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Hello Sorry Staters! Short and sweet one from me this week. I just wanted to pick a used record to highlight how many hidden gems we have in our used section, not only in the store, but online as well. If you ever need a suggestion for what genre to dig more into, you always go to Dominic at the Sorry State brick and mortar store. I have recently been exploring free and avant-garde jazz and was handed a record with 3 players on it I never heard of before.

Wally Shoup/Chris Corsano/Paul Flaherty—Bounced Check is the record he handed me and said this might be up your alley. This recorded was recorded live at gallery 1412 in Seattle, WA in 2005. I was used to listening to older players such as Cecil Taylor or Archie Shepp. So digging into a new free jazz record was new and very refreshing, opening up a world of new players to deep dive into. One of the big stand outs on this record is the drumming performance by Chris Corsano. His drumming on this record is out there, chaotic but planned in a way that tunes in just right with Shoup and Flaherty’s sax playing. I encourage anyone that is into free jazz to check out these players, and as always give me recommendations!

We are adding used records and CDs every day and I encourage you to buy something you think looks cool or sounds like something you might like. We have tons of really killer used stuff for sale, so check it out! Until next week!

What’s up Sorry State readers? I hope everyone has had a nice week. It’s been chilly here in Raleigh, but I’ve been staying warm listening to some classic heat here, Bo Diddley Is A Gunslinger. Often when I’m at the store and need to throw something on real quick, I’ll pay a visit to the blues section cause it never disappoints. This copy is a repress on Chess with a nice laminated cover and sounds great. Clocking in just under 25 minutes, this record is short n sweet but packs a real punch in that short time. The opening track, Gunslinger, gets things going, and the train keeps on rolling through Ride On Josephine and before you know, you’re Doing The Crawdaddy. This album features all originals by Bo Diddley except for a phenomenal cover of Sixteen Tons, which sounds totally different from any other version I’ve heard, but it’s great. A certified classic, worthy of adding to anyone’s collection. If you ever find yourself in Oxford, Mississippi, there’s a bar in the downtown square that has cool ass paintings of Bo Diddley and Robert Johnson and other Mississippi legends.

Hello and thanks for reading. SCARECROW played a benefit the other night in Richmond. I was really happy to do something like that and spend quality time with some friends. I got some really sad news last week when a friend passed away. A few days later, my BFF from back home called me to let me know the drummer of our old band had just passed away as well. Death is hard for me to accept. I understand that every living thing on this planet must die. It is something we all have in common. But still, I fear death. Like most, it brings me great pain when someone dies who I know and love. Even with strangers, it always makes me really sad to hear about someone passing away. I guess this is why people probably look to higher powers for acceptance and understanding. It is times like this when I am reminded life is shorter than I expect. Too short to waste. Too short to spend dwelling in negativity or hating on other people’s shit. Too short to let days float by without slowing down to admire all the beautiful things, no matter how small they seem. Too short to not constantly show those around us how much we love and appreciate them.

When we were in Richmond, we met up with Patrick from DESTRUCT and picked up his latest release on Acute Noise Manufacture, ABERRATE. I imagine this tape is probably not on most people’s radar, unless you know Patrick or you’re one of those nerds who pays close attention to the Japanese scene. You can’t hear it online as far as I know, and this is the band’s debut. ABERRATE is from Tokyo, and I think it’s awesome that Patrick made this tape available outside of Japan with a US version. ABERRATE consists of guys who were in FRIGORA, ABRAHAM CROSS, and LIFE. For anyone that knows those bands at all, that’s probably all they need to hear, haha. That was the case for me at least. If you don’t know those bands and love the 90s/early 2000s Japanese crust style, ABERRATE hits the spot. When I say crust, I mean the crasher side of things of course. ABERRATE delivers a classic, unrelenting pummeling sound with wall-to-wall noisy guitar. I feel like demo tapes are generally pretty bare bones, but I was really happy this tape included a rather large double-sided insert, and it’s not just a tape with a few songs on each side. The A side features the complete demo, but rather than having the program repeat on the flipside, they gave us a taste of their live performance instead. ABERRATE’s lyrics cover topics like war and capitalism, but there are also lyrics that focus on self-reflection. I always appreciate coming across messages like this, and it’s something I have always loved about ABRAHAM CROSS. This is the second release on Acute Noise Manufacture, and I know their third release is in the works. I guess I shouldn’t say much about it, but I know it’s a proper record this time and I think people are gunna be super stoked about it. I hope the label can stay more active, as their first release was back in 2022 and it’s great to see a new/small label releasing cool stuff. Alright, I guess that’s it for the week. Thanks for your support.

