Quick little update before I leave town.
I'll be out of town from December 18 to January 15, going back to Baltimore for my winter trip home. Anything ordered in that time will ship shortly after I return.
At the moment, between WWE on Friday night, Dillinger Four gig last night, and band practice tonight, I am very content LOL. Don't have anything on my mind to write about at this exact moment, just working along and watching anime in-between (currently quickly catching up on Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation [shut up, I swear to god this is actually good LOL] and still watching Legend of the Galactic Heroes with my parents) and trying to decide when to make my pork + green mango pickle curry because it takes awhile.
.....is what I originally wrote on Sunday, but by the next day, the United Healthcare assassin has been arrested and I am bursting with pride he's a Baltimore guy LOLLLLLL. Actually this whole situation has been very fascinating to me. For the purposes of this newsletter, I want to bob and weave through the moral argument of "murder is bad", "random street violence is not the solution" etc etc (I have mixed feelings about this and would consider this a pretty individualistic and esoteric question I'm not prepared to answer off the cuff), and focus solely on the public perception of this incident, which I think is the most interesting facet.
I think this incident has highlighted a really unexpected and unique bipartisan class consciousness that I simply no longer expect from Americans in a post-Trump world. Of course a lot of left wing types are really hyped on this whole situation (me too, I'm LOLing from here to infinity when I see UHC post on their official facebook about the assassination to the tune of 77,000+ laughing emojis from random facebook users), but I'm super fascinated by how right wing media outlets (Ben Shapiro youtube, Matt Walsh youtube) are also FULL of comments showing sympathy and encouragement for the assassin and hostility towards the CEO, in direct disagreement with the talking heads they associate with. Is the conservative base finally ready to stop worshipping the oligarchs and advocate for their own interests???? Is class war coming to a street near you???
Nah, probably not unfortunately LOL. I really think this moment of class consciousness is just that, a solitary moment, dependent on circumstance and context. I think this moment is less about class war and more about EXTREME hostility and distaste towards the health insurance industry specifically, with United Healthcare being the worst offender. Their recent knowing deployment of 'faulty' AIs set to deny as much as possible is just one example of UHC's bullshit. Personally, I'm on the team that feels United Healthcare CEO should basically be considered a mass murderer alongside arms dealers and certain politicians. Regardless of how many people agree or disagree with that take specifically, healthcare continues to be such an insanely intense political topic in the USA, but seemingly one dynamic now feels apparent: EVERYBODY. HATES. the health insurance industry.
Will this hatred coalesce into a new energy towards universal healthcare? Even though that would make sense, I doubt it, but I think that's a separate discussion LOL.
Another interesting angle to this is the media spin. SO many thinkpieces permeating mainstream media outlets like "hOw cOuLd AnYoNe Be So CaLlOuS aBoUt MuRdEr????", so much spin about "CRAZY PSYCHO KILLER COMING TO A DARK STREET NEAR YOU", and so little attention paid to the surprising bipartisan popular support for the assassin or the fascinating pop culture buildup of this individual as a modern folk hero. The media coverage of this feels very disingenuous because things like motive are, broadly speaking, so exceedingly obvious, and as such, the threat to the common person feels so exceedingly low. I've read books about and experienced first-hand how the media manipulates narrative for profit because capitalism etc etc (I see you Baltimore and Minneapolis protest movements), and I'm left wondering why the media coverage is so weirdly obtuse and slanted? I mean, I'm not actually wondering, we all know it's because the oligarchs are suddenly shaking in their boots and middle management certainly received word from up high to not frame this too straightforwardly or engage too earnestly for fear of inspiring copycat actions. I think other health insurance companies removing information about their CEOs, directors etc from their websites is proof that there is meaningful reaction behind the scenes. But also, hey, you assassinate a health insurance CEO and suddenly Blue Cross Blue Shield reverses its new policy to stop paying for anesthesia if your surgery runs longer than scheduled.
The final angle on this incident I find very interesting is the equally bipartisan reaction of "why is this oligarch guy getting so much above and beyond policework and manpower compared to the average citizen? why is there a multistate manhunt, moving heaven and earth, for a random street murder when New York City otherwise only has a like 50% clearance rate on murders, and when we see police so loathe to help the common person?" (example, the lack of police response in Uvalde school shooting). There's a feeling like, 'well police CAN solve any murder...they simply don't, unless you're getting that VIP treatment.' Of course, the left wing has always ran a narrative of separate justice systems for oligarch class v the masses, and that's the conclusion popularly arrived at here too. I just think it's interesting that suddenly everyone seems to be in agreement about this otherwise left wing talking point.
Anyway, blah blah blah, regardless of whether it's right or wrong, it's an interesting and unexpected political moment in the United States, thanks for listening to my thoughts about it.
-Dan
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DECEMBER NEW ARRIVALS
First up, the grouping of records I am most thrilled by.
