New Arrivals

Picked up some new records today. First on this list, but last chronologically is the new AFI, "Crash Love." Keeping this one short and sweet, it's a flashy full cover gatefold cover, with lyrics on the inside. Despite being a gatefold, it's a single LP pressed at 180G. Controversial opinion: "Decemberunderground" > "Crash Love". But I will maintain that Medicate is better than Miss Murder (which sucks).

Earlier in the day I met up with Ian Manhire, the busy man behind Going Gaga, who also plays with amazing local acts The Sedatives and The White Wires (probably other bands I'm not aware of as well). He's probably gonna read this and wonder why these band names aren't in caps. I got two LPs off him, the first is The Sedatives new LP, which is eponymous. Despite this band being local to Ottawa, they don't keep things local. In other markets, they just played a Euro tour, which I heard was a surprisingly great success from their guitarist Emmanuel, who happens to run a great blog about Ottawa happenings. For this tour they also released a 7" on a German label, Taken By Surprise records. Go get this screened cover 7" from Vertigo like I did. I'm off track though, because I'm supposed to be talking about their LP, which was released by Deranged out of Vancouver. In my opinion, Deranged is one of the best labels to put out punk in the last 5 years or more. With a roster including Fucked Up, Brutal Knights, Career Suicide, Statues and Nitad, you know they didn't pick up Sedatives by mistake. This LP rips, but there's nothing too special about the release itself to talk about in this forum.











Secondly, is the Going Gaga comp. This is a compilation of 15 Ottawa bands, put out by a local label. If this were to get any more local they'd have to form a union or something. Anyway, this comp is no crock. Some may be dissuaded by the fact that its a local comp, especially those from other cities, probably with the logic that the bands were picked based on their geography rather than their tunes. 50 of these are in Germany now, and if that doesn't change anyone's mind, as of writing this, I'm nearing the end of side A, and like The Sedatives LP, it rules. Stand out tracks on the A side are going to the Sedatives (Quel surprise...) and the Million Dollar Marxists. Anyway, Ian and his label obviously put a lot into this. It's different from other comps because it is all new exclusive songs, recorded on the same gear by the same people, so it has great flow. Secondly, the packaging is done with a total DIY feel, but it works great. A sheet of paper glued on each side to a blank sleeve. Hand numbered out of 300; awesome. Finally, the finishing touch -- a zine where each page was done by one of the contributing bands. Best page goes to Botched Suicides. 15 copies of this are left with Ian, so get your hands on one of the last copies or else you'll have to find one at a used record store in Germany. It's listed as Volume 1 though, so maybe he'll bless us with a second next year.

Finally I wanted to point out that according to the label sleeve, 12 of the 15 bands have a "the" name. But really I think Suppositories and Fucking Machines would get a "the" as well, meaning only one band, Uranium Comeback" lacks such a moniker. A sign of the times? A Going Gage conspiracy? A coincidence?

PS - Side B is great so far too.

It's My First Time

The first record I ever bought was the UK press of "Girl's not Grey" by AFI, released on Dreamworks, with some involvement by Nitro, in 2003. This single was apparently the less rare version of the two singles released for the song, even though it was a UK import. The B side was a live cover of "The Hanging Garden" by The Cure. Finally, it was poetically pressed on a marble grey vinyl.

I bought it in 2004, online at Interpunk, shortly after moving across the country. Right before I moved, my neighbor died and his widow had given me his record player. I had been talking about how I had wanted to get into records. This desire stemmed from my love of AFI, and seeing their rich past in the record world, mostly through self-released hardcore 7"s. I also remember seeing pre-orders for The Newfits - Project 1950 and making a connection between punk rock culture and records. Luckily I never got the horrible Newfits album, but I still stand by AFI.

Anyways, after moving, and getting this 7", I excitedly played it on my unused record player (which would turn out to be a huge piece of crap. The belt always slipped off and I'd have to take it apart to replace the belt on the drive.) which didn't have any speakers connected to it. I don't know what I was expecting without speakers, but I was enamoured just watching it spin, and was surprised to hear the cartridge emitting a little bit sound itself. I hooked it up to my 5 disc CD player and played it through the AUX input, which was quiet but satisfying. In a new city without any friends or connections, I felt grounded by this record.

This record would also fuel my want to collect records, rather than just own records. This was based on the fact that even before buying it, I knew it was special as it was advertised as Limited Edition. I felt as though I was getting something in line with the Dork 7". I became part of a devoted, specialized fanbase, which I would value considering the new status AFI received with Sing the Sorrow (the beginnings of a pretentious asshole it seems). This feeling would be repeated with my second purchase, Tiger Army's "Ghost Tigers EP". I randomly found Vertigo Records while exploring downtown for my first time and purchased it mostly due to a sticker proclaiming it to be limited to 3000 copies. Before my first 7" I didn't even realize vinyl could be coloured, and the variety of what was out there suddenly became much vaster. Likewise for the "Ghost Tigers" EP, picture discs and 10"s were all new concepts to me, and the culture of record collecting began to unfold in front of me.

Once again, my own scan.

Edit: there used to be an incredibly comprehensive website that hosted all of AFI's discography and pressing information, once again similar (but far beyond) to misfitscentral, but I guess it has changed or is down, because I can't figure out the new site which is a forum.