Hey there Sorry Staters, what’s up?

Writing to you today on Martin Luther King Day here in the US, which is corresponding with the Inauguration Ceremony for the new President. God help us all. Thankfully, I had an excuse to get out of the house and not wallow in despair, as I had my radio show to do, and we made it all about celebrating MLK. Hopefully spinning some Soul and Gospel records and putting that good music and positive messages out into the air can be considered my act of service for the day.

One record I brought along and was glad to include on the show was the album by Arrested Development called Don’t Fight Your Demons, released in 2020.

I missed getting a vinyl copy when it first came out, but a couple of years ago it got a reissue and I made sure to snag myself one. I think around that time I was fortunate enough to see them perform live here in Raleigh at a special one-off benefit show. They were incredible, and just as memorable and impactful as they were when I first saw them some twenty-five or so years ago.

I wouldn’t claim to be a super-fan of theirs, but still have their first couple of records and a few 12”s in my collection. Their brand of socially conscious hip-hop combined with a pop sensibility and good times vibes always hits the spot.

Don’t Fight Your Demons is packed full of great tracks. I played one called Young Americans on the show today, but could have gone with any of several others that would have fitted in and been appropriate for the day. There’s a little bit of something for everyone on this record. You get the politics; this record came out in the tumult of 2020, and coincidentally at the same time as Public Enemy came out with a new record. You get the intelligence, you get humor, you get club bangers and head-nodders, all on the same record. What a good Hip-Hop record is all about. Credit to the group, in particular Speech and to producer Configa, who give the record a contemporary and current sound. Aided by some guest MCs and vocalists, the result is a very satisfying album that was perfect for the moment it was released and still sounds fresh these few years later. Arrested Development certainly do not have any expiration date. They’ve been at it solidly these past thirty years or so, releasing quality records and rocking any stage they perform on.

With what promises to be in our future these next few years, we need groups like Arrested Development more than ever. Pull this one up and give it a listen if you haven’t in a while or let it slip by you first time around.

Cheers – Dom

What’s up Sorry Staters?

This past weekend, Scarecrow played this benefit gig in Richmond. It was a benefit for a mutual aid organization called MADRVA. The space where MAD put together the show was on the 2nd floor of this big building, where there was this huge, open room with high ceilings and wooden floorboards, almost like an auditorium. It was pretty cool, and not at all what I expected. I remember saying to someone over the course of the night that the space felt like a venue where important shows could continue to happen in the future.

All that said, I think the show raised a good amount of money, and it was my first big social outing that involved travel since my injury back in November! I’ll be honest, just from the sheer amount of moving around, my knee is definitely feeling a bit sore now. Uh-oh. But it was so great to see friends I hadn’t seen in months at the show. I got to spend some quality time with my guitar-shredding better half Kai, as well as (mostly) the rest of Public Acid. Speaking of which, Public Acid is on the bill for this other benefit gig at Ottobar in Baltimore this coming weekend. I’m gonna let my knee recuperate, and hopefully I’ll be feeling stable enough to do this all over again successfully haha.

I wasn’t sure what to choose for my staff pick this week. I debated talking about that new unreleased Stalin 7” on General Speech, but I’m hoping maybe one of my colleagues will end up tackling that one. Instead, I decided to write about a record that I ended up taking home by accident, but have been jamming quite a lot. Every week, we make a big order to restock our new inventory in the shop to replace records that have gotten cleared out over the weekend. We get all these new records from a big one-stop shop distributor. For those unfamiliar, one-stops like this carry a wide variety of titles available from different record labels—everything from Michael Jackson to Napalm Death.

