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Greetings friends. Big thank you as always for taking the time to read our newsletter. Daniel works so hard each time putting this together and it’s gratifying that you guys read it and especially cool when we receive your enthusiastic thumbs up over anything that we have talked about. We’re all music evangelists here at Sorry State, just trying to pass on good tips and steer you towards cool shit and also learn ourselves. I still have a hunger for new to me sounds and try to listen to something I haven’t heard every single day. Working at a dope record spot certainly helps in that pursuit. Being able to pass on that excitement and joy to people every day is truly gratifying. It sounds corny, but one of the best things about working here is when we can link someone up with a record that means a lot to them and that brings them joy. Whether it’s new or old music, an original pressing or a reissue, it is so cool to know that person’s day just got better because we had the record they had been looking for. Of course, equaling satisfying is turning someone on to a record that they hadn’t heard before or known about. Whether that’s from a conversation or from just having it playing on the turntable, it’s cool when it happens.
I still try to keep that fire of inquisitiveness burning inside me, even as I approach official old git status. Since working here at Sorry State, my musical horizons have greatly expanded. I’m continually being exposed to new music obviously, but also to so many old bands and records that I either missed completely or didn’t pay attention to much at the time. It’s been a great education to be honest. Always keep learning, kids. He’s a fool the fellow who reckons he knows everything or knows enough. To that point, my “pick” for you guys this go-around is the band The Proletariat, a Massachusetts punk band who were around during the first half of the 1980s.
Daniel, last week in the newsletter, had talked about his struggles with trying to find a record to play due to his mood, etc. I can relate to that. I find myself looking at my thousands of records some days and thinking nothing is speaking to me. I always figure it out and slap something on. For me, one reason why some music isn’t doing it for me currently is that it’s too poppy or lighthearted and not speaking to the times. With so much heavy shit going on in the world and especially here in America under the current junta, I’ve been feeling the need for music with a bit more going on lyric-wise. Protest music, hip-hop, and punk have been getting more turntable time of late. Anything really that has some bite in the lyrics and some sort of political edge. Hopefully it goes without saying, but the political messages I seek are of the left, socialistic, democratic and progressive nature and not the neo-Nazi claptrap of the Christian Right and the rest of the knuckle dragging neanderthals that inhabit that end of the spectrum. Anyway, a few weeks back here at the store, we received an order from one of our distros and included was a repress of the first record by The Proletariat called Soma Holiday, originally released in 1983 on Radiobeat Records. I think Jeff and I played it as I wasn’t familiar. I liked it immediately.
The band is thrown into the whole Boston punk and hardcore scene from that period and is known by most because of their inclusion on the classic compilation album, This Is Boston, Not L.A. They also appear on the follow-up EP, Unsafe At Any Speed, which was released later that same year in 1982. Their name recognition was given a further boost that year when they were finalists at the Rock ‘N’ Roll Rumble, a battle of the bands competition hosted by Boston radio station WBCN. Although not exactly a hardcore punk band, their music was more post-punk in sound and had more in common with the groups coming out of the U.K. at the time. They claim not to have been influenced by the likes of The Fall, Gang Of Four, Crass etc., but they share similar aesthetics. The Marxist leaning political lyrics, the steady, militaristic-like drumming that’s almost danceable juxtaposed with angular, biting guitar strokes. It’s all there.
I was going to buy the reissue, but it sold out quickly here with us. You guys already know what’s up. Then, a short while later, a used collection came our way and, lo-and-behold, an original copy of Soma Holiday was in there. A nice one too, with the printed inner. Apparently, on the very, very first release, the record jacket did not have the song titles on the rear. That was possibly a mistake, as the track listing was added to future copies. I’m unsure whether they just switched jackets and the actual vinyl is the same or whether there was another pressing. It looks like the same. So, maybe not a true original copy but it will do for me. Daniel told me he preferred the band’s second record, Indifference, released on Homestead Records that came out a couple of years after the first. It is similar in vibe to the first and was recorded at Radiobeat studios again and with the same producers as the first album. However, that year of recording, 1984, saw the end of the band’s first lineup. Frontman Richard Brown quit, as did drummer Tom McKnight. The band continued with Laurel Bowman on vocals and Steve Welch on drums, and their contribution is heard on a couple of songs on the finished album. Certainly, the addition of the female voice adds another element to the group’s sound. This new lineup didn’t last long. They played a couple of gigs in 1985, and that was it. The album was received favorably by critics at the time and was given a boost by having Roger Miller from Mission of Burma playing piano on an updated version of the song An Uneasy Peace. The earlier version of that song had been included on another compilation album called the International P.E.A.C.E. Benefit Compilation.
I am not sure yet whether I agree with Daniel about preferring the second album over the first. I need to listen to them both a few more times, but at this point in time I am enjoying Soma Holiday perhaps just a tad more than Indifference. The jacket art is more interesting on the second I will say. There’s not a lot about the first one to give you much of a clue as to what to expect, other than the song titles themselves. Perhaps the reason they were added to the back jacket after that very first pressing? They are both good records, though, and worthy of your investigation if you are not already aware. Like I said, I’m a Johnny-come-lately to the party, and no doubt many of you reading already have these records. Still, for those of you like me, finding out about them for the first time, who are needing some weight in their music lyric-wise, these are good ones to check out. I mentioned I had been on a Clash kick recently, and you can hear their influence on The Proletariat. That’s a good thing. The band do cite The Clash as a group that informed them both musically and politically, and I like that they took that baton and brought that modus operandi into what they were doing.
Okay, back to work. I’m neck-deep in used records that need pricing and cleaning. Lots of classic rock-type stuff that will hit the floor in due course. Our locals know the scoop. We do our best to make the staples available at reasonable prices. We’re not looking to shake you down on a Doobie Brothers record, but we might want good money for an OG Nervous Breakdown. There’s plenty of quality records here from a dollar to a grand. We cater to all budgets. As you know, high price doesn’t always equal high quality, but good taste is free, and if you have that and $5 in your pocket, you’ll find something to enjoy.
Cheers – Dom