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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

What’s up Sorry Staters?

It’s the end of another fucked up year… and there’s another one coming! Nah, real talk, 2024 was a pretty great year for me. Much like I said last year: I always have my ups and downs, and SURE, there’s been some speed bumps along the way, but there’s also been plenty over this past year to smile about.

Diverting attention from my “year in review for a second”—the big news this newsletter: the release of Subculture’s Fred is super exciting! Make sure you pre-order that bad boy. So killer to have this missing piece of 80s North Carolina hardcore history see the light of day. Also, I know you need to rock one of those historically accurate reproduction I Heard A Scream shirts ;)

Without further ado, here are my top 10 records of 2024 along with a few honorable mentions. I’ve already talked about many of these records in previous Sorry State newsletters, but maybe it’ll be worth your time to read my year-end revised thoughts. Or if you see how long my ramblings are and decide to scroll on past, that’s fine too haha. I never include Sorry State releases because it feels like cheating, but of course I love Personal Damage, Golpe, Lasso, and a whole bunch of other releases Sorry State put out this year. No Bunker Punks stuff either.

Whatever, here goes nothin’:

1. Invertebrates: Sick To Survive 12” - Okay, so sure, the homie bias comes into play a bit here with making this my number 1. But judging by what I’ve seen from a lot of other people’s “best of” lists, it looks like the HCPMF community at large agrees with me. Sick To Survive is hardcore punk the way I wanna hear it. No pose, no posturing. In fact, quite the opposite. This record feels pure and passionate. Not to mention that the riffs and drumming are SO dialed, played so tight with total ferocity. And while for me it falls under the “traditional 80s” sound in terms of influence, for all of its “go-for-the-throat” straight-forward rage, there are so many quirky, creative musical moments on this record that feel fresh and unexpected. I find it so interesting that I’ve seen tons of people compare Max’s vocals to Ian MacKaye. Maybe the reason has less to do with that Max actually “sounds” like Ian, but is just because Sick To Survive sounds so good and classic that everyone feels like they should compare it to as high of a bar as Minor Threat. Good work, dudes. Can’t wait for their next record to top my list at the end of 2025.

2. The Massacred: Death March 7” - I believe I included The Massacred in my top 10 last year with their previous 7”, Post-Mortem. But since then, The Massacred has become one of my favorite and most revisited current hardcore punk bands. I often use the term “militaristic” when I describe The Massacred. Not one note or beat sounds out of place, deadly accurate. Surely influenced by everything on Riot City and No Future, that UK82 style works its way into band’s songwriting, and right down to the aesthetic and packaging. I believe last year I mentioned that The Massacred riffs sounded like Headcleaners, and I will die on that hill. So yeah, throw in a little Swedish riffage for good measure. The way the opening of the title track “Death March” starts with just drums, then hitting these punches on the guitar riff… I threw on this record the other day having not listened to this EP for a couple months, and I remember it feeling like my face was getting battered repeatedly… Then thinking, “Goddamn, this is a perfect hardcore recording.”

3. Subdued: Abattoir 12” - 4 years after releasing their first LP, London’s Subdued finally returned with this 8-song 12” in 2024. While I always liked the band’s previous records, something about Abattoir just really hit on all cylinders for me. Subdued, whether it’s musically, lyrically, or visually, conjures a tone of bleak seriousness that I don’t feel with many other current bands. Obviously taking cues from the anarcho punk of yesteryear, the music blends these creepy, moody passages of darkness into moments of melodic beauty, and then fragments into full-on brutality. The eeriness of Part 1 meets the frantic force and power of English Dogs? But the palpable feeling of antagonistic dread and bitterness is really intoxicating. I always know that I think a record is really good when I walk away remembering the words. Bluntly delivered like a sermon from the pulpit, lyrics declaring: “Living in a world of evil bastards always wanting more,” and “Nothing good can survive. It dies… It dies.” Such a powerful record.

4. Cicada: Wicked Dream 7” - Didn’t I just talk about Cicada in the last newsletter? Whatever, here we go again. I’ll keep it brief. Richmond locals that this year solidified themselves as one of my favorite bands in hardcore. This record is great, and what an explosive live band. A little freaky US hardcore styling a la Die Kreuzen or United Mutation. A little bit o’ Italian spices a la Cheetah Chrome Motherfuckers. But also something left of center that’s all their own. These dudes are creating something chaotic, unique and special. Killer.

5. Bloodstains: S/T 12” - Debut LP by these dudes out of Orange County. Unashamedly representing for the punk and hardcore where they grew up, Bloodstains crafts songs in the finest traditions of melodic, song-based OC punk. Agent Orange, Adolescents, early Social D—they show love for all that stuff and it’s from the heart. Then also, getting to travel with these fools this year only heightened my love for this band. Genuinely cool fucking dudes. Gimme more Agnew, people! OxC rules, baby.

6. The Dark: Sinking Into Madness 12” - Another West Coast record makes the list! I really loved The Dark’s cassettes that were released like over 10 years ago now. So what a pleasant surprise that Toxic State announced The Dark was releasing their debut LP in 2024! The band features a few members from Tozcos, Personal Damage, and many other bands, I’m sure. The Dark definitely set themselves apart sonically. I always say that I feel entirely certain that The Dark are way into mid-80s Japanese punk, namely, Blunt Sleazy-era The Execute. Still, to me it sounds some of their SoCal influences can’t help but work their way into the sound, like some creepy Weathered Statues-style TSOL. The Dark play this restrained, chugga-chugga tempo that makes you clench your fists and grit your teeth, almost like something bubbling beneath the surface ready to explode. The swirling, maniacal vocals illicit this smoky, psychedelic atmosphere. An acquired taste maybe, but I love it. Then a song like “Heartless” starts with this total motorcycle riding through the desert Motley Crue type riff. Hell yeah. Such a great record.

