Staff Picks

Hello Sorry State newsletter readers! Another week, another pick. I hope everyone is having a great week, and I’m so happy you made it down to my part of this small but mighty little publication that we put out weekly. My listening habits have been all over the place. I have been checking out a lot of new to me bands. Has anyone checked out that KEXP video of Angine De Poitrine? Wild and really amazing stuff. Check it out if you have a moment.

My pick for this week is the new album from Angel Du$t. I admit I was never into anything before this album. They just did not click with me, but this album is fantastic. Justice Tripp, the founding member of the band and ex-member of the great Trapped Under Ice, seems to be the only consistent thing going for this band. The sound has changed from album to album. The newest album Cold 2 The Touch is just a great hardcore record, well as far as “new” hardcore goes. I would put them up against Turnstile any day. I think they do it better and are more forward-thinking in their songwriting. They combine the best of hardcore with lots of alternative parts that could be plucked from the 90s. Just like Turnstile, this band just has that touch that no one is really doing. Which I think a lot of this newer generation is grasping onto. They want hardcore, but they want it different. Not sure if that makes sense to anyone but me, but yeah. This record rules. It’s fun and different, and it’s one of those records that folks will love in 10 or 20 years from now.

As always, we are listing records and CDs as fast as we can because everyone is buying them up so quickly. Lots of great stuff is added daily!

What’s up Sorry State readers? I hope everyone is enjoying their final week of February. I can’t believe we’re already here. Anyway, I just have a quick highlight for this week. I’d seen copies of Pylon’s Chomp come through the store, and the cover always caught my eye for some reason. I don’t know if it’s the dinosaur, the colors, or the rigid top that looks like a dinosaur literally chomped the top off, but it always stuck out to me. For some reason, though, I never just threw it on to listen. A couple of weeks ago someone must’ve traded in a newer reissue and we had it pretty cheap, so I checked it out and I really dug it. I’m always a sucker for some good female vocals, and the album has an infectious groove throughout. Just a nice refresher, cause sometimes I get stuck listening to the same artists/types of music over and over again, so this was a good switch-up. My favorite tracks on here are probably Yo-Yo, Italian Movie Theme, and Gyrate. Also, they give a shout-out to a random Winston-Salem restaurant on the back cover, which is kinda cool. I’m sure most of you have listened to this album before, but if you haven’t, check it out!

Hey there Sorry Staters! Thanks for giving the newsletter a read. Is everyone tuning in to see what photo wizardry Jeff will be up to next? Wait until he masters AI. Seriously though, I hope you enjoy reading his entries here in the newsletter as much as we all do. He articulated well the buzz many of us here have been getting from those two Eppu Normaali records and from the Modem album he talked about the week before. A lot of love for our Finnish friends, but we would be remiss not to mention how much we loved Fatamorgana from Spain too. Their record Ahora Aquí Todavía No that came out a few years ago was a Sorry State favorite. They are currently doing well with their full band Belgrado and just released a new album. Perhaps you already picked it up, but if not, go check it out.

Looks like you guys picked up copies of the Institute 7”, however. We sold out of the blue quickly and are getting through the black vinyl as I type. I stupidly missed out on snagging a blue copy, but have been jamming the black. Turns out the songs sound the same. I really like the B-side tune, Why Are These Men Still Alive? Good question. Nice job, fellows.

For my “pick” this week I wanted to share something for the reggae and dub heads who might be reading. I imagine there are a few of you. This is one that was released in 2024 that I discovered last year. Linval Thompson / Roberto Sanchez ‎– Linval Thompson Meets Roberto Sánchez At The Ark - Marijuana Sessions In Dub.

Basically, the story here is that legendary Jamaican reggae artist Linval Thompson linked up with contemporary Spanish producer and musician Roberto Sanchez, who runs his Ark studios in Spain. Thompson provided original four-track stems taken from the Channel One recordings from back in the day to Sanchez, who could then mix them and create new but authentic-sounding dubs. This album features dubs of songs from Thompson’s classic album I Love Marijuana and a few others from the same period. They sound great.

The liner notes get into all the technical details around the recordings and provide some great insight into how some of the classic reggae records from the late 1970s and early 1980s were recorded at Channel One studios and then sent to King Tubby’s for mixing. I won’t get too deep into the weeds with that here, but it should interest fans and those into recording engineering. Thompson has been good about keeping his music safe throughout the years, but unfortunately even carefully stored tapes can eventually erode, and unless saved through a baking process, the music contained can be lost forever. Through his partnership with Sanchez, a lot of his music has been saved for future generations to enjoy. The two met back in 2009 when Sanchez’s band, Lone Ark Riddim Force, backed Thompson on show dates in France, Portugal and Spain. The tour went well, and the artists got along. However, Sanchez had to tell Thompson that the band did not get paid by the promoter. He also took the opportunity to tell him about his studio in Spain and to show him some of the work he had done there. Realizing that the studio had the right vibe, setup and people, Thompson felt secure and confident to work with Sanchez, and after a couple of years began sending him files with original material recorded back in the golden days at Channel One. It’s this relationship that led to the creation of this album of dubs for the I Love Marijuana tunes and others. Staying faithful to the old methods, using analog delays, spring reverbs and the classic Altec low-pass filter, Sanchez has produced an authentic and crucial dub set that should please hard-core dub heads and newcomers alike, whether you love marijuana or not. It does give you a deep meditation.

