***Sorry State presents the first release from Chaos OK, a new band featuring Nick Goode (from Logic Problem, Brain Flannel, and Joint D≠) on guitar and vocals, another Sorry State alumnus in Corey Long (drummer of the almighty Bukkake Boys,) and Eric from Atlanta's mysterious and elusive Loverman project. Nick’s expressionistic guitar style, informed equally by Hendrix, Kawakami, and the guy from Tampax, warmly returns to the label throughout these five tracks. The torrent of feedback and treble on the opener, “a rithm,” instantly recalls Joint D≠ at their most explosive; now fused with Corey & Eric's crushing rhythms, we're gifted an acutely weaponized bombast. While the tape starts with a hailstorm of chaotic energy, the latter three tracks brood, swerve, surge, and seethe, the cycles of tension and release as powerful and inevitable as the weather (the leather). Songs about seeing the trees for the forest—the brutally xeroxed repetition of the dissolving future, templated expression, grotesque oversaturation, when what used to excite you does not. Lamentations of the modern dance, the sounds of smuggling punk with you into your late 30s. As in their past projects, these guys continue to machete their way through the thickets, hungrily stumbling onto weird and new directions in raging, articulate hardcore.
MC $9.75
06/26/2024
***Following up their Lukko cassette from 2021, Sorry State presents the debut vinyl from Joensuu, Finland’s Valtatyhjiö. While Valtatyhjiö takes inspiration from furious 80s Finnish hardcore punk, they don’t allow reverence for the classics to box in their sound, crafting a unique and instantly identifiable blend of hardcore, punk, metal, and rock and roll. The title track leads off Kuristusleikki by going straight for the jugular, but by the second song, “Petoksen Messias,” the scope widens, bringing in black metal touches and double bass drumming, the creative and tasteful deployment of which is a hallmark of Valtatyhjiö’s sound. On the b-side, “Viilto Kerrallaan” has a big riff and a rock-and-roll swing, while “Riite” closes the EP on an ominous note, sounding like a more hateful version of label-mates Zorn. Like Zorn, Valtatyhjiö’s music floats between hardcore, punk, and metal seamlessly and organically. While those genres can feel like they’ve been done to death, Valtatyhjiö finds their voice in the spaces between and across them, their originality granting them direct access to the intensity at this music’s core.
7" $11.00
06/26/2024
***Woodstock 99 follows up 2022’s Super Gremlin with another deep dive into Cleveland’s hallucinogen-soaked hardcore underbelly. While Woodstock 99 typically delights in obliterating your expectations, you could get through almost the whole A side of 99 Ta Life thinking they’ve made a conventional (for them, at least) hardcore punk record. And their hardcore chops have only sharpened since Super Gremlin, with brilliant, memorable riffs, powerful and confident playing, and uniquely demented vocals. However, even at their most straightforward, you never know where Woodstock 99’s songs will go, darting between parts in ways that surprise you on the first listen, but sound perfectly natural once you’ve acclimated to the group’s cracked logic. While that logic colors the hardcore tracks on the A side, on the B side, Woodstock 99 charges headlong into the void. “99 Problems” is a psychedelic ramble that wanders through a succession of modes before a sudden explosion brings the track to an abrupt end. Closer “Za Rat King” is the masterpiece, though, an eight-minute journey composed and performed with the assistance of artificial intelligence where a hooky four-bar phrase haunts a glitched-out universe encompassing a dizzying parade of genres and musical traditions. Like a lot of Woodstock 99’s music, it really interrogates the boundary between genius and idiocy. So strap in, grab Woodstock 99’s hand, and follow as they lead us even further down the rabbit hole.
LP $21.95
04/26/2024
***Ahead of the band’s US tour in spring 2024, Sorry State presents a US pressing of the second album from Saint Étienne, France’s Deletär. When Kick Rock and Destructure released these tracks in May 2023, the worldwide raw punk underground’s response was a resounding FUCK YES! Taking inspiration from Totalitär, Skitkids, and Herätys, Deletär alternates between maximum-tempo fury and grooving, mid-tempo head smashers, but no matter the BPM, the intensity is always through the roof. The riffs are the centerpiece, heavy and raging, but so catchy you’ll be humming them in the shower the morning after your late-night käng party. Alongside the top-notch riffage, Deletär’s songs are anchored by infectious shouted choruses and scorching twin guitar leads spring from every nook and cranny. The playing is way in the pocket, with a beastly kick drum that sounds like an enormous door slamming in the depths of hell. It’s one of those records where everything comes together seamlessly, its great songs, huge production, and commanding performance making Deletär’s second album a clear high-water mark in contemporary hardcore punk.
