News

What’s up Sorry Staters?

At first, I thought I might write about that new Krigshoder tape this week. Goddeyum that shit rips!! But instead, I decided to go a different route. Last weekend, me, Usman and our buddy Eric hit the road to go meet up with our good homies the Hardy Boys. Also, we had the first ever Fatal band practice. It was a blast for sure.

The usual scenario hangin’ out over at the Hardy’s crib is to pound beers and blast record after record. At some point, someone threw on this new Black Flag live record. Live At “The On Broadway” 23 July 1982 is such a killer moment captured in Black Flag’s history as a band. Not unlike the My War ’82 demos, this gig in 1982 is a rare snapshot of the brief period that Chuck Biscuits was playing in Black Flag. Henry even has a corny moment where he introduces Biscuits, saying something like, “You remember him from a little band called DOA!?” or something like that haha. As far as I can remember, I’ve never heard the opening song of the setlist “No Martyrs” before. It’s definitely a faster-pace hardcore song in the scheme of the Black Flag catalog. It’s killer. But even when they break into Black Flag classics like “Depression” or “Jealous Again”, the band is just playing with this insane power and ferocity. They maybe never sounded tighter. Henry is also doing some improvisations on the vocals that are super cool. But then when they play early versions of songs from My War, they just sound so fucked up and pissed. His banter in between songs is hilarious, like when he complains about the audience untying his shoes. Then when they go into an early version of “Scream,” Henry goes, “You wanna know what happened to me? Listen to this song.” And then he’s just making the most demented sounding screams of agony you’ve ever heard. They’re just on fire, dude. I’m like, damn are they okay? Clearly not. So yeah, needless to say, I absolutely had to bring a copy of this live record home. And now, Sorry State has copies for all ya filthy animals out there!

Anyway, that’s all I’ve gotta this week. What a killer moment in the Black Flag chronology. I wish this lineup had recorded a proper record, but it’s rad there’s a document to look back on. As always, thanks for reading.

‘Til next week,

-Jeff

I am feeling like a dried-out sardine after the gig Scarecrow and Public Acid played in Richmond last night. Daniel was nice enough to take on driving duties. After the gig, the two of us rode back to Raleigh, arriving promptly at 3am. But the gig was absolutely killer. Would do it again.

At first, I didn’t think I’d be able to muster the energy to write about any records that I’ve enjoyed this week. But then, I decided I could ramble about this Outpatients LP that just came out on Painkiller. For me, Outpatients are one of the unsung great 80s hardcore bands from New England. I’ve always claimed that the classic Bands That Could Be God compilation is worth it for the Outpatients songs alone. Unfortunately, Outpatients never had a proper vinyl release of their own. I guess tapes of their recorded material had floated around for a long time. At some point many years back, I was turned onto the Hardcore Outcasts compilation, which is a collection of the band’s recorded output, all of which varies in quality and audio fidelity. But DAMN, the style of hardcore that Outpatients play is just right up my alley. Raging and turbulent, sometimes kinda dissonant and eerie like Mecht Mensch or something, but then often it’s super tuneful and catchy. Also, I’m a sucker for the vocals. There’s something about the singer’s raspy, shredded voice that reminds so much of Kevin’s vocals on the Subculture LP.

This Readmitted LP on Painkiller is an even more thorough collection of songs than the CD compilation from years ago. The A side is primarily the early hardcore songs and demo-quality recordings. Then, when you flip over to the B-side, Outpatients’ approach to hardcore captures this slightly melodic edge that reminds of when releases on Dischord started to have a similar shift in style during the mid-80s. Like not quite Revolution Summer level softness, but definitely hinting at that sound. “Hardcore Outcasts” seems apt for this young band from Westfield. When listening to their recordings, I hear a band that comes across as earnest and determined. But for whatever reason, maybe because the band was from a smaller town rather than a metropolitan area like Boston, the fidelity isn’t as great, the records never came out, and perhaps they never got the attention they deserved. But hey, who doesn’t love an underdog story? Personally, I listen to the collection of songs on this LP and just imagine if Outpatients had recorded at a place like Inner Ear and released a few 7”s. I bet they would be heavily sought after and held in higher regard like a Deep Wound or whatever. Maybe I’m embellishing, but I really think this is a cool band.