Okay, cheers and spark it, if you got it. See you next time.

-Dom

What’s up Sorry Staters?

I’ve been stewing on writing this staff pick for a couple months now. Might be a dramatic gear shift from the last few things I’ve written for the newsletter. But here we go:

Perhaps it’s cliché around the beginning of the year, but I’ve been actively trying to cut back on drinking, and also trying to exercise more regularly. Of course I wanna be healthier and get in shape; don’t we all? And not to make excuses to refute any accusations, but I think my making these decisions grew less out of a silly “new year, new me” resolution. These actions come more from that I’ve been going through a difficult time and decided I need to start making healthy brain decisions.

I think my strategy has worked so far, at least to some degree. It feels good to channel mental and physical energy into something positive. That said, on any given day, I just don’t know how I’m gonna feel when I wake up. I have some days where I rise from my slumber super early (well 9am, that’s early for me anyhow ha), feeling energetic and motivated, and I think to myself, “I’m gonna hit the gym and get in a workout before going to work!” Then other days, my mind slowly drifts and declines into: “Ah, fuck it, I’m gonna go get a beer.” Don’t we all struggle with this? No, just me? That’s okay. It’s tough, man.

When I do have the energy to go to the gym—feeling all positive, as we’ve discussed—I often wonder, “What shall I listen to?” Lately, Uniform Choice’s debut LP Screaming For Change has been on regular rotation. Which I admit, is hilarious. Like I’m trying to lay off the booze and lift weights, and all of a sudden, I gravitate toward listening to straight edge hardcore. I’ve had my copy of Screaming For Change for a loooong, long time, but I rarely break it out to listen to it. But I guess positive choices = positive records.

Funny timing, because we’ve had a bunch of original Youth Crew and Revelation-style hardcore records come through Sorry State in used collections lately. We had that Straight Ahead 12” sitting on the wall, and of all people, both Usman and I were both kinda like, “Damn, I want that.” I even watched the episode of the HardLore podcast where they interview Craig Ahead from Straight Ahead (not to mention Sick of It All and Youth of Today). Pretty good watch, if you’re so inclined.

Now, did I own a copy of Start Today by Gorilla Biscuits when I was a teenager and think it was fucking awesome? Yes. Yes, I did. I even used to have a copy of the Unity 7” on blue vinyl, but I traded it many years ago. I do kinda wish that I still had that. Does the artwork depicting a cartoon skinhead with X’s on his hands punching away bricks of negativity do anything for me these days? Not really. But what can I say? We all grow. And I will say, at this point in my life, very little about Youth Crew hardcore or straight edge in general is appealing to me. The scene, the fashion, or the music. I identify with many other corners of punk and hardcore way more, obviously. But I think it’s important not to box oneself in. Because a few months ago, I put on Screaming For Change for the first time in many years, and it fucking RIPS. I only debated shaving my head again for like one second.

When the first track “Use Your Head” kicks in, goddamn it’s fucking killer. The riffs, the fast drumming… It just explodes. I even like that it’s kinda loose. Like on the song “Build and Break,” I’m not exactly sure I understand what the drummer is even doing rhythmically, but it’s just intense and exciting. Makes me feel all hyped up. “Positive youth!” Nah, just kidding. You won’t find me jumping and punching the sky or anything. But the record really is great. It feels fresh to me again. I will admit, every now and then while I’m listening to the LP, I’ll catch the singer singing certain lyrics and think, “Woof, that is SO corny.” I mean the record ends with a fuckin’ spoken word poem… I usually lift the needle before that last track. But it comes with the territory, right? My man Pat Dubar is writing some earnest ass lyrics.

One sort of eyeroll criticism I always hear about Uniform Choice is that they were musically derivative of Minor Threat. To which I often respond: Uuuh, what the fuck is wrong with that?? I’m way more interested in a hardcore band taking cues from Minor Threat than a band trying to sound like fucking Pearl Jam or something. If more bands in the year 2026 were more directly influenced by Minor Threat, I’d be all for it.

Having said that, quick tangent: People are haters. I will acknowledge that in the history of hardcore punk, Minor Threat’s importance and legacy has been overexplained. Sure, it’s not too far removed from people who are way too deep into classic rock, and all they wanna talk about is Zeppelin II or Dark Side of The Moon all the time. Trust me, I get it. But when I hear people saying things like Minor Threat is too overplayed, or it’s “entry level” punk or whatever… No pun intended: I don’t wanna hear it. Fuck that. I’m here to say that is a trash opinion. Minor Threat rules. Just as good to me today as the first time I heard them when I was a teenager.