The other week, I re-ordered the latest reissue of Like An Ever Flowing Stream by Swedish death metal legends Dismember. It was on sale for a mere $12 wholesale. I don’t know if there was some karmic chaos affecting this record in particular, but as opposed to every other record in our restock order, this thing was just mangled. Creased, bent corners, shrink wrap already hanging off… And when I tore the rest of the shrink off, I discovered that the record also looked super warped. It was, of course, not sellable as a “brand new” record in this state. Rather than selling it “used” as a damaged record or going through the trouble of bugging Alliance to send it back and credit our account, Dom just suggested I take it home and check it out.

So yeah, the record is totally warped. My stylus surfs up and down on it quite a bit, but it plays through okay. Now, I’m by no means a death metal expert, but I’ve always gravitated toward the Swedish bands from the early 90s. That cold, brutal Sunlight Studios production is the stuff of legend. I’ve listened to Entombed’s Left Hand Path to death (no pun intended) since my teenage years, but I’ve spent much less time with Dismember. Recently revisiting this record Like An Ever Flowing Stream after not hearing it for many years, and having never personally owned a copy and only listening digitally… man, this thing just knocked my socks off. “Override of The Overture” has got to be one of the best opening tracks on any extreme metal record ever. That opening tremolo-picked guitar melody with sort of odd, swirling rhythmic timing in the note changes is so recognizable. It makes goose bumps bubble up and my hair stand on end.

I think that’s thing about Swedish death metal in particular: Obviously it’s heavy and brutal, but the Swedes also are so brilliant at incorporating these haunting melodies that really stick with the listener. Not to mention that a lot of these bands were only 18 or 19 years old when they made these records. That youthful ambition, man. Crazy. There’s this sense of epic grandiosity that I don’t gather when I listen to most American death metal bands. Sorry? I think it’s just a different stylistic approach to songwriting. But I mean come on! The incorporation of the title theme from Phantasm into this creepy, doomy riff in “Left Hand Path” by Entombed? Yet another stellar opening track.

Thinking about Dismember and Entombed, I randomly stumbled across one of these react videos on YouTube where this dude checks out a track by each of the “Big 4” of Swedish death metal. Without even really knowing, I could have guessed that the Big 4 would surely be Entombed, Dismember, Grave and Unleashed. I decided to go back and listen to all these bands. All 4 of them have something stylistically similar, but still each band brings something unique and distinguishable with their take on death metal. Kinda funny, looking at Discogs, all 4 of these bands’ debut albums were released in 1991—the year I was born! What a cowinky-dink. It’s also pretty cool to think about a time in extreme music when a fresh and powerful new sound was burgeoning—where the flood of activity in the metal scene near Stockholm was so potent that a gang of youngsters was able to organize quickly enough to result in 4 amazing debut records all released within the same year. That’s quite a statement.

Anyway, that’s all I’ve got for ya this round. Time to go binge some Swedish death metal. \m/

‘Til next week,

-Jeff

45 Grave: Autopsy LP (Restless, 1987)

You might remember Jeff and I, along with some other friends, did a 45 Grave cover set this past Halloween. When I’ve done other Halloween cover sets, it’s been with a band whose discography I knew backwards and forwards, but 45 Grave was a little different. I always liked them, but mostly I wanted to do the cover set because it fit the Halloween theme and because I thought my wife Jet’s singing voice sounded a lot like Dinah Cancer’s. As you might expect, learning a bunch of their songs deepened my appreciation for and understanding of 45 Grave, and my fascination has continued long past the spooky season.

Coincidentally, this past Halloween, the same day we played our cover set, the Goth 101 YouTube channel posted a detailed history of the band. While learning the songs deepened my appreciation for 45 Grave’s music, this well-researched video helped me understand the ins and outs of their complex discography. The main 45 Grave records I was familiar with were the Black Cross 7” and the Sleep in Safety LP, but there’s a lot more out there. 45 Grave formed in 1980 and didn’t release their debut full-length, Sleep in Safety, until 1983. As the YouTube video mentions several times, the members of 45 Grave feel that, by waiting so long to release their first album, they both missed a boat they could have ridden to wider popularity and failed to document the most creatively vital era of the band. Whether getting a record out earlier would have made them more successful is debatable of course, but but thankfully there is some recorded evidence from the band’s earlier era.

