News

What’s up Sorry Staters?

It’s a gloomy-ass Monday in Raleigh today. But thankfully the rain will wash away the thick layer of pollen that magically coated every inch of North Carolina overnight. My face has felt fucked up for days. I did have a nice weekend, though. Went to go visit my buddy who just moved into a new house out in the countryside. We’re talkin’ rural ass NC, dude. It was beautiful out there. And honestly, it was nice to just get away for a couple days. I also gotta say, the Paprika show at the Pour House was really fun last week! Appreciate all the local freaks for showing up. Those Paprika dudes rule. Don’t miss the Jail show on April 24th at Neptunes if you’re in the NC area!

This coming Friday, Public Acid is playing with Annihilation Time and some other cool bands at the Broadberry for the Municipal Waste 25th anniversary party weekend. Should be a fun time. There’s also a late night aftershow at the warehouse on Saturday night. I’m sure I’ll be hurtin’ working at the store on that following Sunday morning.

Okay, time for records. I almost feel bad talking about this record since it’s already sold out. But I’ve gotta do it. This new Necron 9 LP entitled People Die is so killer. It’s funny, speaking of that Paprika show at Pour House, Homemade Speed also played that gig. The following day, those dudes just happened to time it so that the box of Necron 9 LPs arrived in the mail just as they walked into Sorry State. Dom threw a copy of the LP onto the turntable, and it was rad to see all the Homemade Speed dudes raging to Necron 9 while they were shopping at the store. Of course, they bought copies right then and there.

I remember when Meat House was on tour a couple years ago, I met the singer Kai from Necron 9 at one of our shows. We ended up all hanging out and getting coffee the next day. I hadn’t yet heard Necron 9, though. Then later, I heard the demo and remember thinking it was cool, if not for sounding super raw and lo-fi. Then when Public Acid played Unlawful Assembly, Necron 9’s set at the fest was so raging. The room was so packed that I couldn’t get to the front of the stage. I remember standing in the back watching the mayhem, and then relocating to the bar where a live camera made it so you could watch the room with the stage on TV haha. Now hearing this LP, I just think they totally nailed the recording. It’s thick and punchy without sounding slick. I would guess this is an analog recording, still warm and gritty, but also clear and powerful. Right in that sweet spot.

Not unlike what I might have said about the Cicada 7”, there is something undefinably outsider feeling about Necron 9, not to mention many of the releases curated by Unlawful Assembly. I hate to bring that up honestly, because Necron 9 is a unique beast among the other bands on the label. Unlawful Assembly describes the band as “frantic blasts of sonic lunacy driven by a world gone mad.” This might sound corny: I feel like the expression of aggressive, pissed off energy on People Die feels like an explosion, devoid of posturing, and that also feels particular to this generation. That said, while on one hand the record feels totally fresh, there’s also something that feels familiar and traditionally hardcore about Necron 9’s songwriting. I mean dude, they’ve got an illustration of a psychotic Donald Trump on their record cover. I’m surprised that a young band hasn’t done this already. Inspired by Reagan-era hardcore maybe? But it also seems like frustration directed genuinely and appropriately.

Speaking of which, the packaging on this record rules. Repurposed sleeves, flipped inside-out with fully silkscreened front and back cover art. Also comes with a huge poster! But for me, the booklet that comes with the record is the best part. Flipping through it, I feel like I’m looking at a zine that was xeroxed from an 80s compilation record, like the booklet that came with The Master Tape Vol. II or Charred Remains. The lyrics are blunt and direct, sort of written with this somewhat cynically funny, yet dark tone, evoking an energy of somebody who’s clearly fed up. The record within 2 seconds is talking about “Gut the pigs!” I’m like YES. There’s a song called “Flower Child” that says, “Fuck your Buddhist priest, fuck your wiccan gods.” One song just says, “Not me!” over and over.

Musically, there is something so midwestern to me about Necron 9. I don’t even know what I mean by that, really. In my mind, I hope these dudes are just listening to the Mecht Mensch/Tar Babies split cassette on repeat. The drums for me sound perfect, and the dude playing drums is throwing the fuck down on this record. I guess Kai’s vocals, being super deep and demonic sounding do kinda remind me of United Mutation a little bit. Sounds like maybe Kai might be into a lot of early, evil sounding Japanese punk as well though? The songs are directed with such ferociousness, but with so much intention in the way the parts are stitched together. The band is super tight too, playing super groovy and in the pocket, especially for how ripping fast a lot of these songs are. And for how dark and obtuse I’m making this record sound, every song just has big, meaty, anthemic riffs! I walk away from the record still humming parts. Then on my second listen, I remember feeling like I already knew the songs. I can’t exactly wrap my head around what the guitar player’s style is, but I just love it. At the end of the next-to-last track “Bad Habits”, they do this kinda melodic and high-pitched pull-off descending riff that is so unexpected and cool. And usually I hate samples, but the sound bite that happens right before the last track “Y.P.Y.D” gives me chills. A woman describes the disturbing after-effects of nuclear terror. My buddy Will from Public Acid did a little research and discovered the sample comes from a cartoon post-apocalyptic science fiction movie called Wizards from 1977.

So yeah, if you can’t tell by my long-winded word vomiting ass description, I really like this record. It’s difficult to eloquently deliver in written form how special this record feels. Ya know, beyond just being like “DUDE HARDCORE HELL YEAH.” I’ve already been making claims. I’m calling it now: Record of the year? We’ll see.