LP $21.95
02/16/2024
***After a few outstanding cassettes on the Stucco and Impotent Fetus imprints, Sorry State presents the first vinyl from Olympia, Washington’s Fugitive Bubble. While Fugitive Bubble’s raw production, hyperactive drumming, and ragged delivery root them in the world of DIY punk and hardcore, their music hearkens back to a time when hardcore’s boundaries weren’t so clear. The faster bands on Dangerhouse—Rhino 39, the Eyes, the Bags—are an obvious reference point since Fugitive Bubble shares those groups’ scratchy guitar sounds and big chorus hooks. But Fugitive Bubble also evokes classic punk in their willingness to push at the edges of their sound with moments like the wistful closing section of the otherwise furious “Chicken Head,” the brooding “Magic Switch” (which has shades of Paganicons-era Saccharine Trust), and “Motorcycle Slop,” the evocative instrumental that closes Delusion. Fugitive Bubble’s music is suffused with the thrill of discovery, their loose yet assured delivery gluing everything together as they explore a wide range of musical moods and colors, particularly for a 45rpm 12” operating primarily at blistering tempos. With Delusion, Fugitive Bubble will win over anyone who loves great songs played fast and wild.
LP $21.95
02/16/2024
***With previous releases on Total Punk, Drunken Sailor, and Neck Chop, many of you know Knowso. Maybe you’re even familiar with Cruelster and Perverts Again, projects that share members and sensibilities with Knowso. As for the rest of you, some percentage will hear fifteen seconds of Pulsating Gore and decide it’s not for you. (You’re missing out.) Knowso is too quirky, too nerdy… they don’t rock. But if you have a soft spot for angular rhythms, they’ll pull you in. From there, Pulsating Gore has layers to peel back. Its music is intricate, dense with notes delivered quickly and precisely, layered into interlocking patterns that brim with organic tension. The vocals are not really singing, but memorable nonetheless… a kind of purposefully forceful, yet emotionally detached incantation. And then there are the lyrics, which quick-cut between cryptic images, cracked and fragmented slogans, violent premonitions, and austere documentation of drudgery, words and phrases repeating as their meaning throbs in time with the music. Much of the imagery comes from singer / guitarist / bassist / artist Nathan Ward’s day job as a trucker: roads, highway stops, caffeinated beverages, gory accidents, etc. The images have a darkly psychedelic quality, relating to Nathan’s preoccupation with the ideal of reality “glitching,” a topic Knowso explores both musically and lyrically throughout the album. Also informing Pulsating Gore is Nathan’s intense but ultimately futile struggle to unionize his workplace, with many of the album’s lyrics reading as abstruse but biting analyses of work, labor, and capital....
LP $21.95
02/16/2024
***Like their self-titled debut from 2020, Mutant Strain’s second album, Murder of Crows, is a hardcore tsunami. Mutant Strain’s songs are so intense and delivered at such inhumanly fast tempos you’ll spend your first few listens to Murder of Crows scooping your jaw off the floor and locating your newly missing teeth. But speed and volume aren’t the entire story. Much of Mutant Strain’s explosiveness comes from the density of their songs, each of which seems to cram a full album’s worth of music into a highly compressed thrill ride. The riffs never stop moving, careening like subatomic particles around an unstable uranium isotope. But while Mutant Strain flirts with the edge of meltdown, the formidable rhythm section always stays locked into the groove. That’s why, unlike most bands that play at these speeds, at their gigs, the crowd doesn’t stand around waiting for the breakdown (also because there are no breakdowns). Mutant Strain’s shows look like Hieronymus Bosch paintings: piles of writhing, possessed bodies with vocalist Maryssa hovering over the chaos like a demonic overlord. Murder of Crows is bathed in that same ecstatic energy, so turn it up loud and hang on tight. Like Mutant Strain’s first album, the vinyl edition of Murder of Crows offers a wealth of visual stimulation to match the aural assault, including front and back cover illustrations by Jack Sabbat, a double-sided poster insert, illustrated lyric booklet, and other fun surprises.