7. Muro: Nuevo Dogma 12” - Once again, Bogota’s finest release a killer LP. And once again, released with 2 completely different cover art variants for the same record… Why do they do that? It makes record completist scum like me just totally crave having both! Haha. But of course, as expected, the packaging is next-level. Beautifully screenprinted artwork, along with all these posters and bonus goodies that make the experience of cracking open the record feel special. I would say this new record has murkier sounding production than the band’s previous records. More distant and raw, and yet somehow musically this feels like the band’s most ambitious. Sharp, neck-breaking tempo changes, ripping guitar leads—in general, it seems like the band is maybe leaning heavier into their metallic influences. Not in a bad way at all. I feel like I’m raising my fist to these kinda “epic,” triumphant chord progressions. The song “Destierro” opens with this delicate, solo clean arpeggiated guitar, and then charges into this badass chugging riff with this almost anthemic, power metal sounding guitar lead that makes me feel like I’m listening to GISM M.A.N. or something. This band is so rad, and I’ve heard they’re one of the best live bands in hardcore at the moment. Can’t wait to finally witness them throw down in the UK in May.

8. PX-30: S/T 12” - Bless the Swedish riff lords for granting us with rippers like this every once in a blue moon. I feel like if the DNA which continues to generate Totalitär-influenced käng style riffing which I hold near and dear to my heart ever disappeared, and new bands like PX-30 stopped emerging from Sweden, then it would be a sad existence indeed. PX-30 has the same guitar player as Herätys, so you know what to expect with the guitar playing. Totally shreds. This band came right out of the gate with an LP and it’s clearly fully realized, expertly executed Swedish hardcore by seasoned veterans. Seeing this band play in Uppsala on Scarecrow tour was a definitely a highlight of my year. Killer stuff.

9. Pura Manía: Extraños Casos De La Vida Real 7” - Another band where after 10 years or so, I found out: “WHAT? Pura Manía has a new record coming out??” The record opens with this weird, almost modern classical sounding synth? But of course, they’re only fooling you once you realize they’re self-referencing, reinventing an all-too familiar melody from one of their previous records. Then within moments, you feel at home realizing you’re in familiar territory. Nothing has changed in 10 years for this band musically. Well… not too much, anyway. If you’ve somehow managed to miss out on this band until now, Pura Manía has that melodic New Age-era Blitz thing going on, but not overtly “Oi!”... It’s super high energy, super hooky and super punk. Chorusy bass, super catchy single-note guitar melodies—but on this new EP, everything in the production just feels more lush, grander, and more psycho. Like phaser on the drums? Huge choir backup vocals? Plus, a totally killer Screamers cover, translated into Spanish of course. I love this band, so happy they came back with new material in 2024.

10. Kristiina: Palavan Rakkauden Aika 12” - My oddball choice for the year. I have listened to this Kristiina record countless times over the course of 2024. I think technically the record came out in Finland in late 2023, but Sorry State only stocked the record as an import this past year. So yeah, I’m cheating and including the record anyway since 2024 is the year when I truly discovered it. There are things about this record that I feel like if certain criteria were different, I wouldn’t love it so much. Like if this were an American band singing in English with bombastic, slick production, then it just wouldn’t hit the same way. There’s something special about the cold, yet elegant sound of this recording. Not overtly punk, really. The sound is melodic, sweet, vulnerable, and understated. I don’t speak Finnish of course, but I can somehow imagine that Palavan Rakkauden Aika is a very personal record from the songwriter, lyrically speaking. Infectious power pop melodies, backed up by Joni Ekman’s signature Thin Lizzy-esque harmonized, rocked-out guitar goodness. I was wondering from my initial discovery and constant listening of this record if it would stick with me for the rest of the year. If anything, I only love it more as time goes on.

-----Honorable Mentions-----

-Straw Man Army: Earthworks 12” - I feel slightly guilty not putting this record in my top 10. I do love it! SMA’s sweeping, intelligent, almost proggy take on anarcho punk has really gripped my attention over their last several releases. On this 3rd LP, I really like that they’re leaning a bit more into hooky, melodic songwriting. Great record.

-S.H.I.T.: For A Better World 12” - Man, this must just be the year of bands that have been around for 10 years or more finally putting out another record. There’s a new lineup with a different drummer, I think? The construction of the riffs, how the 2 guitars diverge in different directions and reconvene in a way that’s so hooky and powerful. I will say that for my money, this is the most potent record SHIT has put out to date.

-Peace de Résistance: Lullaby For the Debris 12” - Moses from Institute’s 2nd LP under this moniker. I really dug the previous record, and this one I like just as much, I might say. Displaying a bit of that later 70s era Bowie or Iggy with a little glam rock and austere NY art rock sensibility. I love the guitar playing. And for all the ponderous meandering that happens on the record, you’ve got tracks like “40 Times The Rent” and “Fast Money” that are just monster pop tunes.

