection, recognizing that I’m now listening to Neil’s music rather than Vivian’s or Rick’s…

Staff Picks: Jeff

Violent Christians: No Speed, No Punk! demo (Roach Leg) I just heard this band for the first time the other day. Roach Leg put this tape out and we should be getting copies for the store pretty soon. I don’t know why, but all I’ve wanted to hear lately is pissed, mean, sloppy and irreverent US hardcore. Violent Christians are really scratching that itch for me at the moment. I’m honestly sick of hearing the phrase “d-beat.” I don’t care anymore. I dunno much about Violent Christians. I think they’re from Texas? No guitar solos. No metal. No cliché mosh parts. Most songs are under a minute. Sign me up. Perfect band to crush beers to while you’re quarantined in your room at 3am.

Staff Picks: Eric

Dissekerad / Earth Crust Displacement: Split 7" (Rawmantic Disasters) Who would have thought I'd be recommending TWO (see next pick) split 7"s! I'm loving the first track on Dissekerad's side, "Slakten's Massor." Straight up mid tempo Swedish hardcore at it's finest. Caveman D-beat. Dissekerad features an all star line-up including legendary Swedish frontman, Poffen, on vocals. His vocal style is so recognizable that the guttural sound of it has become a staple of the genre. I had never heard ECD before throwing this record on the turntable, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a little bit more into the Dissekerad side, but ECD is crushing and menacing. Absolutely recommended for fans mangel and/or folks who like their dis-rock a little crustier.

Heavy Nukes / Earth Crust Displacement: Split 7" (Rawmantic Disasters) Heavy Nukes deliver 4 insane tracks of explosive Shitlickers style Swedish D-beat. It's easy for stuff like this to sound pretty uninspired and monotonous to me, but Heavy Nukes doesn't feel that way. It feels like they have perfected the art of classic Swedish D-beat hardcore and turned it into a modern beast in the 21st century. The ECD tracks on this are also ripping and crushing as ever. I think Heavy Nukes and ECD pair just a little bit better than Dissekerad and ECD, making this split feel a bit more on brand as a contemporary crasher crust hit. The tracks on this split were recorded in the same session as their split with Disease and include a cover of German band, MxVxDx.

No streaming links for these, sorry!

Staff Picks: Dominic

Hey there friends and music lovers, how are you holding up? I hope well.

With the social distancing still in full effect it seems like people have been busy. There are a ton of podcasts, mixes and shows going up from all corners of the world and many of them are excellent. Add to that all the other stuff to watch and to read and you barely have enough time to get through a fraction of it despite being home with all this apparent free time. I don’t know about you but I feel overloaded and have actually been trying to consume less during this period and just stick with what I know and what I already have. That for me is records and they will always be my go to for entertainment and enrichment purposes. So, between listening to the records we have been putting up on the store and digging into my own shelves I have gone through a lot of records and have had little time for much else. Maybe a little TCM at night, I do like my old movies but mostly music. Anyway, this time made it more than clear to me what great value records are. You get the music, the artwork, the information and can hold it and feel it and enjoy them time after time if handled and stored properly. They also don’t have to cost a fortune. Growing up, part of the appeal with records was that no matter how much money you had it was always possible to round up enough to get something cool. Good record stores then and now always catered to both ends of the budget scale. The mark of a good store should be that whether you spend just a dollar or a few hundred, either way you come away with a decent record. At Sorry State Records, I think we do a good job at that. Since the shutdown, we have been listing lots of our used records for you and will keep going with that but one area of the store that we wanted to try and give you access to is our great Bargain Bin section. This is where we have records priced $5 and below. There are so many good records that don’t go for much but are just as good as those rare holy grail types and can give you just as much pleasure for a fraction of the cost. Most often with the bargain bins it is a chance to pick up solid back catalogue titles and best sellers at affordable prices. We have lots of those.

So very briefly without any more blather here are ten titles, in no particular order, that I just plucked today that are worthy of being in anyone’s collection. All priced between $2 and $5.
 
1: Introducing The Eleventh House With Larry Coryell. Vanguard 1974. Killer jazz fusion with funky moments and heavier psych guitar parts. All his sixties and early seventies records are pretty good.

2: GoldFinger Soundtrack by John Barry. United Artists 1964. What’s not to love about this? One of the best Bond title tunes, sung by Shirley Bassey. One of John Barry’s finest. Plus, a cover with cool Bond images including Honor Blackman as Pussy Galore. Come on.

3: Mae West: Great Balls Of Fire. MGM 1972. Yes, that Mae West. She made a couple of these records backed by a swingin’ beat combo. Covering mostly 50’s rock ‘n’ roll songs, there are a couple of cool numbers on here and you get Mae still doing what she always did best, sexy innuendo and double entendres.

4: Tony Bennett with Count Basie Big Band: Big Band Bash. Intermedia Records 1982. Not sure when this was actually recorded but it sounds great. Really swingin’ stuff and both band and vocalist were on top form. Class.

5: Ramsey Lewis Trio: Hang On Ramsey! Cadet 1965. I love this record so much. Prime Ramsey Lewis Trio recorded live at the famous Lighthouse in Hermosa Beach, California. He covers two Lennon & McCartney tracks among the repertoire of other current pop hits and originals. A great listen start to finish. If you are not picking up every Ramsey Lewis record you see on Cadet, you should be.

6: Cal Tjader: Soul Sauce. Verve 1965. The record that introduced me and most others to the talents of Cal Tjader and the joy that you feel when you listen to him play the vibes. His records combine just the right mix of jazz and Latin grooves and always hit the spot. Perfect mood music. This record is dripping in pedigree. Recorded in part by Rudy Van Gelder at his studio and featuring among others, Willie Bobo, Kenny Burrell, Donald Byrd, Grady Tate, Armando Peraza as musicians. Such a great record and holds up to the best.

7: Mongo Santamaria: Stone Soul. Columbia 1969. Keeping on the Latin tip with this great funky and soulful album. Again, a who’s who of musicians playing on it including Bernard “Pretty” Purdie on drums. Nice versions of See-Saw and Cloud Nine among other pop and soul covers, all with great Latin percussion.

8: The Isley Brothers: It’s Your Thing. T-Neck 1969. Killer funk and soul from The Isley Brothers on their own label. You get the title hit and a lot of other great tunes. I always liked I Must Be Losing My Touch and Don’t Give It Away off this one. Some cool down tempo ballads too.

9: Dave Edmunds: Get It. Swan Song 1977. Classic late seventies Rockpile production. Dave pretty much played and sung everything on this one and it’s full of 50’s influenced rockers with hooky guitar parts-a-plenty. This is a fun record.

10: Kenny Rogers: The Gambler. United Artists 1978. We only just dipped our toes into the rock and country records but let’s wrap it up at ten with this classic. Nothing needed to be said. Respect to Mr. Rogers. This one has a great cover and that title song and a couple of other half decent songs. The Hoodooin’ Of Miss Fannie Deberry is Kenny doing Tony Joe White and getting all swamp funk groovy.

Alright, there you go. Ten records pulled from our Bargain Bins that are fully guaranteed to be ace and will set you back about $35 if you bought the lot. That’s pretty good value. Get in touch if you want them.
 
 

These are only a few bucks each, so just buy or look it up on YouTube your dang self!