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

‘Til next week,

-Jeff

What’s up Sorry Staters?

I’m still feeling a bit weary after this past weekend. I drove up to Richmond along with a few friends to go check out the Keith Caves art show! I’m sure most people reading this are familiar with Keith’s art, seeing as he’s been in high demand in the punk world over the last several years, being commissioned for record covers, flyers, and all kinds of imagery that requires Keith’s signature punkified gnarliness. Keith is also a good friend and we’ve done some serious time playing in our band Meat House together. I got a bit choked up walking into the gallery and seeing all the original hand-drawn artwork for all these pieces of art I’ve seen on record covers, t-shirts, etc… But then also to see Keith’s family hanging out and all these familiar faces walking in and out being stoked on seeing the art up on the walls. Seeing the art that Keith did for Scarecrow in person was so rad. I think Daniel bought it, which is awesome that we’ve got it in the family. I felt like a proud uncle or a similarly weird analogy.

We spent some time at the art show, delivered Keith a fruity Island-style canned cocktail, and made our way to the big gig that was part of the same event. The show was like 7 or 8 bands and started later than it was supposed to (of course haha). It was my first time seeing Corrupt Faith since having seen a super early incarnation of the band several years ago. But now, with the current lineup, they totally blew me away. Heresy/Ripcord jumps non-stop. Total Nada totally ripped. And then we had to stick around for the whole thing since Invertebrates played last. They didn’t go on until like 1am or something, but totally brought the house down, as expected. Then we drove all the way back to Raleigh. I got into bed at like 5am and woke up to open the store the next day. Rock’n’roll, baby.

So yeah, here we go again: Jeff is once again talking about Totalitär. If you were unaware, Prank has released a special anniversary edition of Totalitär’s debut LP, Sin Egen Motståndare. It seems crazy to think about this record being 30 years old now. Any Totalitär-obssessed lunatic who has been frothing at the mouth for the latest edition of this record might have already pre-ordered a copy directly from Prank. Those who did not pre-order the record may not be jumping over furniture in a rush to order a copy, especially if said person has a different version of Sin Egen already. I totally get that. I, myself, probably already had 3 different pressings of this record. But me being one of the aforementioned drooling lunatics, of course I had to pre-order a copy.

In the scope of Swedish hardcore, I still weirdly think of Totalitär as an underdog band of sorts. For a long time, I feel like they were not held to the same standard as other Swedish legends like… I dunno, Anti-Cimex or something. But over the years, I feel like the band’s importance and influence has become more explained and recognized. For me, Totalitär’s stylistic approach to songwriting and signature delivery of playing hardcore is absolutely singular and has been hugely important to me. To me, their particular style of hardcore and even the imagery has become like a language. Now if you’ve heard the record, then you’ve heard the record. Some people might associate Totalitär with like dark and heavy crust. Which I understand to some degree? But not really. I always think about riffing in songs that I love like “På Väg Mot Mål” or “Skallra För Döden”, and what stands out to me is how damn catchy it is. But you know what? Sin Egen may not even be my favorite full-length by the band. That said, I think something about the band being inactive for many years preceding this record, then the addition of Jallo from No Security on drums (this being his first appearance on recording with the band), and this record then re-sparking a new era for the band recording fresh material makes this a landmark record.

I think the major selling point for this special edition has gotta be the packaging. First of all, the vinyl looks beautiful. There are 2 variants, and I opted for the greener looking color myself. The record comes in a thick, heavy-duty tip-on gatefold sleeve. And I forget what’s it called, but it’s printed in a way where select sections of the artwork are hyper glossy to stand out from the rest of the artwork, where there’s more of a matte finish. It also includes a reproduction flyer for the record release show for Sin Egen Motståndare. The record originally only came out on CD, so really this is a 30th anniversary for the CD release year. On the inside gatefold, there’s a photo of the band from the release gig, which was in Uppsala on November 19th, 1994. There’s a nice little write-up on the inside gatefold which explains the scenario and events leading up to and surrounding the making of the record. The band humbly says that it’s “remarkable to see interest in this record 30 years later…” Then the liner notes end with, “Don’t be your own worst enemy. Read books instead of tweets. Fight the power! Fuck racism! 94 in 24!” Cool sentiments to read, but also dark to think about how these are just as relevant now if not more than when the band was writing lyrics in 1994. But—if you’ll allow me to be corny—there’s a part of me that feels kinda touched when I’m looking at this photo of the band playing in Uppsala in 1994, thinking about how Totalitär was directly influential on my band, and I’m like, “fuck man, we played in Uppsala.” Scarecrow did not play the same venue space pictured on the inside gatefold. That would be crazy. But when we played Uppsala, Poffen the singer was at the show. Pretty cool for young teenage punk me to think about when I was first hearing this record.

Anyway, that’s all I’ve got. Not trying to convince anyone to buy a classic Swedish punk record you may or may not already have. For me, it was worth experiencing the extra little touches. Kudos to Prank; I feel like this reissue was done with a lot of love. Punk rules.

‘Til next week,

-Jeff

What’s up Sorry Staters?