So yeah, got check out Outpatients if you never have. That’s all I’ve got. I’m gonna pound coffee for the rest of the day until the jitters wear off and I pass out. As always, thanks for reading.

‘Til next week,

-Jeff

What’s up Sorry Staters?

Last night was my new band Meat House’s first gig. It was a blast, but as I’m writing this, I am feeling ROUGH from many beers and lack of sleep. But man, Save Our Children and Stunted Youth both fuckin’ ripped! It was a fun gig for sure.

Currently, while I’m here recovering at the store, I’m hanging with Dom and listening to this new Long Knife LP on full blast. Over the years, I’ve definitely been digging Long Knife records here and there. I remember jamming their first LP Wilderness when it first came out like 7 or 8 years ago now, but not really giving proper attention to their records that followed. But now, listening to their new record, charmingly titled Curb Stomp Earth, I feel like I’m listening to dudes who are seasoned with the finest spices from the cabinet. It almost seems silly, but these dudes really sound like fuckin’ pros. I don’t know if “ambitious” is the right word, but this record is dripping with vibe and unexpected moments. Between the choir providing a pronouncement of an intro, piano interludes, and a horn section adding some flavor to the mix, it’s clear that Long Knife is a hardcore band unafraid to take some chances. There’s crazy stuff all over this record. I found myself laughing and shaking my head when a spooky organ out of a Scooby Doo episode has a little solo section. But then the next track kicks in and I’m reminded that I’m listening to an insanely ripping hardcore record. It’s wild.

I mean, the playing is killer… crispy, perfect guitar tone, the bass player is tearing it up, the drums are tight and powerful, and the singer is a total character, like the second coming of Jerry A. Long Knife is from Portland, and there’s obvious nods to later Poison Idea all over this record. I mean, some of the dudes were in that band Fetish with Thee Slayer Hippy. But this record goes beyond trying to do a band that is as “rockin” Poison Idea. I can’t decide if I think all of the accoutrement is over the top and corny… or if this record is totally genius. Normally, I would say keep all this extraneous crap out of my hardcore, but I just feel like Long Knife pulls it off somehow. You know that scene in Walk Hard where Dewey Cox is in the studio and says “10,000 more didgeridoos—an army of didgeridoos!”? It’s almost like I can’t figure out whether Long Knife is out of their mind like Dewey Cox or if they’re actually making the Pet Sounds of hardcore. The presentation and packaging is indulgent too, with a movie poster featuring all the credits on the record. So it does kinda feel like a little “nudge nudge” and that the band is in on the joke. Either that or they literally just do not give a fuck. In my imagination, it’s somewhere between all the dudes really knowing their way around the studio, dialing in a Marshall perfectly, and demanding only the best orchestra in town to appear on their album—OR it’s just a bunch of dudes goofing around, like, “Dude, wouldn’t it be insane if we had a choir open the record?” and everyone in the band laughing about it. Either way, I found myself raging to this record, if not also feeling a bit confused. I mean, you know, in a good way.

Anyway, I suggest you check this new Long Knife record out. I don’t know if I can muster the energy to write anything else. So that’s all I’ve got. As always, thanks for reading.

‘Til next week,

-Jeff

What’s up Sorry Staters?

I rarely mention stuff about Bunker Punks here in my staff pick, but figured I’d give a small update on me n Usman’s label. We (and by we I pretty much just mean Usman) have been scrambling to catch up with the pre-orders for all the Scarecrow records. It seems like we’ll have very few copies (if any) of Scarecrow left over from the pressing after we fulfill everything. So I’m still unsure if we’ll have copies for Sorry State to stock or not. Good news though, we FINALLY have all the packaging in hand for the Fatal 7”. We just need to get those assembled, and then surely Sorry State will stock those. Thanks everyone for your patience!