ANYWAY, I think that Uniform Choice coming out in that wave of mid-to-late-80s bands and sounding more like Minor Threat, it just gives me the same feeling of excitement as all that early 80s hardcore I love so much. I just find it more appealing. I’d rather hear a band that sounds like that over most of the late-80s Revelation stuff any day—like the chunky riffs, the big, slick production, or anything. Call me crazy if you want. This Uniform Choice LP is fucking killer. Fight me. Not sure I can defend the 2nd LP with the same intensity, but Screaming For Change is awesome in my book. I think we could all use a little more screaming for changes in our world at the moment. Gotta get buff for the resistance. Ya know what? I’m gonna wear my Minor Threat shirt today, fuckers!

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

‘Til next week,

-Jeff

The record I chose for this week is the three-way split LP / compilation from 1981 called Paket Aranžman, which is Croation for “package deal.” And a deal it is! You get multiple tracks each from three OG Yugoslavian punk / post-punk bands: Šarlo Akrobata (Charles the Acrobat), Idoli (Idols), and Električni Orgazam (Electric Orgasm). Paket Aranžman came out in 1981 on the Jugoton label, which has an interesting history. Beginning early in the 20th century as a company called Elektroton, in 1947 the Yugoslavian government nationalized the company, which changed its name to Jugoton and became the leading record label, record manufacturer, and chain of record stores in Yugoslavia. Throughout its 44-year history (Jugoton changed its name to Croatia Records after Yugoslavian’s dissolution in 1991), Jugoton produced many licensed releases for Yugoslavia, much as other state-run labels like Poland’s Tonpress and Russia’s AnTrop did for their respective markets. However, Jugoton’s primary mission was to promote Yugoslavian artists. As with the aforementioned labels, Jugoton’s catalog is huge and diverse, and while most of what the label released isn’t of much interest to me, a few radical bands made it onto the roster.

Before I get into what each band sounds like, I should mention that Paket Aranžman’s track listing doesn’t present each group’s songs as a solid block, but bounces between bands. Šarlo Akrobata and Idoli each have four tracks, while Električni Orgazam has three. With three bands and two sides you’re going to end up with an awkward split no matter what you do, and while each band has music on both sides of the record, side A is dominated by Šarlo Akrobata, who contribute three tracks, while side B features three Idoli tracks (including one that’s over eight minutes long, by far the longest song on the album). Električni Orgazam has the second track, but then they don’t pop up again until track 8. It’s kind of weird, but it works… the LP listens more like a cohesive album than a compilation. It helps that the bands aren’t too far apart from one another stylistically, but it’s clear the record’s producers put some thought into the sequencing.

Šarlo Akrobata has the first track on the record, so let’s talk about them first. “Ona Se Budi” is a strong start to the record, leading with a fat bass sound and a heavy, in-the-pocket groove. The song is kinda reggae—especially when the guitars come in with their stabbing upstrokes—but isn’t quite there. The bass-forwardness and the locked-in groove remind me of the Stranglers, though Šarlo Akrobata’s playing is even more accomplished… they’re really at Ruts-level musicianship here. I wonder if Paket Aranžman’s producers thought Šarlo Akrobata was the strongest band, since their songs both open and close the album? Regardless, all four of their tracks are very strong, with that heavy bass tone providing the common link as they explore Pop Group-esque art-punk on “Oko Moje Glave” and frantic ska on the closer “Niko Kao Ja” (which also has a great vocal hook in the chorus).

Električni Orgazam is the second band, and oddly enough they kind of sound like the Stranglers too, though with them it’s not so much the playing as the presence of (I think) a monophonic synth. The synth takes a prominent role on “Krokodili Dolaze,” and it’s easy to imagine that track on Black and White or The Raven. The synth isn’t as prominent on Električni Orgazam’s other two tracks, both of which have a ’77-ish rock-and-roll flavor. It’s anything but generic, though… “Vi” has a dark swagger that reminds me of early Joy Division, and the song may even have nicked its central groove from “Warsaw.”

Idoli is the third band on Paket Aranžman, and while they are the scrappiest musically, I’d be willing to bet their big vocal hooks make them many listeners’ favorite band on the compilation. “Schwüle Über Europa - Omorina Nad Evropom” has a strong folk feel with a simple vocal melody, while “Plastika” is the punkiest song on the record, a high-energy, sub-two-minute sprint with a harmonica (I think?) adding some extra flavor. Something about this track reminds me of poppy 70s Finnish punk, so if you’ve been enjoying the Eppu Normaali records we’ve been pushing, give this song a listen. “Amerika” is another standout, but it couldn’t be more different from “Plastika.” “Amerika” is built on this nervous, repetitive groove, and despite its name, the vocal melody sounds like it’s in an Arabic scale, giving the song a Middle Eastern feel. It makes me think of “Punk Islam” by CCCP (which you might recognize since a live video of the track recently made the rounds on Instagram). While its eight-minute runtime might try your patience, I think it works well to break up the mostly high-energy second side of the LP.

