Spot "Sounds of Two Eyes Opening"

Book - $25.65
STREET DATE: 9/29/23
CAT#: RADIO-SPOT
LABEL: Radio Raheem

Glenn "Spot" Lockett landed in Hermosa Beach, CA in the mid-1970s. A serious musician, he helped build Media Art Recording Studio and stumbled into photojournalism via Easy Reader, the local news weekly. Hermosa proved to be a crossroads abounding with oddball roller skaters who were mostly overshadowed by Venice disco rollers and the Dogtown-inspired leaps into professional skateboarding (never mind that the first skateboard competition ever was in Hermosa in 1963). Then, in the late 70s, a cultural shift hit, fueled largely by music. This time the South Bay was in the vanguard. Spot became the in-house producer and engineer at SST Records--the label founded in 1978 by Greg Ginn as a vehicle for Black Flag, the band that defined LA hardcore. Between 1979 and 1985, he recorded, mixed, produced or co-produced most of SST's pivotal acts, working on all of Black Flag's greatest releases, and on classic albums by the Minutemen, Meat Puppets, Saint Vitus, Descendents, Big Boys, Hüsker Dü, The Dicks, Subhumans and Misfits. Throughout this period, Spot remained a master photographer who documented various Los Angeles subcultures in intelligently composed black-and-white photographs. As this volume reveals, there was no distinction between the musical and the visual--he heard what he saw; saw what he heard--hence, the title of this collection. Spanning the late 1960s through the early 1980s, Sounds of Two Eyes Opening offers an amazing portrait of Southern California beach life, set against the dark clubs and rehearsal spaces of the burgeoning punk scene.

Hardbound, 272 pages

FOR FANS OF:
Photography, Punk Rock, Black Flag, SST Records, Southern California, Beach Culture

Beyond The Pale "Beyond The Pale"

7"EP - $6.50
STREET DATE: 9/29/23
CAT#: PKR-083
LABEL: Painkiller

Beyond the Pale come violently blasting out of Toronto on this 11-song 7". The easy comparison would be Capitalist Casualties and Infest but a better comparison might be 00's bands like Low Threat Profile, early Extortion, and Running for Cover. If you know these records, then you know Beyond the Pale.

TRACK LISTING:

  1. Pain
  2. Force
  3. Break
  4. Beyond the Pale
  5. Dead
  6. Excuse
  7. Control
  8. Suffering
  9. End
  10. Buried
  11. Promise

FOR FANS OF:
Brain Tourniquet, Infest, Crossed Out, Scapegoat

Painful Choice / Sugar Coat / The Arrival Note "Split"

7"EP - $7.00
STREET DATE: 9/29/23
CAT#: SDR-099
LABEL: Sunday Drive

Florida emo/indie rock and Atlanta hardcore merge on this three-way split from Painful Choice, Sugar Coat, and The Arrival Note. Painful Choice expands further into the rev-summer sound heard in their demo; it is now much more honed in with the same passion and melody. Sugar Coat, a new Florida band, adds a jangly, indie-rock sound to the mix, with the Built to Spill/Pavement melodic influence. Finally, The Arrival Note closes out the split with their best songs yet. Over the years, the band has taken the late 90's emo sound and modernized it to be their own. Now with a solid lineup, the band explores a more heavy, anthemic sound; channeling the Texas is the Reason LP or the more fast-paced Hey Mercedes songs.

TRACK LISTING:

  1. Painful Choice -- Azul Profundó
  2. SUGAR COAT -- Mask
  3. The Arrival Note -- Falling Down

MARKETING POINTS:

  • The Arrival Note and Sugar Coat Texas tour this July
  • All three bands playing Armageddon Fest this summer in Florida

FOR FANS OF:
Texas is the Reason, Rites of Spring, Farside

Instagram - Painful Choice | Instagram - Sugar Coat | Instagram - The Arrival Note

Academy Order "A New Kind of Fear"

LP - $14.00
STREET DATE: 9/29/23
CAT#: PRO-085
LABEL: Protagonist Music

Since 2021, Academy Order have been honing their sound through various releases and live incarnations, expertly showcasing elements of death rock, punk, new wave, and even hardcore in a sonic amalgamation that is uniquely their own, while remaining just familiar enough to keep heads nodding. Now they surge forth with a debut LP, unleashing "A New Kind of Fear" to solidify an approach that touches nerves both lyrically and musically via counterpoints of aggression and melody not so commonly coupled in the broad genre of post-punk. The deliciously cold attack of driving guitars and Matthew's demanding vocals weighed against synth lines straight from the 80's dance floor and Norelle's angelic vocal hooks bring the shadowy rhythm of the whole album to halting depths and infectious heights. Though far from derivative, fans of seminal acts such as 45 Grave, Clan of Xymox, and TSOL may find themselves moving just as readily as those who enjoy Danse Society, Bleached Cross, and Chain Cult.