The album Autopsy, released in 1987 on Restless Records on CD, cassette, and LP and never reissued since, is the closest you can get to a 45 Grave album from what the band considers their prime era. Autopsy’s packaging is short on info, so it’s not clear when and where these tracks were recorded, but the songs on the a-side clearly come from an earlier era of the band when they were playing primarily at hardcore tempos. Some songs—“Anti Anti Anti” and “Consumers”—are repurposed from guitarist Paul Cutler’s old band the Consumers (whose All My Friends Are Dead collection on In the Red Records is a must-own), and drummer Don Bolles is playing with the same hyperactive power he displayed on the Germs’ album. But while the music is blisteringly fast, it has all the intricate detail and memorable melodies of their later material. In fact, these songs are even faster than contemporary SoCal classics like the Adolescents’ first album and TSOL’s first 12”, and if you’re a fan of those records, these songs are 100% essential.

I suspect the songs on Autopsy’s b-side were recorded later, as they’re notably slower and some of them feature keyboards, presumably from the Screamers’ Paul Roessler, who joined the band later (he’s not mentioned on the jacket, even though the person who played the squeaky toy on “Riboflavin” gets a credit). Later guitarist Pat Smear (Bolles’ bandmate in the Germs) is credited as guitarist, though it’s unclear which tracks on Autopsy he plays on. These b-side tracks include two of 45 Grave’s most well-known songs, “Partytime” and “Riboflavin,” and while they’re mostly a notch or two slower than the a-side tracks, they’ll still worth owning if you love Sleep in Safety.

As I mentioned, Autopsy has never been reissued, and vinyl copies are scarce. This one sat on my want list for a few months before a reasonably priced copy turned up. You can listen to it on YouTube (it’s not on streaming services either), but hopefully we see a fresh reissue at some point. Most of the other significant titles Restless released in the 80s have seen reissues (even if some of them, like the Dead Milkmen’s Big Lizard in My Backyard, are still impossible to find), so hopefully someone out there will navigate whatever rights issues stand in the way and get this one back in the world. When and if that happens, you know we’ll stock it at Sorry State.

Scumraid: The End 7" (Crust War Records) We last heard from Seoul, South Korea’s Scumraid in 2018 when they released Control, and the six-year break seems to have served them well. Like their tour-mates in Physique, Scumraid elevates the crasher crust sound without reinventing the wheel, their powerful playing, dynamic performances, and adventurous production making the genre sound invigorated. In fact, I’d say The End is by far Scumraid’s best material. I love the format of The End—eight short blasts of raw punk fury—and the production is crisper than on their previous record, Control, with ear-splitting high frequencies and a command of textural dynamics akin to D-Clone’s. One of my favorite things in this style of crasher crust is when it feels like it’s blazing along at the absolute maximum intensity, then suddenly a new frequency leaps from the shadows and plows into you from an angle you didn’t know existed. The End is full of those moments, avoiding the stretched-out psychedelic end of the crasher crust spectrum in favor of short, fast, loud, and bludgeoning. It’s also worth noting that, as of now, this EP is only available as a Japanese import and isn’t streaming online anywhere, so you’re going to have to trust us when we say how hard it rips. But I can’t imagine anyone who’s plugged into the DIY hardcore network enough to lay their hands on a copy will be disappointed.

What’s up Sorry State readers, I hope everyone has had a nice week. We got faked out by some snow as usual here in Raleigh this past week. It’s starting to feel like we’ll never get a real good snow ever again. Maybe I should consider us lucky for not having to deal with it, but I’d be lying if I said I didn’t love a good snow day. Anyways, last week we had our year end lists here at Sorry State and it was awesome to get to read everyone’s list. I’m lucky to have coworkers with such awesome taste in music. This week I’d like to talk about a record I had mentioned in my list actually, The Soul Jazz Records compilation Punk 45 - There is No Such Thing as Society (I’m gonna just go ahead and shorten it to that) which features UK underground punk and post-punk from ‘77-‘81. I picked this up when I was over in London at Sounds of the Universe, which I was really excited to visit on my trip over there. It’s always interesting to listen to music from the end of a decade going into a new one. I feel like you can really hear certain sounds and ideas taking shape before they’re really fully formed. This compilation is particularly great as you get so many styles on here, from the more garage sounding stuff like The Users’ Sick of You, to more dancey/electronic stuff like 23 Skidoo’s Last Words. One thing all these songs have in common, though, is that they’re catchy as fuck and they’re all kinda just lighthearted and seem to not be taking themselves too seriously on tracks like The Shapes’ Wot’s For Lunch Mum? These British lads are all cheeky as hell. You get some real punk rock bangers on here too though, like Puncture’s Mucky Pup, which I believe Sorry State still has some 7” singles of a recent reissue if you wanna pick that up. I think all the Soul Jazz Punk 45 compilations are great and give you a bunch of info about all the releases they include, but I really love this one particularly. Definitely check it out if you haven’t before.