While all three bands contribute excellent tracks, Paket Aranžman’s thoughtful sequencing and consistent production make it sound great as an album-length listen. And unlike a lot of punk from this time and place, it’s easy to hear. It’s on all the streaming services (here are links for Apple Music, Spotify, and YouTube), and it’s been reissued many times, with a vinyl pressing as recently as 2021. So if you’re interested, there’s no excuse for not checking this out. I’m also looking forward to digging into each band’s discography, since all three have several full-lengths. I’m particularly interested in hearing more from Šarlo Akrobata, but don’t be surprised if you see me write more about all three bands in the future.

What’s up sorry state readers!?! For this week’s staff pick, I have this absolute heater…. thank got the wait is finally over! Mecht Mensch’s Anthology 12”! Been looking forward to this since I heard the news about No Coast doing this. Mecht Mensch is easily a top 5 80s USHC band for me. You get everything you need from them on this killer slab! Go snag this and Final Conflict’s In the Family 7” reissue on Havoc so you can have a full-on Midwest slam party in your living room! Thanks for reading!!

What’s up Sorry State readers? I hope everyone has had a nice week. We’re finally getting some warmer weather here, and that spring feeling is in the air. I’m welcoming it with open arms; I could use a break from the winter weather. Last week, I made the annual February pilgrimage to Asheville to catch four nights of Billy Strings. It was nice cause they split the shows up to have an off day in the middle. A show Tuesday and Wednesday night and then Thursday off, followed by two more shows on Friday and Saturday night. The break on Thursday night was a nice breather in the middle to keep things fresh. Over the four nights, 96 songs were played with no repeats. That’s what keeps me coming back; no two shows are ever the same and can feel totally different. Lots of originals played and some real choice covers spanning Jimi Hendrix, Doc Watson, Bob Dylan and more. Sydney and I were in agreement that Friday night was our favorite night of the run. The energy was off the charts and the long, psychedelic jams were flowing. My personal highlight from that night was the 22-minute ripping version of his original song Hide and Seek that blasted off into space and then came back down to earth before going into a cover of Ralph Stanley’s I Only Exist. Even with all the shows I’d been to, I’d never heard that one before in person and was happy to finally catch it. A somber song about feeling so down in the dumps you don’t even feel like you’re alive, merely just existing and going through the motions of life. I’m sure that’s a feeling most of us have felt at some point or another. I always love when they play some crazy, long-ass song that sends your mind to another dimension, but then grounds the plane with some good ‘ol fashioned bluegrass. It just feels right. The whole city of Asheville turns into a giant circus of people who came to see the shows, and everyone is in on it. Every restaurant you go to has special menu items, and every waiter is talking about how either they’re going to the shows themselves or someone they know is attending. The damn mayor even came out on stage the final night and gave Billy the key to the city cause they love him so much. Since 2021, he’s played 19 consecutive sold-out shows there, and she talked about what a huge impact he made when he played there last year after the hurricane, bringing a lot of business when the city needed it most. Asheville loves Billy and I think he feels the same way. I think he’ll be playing there for a long time and I plan to be in attendance every time. Thank you Asheville and the band for another wonderful week in the mountains!

This is a public service announcement!

Help make sense of this crazy world by listening to The Clash.

That’s what a lot of us have done for the past fifty years and it’s done us well, I think. Their music was always asking questions and giving you homework to do, but rewarded the listener for paying attention and doing a little bit of research with killer tunes, riffs and hooks. Politics and having a good time can exist together. I was just a kid when they were around, but liked them and bought a few of their records with my paper round money at the time. As the years have gone by, I have steadily grown a huge love and appreciation for them, and I am sure that’s a shared sentiment with many of you reading. One record though that can sometimes even divide fans of the band is their fourth album, Sandinista, released just before Christmas 1980.

The typical complaint being that the three-disc album is too long, blah, blah, blah. Or that it switches style too much and tackles too many genres. Yeah, yeah, yeah. We’ve heard it all before. For most other people, and indeed critics at the time, this eclectic mix of rock, dub reggae, hip-hop and funk was fantastic and highly enjoyable. Sure, it’s a long album, but it plays like you have a cool radio station on or like a curated mixtape given to you by a friend. I love the switches of style and blends of sounds. Bottom line, it’s a great fuckin’ record and doesn’t need me to defend it.

I bought a copy sometime in the mid 80s and mine came with the two zine/newspaper inserts, which are cool and have shots of the band and cartoons and lyrics, etc. I had to buy a CD copy during my travels in the late 80s and 90s, but one way or another it’s been an album that I have never gone without. More recently, with the world situation looming darkly over all of us, I have found myself returning to the record frequently, and it’s never far from the turntable. Sometimes I’ll play the whole thing if I have time, but often I’ll just throw on a side or two and vibe off those tracks. There is a US promo out there that was released at the time that condensed the 36 tracks down to 12 on one LP, and there is an argument that could be a “perfect” version. I have a copy and we had one or two come through Sorry State some time ago.