Staff Picks: Ava

Pyöveli: No Speed Limits (Headsplit)

Maniacal Finnish duet Pyöveli are here to melt face with their fourth full length "No Speed Limits". Released in early 2019 on Headsplit records, these brothers have presented to us a 28 minute long underground masterpiece that will appease the mind of any old school thrash/speed maniac. For Fans Of: Sodom, Deathhammer, Mutilator

Record of the Week: Permission: Organized People Suffer LP

Permission: Organized People Suffer 12” (La Vida Es Un Mus) Organized People Suffer is the 3rd LP from the UK’s Permission, and not much has changed since their first two. The artwork still has the same illustration style, red and black color scheme, and basic sans serif typeface, and the band still sounds like a panic attack masquerading as hardcore punk music. Permission is, without a doubt, one of the most unique bands in the modern punk scene. There’s no one who has ever played precisely like this, combining the creepy vibes of Part 1 or Die Kreuzen with Napalm Death-level speed and vintage NYHC menace. While Permission can sound chaotic and unhinged upon first listen, when you pay close attention you realize that the songs are intricate and ornate, riffs piled upon riffs piled upon changes with extra bits added and subtracted just to keep it as confusing as possible. It sounds like the band is trying to play as fast as they can, or more specifically that the band is trying to keep up with the blindingly fast guitar playing, which lunges ahead of the beat, giving the music the thrilling uncertainty of a house of cards about to topple. It’s not easy listening by any stretch of the imagination, but like a great roller coaster or a scary movie, it feels great to let go of control and let Permission drag you where they want you to go. If you’re looking for catchy melodies or crowd-pleasing breakdowns, you’re barking up the wrong tree, but if you want music that sounds new and articulates a feeling that no one has ever captured this way before, you need this.

Featured Release Roundup: April 9, 2020

Soakie: S/T 12” (La Vida Es Un Mus) This geographically scattered band with members in the US and Australia had a demo in early 2008 that flew under my radar, so I’m glad La Vida Es Un Mus is getting their vinyl debut more attention. Musically, this is punky US-style hardcore with a strong pogo streak and a noteworthy vocalist. Rather than a scream or a growl, they have this articulated demon rasp, like a victim of demonic possession in a cheesy 80s b-horror flick. While it’s as gnarly and disgusting as someone like Sakevi from G.I.S.M., you can hear the words clearly, which accentuates Soakie’s catchiness. While I love Soakie when they’re ripping at hardcore tempos, they bookend the record with two tracks (“Nuke the Frats” and “Don’t Talk Back”) with dramatic mid-paced parts that would make any self-respecting punk venue explode into an orgy of squiggle slamming. If you’re into that great new Fried E/M record or the more hardcore end of the whole Midwest / Lumpy Records style, I recommend checking this out.


Muro / Orden Mundial: Sonido de la Negación 12” (La Vida Es Un Mus) Sonido de la Negación is a new split 12” featuring these two Spanish-speaking powerhouses, Colombia’s Muro and Spain’s Orden Mundial. First up is Muro, since they’re fresh in your mind given you’ve been spinning their latest LP, Pacificar, non-stop since it came out. If you like Pacificar, you will like this. These five tracks have Muro’s patented blend of dramatic tension-and-release and explosive swagger, and there is not a dull moment here. In my description of Pacificar, I mentioned Muro’s flexibility as a band, and on this record I love how “Desperdicio En Producción,” which has a melodic guitar lead that I never would have expected, gets followed up with “Inferil,” which has a nasty, unschooled Bones-style solo. Whether they’re melodic and structured or loose and unhinged, Muro is unstoppable. As for Orden Mundial, as much as I love Muro, I've been playing their side of the split over and over. The sound on their side is huge, with a dense, fuzzed out guitar that reminds me more of 90s AmRep bands than any raw hardcore I can think of. While two faster tracks bookend their side, my favorites are the two slower tracks in the middle. “Marginal” reminds of Flipper or the early Butthole Surfers stuff in that the riff is loose, noisy, and nasty, but also danceable. The song is just one riff played over and over, but it could be three times as long and I would still love it. Once “Marginal” primes you, they let loose “Vais A Sufrir,” which slows the tempo further to an industrial dirge, the danceability replaced with a No Trend-esque pulsation of hopelessness. There’s almost too much great music to handle on this record. 100% essential.


Algara: Enamorados del Control Total 7” (La Vida Es Un Mus) One of the more mysterious releases on the La Vida Es Un Mus label, Algara is a band I know nothing about. Their lyrics are in Spanish, so I assume they’re from a Spanish-speaking country, but that’s about all I have for you. Thankfully I can describe the sound, which is minimalist, drum machine-fueled post-punk. The production is full of space, with the drum machine, bass, guitar, and vocals all occupying very different frequency ranges, giving this a cold, isolated feel. The drum machine’s program is minimalist, the bassist bangs out the chord progression in eighth notes, and the vocalist rants rhythmically rather than sings (though both Eric and Jeff described the vocals as “sassy”), so it’s up to the guitar to carry most of the melody. The guitarist plays simple, single-string melodies high on the neck, and while the melodic sensibility reminds me of Diät, the stark guitar sound is of a piece with the record’s minimalist aesthetic. Given how understated everything is here, it may take you a few listens for this to hook you, but as with most everything on LVEUM, your attention will be rewarded.


FOC: La Fera Ferotge 12” (La Vida Es Un Mus) Debut vinyl from this ripping band out of Barcelona who sings in Catalan. The label’s description references classic Italian hardcore like Peggio Punx and Indigesti, and that is an appropriate comparison as this has a similar sense of unhinged ferocity. Part of that is the vocal phrasing, but much of it is also because of the great guitar playing. While a lot of punk bands’ riffs consist entirely of power chords, FOC’s riffs are full of open strings and bent notes, techniques common in the early Italian hardcore scene. Check out the woozy-sounding intro to “Reacció” or the blistering “15” for great examples of what I’m talking about. Recommended if you like your hardcore loose and wild and/or if you enjoyed the recent records by Idiota Civilizzato. 


The Serfs: Sounds of Serfdom cassette (Wasted Tapes) Sounds of Serfdom isn’t a demo, but a cassette full-length from this American band. The visual and auditory aesthetics might be familiar if you’ve jammed bands like Molchat Doma or Filmmaker who have put out records on the German label Detriti. There’s even a vinyl version of Sounds of Serfdom available on Detriti, giving this the ultimate stamp of approval for contemporary, YouTube-oriented post-punk. Musically, the Serfs are of a piece with the two bands I mentioned, but grittier and punkier sounding. Their way of combining danceable drum machine rhythms with broad, memorable melodic lines reminds me of New Order, though this is scrappier and much lower-budget than anything that band ever did. Sounds of Serfdom also works great as a full-length, floating between catchy melodies and more rhythmic bleep bloops in a way that keeps your ears excited.


Artcore #39 zine w/ Mydolls 7” A new issue of the long-running Artcore is always a cause for celebration in our zine-deprived world, and this time is no different. Sticking with the usual format, issue #39 is dense with text (but with a readable layout!) featuring a mix of older and newer punk. We get interviews with the Subhumans, Game, Exit Condition, Part 1, and others, a massive, 10,000-word feature on Canadian punk, and other huge archival features on Flipside magazine, 80s Southern California punk, and the ’79 mod revival. Recent issues of Artcore have also come with a bonus 7”, and this time around we have a reissue of the 1981 debut single from Texas’s Mydolls, with a John Peel interview tacked onto one side as a bonus. While I have Mydolls’ 12” EP, Speak Softly and Carry a Big Stick, I don’t think I’d heard this single, and it’s a great slice of spiky post-punk with an electric piano that recalls the Misfits’ “Cough/Cool” single. As always, Artcore provides you with a package well worth your time, money, and attention.


Staff Picks: April 9, 2020

Staff Picks: Daniel

When I moved into my current home about a year ago I didn’t have a suitable spot to set up all of my stereo gear, so just hooked up a receiver and turntable in the living room. My partner and I listened to vinyl pretty much exclusively for the first 8 months we lived here, then for Christmas some of my friends chipped in and got me a Sonos Connect, so for the past few months I've also had streaming audio. For all of this time my CD and tape decks sat in a closet and my tapes and CDs (nuts) sat unplayed. This week I got a little stereo cabinet to hold all of my components, so I’m back to playing all formats. The first order of business is to go through this massive CD collection that Sorry State bought last summer.