Soooo, before I get into talking about my staff pick… I’m finding it more and more difficult to conjure the necessary brain juices to write something captivating in these staff picks we all do each week. I apologize in advance if my stream of consciousness-style write-ups basically boil down to: “Duuuurrr, it’s real good dude.” I’m sure my appreciation for the record I’ve chosen to write about this week will be no different. Here we go:

My friends know I have the tendency to gush about how much I love Totalitär, and also similarly ripping hardcore from Sweden. Because of that, I had several people blowing me up and asking, “Dude, have you heard this GEFYR record yet?” I had not, so I immediately went and checked it out. No surprise based on the esteemed opinions of my fellow hardcore nerd homies, but GODDEYUM this LP is a ripper! I don’t know how under the radar this band is flying at the moment, but it seems like everyone in the “Totalitär is the best band ever” camp is getting hip to it pretty quick. I feel like the secret will be out very soon. Some nerd shit, the band hails from Hudiksvall, the same city where Totalitär formed. So naturally, playing killer hardcore with great riffs is in Gefyr’s DNA. The cover art is cool, but unassuming, so when you drop the needle on this thing, you might feel unprepared for the imminent face-melting coming your way. While of course Lanchy’s classic riffing from the Hudiksvall godfathers is a good reference point, there’s something about the speed and ferocity in how Gefyr plays that keeps me from calling them a straight Totalitär tribute. A couple of tracks like “Överbliven, Oförlöst - Undergiven, Viljelös,” plow with such barreling barbaric force and the vocals sound totally shredded and gnarly… to me, the vocals are almost a dead ringer for No Security. For a more contemporary comparison, the whirlwind trapped-in-the-D-hole circular riffs remind a lot of the riffing in Infernöh. A song like “Hatets Anhängare 2” is less pummeling fast, and just has that classic groovy Swedish style riffing that makes you wanna drunkenly surge your way to the front of the crowd to violently and unrelentingly pump your fist.

Of course, as soon as I started freaking over this record, I told Daniel that we should stock copies. We got a stack directly from the label Flyktsoda over in Sweden. I’m not sure many (if any) other US distros are stocking copies of this record. If any of my sub-moronic ramblings convince you enough to check out this record, I highly recommend you jump on it quick!

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

‘Til next week,

-Jeff

What’s up Sorry Staters?

I wish I had more to mention on the personal front, but I’m just gonna dive right in: I’ve been noticing that during the time Scarecrow was outta town for tour there have been several new releases we’ve stocked that I didn’t even notice. I feel like a fool! Somehow, the fact that Personal Damage had already released their 3rd tape and that we already had copies in stock at Sorry State totally breezed right past me. I think Sorry State has had them available through the distro since July, so maybe my excitement will be old news for some of y’all. No surprise, this new tape Violent Ritual fuckin’ RIIIIIPPPS. I loved Personal Damage’s first tape (later released on flexi) so much. And I wouldn’t say that they lost me exactly with their 2nd tape Ambush, but even though I liked it okay, I honestly didn’t like it quite as much. This new tape knocked my socks off though! The title track kicks in so immediate with energy. Some America’s Hardcore-style riffing and snarling attitude. It’s funny man, America’s Hardcore only has 3 studio recordings released on a few compilations, but they’re still such an important reference point for me when you’re talking ripping ass California hardcore. But anyway, this time around, the band’s sense of melody and songwriting does kinda remind me of some New England hardcore like The Freeze. I love the last 2 songs, “Rise And Fall” and “Banned From Society,” which have these catchy call-and-response backup vocals. I think if other hardcore bands tried to incorporate these kinds of vocals, it might come across like “hard” or like cheesy gang vocals, but with Personal Damage, I don’t get that impression. The dudes doing background vocals sound more like a snotty crew of drunks in the background, and the chanting just takes the songs to another level and only makes the choruses more memorable. 5 blistering songs of tight yet sloppy hardcore leaves you broken and battered in just under 6 minutes. Killer.

Short and sweet, just like this tape. Like hardcore? You should probably get this Personal Damage. Anyway, that’s all I’ve got. As always, thanks for reading.

‘Til next week,

-Jeff

What’s up Sorry Staters?

Slowly but surely, I’m starting to adjust back to my normal routine. While Scarecrow was on tour, it was kinda like I was living in a vacuum. I’m really enjoying being back in the store and just being bombarded on a day-to-day basis by new records to check out and digest. Also, seeing friends pop into the shop and chit-chatting has been cool. I missed everybody.