As a DJ in later years, I regularly included Clash tunes in my sets. The dub and funk they were exploring sound great (especially on some of the 12” singles) and are just as impactful and powerful now. Throw on The Magnificent Seven and/or its dub version, The Magnificent Dance, and watch how the people smile. The song The Call Up is another one that had a profound effect on me as a kid. I had briefly flirted with the idea of a military career, but the impact of the Falklands war, Northern Ireland, and my continued education from music and football quickly put an end to that idea and that song was one that earwormed me at just the right time.

I don’t need to say anything more, really. This was just a, “what am I listening to?” segment of the newsletter this time around. The Clash rule, and that’s a fact.

However, if you haven’t given Sandinista a listen recently, stick it on. It sounds as fresh as the day it was released.

That’s all from me. Cheers - Dom

What’s up Sorry Staters?

After writing about the excellent new Modem record in last week’s newsletter, I guess I’m sticking with Finland this week as well. But rather than contemporary beep-boop music, I’m throwing it way back to one of the earliest examples of Finnish punk rock.

I’m not sure exactly where my journey of discovery with early Finnish punk began. At a certain point, I think I started to notice Daniel accumulating lots and lots of cool Finnish punk records all of a sudden. And when I say that, I mean specifically showing interest in bands from that initial late 70s punk wave, and not necessarily 80s hardcore stuff. I would walk into work some days, and he would just bring in a stack of cool European punk records to listen to, some of which I’d never seen before. I’d react like, “Uuuh, holy shit dude, when did you get all of these?” So maybe the Sorry State bossman spear-headed a bit of motivation and inspiration for me to check more of these records out.

Many, many years ago, I randomly stumbled into hearing the first Ratsia LP through the channels of the mysterious internet blogosphere. I think at the time, my young, short-sighted takeaway upon hearing Ratsia was: “Wow, they cover Stiff Little Fingers in a different language!” And it would take me until much later in life to discover how brilliant and ingrained in my memory songs like “Lontoon Skidit” would become. I wasn’t ready yet, I guess. And it would be even many years after that realization before I’d actually get a chance to visit Finland and try to find those records in person, to varying degrees of success. It’s funny that it would take me until my 30s to finally grab a physical copy of that Ratsia LP. Then all of a sudden, it became all about learning more about bands like Ypö-Viis, Pelle Miljoona, Kollaa Kestää, and all the rest.

Now it’s time to talk about another band that’s on par with the bands I mentioned above: As some of you readers know, the fine people over at Svart Records recently reissued the first two albums by seminal Finnish punk band Eppu Normaali. Now, what’s funny is that I only recently learned the information, while reading some random internet article, that Eppu Normaali is like literally Finland’s biggest selling band—like, EVER. Record sales, singles in the charts… Which is crazy, because I had no idea. What I do know is that I heard an Eppu Normaali album from 1990, and let’s just say I was not a fan. A bit too tepid and soft for me. That’s not to say they don’t have other records from their 80s heyday that I might enjoy, but for the purposes of this newsletter, I’ll stick with the first two albums from the late 70s. Both of which, just to be clear, are incredible.

Eppu Normaali’s first LP Aknepop was originally released in 1978. If you think about it, that’s pretty early on as far as punk emerging and infecting other places beyond the US and England. Eppu Normaali and bands like The Clash and Generation X were basically contemporaries. This first record is killer. Kinda raw, high-energy rock’n’roll with great riffy guitar playing. A lot of the super frantic, rockin’ sounding guitar stuff reminds a lot of like Johnny Moped and the like. And I don’t know what it is about Finnish bands, like if it’s something in the culture, but they just leaned so heavy into incredibly hooky, almost folk-esque melodicism. A lot of the bands have such a gift for melody. I remember the first time I heard the song “Poliisi Pamputtaa Taas” off this record. It’s the first song on the B-side, which I accidentally played for the first time thinking it was the A-side haha. That song is just so damn catchy, I thought this must be like the pop hit off the record. Lo and behold, “Poliisi Pamputtaa Taas” was released as a single in 1978 preceding the release of the album. The recording on the single version is different, so naturally my record fiending brain was like I MUST FIND ONE. And of course, it’s expensive haha.

Over the last few years, I’ve spent so much time with Aknepop that I think my attention was diverted away from Eppu Normaali’s 2nd album Maximum Jee & Jee. Lately, I think I might even prefer the band’s sophomore album. They were great musicians from the beginning, but something about the performances, production and songwriting feels more refined on Maximum Jee & Jee. Even by the second track “Njet Njet,” the band incorporates a feeling of melancholy and a sense of longing with washy, jangly guitars you didn’t hear as much on the first album.