-Vidro: Upp Till Dans 7” - Had to show some love for my Swedish homies. Chunky, trudging heavy riffing delivered so viciously. Interestingly, they have a track titled “Allt Brinner”, which is the title of their 2019 LP—but this track has gotta be one of Vidro’s most ripping hardcore pace songs they’ve ever done! Touring Scandinavia with Vidro this past summer was one of the best experiences ever. Best band, best people.

-Yellowcake: A Fragmented Truth 7” - This record really blew me away. Yellowcake from Arizona’s first 7” from a while back was good, but they really took it up a notch with this one. Crasher crust style a la Framtid, but the way the layers of frequencies of noisy guitar are orchestrated is truly impressive. Ripper.

-Malakili: S/T 12” - Debut vinyl release by this band out of Portland. I feel like this might be a sleeper hit that I’ll hear more people talking about in years to come. A bit of Scandinavian hardcore influence, but not crusty. Cleaner sounding guitars, delivered through the snotty lens of US hardcore. A little Poison Idea in there, which you know I’m here for. Hope to hear more from this band.

-Indikator B: S/T 7” - Another maybe slightly under-the-radar ripper I really enjoyed this year. Doom Town Records is a great resource for discovering new bands coming out of Eastern Europe. Indikator B I believe are from Croatia. Raging, dark, dissonant yet melodic hardcore. Really anthemic “AH-AH” style vocals. Kinda sounds like UBR, Mecht Mensch, but kinda UK82 influenced as well? Great stuff.

-Alvilda: C’est Déjà L’heure 12” - Okay, okay, I’ll talk about the big French pop record of the year. Twist my arm why don’t ya! I am pretty taken aback by how much this record seemed to hit the pulse of the greater melodic punk zeitgeist. Granted, this thing is undeniably pretty damn catchy. I definitely have enjoyed listening. Catch this band at any given fest you can think of in 2025.

-Tiikeri: Tee Se Itse EP 7” - The lawd knows in the year 2024 that I was ready to scream “Let’s punk!” yet again. Tiikeri never fails me. I love that this 4-song EP was totally DIY self-released. Beautiful graphic design on the packaging. Some of my favorite songs by this catchy, pop punky, yet Finnish 77/KBD band as of yet. “Rokenrollia” is one of the more riff-forward tracks Tiikeri has pumped out, and I love it. It does; in fact, rock.

Alrighty, more generally speaking, here’s a “Top 10” list of my favorite and most eventful moments this year:

1. Deadly Struggle - A seed of an idea was planted some time in 2020, still during the pandemic, that I would join the already established band Public Acid to round out the 5-piece/2-guitar lineup. Since then, playing in this band with my good friends has allowed me to travel and play many amazing gigs. When we finally recorded a new record, I was excited and a bit nervous to present this updated version of the band with me in it. While I still consider the songwriting in Public Acid to be a couple of the other members’ baby, it was still gratifying to be involved and bring some of my guitar stuff to the table. Deadly Struggle feels like a particularly special record to me among the squillions of other bands I’ve played guitar in. I feel humbled to see the record appear in some folk’s “best of the year” lists. Cheers:)

2. Public Acid in NY/KOS tour and Lie Detector fest - Public Acid had a trip this year that was basically a 2-parter. We started off playing 2 nights in NYC—one gig at a proper venue, one at more of a DIY space. At the DIY gig we billed it as “Public Acid & Friends” where we got a few guest rippers to join our band. First of all, it was 2 full drum sets with Sasha of Artifact Audio/80HD fame playing in unison with Chubb. Then Mateo from Warthog played a 2nd bass. And also, Margaret from Pharmakon did noise over top all that. After NY, we flew to Washington and crashed with Electric Chair, only to wake up and lift weights in their driveway the next morning. Tour begins, and we got to gig with the rippers KOS every night. Also was cool meeting the oh-so handsome and muscular Matty, their tour driver. Our show in Portland was awesome because old friends of mine came to the gig and we got to catch up. I’ll never forget Public Acid exploring the redwood forest in Muir Woods. In LA, I ate insanely good Mexican food every day. Had a blast at Lie Detector Fest. Met up with the rest of Scarecrow, who also played the fest. Getting nopales chilaquiles with Kevin from Tozcos ruled. Chilling with Baño from Personal Damage was awesome. Drinking Palomas at some DIY back alley gig afterparty. It was all a blast.

3. Scarecrow / Vidro take on Scandinavia - I gotta say, this tour was easily one of the best punk-related trips I’ve ever been on in my life. This is due greatly in part to spending a grand majority of our travels alongside our good friends in Vidro. Beyond how great they are as a band, everyone in Vidro—Lucas, Vendela, Melody, and Staffan—are all just a bunch of sweeties. In Uppsala, we got to see Gefyr and PX-30, both bands killed. Visiting Finland for the first time was amazing, I finally got to see Tiikeri play live! I got to touch and listen to an original copy of The Fix Vengeance in the home of a super funny, sweet and welcoming Finnish married couple, who we found out probably have one of the best hardcore punk record collections in the world. Kohti Tuhoa’s set in Helsinki was incredible. After Finland, I’ll never forget our adventure on the overnight party boat back to Sweden, which had late-night karaoke ON THE FERRY. Melody from Vidro did impressive renditions of the Jackson 5 and KISS (awesome). Usman did an equally impressive performance of “Walk” by Pantera (LOL). Usman hates Pantera btw. Our show in Stockholm (where Vidro is from) was a killer gig. Red from Scarecrow joined on guest vocals for Vidro, and Vendela from Vidro jumped up and sang with Scarecrow for a song. Such a special moment. Kinda makes me tear up a little bit thinking about it.