LP $21.95
02/16/2024
***Nashville, Tennessee’s G.U.N. roars onto vinyl with their debut full-length for Sorry State. Hearkening back to the glory days of the early No Way, Grave Mistake, and Sorry State catalogs—the band features two members of No Way Records’ Life Trap—G.U.N. lives where the hardcore underground meets the criminal underworld. While G.U.N.’s music evokes Koro’s lightning-speed intricacy and the Adolescents’ surfy hooks, the lyrics describe a sick, sad world that takes Black Flag’s “No Values” as philosophical truth, imbuing G.U.N.’s sound with a palpable sense of desperation. Charismatic vocalist Nico Arambatzis can summon Damaged-era Henry’s primal howl one second, then in the next hit a magical note that transforms a song into an anthem, pushing standout tracks like “A Prisoner’s Tale,” “Sadist Faction,” and the epic closer “Sick Sad World” well beyond your standard bash-and-crash. Guitarist Connor Cummins (whom you might know from his other projects Snooper and Spodee Boy) is similarly dynamic, crafting whirlwind riffs and leads that are as powerful and as unpredictable as afternoon thunderstorms in the sticky southern summer. It all adds up to a classic-sounding hardcore punk record bursting with energy and dripping with hooks.
12" $21.95
09/22/2023
***When White Stains guitarist Eric Montanez (who also did time in Government Warning, Direct Control, Blood Pressure, Sickoids, and many others) moved back home to Raleigh, North Carolina in 2021, it wasn’t long before he was playing with some of the area’s best musicians, recruiting Alex Greenberg from Mutant Strain on drums and Scarecrow / Public Acid guitarist Jeff Young on bass. When the trio invited White Stains vocalist Keith Caves on board—even though he lives in Pittsburgh, 500 miles from the band’s home base—Meat House was born. After a handful of rehearsals and a couple of low-key gigs, in December 2022 Meat House spent a couple hours laying down seven tracks with the Shaved Ape, who recorded them live with the same 4-track setup he uses to produce his own recordings. The results, a loose and lethal homage to the filthiest, fastest, and catchiest early 80s US hardcore punk, could have easily fit on a 7”, but the band decided to cut them loud on a 45RPM 12” with a ton of dead wax in homage to records like Black Flag's Jealous Again or Battalion of Saints' Fighting Boys. Nothing about this record is precious or overwrought… it’s just seven raw blasts of go-for-the-throat American hardcore punk.
12" $21.95
09/22/2023
***"Here at Sorry State we were huge fans of Illiterates’ debut LP, and when the Pittsburgh band offered to let us release the follow-up, we jumped at the chance to climb into bed with the self-described 'dumbest band in hardcore.' No Experts is a scorching follow-up to the self-titled debut, with even faster, shorter, and tougher songs, plus catchy gang vocals that, along with vocalist Lawson’s rabid cat delivery, recall Youth of Today at their most primal. While No Experts is about as straightforward as hardcore can get, Illiterates’ way with a tune makes tracks like 'Tricks of the Trade,' 'Nice Things,' and 'Weather Capital' hard to dismiss as anything like 'generic thrash.' Another track is called 'As Old As You Feel,' and No Experts makes me feel like a teenager, exploding hormones and a frustratingly short attention span ensuring that music this loud, fast, and action-packed is the only thing that makes sense in this world." Black vinyl, lyric insert, 24"x36" poster, and download card included.
LP $21.95
04/14/2023
***Sorry State is excited to bring you a repress of one of the best hardcore records ever, Koro's 1983 7" EP. Originally released in a small, self-released pressing, over the decades this monster's reputation has continued to grow, and collectors now have to fork over well over a grand for an original pressing. This one is too good for the scum to keep to themselves, though, a hyper-compact explosion of energy that can hold its own next to any landmark early 80s hardcore punk record you want to compare it to. Sorry State's 2023 pressing aims to replicate the original look and feel of the original as closely as possible, with an offset-printed sleeve on legal size paper. It's as close as you can get to the original without missing a mortgage payment.
