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John Scott's Staff Pick: December 26, 2024

What’s up Sorry State readers? I hope everyone has been having a good December. As I’m sure you’ve heard a million times at this point, I can’t believe the year is nearly over. Time flies! I recently returned from a very fun trip to Edinburgh and London and had a fantastic time out there. Especially Scotland. Hopefully I’ll be able to get back out there one day and explore the Highlands and more of the nature because it seems like it’d be right up my alley. Today I’d like to talk about something not related to music or really any media at all, but more of an experience. London can be a very overwhelming city, especially if it’s your first time visiting. There’s so much cool stuff to do and places to check out, but only so many hours in a day. There’s also a bunch of dumb shit, like any major city, and you kinda have to wade thru the bullshit to find the good stuff. One day while we were there, me and my girlfriend were out shopping for vintage clothing. We went to an area that was supposedly flush with vintage shops and a large market where people set up booths. I love going to different areas and looking for cool vintage shit cause you never know what you’ll find in different places, so I was excited to check it out in a whole different country. I was greeted with immediate disappointment, “re-worked” Carhart jackets that aren’t even a year old, Levis from 2022, the works. I don’t know if this is a result of social media, the internet, everyone and their mama wanting to sell vintage clothing or a combination of it all, but it seems individuality has gone out the window a bit. Everyone sees the same trends and styles online and it creates kind of a hive mind. Do these people even care about what they’re selling, or are they just trying to put some quick cash in their pockets? I’m not trying to sit on my high horse here and act like I know everything and have the ultimate authority to say what’s cool and what sucks, but it’s a bit disappointing when you’re in another country trying to find some cool different stuff and it feels like you’re just shopping in some lame rich kid’s store back home who got interested in vintage 6 months ago and his parents bought him a retail space. After a couple hours of finding absolutely nothing, I was feeling jaded and discouraged. While walking out of another disappointing store, something caught my eye across the street, a sick ass vintage military jacket hanging in the window. I almost didn’t even bother, but I thought why not and wandered in and I’m so happy I did. Levisons is a cozy, small store which was absolutely stacked with all my favorite shit: British, French, US military/work wear from the 30s-60s. I could’ve spent all day flipping through this stuff. It was all so sick. You could tell so much love went into this store and it was actually curated by the owner’s own style and taste. I got to talk with the owner, Michael, a bit and he was so knowledgeable and nice and told me how it all kinda came to be. We shared the same sentiments on vintage clothing and how each piece of clothing can be so unique and tell a story of its own. It was so refreshing to find a store that actually felt like it had a soul and someone behind it that really cared about what he was doing. I ended up snagging something I’ve wanted for a hot minute, a nice 50s French moleskin chore jacket that fits perfectly. I’m so thankful for people like Michael who do what they do for the love of the game, not for a quick buck. Whatever you do, do it with a love and appreciation for whatever that thing is and it’ll be 100x better.

 

Usman's Staff Pick: December 16, 2024

Hi and thanks for reading. It’s been a minute since we’ve had a newsletter, and we’ve had a ton of killer records come in and out of stock since. There are a number of records in stock currently that I’d like to write about, but I am going to keep this short and focus on this NUKIES 12”. I have been pretty sick the last week or so, and as a result I have not been listening to much of anything. My head is so congested I legit can’t hear properly. When I finally get my ears to pop, I’m like oh my god that’s what this is supposed to sound like… but unfortunately the relief is only for a few minutes and then my heads is back to the clouds.

I wrote about NUKIES previously when their debut came out. The songwriting is right up my alley, so when I saw they had a new record coming out I got mad excited. NUKIES take obvious influence from TOTALITÄR, but they also remind me of modern classics like HERÄTYS. It’s no easy task trying to emulate that sound, but NUKIES deliver it with authenticity. The songs on this record range from a faster tempo (but not like blazing fast, cos you gotta leave room for the killer riffs to breathe) to the more pulled-back, super in-the-pocket tempo that brings head banging to the max. Luckily, I think I counted only one breakdown on the entire record, hehe, so it really is up my alley. I really love how the A side ends with a full-on dirge. I feel like I never hear that on modern records, and they really pulled it off. On the B side they bust out this pogo one, “Paralysis,” and it really compliments their sound. Bouncing back and forth between pogo and d-beat can be a bit cheesy if you ask me, but again, NUKIES pull that shit off. The record was recorded by Kenko at Communichaos and it sounds killer. If you haven’t heard these guys yet, check ‘em out! I was going to suggest their first 12” as well, but it appears we’ve sold out as of last week. I did see that we have copies of this absolute Danish classic from KALASHNIKOV in stock! I’m sure we highlighted the hell outta this record when it was initially reissued a few years ago, but if you aren’t familiar, this record is essential to every collection as far as I’m concerned. Check it out! Anyway, that sums it up for me this week. We don’t have many copies of Paralysis of Fear from NUKIES, so don’t sleep! I hope everyone is taking care out there. Cheers and thanks for your support!