I feel like I could write a paragraph on just about every song on this record. I’ll try to refrain as much as I can. As a direct contrast to the melancholy I just mentioned, a song like “Lainelautailevan Lehmänmaha Rock N’ Roll” almost feels like Eppu’s take on Plastic Bertrand-esqu punksploitation with goofy sing-along boogie woogie doo-wop background vocals and stuff. One of my favorite songs on the record, “Pidetään Ikävää,” starts with this Teenage Head “Picture My Face”-paced groove, but then has a super hooky tongue-twisting, multi-syllabic vocal hook with a woman doing backup vocals—which THEN launches into this minor key section with eerie violin accompaniment. Might sound strange, but it’s fucking awesome. The track “Science Fiction” is a gem as well, starting with these pseudo-futuristic atonal synthesizers but then bursting out into one of the most up-tempo, catchy songs on the whole record. Okay, one more: The song “Jee Jee,” from where I assume the title of the album is derived, is also a favorite. Apparently “jee” is how the Finns spell “yeah”, so one of the big hooks in the song is them just singing, “yeah, yeah yeaaah.” It fucking rules. Call me crazy, but methinks Tiikerri might have borrowed this motif for some of their songwriting hehe. I just love how Maximum Jee & Jee pushes boundaries and experiments with songs in a way that feels light-hearted and playful rather than snobby or pretentious. Such a great record.

So maybe me deciding to write about Eppu Normaali from the perspective of a Finnish person would be like deciding to write about Green Day or something. But it must be undeniable even amongst Finnish people that these first 2 albums are all-time classics, right? Seems like the band had some records in the mid-80s into the 90s where they had a much higher level of mainstream success. And honestly, I don’t know much about those records. The Finnish rock/pop genre known as Suomi-rock is a rabbit hole that I’m not prepared to dive into. But it seems like Eppu Normaali’s appeal is something very insularly relevant to Finnish culture rather than the band having success as a big international musical export. Maybe I’m wrong? Interestingly, I find a parallel between the story of Eppu Normaali and the popularity of the band Ebba Grön in Sweden, whom I wrote about in a previous newsletter many moons ago. Or maybe that’s a weird comparison to make? I’m writing about all this stuff like I actually know what I’m talking about. I’m just a humble punk enthusiast trying to draft interesting tidbits for all you readers to enjoy. Or ignore. Either way. There’s always so much more cool stuff to discover.

We’ve still got a bunch of copies of Aknepop and Maximum Jee & Jee in stock. Don’t sleep on these, ya dummies!! If you’ve been hesitating to dive deeper into international punk that you’re unfamiliar with, now is the time to correct that. Don’t make the same mistake I did. These records are no-brainer purchases if you like good, catchy, badass punk rock.

Welp, that’s all I’ve got for you guys. As always, thanks for reading.

‘Til next week,

-Jeff

This week my staff pick is URGH, the new album by Mandy, Indiana, a group from Manchester, England. I chose Mandy, Indiana’s first self-titled EP as my staff pick back in 2022, and in that piece I wrote about how I first heard them. Basically, I heard them on Radio 6 Music on the BBC. That year I drove alone from Denver to Raleigh, taking about 3 days, and I spent a lot of time listening to Radio 6 on that trip. I think Mandy, Indiana was the flavor of the week because I noted in my staff pick that multiple DJ’s had played tracks from the then-new EP. High on alone time, I remember a track from that EP hitting in that perfect, middle-of-a-long trip way where you totally get a second wind from it. I’ve had a soft spot for the group ever since.

Since that first EP, Mandy, Indiana has been plugging along at a respectable pace. Their first album I’ve Seen Away arrived in 2023 on Fire Talk, the same UK label that released the EP. We stocked both releases at Sorry State (in fact, it looks like we recently restocked that first EP), but I guess I never got around to writing about the full-length… maybe it got a stray mention in the newsletter, but I didn’t write about it at any length. I listened to it a lot, though, and I enjoyed it, though I suppose I haven’t revisited it as often as the EP.

I was pleased to see Sacred Bones signed the group for URGH, their latest album and follow-up to I’ve Seen A Way. Mandy, Indiana’s noisy, arty sound is a good fit for Sacred Bones I think. You know, I was thinking about how a lot of Sacred Bones’ American signings don’t do much for me, but I like a lot of the artists they’ve signed from Europe: Molchat Doma (though nothing will be as good as that first record), The Soft Moon, and my favorite Anika (whose Abyss was one of my favorite records of 2025). I’d be curious to know how those groups go over in their own parts of the world. All those artists seem kind of exotic to me, all of them having an unidentifiable European-ness that I find very intriguing. Would a European see it that way, or would they just sound banal? Is there a context I’m blind to that might kill it for me? Why am I asking myself such a stupid and pointless question?

Whoa there buddy, let’s get back to planet earth. What does Mandy, Indiana sound like? Their songs have the shape and outline of post-punky rock songs, but it’s like someone replaced the bass, then the guitars, and then the drums with something more texturally interesting and rhythmically striking. Pop remade in some kind of post-human, android vision… not slick like Modem or Fatamorgana, but noisy and fucked up… Bladerunner not The Matrix. You get a really good representation of that right at the beginning of “Sevastopol,” the first track on URGH. It has a propulsive post-punk background, but everything is glitching out, awash in noise… alien and slightly threatening. Listen to it at the wrong time and it’ll send your anxiety into overdrive. Danny gave it a shot and his response was, “I don’t think I got it.” I didn’t know there was anything to get!