7" $9.75
04/14/2023
***Finally, the long-awaited debut album from Philadelphia’s Zorn. While Zorn’s theatrical, (literally) scorching live shows are the stuff of legend, it would be a grave mistake to think the chaos they summon is all about the flaming swords, makeup, and leather corsets. Like Alice Cooper and David Bowie before them, Zorn knows you gotta have the songs to back up the image. Zorn’s metal-punk draws on death rock melody, intricate thrash riffing, and the bulldozing power of Discharge-inspired hardcore bands, but the songs are as infectious as they are intense. As with early Metallica, tracks like “Already Dead” and “Delco Devil Mosh” are built on memorable melodies that, in another time and place, might have formed the backbone of a killer glam rock single. I’m happy with my current reality, though, where Zorn is the kind of band who puts a devil standing atop a pile of flaming skulls on the cover of their album. Each copy comes with a full-size poster, sticker, lyric insert, and download.
LP $21.95
04/14/2023
***Sorry State presents a US pressing of H.I.C. Systeemi’s Perälä-nauhat 1981-1983 cassette, originally released on the archival label Finnish HC late in 2020. Perälä-nauhat 1981-1983 collects early rehearsal recordings by this underrated hardcore band from Ylivieska, Finland. Don’t let the fact that these are rehearsal recordings scare you… the recordings sound excellent and the band is on fire throughout. Anyone with an appreciation for fast, complex, and memorable 80s-style hardcore punk will have no problem enjoying this, but if you’re familiar with 80s Finnish hardcore or H.I.C. Systeemi’s other recordings, all the better. These recordings predate H.I.C. Systeemi’s lone studio album by several years, and include 6 previously unheard tracks that never got recorded in a proper studio.
MC $9.75
03/03/2023
***Kuluttava Kone, the 2020 cassette from Sirkka, has been in constant rotation at Sorry State since it came out, and when the opportunity arose to release Sirkka’s debut record, we couldn’t say yes fast enough. While Sirkka began as a two-person recording project based in New York, on Viivyttely they’ve expanded to a four-piece lineup, albeit one whose members are now spread across the US east coast and Leipzig, Germany. Vocalist Sanja’s commanding snarl serves as further evidence that Finnish is the best language for hardcore punk, while the band draws from their roots in early 80s New England hardcore and their fascination with 80s Finnish punk, creating a unique sound that fuses the former’s brute force to the latter’s subtle sense of melody. It’s like Jerry’s Kids, SSD, Rattus, and Kaaos in one giant pigpile. Five tracks of hardcore punk that crackle with intensity.
7" $9.75
03/03/2023
***Sorry State is proud to present the debut vinyl from Philadelphia’s ICD10. Featuring members of Philly heavyweights like Fuckin’ Lovers and Poison Ruin, ICD10 sounds like they’ve soaked up 40 years of hardcore history and are sweating it out into a battered denim jacket covered in rusted studs and faded band logos. Swirling around ICD10’s tornado of noise, I hear the anthemic anarcho-hardcore of Final Conflict and the Iconoclast, the total noise approach of 80s Kyushu punk, the off-kilter artiness of early 2010s New York, and Gudon’s marriage of heaviness and musicality. ICD10’s vocals are bathed in noise and effects, but rather than the uniform delay effect most hardcore bands employ, there are a range of effects that sometimes cascade across the manic riffing and sometimes lock in with it, creating jagged looping effects that evoke a crumbling technological dystopia. Lyrically, ICD10 combines Crass’s political astuteness with Poison Idea’s nihilism; the world is fucked, the system is rigged, and the only momentary respite is in tasting the void. Faith in Institutions is an unrelentingly bleak record, but it channels its hopelessness into an original and compelling take on hardcore punk. Includes a lyric insert, 11”x17” poster, and download card.