While I’m sure Daniel will bring some attention to it, this week I really wanna talk about this new tape by Shaved Ape. This moniker is the name for a one-man hardcore project. Before Daniel even had sorted out that we were going to release the tape on Sorry State, the first time I heard the tracks on this cassette, my jaw dropped full-force down to the floor. I loved it immediately. Earlier, I just talked about digesting new music—Shaved Ape plays the kind of hardcore that is undigestible and impossible to swallow; it’s more like experiencing blunt-force trauma. Dead silence, and then those quick sticks count off the first song and you know you’re in for a bludgeoning. Ape being in the name of the band feels appropriate. Super raw, uncivilized, primitive… But underneath that gruff, knuckle-dragging demeanor, you can tell this dude knows how to write a damn good hardcore song. Also, he’s just playing his ass off. While unhinged, the playing is so tight and ripping. In some ways, Shaved Ape reminds of the Deaf Mutations 7” from a few years back. Maybe that’s partially due to it being a raw, catchy hardcore solo project, but something about the spirit seems similar. But man, once you open the j-card and read lyrics… Woooooo dawgy this is savage. I don’t think I’ve read lyrics that feel this genuinely fed up and pissed in a long time. “Punchable faces surrounding me… Primate brain tells me to kill. A few more years and I think I will.” The rage is real.

Anyway, I feel like I can only be so eloquent when describing this ripper. Can’t recommend it enough. FFO… uh, good hardcore? Nuff said.

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

‘Til next week,

-Jeff

What’s up Sorry Staters?

Welp, this feels strange. It feels like it’s been a lifetime since I’ve sat down to write for the Sorry State newsletter. As some of you readers know, Daniel, Usman and I have been absent from our home here at SSR HQ while we were on a 30-day+ European tour. We had a blast. There are so many people I wanna shout out, particularly (now that we’ve finally met) our friends for life in Golpe. What a bunch of sweeties. So cool to hang with Bry and all the Sheffield mofos, as well as Mattis and Poffen in Stockholm, finally meeting Jocke from D-Takt and Rapunk!—not to mention all the people in different cities for showing us such great hospitality. Damn, it ruled. But blah blah, I won’t bore you with a long list of all the people I was stoked to see. But suffice it to say that between all the adrenaline-fueled fun moments along with the more challenging moments in our travels, it was a life-affirming experience. Since leaving to the play the fest in Philly back in June, I’ve basically been on the road or in the air to journey and play hardcore punk for quite a while now. It all kinda feels like a blur. Such a blur that I’m having trouble wrapping my head around that it’s the end of August already. My birthday is in just a couple days, and I still feel like summer just started. I’m working my way through some post-tour blues and readjusting to normal life, but it’ll all be cool. It’s weird. I think I’m ready for a break and for life to feel more mellow for a while. But fuck man, knowing how things go, we’ll see how long relaxation lasts.

Anyway, let’s talk about records. Have y’all heard this Gripe LP yet? Goddeyum it’s killer. I think I first heard this band earlier this summer. A buddy might’ve showed it to me for the first time while I was in Philly. But it’s right up my alley. That Amdi Petersens’ Arme style riffing mixed with some chaotic aggression and totally snarling but HOOKY AF vocals. So good. This new LP is cool bc it kinda captures 2 different eras/sounds of the band. Almost like the Herätys LP. The A-side is a new recording, and the B-side is a tape from a couple years ago. It’s funny though, the first recording I heard by Gripe I think is still my favorite, which is their newest tape. Posted on the No Deal channel on YouTube (of course), their 2022 tape is called Déjame Solo. It’s just 4 songs, but I think it’s the best stuff I’ve heard from them yet. The first track “(Estás) Bajo Control” is such a banger, totally catchy ripping mid-paced like APA. But I think that it’s a good thing Gripe’s newest release is their best! I’d prefer that over the “Oh, I only like the demo” syndrome that curses so many bands. Just keeps getting better and better.

I hope this Déjame Solo tape ends up being re-released as a 7”. Fuck man, I’d put it out. But until then, this Como Acabar Contigo Mismo 12” is keeping me stoked about hardcore. Do yourself a favor and blast this hot slab while you’re up to no good.

That’s all I’ve got this round. Glad to be back. Thanks for reading.