4. K-Town Hardcore Fest 2024 - Seriously the best hardcore punk festival in the world. I would go every year if I could. Christina and everyone who helps organize the fest at Ungdomhuset are amazing. Got to party in Copenhagen for 3 days straight, getting sloshed on boozy slushies. Also, we met up with Invertebrates, so getting to chill with the homies while in Denmark was incredible. Invertebrates’ set was incredible. Also, Larma, Mujeres Podridas, Paranoid, Industry, Vidro, Enzyme, so many great bands. I’m still so pissed I missed Alambrada’s set.

5. Long Guy Land - Public Acid randomly got invited to play a gig with Integrity in Long Island. The main show was cool for what it was. But what I mostly remember is hanging out with a big crew of homies at Jones Beach. Then there was this after show at this weird dive bar with neon pink walls and 90s Nickelodeon clips and old cereal commercials on the TVs. I came out of mosh retirement when Invertebrates played, being incredibly hammered on cartoon-themed cocktails and attempting my best spineless HB strut. Then we all stayed at this swanky air bnb and continued partying with the dudes from Lethal. Wild times.

6. Meanwhile in Pittsburgh - Not like “meanwhile… in Pittsburgh.” Lol. I mean I got to see Swedish hardcore legends Meanwhile rip it up at Skull Fest. It was in this fancy, huge venue with a curtain like the House of Blues or the Apollo or something. You ordered beer from a menu on a smart TV. Weird setting, but the crowd went the fuck off. Meanwhile crushed it. Also, Kenko the drummer wore a Scarecrow shirt while they played. So sick. I’m a dork, I don’t care.

7. Invertebrates / Public Acid hit the Midwest for Unlawful Assembly - I could not ask for a more fun group of idiots to travel the beautifully flat middle part of our country with. Highlights include: seeing my boy Trevor from Woodstock 99 in Cleveland, the show at the Empty Bottle in Chicago (Cicada destroyed), visiting the Mars Cheese castle in Wisconsin, Unlawful Assembly—2 crazy raging days of hardcore at Cactus Club, which had an apartment above the venue that we stayed in—drinking fancy drinks with commemorative glasses at the tiki bar, posing to say “‘Eeeey” at the Fonzie statue, exploring the caves on a guided tour at Mammoth Cave National Park in Kentucky, and experiencing the swankiest hospitality while hanging out in the green room at the Third Man venue.

8. Halloween / The Swedes come to visit - I always get psyched around Halloween time. This year, we put together a cover band show on Halloween night. I was in a 45 Grave cover band and then Scarecrow did Misfits also. It was at a house, and it was really fucking fun. Best part of October is that Wilhemina, who drove Scarecrow on tour in Sweden, along with her partner Christoffer who’s in Exil now and also played in DS-13, came to North Carolina to visit! We made fast friends with them hanging out on tour in Sweden and at K-town. The 2 of them dressed as Hank Von Hell and Euroboy from Turbonegro, and having them at the Halloween gig shouting along to Misfits songs was the fucking best. Miss those two right now.

9. Bloodstains / Meat House / Shaved Ape tour - So of course I really liked the Bloodstains LP. Cesar the singer and I had kinda chit-chatted on social media before. But when the band put out the word that they wanted to come to the East Coast for the first time and have us dingbats join them made me kinda nervous! As we got to know each other on the tour, we quickly found out that the Bloodstains are the coolest, and we bonded over tons of SoCal punk and other music nerdy-ness. The gigs in NY and Philly were great, but I gotta say man, the Southern gigs really represented. Norfolk, Charlotte, and Raleigh were all great shows. Bloodstains were so fucking good every night. Almost to a professional degree. Raging, amazing guitar playing from David, Cesar’s such a great, charismatic frontman, and of course Miles and Nick threw the fuck down too. Had a blast chillin’ with my boys in Meat House. Eric’s got his baby these days, so gettin’ to cut up with him ruled. But I don’t get to see Alex or especially Keith very often. Having Vince trust us to butcher Shaved Ape songs every night made the tour extra special, plus Vince is a cool ass dude and ultimate road dawg. Having Meat Master Michael along for the ride ruled too. The trip ended with my injury, sustaining a fracture in my knee. I had to be on crutches for 6 weeks all the way through Christmas and New Years. Whoopsie!

10. This year in record collecting - Last but not least! Between all the traveling I did, I still managed to score a few heater records. I amassed many more records than what I have pictured below, but here’s a handful that feels most exciting. Just like last year, most of them are 7”s rather than LPs. Seems like maybe I went a little less crazy than previous years? Then again, I always get to the end of the year and look at the few records I did buy, and realize shiiiit, I guess I did spend some dough. Especially that brick wall Nervous Breakdown set me back a little, but I’m so stoked to have it. Between that CA classic along with some Bags and Middle Class? Not too shabby. I’m particularly stoked to FINALLY lock down the Huvudtvätt & Headcleaners 7”s that I was missing. Hell yeah.

No surprise, I dragged on about all this stuff for much longer than I had intended. Hopefully at least a few of you people out there enjoy reading while I reflect on this past year and wax poetic about all the shenanigans I got myself into. There’s so much I’m leaving out too! But I reeeally should wrap it up at this point.