LP $21.95
01/20/2023
***Spikes+ is an expanded edition of ISS’s pandemic-themed 2020 cassette, whose uniquely packaged, self-released edition came and went before most anyone could hear about it. With some of ISS’s best songs—like the anthemic title track, the unexpectedly touching "Cellmate,” and the blistering “Facemask”—Sorry State couldn’t bear to let Spikes pass as a mere blip in the zeitgeist. Besides the five tracks from the original Spikes cassette, Spikes+ includes “Puttin’ on the Blitz” from 2016’s Studs cassette, 2018’s self-titled 7” on Sorry State, ISS’s three tracks from 2019’s American Idylls compilation, and the 2020 single Too Punk for Heavy Metal. Highlights abound here too, from the cowbell-infused “One-Sided Triangle” to the Agent Orange-inspired lead guitar on “I Wanna Be Dated” (courtesy Scarecrow’s Jeff Leppard). Like the best odds-n-sods compilations, Spikes+ sounds great whether you’re revisiting old favorites or making new ones. Spikes+ comes with a lyric insert, 24”x36” poster, and download card.
LP $21.95
01/20/2023
***Both of HÜSTLER's cassette releases for Sorry State Records sold out almost instantly, so compiling those two cassettes for Hüstler’s first vinyl record was a no-brainer. Hüstler burst through the gate on their first tape with one of the most distinctive voices in the contemporary underground, smashing together elements of punk, death rock, and metal into a sound that is both anthemic and intense. Their second tape only upped the ante, widening their stylistic scope while leaning into the crowd-pleasing choruses and mosh parts. We’re very proud to present Hüstler’s early years on the format that matters."—Sorry State. The first pressing of Hüstler’s self-titled LP is 500 copies with a full-color jacket, full-color insert, and 24”x36” poster insert.
LP $21.85
07/08/2022
***"INVALID's cassette-only debut, Do Not Resuscitate, came out on their hometown label Cruel Noise Records early in 2020 and, for me, it was love at first listen. Invalid plays hardcore in the tradition of Black Flag’s Damaged, deploying sophistication and craft not to show off, but as tools that allow them to go further and deeper as they exorcise their demons. Invalid’s bulldozer intensity is the first thing that grabs you, but the great riffs and songs keep you coming back, every track containing an improbable hook like the martial chant of 'Wake up / eat / shit' in 'This Life,' the primal howl of 'wasting away' in the chorus to 'Escape,' or the instant-classic intro riff to 'Stupid Pills.' Fans of records like Direct Control’s first 7”, C.O.C.’s Eye for an Eye, and Unseen Force’s In Search of the Truth are perhaps best primed to appreciate Invalid’s punishing yet catchy and energetic style of hardcore. This self-titled LP contains all eight tracks from Do Not Resuscitate plus six new ones cast from the same mold."—Sorry State. First pressing of 500 copies includes a lyric insert and poster.
LP $21.85
07/08/2022
***"Everyone has to swallow the world’s shit, but Cleveland’s WOODSTOCK 99 regurgitates it in technicolor. Their nihilistic and antagonistic take on hardcore punk can recall the Kings of Punk in their prime, but this band is too fucked up to focus on their rage… sometimes they’d rather wander away after a psychedelic riff or poke around in the trash for scraps of 90s pop culture. On Super Gremlin, Woodstock 99 examines the void from all angles, and while it might look frightening or intimidating from some vantage points, from other angles all you can do is laugh. One pill turns you into Jerry A (“La Casa De Fuck You”), and one pill lands you at the denouement of a French noir film (“Budget Inn”), and another one summons DJ Lethal to lay down some sick scratches (“Beatboxing in Viet… Nam!!”). Down them all, chase them with a couple shots of cheap whiskey, and follow Woodstock 99 down the rabbit hole."—Sorry State. The first pressing of Super Gremlin is 500 copies with a full-color jacket, black-and-white inner sleeve, and an 8”x10” color photo print of the band.
LP $21.85
07/08/2022
***Sorry State presents New Age Record, the debut vinyl from North Carolina’s FITNESS WOMXN. Adding a synth player since their earlier cassette-only release, Macho City (Acid Etch Records), New Age Record finds one of North Carolina’s most enigmatic and exciting bands delivering on the promise of their three contributions to the American Idylls compilation earlier this year. While Fitness Womxn’s grooving post-punk / no wave-informed music might remind you of any number of historical antecedents, they don’t have the studied air of historical reenactors. Instead, their music is of the moment, not only addressing the complications, tragedies, and absurdities of post-modern life in their lyrics, but also sounding like a fleeting lightning-strike of energy, imagination, and possibility. Like the Raincoats or early Public Image, Ltd, Fitness Womxn’s songs sound like dangerous alchemical reactions, influences and emotions and ideas sometimes swirling around one another hypnotically, sometimes exploding like droplets of water hitting hot oil. For all of its ambition, though, New Age Record is as exhilarating as it is challenging, with more than enough moments of catchiness and danceability to keep you flipping it over and over.