If you’ve been paying attention to our used stock for the past year, you’ve seen that we’ve had a ton of compilation LPs. These CDs come from the same collection and are similarly heavy on compilations and reissue collections. The boxes of CDs have been sitting sealed in storage, so opening each box is like waking up on Christmas morning and getting a couple hundred CDs as a present. There’s so much I want to listen to, but here are the first three things I played:

Various: Cold Waves + Minimal Electronics CD (Angular)

My partner has a weird hatred of CDs, so I knew that I had to come out with some fire if I would convince her it was cool for me to be playing CDs regularly. This compilation fit the bill as she’s a huge fan of vintage post-punk and minimal synth. I put it on, and she was dancing in the living room within minutes. I wasn’t familiar with much of anything on this compilation, but everything here rules and fits the bill as vintage cold wave and/or minimal synth. Plus, since it’s a CD, there’s over an hour of music to go through!

Various: Messthetics #101 CD (Hyped 2 Death)

I was super excited to see a few Hyped 2 Death CDs floating around in the collection, and the first one I threw on is this Messthetics compilation. If you aren’t familiar with Messthetics, it was one of the first compilation series that I was aware of devoted to the UKDIY scene. While the regular Messthetics volumes featured songs in alphabetical order by artist, the 100 series is sequenced like a “best of” type of thing, and it’s all hits. I was familiar with a few of these bands (Scissor Fits, Homosexuals, The Door and the Window), but this thing is packed with bands and tracks I know nothing about. Awesome!

Various: Murder Punk Volume 2 CD (Murder Punk Inc)

I remember downloading the two volumes of Murder Punk in the late 90s or early 2000s, and even though I have official reissues of almost all of these tracks, it’s great to revisit this one. This is total bootleg quality—many of the tracks have audible surface noise from the vinyl—but it doesn’t matter because the music is so jaw droppingly great. There’s a reason original copies of these records command four figures… they’re that good! The News, the Scientists, Fun Things, Victims, Thought Criminals… fuck, what a lineup! There isn't a single dud here. Here’s hoping I find Volume 1 in one of the other boxes.





Staff Picks: Jeff

What’s up Sorry Staters?

Hope you all are remaining safe at home and still being thoroughly entertained by listening to record after record on a daily basis. I must admit that I do find myself getting a little stir crazy here and there. And what keeps my brain occupied? Buying new records, of course! Recently I got an order in the mail with a few 7”s, mostly 80s singles that aren’t too crazy, but moderately priced. A couple of the records I got are by Japanese bands that I would describe as being right on the brink of no longer being hardcore and moving into full-on metal. I find it so interesting that bands from Japan that were active in the mid-to-late 80s seem to be unashamed of blending metal influences into their hardcore. I think most would agree that Death Side is decidedly claimed by the punk community and welcomely accepted, but musically is topped by Chelsea’s shredding, metal-esque guitar leads… Kinda weird.

But anyway, one of the singles I got is by a band called Front Guerilla. According to Discogs, this 7” is their only release. The vocals kind of remind me of Power Never Die-era Comes, but beyond that, everything about this record pretty much screams metal. In particular, the way the band looks on the front cover. We’re talking leather, lace and big hair! It’s four songs, which are all pretty melodic, I would say, but super cool. Lots of chugga-chugga riffs and double kick drum. Definitely would recommend checking it out.

The other single is by a band called Doom, not to be confused with the UK band. The 7’ I got is entitled Go Mad Yourself, which appears to be their first proper release from 1986. Doom apparently self-describes their band as “psycho metallic fusion”, so I feel like that’s a good jumping off point for describing their sound. I’ve heard their full-length that follows this EP from 1987, which is definitely much more a straight up metal record. “Go Mad Yourself” I would say still has a foot in hardcore punk though, almost kind of in the same way that crossover bands do. They also seem to use the same grim reaper image as Sacrilege on their record layout. There’s a detectable “evilness” in the sound, kind of almost Slayer-ish riffs. Visually, the band also would paint their faces stark white along with “blood” red make-up dripping from their eyes. Kinda like Mobs, but more fucked up. Maybe proto-Visual Kei? Honestly though, the record just fucking rips.



Staff Picks: Eric

Damn La Vida Es Un Mus really knocked it out of the park with these releases.

Fried E/M: Modern World LP: Upon first listen I didn't love this record, but then I revisited it a week or so later and I can't stop jamming it. First off, it's a perfect recording (love the way every instrument sounds). It's a little eggy, but more than anything it's just snotty, apathetic, and punk as fuck. No D-beats here, just great midwest hardcore punk.

Soakie: S/T LP: I'm loving this debut from this half NYC/half Aussie punk band. The descriptor that comes to mind when trying to describe this is bouncy, the same way I feel a band like Glue is bouncy. I can't stop shaking my head back in forth. But the word "bouncy" sounds too fun and innocent; this shit is abrasive and mean. Snarling vocals with powerful lyrics on top of urgent and catchy punk riffs.

FOC: La Fera Ferotge LP: Totally ripping hardcore punk based out of Barcelona and sung in Catalan. Sloppy and fast as fuck hardcore. The chord structures and riffs remind a lot of classic USHC, but the vocal phrasing and the way all the instruments blend together sounds totally inspired by Italian punk like Wretched or Indigesti. I would also go as far as to compare it some Scandinavian hardcore like Kaaos. A must listen for hardcore fans everywhere, I'd say.





Staff Picks: Dominic

Greetings everybody. I hope that you and your loved ones are safe and surviving?

Thanks to you, our loyal friends and customers, we are still selling records through our webstore and keeping the lights on at Sorry State. We appreciate you guys being as excited about music and records as we are. So, the way it has been working is that each day we gab a handful of records and go home and list them. As I have been taking photos and listing records I will stick one of them on and have a little listen as I work and so for this weeks’ picks I want to just high light some gems that I was digging.
 
In no particular order, we have two from Britain, two from the US and one from Holland. These are all groups and artists from the sixties, some you may know and others perhaps not but I promise you these records are all great.

First up from England we have The Sorrows and a reissue of their 1965 album called Take A Heart. Formed in Coventry in the Midlands, The Sorrows played what is now called Freakbeat or Mod Rock, a soulful and harder version of the Beat and R ‘n’ B that was ruling the country at the time. They had moderate success in England but were quite popular in Italy where they recorded Italian versions of their songs. This version of the album is padded out with some single cuts including the mighty You’ve Got What I Want which I have always liked.
 
Next up from Holland we have The Outsiders, the Dutch Pretty Things. Led by the enigmatic Wally Tax, these guys were right behind the UK acts and put out a slew of great Beat and R ‘n’ B tracks with interesting pop sensibilities. Their psych masterpiece being the album CQ, which should be in everyone’s collection if they are fans of great 60’s psychedelic music. We have for sale a Dutch best of and it is a good way to introduce yourself to the band. Highlights being the songs Touch, Bird In The Cage and Strange Things Are Happening. This copy has a little cover wear but the vinyl is clean and sounded great.
 
Over to the United States now. First up, the Spanish label Guerssen put together a nice collection of the garage band The Lemon Drops who are most famous for their awesome I Live In The Springtime single. This record even has the rare fuzz version of that single. Like most young teen bands recording back then not everything was gold but there are plenty of really good tracks on this record other than the aforementioned single. I liked It Happens Everyday, Crystal Pure, Death Calls and Talk To The Animals as they all feature some fuzz guitar and have more psychy leanings but some of the ballads were cool too. Definitely worth investigating.
 
