#Flipside Records NJ

[revkilltaker]

Split – Mr T. Experience/Sicko - 7″ - Top Drawer Records - TDRU3

Stats

Pressing #:  1st

Color:  Black

Qty Pressed: ???

Additional Info: Other Pressings Available

Track List

Mr T. Experience - Together Tonight

Sicko - 80 Dollars

Rating

9.5/10

Synopsis

Ok so, you may be asking yourself how did this guy rate this random 7″ a 9.5/10, well...its that damn good, I kid you not.  Rarely do split 7″s pull it off as well as this duo along with Top Drawer Records did.  This record is rated so high as it directly caused me to run out and buy everything I could find of Sickos library.

Heres the short boring story.  My friend Greg and I headed down in NJ one day after school to pick up some new tunes.  I told him about a couple stores I knew about in the Wayne NJ area such as Sound Exchange and Flipside in Pompton Plains.  We stopped at Flipside first, and he was blown away...at the discovery of awesome record stores.  Anyways, I poured through everything that I can afford with the 20 or 30 bux I had and I stumbled across this gem.  I loved MTX, so this was a no brainer.  Went up to the register, Alan (if my memory serves) runs through my stack and pulls this out.  “Dude, you are going to love this 7″. We drove home, I threw it on the turntable and I was blown away.  Not only was the MTX track great, it was almost too good for a split, but thats the point isnt it?  Draw people in via your sample.  Then came Sicko, and I cant tell you how tired my arm was returning that record needle back to the start of their 70 second gem.  Its so amazingly catchy with so many hooks.  This split was a model for East Bay/Berkley Gilman St. punk.  I never expected to see either band live as they rarely came to the east from what I could tell, but then one day I found out that Sicko was touring and they were playing the Pipeline in Newark, one town over from me.  I told my GF at the time, that we need to go to this on Thursday and we did.  The bouncer recognized us and asked for an assist on something, and he then let us in for free.  I cant even remember who else played but when Sicko hit the stage, it was such a fun break from the HC shows I attended there every week.  Mid way through their set, the bass player and guitarist switched instruments and carried on for the rest of their set.  AMAZING.  Out of the back of the room, someone is screaming 80 DOLLARS!!!  I joined in, and they commenced playing the request.  Who was yelling that?  Alan from Flipside comes running through the crowd and we look right at each other and knew.  Sounds stupid, but you dont get feels like that from a mediocre split 7″. Buy this if its a genre yer into, you wont regret it.

The cover art is cutesy as one would expect from either of the bands.  It all just fits so well.  The fonts will make sure that you dont pass this over in the punk section.  Its not classic, but it catches your eye.

[themusicenthusiast]

Ruston Kelly to Embark on Brightly Burst Tour This Fall; Dallas Show Scheduled for September 26th at Granada Theater

Acclaimed singer, songwriter and performer Ruston Kelly will continue his extensive headline tour this fall including stops at Atlanta’s Terminal West, Austin’s Scoot Inn, Los Angeles’ Troubadour, Seattle’s Tractor Tavern, New York’s Bowery Ballroom, Boston’s Brighton Music Hall and Washington D.C.’s U Street Music Hall among several others. Tickets for the newly confirmed dates go on-sale this Friday, May 10 at 10:00am local time. These shows continue a landmark year for Kelly, whose full-length debut album, Dying Star, was released last fall on Rounder Records (purchase/stream here). Co-produced by Kelly and Jarrad K, Dying Star features 14 new songs written/co-written by Kelly and continues to receive widespread critical acclaim.

Of the album, Kelly comments, “A lot of my music is focused on suffering, or trying to understand the human condition through the lens of suffering…which probably sounds totally depressing, but it’s actually the flipside of that. Sometimes you’ve gotta go into that darkness—you need to get lost and then figure out for yourself how to find your way back. That’s the only way we can find pure joy, and really be thankful for the life we’ve been given.” Current Tour Dates: May 8—Manchester, U.K.—Jimmy’s 9-11—Brighton, U.K. —The Great Escape 12—Bristol, U.K—The Crofters Rights 14—Amsterdam, Netherlands—Paradiso June 15—Manchester, TN—Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival July 12—Minneapolis, MN—Basilica Block Party 27—Newport, RI—Newport Folk Festival 28—Camden, NJ—XPoNential Music Festival August 3—Chicago, IL—Lollapalooza 4—St. Charles, IA—Hinterland 10—Lexington, KY—Railbird Festival 22-23—Tonder, Denmark—Tonder Festival 24—Amsterdam, Netherlands—Once In A Blue Moon Festival September 18—Chattanooga, TN—Songbirds South Stage* 19—Knoxville, TN—Bijou Theatre* 20—Atlanta, GA—Terminal West* 20-22—Bristol, TN—Bristol Rhythm & Roots Reunion 26—Dallas, TX—Granada Theater* 27—Houston, TX—White Oak Music Hall* 28—Austin, TX—Scoot Inn* October 1—Los Angeles, CA—Troubadour* 3—San Francisco, CA—The Independent* 4—Portland, OR—Wonder Ballroom* 5—Seattle, WA—Tractor Tavern* 7—Salt Lake City, UT—The State Room* 8—Denver, CO—The Bluebird Theater* 10—Des Moines, IA—Wooly’s* 12—Madison, WI—High Noon Saloon* 16—St. Louis, MO—Blueberry Hill* 18—Louisville, KY—Mercury Ballroom* 19—Columbus, OH—A&R Music Bar* 20—Detroit, MI—The Shelter* 22—Toronto, ON—Drake Underground 24—New York, NY—Bowery Ballroom* 25—Boston, MA—Brighton Music Hall* 26—Washington, DC—U Street Music Hall* November 11-15—Punta Cana, Dominican Republic—John Prine’s “All The Best Fest” *with special guest Donovan Woods

[revkilltaker]

Down By Law - Punky Brewster - 7″ - Break Even Point Records - BEP-930715

Pressing Stats

Pressing #: 1st Color: Black Qty Pressed:  ??? Additional Info:  N/A

Track Listing

Punky Brewster

Yellow Rat Bastard

Revolver

Synopsis:

The Down By Law sound takes a step in a different direction than taker in their first two amazing Epitaph releases as their sound on this are much more raw and if anything...it sounds like what DBL would've sounded like had they come out in the early 80s rather than early 90s.  It almost has a less distorted Husker Du kinda feel to it which I like however it feels a little simplistic as its kinda monotone because at no point does any player stand out.  Anyways, two great DBL songs in tracks 1 and 2 and an amazing cover of Mission of Burmas Revolver.  DBL has always had a thing for covers which I love.  Great ep for those that like the more serious post hardcore sounding DBL and less of the poppy stuff.

I do love the cover as once I saw it at Flipside Records in NJ, I knew exactly what it was, I was just surprised to see it wasn't on Epitaph so the curiosity of how it was going to sound drew me in even more.  Only what version on black vinyl is available and should be grabbed none the less.  The darkness of the cover is pretty representative of the sound.

Rating: Overall Vinyl Presentation 4/5 Music 4/5