 

Jeff's Staff Pick: December 16, 2024

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

 

Daniel's Staff Pick: December 16, 2024

Hates: Panacea 12” (Faceless Records, 1982)

I’ve been packing a lot of orders lately (thank you!), and I’m realizing that being on my feet, ostensibly with my mind on some routine task but with a little brain power and attention to spare, is a great opportunity for listening to music. A few times lately I’ve brought in a stack from my personal collection to listen to while I’m working, and I realized I enjoyed those records even more at work than I did at home. Usually when I’m listening to records at home, I’m sitting on the couch, and when I’m exercising at the gym or on a walk, I’m listening to music on my phone. Most of the music in my collection sounds better on vinyl, and most of the music in my collection makes you want to move, so I relished the opportunity to feel like I was matching the music’s power and energy. It definitely propelled me faster and further than I would have gone otherwise.

One record that really stuck out this week was Panacea, the 1982 12” EP from Houston’s the Hates. I picked this up at All Day Records in Carrboro a few weeks ago when I was out flyering for the Slant show. I was already familiar with the Hates and this record—we’ve had originals come through the shop from time to time, and we also carried a 2019 reissue on Italy’s Rave Up Records—but it never hit me with the impact that it did this week. A 45rpm 12” EP, this has all the energy and power I associate with the California bands that were on that bubble between 70s-style punk and hardcore: Rhino 39, the Dils, Modern Warfare… that kind of thing. I love the trade-offs between the two singers, the thin and scratchy guitar sound, and the recording’s raw, live feel. The songs are hooky and pop-oriented with hummable choruses, but played almost exclusively at hardcore tempos (the exception is “This Year’s Model,” which, according to something I read online, was usually a fast song the band decided on a whim to slow down for this session).

Panacea also opens with a cover of the song “Houston,” written by Lee Hazlewood and made famous by crooner Dean Martin. I wasn’t familiar with the song, but the chorus’s broad descending melody sounds great at the Hates’ hyper-speed. Their version reminds me of classic Dickies covers like “Eve of Destruction” and “Paranoid,” where there’s a glimmer of the original shining through, but so much of the band’s voice in the execution that you’d hardly know it was a cover if someone didn’t tell you. After listening to versions by Dean Martin and Lee Hazlewood, I appreciate the artistry of the Hates’ version even more.

In case you don’t know about the Hates, they started in 1978, so they’d been around for four years when they released Panacea in 1982. Their first EP, 1979’s No Talk in the Eighties, is well-regarded in KBD collector circles for its four strong punk songs that firmly establish the band’s style, and that the EP ran through three pressings over the years means it doesn’t carry the eye-watering price tag of some KBD rarities. For me, though, the Hates really hit their stride with 1980’s Do the Caryl Chessman EP, where they speed things up and get a little wilder and noisier, while still keeping the Wire-esque minimalism that defined their sound from the start. While Panacea reels things in a hair (there’s nothing like the chaotic guitar solo in the song “Do the Caryl Chessman”), it pretty much picks up right where Caryl Chessman left off.

From what I’ve read online, the Hates’ initial three-piece lineup dissolved shortly after recording Panacea, with the band continuing to release music consistently into the 2020s. I know I have one of their later cassette-only releases somewhere in the chaos of my tape collection (I think it’s either 1992’s New World Oi! or 1993’s Texas Insanity) and I remember liking it, but I wasn’t able to dig it out for a revisit before my deadline.

If you’re into this style, Panacea is well worth a listen. It certainly fit well with the similarly fast and minimal punk I was playing alongside it this week, like the compilation Life Is Ugly So Why Not Kill Yourself, which features a bunch of bands from California whose music has a lot of the same characteristics as Panacea. Same for the Dils compilation album I really dug when it popped up on album shuffle in my car a few days ago.

