Free LSD

Somehow, eight years have passed since OFF! released their Wasted Years album. It kind blew my mind when I realized that much time had passed as I was getting ready to write up this post. I mean, I know that we lost a couple years into the Covid black hole, but still, eight years?! Fucking hell. Feels more like three or four years, tops!

I really liked that Wasted Years record... in fact, in my Top 10 for 2014, I ranked it as number one at the time. When I heard that OFF! were releasing a new album this year, I was obviously going to jump on it.

I figured that OFF! were fairly predictable. Their other albums didn't deviate too much from the core OFF! sound, so I thought that I knew what to expect with Free LSD. I was wrong. This new album is... ummm... different. Keith Morris is still the singer, so their sound hasn't drastically changed, but musically, there is a lot of stoner, fuzzed out guitar, that I wasn't expecting. It is like the band crossed over into Fu Manchu territory a bit, and I'm not sure how I feel about that. I definitely like this album, but initially I found the change a bit jarring, highlighted by the little "free jazz" interludes sprinkled throughout the record. I kind of want this album to sound like the other OFF! albums, but who knows, over time I may come to appreciate that Free LSD is a bit different.

A lot of the colored vinyl looks great for this album, but I went with the "electric blue" option.

When I bought this blue vinyl pressing, it was listed as the "deluxe glow-in-the-dark gatefold edition with blotter lyric sheet", and I thought it was something that was unique to this colored vinyl version. Nope. All seven different colored vinyl options have the same packaging... plus the glow-in-the-dark piece is on the inside gatefold, which is kind of pointless.

Record Store Day 2015 - Part 1: Seek And Destroy

Record Store Day is what people make of it. You can choose to focus on the endless stacks of worthless vinyl reissues, or you can celebrate and support your local record store...if you are lucky enough to have one. Look, I love Deep Purple, but what is the point of a 7 inch vinyl pressing of the Black Night single? If you want one that bad, hit up discogs and buy yourself an original pressing for a fraction of the price...unless that foil Record Store Day Exclusive sticker is worth that much to you. Leave that shit to collect dust in the dollar bins, and really celebrate record stores by visiting them and purchasing stuff that really matters.

I ended up hitting three stores on Record Store Day, so let's go through my haul while I try to justify my purchases and not come off as a complete hypocrite after that RSD rant. This is part one, and focuses on my first stop...and includes a bunch of RSD vinyl.

At the top of my RSD Want List for this year was the Clutch vinyl for their From Beale Street To Oblivion LP. This was the album that introduced me to Clutch after catching their video for Electric Worry on Headbangers Ball. It is such a great album, and given that this RSD release was the first time it had ever been pressed on vinyl, I had to have it.

I got to the record store about an hour after the doors opened, so most of the crowds has come and gone by the time I got to the store. As I walked through the door, I saw this Clutch album on display, and breathed a sigh of relief that this was still available. With this in hand, I had all that I needed...but while I'm in the store, let's see what else I can grab.

I was torn on whether to buy the Get Behind Be Satan album from The White Stripes. There was a time a few years ago, that I used to listen to the shit out of this band...I could not get enough at that time...but it has been a while since I've given any thought to listen to them. I'm pretty burned out on their style, and I no longer pay any attention to what Jack White is doing these days. Put Meg on a drum stool, bouncing beside him, and I may start to pay attention again. In any case this is probably my least favorite White Stripes album, but it still has some great stuff on it. Like the Clutch LP, this was the first commercial pressing of Get Behind Me Satan, and with the 3D lenticular cover that alternates between the album cover and the Blue Orchid single cover, it looked too good to resist.

I've seen some good reviews for the new Venom album, From The Very Depths, and as I've never been one to turn away from a new release from Cronos and company, this was a "must buy". While I've seen some nice praise for this new album, I don't know if it is really much better than any of the bands releases from the past 10 years. Solid stuff, but I don't imagine it will much of an impression on my "Best of 2015" list. Time will tell.

Okay. You got me on this one. The Strange Days LP from The Doors may be a throw away release for Record Store Day. I had no intention of buying this, but on the way to the store, my friend, Jeff, spoke so highly of the mono recordings...and how expensive the originals of Strange Days can run...when I saw it in the bin, it was a pure impulse buy. I was a sucker for his hype on this thing...and since this was the only Doors studio album that I didn't own on vinyl, I figured there was no harm in picking up a copy here.

While I was able to justify the purchase of the Strange Days album, I've got nothing for this one. This Curated by Record Store Day pretty much encapsulates all that is shitty about RSD. I'm not sure what the purpose is of this piece of vinyl. Eight tracks that were hand picked by independent record store owners...blah blah...who the fuck cares? This was originally pressed for the Black Friday RSD in 2013, and was on sale for 50% off. I was riding a Doors high at the time of purchase, and the die cut front cover, with the sale price, tricked me into thinking that I wanted this.