I must say, I’m feeling pretty damn excited as I’m sitting down to write for the newsletter this week. Amongst all the bad news I feel like I’m bombarded with on a day-to-day basis, some good news couldn’t hurt. Just this morning, Public Acid’s string of shows that we’ll be playing in Finland in June got announced. All 3 shows are with the mighty Kriegshög. Incredible. And it turns out that Kohti Tuhoa is playing all 3 dates with us as well. Last year, when Scarecrow played with Kohti Tuhoa in Helsinki they absolutely destroyed. Starting to get that buzz of eagerness and anticipation. Also, the reality that all this crazy traveling I’ll be doing is on the horizon has started to sink in. I had better be ready.

Here on the home front in Raleigh though, I want to reiterate about a couple gigs coming up in April. Just a little over a week away, Paprika from NOLA, along with Homemade Speed from VA and Scarecrow, are playing the Pour House on April 2nd. Then a few weeks later, Jail from Detroit are playing with Paranoid Maniac and Scarecrow (once again) at Neptunes on April 24th. If you’re local to the Raleigh area, don’t miss those!

For my staff pick, I realize that Daniel already made this X2000 LP record of the week in the previous newsletter. But now that I’ve had proper time to digest this new LP entitled Gótico Tropical – Firstly, I don’t know why the hell I waited around to give it a listen; secondly, it absolutely RIPS. Hopefully I won’t be just repeating what Daniel already had to say about this record, and instead, only give you further reason to check it out.

At first glance, one might expect X2000 to come from a Spanish-speaking country. But it turns out the band based out of Gothernburg, Sweden and the singer is a transplant from Colombia. On X2000’s bandcamp, there’s a brief statement about the record that reads: “Between the sultry tropics and the rural darkness of Colombia, there live beings that not even Dracula himself dares to pay a visit.” Quite an ominous synopsis to set the scene for the atmosphere this record conjures. I don’t know, man. X2000 just creates a type of hardcore that I love, where it’s so dark and left of center, that there really is this sense of horror and dread. The band’s delivery has this unhinged feeling of fear and psychosis. The singer makes his entrance on several songs with bouts of maniacal laughter. The vocal performances will often begin with animalistic grunts and powerful screams, but then shift to a feeling more like cries of desperation. It’s intense, dude.

For me, the star of the show is the guitar player. I assume the guitar is drenched in chorus. Either that, or the guitar player recorded several layers of riffs that are severely out of tune with one another. The discomfort and eeriness of the guitar tone makes the band feel even more alien and otherworldly. Lots of ringing open strings, and notes within the chords that are like harmony with brief moments of beauty, but often weaved in along with what sounds as if the guitar is creating dissonant ugliness on purpose. The guitar and bass will often diverge and play notes completely different from one another. Along with that, the deceptively simple pulse of the “1-2-1-2” on the drums will often have unexpected, and rather odd time changes. This unsteadiness and chaos of the music come across less like the band is throwing ideas at the wall, and rather like they have the structures intelligently, yet connivingly under control. Which gives the listener an unsettling sensation like you can’t get a grasp on what’s happening. You’re wrapped around their finger, as if the tendrils of your muscles are hanging like a marionette from Freddy’s claw before leaping to your death… Nightmare On Elm Street 3, anyone?

Perhaps that’s a rather abstract way to describe this record. Personally, I think it’s really cool and feels fresh. I gather the impression that there’s a layer of conception deeper than what lies on the surface with this band. I would love to see this band play—I have a hunch they might be really great live. Check out X2000 if your nap underneath the rock has gone on for too long!

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

‘Til next week,

-Jeff

What’s up Sorry Staters?

My energy feels a little low this week. I’m just gonna jump right into my staff pick and keep it brief:

I had no plan for what to write about for this week’s newsletter. These cassettes just arrived today. 3 volumes of mixtapes compiling French post-punk and new wave, each tape a different span of years. It’s funny with mixtapes like this, because as the listener, if you’re previously unfamiliar with the material, you’re kinda diving in blind. Each of these tapes has fairly minimal packaging, and while there’s a tracklisting with the various artists, there’s no album artwork or liner notes explaining where these recordings came from. I popped in the first tape, which spans 1980-1983. Within 10 seconds of the first song, I already knew I was going to enjoy it. The first song “Unisex” was really good. But then the following track “Electro-Menager” by Edith Nylon was even better. As I continued letting the songs wash over me track by track, there was a lot to take in. My general feeling, at least from this first compilation tape, is that a lot of these bands must have been on major record labels. The production on most of these songs sounds incredibly crisp and hi-fidelity. No lo-fi bedroom avant-garde noise punk, as far as I can tell. Not yet, anyway. Hyper melodic, often quirky, great lush synthesizer sounds, catchy hooky vocals… So yeah, I’m just loving it. Who knew? I love those Mexican Tecno Pop compilations on Dark Entries, and to me, these cassettes are of comparable quality and could use a vinyl treatment as well. Who knows if that will happen. Also, whoever made these tapes did an excellent job with sequencing of songs when compiling these bands. For me, the compilation flowed really well and kept me interested. I’ve only listened to the first cassette so far, but I’m curious what the following volumes spanning from 1984 all the way through to 1989 hold in store.

That’s all I’ve got. Check these out!

‘Til next week,

-Jeff

What’s up Sorry Staters?

Another week, another newsletter, amirite? I remember feeling like I was being kind of a downer in the opening of my newsletter write-up last week. Sorry about that. I feel very much the opposite today. I feel like I’ve made some healthy choices for myself lately. But, this isn’t my journal, so y’all don’t care! Ha.