If you’re ready to jump in, Panacea is available to listen and download on what appears to be an official Hates Bandcamp page, though it only features Panacea and none of the band’s other releases. There’s a message on that site complaining about the sound on the original release and noting the band’s bass player has remastered the tracks, but I think the original record sounds great. It’s exactly the kind of minimal studio recording I love. The tones are all clear (though it’s a little fuzzy, like maybe it was recorded on used tape) and the drums are right up front and powerful. You can hear the bass better on the remastered tracks (LOL!), but I don’t think they really sound better, as the new master mutes the drums’ impact somewhat. I don’t know whether that Rave Up reissue uses that master or not, but even if I prefer the original, the digital version still captures Panacea’s many strengths.

 

Danny's Staff Pick: November 18, 2024

Hello Fellow Sorry Staters! It’s been a week or two since I have written a blurb on what I have been listening to. Between family vacations and being sick I have not had a whole lot of listening time to check out new stuff, so I figured this week I would just chat about something familiar to me and something you may not know about.

In the early 90s I went to church. A lot of church. Every Sunday morning and Sunday night and let’s not forgot youth group on Wednesdays! Since then, I have grown out of religion as a whole. Being the natural rebellious teenager I was, I always tried to seek out something different. My other brother was playing in bands with friends in high school and he would always let me in on what he was listening to. My parents were also selective about what music we could listen to, so when I discovered Tooth and Nail records, I thought I hit a gold mine. I bought everything that label put out for years. One band stood out to me so much because they differed from bands like Mxpx and Slick Shoes that were out on the label at that time. They were called Ninety Pound Wuss.

Like a lot of the bands on Tooth and Nail at the time, they were from the Seattle area but more specifically they were from Port Angeles, Washington and formed in 1994. Their first full length was 19 tracks of pure non stop thrashy fast punk with some sprinkles of poppy riffs to round it out. Lyrically, the record was about the persecution they faced being hardcore punk in the christian music scene, which at the time I could totally relate to. They only made 3 records, all equally good, but after the first record they started leaning toward post-punk and started to sound like the Blood Brothers.

I unfortunately only saw them once when they toured in the early 2000s at the Christian club in my hometown called “His Place” (lol), and from what I remember it was just me and about 5 of my friends that they played to. I wanted to talk about them in my pick this week because their records are very expensive and very hard to find. I still have my original cassette tape and CD and recently got a call from my brothers and they found a copy of the self titled record and plan to give it to me for my birthday this weekend!

If you are curious about the world of mixing religion and punk rock, check out these bands: Officer Negative, Headnoise, Crashdog, Overcome and No Innocent Victim. Cheers! Until next week!

 

John Scott's Staff Pick: November 18, 2024

What’s up Sorry State readers, I hope everyone has had a nice week. Last week here in Raleigh we had two great shows: one with Meat House, Shaved Ape, and Bloodstains which was a bunch of fun, and the other show featured Ultimate Disaster and SLANT all the way from South Korea who tore the roof off the building. Always a good week when you get to go to two ragers. Anyways, it feels like forever since I’ve written anything, especially about music cause last month I was just writing about movies to celebrate Halloween. It’s only right that I come back with a banger, Rupa’s Disco Jazz, put out by the Numero Group. Daniel had mentioned this record way earlier this year and I remember checking it out when he did and thought to myself “man this is amazing!” I’m focusing on the 7” release today which features Moja Bhari Moja on the A-side and East West Shuffle on the B-side. The album was originally released in 1982 in India and features a variety of different players. There’s a quote on the back that says, “The first objective of this album was to create vibrant, new dance music with universal appeal” and I think they definitely achieved their goal. If this record starts playing and you’re not at least bopping your head along to it, you must be a real stick in the mud. I am especially a fan of the B-side; it has this bounce to the beat that’s very infectious. It’s got everything: some groove, funk, a killer bass line, and sarod and tablas! What more could you ask for? Definitely give this one a spin if you haven’t checked it out yet.

 

Usman's Staff Pick: November 18, 2024

Hello and thanks for reading. At last, we have our copies of the brand-new DESTRUCT / LIFE split 12” on Desolate! Japan’s LIFE has been a band since the 90s and they have released stuff pretty consistently since. I find it super impressive that DESTRUCT did a split with them. DESTRUCT’s tracks are just getting more and more intense with each release if you ask me. While I find it impressive they have a split with LIFE, it is not shocking by any means. DESTRUCT is such a powerhouse, and has continued to turn heads for the last five years. They also seem like a super busy band, with releases following closely one after another. I just saw Noise Room shared a teaser of some new stuff that is being mastered there as well! So sick. OK, I have no time at all unfortunately, so this is it for today. Don’t sleep on this record. If you don’t like splits, wake up. Cheers and thanks to everyone for your support!