Another American record next. We have a nice reissue of the Del Shannon 1968 psych pop record The Further Adventures Of Charles Westover. Originally released on Liberty, this version is courtesy of Trouble Mind and they have done a nice job on the packaging and quality. I really love this record. I was a Del Shannon fan from his 50’s hits and then discovered his mid-sixties 45’s that were decent and then finally this album. I found mine in an old record store on City Island in the Bronx back in my New York Days. That spot was a secret diggers gold mine. Anyway, the Del album is an interesting listen. It covers a lot of ground and almost has the feel of the type of records Scott Walker was making or those that Curt Boetcher was making with The Millennium. Tracks like Silver Birch have a real atmospheric quality with swirling horns and organ at the end that segue into one of the highlight tracks I Think I Love You which grooves along with strings propelling the rhythm. The record ends on New Orleans (Mardi Gras) which has a nice soul groove albeit with a dark edge, cut as it is with heavy guitar work and sound effects. Del Shannon was popular in England and France and he cut a nice pop record over at Immediate which sadly didn’t get a proper release and was put out piece meal later in the seventies. Again, highly recommended.
 
Finally, we return to the UK for a late sixties heavier rock sound and an LP by The Open Mind. Their self-titled album was recorded at the famed De Lane Lea studios in early ’69 and didn’t sell at all at the time despite having a pretty cool cover. Musically the sound is a little late for 1969 and is more 67/68 in my opinion and possibly might explain why the hip record buyer ignored it at the time. The track that modern listeners may know as it has become a DJ fave over the years (yours truly included) is Magic Potion. That track is much heavier and has a great driving sound more in line with early Black Sabbath and Deep Purple. It’s definitely the money track on the record. That being said, for fans of late sixties UK post summer of love sounds, there is still plenty to enjoy here. I liked the track Horses And Chariots and Before My Time which reminded me a little of The End and their Bill Wyman produced album Introspection, which is also highly recommended.
 
Alright, so there you have it. All these beauties are available to purchase at the time of writing on our webstore, so go check ‘em out. Before I sign off I do want to say how pleased I was to come by the store the other day and hear Jeff playing one of my favourite bands The Las. That was cool. Then today I was jamming a used copy of The Teardrop Explodes’ Kilimanjaro in the store and in comes Jeff and his ears pricked up to what was playing and I was able to turn him on to another one of my faves. Such a great record. We are going to turn Jeff into a Scouser before too long with all these Liverpool bands. Talking of Liverpool and in particular the football club, our fan anthem is You’ll Never Walk Alone, an old Rogers & Hammerstein song from Carrousel the musical made famous in the sixties by Gerry And The Pacemakers and sung at games ever since. In these scary times, it has taken on more significance than ever as people try to find sense in the current situation. You can YouTube countless different versions being sung at football matches by fans and more recently by people across Europe in unison. Here’s the 45 version. Perhaps it might inspire you if needed.











Staff Picks: Ava

Ritual Dictates: Give In To Despair (Artoffact Records)

Hailing from Vancouver, British Columbia, Ritual Dictates has brought us a damn fine slab of death metal/classic rock/grindcore to wear out during quarantine. Containing ex members of 3 Inches of Blood (one of my favorite power metal bands!) and a current member of Revocation, Ash Pearson and Justin Hagberg are sure to confuse and entrance you with these supreme riffs. I absolutely LOVE the contrast of guttural and clean vocals. This is the first album to come out this year that has truly captivated me. It’s just one of those records that each song is so unique to itself AND well written that you find yourself excited to hear what comes next. 10/10 highly recommend for fans of anything at all heavy and melodic. Out NOW on Artoffact Records!

Record of the Week: Fried E/M: S/T LP

Fried E/M: S/T 12” (Lumpy) This debut LP from St Louis’s Fried E/M is already a shoo-in for my best of 2020 list. I can’t think of a single thing about this record I don’t love… it’s just my style of hardcore. The base of the sound is snotty and punky US-style hardcore with a strong nihilistic streak a la the Germs, the Lewd, or Chronic Sick. While countless bands have attempted a similar style, rarely has anyone done it with this much skill, class, and elán. The guitar riffs are so broad and chunky that you might think they’re simple or tossed off, but listen closely and you’ll realize they’re composed and played with a subtlety that hardly makes sense given their velocity. Further, at a moment’s notice those stark and dramatic riffs can give way to a loose and wild lead that comes dangerously (and exhilaratingly!) close to flying off the rails. And then there’s the drumming, which is perhaps even more noteworthy. The Sweet Tooth 7” reissue that came out a few months ago reminded everyone that Lumpy is a great drummer, and this record cements his status as a powerhouse. Conventional wisdom would tell you that a punky hardcore band just needs a solid beat, but this record is overflowing with inventive rhythms and fills that fly by so fast you can hardly process them. If you’re a fan of Lucky Lehrer’s drumming on Group Sex, you need to check this out. While the guitar and drums are virtuosic (and the bassist capably holds down the rhythm), the vocalist seems to have crawled directly out of the gutter and into the vocal booth. He slathers and slobbers all over these tracks with all the subtlety of a rabid (puzzled) panther, delivering a performance that is both unhinged and ripe for singalongs. It’s hard for me to tell if this is something everyone should get or if it’s just perfectly in my wheelhouse, but if your taste is anything like mine, jump on this now.

Staff Picks: April 2, 2020

Staff Picks: Daniel

Spooky Tooth & Pierre Henry: Ceremony LP

One of the best things about Dominic working at Sorry State is when he hands me a record and says, “here, take this home.” The latest record he’s hipped me to is this 1970 LP, billed as a collaboration between the blues rock band Spooky Tooth and French avant-garde / musique concrete composer Pierre Henry. I was coming to this blind as I wasn’t familiar with either artist’s work.

Boy, is this a weird one! Spooky Tooth is admirably heavy and grimy here, approaching Sabbath levels of heaviness without degenerating into the BBQ blues that I have a hard time with. The lyrics, strangely, are overtly—even aggressively—Christian, and normally that would irk me, but the entire enterprise is undercut by Pierre Henry’s contributions to the album. Rather than being a true collaboration, Spooky Tooth completed their recordings and sent the master tapes to France where Henry overdubbed his own contributions… bleeps, bloops, tape loops, and other tricks of the avant-garde trade. Sometimes these sounds create a subtle background texture to Spooky Tooth’s songs, while at others they dominate the mix with the band’s music in the distant background, barely audible.

In reading about the album online I found many people who insist that Henry ruined what would have been Spooky Tooth’s greatest album, but not being invested in Spooky Tooth’s career trajectory, I think what exists here is fantastic. There’s an unresolved tension between Spooky Tooth’s and Pierre Henry’s contributions to the album, as if they are fighting a bitter battle for the listener’s attention rather than trying to work together. This also works with the album’s lyrical themes. Spooky Tooth envisioned their tracks as a rock-and-roll mass, while Pierre Henry cast his abstract and non-linear contributions as field recordings of pagan religious rites. It’s like the soundtrack to one of Captain Cook’s exploratory missions making first contact with a remote Pacific island civilization. It is truly wild, and while it’s unlistenable in many respects, I also find myself unable to turn away.

Staff Picks: Jeff

What’s up Sorry Staters?

Hope everyone is dealing with all this bullshit to the best of their ability. Daniel has been cool enough to let us keep working from home, so I’ve of course been throwing on record after record. I can only imagine all of you reading this are doing the same! While I generally dislike being super engaged with social media, I have to admit it’s been fun watching people I know posting cool records. There have been a lot of games where people tag each other with like “Show 4 gems from your 7” fire box” and stuff like that. I succumbed to the flood of activity and made some posts myself. And while maybe spamming people with Instagram stories is a bit tiresome, it has been a good way to stay connected and chat with people. I’m all for it.

