May 2024 New Arrivals

Posted by -Kamikaze Dan on 5/27/2024
Hello world,

First, housekeeping.
I know I've been running slow over here. I apologize, my day job is still taking all my time and focus and that'll continue until July. Thanks in advance for your continued patience and understanding.
Since some people have asked, just to clarify:
Shipping still going to be slow for the time being.
You will receive an automated e-mail with tracking info when your order ships.
I know with the stock being added a little at a time and the orders flooding in, maybe that's inconvenient, so if you're so inclined to make multiple orders, bless you, I do notice and I will consolidate and I will refund the extra shipping when your order ships.

Lately there are three things I'm most hyped on:

1. Big breakfast! This week I've been having steak and eggs for breakfast every morning and it's been damn near transformational. I'm so fuckin energized for the rest of the day, basically don't even need lunch. I hit the gym full of power and vigor, and generally just feel great.
It's interesting, as I grow older, I've found that most conventional logics and ideas about human relationships and about "the market" have just been completely wrong based on my own lived experiences, but the conventional logics and ideas about health have been completely RIGHT. Turns out exercise really does help with your mental health. Turns out you really do need to lift from your legs. Turns out breakfast really is the most important meal of the day.
Also curious because this is hardly the first time I'm eating steak and eggs for breakfast but normally the effects aren't as pronounced as they've been this week. So I know this is just one part of a larger set of factors: that I'm surprisingly happy lately, the cumulative effects of the gym, spring is here!, CPAP machine, etc etc.
I try to keep a pretty broad and varied diet so next week I'm moving on to a different breakfast but I'm going to keep this knowledge in mind.

2. Frieren: Beyond Journey's End. This is an anime show that was recommended to me by so many different people over the last few months, came up multiple times on tour last fall from casual anime fans and hardcore nerds alike, from both Japanese and American viewers, from total strangers to my best friends.
I'm finally watching it and it is NOT what I was expecting lol.
Normally I am thinking popular, trendy shows tend to be so exciting and gripping. Attack on Titan, Jojo's Bizarre Adventure, Death Note. Big action and big drama. I love it too!
And Frieren is the exact opposite lol. Its thematic exploration of the passage of time, aging, maturity, it's something that resonates deeply with me in my late 30s as I begin to grow older than other people around me. Its execution is so delicate, so sensitive, so precious yet grounded, so earnest but not melodramatic or corny at all. I'm totally in love with it, it's EXACTLY the kind of thing I'm into, but I wouldn't have guessed it'd garner such broad attention.
It has "vibe" and thoughtfulness like Mushishi, Kino's Journey, Girls Last Tour, Haibane Renmei (some of my all-time favorite television and not too many shows are able to achieve it), but without any of the abstraction, it's very easy to approach. It's humble and precious like Haibane Renmei but can sprint into action and excitement like Kino's Journey. It's soft-spoken yet lets itself be goofy in ways that actually build the vibe and character dynamics, the best parts of Yuru Camp. It's wholesome and poignant like Ranking of Kings but a bit more developed and mature in its worldviews. Since I'm just namedropping, Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken too. 
I think, if you were to watch a token GREAT anime show last year, clearly it should have been Vinland Saga s2. And if you are going to watch your token 1 GREAT anime show of 2024, clearly it should be Frieren: Beyond Journey's End.

3. upcoming Kato LP, this band made a big impression on me in St Louis and I'm really thrilled by them, hear they're working on an LP and I'm sure this is gonna be the American punk record of the year for me.

Okay, speaking of records...

-Dan

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MAY NEW ARRIVALS   
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       
First up, 1 new release on Believe in Punk and 2 new releases on SPHC.

On Believe in Punk, a domestic American pressing of the debut Ye.Stem LP. I wrote a very heartful description for it so I won't wax poetic here too, I'll just say this record was a serious grower for me. I wasn't sure how to feel about it when I first heard it, but it simply had that indescribable 'something' that kept me coming back, and by now it's been a huge part of my life's soundtrack for the last year or so. Ye.Stem is the new iteration of the legendary Post Regiment, one of my all-time favorite bands, and I think any Post Regiment fans will want to hear this.

On SPHC, the debut Crepuscular Dawn LP, my favorite younger Filipino band. They are playing goth/post-punk, but with warmth and lushness and energy that belies the summer heat and having the most beautiful beaches in the world in their country LOL. Hearing my walrus brother sing like that really stirs my soul, his iconic dance moves are the bonus LOL.

SPHC also went in on this collectively released split 7" between my favorite Malaysian band and a brutal Swedish crusty hardcore band. Because Borhan loves Scandi hardcore and, in my world, whatever Borhan wants, Borhan gets LOLLLLLL. I fucking love Osmantikos and they are a band whose style and worldview really closely aligns with mine. 


Speaking of southeast Asia, we got plenty more Malaysian and Filipino hardcore where those came from. We got a great spread of contemporary Malaysian punk, from heavy and epic like Nightjar EP, to something more immediate and rocking like the UK82 influenced Benzoate EP, to something properly brutal and crusty like Angkara LP. And if you just want ye olde classics, we got copies of Dead Ends reissue LPs, I've been SO HYPED for these ever since Emman mentioned them to me years back and while the wait was long, it was worth every second. I'm told that Dead Ends - Second Coming LP is the official "second best Filipino punk record of all time", and I'm inclined to agree.

But I actually think the biggest sleeper hit from this part of the world is this Vampire LP from Australia. A flawless genre exercise of the Conflict school of anarcho-punk. For me, this is the best anarcho-punk type record since the 1981 7"s.


From Europe, we really focused in on eastern Europe.