 

Daniel's Staff Pick: November 18, 2024

Work has really been kicking my ass lately. We’ve been short-staffed at SSR for a variety of reasons, and it feels like lately I do nothing but work work work. I keep at it every night until I’m totally exhausted, and when I finally get home, I’m so shellshocked that I just want to curl up with a book and enjoy the silence. Here are a couple I’ve been spending time with recently.

Julian Cope: Head On / Repossessed (2000)

Julian Cope is probably most famous as the frontman of the post-punk band the Teardrop Explodes, though I know him mostly as a music critic and historian. I’ve since gone back and checked out Kilimanjaro and enjoyed it, but what lodged Cope’s name in my memory is his pair of books—Krautrocksampler and Japrocksampler—that, respectively, offered capsule histories and buying / listening guides for the 70s German progressive music and 70s Japanese rock scenes. The music in those books totally blew my mind and I’m forever thankful to Cope for helping me to appreciate Amon Düül II’s Yeti and Speed, Glue, & Shinki’s Eve, but his writing is strong enough to keep me interested even with subjects I’m less attached to. This book collects both of Cope’s memoirs, with Head On covering his childhood, participation in the original Liverpool punk scene, and the founding and dissolution of the Teardrop Explodes, while Repossessed picks up where Head On left off, carrying you through the rest of the eighties as Cope establishes a solo music career and grows ever more interested in the antiquarianism that seems to have occupied much of his life since. (The bits about Cope finding his inner collector of vintage toys are particularly interesting.) Cope has done his share of drugs, Herculean amounts of psychedelics in particular, and you’d be silly to take his account of the events he describes in these books as the gospel truth. But his interpretation is so hilariously cracked, so hyperactively preoccupied with a search for deeper meaning, that I couldn’t put this book down.

Tony Wilson: 24 Hour Party People: What the Sleeve Notes Never Tell You (2002)

I put this book on my reading list years ago, apparently not realizing what it was, and a few weeks ago I finally picked up a copy and read it. I’d assumed this was an autobiography by Factory Records founder Tony Wilson, but that’s not precisely what it is. The author is Tony Wilson, but it’s actually a novelization of the 24 Hour Party People movie, which was itself based on Tony’s real life and story as the founder of Factory. So it’s not Wilson telling you his story, it’s Wilson adapting and expanding on the story someone else came up with based on their interpretation of what may or may not have actually happened. How’s that for post-modern? This one took a little while to grab me. I haven’t watched the 24 Hour Party People film in years, but I remember it well enough, and the early chapters at least hew pretty close. I kept wondering to myself, “why the fuck am I reading this?,” particularly since I find Wilson’s prose often pretentious and over-wrought. But I’m glad I stuck with it, as there were some gems and some LOL moments, and it felt a little deeper than the film, which flew through the years at an insane clip. I wouldn’t go out of my way to pick this up, but if you find a cheap used copy or something it’s an enjoyable enough read.

Mickey Leigh: I Slept with Joey Ramone: A Punk Rock Family Memoir (2010)

My friend Seth has been telling me about this book for years (and it’s been on my reading list since then), but I finally dug into this memoir by Joey Ramone’s brother Mickey Leigh. I’d also read Marky Ramone’s memoir Punk Rock Blitzkrieg a few weeks ago, so I’ve been steeped in the Ramones universe and I’m struck by how different that world looks from all its various angles. Both Marky’s and Mickey’s books focus on the band’s shifting power dynamics, and while I thought Marky’s analysis of what transpired during his era of the band was sensitive and thoughtful, Mickey’s book peels back several more layers of the onion. The 80s and 90s eras of the Ramones are much better documented, but Mickey sheds a lot of light on the band’s early days. Tommy Ramone’s story had always intrigued me; I always wondered why he left the band and how he transitioned from being a Ramone into being a producer, and I learned a lot about that from this book. Leigh also charts Joey’s mental state from childhood throughout his whole life, and his perspective on Joey’s OCD and other struggles is very three-dimensional and sensitive. Mostly, though, what stands out about I Slept with Joey Ramone is how well it’s written. Particularly coming from the more mannered prose of Julian Cope and Tony Wilson, Leigh’s writing feels crystal clear and tightly focused, with enough detail to make scenes come alive without getting bogged down in purple prose. It’s just good, journalistic-type writing, and when you pair that with a story about something I’m already interested in, you have one addictive book.