Some exciting news: Public Acid announced that we’re playing K-Town Hardcore Fest in Copenhagen in June. I’m so pumped. Last year’s K-Town was one of the best weekends my life, no joke. So yeah, I’m ready to do it all over again. I don’t even think I’ve mentioned, but Public Acid is also playing Noise Annoys in the UK in May, so the beginning of summer is lookin’ to be a good time.

I’m predicting that my line of thinking while writing this staff pick will be kinda all over the place this week. Apologies in advance. I’m kinda not picking one record specifically. Actually, I wanna begin by talking about a couple movies. If you read my staff pick last week, you’ll know I talked about The Outcasts singles collection on Radiation. In that write-up, I talked about Northern Ireland and the whole scene revolving around Good Vibrations Records. After that newsletter came out, Daniel approaches me at work and says, “Man, have you seen the Good Vibrations movie?” Of course, me being the uncultured neanderthal that I am, I had not seen it nor did I have any idea that the movie existed. That night, I watched it on streaming. And I loved it! For my money, Good Vibrations is one of the better music-related biopics I’ve seen in recent memory.

The movie mainly centers around the owner of Good Vibrations, Terri Hooley. I’ve seen so many music biopics not unlike Good Vibrations where the acting is super cringey. As opposed to like the CBGB’s movie, which comes across as so corny. It annoys me that the costuming of how people are dressed and how the actors portraying the band look while performing feels cartoony or like parody. But on the contrary, the club scene where Terri goes and sees Rudi play for the first time actually feels pretty believable! Well, maybe not, but it didn’t make me wince. It captured how uplifting and exciting it was for Hooley to discover something new. Also, the backdrop of social unrest and “The Troubles” in Northern Ireland didn’t feel too heavy-handed, but rather provided a strong sense of atmosphere, giving context for what the feeling on street was like behind the music scene. I just thought it was really well done. I recommend checking it out if you’ve never seen it.

So, I guess this will be kind of a twofer. Watching that Good Vibrations movie has been making me crave super melodic punk that puts me in good spirits. And dare I say… power pop? Oof, that term is just the kiss of death, isn’t it? I’ve used that line before. Don’t care. I always think it’s funny. Unrelated, I was revisiting my Die Kreuzen records a couple weeks ago, and randomly stumbled across this documentary on YouTube called Taking The City By Storm. The subtitle is the “birth of punk in Milwaukee’s punk scene.” I watched the movie on a whim. Funny enough, the movie cold opens with grainy footage of Die Kreuzen on tour in 1985, stranded at a hotel in the middle of nowhere with a tour van that won’t start. Very relatable haha. But this opening was a bit misleading, I’d say. I assumed a good chunk of the movie would be about hardcore. Die Kreuzen does appear in the movie of course, but the emergence of hardcore doesn’t happen until the last third of the movie. If I’m being honest, I think I would probably categorize a grand majority of the bands featured in the movie as “power pop” or more underground music than straight punk.

The documentary takes the viewer way back to the vibe of the music scene in Milwaukee in 1972. The movie starts off talking about a band called Death (not to be confused with the Detroit band). As I might’ve guessed, all the members of Death met because they were fans of The Stooges. The documentary establishes Death as the catalyst for the underground music exploding. The way the narrative evolves is super interesting, stitching together key figures in the community in a manner that feels incredibly in-depth and personal. The movie talks about this guy Jerome Brish, who seems like he was a strong personality and real instigator in the music scene. A lot of the bands discussed in the movie I had never heard of, one of them being Jerome’s band In A Hot Coma. Funny enough, even before the movie mentions this, I recognized the keyboard player from In A Hot Coma. Turns out, this woman Jill Kossoris would end up leaving In A Hot Coma and become the lead singer for The Shivvers! Much like many other cities, the scene in Milwaukee seems like it was incestuous. While watching the movie, I was like “I called it!” I remember loving The Shivvers reissue on Sing Sing Records when I first heard it many years back. So needless to say, watching this documentary got me on a binge of jamming The Shivvers once again. And tying it into the Good Vibrations theme, Sing Sing also did reissues of Rudi, Protex, etc. It’s all connected, my friends.

What point am I trying to make exactly? I dunno. This is where my head’s been at with music, I suppose. So yeah, check out these movies and jam some Rudi, Protex, and The Shivvers. I highly recommend the Shivvers song “Please Stand By”. Anyway, that’s all I’ve got. As always, thanks for reading.

‘Til next week,

-Jeff

What’s up Sorry Staters?

I’m kinda in a weird mood today. But I won’t use this vehicle to shout my thoughts into the void. Not much to report on the personal front this week. I’ll dive right in:

Honestly, sometimes I feel guilty when I do these write-ups for the newsletter and don’t take the time to write more about new releases by current bands. It’s not that I’m disinterested… or am I? I can’t tell anymore. For some reason my brain capacity feels dedicated to digging deeper into classic punk at the moment. Maybe it’s because hearing these records elicits a feeling of time capsule-esque nostalgia I’m craving that I won’t be able to obtain from current punk? No idea.