Between playing all my “fire” 7”s, I have also been throwing on records here and there from the store as I’m posting them for sale online. Recently I was jamming the Alley Cats 2nd album Escape From The Planet Earth. While I’d heard the Dangerhouse singles, I was pleasantly surprised to hear a couple bangers on a, by comparison to the singles, modestly priced LP. Sure there’s some weird dub-twinged songs, but tracks like “It Only Hurts The First Time” are totally killer! Gotta say tho, the opening title track is a sleeper hit if I’ve ever heard one. I typically prefer the songs that Dianne sings, but if even just for the guitar on “Escape From The Planet Earth”, I’d put it up in the high rankings. We’ve got $13 on it if this piques your interest.

Staff Picks: Eric

Muro / Orden Mundial: Sonido De La Negacion 12" (La Vida Es Un Mus)

Yet another home run for Muro out of Colombia. Simple, pounding riffs that feel so much more genuine and punk than so many other hardcore punk bands today. The recording is blown out and sounds like it is clipping at times which I fuckin' LOVE. The Orden Mundial songs sound even more crazy on recording. Fuzzed out and fucked up hardcore punk. The slower, mid tempo songs are hypnotic in a strange way. There is noisy and fucked up guitar over top of monotonous bass and drum grooves. It's kind of maddening, honestly (that's a good thing btw)! The faster tunes are my favorite though. It is certainly reminiscent of US hardcore, but it is even rawer than what you'd expect from most classic USHC. Honestly, an amazing split in the year 2020. A copy of this is definitely coming home with me.

As I'm sure Daniel has mentioned, our operation has shifted for the time being and most of us are working from home. One thing that has been nice about working from home is having to chance to revisit records in my collection that haven't gotten much love recently. Some things I jammed while I was editing photos today include:

-Larma: S/T 12" ... Fuck, I think I just played the fuck out of this record as soon as we got it in the shop. After taking a break for a couple months and revisiting, I can tell you with 100% certainty that it kicks so much ass. Swedish HC brought to you by some of the same folks that brought you Skitkids (among others).

-Broken Bones: FOAD 12" ... I had forgotten how good this band is. It's like Danzig and Discharge pushed together. I had won this record in a raffle at a halloween benefit show this past year and hadn't spun it since. I was fuckin' missing out!

-Wendy O' Williams: WOW 12" ... Last year I was absolutely obsessed with the track "It's My Life" on this record. It has been recorded by a couple different artists, but Wendy's version is the best hands down. There are certainly a handful of bangers on this that were nice to revisit, but god damn I had to crank the volume for my track.

I jammed a bunch of other shit but these are my highlights for today. Stay punk!

Staff Picks: Dominic

As those of you who follow us regularly or who are local and shop at the store will know, we have had to shut the door to the public for the time being but that doesn’t mean we have stopped adding new records to our webstore including some of our used inventory which never usually gets listed. So definitely get yourselves acquainted with our new look online experience. Another thing we haven’t stopped doing is listening to music. It really is our passion and life love. My colleagues here are so damn cool and into such good stuff and between us all we have a pretty wide knowledge of music, new and old but are also humble enough to realize that there is a ton of stuff out there that we have still yet to discover. 

This week whilst working I have been playing some playlists that various friends sent me and thought I would highlight one or two of those songs that seemed particularly apt right now, whether it be for obvious title reasons or maybe a lyric that was poignant and add a couple of my own choices that I have been playing. So, in no particular order here we go:

First off, a cover of Jackson Browne’s These Days by country artist Johnny Darrell.  Although a song about love and loss it just seems to capture a mood. The song was rightfully made popular by Nico’s version of it and subsequent use in movies but I have dug Darrell’s version for many years now and honestly think it to be the best. His California Stop-Over LP is pretty good and fans of outsider type late 60’s country should check it out.


 
Next up an anti-war protest song from the 60’s, Barry McGuire and Eve Of Destruction, which honestly when you listen to it sounds like it could have been written last week and is commenting on current situations. Kind of sad that fifty years later and we are still fucking things up. Any way a good song in the early Dylan style.


 
A favorite around these parts and another oldie but a goodie. The Chambers Brothers and Time Has Come Today. Damn this song rules. If you don’t have their Time album with the full eleven minutes of this jam then you should try and find one asap. This track kills, especially the psych freak-out at the end. The album itself is great and covers a lot of ground, psych, soul and folk rock. If it was good enough for The Ramones then…


 
Something a little more modern next and an absolute personal fave of mine. It gets me every time. Manic Street Preachers and If You Tolerate This Your Children Will Be Next. A song from their late 90’s album This Is My Truth Tell Me Yours and more about Welsh Farmers joining the anti-fascist forces in Spain in the 30’s and Spain’s civil war but it still resonates today and certainly applies to our current situation. Such an anthem. I love the Manics so much. They didn’t really make it in America but those in the know appreciate them a great deal.


 
Gonna go out on a real oldie but again a song that might as well have been recorded last week as we can all relate.  I am talking about Nina Simone and Save Me.  Not much needed to say about the greatness of Nina Simone but this track has a killer groove and lyrically it sums up how a lot of us are feeling.


 
Alright, that’s your lot. A short playlist that has been helping me get through the day and with luck it will do the same for you too.  Stay safe out there. Listen to music and if you can support us and any of your local businesses that need you right now. Peace.

Record of the Week: Cold Meat: Hot and Flustered LP

Cold Meat: Hot and Flustered 12” (Static Shock Records) Perth, Australia’s Cold Meat has released a slew of notable cassettes and EPs over the past five years, but Hot and Flustered is their debut full-length. Hitting the perfect middle ground between Good Throb’s anger-drenched skronk and Crass’s more freewheeling tantrums, this one was well worth the wait. As with Good Throb, songs that seem like pure gestalt on the first listen transform, upon subsequent listens, into earworms. Just check that simple, Billy-Childish-via-the-Shitty-Limits riff that drives “Women’s Work,” the anthemic chorus to “Industry Sleaze” (“admit… you’re… shit!”), or the nervous hardcore of “Squirm.” Cold Meat also deftly takes advantage of how their singer can sound exactly like Eve Libertine on longer tracks like “Cinematic Fashion.” The main part of that song is a down-tempo dirge with the ranting lyrics front and center, while the chorus finds the rhythm wrenched into something weirder, bringing in the artiness that was always such a big part of Crass’s identity. Hot and Flustered is everything I want punk to be: angry, challenging, memorable, and above all great fun to listen to.

Featured Release Roundup: March 26, 2020

Discovery: Earth to Fucker 7” (Erste Theke Tonträger) The band name, title of the record, and graphic design on this debut vinyl from the Bay Area’s Discovery led me to expect some ear-splitting noise-punk or d-beat, but that’s not the vibe here at all. Instead, this is nihilistic hardcore punk in the vein of early Poison Idea or 80s Bay Area miscreants like Sick Pleasure and the Fuck-Ups. Like the best of those bands, the playing here is tight and powerful, and while the songs stay within the standard USHC template, Discovery is talented enough to make that sound their own. There are even a few surprises like the wild, dissonant intro to “Nothing.” If you’re a fan of USHC that brings together catchy songwriting with a ton of fuck you attitude (i.e. if you have enjoyed recent releases by Electric Chair and Loose Nukes), this is something you should check out.


Zodiak: TKY 2020 7” flexi (Symphony of Destruction) TKY 2020 is the 3-track debut flexi from this new band out of Tokyo that features members of 2 Bay Area hardcore bands, Morpheme and Odio. The sound here is raw d-beat with a Disorder-style dentist-drill guitar sound. However, while the guitars are noisy, the rest of the instruments have a heavier, meatier sound more like Kriegshog or Framtid’s more bruising moments, which makes for an interesting juxtaposition. This might not be the most original thing in the world, but it’s powerfully played and well executed.