First, I want to zoom in on these three Rejestracja LPs. Similar to Dead Ends, this is something I've been waiting many years to see happen, and I couldn't be more thrilled. Especially Kontrola LP, I've been dreaming about this since I first heard "Nowa Generacja" on the Victim of a Safety Pin comp 12" when I was in high school. Rejestracja is one of the great legends of Polish punk, a fantastic early hardcore band without much official recorded documentation. To have all this stuff be easily available now, I mean first the Radegast demos on a 12" and now these? Filip would be really happy lol.

My bandmate was telling me the other day that this first Yegor I Opizdenevshiye LP is his favorite Russian punk record, a fine choice but I'd go for the second album. Maybe it's a weird take but this is my favorite Yegor Letov project. But hell, we're the kind of guys that could listen to an Yegor Letov acoustic 2xLP and get a lot out of that too.
A note on the Russian stuff, yes it is very expensive this time around, because it was very expensive to acquire, very difficult. Well, I imagine the regulars already know, I am not marking up prices by very much because I still believe that punk should be this way, so please consider that the high prices are because of the very real high costs involved.
Another note on the Russian stuff, obviously I am not in support of Russian imperialism etc but I do believe that government is a separate entity from its population below it, and punks supporting punks is not going to be driving the war machine in my opinion.

From Hungary, I thought there'd be some interest in these two comps that cover a wide spread of underground punk-type styles with a focus on the artistic voices of women in the Hungarian underground. But, I'm actually kinda more keen on this Trottel reissue 2xLP, a minor classic of 90s eastern Euro hardcore....and hooo boy does this thing sound 90s as fuck LOL. 

And finally, we can all shuffle out those old bootlegs, there's now an official reissue of Buka I Urlik comp LP! Pumped!!!


Across the pond, we got a huge spread of current crust crushers. Siege Fire LP is gaining momentum, and I agree, this record is fan-fucking-tastic, best American band to tackle this specific sound in a bit. Myconid's pulverizing stench bulldoze left a huge impression on me when I saw them last fall, so I can't wait to dig into the Myconid demo tape. I hear Jail EP is coming to Minneapolis this summer so I guess I better get hip to them now. 

But of course, for me, summertime means power violence hardcore and USHC styles. PHC discography 2xLP is a perfect summer soundtrack, as is this Man is the Bastard/Pink Turds in Space split 12", another reissue that brings a big big smile to my face. Or, if you're looking for something more contemporary, may I suggest this Lazer Bullet EP??? 


Going south of the border, for me the biggest release of the moment is this Agravio EP, their 2023 summer tour tape put onto vinyl, thank god lol. After running around with them in Canada and witnessing how much they'd grown since the 7" on SPHC and how much potential they had yet unrealized, this was the most exciting band in the game to me. We shook hands on an LP and started planning for it so I let this 7" kinda slide by me and into the hands of someone else. And now they're on hiatus LOL WHOOPS. Agravio LP the kinda thing I'm still going to be daydreaming about years down the line.

Also worth noting are new records from veteran bands. Puerto Rico's primary hardcore export Tropiezo return with a new LP that's a little more "hard" and less "core" than their earlier manic thrash. And Terror y Miseria have a new LP after like 20 years??? wtf lol. I guess I was more a Migra Violenta guy when it comes to 00s Argentina anarchist hardcore but I did find this new Terror y Miseria LP a very refreshing listen. 

But generally speaking, I am more of a toopa-toopa guy, so I am flipping my wig for the incredible Ediondo LP and for the cult classic Kagada de Perro reissue LP


Back to the Pacific, of course we got boxes and boxes of Japanese punk, hardcore, metal over here. 

If you want PUNK stuff, for me it's all about the new Black and White LP, feels like this band is pumping out records like crazy these days and that's fine by me because they're all top-tier. I know there's also some attention on Vertigos debut LP, a terrific garagey PUNK record featuring Scumraid personnel. 

For the HARDCORE, all I can say is, Janky discography LP has been expanded. =)

For METAL, we carried the CD version of this new Military Shadow mini-album and now it's out on vinyl too, fuck yeah. For me, this is one of the best bands in the world right now. "Metalpunk" perfected. I'm also very into this Sex Virgin Killer 7" single, a name I've seen around plenty of times but had never really sat down and listened to. They've got the very traditionally Japanese punky metal style of Gastunk, Poison, etc, but with a clear influence of goth and visual kei that seriously sets them apart.


Speaking of boxes of Japanese records, that includes all the latest Alchemy Records reissues. I know there's a lot of anticipation for this live Stalin LP, and you may think my big thing would be this weird ass Hatsunekaidan collection LP....and you wouldn't be wrong LOLLLL.....but....actually....

I am most excited about this 90's Masonna LP reissue. Punishing, deranged, INTENSE, one of the gods of noise in his prime. I'm but a casual fan of harsh noise type stuff, but I did see Masonna at Bears in Osaka along the way and it was incredible. Essential release if you're into this kind of stuff.

Also we got more copies of SS live LP


And finally, speaking of metal....we got some metal records LOL. I can't really comment too much on this stuff but I thought Schizo LP was a fun listen and Incinerator LP is a proper rager too. 

Unrelated to metal LOL, plenty of wacked out raw synth tapes from Castra Records up in there too. Pasivni Posmatraci Prirode tape is great of course, I already knew Yugoslavia had a rich scene for this style of music, but Art Fact tapes are brand new to me and I'm excited to dig into them.

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coming in June/July:
4 new SPHC releases
GRIND GRIND GRIND GRIND
more Euro crustyness
more Japanese punk and hardcore

more More MORE

Thanks and talk more later.

-Dan