TRACK LISTING:

  1. A New Kind of Fear
  2. The Devil Spoke
  3. World Sent Spinning
  4. Death in the Mid-Atlantic
  5. Echelons Cave
  6. Remember the Night
  7. ...You Learn To Sleep
  8. Perennial Sun
  9. Death in the American South
  10. Life in the Fog Bank

MARKETING POINTS:

  • Recorded by Zach Miller (GEL, Sick Shit) at Landmine/Noisewar Studios
  • Mastered by Phillip Odom (Code Orange, Portrayal of Guilt, Angel Dust) at Bad Wolf Recordings
  • Full US tour Oct/Nov 2023

FOR FANS OF:
45 Grave, Clan of Xymox, TSOL, Chain Cult, Bleached Cross, Blitz

Heavy Discipline "Your Scapegoat"

LP - $13.35
STREET DATE: 9/29/23
CAT#: PKR-084
LABEL: Painkiller

Pittsburgh's Heavy Discipline return with another slab of X-Claim!-indebted hardcore punk for hardcore punks. The band's songs remain committed to the economy and directness of their previous work, but some of the scrappiness of that material has been exchanged for a more muscular attack. It's a heavier discipline but, it's still unquestionably the Heavy Discipline we've come to know. 7 songs on a 12".

TRACK LISTING:

  1. Intro/Rock
  2. Loud And Proud
  3. Farce
  4. Genius Of Love
  5. Lost
  6. Your Fault
  7. Fit The Mold

FOR FANS OF:
SSDecontrol, DYS, No Time, Meat House

Strange Joy "5 Tracks"

12"EP - $15.30
STREET DATE: 9/29/23
CAT#: SDR-093
LABEL: Sunday Drive

While titled, "5 Tracks", the debut EP from Houston's hardcore band, Strange Joy deals with many emotions and themes throughout the span of 11 minutes--struggle, betrayal, a search for purpose, and most notably, new love. While the constant struggle exists in these hardcore songs, Strange Joy do not stray away from the sense of love and hope--" under all the trees and my heart's in tune". Strange Joy portrays all of this in a unique way; played fast and angrily, but with a sense of melody from the likes of Seaweed or Sugar. This EP will remain a staple in the bands' discography as they gear up for new music.

TRACK LISTING:

  1. Leaves
  2. Lung
  3. Deny You
  4. Tarantula
  5. Black Hole Love

MARKETING POINTS:

  • Available for the first time on vinyl

FOR FANS OF:
Seaweed, Title Fight, Fiddlehead

Instagram

GRAILS “BUrden Of Hope”

LP - $15.95
STREET DATE: 9/29/23
CAT#: NR029
LABEL: Neurot

GRAILS don't mince words. Awesomely communicative but entirely instrumental, this dynamic band's violin, guitars, piano, and drums collide with sober melodies and massive emotion. At alternate moments, Grails can sound vaguely classical, Eastern European, Irish, like the lost tapes of Pauline Oliveros, and, you know, rock. They're not really like anything else on the Neurot roster, but they've got something in common with all the Neurot bands: a commitment to intense music that forges new paths and, yeah, communicates in the most real way possible.

Grails have their fair share of ambient noise - shivery violins, a trickle of a high-hat, the amplified scrape of a guitar string - but their music is based on strong, narrative melodies that resonate in the heart. At times it sounds delicate, but they never cower; Grails ROAR, even when they're being quiet.

The Burden of Hope is the debut LP, following a pair of self-released, eponymous ep's in 2000 and 2002. The LP is the culmination of a year's worth of recordings, including a reinterpretation of Sun City Girls' classic "Space Prophet Dogon."

Grails are gathered in Portland, Oregon from Baltimore, Little Rock, Louisville, Chapel Hill, and Reno. As an ensemble, their respective backgrounds in hardcore, classical, folk, and rock blend seamlessly. Formed in late 2000 to execute live the bedroom recordings of guitarist Alex Hall, the once-tentatively-assembled group found unexpected success with both audiences and local press. Originally formed under the moniker Laurel Canyon, the name of the group was changed to Grails to coincide with the release of The Burden of Hope in October, 2003.

TRACK LISTING:

  1. The Burden Of Hope
  2. Lord I Hate Your Day
  3. The Deed
  4. In The Beginning
  5. Invocation
  6. Space Prophet Dogon
  7. The March
  8. Broken Ballad
  9. White Flag
  10. Canyon Hymn

MARKETING POINTS:

  • 20th anniversary of the original release

FOR FANS OF:
Wovenhand, Dirty Three, Mogwai, Rachel's

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