Masochism: Plague of Warfare cassette (Suck Blood) Debut cassette from this LA band on the Suck Blood label, who brought us notable releases from Hate Preachers and Cruelty Bomb. Masochism plays raw, metallic crust—not a sound I would have expected from this group—but they have a similar explosive quality as their labelmates. The guitar sound here is nasty, dense and biting, like a malfunctioning chainsaw hacking through your bowels. While the riffs themselves are metallic, there isn’t much in the way of lead guitar or metal posturing, just hardcore punk aggression. If you’re a fan of the previous releases on Suck Blood or a lover of gnarly metallic hardcore/crust, this is a must-listen.


Psykik Violence: demo cassette (self-released) Another week, another Erik Nervous-related release lands at Sorry State. You don’t see me complaining though! Psykik Violence is Erik’s hardcore project, and aside from a slight herky-jerky quality to some riffs, you won’t find much in the way of his trademark Devo influences here. Instead, the sound is pure US hardcore, raw and angry. The recording places the drums right up front (like any great hardcore recording should), making the driving rhythms and Minor Threat-style rolls the focus. While the vocals are nondescript and low in the mix, the guitar riffs are killer, their catchiness balanced by a Wire-esque angularity. This is definitely worth checking out, particularly if you’re into punkier hardcore like Big Zit or Fried E/M.


Smut: First Kiss 12” (Iron Lung) This record from LA’s Smut is a throwback to a time when hardcore didn’t mean athletic shoes and breakdowns… it meant PUNK AS FUCK. This one is all big, catchy punk riffs and vocals drowning in snot backed by a rhythm section with the power and subtlety of a jackhammer. I’m reminded of peak-era FUs and Gang Green or west coast equivalents like the Fuck-Ups or the Lewd… there’s no pretense, no trying to be something that it’s not, just punk rock played with a knife in hand, ready to lunge at any second. Grab this and that new Discovery 7”, crack open a 40, and light some shit on fire.


Vanity: Rarely If Ever b/w We’re Friends 7” (Beach Impediment) Hot on the heels of their recent single on Feel It comes two more tracks from New York’s Vanity. Given the proximity of their release dates and the similar artwork, I imagine we should take these two singles as a pair, and no doubt if you enjoyed the Feel It single you should pick this up. However, these two tracks aren’t just more of the same. “Rarely If Ever” relies on the same intricate lead guitar that sounded so great on the Feel It single, but ups the ante with the most confident, memorable chorus hook the Vanity has produced yet. “We’re Friends” is a harder rocking song that will please fans of the Stones-ish Evening Reception album, and its scorching guitar solo is a big highlight. If you’ve been picking up Vanity’s previous releases, I don’t see any reason you should stop here.


Hate Preachers: Live on KXLU cassette (Suck Blood) Live on the radio tape from this great band out of LA with two previous cassette releases on Suck Blood. I loved the recordings on band’s earlier cassettes—pretty much everything coming out on the Suck Blood label sounds incredible to my ears with the perfect balance of rawness, heaviness, and clarity—but this recording proves that Hate Preachers aren’t just a mediocre band adept at getting a good sound. It’s not that this recording sounds bad by any means—everything is clear, present, and good-sounding—it just doesn’t have that perfectly placed layer of grit the other two tapes had. That’s OK, though, because Hate Preachers is a killer band. It’s not a reference I would have reached for before (and maybe it’s because the band, which is a three-piece, is pictured on the cover), but on this recording Hate Preachers sound a lot like Direct Control. If nothing else, they have a similar knack for making hardcore punk catchy without being melodic and sound so classic that it feels like they could have made their music at any point in the last 40 years. If you’re a Sorry State regular, you should have a complete collection of Suck Blood releases. They haven’t made anything worth skipping yet, this included.


Staff Picks: March 26, 2020

Staff Picks: Daniel

I’ve been working so much that I have had little time for my typical routine of listening to a record or two while I unwind at night, so what I covered in this week’s Featured Release Roundup is more or less my playlist for the week. However, since many people are cooped up with time to kill, I thought I would recommend a few of my favorite podcasts:

You Don’t Know Mojack
http://www.mojackpod.com/

The conceit of this podcast is that the two hosts—two charming, music-obsessed Canadians—go through the entire SST Records catalog, with one episode devoted to each release. They’re doing the catalog in order, and they’ve now done well over 100 episodes. They are insanely thorough and often have guest interviews that provide information you can’t find anywhere else. This podcast is so fun that I devour every episode whether they’re talking about bands I love like Black Flag or the Descendents or bands I’ve never heard and probably never will, like Zoogz Rift. This is one of those things like The Best Show that might seem bewildering to an outsider, but once you’re hooked, it’s your favorite thing ever.

Dynamite Hemorrhage Radio
https://dynamitehemorrhage.com/

Dynamite Hemorrhage Radio is the podcast arm of the long-running zine Dynamite Hemorrhage. Jay Hinman, the man behind both enterprises, is insanely knowledgeable about music, but if you created a Venn diagram of our backgrounds and tastes, they’d only have about a 20% overlap. He’s well-versed in 90s garage and UKDIY (areas I know a little about, but not a ton), so every episode leads me to check out several bands I knew nothing about. His tastes skew toward the intellectual and arty (the overlap with what Sorry State carries would be labels like Ever/Never, Digital Regress, and C/Site), so if that interests you, you should check out this podcast.

Garbage in My Heart
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/garbage-in-my-heart/id1435736809

If Dynamite Hemorrhage overlaps with my wheelhouse about 20% of the time, Garbage in My Heart is about 90%. That means they play a ton of music I love, with emphasis on the kinds of things that Sorry State carries. If you’ve always yearned for a podcast version of the Sorry State newsletter, this is as close a version as you’ll find, and it’s extremely well produced.

Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend
https://www.earwolf.com/show/conan-obrien/

Definitely the most mainstream selection here, I had to include it because it’s been my favorite podcast for the past few months. Conan O’Brien is hilarious, and the loose, unscripted podcast format plays to his strengths. I’ve gathered that Conan ruffled some feathers in the podcast community because his show has gotten so much attention, but I think that’s less because of his material resources and more because the show is just that good.

Life During Wartime
https://kboo.fm/program/life-during-wartime

You might remember me promoting this show a few weeks ago when I was a guest, but I still listen to every episode even if I’m not on it. They have killer bands play live in the studio (the podcast is based in Portland so they have a pretty much bottomless well), and the segments when they play records feel like hanging out with your buddies, slamming beers and cracking wise while you all try to play the coolest stuff for one another.


Bad Reputation
https://www.badreputationpod.com/podcast/

This is a documentary podcast about the history of the Runaways, though it digresses into other related subjects, making it more of a podcast about the history of women in rock music. This one has excellent, NPR-level production, and even features Scott Plant from Droid’s Blood as the voice of Kim Fowley!

The Nimrods Podcast
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/nimrods-podcast-definitive-green-day-discussion-song/id1456010737

Just as the You Don’t Know Mojack podcast goes through the SST Records catalog, The Nimrods Podcast analyzes every single song in Green Day’s extensive catalog. Sometimes the vibe is a little goofy (as you might expect given the hosts are two guys in their early 30s (I think) who are lifelong Green Day fans), but there’s plenty of interesting history and analysis here too.

Noisextra
https://www.noisextra.com/

This one is way outside my wheelhouse, but I still enjoy it. Noisextra started as a show examining Merzbow’s recorded catalog, but a few months ago they expanded their scope to cover other classics of the noise genre. The hosts are extremely knowledgeable, and I’ve learned a ton about noise by listening to this. I just wish the records they talked about weren’t so hard to find…

Lost Notes
https://www.kcrw.com/culture/shows/lost-notes

Lost Notes is a music history podcast by KCRW, an NPR affiliate in Los Angeles. Each episode tells a different story, sort of like This American Life, but all about music. Probably the best-produced podcast on this list, and even when they’re talking about music I know nothing about it’s still great.