‘Til next week,

-Jeff

All I can think about as I’m getting ready to write this is that this might be my last “staff pick” that I’ll be writing for quite a while. This weekend, Scarecrow is playing the stacked lineup at SHOMO FEST 2022 in Philly! Then from there, the rest of Public Acid is picking me up in Philly, and then we’ll drive to New York and fly out on Monday to meet up with Warthog in Amsterdam. Warthog and Public Acid have a gig in Amsterdam, a couple dates in Germany and then we make our way to K-Town Hardcore Fest… So yeah, I’m losing my mind a little bit. But I’m diving into this trip with a positive attitude. I’m sure it will be a blast.

Anyway, enough about me. Let’s talk about records. Recently, I was obsessing over Sick Pleasure once again. Such a vicious and gnarly 7” that bridged the gap between early nihilistic punk and the blazing fast 80s hardcore to come. But Sick Pleasure isn’t what I wanna talk about. Listening to my copy of this 7” the other day had me looking back at other titles on the Subterranean Records catalog. While of course I love the San Francisco scene hardcore offerings like Sick Pleasure or Code Of Honor, there were also a lot of fringe and strange records released on this label. By weird coincidence, Sorry State recently purchased a collection from this dude that had a lot of old California punk and hardcore. While I was pricing this guy’s records, one of the titles that I stumbled on in one of these boxes was Music From Hell by Nervous Gender. I was relatively unfamiliar with this record, but it just happens to be on Subterranean Records. I was chatting with Daniel about it and he said, “Nervous Gender?? Oh, it’s great. I already have that record.” The record is predominantly a dark, synth-heavy and borderline-experimental record. Michael Fox from Sick Pleasure and Code Of Honor is credited as a producer, and also Don Bolles from the Germs seems to be involved with the production as well. I found myself intrigued. Now, upon first listen, I did find the record a bit challenging. It’s definitely a strange record. The layers of looping drum machine and synths patterns make me feel uncomfortable, but I also kinda feel drawn to it. It’s not unlike the Screamers or something, but the songs have even less traditional song structures, and the vibe is much stranger and avant-garde. Even a track like “Nothing To Hide” that has real drums and a more traditional, driving backbeat feels more like a stream of consciousness style rant than an actual song. I’ll be honest, I think I’m still grappling with whether or not I even like this record. I feel like I want to like it. It feels abrasive and confrontational in a way that tickles my interest. Like, maybe it’s supposed to freak you out? I could see how this record could be influential. And looking at the going rate for an original copy, it’s clearly a record that’s desirable and in-demand.

I’ll have to grapple with whether I need to take record this home. Maybe I’ll hide it before the synth/noise nerds have a chance to drool all over it at the store. I feel like I need a chance to throw this record on at home and listen to it super loud in the dark. Have a real weird time by myself. Maybe I’m enjoying a teeth-gritting, uncomfortable listen while I grapple with stress in preparation of international travel. I guess it’ll be a while before I have a chance to enjoy my records at home.

Anyway, if you wanna get have a real weird time this week, go ahead and give Nervous Gender a listen for me. That’s all I’ve got. As always, thanks for reading.

‘Til next week (or probably not),

-Jeff

What’s up Sorry Staters?

I’m gonna jump right in: God-DEYUM this Ammo LP rips! I remember seeing this band’s demo floating around a couple years ago. The band was always being described to me as the band that PJ from Nightbirds was doing vocals for. Of course, I remember PJ’s vocal talents from back in the Wormeaters days. Now we have this new Ammo LP and it is GNARLY. Don’t underestimate New Jersey hardcore. The dudes in Ammo are cut from that Mutha cloth baby. Self-identifying as “Jersey Shore Hardcore,” this shit is probably too hard even for Snooki. From the moment I dropped the needle on this LP, the record just sounds immediately explosive. It’s like Ammo is trying to cram as many intense and burly elements from all corners of the “killer USHC encyclopedia” as possible. The band weaves between totally ripping classic hardcore speeds but then breaks into Negative FX or Death Wish-style double-time ripping tempos. This batch of songs just sound so mean, rough, dirty, and forceful all the way through. I’ll be honest, there’s a few moshy passages that are like a total ignorant, pit-clearing call to arms. Generally, I’m not into super tough mid-paced breakdowny stuff. I had to ask myself, “is this too tough for me?” But I do like it when it’s done right. A homie pointed out to me that the pit-inducing riffs almost kinda sound thrashy like Attitude Adjustment. After a chin scratch, I was like damn… you’re right. The vocals are also totally demented. When PJ in a totally shredded, frustrated fervor howls “You FUCK!” just before the breakdown kicks in… I’ll admit, I got chills. He sounds so pissed. The anger feels so real to me, it’s palpable. It’s almost like the band got all riled up and recorded all these songs in a fury without stopping. Then I was like, FUCK, this all killer.