2024 was a busy year, indeed. Already got some exciting punk-related adventures on the calendar for the coming year. I’m just happy I got to squeeze in a few moments that make me smile looking back. Thanks once again to all you readers who have supported us here at Sorry State. Here’s hoping 2025 ends up being a killer year, even amongst all the bullshit on the horizon.

‘Til next week,

-Jeff

What’s up Sorry Staters?

Welcome back! I would have to assume that most of our regular weekly readers are suffering through Sorry State Newsletter withdrawal right now. I know I am, and I fuckin’ work here! To be fair, while our last newsletter dropped in mid-November, I did not contribute a staff pick for that particular week either. Whoops!

It feels crazy to me that we’re already more than halfway through December. And the holidays are approaching already too? Before we know it, I guess in the next couple weeks we’ll be coming up with our “best of 2024” or “year in review” lists. My brain is not prepared for such things.

But what’s been going on with me lately, you ask? Well, to be honest, it’s been a not-so-great last several weeks. I was lucky enough to sustain an injury in November. I had a stupid mishap where I managed to fracture the bone right around where my knee joint happens to be, and as a result, I’ve been getting around on crutches while I recover. I’m not currently in any pain, but I still can’t put enough weight on my bad knee to be able to walk. It totally sucks. It’s more majorly inconvenient than anything else. Like just not being able to do normal human things… like being able to hold doors open in order to pass through them, for example haha. I’ve been spending a lot of time on the couch not doing much of anything, so it feels like I don’t have any awareness of what’s been going on in the world around me for the last month or so. Life has been feeling a lot like Groundhog Day over at my house… I even had to miss out on the string of shows that Public Acid did with Dillinger 4 and Paint It Black. That was a bummer. Luckily, all my friends, family, and co-workers have been very accommodating while I’m in my current state. Needless to say, I can’t wait to be back on my feet soon.

Sorry for the big crybaby confessional back there! Granted, things could be much worse, but I haven’t been in the greatest frame of mind as of late. But you know what makes me feel like I can’t help but get a big smile on my face? Listening to the new Tiikeri 7”.

While lying around at home with my knee propped up, our buddy Lucas from Vidro sent a video to Scarecrow’s group chat, informing us that he was in Turku, Finland at a gig watching Tiikeri play. I was mad jealous. I later jokingly posted a picture with the new Tiikeri record along with the caption “it turns all your bad feelings into good feelings!” Maija, a friend who lives in Finland, responded and said, “Just had that energy spike tonight!,” having been at the same show as Lucas. See!? Tiikeri heals us all.

Sorry State has already had this new 4-song 7” from the Finnish songsmiths in stock for several weeks. I still feel like I’m playing catch-up, and now I feel like I’ve compulsively listened to this EP enough times to feel like I’ve digested the songs properly. Readers who are already familiar with Tiikeri, don’t fear! This new record will not venture into wildly unexpected territory. We know what to expect with this band: saccharinely sweet, melodic punk tunes in the finest traditions of ‘77/KBD style Finnish punk, but with an inevitable injection of more modern pop punk influences.

This new EP, titled Tee Se Itse, which I believe translates to “Do It Yourself”, is quite appropriately titled, having been self-released by the band. Tiikeri’s imagery and graphic design has always grabbed my attention. Daniel illuminated something to me, a discovery he made during his more recent deep dive into early Finnish punk: Tiikeri’s signature use of cartoony imagery and graphic design is heavily influenced by the Hilse LP, a classic early Finnish punk compilation. When I saw the layout for the zine that accompanies this compilation LP, I was I like “IT ALL MAKES SENSE NOW.” Pretty cool to learn.

Tee Se Itse is a new leap for the band visually, showing their first dose of color use in the cover art! For me, that classic black and white aesthetic with a single “spot color” is always a classy look. The cover design is also filled up wall-to-wall with pop-art text displayed in several different fonts. Now, I personally can’t read Finnish, so I did my best to translate. It basically says “this is a 17.5 cm record (which is funny, because I had no idea in metric that this measurement is basically 7 inches), which plays at 45 RPM.” Then it says something like “genuine DIY price of 5 euros, specific to the punk EP. DO NOT PAY MORE!! It’s not punk.” Hilarious, because Sorry State sells the record for $10. Guess we didn’t get the memo? Tiikeri’s sort of devout attitude about “do it yourself” and “punk is love” and all this seems to be delivered with an exaggerated sense of earnestness. But the heavy-handed punk mythos feels so pure-hearted, yet dogmatic, that to a certain point, do I detect a tiny feeling of “winking at the camera” from Tiikeri? I dunno, maybe a little bit. I think the band may secretly be super cheeky and funny.

Enough about the artwork. Let’s talk about the songs. “Kyytiä Kihoille”, the first track on the A-side, boldly opens with basically a capella vocals with a lone clean guitar as accompaniment. Ordinarily, I’d probably react like, “what the fuck?” But somehow, with Tiikeri making this choice, I accept this vulnerable introduction just before the band launches into their signature up-tempo ’77-punk attack! “Punkkari Oon” is maybe my favorite track on the record, with an amazing chorus with swooning “oohs and aahs” backing vocals—a song so catchy that you’ll find yourself infected with the melody for days afterward. The lyrics in the chorus declare, “Let others shout otherwise, I’m still always a punk.” Hell yeah, I can relate.