Hello and thanks for reading. We’ve got this ripper from Greece in stock, a debut from ΠΛΕΚΤΑΝΗ (PLEKTANI), and I wanted to write about that a bit. However, as you can see the photo I have taken for this week’s staff pick is not of this record. That is cos I have also written a bit about my scores of 2024, since I didn’t take the time to mention any personal record scores in our last newsletter.

So ΠΛΕΚΤΑΝΗ is from Athens, Greece, but I hear a lot of Swedish influence in there. We also had a small restock of the ΠΥΡ ΚΑΤΑ ΒΟΥΛΗΣΗ (PYR KATA VOULISI) 12”, but it has sold out. While ΠΥΡ ΚΑΤΑ ΒΟΥΛΗΣΗ also takes a huge influence from Sweden, these bands have different approaches to it. ΠΥΡ ΚΑΤΑ ΒΟΥΛΗΣΗ leaned more into the catchy side of things, reminding me of bands like HERÄTYS. While ΠΛΕΚΤΑΝΗ rips in a similar fashion, the riffs are less rocked-out and delivered with a bit more DISCHARGE. It’s hard to describe what I mean exactly cos I am not the best writer, but I often find myself thinking of INFERNÖH when jamming their record. ΠΛΕΚΤΑΝΗ aren’t religious to the d-beat formula though, with some bouncy pogo parts and breakdowns here and there. I don’t hear a ton of bands from Greece, and this one instantly caught my attention. Definitely check this one out, especially if you were into that PYR KATA VOULISI 12”.

Alright, let’s talk about the heat in the photo. I buy a lot of records. I love to buy new releases just as much as “collectable” old records. I guess often I find that older pressings tend to sound better than the records I come across that are manufactured these days. They are typically cut louder at least. Anyways, I seriously consider each record in the photo a score of a lifetime. When I say it like that, I can’t believe I landed three of those in one year. Now, one of these I was not actually looking for, as I did not know it existed. I will save that one for last and start with the VARAUS 12”. I previously wrote about this record when I landed it a few months ago. I explained how this is the most expensive record I have ever bought. Yep, it was more expensive than the test press up in the photo too, which is kinda nuts to think about. Maybe it just means I got a great deal on the test though, haha. I won’t take more time with VARAUS though, cos you can just hit that link and read what I previously wrote.

Moving onto the WRETCHED / INDIGESTI split 7”. Oh baby...I have been dying for this one for a long time now. It’s sick that Daniel and I both got a copy this year, haha. I tried to buy this record a few years ago online, and I got ripped off. I paid out the ass and never got the record. It was some elaborate Discogs scam where a reputable seller with thousands of positive feedback got hacked temporarily. Who knows if their story was true, but I am lucky enough to have gotten all my money back from PayPal. This copy of the split ain’t a top copy like that one I originally tried to buy, but I am just as happy to have it in the end. Sometimes it’s kinda nice to get a rare record for a bit cheaper cos it’s a little beat up. I don’t stress as much about handling it, and of course I know there will inevitably be surface noise, pops and ticks. I absolutely hate it when I am playing a record that has always played super clean, and then one day I have a pop in there. Ugh.