This week, I’m talking about yet another reissue from the batch of stuff we got from Radiation a couple weeks ago. I don’t know what it is about The Outcasts that has deterred me over the years. Maybe it’s because whenever I would see the black and white band photos on the cover of their records, there’s the one skinhead looking dude and I assumed that The Outcasts sounded like Last Resort or something. The band doesn’t even look like skinheads in every photo. And don’t get me wrong, I can tolerate some Oi!, but I’m extremely picky. First of all, learning that they were from Belfast in Northern Ireland was a surprise to me. I don’t know why. There’s no reason I should be expecting a proud display of the Union Jack anywhere near this band’s artwork. At some point in my early 20s, I heard “Self-Conscious Over You” for the first time and I was totally baffled by it. I was like, “WHAT? This is what The Outcasts sound like??”

While I liked that 7” single just fine, I didn’t dig much deeper into the band’s catalog for a while. Funny enough though, I was watching yet another episode of Analog Attack’s What Are You Listening To? podcast a couple weeks ago. I’ll be honest, currently I can’t remember which episode it was or who the guests were ha. But there was a discussion about the early Belfast punk and power pop scene. And specifically, someone was talking about Good Vibrations Records. Of course, I have familiarity with this label—The Undertones and Protex have always been big favorites of mine. Now, I wish I were smarter. I never think to run down the list of releases on a label’s catalog. Good Vibrations’ handful of 15 or so singles from 1978 to 1979 is just an amazing run of tunes. To some of you reading this, you’re probably like, “Duh, Jeff.” Haha. But here I am in my 30s hearing Xdreamysts for the first time being like “Fuuuuck this rules.”

Anyway, back to The Outcasts: I think I had a total misconception about this band. Not only is a song like “Self-Conscious Over You” poppy, but some of the choruses almost sort of have the feel of a 60s doo-wop hit. Funny enough I’d never heard the band’s single on IT with “Fuh-fuh-fuh-fuh-frustration”, along with the first several tracks on this Radiation comp. They kinda sound like a rougher, more rockin’ 999 to me. But then the band’s other Good Vibrations single “Justa Nother Teenage Rebel” is so great. The production and songwriting on this single feels immediately “sweeter” to me. Proclaimed the “bad boys of Ulster” on Radiation’s hype sticker, it’s kinda funny and interesting to think about this incredibly hooky and earnest teenage anthem being the backdrop for a genuinely rough and gnarly street scene. Aside from the “street anthems”, I think I was just surprised by the sort of shameless love song aesthetic of the band. Still with sort of a “tough guy” approach to love songs though, like “Love Is For Sops” and “Love You For Never”. For NEVER, ha. They have a sentiment in common with the Dead Boys in one of those songs. Come to think of it, I do need lunch pretty soon… But then digging into some of the songs I was less familiar with, one of the more aggressive tracks “Gangland Warfare” has this ending refrain that got me raging, pumping my fist and singing along: “Gang fights! Saturday Night! Whoa-oh!” It rules.

When you flip to the B-side of this singles collection, you get into the band’s singles from the early-to-mid 80s. This side of the record definitely feels like a distinct era from the band’s earlier material. More minor key, more anthemic UK82 style songs. I remember getting to the track “Mania” and I was like, “oh fuck, I know this song.” Wouldn’t haven’t even guessed it was the same band. I start to lose interest slightly, at least compared to the bangers from the early singles. But there are some cool tracks on side B for sure. “Angel Face” is a little rough for me… but hey, to each their own. When I looked up the cover art for “Angel Face”, with its super new wave looking color scheme, and homeboy with his Teen Beat looking photo sporting charged hair and flexing his gun, I was like, “ah, I see.” A little extra cheese sprinkled on top compared to the earlier material.

This record was a super fun listen, and cool for someone rather uninitiated like me to dig into. The LP comes with a big foldout poster. On the back cover, there’s fine print that provides some info about the release dates of each single. My only complaint about this collection is that I would have loved an insert with all the cover art from each single and maybe a little more information. But hey, why complain? I’ll leave it there. Thanks for reading.

‘Til next week,

-Jeff

What’s up Sorry Staters?

Yet another Monday where I’m trying to crank out my write-up for the newsletter last minute. My basic excuse is that I spent most of this past weekend in Richmond. Public Acid got together to practice as a full band for the first time in many months. It felt really good to see everybody. And then the night before, everyone in the band along with a bunch of Richmond punks all met up at this weird redneck bar in the county outside Richmond’s city center. The bar was huge and totally dead. Ghost town vibes. It was fun to roll up with a crew to this bar and alienate the regulars. You could smoke inside. There were several pool tables, where anyone could play for free. There was an abandoned electric motorbike in the middle of the room? Eventually Richmond punks were all drunkenly riding this thing. The bartender did not care one bit. It was a good time ha. Of course, when I was driving on the way back from Richmond, my shitty old truck’s problems persisted yet again. I ended up having to change my tire, which was totally bald. Yikes, I should not have been driving on the highway with this thing. So, I put on my donut spare, and drove the rest of the trip home going 45 mph on I-95. That sucked. But hey, at least I made it home safely. I went and replaced my tire this morning before work, and here I am writing for the Sorry State newsletter. Such is life.