Luckily, I’ll have the pleasure of seeing Ammo shred at Shomo Fest 2022. Just black out… Fists start swinging… Remember nothing… Just kidding haha.

Sorry State got a big ol’ stack of these LPs, and we’ve already sold a good amount of copies. But to me, this is the kind of hardcore record that should sell out instantly. If you’ve been sleeping on this ripper… just buy it, punk.

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

‘Til next week,

-Jeff

What’s up Sorry Staters?

Life’s been a whirlwind for me lately, so I might try to keep it brief this round. I did wanna draw all you readers’ attention to the fact that Sorry State is now stocking a lot of classic titles from Beer City Records. Most importantly, I wanna talk about The Faction. I don’t know a lot about Beer City as a label, but I know they also produce and sell skateboards. Which is sick! It’s kinda cool that a skateboard company is also focused on and does so well on getting permission to release classic punk and hardcore reissues. I think they also are the primary distributors for labels like Frontier. Pretty wild.

Anyways, back to my point: I love The Faction. I’m sure like many other people, my introduction to the band was “Skate and Destroy” playing during the opening of the Bones Brigade video. Even though Bones Brigade and all the Powell stuff was a bit before my time, I always found discovering classic skateboarding was slightly more accessible than discovering 80s punk and hardcore. Whether it was through friends’ older brothers or whatever, I somehow managed to see the Bones Bridage Video Show on VHS when I was a young teenager. I thought “Skate and Destroy” was such a ripping song and it blew my mind that a punk band was howling about skateboarding while paired with ripping footage of skating on screen. So perfect. Then when I found out that the Bones Brigade’s own pro skater Steve Caballero played in the band, my mind was blown even further. Young me was like, “I wanna rip it up skating and also have a rad hardcore band.” That was the full vision. The Faction’s first LP No Hidden Messages is great and still a favorite, but they have a lot of other great records in their discography. The early singles Yesterday Is Gone and Corpse In Disguise, as well as the later mini-LPs Dark Room and Epitaph, are all back in print thanks to Beer City. All on 12” format, and they’re pretty damn cheap. You definitely need tracks like “Tongue Like A Battering Ram” and the band’s re-working of “California Dreamin’“ in your life.

Maybe 12” reissues of 80s skate rock aren’t really on everyone’s radar. It’s just cool to me that the records are accessible. I love collecting og records, but the prices for originals are super frustrating sometimes. I think about the scenario like I was still a teenager. If I could’ve walked into a record store and bought a copy of any of the classic Faction records, then I would’ve been so STOKED. If you feel like it’s worth shelling out the $15 to hear some classic tunes, I’d strongly suggest it.

Anway, that’s all I’ve got. Skateboarding and 80s hardcore… you know, the usual haha. As always, thanks for reading.

‘Til next week,

-Jeff

What’s up Sorry Staters?

So I’m finally back to write for the newsletter after my trip to NYC, and STILL all I wanna talk about is Poison Idea…

But first, since I missed my opportunity last week, I have to write a little bit about the trip. Firstly, biggest appreciation to Jim and Amy in Philly (as always) and Mike H in NY for giving us Acid idiots a place to crash and putting up with our nonsense. It was truly humbling to watch some of the best bands in hardcore every night. All the bands ruled. Quarantine is insane, and I can’t wait for their new record. Impalers were a blast to see since it had been years. Public Acid played a spontaneous show at a small bar in Brooklyn and our homies in 80HD tore it the fuck up. And of course, Warthog’s 10-year anniversary performance was really special to see. If you haven’t seen footage yet, the dramatic opening of the curtain at the beginning of their set made my jaw drop. Public Acid’s own Eric Chubb kept drunkenly repeating, “That was coolest thing I’ve ever seen!”