Alright, let’s wrap this up with the ELECTRIC DEADS: Mind Bomb 7” TEST PRESS!!! What the fuck!!!! Still speechless about this one. I got this copy from a guy in the US I’ve known for a while now. He mentioned he was thinking about selling it and I couldn’t get it outta my mind. I didn’t even know one of these existed. I have no idea how many were made, but he told me he got it from a guy who helped release the record. I should probably ask him some more questions to see what else I can learn, haha. I love collecting test presses… but never has it been a test from the ‘80s!! I almost bought a HEADCLEANERS test for $300 and I talked myself out of it. I still think about that day often, sucks. Especially now cos the same guy who once was trying to sell it for $300 now has it for sale for like $1,200… Jesus. Alright, I am about to be late on the submission deadline for my staff pick, per usual. Thank you for reading, and thanks to everyone for your support. Check out ΠΛΕΚΤΑΝΗ!

Hey there Sorry Staters. We hope you are all safe and well out there. Here in North Carolina, we had a minor ice storm the other night and have been experiencing some cold weather, but our hearts go out to any of you in areas affected by severe weather and particularly right now the dreadful fires in California. Just so sad to see so much devastation and poor folks losing everything they have. I get broken up thinking about all the animals killed or now displaced that might not end up living. We obviously had a tragedy here last year with the flooding, so to be seeing communities being wiped out again so soon is doubly hard to take. Just like then, it appears that a certain shit ball and his followers are using the fires to score political points. What a bunch of scumbags. Anyway, fuck them, and much peace and love to those suffering.

We hope that our 2024 round up newsletter last week made for interesting reading. I always enjoy seeing what my colleagues write about and what they rated. I wonder how much or not you agreed with us. I must stress again that all of us felt we had forgotten something or felt bad about leaving an artist, album or single off our lists. Apologies to anyone we didn’t include or mention. We weren’t trying to make definitive statements, but rather just celebrate music and the arts in general and support the scene that supports us. Music hits us all in different ways and what works for one may not work for the other. All I conclude each year when we do these things is that a lot of music is made each year and it’s only possible to listen to a fraction of it and each of our tastes are different.

A quick mention about a record that we just got in before I get into my “pick” for this week. Technically it’s a 2024 release, but for us and most folks, this year will be the first we are hearing about the group Gossip Collar and their debut LP Spinning Silk For Parasites. They’re a post-punk group from Boston and should appeal to anyone that enjoys a Deathrock edge in their music. I’ve been spinning this one and liking it. Check ‘em out.

Okay, this week I am going to write about an artist whose records I had not heard about until last week, even though they have been making music since the late 1990s. I feel almost embarrassed that I was unaware of these records, as the sound is right up my proverbial alley. Just goes to the show that the more you know, the more you find out you don’t know. The artist I am referring to here is Matt Rendon, talented multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, producer and main man behind the Tucson, Arizona Garage band The Resonars.

My main love, music-wise, will always be guitar-based made in the golden era of Rock And Roll that was 1957 through 1977. From Elvis to The Sex Pistols, those twenty years saw the best of the best. Rock ‘N Roll, Rockabilly, Country, Blues, R & B, Merseybeat, British Invasion, Garage, Psych, Soul, Funk, Glam, Bubblegum, Prog, Krautrock, Reggae and Punk. So much quality music and those tags only scratch the surface. I particularly love that period of the mid 1960s where groups in the UK who were inspired by earlier US groups and artists were now influencing the current crop of musicians in America and then how quickly they, in turn, were again inspiring the Brits (and the rest of the world) and changing their sounds. Things progressed at such a rapid rate during that period. But I’m not here to give a history of music. You all know how it went down and have the internet to tell you more if you’re interested. The point is, I love original 1960s music and culture and all the subsequent waves of revival that followed. Any band that plays a 60s inspired style of music will always get my attention. Some I like and some I like less so, but if I see a record with a 60s Mod aesthetic and the band have a good look and there’s at least one Rickenbacker in sight, I’ll give them a listen.

So, at the store last week I was going through the bins and boxes of records we have on the back shelves, looking for titles that hadn’t sold or might get a better shot if listed online, and I came across a record that instantly caught my eye. It was the 1998 self-titled album by The Resonars on Star Time Records. It has a very 60s psych inspired look and l felt like it might be a decent Garage record. My hunches were confirmed the moment I put the needle on the record and the music burst forth. Total 60s garage pop-psych with vocals that recall a few British Invasion bands, but particularly The Hollies. Great tunes and songs, all written by Matt Rendon apart from a choice cover of The Peanut Butter Conspiracy’s Dark On You Now. I was hooked instantly and played the record at least two more times, asking myself why I had never heard of it before. As I started to research, I learned that the group was essentially Matt Rendon and assorted other players and band members rotated over the years, and that the records were mostly recorded at his own studio, Coma Cave Studios, that he has been steadily building these past twenty-odd years. I also learnt that there were a lot of records made since that 1998 debut, and that they were all good. We had a few here. Sorry, but I have snagged them. Hey, I don’t like to be one of those record store clerks who do that, but locals had a few months to buy them and although we sold one or two, these others were still here.

