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Smirk LP out now! | Spread Joy + Waste Man LPs just announced!
Well hey there, I see some flowers starting to bloom so it must mean this nasty winter is coming towards a close. Hopefully we're only just embarking on healthier days ahead. Well I may as well tell ya about some new records! The Smirk LP is out today, Silicone Prairie and Sweeping Promises LPs are back, and we've got new LPs from Spread Joy and Waste Man to announce, whew! Make sure to keep that scroll bar rolling - as our sister biz [Have Mercy Tees] just launched preorders for the first official Nasty Facts shirt reprint (that entirely benefits an original member dealing with insane American medical bills) AND some very hot new distro arrivals. Let's f**king rock.
Smirk - LP out now!
We just finished shipping out all of the preorders for the debut LP from LA's Smirk. Still a few of the pastel blue edition kicking around, as well as reg / longsleeve tees! If you're in the UK/EU order from Drunken Sailor Records. Here are some words on the album from Dan Goldin at Post-Trash, who premiered the very cool new animated music video for "S. Construction."
Over the past few years Nick Vicario has released great punk records, excelling at both noisy hardcore with Crisis Man and post-punk with Public Eye. During that time he’s also released a string of EPs from his solo project, Smirk. Having released a pair of cassettes in 2020, those efforts have been remastered are being released together on vinyl as the cleverly titled LP on March 5th via Feel It (Silicone Prairie, Freak Genes, The Cowboys) and Drunken Sailor Records (Itchy Self, Slimy Member, Public Eye). The music definitely leans closer to Public Eye than it does Crisis Man, but the hypnotic grooves of the former are replaced with a bit more agitation and punk experimentalism, that’s more Devo influenced than say Wire. It’s a great collection of songs that show a depth in propulsive songwriting.
The first announcement of this beautiful Bandcamp Friday is the self titled debut LP from Chicago's Spread Joy. I remember the day this record came in on submission, just being so hyped on it instantly. It's a very immediate and classic punk sound, but there are so many great No Wave subtleties to this record that appear the more you listen to it. Anyhow, the first single off Spread Joy is "Unoriginal" and it is premiering via Melted along with a Spread Joy interview! The LP will be out on April 2 - preorders are open now with a limited edition of 200 copies on lovely opaque "lemon drop" yellow vinyl.
Stream "Unoriginal" and preorder on Bandcamp or the Feel It site.
Waste Man announcement + preorders
Waste Man were incidentally one of the last bands I saw play live before the pandemic. I happened to be on a trip to New Orleans and wound up at a DIY skatepark under a bridge with a few cool beverages while watching noted Austin photographer Bill Daniel project various cool 80's punk/skateboarding related footage and photos on a makeshift screen. A band jammed for about 45 minutes instrumentally behind the projections. They were tight as hell and sounded like they had crawled out of the mid-80's SST catalog. It ended up being Waste Man, and a few months later I get an email out of the blue with the mixes of their album. One Day It'll All Be You really struck a chord with me, and is a truly original piece of work. We've got the first single up now - definitive Meat Puppets vibes on this one. Preorders open now with the first 150 on white vinyl. All copies of the LP come with a sweet hype sticker (Saints colors!) as well.
Stream "Run All Night" and preorder on Bandcamp or the Feel It site.
Waste Man - One Day It'll All Be You (TV Spot)
Nasty Facts - Drive My Car benefit t-shirts!
From our sister biz, Have Mercy Tees, comes a righteous new benefit design for KB Boyze of the legendary Nasty Facts!
Kali Boyce, KB, singer and bass player of the influential NYC late 70's power-pop outfit Nasty Facts, is facing large hospital bills and needs our monetary support! With the consent of KB, Have Mercy is doing a limited-run Nasty Facts benefit tee of the picture sleeve from the 1981 "Drive My Car" single. 100% of the proceeds will be donated directly to KB. You can also directly donate to them through Venmo @Kali-Boyce or PayPal @KaliBoyce
KB is a non-binary, two spirit queer POC who wrote and performed all three of the monster hits on this perfect single. Outside of being a punk legend who paved the way for queer & trans BIPOC rockers, they also are a Co-Founder of the Bay Area based intergenerational arts organization, Queer Rebels, focused on QTPoC filmmakers, performance and literary artists (find out more at www.queerrebels.org). Show your love and support for this incredible person and get a rad tee in the process!
All tees will be printed black ink on ivory (off white) tees. Pre-orders open for two weeks starting 3/4/2021-3/19/2021
new distro arrivals
For the folks that dig the distro, there are some pretty nice new arrivals of late.
Lots of punk/KBD type reissues from Breakout, Almost Ready, Hozac, and Going Underground. Plus a couple very cool fanclub LPs of VU-Live in Philly and a collection of punk/wave gems from Cleveland's forgotten geniuses, Lucky Pierre. also of note is the new Astute Palate LP, with David Nance and some Philly heads going for a big guitar/motor city r'n'r feel. already on the short list of 2021 bests. also got a great new issue of Celluloid Lunch zine that comes with a Bell System flexi and has pieces on Smarts and Sweeping Promises.