A self-released repress of the third (? I guess it could be considered this) Morbo album, originally released on Cintas Pepe in 2010, out of print shortly thereafter, and very difficult to find by the 2020s. At the time, I got the record but I didn't fully appreciate its power and artistry, but the older I get, the more I grow the fuck up a little, the more I appreciate the merits of 'a good song' beyond being short/fast/loud, and Morbo got nothing but hits. Morbo is rooted in very traditional Peruvian punk, but as the best veteran bands do, they've grown into their own unique sound and character. Raw and wild, yet tuneful and catchy, a perfect PUNK. Seeing them at 4am in someone's courtyard in Lima earlier this year, whole crowd going berserk and singing along to every word of every song, was a transcendent experience and solidifies to me that Morbo is a modern classic band, absolutely one of the best in the game and totally essential listening.
And two new self-released 7"s by Tiikeri, maybe my favorite band in punk today. Again, the power of 'a good song' cannot be topped. Tiikeri's perfect blend of power-pop, 77, PUNK, simultaneously sounding totally fresh and exciting, fuck, it gets my heart racing and my ass shaking. We only got a scant handful of copies of the Japan tour 7", so act fast!
Next, a nice smorgasborg of Asian punk!Within Asia, a lot of my friends are super hyped on Klonns and their take on contemporary American hardcore style, as seen here on Klonns/Soiled Hate split 12" we restocked. And I can't help but notice too, Klonns working really hard these days, they're totally going for it! Gigging a lot in Japan, hitting Malaysia, headlining that fest in Hong Kong, fuck, great for them!
Myself, I am super hyped on a new Scumraid EP, again hard to describe without being hyperbolic but they are absolutely a modern classic, a legend in the making, and the true flagbearers of current generation 'crasher crust'. Seeing them at Kappunk this year made me feel same as when I saw them on west coast USA and before that in Singapore, before they had any records out: the clouds have parted and the light of heaven shines down on this band, it is insane how fucking good they are and I'm fortunate to be punk right now and witness this. REALLY special band.
Our copies of Hardcore Unlawful Assembly comp 12" reissue are up now, essential for Japanese hardcore fans, and we also got a box of the vinyl version of new Rebel Riot album, for me one of the most thrilling current punk bands with their metallic street/anarcho-punk style and pointed political lyrics specifically discussing their current situation in Myanmar.
We also got a handful of copies of the new So What CD and it's surreal how good it is, it's even better than the tremendous 7" from awhile back.
If you're hyped on new Scumraid EP, definitely should pick up the repress of Kinetic Orbital Strike EP if you missed it the first time around. For me, it's the best American band doing this style right now. I'm also super into this new Slan LP, meant for this to be in previous update but little mishap. I....don't think this sounds very much like Totalitar LOL, but I do think it's a perfect slice of Swedish hardcore, fast and loose and punchy. Well, maybe if you were spinning your Totalitar record at 45 instead of 33....
But I get the sense from the Discord, and band shirts I see here in Minneapolis, that more people are excited about Warcollapse new LP, which picks up right where they left off with their brutal kang "stoner crust" style. Also the Cimiterium/Slavery split 7" reminded me I saw someone with a Slavery backpatch in Los Angeles this fall and I found that really surprising LOL. Better give this record a spin and see what they know and we don't!
If brutal crust and d-beat is not brutal enough, we can up the ante with a plethora of power violence, grindcore, goregrind, death metal, etc.
But before we get fast, let's get slow. For me, the #1 record of this niche is the vinyl version of second Noizegoat album. Easily the best and most exciting slow/heavy band in the game right now from my perspective, and I'm very pleased to count them as SPHC alumni. My best friend Eric and I were talking about this in the car recently, if you're disappointed that the new Corrupted album is a dark ambient piece, then you need to grab this Noizegoat LP to get your fix.
Spinning that slow/heavy into death metal, we got some copies of the recent Anatomia/Eternal Rot split 12". I don't care about metal but even I know Japan's Anatomia are one of the modern champions of death/doom. And along those lines, I'm excited to give a spin to this recent Gravavgrav/Leprophiliac split 12". Do you remember Leprophiliac from the recent LP on RFL? Or maybe you're like me, and you know Gravavgrav as new band of Final Exit and CSSO guys?
Equally gorey, we got copies of Lymphatic Phlegm first demo tape on a 12", one of the few goregrind bands I truly love because it really sounds like weirdo alien serial killer music lol. But if you'd like something less gorey, I was really impressed by this Excreteass LP, a 2010s project band featuring an all-star cast of Japanese grind characters that only released one CD that has now finally found its way to vinyl. Totally wild rock riffing atop insane relentless blastbeating....yet it all works lol. Equally interesting to me is this Civilian Thrower/Morbid Angel Dust split 12".....cause with a name like Morbid Angel Dust, how could you not?? LOL.
And on the power violence tip, I know plenty of people are so hyped on Brain Tourniquet/Deliriant Nerve split 7", but for me, it's all about Negative Bias LP and their Hellnation/Jellyroll Rockheads sense of pop riffs with a blastbeat attack. It's like someone just KNEW what I wanted in my life.
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coming in January:
healthy stack of Outo reissues
healthy stack of new Gudon 7"
TAPES
more More MORE
Thanks and talk more later.
-Dan