I’ve been playing them these past few days and have been enjoying them all. The sound on the records might change a little due to players, better equipment and instruments, and in a couple of cases different studio locations, but essentially, they stick to the blueprint of pop-psych garage. If you love The Hollies, The Who, The Yardbirds, The Rolling Stones, The Kinks, The Byrds, The Electric Prunes, Big Star, Badfinger and all the rest of the Nuggets type groups then you probably will like The Resonars. If you like the kind of bands talked about in Bomp! Magazine and the bands who had records released on Big Beat, Get Hip, Norton, Dionysus, Sundazed, and Voxx, to name a few labels as examples, you’ll probably like The Resonars.

I admit I fell down a rabbit hole as I read more and more about Matt Rendon and listened to the records. For a fellow that has kept a regular job during most of his bands’ lives, he sure keeps busy. Not only writing, playing, recording and producing for his own band, but also doing the same with other local groups in the Tucson area and having a few side projects and other groups going at certain times too. He was in a band called The Knockout Pills that played a punkier style of music that has correctly been compared to the sound of Australian punk legends The Saints. That band released two albums in 2003 and 2004. Jeff and I listened to both in the store the other day and thought they were both good. I scored the first one online cheaply and easily, but the second one called 1+1+Ate might take a bit more work to find. If anyone reading this is from Tucson (or anywhere else) and can find me a copy for a reasonable price, get in touch.

I went nuts on Discogs and have now bought several Resonars albums, along with another of the side projects called The Butterscotch Cathedral, which was a one off, more psychedelic record but essentially The Resonars under a different name, plus a couple of records by a group called The Marshmallow Overcoat, who Matt was in for a while and who are part of that same Arizona scene. That last group has an interesting documentary made about them called ALL YOU NEED IS FUZZ: 30 Years In A Garage Band. Click here to watch a trailer. The Overcoat was yet another name unbeknownst to me, despite having hits and worldwide success. I really like their album from 1993 called A Touch Of Evil, which has a more of a darker, Goth-like sound to it. On that one, they dropped the marshmallow and are just The Overcoat.

If that wasn’t enough new-to-me music to discover, there are still yet other bands that Matt Rendon is or was involved with for me to check out. There’s one called Lenguas Largas who, since 2011, have four albums and a bunch of singles to their credit. This band plays in a psychedelic garage punk style with Indie Rock leanings from what I have heard so far. I’ll need to investigate further, but will most likely be seeking at least one or two of their records once I’m done.

He’s also in Freezing Hands, playing drums, who since 2014 have released four albums, described as psychedelic Garage/Power Pop, along with one of his bandmates from The Knockout Pills. As I write this, I have only listened to a few songs and watched some live video clips. I liked what I heard.

Additionally, he played in a Garage group called The Vultures, who have an album from 2004. He played in a one-off psychedelic project from 2020 called The Green Children and has recorded and appears on records by The Exbats. Then there are lots of other groups that have recorded at his studio where he produces, engineers and/or adds vocals and instrumentation. Like I said, a busy chap.

Who knew there was such a great vibrant scene coming out of Tucson? Err, lots of people Dominic, not least the good folk that live there. I am joking of course. The city of Tucson and the rest of the State of Arizona have produced countless great artists and bands throughout the years. Green On Red comes to mind straight away. I like them. Didn’t the pre- Alice Cooper garage band The Spiders come from Phoenix? Linda Ronstadt, Meat Puppets, Gin Blossoms, the list goes on.

There’s a good interview with Matt Rendon done by It’s Psychedelic Baby Magazine that I would recommend you reading. In it, he briefly talks about each of the records and some of these other projects. Click here for a link.

