Night of the Living Blog

Halloween has come to a an end, 54/partly sunny is now considered "nice weather" and Spiral Scratch pounded its chest a few times as we stumbled through our 3rd anniversary of survival serving Buffalo and surrounding areas what we truly believe to be the best vinyl records currently available, learning the new needs and desires of our new location and staving off broken windows, vermin, crazy neighbors and some sort of troubled economy. We spend hours searching for the lowest prices so we can easilly provide you with the lowest prices...usually anywhere. I know this, because I check. That goes for the recent influx of great used records that have been coming in at a steady pitch.
Anyway, let's keep this brief so i can sneak in a few innings on the PS3 before the sun comes up. While there is a healthy batch of new releases and restocked classics (and sorta new releases restocked), the re-issue machine has been chugging out classic stuff--some not exactly "reissue" since it was never released either domestically or at all. The brand new VOID - Sessions 1981-83 unearths an lp's worth of demos, rarities and odds-n-sods. Up until now, VOID's legend was 16 minutes and 1 side of an lp--the classic Faith/Void split--a record indie god Bill "SMOG" Callahan proclaimed among his favorite records ever-"especially the Void side". VOID (along with the FAITH) were something of a hardcore punk enigma of sorts, and a great one at that. Until now, known for their incredible blasts of raw punk on a split lp. What took so long to share twice as many tracks to the world? Even the Pitchdorks took notice, giving the album a 7.3. Whatever, it's here for you now and a rather hot item (we got the last 5 copies from Dischord direct while a new batch is pressed up). VOID would later head into a more metal edged direction and broke up as their shows became uncontrollably violent. Before, they recorded an unreleased lp for Touch & Go Records which the band refuses to release.
So whilst on the topic of that legendary split lp, FAITH also was given similar treatment--Subject To Change. the album--again, as with most all Dischord reissues, has been remastered and cut from the original source tapes making for killer sound quality, unearths the bands Subject To Change 12" along with an 11 song demo (many re-recorded for the split lp, which has never gone out of print as in stock as well. More melodic, less chaotic--the FAITH were a hugely respected band in the DC scene and also have stood the test of time.
More Dischord stuff:
Lungfish - The Unanimous Hour Joe Lally (solo lp)
Teen Idles - 6 song 7" ep reissue
Rites Of Spring
Fugazi (celebrate their entire catalog...its all here)
Minor Threat

Dischord has also hooked us up with a local distro who has some big time reissues at the fairest prices we've seen. Helmet - Strap It On and Meantime lp's. Sonic Youth - Evol & Sister are among the titles we snatched up. More to come in the future.

90's vinyl was often an afterthought, a short and half-assed way to appease the band who demanded that it be released on vinyl. Often the quality suffered and the limited runs make the value high. Don't snub a good reissue as the industry has discovered that silver plastic discs grossly overpriced and inferior would not last them long. Helmet, however, was a product of the great Amphetamine Reptile label--one of the great labels of the 90s (a sound often heard today in bands lick Pissed Jeans and early Clockcleaner) and HELMET (and Melvins, of course) was the band that received the most success, though the label is laden with amazing, cult bands like Hammerhead, Cows, Halo of Flies and more. I've often said the real grunge music of the 90s was coming out of a label in Minnesota, not Seattle. And theirs a reason why the out of print catalog fetches $50 and up per out of print title. This is real deal music that has stood the test of time. Now trust us, we won't steer you wrong.

More reissues:
TALK TALK - Laughing Stock (the final, non-commercial critically acclaimed lp available for the first time in the US. Stay tuned as we try to snatch up some imports of the Spirit of Eden lp)
DINOSAUR JR. - self titled, You're Living All Over Me, Bug (due November 1st)
CLAP YOUR HANDS SAY YEAH - So they just put out their 3rd lp, Tess suggested we reload on the first one. So we did. Tess, your copy is in the special order stack.
DOW JONES & the INDUSTRIALS - Can't Stand The Midwest 7" one of the greatest, catchy punk rock songs ever laid down. Guaranteed to get a room full of people who've never heard it bopping their heads (and possibly breaking shit).
COCKSPARRER - Shock Troops - Just too catchy to be a simple oi band, yet too tough to be a power pop band. The best. And this is their best. You're no fun if you cant get down with Cocksparrer. Seriously.
FEEDERZ - Ever Felt Like Killing Your Boss? (complete with grip tape)

NEW RELEASES (incomplete list)
Wolves In The Throne Room - Celestial Lineage 2x lp
Brown Sugar - Colored Flexi
Tom Waits - Bad As Me
M83 - Hurry Up We're Dreaming
The Oh Sees/Total Control split US tour lp
Zola Jesus - Conatus
Punch - Nothing Lasts 7" ep (lots of semi-recent Deathwish stuff in stock, too)
Mean Jeans/Hollywood split 7"
Hollywood - Stunts lp (Big Neck Records is seriously back with a vengeance. Aside from recent Buffalo output (White Whale, Fatal Figures 7", check out the new website and upcoming release schedule at www.bigneckrecords.com)
Big Neck was born in Buffalo in the late 90s as an outlet for the garage punk scene, expanded worldwide releasing Lost Sounds, Ponys, Mistreaters, Bantam Rooster and more while relocating to Virginia while continuing to churn out great rock and roll. Hopefully you know this already, but just in case...Big Neck is a highly respected, long running indie label distributed by Midheaven/Revolver, Dischord and more.


Kitchens Floor - Look Forward To Nothing - More aussie stuff we dig so much, we urge you to buy this immediately. Video posted on our facebook™ page as the 'Scratch of the Week'
Spits V - who doesn't love the Spits? The fifth self-titled and they still are a institution of pure fun--ramones, dumb and synth. whats not to love?
King Khan & BBQ 7" Mark Sultan (aka BBQ) 7" (lp's on the way)
Human Eye - They Came from The Sky (Timmy Vulgar, the man behind Clone Defects and Timmys Organism) became a folk hero in Buffalo due to his antics at a post-Rust Belt Revolt party. Meanwhile, as Timmy's hair continued to recede, the wildman continued to get more adventurous with his current bands. Influenced by bands like Chrome and such, Human Eye is a must for those who like it a tad on the weirder side, yet without pretense and a love for blazing guitars, synths and some of the best drumming the world doesn't know.
More from Sacred Bones: Population 1280, Zola Jesus, Moon Duo, the Men and more. ordered direct.

We'll talk more later as it's late and we're expecting some seriously cool orders in the coming days. I'll do my best to keep the blog back up and running, too.

A HUGE thank you goes out to Malik, Stokes, and Shaken Stylus for their hard work with the Population 1280 "3rd anniversary show" (and to the Fatal Figures and especially White Whale for "falling on the grenade". The support is appreciated. A week later, the shop hosted Sex Church (the lp is currently sold out, but one of the coolest indie bands going right now) and we thank them for playing, Mugsy for collecting dough, the counter ladies-'risa & sam, free useage of the pa (again), Sex Church for playing and all who attended and bought stuff...it was a great night all around. We're still learning the ropes, how things are done, and how to deal with jealous jerks while maintaining class...its been a bumpy ride at times and all the help is appreciated. ArgyBargy Printing (Biff), Bit Part Buttons (Neuland)--Team Scratch for helping fill the schedule (yes, you know who you are) and YOU for reading this self indulgent shit and supporting our little shop.

More later.

anchovies 10/31/11 - 11/1/11 (whoa)