 

Usman's Staff Pick: November 4, 2024

Hello and thanks for reading. I have not been home very much since the last newsletter, which also means I have not been playing many records at all. I do listen to music at work a lot, but it’s usually digital. I can’t even tell you what I was jamming this last week though. My brain is feeling pretty foggy. I unexpectedly woke up today feeling like shit, so I did not come into work. I was going to bail on the newsletter, but on second thought I decided to write about one of the records that was featured in this week’s Hardcore Knockouts. It’s kind of funny to me how bad DESTRUCKTIONS beat VARAUS. I think that DESTRUCKTIONS are really good, but I think that VARAUS’s songs are more memorable to me. Maybe DESTRUCKTIONS is more popular because they were active after the 80s? They’ve also had more reissues. There’s no particular reason why I paired them together for the match, except that I recently got the VARAUS record and was looking for another Finnish 12” to put them against. I’ve had the DESTRUCKTIONS LP for a long time and it really was not that hard to find when compared to other Finnish records. VARAUS seems to be extremely rare. I’ve only ever seen one in person, and that was literally in Finland when we went on tour earlier this year. It’s ironic this record is so rare because I too commonly hear the story of someone finding their copy for something like $15 or even $2, but of course this is a very long time ago, before the internet started dictated the going rate for records. Regardless, it’s crazy to think about something so rare going for so cheap.

I should’ve taken the time to do some proper nerding before writing, but I didn’t plan for this staff pick. I think the first pressing of the 12” had 200 copies and the repress in this poster sleeve had 150. I’m really not sure, but Finnish punk/hardcore bands often pressed stuff in small quantities back in the 80s. I think their 7” had 300 copies pressed. Anyway, I think I’m just explaining how rare it is in my head, since it was the most expensive record I have ever bought! Haha. TAMPERE SS would probably be around the same I paid on this one, but that was a not-so-straightforward deal with cash and trade. If I can remember right, Anarkist Attack was the most expensive record I ever bought for a really long time. I remember when the most I’d spend on a record was $50. That amount went up to around $100 fairly quickly, and I feel like it hovered there for years. It’s hard to remember, but I think the SVART FRAMTID or maybe BANNLYST 7” was the first record I ever spent more than $100 on. After that, it was all downhill. Or uphill? Haha.

I am no longer in denial of being a collector, but I like to think that I’m not as pretentious or snobby as many of those I encounter on the internet. I always pick up a good reissue, mail order from labels I wanna support, and of course I buy records from bands at gigs. The one thing about an 80s pressing of a record, though, is that like nine times out of ten it is gonna sound so damn good. I know this isn’t always the case, especially when the recording wasn’t the greatest. The interesting thing about tons of Finnish hardcore records is that they were recorded with professional engineers. If you didn’t know, tons of bands would be working with engineers who hated them and who obviously hated their music. Typically, bands could afford just enough time to record one take of each song. Regardless of the conflicts these bands would encounter during record sessions, the results were phenomenal. I remember reading about the original VARAUS 12” online, and how bad the sound was. Not that the band was recorded poorly necessarily, but that tape they used was shit or something. In the Svart reissue of the 000 7”, they explained a similar situation they had when they recorded. The engineer didn’t give a shit about them and recorded them on a heavily used tape. The volume is kinda all over the place, and even falls out at times on the original pressing of that record.

The VARAUS 12” material was reissued on a discography CD in the 90s and later on LP in the 2000s. I’m pretty sure the vinyl version was just made from the CD master, since it’s the same track list. The unfortunate thing about the reissues is that they are missing three songs from the original 12”. I had read that when they were mastering the audio for the reissue, they decided these tracks were no longer usable. Obviously, it couldn’t be that bad since the reissue sounds really good and I have heard the rip on YouTube, but I was really curious what to expect when it came to the real deal. It felt pretty crazy to open up the parcel. I actually felt pretty crazy for days after, knowing this record was now tucked away in my shelves. I don’t think that feeling has disappeared either, really. It was packed like mad, which I really appreciated of course. The dude said it was NM, and NM it was indeed. I laid the needle down and the speakers were overwhelmed with that fuzzy VARAUS guitar tone.