LP $17.75
01/24/2020
***After a scorching demo and three standout contributions to the American Idylls compilation, Sorry State is proud to present the debut release from Raleigh, North Carolina’s DAS DRIP. When Das Drip went to record with KRIS HILBERT at Legitimate Business studio in Greensboro, North Carolina, they told him they wanted their record to sound like Government Issue’s Legless Bull EP. While it does sound a lot like the explosive snot-punk of early GI’s (as well as hormone overdoses like Gang Green’s This is Boston Not LA tracks or Negazione’s Tutti Pazzi EP), no one will mistake this for retro rehash. Most of Das Drip is double the age of your typical Teen Idle, and they’ve spent those years listening to and playing a lot more than just hardcore. Which isn’t to say this is “mature” either; after all, how can you call a record “mature” when its catchiest lyrics are “tapeworm hanging out your butt?” Most hardcore bands’ attempts to articulate rage and angst look like a three year old’s temper tantrum next to Das Drip’s debut, which is wilder, faster, crazier, and more intense than pretty much anything you can toss at it. Maybe Das Drip is for people who don’t like hardcore anymore because of the macho attitudes, unimaginative tunes, uninspired playing, or any number of other valid reasons. Really, though this record is perfect for anyone who wants the opposite of a Spotify playlist with the word “chill” in the title.
LP $17.75
10/18/2019
***The first and only punk band of the 21st century is back with their third full-length record. This time around the masters vomit up fourteen more half-digested bits of (punk) culture, chopping and screwing the classics in a way that perfectly articulates what it’s like to live in the dumpster fire we call 2019. As the novelty of ISS’s schtick—constructing new songs from samples of classic punk records—wears off and the project gathers the patina of maturity, Alles 3rd Gut doesn’t sound like passing of a fad, but rather the cementing of an aesthetic. With the possible exception of “Elevator Shaft” (which, incidentally, features a memorable guest vocal from MISS LADY of WARM BODIES and BB EYE), the samples on Alles 3rd Gut draw less attention to themselves, getting out of the way so as to spotlight the first-class lyrics and songwriting that have kept every ISS record glued to my turntable for months on end. Speaking of which, topics as diverse as (Barron) Trump’s America (“Barron Wasteland”), careerist musicians (“Mac N Me”), white people at the gym (“White Man in Hammer Pants”), white people in cars (“DDYSWHP”), and weird smells (“Aromatherapy”) all come under the ISS microscope. To the already converted: behold, the new scriptures have arrived. To the rest of you: welcome to the brilliantly warped world of ISS, the universe’s greatest current punk band.
LP $17.75
10/18/2019
***Sorry State is pleased to release Out Cold’s Living Is Killing Me, the band’s final statement in their legacy of pure, unadulterated hardcore punk. For the uninitiated, Out Cold is hardcore’s greatest cult band. They flew under the radar for most of their 20-year run, but for those who understand the band’s importance, Out Cold were a truth, and a benchmark for quality. During the tail-end of the 80s, there wasn’t much activity in the world of fast and raging American hardcore. Out Cold was the big exception. Out Cold’s aggression was unwavering, presaging the 80s American Hardcore obsession that flooded the US in the mid-00’s. Formed in 1989 in the town of Dracut, MA, about 30 miles northwest of Boston, Out Cold would stay true to their formula for tried-and-true 80s-style hardcore until they disbanded in 2010. While they’ve undergone several lineup changes, Out Cold's foundation has always been drummer John Evicci and guitarist/vocalist Mark Sheehan. Following 2005’s Goodbye Cruel World, John and Mark recorded drum and guitar tracks for two full-lengths worth of material before Mark’s untimely and unfortunate passing in 2010. Rather than letting these new songs fall by the wayside, the band rescued the session from the abyss with Kevin Mertens, Out Cold’s original frontman, coming in to complete the tracks. Half of these songs became 2013’s A Heated Display, the remaining half comprising Living Is Killing Me.