The first track on the B-side is titled “Rokenrollia”, which I can only assume translates into something to do with rock’n’roll. This is probably the main song that feels like it’s hitting a new stride with the songwriting. Appropriately titled, it opens with a proper rockin’ sounding riff and groove, and to me it sounds like Tiikeri is dipping their toe into a bit of power pop influence. The opening sounds kinda like the Exploding Hearts or something! This song definitely feels fresh from Tiikeri, and I wouldn’t mind if they wrote some more rockin’ tunes like this on records to come. Then the title track, “Tee Se Itse”, closes out the record. The singer checks his tuning in a “doe-rae-me” sort of fashion before it launches right into the vocal hook. A song that feels like fans of the band will IMMEDIATELY be singing along to at their gigs. Hell, I know I would be. You ever listen to a band that sings in an unfamiliar language and the hooks are so catchy you find yourself singing along even though you have no idea what they’re saying? Just me? Alright, well, Tiikeri generates this effect on me.

A bit long-winded to musically describe a band that I’m sure anyone who’s interested has already devoured. Yeah, sure. But it’s been a while, so I had to return with excessive verbiage. Anyway, I’ll leave you now. As always, thanks for reading. Punk is love, baby.

‘Til next week (year?),

-Jeff

What’s up Sorry Staters?

As I’m writing this, my bubbling anxiety is taking a physical toll as I prepare to go out of town. But it’s the good kind of anxiousness. This happens to me every time I get ready to go on tour. Meat House is getting amped up to hit the road with Bloodstains from California. Shaved Ape, which is really just one pissed off primate backed up by us Meaty boys, will also be in tow. Just 5 gigs, but I’m sure they’ll be killer. I’m sure many of you have already scooped a copy of Bloodstains’ debut LP. They’re fucking great, and I’m stoked for them to rock the East Coast. First show of tour kicks off in NYC on November 6th! Hope to see you fuckers there.

I’ll keep what’s going on with me on the personal front brief, but I did wanna mention how much fun the Halloween cover show was here in Raleigh a few nights ago. Scarecrow all dressing up and overcompensating with our over-extended devil locks, attempting our best jab at classic-era Misfits, and having a bunch of friends up front shouting along to the songs made it a night to remember. I think we raised a good chunk of money to donate toward disaster relief in Western North Carolina, so big kudos to Usman for handling all that.

I wanted to talk this week about the debut LP from Raleigh’s own DE()T. Yep, that’s the word “debt” with the “b” missing, to be clear. DE()T has been playing gigs in the area for quite a few years now. The band contains a bunch of familiar faces who have played in many other bands in Raleigh and elsewhere. The band’s synth player, Matt, now lives in Richmond but is still constantly traveling back and forth to the keep the dedicated “De()t-Heads” happy. Their demo tape came out pre-pandemic, and now in 2024, they finally have a proper release on vinyl! Their LP is entitled Think Of Your Future, released on local label Simp Records. I gotta say, I’ve seen this band live countless times, but dropping the needle on this LP for the first time I was super impressed at how the record sounded sonically and how impressively air-tight the performances are. Stoked that my dawgs threw the fuck down.

How do I describe DE()T? The lazy description would be like “synth/garage/punk”, but I think to just say DE()T sounds like The Spits would be selling the band short. It’s freakier than that. It’s more intense than that. It’s much more interesting than that. The band walks a thin line between incredibly hooky and catchy—even danceable—songwriting, but mixed with a super chaotic, abrasive, and dark atmosphere lurking beneath the surface. The singer/guitarist Colin’s vocal style weaves between a demented, somewhat bored, aloof groan, but then all the sudden he unleashes a totally gnarly throat-scraping snarl. The opening track on the record, “Lambs To The Slaughter,” starts with this cold, low and creepy synth riff. When the track kicks in, the guitar strikes this counterbalance with these sharp, jagged, dissonant stabs that are rhythmically syncopated against the synth part. This sort of dark, pulsating rhythmic feel reminds me of the darker side of post-punk, not unlike Killing Joke. But then, a track like “Why Should It Be Absurd?” amps up the tempo and gets more toward hardcore territory. I guess I might throw out the Screamers as another influence, but DE()T to me is so guitar forward that it’s difficult for me to directly associate them with bands that have a synth as a dominant instrument. The synth just adds another layer to the sonic palette of the band’s sound. Sonically, this record just sounds super crisp, expertly captured by local engineer Missy Thangs, along with Colin from the band mixing, having an extensive recording pedigree himself. Jonah Falco’s job on the mastering also doesn’t hurt.

And I gotta say, as much as I love the catchy synth melodies and the bright guitar work that goes totally off the rails, the rhythm section just kills it on this record. The drumming is so damn tight and in-the-pocket, with slick, heavy-handed, murderously fast snare rolls. Nothing soft or feathery about the drumming at all, totally slammin’, driving with razor sharp rhythmic intensity. And the way the bass pulses on the intro to a song like “Stayin’ In” just sounds so heavy, laying a foundation for the menacing groove while the guitar scratches these dead notes. Seriously, what gets me about DE()T and the way the band constructs their songs more than anything is how they so cleverly arrange each instrument’s role in the band. The method with which each player takes up space in the mix is so expertly thought out. It feels like the band has a seasoned maturity in the way they play off of one another. This record is a unique of blending of interesting, wonky and powerful elements of several corners of the punk genre and is chock full of great songwriting by these dudes.