When it came to the sound stuff I read about, it was apparent once I was able to play the original. The recording is good, and the pressing sounds nice. It’s not like the 000 7”. It’s not apparent immediately, but on a few songs you can actually hear another band in the background! I think I heard harmonica? Not really sure, but there’s something going on there, haha. I can hear some Finnish folk-type singing here and there too. This stuff doesn’t just happen between songs, but even between some quiet parts. I’m probably making it sound a lot worse than it really is, cos the record does sound really good and you gotta be paying attention to catch this stuff, but it is certainly there. It’s silly to think about some Finnish folk stuff being recorded on this tape before some raw hardcore shit like VARAUS. It also makes me wonder what the sound source for the reissue was, cos maybe they didn’t even have the original tape anymore? I’m gunna have to get back on that one. Alright that’s it for the week. Thanks for reading. And thanks A TON to all of those who bought records off me last month so I could pay off this sucker!!

 

Dominic's Staff Pick: November 4, 2024

Hi there Sorry Staters. Here we are with a newsletter coming out on the eve of the US election. Is this the eve of destruction or the beginning of a new era of hope and positivity? I’m feeling election anxiety and fear for the future. As a legal resident but non-citizen (yet) of the United States, I unfortunately do not have the right to vote, although I get to pay taxes. Let’s hope that enough of the people that can vote do and the world can finally be rid of the orange scum that has been poisoning our lives for the last ten years or so.

I missed the deadline for the Halloween week newsletter last time out, but am writing this on Halloween day here at the store, where Jeff has a custom themed video playlist set up with a TV screen on the counter so customers can shop and watch and listen to cool horror videos. Nice. For the record, my favorite horror character is Dracula. I like the Hammer House Of Horror films best, but also love horror comedies like Shaun Of The Dead and Young Frankenstein.

For my pick this week I’d like to recommend The Disposable Heroes Of Hiphoprisy: Hypocrisy Is The Greatest Luxury album released in 1992. I’ve been listening to it recently, inspired by the current political and social landscape and because we recently had a used copy come through the store. What a great mix of hip-hop and rock this record is. Perhaps you’ll remember the MTV “hit” Television, The Drug Of The Nation, which continued from where Gil Scott-Heron left off with his The Revolution Will Not Be Televised from two decades previously. Both songs were ahead of their time and stand up equally today as they did when first recorded.

Heroes consisted of Michael Franti and Rono Tse, who formed after the end of their previous group the Beatnigs, which were an experimental industrial group who also fused rock with hip-hop. Michael Franti, of course, became more widely known with his next band, Spearhead.

Undoubtedly, the brilliant Television track stands out as a highlight of the album, a song they brought with them from The Beatnigs, but they cover other social and political issues across the other cuts on the record. Racial identity and sexual identity are subjects tackled and done well. Many people have written that they were inspired and changed after hearing these songs. I’ve read that college professors would quote lyrics from the album to demonstrate a point that they were trying to get across to their students. Certainly, one could still learn a lot from playing this album. Music, be it hip-hop or punk or whatever else, can be like a newspaper or a textbook teaching us and informing us. As a dumb white kid coming up during this era, I can certainly vouch for the educational benefit of listening to records like this.

There is also a cover on the album. A nice working of Dead Kennedys’ California Über Alles updated to reference the then Governor of California Pete Wilson. Added to some copies of the album was an additional one sided 12” with the track Rock The Vote (Exercise Your Rights), which was to encourage voter turnout in the 1992 elections. It’s a bangin’ cut and hopefully influenced some would-be voters. I’m not sure whether the track targeted the US elections or worldwide, but the 12” and vinyl editions of the album only appeared in the UK and Europe. As far as I can tell, there is no US vinyl pressing. Although I remember buying the album on CD when it came out, I can’t recall hearing the Rock The Vote track until I found a vinyl copy years later.

The group, although being critically well received, didn’t break through to big commercial heights, although as mentioned before, the track Television was a minor hit. During this period, they toured with a lot of big groups and opened for U2 on their Zoo TV tour and featured prominently. They also opened for Nirvana and Rage Against The Machine.

Fans of guitarist Charlie Hunter might know that he got his professional start with the group. He’s featured on the album and played for a while in their touring band before moving on to his own projects.