Anyway, who cares, right? I did wanna mention again about a couple punk gigs coming up in Raleigh. Hopefully Daniel will have the flyers attached in the newsletter. Here’s some deets:

-April 2nd: Paprika (NOLA), Homemade Speed (VA), Scarecrow @ The Pour House

-April 24th: Jail (Detroit), Scarecrow, Paranoid Maniac @ Neptunes

Okay, staff pick time. So, we recently got a huge order in from Radiation. Daniel always tries to stock a bunch of fresh reissues of punk classics. And inevitably, you fine Sorry State customers see the gaggle of killer records and snatch ‘em up super quickly! This round, Daniel got a big ol’ stack of copies of Keep Laughing, the debut LP by the amazing Rich Kids on LSD. To my surprise, it looks like we haven’t sold any copies yet. Not 1?? I’m not here to shame anyone for sleeping on what I consider a killer hardcore record… I’m just surprised, that’s all.

I started pondering to myself, what is it about this record that might make it avoided by you punks who are hungry for reissues? Does this record have strikes against it? Sure. On the contrary, however, it feels like the band’s debut EP It’s A Beautiful Feeling is regarded as an all-time classic ripper these days. The band’s spinny-cap mascot and cartoony aesthetic was present on the 7”, but the art was in black and white, so it looks more classic. The art and color scheme for Keep Laughing does look a bit corny, I must admit. Even on Rock ’N’ Roll Nightmare, the full-color, psychedelic trip surrounding the dudes drinking beers in lawn chairs makes for a more appealing album cover. Also, there is that unfortunate rap section in “Ded Ted’s.” Woof. But beneath the cartoony aesthetic, RKL had some monster musicians in the band. I feel like the genre tag of “Nardcore” sometimes gets an unfortunate negative connotation. For me, RKL stands leaps and bounds above all the other bands from that scene/era.

I know for years, when I was a kid, I was totally confused about Keep Laughing being RKL’s first full-length. The first thing I ever purchased by the band was a CD called Keep Laughing - The Best of RKL. It had like 25 songs on it, so for years I just assumed Keep Laughing was just the band’s compilation album. Years later, becoming more wise to the band’s discography, I realized that the 10 or so songs on Keep Laughing are a pretty bullet proof track listing. This reissue we’re currently stocking at Sorry State is on No Futuro Records, so I can only assume this is a “euro import” *winkwink. But the track listing is true to the original LP.

Even for being a record originally released on Mystic, I always thought this album had decent production. This particular pressing sounds great too. Very clear. Great guitar tones. Bommer’s insane drumming really shines on this record. Moreso than the 7”, you can hear a lot of the metallic/rocked out influence working its way into the band’s songwriting. When I was a teenager, I always thought of “Think Positive” as RKL’s signature song. The breakdown part in that song sounds like something Iron Maiden would write or something. The guitar solos are outta control; there’s lead licks I still try to rip off to this day haha. But I think unlike Rock ’N’ Roll Nightmare, the songs aren’t so proggy that it’s difficult for the listener to digest. The songs on Keep Laughing are aggressively played with virtuosity, but still incredibly hooky. I also think this is Jason Sears’ ultimate vocal performance. He sounds absolutely vicious, but hasn’t quite added that element of crooning yet. The snarl he leads in with on “Feelings Of Hate” is peak form hardcore singing in my book. And quick side note before I dip out. Listening to this, I can’t help but think about how much RKL sounds like Government Warning. I remember reading someone describing GW as a mix of Adolescents and FU’s, which I admit I can hear a little bit. But man, everything about RKL, the vocal style, riffing and drumming to me sound directly influential on GW’s style. Whatever, maybe silly to bring up, but it just occurred to me as I was wrapping up.

So yeah, if you’ve been sleeping on Keep Laughing by RKL, I think you might be missing out on a hardcore classic. Just sayin’. Give it a shot. Can’t beat it for $20.

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

‘Til next week,

-Jeff

What’s up Sorry Staters?

I’m feeling a little fried at the moment. Why? Shit, definitely has nothing to do with the Super Bowl. I honestly forgot that was even happening while I was at work on Sunday. I couldn’t even tell you which teams were playing. Seriously. Maybe I’m worn out because I overdid it on the beer and vegan cheese dip while at my friend’s birthday party the other night while homies were doing karaoke renditions of “Freak on a Leash” by Korn? Yeah, that’s gotta be it. I’ve also been working on getting details together for Public Acid’s European tour later this year. More to announce on that front in the weeks to come.

Also, attention NC locals reading this: There are a couple of cool punk gigs coming up in Raleigh, so mark your calendars! I’ll announce the full lineups and get Daniel to include the flyers for these in the next week or two. Here’s what I’ve got cookin’:

-April 2nd- PAPRIKA (NOLA) @ The Pour House
-April 24th- JAIL (DETROIT) @ Neptunes

My staff pick this week is kind of a funny one that caught me by surprise. This past weekend, I happened to quickly pop into a local shop just down the street from where I live called Nice Price Books. Nice Price is a long running store here in Raleigh that sells used books, records, VHS, and other knick knacks. Every now and then, I’ll wander in there and find some cool punk records. I always think to myself, “Huh, I wonder who sold these?” Because I imagine judging by the records, it must be someone I know personally unloading stuff from their personal collection. Who knows?