Henry & Heidi
https://henryandheidi.libsyn.com/

This is Henry Rollins’ podcast that he does with his assistant Heidi. I’m a fan of Rollins’ weekly radio show on KCRW, but there’s no music on this one. Instead, Heidi proposes a topic and Henry just talks about it until he runs out of steam. Some of my favorite episodes have been about Henry’s experiments with LSD, his experiences on the Lolapalooza tour, and his relationship with Black Sabbath and its members. You need to have some degree of Rollins tolerance to enjoy this one, but if you’re a fan, this is essential.

Staff Picks: Jeff

We’ve spending a lot of time at the store listing a bunch of our used inventory on the webstore. One record I always find myself coming back to is the self-titled album by Government Issue from 1986. I love this record. I remember my copy was gifted to me for (I think?) my 15th birthday by a good buddy. I was in a phase of just getting deeper and deeper into hardcore punk. My buddy who bought me the record had this funny anecdote about how when he was in the record store, he overheard another person who was more or less talking shit on the record. Basically, this random guy in the store was saying, “Well yeah, but that’s not GI’s good stuff.” My buddy still got it for me anyway, and honestly, I hadn’t heard Legless Bull yet, so it made no difference to me. As I’ve gotten older, I acknowledge that it’s not exactly an intense or aggressive record, but I think the songwriting -- and particularly the guitar playing -- is great on this record. To me, it’s a classic GI record. The intro track “Visions and ?” still gives me chills. I still have the same copy I got when I was 15 and don’t really plan on getting rid of it. If you want a great, but maybe a less well-known, listen from a classic DC punk band, you definitely can’t beat it for $10.

Staff Picks: Eric

Hate Preachers: Bile Of Progress cassette (Suck Blood)

Absolutely raging hardcore punk from some of the same folks that brought you Blazing Eye, Cruelty Bomb, etc. This sits somewhere between 80s Scandinavian HC and UK82. Very interesting and quick moving riffs while still being pounding and powerful. Plus, this recording is absolutely perfect, I wish all bands would sonically sound like this. I was fortunate enough to see this band in LA last year and they were great, not to mention it's also refreshing to see a great hardcore 3 piece!

Chained Bliss: Stained Red cassette (self-released)

My roommate was jamming this cassette while we were doing our post apocalyptic grocery store run. It's melodic punk I can get behind. My gut reaction is to call it somewhere between Masshysteri and The Marked Men (and I fuckin' love that kinda shit). The guitars are crunchy and chorusy, the vocals are snotty and harmonious, and that drummer's hi-hat hand stays rockin' those 16th notes. This one caught me by surprise, I highly recommend!

Staff Picks: Dominic

Echo And The Bunnymen: Crocodiles (Sire) 1980

The current world situation definitely sucks and I would be lying if I hadn’t thought for a second about whether I might be one of those that doesn’t make it, what with my weak lungs and proclivity to catching colds and all. The only way I can chase those thoughts out of my mind is to replace them with the music that I love. I am always listening to music new and old, but right now it has been a return to the classics and records that I grew up with and have loved since I first heard them. My pick this week is the fantastic Crocodiles by Echo and the Bunnymen.

You may have picked up on the fact that I like Liverpool. The city and people, the football club and particularly the music scene. Obviously the 60’s Mersey Beat scene that birthed the Beatles is foremost in most people’s minds when they think of music from Liverpool, but in the late 70’s and early 80’s some of the best and most interesting sounds were coming out of Merseyside. Two of my favorite groups being Echo and label mates on Korova in the beginning, The Teardrop Explodes. Both these groups I followed and tried to buy their records as soon as they came out.

Crocodiles was released in 1980 on the Korova label in the UK and Sire here in the US. It was the group’s debut. Early versions were ten track affairs but a few months later in the UK a bonus 7” was included with two additional tracks, Do It Clean and Read It In Books. The US Sire version came with those two tracks included and all subsequent versions did too. Apparently a record exec at the time didn’t like those two tracks, thinking them rude.

Side note: The Teardrop Explodes’ version of Books is probably the better version of the tune in my opinion and you should check it out and see whether you agree.

To my young ears at the time and still today, the record just sounded different from most of the stuff coming out at the time and the combination of the band’s look and the lyrics really enforced that. Ian McCulloch had a cool presence from the get go and combined the best of Jim Morrison and David Bowie in his vocal delivery and style. The band itself was killer. Will Sergeant on guitar brought fresh exciting riffs. Les Pattison on bass was like a rock and formed a formidable rhythm section with late joiner Pete de Freitas on drums. Crocodiles was the blueprint and cornerstone that the band built on with each subsequent release and as much as I like all their records, this is the essential one in my book and should be in your collection also. So glad that Do It Clean was restored to the album also as this song rules.

Luckily for you we have a copy for sale here at Sorry State currently. Not that it is a tough LP to find, but take a look at our web store and see if we still have it if you need.

Big Boss Man: Last Man On Earth (Blow Up Records) 2014

A Modern take on 60’s Soul Jazz grooves this week from me. A record that came out a few years back but could be the lost soundtrack to a cool cult movie from the late sixties or early seventies if you didn’t know otherwise. I picked up a copy at a local store here in Raleigh (Nice Price Books, check ‘em out) and have spun it several times since and am really digging it.

Big Boss Man is a four piece from England led by Nasser Bouzida who also aliases as The Bongolian. Their sound is Mod and very sixties influenced, taking in Jazz, Soul, Latin, Psych and Soundtrack vibes as a starting point and adding subtle touches here and there to keep things relevant and fresh. In my opinion they do a very good job at this.  Last Man On Earth is the groups fourth full length from 2014, their first LP coming out circa 2000. I became aware of them and the aforementioned Bongolian records from the Mod scene and from buying most things that came out on Blow Up Records at the time. That label is a fantastic source for cool and groovy Mod sounds and I would recommend picking up most if not all of their releases if and when you see them.

On Last Man On Earth they expand their sound further and add a female vocalist, Princess Freesia on two tracks including the title and delve deeper into the world of Music Library and Soundtrack type sounds. As you listen you will hear shades of Roy Budd and his work on the Get Carter Soundtrack and the late sixties work of Georgie Fame. I also picked up elements of Marvin Gaye’s Trouble Man soundtrack and the vibe from those great Norman Whitfield produced Motown records and the ones made by Charles Stepney at Cadet. The latter two being names that I know I have spoken about before and will keep singing their praises to the heavens as they were so great. In addition, there are little borrowed touches from other great songs, for instance you definitely can hear the Nancy Sinatra Boots bass line in a song. I love all these influences and think it makes for a great mix on the record. I really do feel like I am listening to several of my favorite records as I play this one. They are not reinventing the wheel with this one by any means but have done a very nice job putting together an album that will appeal to all of you who dig some grooves in addition to your heavier punk sounds. Shouldn’t be too hard to score yourselves a copy either which is always nice. Cheers!

Staff Picks: Ava

This record is just straight up BRUTAL and the most crushing og death metal i've heard this year. Disembowel will take you on a trip of audial brutality with this full length which came out early March, 2020. Coming out on Maggot Stomp Records, this 34 minute masterpiece is sure to make you press repeat, go ahead and support these guys!