I still need to track down copies of the last two full lengths from The Resonars, along with a few 7” singles that are out there. I’m sure I’ll get to those at some point. I’ve given them a listen to online and they all sound good. Then there are those other bands, such as Freezing Hands, whose records it would be cool to have. Maybe I’ve gone too deep down the rabbit hole, but who cares? It’s a fun trip and recommended. I would be hard-pressed to pick a favorite record quite yet, but the self-titled debut is a good place to start. I liked That Evil Drone from 2008 and Nonetheless Blue from 2007 and Bright And Dark from 1999. All three have good, well produced, catchy tunes. You should also for sure check out The Knockout Pills albums from 2003/4 for a more pop-punk sound. Bottom line, Tucson has a great musical heritage and if you want to travel back to a place where it’s always 1967, then choose The Resonars as your soundtrack. They’ll deliver.

Cheers and happy listening - Dom

What’s up Sorry Staters?

After last week’s epic newsletter, what could any of us possibly have left to talk about? I got a lot of positive feedback about the chaotic mess I crammed together for my personal “year in review” write-up last week. Thanks to everyone who reached out for the kind words!

Not much to mention about what’s going on in my life since last week. Got a couple outta town gigs coming up, both of which are benefit gigs that I’m happy we got invited to come and support. Firstly, January 18th in Richmond is a benefit for M.A.D. RVA, which stands for Mutual Aid Distribution. I’m stoked to see Yankee Bastard, will be my first time. Then the following weekend, Public Acid is making a trip up to Baltimore for a Palestine benefit gig at Ottobar. If you’re reading this living in Richmond or Baltimore and will be attending one of these events, I look forward to seeing you at the gig!

This week, I decided to write about this LP by Slevy. Sorry State stocked this record for the distro along with our most recent order from Discos Enfermos. I’m pretty sure these copies are left over from a pressing back in 2017. For those unfamiliar, much like I was, Slevy is a one-man recording project from this dude based out of Basque Country. Titled Vol. 1, I’m pretty sure this LP is the first edition of a 2 LP discography, collecting Slevy’s recordings dating back from the mid-00’s onward. The grey artwork is misleading, this record is super bright and catchy punk!

The recordings sound super lo-fi DIY style. I’m pretty sure all the drums you’ll hear on the record are from a programmed drum machine. Either that or an electronic drum kit. Super clean guitars, very dry, boxy sounding production. It often feels like the dude is just goofing around and messing with weird sounds and instruments for a laugh. Moments in the vocals are super funny. The songs basically come across like they were recorded in the guy’s bedroom. But once I got past the no-frills aesthetic of the record, I realized that this dude is actually a very skilled songwriter. The songs are SO good. A super melodic style of punk, but his influences seem incredibly broad, ranging from raging guitar-forward ’77 garage bangers to slow, brooding post-punk with layers of synth. The songs are so anthemic, they demand backup vocals sang in a gang-like chant, so the dude must have just doubled his own voice a bunch of times. From one song to the next, the sounds of each instrument sound kinda different and the fidelity really varies too—almost like when inspiration struck, dude just set up microphones wherever he was sitting in his bedroom at that particular moment. As a result, this album almost listens like an all-Spanish Bloodstains or Killed by Death compilation, but of course all recorded by the same dude.

At certain moments, mainly on the more brooding songs, the vocal delivery reminds me a bit of Paralisis Permanente… I mean, I guess? Like the less gothy, toybox version. For a more contemporary reference, something about the super melodic almost-but-not-quite-Oi! DIY sound with that toybox instrumentation kinda reminds me of Pura Manía? But then the more up-tempo jangly clean guitar KBD-style songs remind a bit of Tiikeri, though not sang in Finnish, obviously. The further I get into these songs, the better and better it gets. I find myself easily listening to the whole record and flipping it over and over again. A track like “No Lo Sé” on the B-side is definite standout track, leaning more toward pop punk, with this guitar melody underneath the vocals that reminds me of “Talk To Me Summer” by Screeching Weasel. I don’t know if this record really sounds like any of those things haha. Just imagine all those elements thrown in a blender.

That’s all I’ll say for today. Do yourself a favor and take a gamble on this under the radar Basque punk banger. As always, thanks for reading.

‘Til next week,

-Jeff