DE()T also has a follow up 7” EP that I’m pretty sure Sorry State is going to be putting out at some point? That’s all on the horizon. I will take this opportunity to let you know that DE()T is going on tour later this month in mid-November—a run of mostly southern cities, I’m pretty sure. Make sure you catch them if the band is coming to your city!

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

‘Til next week (or probably not since I’ll be on tour),

-Jeff

What’s up Sorry Staters?

I feel like I’m already starting to get the post-October blues over here as I’m writing this. Halloween hasn’t even happened yet and I’m starting to feel the dread! I think myself, and everyone at Sorry State, has just been so busy that it feels like the month has gone by super quickly. In previous years, we’ve even done an extra special “spooky edition” of the newsletter, but it feels like I haven’t felt as much of the Halloween spirit going around as I’d like. Oh well.

On Halloween night, however, we are doing a cover band gig that’s also a benefit to raise money for disaster relief in Western NC. The good cause is killer, but I’m also just stoked to dress up and play some of my favorite Halloween-centric punk tunes. I’m in a 45 Grave and Misfits cover band. The last couple of practices we’ve had, I’m feeling really stoked on how it’s coming together. Also currently, our Swedish buddies Christoffer and Wilhemina are hanging out in Raleigh! It’s so rad that after meeting them in Sweden while Scarecrow was on tour that they decided to make the trip to come visit. The Swedes have invaded Sorry State and it will be rad having them around for the Halloween festivities. Hell yeah! If any locals reading the newsletter wanna know where the location of the gig is going down, please reach out!

Okay, so I ask you all to indulge once more as I talk about horror movies! The other night, I went to a screening of Nightmare on Elm St 3—The Dream Warriors at Alamo Drafthouse. Perhaps the best horror sequel ever? I mean Freddy and Dokken, what else could you want? The theater was sold out, and it was so awesome to see the movie on the big screen and have everyone react and laugh at all the right beats in the flick. Another thing about the Alamo is that they have a pretty killer selection of VHS available for rental! Naturally, I gravitated toward the classiest selections available. I debated writing about one of these movies I rented. Who could resist the strength in advertising on the box art for Ghoul School? “Sex! Babes! Rock and Roll!” All things relevant to my interests haha. This movie started pretty rough, but ended pretty strong. A fun romp with the most rudimentary but ambitious gore special effects. Would recommend. Then again, I also rented Chopper Chicks In Zombie Town. Also pretty killer. Why don’t they make movies like this anymore?

In the end, for this week’s newsletter, I decided to talk about the classic to end all classics, Evil Dead 2. I rewatched my copy at home the other night and I realized I need to remind myself to at least watch this banger once a year. I gotta say, it’s probably my favorite movie of all time. I mean shit, me being the total nerd that I am, I’ve got the fuckin’ chainsaw tattooed on me with “Groovy” above it. I just love it. It’s the perfect blend of absolutely insane violence with goosebump-inducing creepiness, but simultaneously totally hilarious. A perfect balance of insane groundbreaking effects, psychedelic gore, otherworldly atmosphere, all centered around a claustrophobic setting of being stranded in an isolated, dilapidated cabin in the woods. Not really a zombie movie, though some people lump it into that category. Demonic possession is probably closer? Word to the wise: if you read from the Book of the Dead, a creepy ancient book that happens to be bound in human skin, you may find that an unexplainable force takes over your friends and watch them become inhabited by a Kandarian Demon. Just sayin’.

What’s interesting about the Evil Dead franchise is that there are 3 films, each filmed in a different decade—one for the 70s, 80s and 90s. And each film has an element of retelling, or even reimagining the story of the initial film. Evil Dead 2 is basically a remake, but with slightly different characters. For my money, it takes the eeriness of the original and amplifies the visual spectacle. At the heart of the franchise is, of course, the majestic Bruce Campbell, who plays the main character, Ash. His performance comes across as a fairly innocent and brave protagonist in the original Evil Dead. But in this sequel, Campbell’s performance is heightened to a William Shatner-level of exaggerated, fourth-wall breaking absurdity. Just his physical comedy, when his hand becomes possessed and he’s forced to basically give a convincing yet slapstick “fighting with myself” performance… He’s flipping over himself and beating himself up, the whole nine yards. It’s great. Then when he chops off his own hand with a chainsaw? The close up on his face with that glint of his eye of total madness… Then the final gag, when he traps the severed hand and weighs down the bucket with a paperback of “A Farewell to Arms”… I mean, COME ON! It doesn’t much more brilliant than that.

I think that might be as much as my brain can muster for this particular “staff pick”. I highly suggest you make a point to revisit the Evil Dead.

Welp, until our next meeting post-All Hallows’ Eve,

-Jeff

What’s up Sorry Staters?

Sorry if you all missed me last week. Sometimes life’s too busy for me to coherently recommend records effectively haha. But hey, screw that, I shouldn’t make any excuses. I did want to chime in and mention that the new Yellowcake record is amazing, but it seems like Daniel and Usman already covered that last week.