Record of the Week: Muro: Pacificar LP

Muro: Pacificar 12” (Beach Impediment) Pacificar is the much-anticipated second album from this punk phenomenon from Colombia. Muro hasn’t taken the punk scene by storm because their sound is radically new; instead, their strength is that they’re a talented band with command of a broad range of punk and hardcore styles who puts everything they have into their music. While Muro has plenty in common with the history of raw and passionate hardcore that South America has produced over the past four decades, their music is eclectic, with hints of oi! / street punk, dramatic Japanese hardcore, and ripping US hardcore that vary from track to track. Tracks like “Fatasia Del Progreso,” “No Hay Lugar,” and “Pacificar” have subtly melodic chord progressions that remind me of later Indigesti or early Funeral Oration, while the ripping main riff to “La Ciudad Es Hostil” makes perfect sense on the same label as Blood Pressure and Loose Nukes. Many tracks also have dramatic, crashing chord changes that send Muro’s already-high emotional register through the roof. It’s easy to understand why this music made the crowd explode at this year’s Static Shock Fest. With Pacificar building on the strengths of their debut, this record firmly establishes Muro as one this era’s defining bands.

Featured Release Roundup: March 19, 2020

Eric Nervous & the Beta Blockers: S/T 12” (Drunken Sailor) We’ve seen several releases from Erik Nervous over the past few years—including a compilation called Assorted Anxieties on Drunken Sailor and Neck Chop and a killer EP of obscure Devo covers—but this is his first release with backing band the Beta Blockers. This incarnation finds Erik Nervous leveling up with a clearer sound while retaining the big hooks of his earlier work. You’ll still hear plenty of Devo influence, with tracks like “Blasted Heath” reminding me of Freedom of Choice, that band’s pop peak, while “Want to Not Wanna” relies on quirkier drum machine rhythms more akin to their earlier, home-recorded material. The album also incorporates post-punk influences, with the angular lead guitar and fast post-punk rhythms on “Gravure” making it a standout that fans of Shopping or early Priests will love. The album ends with the climactic “Worry,” whose intertwining guitar lines remind me of the Buzzcocks’ most transcendent instrumental moments. Sometimes I’m sad to see an artist adopt a more polished sound, but the move suits Erik Nervous well, making this LP his best work yet.


Man-Eaters: Gentle Ballads for the Simple Soul 12” (Feel It) In case you didn’t catch their self-titled cassette from last year, let me get you up to speed: Man-Eaters is a new Chicago band featuring folks who brought you Cülo and Tarantüla. The aesthetic resembles those bands, i.e. sleazy-sounding hardcore punk, but this time around they add an element of Annihilation Time-style 70s rock riffing to round out the sound. Their combination of rock chops and nihilistic hardcore punk energy reminds me of RKL’s Keep Laughing LP, and if you’re a fan of that record’s combination of hooks, energy, and musical prowess, check this out. The slower, brooding “Baptized in Spit” and “Man-Eaters” also incorporate some of Hank Wood’s vibe by locking into dense, James Brown-like grooves. Check that killer Drügface cover artwork too!


Hank Wood & the Hammerheads: Use Me 7” (Toxic State) Hank Wood & the Hammerheads are back with a new 4-song single on Toxic State. If you had told me in 2012, just after I heard their inescapable debut LP, that in 2020 Hank Wood & the Hammerheads would have three full-lengths and a healthy stack of EPs in their discography, I never would have believed you. However, Hank Wood & the Hammerheads have not only persevered for a decade, but grown and evolved. When those early records came out, the auxiliary percussion and the organ set them apart from what most other bands were doing at the time, but on Use Me the emphasis is on the core band’s songwriting and playing. The vocals are a little more buried than they were on the last LP, but the sound is clearer and cleaner, even incorporating piano and melodic, feminine-sounding backing vocals on the title track. While that song has a 90s alt-rock grandeur that I haven’t heard from Hank Wood before, “Strangers” sounds wistful, like Replacements songs such as “Here Comes a Regular.” I’m sure there are plenty of you who only ride for the band’s early material, but it’s hard for me to imagine Use Me being a let-down to anyone.


Genogeist: S/T 12” (Black Water) Back in 2018, we carried the demo tape from Portland’s Genogeist, and with their vinyl debut they’ve made the logical move to their home town’s punk institution, Black Water Records. Genogeist blend metal and crust into a sound that’s sprightly and even catchy. When I hear something described as “metallic crust” I worry it will be a bunch of boring riffs dressed up with palm muting, but Genogeist’s music is interesting and complex, reminding me of Sacrilege’s underrated second LP Within the Prophecy or the meaner end of thrash metal (stuff like Sodom or Onslaught) more than, say, early Axegrinder or Amebix. It’s an obscure reference for most people, but Genogeist also make me think of the late 00s Richmond band Parasytic, who had a similar knack for blending the catchy riffing and thoughtful songwriting of thrash metal with the griminess of crust. 


Hondartzako Hondakinak: Bruiarta 12” (Solar Funeral) As a native English speaker with only the most rudimentary grasp of other tongues, I’m intimidated by band names not composed of English words, particularly if I have to pronounce them. However, I love saying Hondartzako Hondakinak. Just try sounding it out, then repeating it faster and faster until you can say it at a good clip… it’s a satisfying collection of syllables. Anyway, this French band released a killer EP back in 2016 and this 12” is the follow-up. I’d describe Hondartzako Hondakinak’s style as fast, intricate, and impassioned. They remind me of early Husker Du and the bands they influenced (Articles of Faith, early Funeral Oration, Norway’s So Much Hate, etc.) in that the music is fast and cathartic, but you can hear melody bubbling just under the surface. Just check out the track “Borondatezko Morrontza” from this LP if you want to hear what I mean. If you’re a fan of their earlier EP, Bruiarta has a cleaner sound and it's sprinkled with a handful of broad, mosh-able, mid-paced riffs (like the lengthy intro that starts the record), but if you are a fan of that record there’s still plenty of the wicked fast stuff here.


Shrinkwrap Killer: Stolen Electronics to Shove Up Your Ass 7” (Iron Lung) Debut vinyl from this mysterious project helmed by Greg Wilkinson of Brainoil, Deathgrave, and Earhammer Studios. I didn't know what to expect when I dropped the needle on this single, but it RULES. The obvious point of comparison is the Spits given that it’s catchy, synth-infused garage punk and the vocals sound similar, but it’s not a mere homage. While the Spits’ songs are  stripped-down and Ramones-based, these two tracks are more complex and in the pocket without losing any of the catchiness. It’s very short, but that’s OK because this is one of those records you’ll play three times in a row every time it gets near your turntable. Note also that it’s limited to only 200 copies, so don’t expect it to stick around for very long.


Girls in Synthesis: Pressure 7” (Own It Music) “Pressure” was originally a self-released, tour-only single from this UK band, but they did a small repress and Sorry State was lucky enough to grab a few copies. If you haven’t heard them, Girls in Synthesis is from the UK and plays an intense hybrid of hardcore, post-punk, and noise music. This single tilts toward the hardcore end of things with its brisk tempos and menacing demeanor, but the intricate textures and sustained tension that come from electronic music are a welcome bit of extra spice. The a-side, “Pressure,” will appear on their upcoming LP on Harbinger Sound, while the two live tracks on the b-side are exclusive to this release. While the live recording sacrifices a little of that texture, the energy of the band’s performance more than makes up for it. This is a style I love, and if you’re a fan of Bad Breeding, Broken Prayer, and Droid’s Blood, I’m sure you’ll agree that Girls in Synthesis does it well.


Internal Rot: Grieving Birth 12” (Iron Lung) Even though Iron Lung is a power violence / grind band, Iron Lung Records releases relatively few bands from that genre. Obviously the Iron Lung folks know this genre of music pretty well, so when they place their stamp of approval on a band who plays in this style, it’s worth paying attention. Internal Rot is a grind band, and Grieving Birth is a punishing whirlwind of a record. There are hundreds of killer riffs spread across its 20-ish minutes. Thank god records have two sides, because I’m not sure if I could take the whole thing in one interrupted burst… not because it’s same-y sounding or boring, but because it’s so relentlessly punishing that I feel like I’m having an anxiety attack. If that’s your idea of a fun time, pick up this ripper.