Anyway, I was lucky enough to grab the Official Bootleg double 7” by Poison Idea. You’re probably thinking, “Geez, Jeff talking about Poison Idea once again! Who woulda thought?” I know, I know. While I do have a sizable chunk of the Poison Idea discography crossed off already in my personal collection, I’ve never stumbled across this double single—or just never bothered to order a copy off of the internet. I always thought the packaging looked cool with what I always refer to as the “Kings of Punk skull” repurposed on a red background. The records also come housed in a cool gatefold 7” sleeve. This super nice copy was mad cheap at Nice Price, so I was stoked to find it. For those unfamiliar, this release came out in 1991 around the Feel The Darkness era. It’s a funny collection, with PI’s take on cover tunes like “We Got The Beat” by The Go-Go’s and “Harder They Come” by Jimmy Cliff. Now, how often will I revisit the saloon blues rendition of “Lawdy Miss Clawdy” on a regular basis? Shit, I dunno, probably never! Kinda funny, but at least these cover tunes are an entertaining listen, if nothing else.

“Plastic Bomb” is also on one of the 4 sides, the only original tune by Poison Idea. To which I was like, yeah cool whatever, I’ve heard this song a million times. I threw the 7” on the turntable, and that all-too familiar piano intro kicks in—but within a few moments, I was like wait a minute… this is different. In all my years loving Poison Idea, I had no idea that this version of “Plastic Bomb” is basically like an alternate mix version. In the intro, the guitar is way more up front and playing a different melody. Even in between the verses, the little lead sections are totally different. Most importantly, the melodic solo that happens after the 2nd “whoa-oh” chorus has this guitar harmony that I’ve NEVER heard before. My mind was blown. I posted a clip of this on my Instagram story, and one of my buddies was like, “Yeah dude, you’ve ain’t never heard Poison Lizzy before?” Haha. Then on the other hand, I had several other people that reacted just like me, like “Wow, I gotta go back and check this out!” It’s funny when you’re so familiar with how a song sounds on a particular recording that when any type of alteration from your expectations makes you do a neck-breaking double take. Now hearing this badass Iron Maiden-esque guitar shred version of “Plastic Bomb”… dare I say, better than the album version?

If you’re interested, I imagine this version of “Plastic Bomb” is available to listen to on the internet. Or perhaps it’s also been included as a bonus track on one of the many Feel The Darkness reissues in recent years? I definitely recommend experiencing this version of the song, especially if you’ve become all too comfortable with the proper album version over the last 30+ years. Anyway, that’s all I have to discuss this week. As always, thanks for reading.

‘Til next week,

-Jeff

What’s up Sorry Staters?

Holy shit, it’s February already? While I’ve got some news about cool stuff I’ll be up to in the Spring, seems like it’s shaping up to be a pretty mellow February and March. That’s fine. I was on another episode of Analog Attack’s What Are You Listening To? podcast the other night. If you feel so inclined, go experience some visuals with my auditory word vomit in addition to the written word.

Alright, let’s dive in:

Am I crazy? I always thought that Eternally Yours was the 3rd Saints album… Don’t know how I Mandela-effected myself with that incorrect factoid. I feel like I’ve even had discussions about how quote-unquote, “some classic punk band’s third albums are where they really hit their stride.” Like Machine Gun Etiquette being a primary example. As much as I’ve listened to I’m Stranded ad nauseum over the years, I love Eternally Yours so much. But I will say, I have a bad habit when I really love a particular album by a band, I fail to dive deeper into the band’s catalog. In the case of The Saints, I’ve neglected Prehistoric Sounds for far too long.

Now that I know the proper chronology of the band’s discography, it makes perfect sense that Prehistoric Sounds would be the natural evolution from Eternally Yours. On Eternally Yours, it’s almost like the experiment of using a horn section on the opening track “Know Your Product” was a cautious stepping stone on the journey to the bluesy/soul-influenced sound of the third album. Now digesting the sonic palette of Prehistoric Sounds more closely, I’m like damn dude, this record is SO horny. Hehe. But seriously, I think when I was younger, the shift in musical style and instrumentation might have been a barrier for me to get into this record. Listening now, I’m like, “No dude, this is fucking great.”

Granted, this is a seismic shift from the incredibly guitar-heavy riff-forward sound on The Saints’ first album. I’ll admit, the first couple songs are a slow burn for me. The opening track “Swing For Crime” opens with this slow and sweet, but melancholic swell of melody and then launches into a kinda Bo Diddley rhythm. But once the record gets to the third cut, “Every Day’s A Holiday, Every Night’s A Party,” then count me in—I’m signed, sealed, and delivered. Singer Bailey’s cool and aloof, and somewhat fed-up delivery of, “Champagne and misery, where are you? Let’s have another drink,” captures a particular mood. The songwriting on this record really is top-notch, lapsing and waning, which makes the slow numbers feel extra brooding. But in turn, the up-tempo numbers feel even more lively. In my current revisiting, tracks like “Church of Indifference” and “Everything’s Fine” are working their way into my top 5 favorite Saints tunes.

The bubblegum pop/doo-wop flavor of “Take This Heart of Mine” is the most Ramones-feeling track on the whole record. Feels like if you turned up the horn section in the mix even more, then the song could work on End of The Century. Then the song “Security” opens with this big horn section riff and groove that stands out as even more retro from the rest of the songs on the record. In fact, the song feels so upliftingly 60s-sounding, that I thought to myself that this must be a cover. I admit, I did have to go double check. And sure enough, it’s an Otis Redding song. That checks out. They also end the album with an Aretha Franklin tune as the finale. And ya know what? I think it rules.