So, what’s been going on with me? Currently, I’m still fried from the Ejaculators show last night. Even with my lack of attendance in doing a staff pick last week, I’m still trying to throw this thing together last minute. Those dudes stayed up with me drinking beers and jamming records, but then left and went to get gyro at this Greek restaurant that’s open til 4am, and then I was awakened early this morning to the sound of my needle scraping and “Beat My Guest” by Adam and The Ants playing at maximum volume. At least they were getting hyped. As for me, I’m feeling sluggish as hell. I would love a falafel NOW.

Meat House is going on tour in just a few weeks with Bloodstains from LA, and also Sorry State’s household primate Shaved Ape will be along for the ride. Just a few gigs up and down the East Coast. I’m stoked as hell for those shows.

Speaking of package tours (lol), I don’t even think I’ve mentioned that Public Acid is doing a run of dates with Dillinger Four and Paint It Black. Pretty wild. Very appreciative they invited us to play these shows. With our heavy noisy ass guitars, it will be an interesting complement to those bands. Hopefully, the people that are coming specifically to see either D4 or PIB won’t absolutely hate us haha. I’m sure it’ll be killer. I’ll have fun no matter what.

I must admit, after John Scott choosing Maniac Cop for his staff pick last week, I wouldn’t say I was “jealous” exactly, but I thought to myself: “Damn, I coulda been talking about movies this month in the newsletter all along!” Maybe people who come to the newsletter for records (specifically punk and hardcore) don’t care to read about movies. I’m hoping there’s some crossover here, though. As I’m sure is the case for many of you readers, when October rolls around, I start getting really excited. I love this time of year. The weather finally starts getting cooler. I love wholesome activities like going to a pumpkin patch and selecting the perfect gourd for carving. I love all the corniest aspects of the season as Halloween approaches. If any of you have seen my entirely self-driven committed endeavor to transform Sorry State’s storefront into a spooky alternate universe with decorations, you’ll know exactly what I mean. I’m talkin’ “Monster Mash.” I’m talkin’ cheesy old school spooky sound effects records with cartoon Frankenstein and Dracula as cover art. I’m talkin’ Misfits and The Return of The Living Dead soundtrack on repeat. But of course, my favorite thing is to try and binge as many horror movies as possible. I wouldn’t say my VHS habit is quite as concerning as my record collecting, but I have amassed a few tapes over the years.

So all that said, I’m gonna talk about Dead Alive. People who dig horror love this movie, right? If you know those movies from the 00s that were super popular with like hobbits ‘n elves and all that shit, the same guy who became famous for directing those movies also directed Dead Alive. In the late 80s and early 90s, Peter Jackson got his start in New Zealand making some pretty fringe independent flicks. Dead Alive was originally released in New Zealand with the alternate title Braindead. For all intents and purposes, Dead Alive is a zombie movie.

A quick synopsis without too many spoilers: The movie opens with some Indiana Jones looking explorer types in the desolate Skull Island where they have captured a rare Sumatran rat-monkey. Unbeknownst to them, this genetic hybrid is a plague-carrying beast with a vicious temper. Back in the small community of Wellington, we meet our leading man Lionel, who lives with his elderly mother. Lionel meets the lovely Paquita at the local grocery, and these two go on a date to the Wellington Zoo. Lionel’s mother, jealous of his new flame, spies on them at the zoo and gets unexpectedly bitten by the Sumatran rat-monkey, thus infecting her with the plague. As her body begins decomposing, mother effectively becomes the living dead. Lionel, attempting to hide his mother’s newfound condition, tranquilizes her and still arranges a proper funeral. However, with her sedation wearing off, Lionel’s mother arises from her grave, bites the local priest, a nurse, and a local hoodlum grave robber, also infecting them with the plague. Lionel hides the four afflicted zombies in his basement back at his mother’s mansion. However, when his uncle unexpectedly arranges a huge party at the mansion after the funeral, bringing an overwhelming number of guests, the zombies break loose and infect everyone at the party. Thus, a chaotic mess of blood, violence and hilarity ensues.

If you’ve indulged me this far, I’ll just say a few more things about the movie. Over the years, this has become one of my all-time favorites. Peter Jackson’s blend of comedy and over-the-top splatter gore is such an odd sensibility, but truly expertly executed. Really, the acting in the beginning of the movie is so campy that almost feels as if the actors were given direction to ham it up on purpose. It feels almost like a frickin’ soap opera. With so many incredibly corny one-liners, there’s a lot of sorta wink-at-the-camera performances by the actors. But for me, this is brilliant because it settles you into an eye-rolling, corny, but false sense of comfort as the movie unfolds. More sequences jack up the budget for buckets of red corn syrup and pus-like goop, eliciting reactions of disgust, and you realize that Jackson is amping up the intensity scene by scene. It’s a brilliant crescendo, all building to the final sequence. Seriously, when the party inside the mansion transforms from a dance scene out of Grease into a glorious splatter-tastic zombie invasion, it’s such an amazing payoff. A splatter-fest to end all splatter, this sequence must have broken some kind of record for most over-the-top bloody gore special effects in movie history. Bloody disgusting—maybe even difficult to stomach for some, but still somehow not offputtingly dark or gruesome? Clever slapstick comedy levity with laugh-out-loud jokes will keep you along for the ride. For my money, it’s a TON of fun. Or maybe I’m just desensitized at this point? I’ll leave you with this: If you’ve never seen this movie and can make it through to the end… you’ll never look at a lawnmower the same way again.

Welp, that’s all I’ve got for ya this week. As always, thanks for reading. Hope you watch spooky movies before the season’s over.

‘Til next week,

-Jeff