If you dig sample based hip-hop from the golden age with a production value like the Bomb Squad or Public Enemy mixed with Alternative Tentacles vibes, then this album will be right up your street. If you aren’t already familiar, of course. Even if you are familiar, now is a good time to pull this one off the shelf and give it a spin or to dial it up on your preferred streaming platform. I’ve added a couple of YouTube links there for you to check out and will leave you with a great clip taken from the Save Our Cities Rally in Washington, D.C. back in 1992, which has the group play Rock The Vote, California Uber Alles and Hypocrisy Is The Greatest Luxury, another key cut from the album. Click here to watch that.

Alright, that’s all from me. The rest of the world, please pray for us all over here in America that our national nightmare ends this Tuesday. Probably going to be a shit show, but wish us luck anyway.

Cheers - Dom

 

Jeff's Staff Pick: November 4, 2024

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

 

Daniel's Staff Pick: November 4, 2024

Last week we were in the lead-up to Halloween, and now that’s behind us. I think both the 45 Grave and Misfits cover sets went pretty well. So many people came up to me and said, “you know, I’d never heard of 45 Grave before, but I checked them out and they’re really good!” Since not as many people knew them, the crowd reaction was a little more muted for that set, but I think the band totally nailed all the tricky bits I was worried about. And then after Black Flag (who were pretty good!) came the Misfits set, and people lost their shit. It was so much fun. I don’t think I’d been to a house show in Raleigh in several years, and even though the crowd at this one was totally different from the last one I went to (whenever that was), it still felt like Raleigh… no cool guys, just a bunch of freaks out to have some fun. I hope we can do it again soon.

I had a lot of stress and anxiety leading up to Halloween. Not that I was nervous it wouldn’t go well, but just because I had so much on my plate that I felt really overwhelmed. There was about half a day on Friday when I felt myself decompress when I realized the gig was behind me, but I’ve been pretty much right back into overwhelmed mode with all the stuff going on at Sorry State. I’ll be sticking close to home for the near future, but much of the rest of the staff has time off planned in the coming weeks, so I’ll have a lot of work to cover their duties while they’re gone, and there never seems to be enough time to get my work done in the first place. That’s life, I guess.

Along with the stress of the Halloween show, I was in some negative headspace earlier in October because I read a Henry Rollins book. I heard him on a bunch of podcasts talking about his new book Stay Fanatic Vol 3, and since it sounded like something I’d find interesting, I started reading the first volume in the series. And while there was a lot of information in there I found interesting, I think it pulled me a little too effectively into Hank’s world, which seems very lonely. While I share his passion for punk’s history, the way he approaches it—at least how it comes across in Stay Fanatic—is so solipsistic that it makes me question my own love for music and why I’m so devoted to it. There are so many things that seem interesting about his life, particularly all the traveling he does and all the money he gets to spend on punk records and memorabilia, but reading about it through the texture of his day-to-day experience left me feeling really down. I’m struggling to articulate why it made me feel bad, but it definitely did.

I suppose Rollins’ book popped into my mind because of what I chose as my staff pick this week: the Fall’s very first album, Live at the Witch Trials. Of course, Rollins is a big fan of the Fall. Also, Rollins constantly revisits his favorite records, which is something I don’t do nearly often enough. The Fall are my favorite band, but it had been months since I listened to them. Another thing that made me think of the Rollins book is that he often notes October is his favorite month, and he particularly likes to revisit his favorite records every October. It was actually November 2 when I spun Live at the Witch Trials, but I get the point. While we’ve had a very warm week here in Raleigh, it still feels like fall with the leaves changing and falling and the days getting noticeably shorter (particularly after the time change this weekend). During a colder spell a couple of weeks ago I had to get the fireplace going in my living room, and I felt the pull of winter cosiness. It’ll be here before I know it, and I’ll be sitting there wishing it was over.

Anyway, it’s nice to listen to one of your favorite records during a transitional time like this. While the world is changing around you, your favorite records remind you of who you are. I kind of forgot—or at least lost touch with—how much I love the Fall until I blasted the record. But when I listen to the brilliant closing passage of “Frightened,” the sinister bass line of “Rebellious Jukebox,” the relentless clatter of “No Xmas for John Quays,” and the ethereal poetry of “Live at the Witch Trials,” it hits me somewhere deep. This is what I love. This is who I am.