LP $17.75
06/07/2019
***93 releases into its catalog, Sorry State Records is finally releasing its first compilation, American Idylls. Following in the tradition of regional compilations like This is Boston, Not LA, or Dischord Records’ Flex Your Head, this carefully curated collection is a snapshot of one corner of North Carolina’s punk and hardcore scene circa 2018. The double-LP features new, exclusive tracks by ISS, Public Acid, Fitness Womxn, Scarecrow, Davidians, Natural Causes, Concussion, Cammo, Vittna, Crete, Essex Muro, Oxidant, Drugcharge, Silica, Das Drip, DE( )T, Mind Dweller, No Love, and Skemata. Packaged in a beautiful, silk-screened jacket (art by Thomas Sara) with a 32-page booklet documenting the past year of North Carolina’s DIY punk scene.
2XLP $35.95
04/12/2019
***Finally! Despite a constant, five-year presence in Raleigh, NC’s fertile DIY hardcore community, NO LOVE's recorded output seemed meager: two demo cassettes and a 7” on the Sorry State Records Singles Series. Speculating punk atrophy would be understandable, but this new record demonstrates the complete opposite. Those around for their inception watched No Love struggle with their footing, treading those awkward tween years as a snotty punk band. Once the dual guitar chemistry gelled and expanded from trading hardcore riffs to a high tension game of set-and-spike leads, the shows started getting better and tighter. That confidence bled out ELIZABETH LYNCH's guarded nervousness, which she replaced with her signature sarcastic menace. No Love’s explosive debut LP, Choke On It, has been simmering in a centrifuge and wastes no time hurling potently packed punk rock nuggets at the listener. Clocking in 13 songs at 21:12, it’s a furious listen.
LP $17.75
07/20/2018
***NOW AVAILABLE!!! The brainchild of SCOTT PLANT, formerly the vocalist for CIVIC PROGRESS, Chicago's BROKEN PRAYER are precisely what hardcore punk should be in the year 2012: aggressive, energetic, intelligent, sarcastic, and adventurous. In a scene where entire subgenres have been spawned from the influence of one band (if not one record), Broken Prayer's willingness to try anything--from stinging, straightforward hardcore to song-oriented post-punk to spastic, Screamers-inspired synth blasts--is a breath of fresh air. If all of the new school soundalike bands just aren't giving you that adrenalin rush, then this LP may restore your faith in punk.
LP $14.00
08/13/2013
***NOW AVAILABLE!!! After a quickly-released blur of tapes and 7"s, North Carolina's NO POWER unleash their debut 12" on the world. While I like their earlier stuff (which was pretty straightforward raw d-beat in the Disclose tradition), Nö Pöwer really finds their voice on this LP, fusing their Discharge-inspired approach with the heavy and dissonant sounds of ‘90s noise rock. It's an original sound, comparable to a more rock-oriented take on the experimental d-beat of recent Japanese bands like D-Clone and Zyanose, delivered with heavy production for maximum impact. This LP features gorgeous hand-made packaging, too, including hand-screened jackets and obi strips as well as hand-stamped labels and dust jackets. The 1st press is limited to 300 numbered copies.
LP $15.50
08/13/2013
***Summer is here, so that means it's time for a new LP from Raleigh, North Carolina's WHATEVER BRAINS! Like their previous two LPs for Sorry State, this new album both gives us the fix of jittery, nervous punk we've come to expect from the Brains while subtly expanding the band's sound in a number of non-obvious directions. In particular, there's a discernible dark synth-pop influence on tracks like "Yellow Death 2000" and "New Drop," and big, Brit-pop-style choruses on songs like (my personal favorite) "Bellied Up." This LP also has the band's most ambitious, layered production to date, the bright and clear mastering job from JOSH BONATI giving you equal pleasure whether you plan to blast this from your car speakers with all the windows down or take the headphone route down the Brains' sonic rabbit-hole.
LP $15.50
08/13/2013