Anyway, back to Poison Idea. TKO is truly doing the lord’s work with these series of reissues. Even though I already owned most of the recordings on these latest 2 offerings on other versions of these records, I still feel like a fool for not paying more attention when the limited versions dropped. Oh well, black vinyl will have to do! Goddamn, I really do feel like a pretentious asshole. The care that was put into the packaging on both of these reissues has great attention to detail and really feels like it was designed for someone who’s a big fan of Poison Idea. Get Loaded and Fuck, more infamously known as the Ian MacKaye 12”, compiles tracks from the Filthkick EP, Getting the Fear 12”, and an extra track. Only 6 songs, but daaaaamn such a killer under-the-radar batch of songs from the War All The Time-era line-up of the band. The attention-grabbing hype sticker even has little Easter eggs like a little headshot of Ian MacKaye. As for the other record… Of course, we are provided with the properly updated title for the reissue of Record Collectors Are STILL Pretentious Assholes. It doesn’t get much better than that. This classic EP also comes with a few bonus tracks including the band’s compilation cuts off of Drinking Is Great and Cleanse The Bacteria. Both LPs contain heavy duty inner sleeves with tons of cool photos both from the early period of the band and the latter period, along with setlists, flyers, etc. Both records come with funny and profane bumper stickers, both of which I want to paste onto my vehicle. But then obviously I’d have to get a 2nd copy of each record to have an unpeeled sticker (again, pretentious asshole over here.) Then, the most rad and legendary part of the packaging… Record Collectors includes a poster with a map key pointing out every single record included in the notorious cover photo… AMAZING. I hear that TKO has some more goodies in the pipeline with some other much pined-after bonus packaging ;)

Damn, I love hardcore. And records. I mean seriously, I think the cover of that record must be the model for me and a bunch of my dumbass friends’ obsession with all this mess. It occurred to me that all the stuff I just rambled about is probably information that is readily accessible from TKO before you buy either of these records. But who cares? I’m just reiterating because it RULES.

Forgive me for figuratively drooling all over you in this newsletter write-up. I’ll try to tone it down next week. As always, thanks for reading.

‘Til next week,

-Jeff

What’s up Sorry Staters?

As I’m sitting down to write for our newsletter on this beautiful Wednesday evening, my mind is also preoccupied with getting ready for my trip this weekend. Before I get into talking about my staff pick, I wanna give a little heads up to you readers about what I’m up to! I’m leaving tonight to head up to Richmond to meet up with the rest of Public Acid and we’ll be playing a few dates this weekend. We’ll be support for those UK lads in The Chisel for a couple of shows on their East Coast Tour. We’ll also be accompanied by our good homies in Dark Thoughts and Quarantine for both the gigs that we’re playing. So rad! Thursday night is the Richmond gig, which will be sick. Then on Friday we’re playing The Chisel’s gig in Philly, which Impalers are also playing. I’m very stoked about that. Then we’re heading up to New York to see Warthog shred. We’ll spending be spending a few more days in NY just to hang out or whatever, eat some pizza, maybe do some band business, who knows? ;)

But enough about me. Damn man, Radio Raheem might as well just take all my money at this point. Compilations have always been a killer vehicle for musical discovery, particularly when you’re talking 80s hardcore. The Master Tape (both volumes 1 &2) are among some of my favorite punk compilations to ever be released. And who were the first band I heard on side A of the first disc of the Master Tape: Volume 2? Violent Apathy. From Michigan, this band played pounding, primitive and serious as fuck hardcore. The track “Ignorance Is Bliss” being the faster track on the comp, I always had my fists clenched when that song was blasting. Violent Apathy’s songs just precede Malignant Growth, which is some of my favorite stuff on the whole comp, but that’s besides the point. Now Radio Raheem has reissued a session Violent Apathy recorded in 1981 prior to their first 7”. Short bursts of raw and killer hardcore, with songs so short that the label released all the songs repeated on both sides of the 7”. I love it. At least it’s not single-sided.

We’ve already sold a handful of these 7”s. If this write-up catches your attention, then definitely pick up a copy from us. A small and interesting part of the puzzle when taking a look at 80s Midwest hardcore. Hell yeah!

That’s all I’ve got. By this time next week, I’ll have just returned from Public Acid’s adventure. As always thanks for reading.

‘Til next week (we’ll see),

-Jeff