If you’re looking for a band reference as a point of comparison, that’s tough. This really is not my world. When I wrote about the first EP, I compared them to Rakta’s Falha Comum, and I can see where I was coming from with that… you’ll definitely hear lots of noisy analog synth sounds in both. But listening to URGH so much lately, I keep thinking of the last couple of Whatever Brains records. There’s no way Mandy, Indiana heard Whatever Brains, but both groups have that sense of having the shape of something familiar hovering in the background, yet sounding totally alien, like (as I said earlier) something organic that was torn down and rebuilt by robots. Maybe there’s an entire world of artists that do something similar and I don’t know about them. Or maybe that’s just a standard musical M.O…. it’s what a lot of the Björk tracks I like do, for instance, or even 60s psychedelic pop… finding fresh sounds to cram into the classic format.

Back to URGH. While I love most of it, there are a couple of more challenging moments later in the album that I’m undecided on. First, I don’t know how I feel about rapper Billy Woods’ guest spot on “Sicko!,” the eighth track on the album. He has a rough, staccato delivery, and when you combine that with Mandy, Indiana’s noisy, quasi-industrial textures, it sounds a lot like Death Grips. Which is fine, but it also makes me realize how much I love the interplay between the instruments and the vocals on Mandy, Indiana’s other songs. There’s a sweetness to the vocals that balances out the abrasiveness of the music, and when Woods’ vocals amplify rather than counterbalance the abrasiveness, it’s just too much for me. The other track I’m not feeling as much is the last song, “I’ll Ask Her.” Most of Valentine Caulfield’s lyrics are in French, but “I’ll Ask Her” is in English. When the lyrics are in French, I might catch a word or a phrase here and there, but mostly they’re just sounds to me, and that keeps me in this ethereal, dreamy listening space. The lyrics for “I’ll Ask Her” are coming from a great place politically—it’s about how men (or maybe just people) ignore and excuse sexist, even violent behavior—but something about it feels generic… I wish there was something more literary or poetic about the lyrics I guess… subtler, too, to match the fineness of detail in the music. I could totally imagine “Sicko!” or “I’ll Ask Her” being someone’s favorite tracks on the album, though. They stick out from the rest of the album, and there’s something “pop” about both songs, like they’re aimed at a wider audience than your typical noise group.

So yeah, check it out if you are so inclined. It looks like the indie exclusive color version is still available. It’s listed as “RGB” vinyl, but my copy is just green. I wonder if copies are randomly either red, green, or blue? If so, that’s kinda neat. I love surprises.

Hello Sorry Staters! Another week, another pick! Not much has been going on here, just keeping busy by finally inputting my collection into Discogs. It’s a super tedious job, but it is driving me crazy not having it written down somewhere. I’m done accidentally buying doubles! The upside to doing this is that I come across a lot of shit I forgot I had. I also recently saw a YouTube video of someone’s collection and instead of it being in alphabetical order from left to right, it was in order from right to left, so when he pulled a stack out it would go back in order from right to left and this made total sense to me. Though after reading what I wrote back, it makes no sense at all! Oh well! I will have to try it either way.

One record I found buried in my stacks is Mirror Might Steal Your Charm by The Garden. This record was put out by Epitaph Records in 2018 and seems to have been co-released or released by the Vada Vada, which is a label by the brothers in the band, Wyatt and Fletcher Shears. This record is all over the place in the best way possible. This duo is just bass and drums, and the effects they use on the record are super intentional. They know how to build a song and make it sound huge with just two instruments. Listening to this on the way to work again and thinking about what to compare it to, the record that came to mind was the Butthole Surfers’ Electriclarryland, but slightly more chaotic, with the same type of lyrics sung over a million difference effects. This is the only Garden record I own, unfortunately. They have a rabid fanbase that sells out the records and merchandise the moment it gets posted online.

So if you are in the mood for something a little different and very effects and bass line heavy, check them out!

Hey there everyone reading! Thanks for giving us your time again this week. As well as can be expected in the world today, how are you doing? Here in the southern part of the United States, we have come out from the other side of our winter storm conditions and as I write, we are back to spring-like weather today. I’ll take it. Enough of the weather and on with the music.

As a lover of so many different musical styles and forms, I never struggle to find something to listen to, but it seems in the last few weeks I have been hit by a tsunami of cool new to me records and new releases. There’s a healthy stack of vinyl in the listening queue at home and at the store I am doing my best to catch up on a ton more. It’s hard to know where to begin.

I’ll quickly mention some records that deserve your attention and that I believe Daniel and maybe Jeff will talk about elsewhere in the newsletter or that we have had in the store. Some may be sold out currently, but we’ll get ‘em back.