It is funny, on a track like “The Prisoner,” I’m sitting here thinking to myself, “Damn(wink wink), what a great bass player!” Then I was like, oh yeah duh, it’s Algy Ward. For some reason, I thought Algy left The Saints after Eternally Yours to go join The Damned. Turns out I guess he left The Saints after one genre boundary-pushing album to go record another one. How ‘bout that?

Apparently, Prehistoric Sounds was a commercial flop when it came out, which caused The Saints to be dropped from their label. This makes me think, I wonder if people look back at this record in retrospect with reverence, or if it remains a divisive album even among Saints fans? My opinion on these “Music On Vinyl” pressings is usually kinda whatever, but I really think this pressing does the record justice. Compared to the previous Saints albums, I think the production on Prehistoric Sounds is so bright and clear. This might sound weird, but it’s so easy to listen to. It’s like candy for the ears. That, and the adventurous choice to commit to the expanded instrumentation, along with the nerve to lean into the soulful influences, makes for an interesting listen. And the thing is, it’s not like the supposed seismic shift in sound on this record is way out there or inaccessible. It still sounds like The Saints. Go figure. And I think it’s brilliant.

Anyway, thanks for listening to my ramblings. The Saints rule. Aaaaand, that is all. As always, thanks for reading.

‘Til next week,

-Jeff

No personal info for you all this week. I’m gonna dive right in:

I guess that I’m sticking with the Swedish theme from last week. Only this time around, instead of talking 90s death metal, I’m taking us back way back to Sweden’s musical output from the late 70s. Here’s the thing: I love Swedish punk. But I’m mainly familiar with 80s Swedish hardcore, and I would surely never claim to be an expert about the really early Swedish punk scene. I’ve heard about some of the early KBD-level punk bonzers like Liket Lever. Honestly though, I’m due for a proper late 70s Swedish punk education, even on the more well-known stuff! I would love to import some used Swedish punk records that cost less than $40.

I bring this up only because I’ve been jamming this Ebba Grön singles collection LP on repeat over the last several days. I just love it. This past weekend, we actually got some snow here in Raleigh. I mean, yeah it was just SOME snow, not like North Carolina could be mistaken for a proper Swedish winter or anything like that haha. But the weather gave a good excuse to stay in the house, get cozy and jam a bunch of killer records. Last summer, Scarecrow was on our Scandinavian tour with Vidro. Whenever we got the chance, Usman, Daniel and I would split off from the group to go check out record stores. My bandmates cleaned up, buying tons of great records. I was pretty jealous because my budget only allowed me to purchase a fraction of the amount of records I would have liked to take home with me. I would wager that this Ebba Grön Samlade Singlar 78/82 is not too difficult to come across secondhand in Swedish record stores. Still though, I remember Daniel being excited to find anything Ebba Grön while we were record hunting. I don’t know if it was out of feeling bad for me or my lack of scores on our trip, but Daniel was sneaky and bought 2 copies of this Ebba Grön singles compilation and just gave one to me. Now I’m obsessed with these tunes, so thanks again Daniel!!

I honestly can’t believe how late to the game I was on this band. Obviously, I’ve heard Ebba Grön over the years, but I never made a huge effort to track down original copies of their records. Now I feel like I’m fiending for everything I can get my hands on. With a debut album called We’re Only In It For The Drugs, you know I gotta have that! Haha. For any readers unfamiliar, I would equate them to like (what I would assume is) one of Sweden’s exemplary classic ’77 punk bands. Like the way you would talk about The Clash or Stiff Little Fingers in the UK, or Teenage Head in Canada. Very melodic, very rock’n’roll. Still, if you ask me, there’s something very particular about the sense of melodicism from Swedish bands unlike any other region for punk. My personal favorite track is probably “Vad Ska Du Bli?”, which is off of a single from 1979. Kinda Johnny Thunders-esque guitars, but much more up-tempo and gets more sing-songy in the vocals than it does bluesy rock’n’roll.

As the compilation continues to journey into the band’s 80s material, you hear things sounding a little more produced, a little more new wave. Some synths enter the arrangement, and there’s even some reggae vibes going on—which of course, you were just REQUIRED to do if you were a punk band from this era. But the A-side is just straight bangers in the classic punk vein. Man, I would say just about every song on this compilation is great. But listening to the aforementioned 1st album, to my ears it sounds like Ebba Grön is not just a singles band. Including the deep cut album tracks, just about every song is a ripper. At first, I wasn’t sure how I felt about the “Born To Be Wild” cover with harmonica accompaniment, but I’ve come around. Especially once you’re a couple beers deep, it fuckin’ rips.

So, the other night during the snowstorm, I decided to post about this Ebba Grön LP on my social media. I got a bunch of people messaging me to talk about how great the band is. I also got some inside scoop from Swedish friends! Apparently, according to my buddy and Swedish educator Christoffer, the song “Beväpna Er,” which translates to “Arm Yourselves” and has lyrics about “killing the king,” which was very controversial and the song was banned in Sweden for many years. Pretty cool that the band was so confrontational, even back in the late 70s. Now listening to this record, especially a song like “Staten & Kapitalet,” I can totally hear how influential this band must have been on more contemporary Swedish punk bands like Masshysteri and the like. I mean look at the cover of The Vicious Alienated next to this singles compilation. Coincidence? I think not.

If any of you readers out there see this and have any suggestions of Swedish bands for me to check out, please get in touch! I’m sure I’m familiar with some bands you might recommend, but you never know!

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

‘Til next week,

-Jeff

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

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