Okay we're going to squeeze a July e-mail in at the last possible moment.
The first half of the month was particularly grueling for me, because of my job. Coronavirus has really thrown us into a state of chaos, and I was pushing through 50-60 hours a week at work trying to get everything under control. I basically didn't have any time to think about punk. I was at my limits just keeping up with sending out orders.
Then the second half of the month, I unexpectedly returned to Baltimore to be there for a friend in need (and truth be told, I needed to get plugged back in to my own community and support systems for a little), Scott had a tragic turn of events with his family that occupied all his attention, and suddenly all this records stuff feels really distant and unimportant. Guess it's like that sometimes.
But nonetheless, I return back to Minneapolis this weekend and will get back into the groove of buying and selling, shipping and receiving. Life will eventually stabilize again. Records are still cool even if they're not always the most important thing at a given moment.
An unrelated thing I want to highlight. In my social group, lately we've all been talking about the historic victory in Seattle for the Tax Amazon movement. You can read a quick generic news article about it here, but basically there was enough sustained public pressure that Seattle is now set to implement a new payroll tax on the highest-paying jobs at the largest corporations, with the money being used sooner for coronavirus relief efforts and later for affordable housing and Green New Deal-style job creation campaigns. Amazon fought this effort tooth and nail, and sunk a lot of resources into trying to quash it, and they did quash it on separate occasions in the past. But not this time! hahaha.
I think it's important to note that most Democrats on the City Council also fought really hard to prevent this....until public pressure gained so much strength and momentum that they had to act or risk alienating their voter base.
This is all to say, the Democratic establishment is not heroically fighting for the interests of "the people", and if we don't push and push hard for change, then change will never come.
BUT the success of Tax Amazon here proves that CHANGE IS POSSIBLE. With organized, applied, and sustained effort, we can even deal meaningful blows against something like Amazon.
Okay blah blah blah, "shut up and play a fuckin song", you've heard it all before, preaching to the choir, etc etc. Onto the new arrivals!
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JULY NEW ARRIVALS
My record of the month, if not the record of the summer, if not the record of the year for me, is the new, previously unreleased Homomilitia LP. This recording held a sort of mythological status in the back of my mind and I never really thought I'd get to hear it, so I'm thankful to be alive at a time when this sees the light of day in all its glory and splendor. A perfect slab of 90's crustcore, landing somewhere in-between Bolt Thrower and AntiSect, with all the dual-vocals, heavy raw production, outspoken politics, and killer double-bass pedal work you could want. This sold out instantly from the label but I grabbed a good stack for the USA and we still have some left.
If you're like me and Homomilitia is really getting it done for you, we got a whole slew of other crusty reissues. My personal favorite here is the Disaffect 2xLP studio discography, but I also really enjoyed hearing Hellkrusher - Wasteland Unreleased LP, a demo version of their best record that captures these songs in a more raw and loose (ie more punk!) state.
If you're tired of reissues and want something more contemporary, of course we got the latest batch of releases from labels like Distort Reality and D-Takt & Rapunk (blew through our copies of Bombanfall EP though, sorry!). But personally what caught my attention the most was Tropical Nightmare LP, a swirling effected jammed-out hardcore crusher that's a few steps ahead of any other band tackling these ideas, and CPU Rave tape, a wonderful slice of noise punk that simply warmed my heart.
And finally, I did not forget my fellow grind freaks. I know a lot of people are hyped on Meatal Ulcer EP cause Australian shit is all the rage right now, and who could object to more Sedem Minut Strachu new split 7" (there's plenty more in the works where this came from!), but personally I was absolutely blown away by the Vomi Noir LP. Sounds like the next chapter of Dead Infection - A Chapter of Accidents LP, can't ask for more than that!
For more commentary on this stuff and more, please scope our Instagram page, where we review choice new arrivals as they come. If it sounds cool when we talk about it, it'll sound even cooler when you hear it streaming on the online store, and even cooler still when you buy the record and slap it on your turntable.
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currently stuck in the corona postal vortex so keep checking back:
-the cream of the crop of classic Polish punk reissues, two of my all-time favorite records suddenly brought back into print
-Swedish d-beat out the wazoo
-Greek crust reissues galore
-all the latest and greatest from labels like FOAD Records and Adult Crash Records
-3 new releases on SPHC Records
-tons of European and Japanese fastcore and grindcore
and more more more !!
Thanks and talk more in August.
-Dan