The new album from our cool Finnish friends Modem is out. It’s called Interface. If you liked their previous album and love 80s synth-pop and the like, then you’ll love this new one. We were lucky to hear some of these new tunes when the guys visited the States last year and played here in Raleigh. Great stuff.

Staying in Finland, the two albums from Eppu Normaali that Svart Records have beautifully reissued, are amazing. I bought my copies out of the box despite never having heard of them or their music. I was blown away. I’m sure Daniel will describe these albums in a way that will be way more learned and articulate than I can muster, but my first impression on hearing the records was that they sounded like a mix of Doctor Feelgood and Buzzcocks, fronted by a Welshman. I didn’t understand what the lyrics were saying, but I could feel the music. Good times 70s power pop punk with r&b and rock ‘n’ roll roots. Check them out.

Daniel mentioned that we have been trying to beef up our international sections and bring in other interesting rock, pop and soul titles whenever we can find them at a good price for you guys. It’s not as easy as you’d think. There are a lot of reissues and compilation series out there. Some are better than others, and some just end up being too expensive. One series of compilations that never disappoints and is always value for money are those released by Soul Jazz Records. Their latest selection of Cumbia and Latin music originally released on the Fuentes label in the latter half of the last century is pure fire. If you have tried finding original Cumbia and related singles and LPs, you’ll know it is not easy or cheap. You’ll probably be familiar with the Fuentes label and know that it’s a mark of quality similar to what Blue Note is to jazz. Watch out for this one when we restock it.

Another sold-out item that hopefully we’ll restock is the Adverts 45 that featured earlier versions of We Who Wait b/w New Boys, that had remained unissued until being specially remastered for this new 7”. They did a great job; the music sounds awesome, and they come in different random colors matching the sleeves that are inspired by the original single release.

If anyone was inspired to check out the band Dry Cleaning that I mentioned recently and ended up liking them, you might want to investigate their earlier records. 4AD have just reissued their first album and put together a compilation of their EPs which I would thoroughly recommend. They’re not for everyone, I get that, but the deadpan delivery and clever wordsmithery is hitting me in the right spot.

We are always out there trying to buy good record collections, and you our customers tend to bring us the best stuff. It’s a good setup. We sell you cool shit; you sell us cool shit, and someone else buys your cool shit. The music lives on and gets to bring joy or whatever other emotion you look for in music to another person. One recent collection buy brought in a slew of cool records that our local customers have been snapping up. There’s still lots of them left, btw. I did have to do the uncool record store clerk thing and snag a couple. I know, I’m sorry. I feel bad about even talking about it. LoL. Hey, we sacrifice a lot for rock ‘n roll and deserve a few perks. So yeah, I grabbed two records by the Dischord-related band Gray Matter.

Gray Matter was a DC-based band together for a few years in the early to mid-1980s. They formed in ’83, split in ’86 and then reformed in 1990 and lasted another three years. Their first record was the full-length called Food For Thought and it came out in 1985. Originally on the R&B label and recorded at Inner Ear Studios. It’s a fab blast of DC post punk-ish music with a touch of late sixties influence perhaps. It was still the 80s, so bands like MC5 and Stooges were just as much an influence as later 70s punk music. Maybe I get the MC5 thing from the back cover of the album, where one of the guys is wrapped in the stars ‘n bars. The sixties influence is confirmed though by the last track on the record, a cover of I Am The Walrus. Say what you want about The Beatles, but Walrus is a brilliant song. When Oasis started out, they would end their live sets with a version too. Both bands tackle the song well. My favorite track so far on the album is Caffeine Blues. It rips.

In 1986, the band released an EP titled Take It Back. Again, recorded at Inner Ear, but this time released on Dischord itself. This 12” is killer. I’ve been blasting it repeatedly. Six tunes, with Burn No Bridges being a particular banger of a song. Thanks to our Jeff here at Sorry State for pointing me towards this one. I was looking through the records from the collection that Jeff had priced and saw the Gray Matter album. I mentioned that Danny and I had just been playing a reissue we had in the store the other day and that how much I liked it. Jeff, rightly, said that I needed the EP just as much. How right he is. I’ve lost count of how many amazing records and bands he has steered me towards. The man knows his records.

I can’t really say much more about the band that can’t be found on the internet and that you hip guys don’t already know, and I certainly don’t want to sound like a poser and come off like I know all about them. All I know is that I trust my ears, and when I hear cool shit, I want it in my life. Btw, the copy I snagged was the first Dischord reissue and not the first press on R & B, so nerds can untwist their panties, and the EP did not have the insert. So basically, almost suckers’ copies. LoL. Jeff said he’d photocopy his insert for me, though.

Thanks for your attention and reading. Perhaps there’s something I mentioned that you’ll enjoy. Cheers to my buddy John Scott, who is out this week on Billy Strings duty in Asheville. I’ve been watching along on Nugs but haven’t spotted him in the crowd yet.

Cheers and catch up with you next time - Dom