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Hello and thanks for reading. There are a ton of great records in stock at Sorry State this week and it’s hard to keep up! We’ve restocked that masterpiece debut LP from KRIEGSHOG, and we’ve actually got a small amount of limited color available as well!! Recently we stocked this Svart reissue of NAUSEA’s 1991 and 1992 7”s. I didn’t realize these records were getting hard to find, but I think NAUSEA deserves the Svart treatment regardless. While I strongly prefer the band’s earlier material, I still enjoy the line-up and material that most know NAUSEA for. I haven’t had any time to check one of these out yet, but I plan to. Knowing Svart, they have done these NYC crust legends justice with a deluxe booklet with trivia, photos, and flyers; but I did just check, and the shrink-wrapped jacket doesn’t feel so bulky. I will report back once I’ve cracked one open. I also wanted to mention Mono Records has just reissued this amazing 12" from L.A.’s LEGAL WEAPON. I learned about LEGAL WEAPON sometime after the pandemic, and I think No Sorrow specifically is just too damn good. This reissue is really well done. The jackets are printed really nice. They kinda have the feel of an older record, but they’ve added some subtle changes to the layout. Shit, the center labels even look super classic with their paper choice, haha. They’ve also added in a booklet with tons of photos and flyers. They also added on two unreleased tracks that were recorded live. This record has never been reissued, and I think these well sell super fast - don’t sleep!
This week the almighty Beach Impediment just dropped three new releases! One of them is a 7" from Stockholm’s VIDRO. There was a European press that was released a short while ago, and I have been jamming this EP since. The sound leans way more into their groovy side. There are four tracks, and I think they do a great job at capturing what VIDRO is like live. They groove super hard, like they truly make you want to dance. VIDRO also has this almost like trancey or hypnotic aspect. The drums will groove endlessly while the guitar riffs, but there are subtle changes in the riffs that introduce another element of percussion. Sometimes Vendela really lays into a phrase, and she repeats it a lot. This also adds another layer of percussion to their sound. I think the combination of all of this is why it’s easy to get lost and just groove with VIDRO. I love it. These four dynamic songs are over before I know it. We will tour around Ktown with VIDRO soon and I look forward to it. They are a lot of fun to hang out with and I think they are absolutely excellent live.
Another band who is also playing Ktown who has also just dropped a record on Beach Impediment is Richmond’s INVERTEBRATES. It’s hard to know where to start with this record, cos I have a lot to say about it. I think this 12" is a chart-topper. It’s just so damn good. It seems to be on a ton of people’s radar cos we’ve been selling a ton of copies at Sorry State, and I’ve seen a lot of good things about it online. I thought it was funny INVERTEBRATES was announced for Ktown, cos at that time they only had a demo cassette released, haha. Well actually they had an additional promo cassette as well... Anyway, I know some of the Ktown crew had caught INVERTEBRATES live before, so they knew INVERTEBRATES are certified rippers. Aside from their debut record being all killer riffs and absolutely no filler, I think the packaging is so damn sick. The vocalist, Max, did all the artwork. There is a touch of red on the jacket and the center labels, and it really sets it off. Besides an insert, there is also a huge newsprint poster. The layout is so sick for both the jacket and poster. It appears the layout of the jacket is paying a heavy homage to BROKEN BONES with their Trader In Death 12". That record fucking rules. If you didn’t know, it originally had two different types of jackets: a standard one, and one of those pocket-sleeve jackets without a spine. The ones that are essentially an over-sized 7" sleeve, haha. I’m not sure what those are actually called? Funny enough, INVERTEBRATES also did a limited version of the pressing in these same spine-less jackets. There’s a lot of layers going on here, seeing that invertebrates don’t have spines either...
INVERTEBRATES originally started as a Covid project, with bassist Merm and drummer Chubb (PUBLIC ACID). Merm wrote some songs, but Chubb wrote the majority. Marty (PUBLIC ACID) recorded their demo cassette, with Chubb doing guitar and drums. (Fun fact, Marty also recorded SCARECROW’s demo.) Like I said, this was like a Covid project, so at one point Merm started to write lyrics with the intention of laying down some vocals. But sometime after, Will was recruited on guitar. Will is also in PUBLIC ACID, but on bass. I think Will laid down his guitar track next to Chubbs, and then Max joined after. Maybe I’m wrong about the exact timing, but I know Max joined after Will, and then the band was fuckin’ set. They released that demo at the very end of 2021 or the beginning of 2022. It ended up coming out before their first gig, cos the gig they were supposed to play in conjunction with their demo release was cancelled. In summer 2022, they released another cassette recorded by Marty. This one was a promo for their debut LP, Sick To Survive. By this point in the band, I think Will was contributing pretty heavily to the songwriting, cos he wrote a good number on the 12". I can’t find my copy of the promo tape, but if I remember right one side had a handful of new songs, and the backside had their demo tracks again. (All the songs newer songs plus one demo song were recorded again for this LP.) I think soon after that tape came out, Kai joined the band on guitar. She was a monstrous addition to the mix, and yet another member of PUBLIC ACID to join, haha. Originally, she actually was just intended to tour with the band to Skullfest on second guitar, but in time she evolved into a permanent member.
Alright, that history of the band was probably totally unnecessary, but I find things like this super interesting, especially when it’s my friends’ bands. Maybe you appreciated the bit of history… if not I am sorry for wasting your time, haha. Like, maybe some people would be interested to know that we literally tried out several vocalists for SCARECROW before we were lucky enough to land on Red? We jammed for like two years before we became a real band or released anything. We actually have an unreleased version of the demo somewhere as well. It’s an earlier recording than the one we released, and it’s got Jeff on vocals!(!!!) Anyway, thanks for reading everyone. I think when I write again, we will have just gotten back from our Swedish/Finnish tour. I am so excited. Cheers.