Slayer. Sorry...I mean, Fucking Slayer! For Record Store Day, Slayer released a 7 inch single for the song When The Stillness Comes which will be on the new album that is due out later this year. This song isn't that exciting, and takes about three and a half minutes to get going...so I'm really not sure if this was the best song to release as a teaser. Still looking forward to the album though.

I believe that this is the third time that OFF! has had a new piece of vinyl available for Record Store Day, and like 2011, we get another live record. OFF! has already released a live 7 inch and a live LP, so this time around we get the dreaded 10 inch. Damn, how many live records does this band need to release? Who do they think they are, Iron Maiden? It is cool to hear some of the newer songs live, but this still probably won't see too much action on my turntable.

For the REV part of Record Store Day, I only went with the Better Than A Thousand record. I probably would have grabbed the Dag Nasty record if my store had some available, but I was okay that I missed out on it...and while I kinda dig the Gameface record they released, I guess I didn't care enough to add it to the list, so I just left it in the bin. I didn't own a copy of the Better Than A Thousand album on vinyl, so this was a good time to grab one.

Same goes with the first Death By Stereo album...I've never owned the vinyl, and this is a great record, so why not grab one now. My copy was on white vinyl, but apparently there was some clear vinyl pressed for RSD as well.

Another Indecision release for Record Store Day was a reissue of the Unity 7 inch, You Are One. Like Death By Stereo, there were two colored vinyl pressings for this. 550 on clear, and 550 on green vinyl. My store only had the clear vinyl.

Fucking cassettes. I curse their existence, and as much as I hated to buy the commercial release of the No Life Til Leather demo on cassette, I love early Metallica too much to pass it by. Nothing beats this early shit...even if I may never feel the need to remove the cellophane wrapper and play this stupid thing. It is RECORD Store Day, and I wish this was a vinyl release.

The final purchase from the first stop on the RSD train was for the Goatwhore album, Carving Out The Eyes Of God. Because Record Store Day is not only about those exclusive releases, I hit the store's regular vinyl bins. Holy shit. Apocalyptic Havoc is an absolute beast of a song.

Don't worry, we aren't done yet. We still have some other stores to hit, and chances to find buried treasures in the used bins. To be continued...

I Was So Wasted

Much to my surprise, Keith Morris and crew keep things moving with OFF!. I was certain that the band would disappear after exploding onto the scene back in 2010. Yet, here we are, almost four years later, and with a string of solid records in their wake, with another new album from this punk rock supergroup.

While the Circle Jerks stumbled a bit with stuff like Wonderful and the Oddities LP, OFF! have had no such problems. Wasted Years follows the same blueprint set forth with their EPs and self titled first album...man, this think just smokes from start to finish.

As soon as pre-orders went up over at Interpunk, I was all over it...determined to not miss out on the colored vinyl. Limited to 2,000 copies on red.

Record Store Day 2014 Part 1: Learn To Obey

Somewhere along the way, I stopped caring about Record Store Day releases. It used to be that I would pour over the list each year, memorizing all those new records that I had to have. Then at some point it hit me...a lot of this was just part of the RSD hype machine, and at the end of the day, I didn't need another armful of vinyl repressings that I probably wouldn't care about if it wasn't Record Store Day.

For this year, I gave a passing glance at the list of RSD releases, and decided that there were only a couple of releases that I really wanted to get my hands on. This was the first year that I didn't bother with the lines, and showed up an hour after the doors opened. It was a pretty laid back affair, but as I started flipping through the vinyl, I ended up walking out of the store with much more than I had anticipated.

At the top of my Record Store Day list was the new OFF! 7 inch. Two exclusive songs that aren't on the new LP...it was one of the few things that I would have been bummed if I didn't get it. I let out a sigh of relief when I found a copy.

The one other piece of vinyl that I was on the hunt for was the Clutch/Lionize split 7 inch. I couldn't have cared less about the Lionize side, but a new Clutch song for their side of the record? Fuck yes.

Truth be told, I had completely forgotten that there was going to be a new pressing of Up Front's Spirit LP for Record Store Day. I was happily surprised when I saw it in the vinyl bin. Probably the best thing released on this day. This record completes the trifecta of vinyl that I NEEDED to have. Every new release beyond this point was a bonus, and was something that wouldn't have broken my heart if I didn't buy one.

Let start off the remainder of my RSD haul with the Revelation stuff. I love Farside, and someday I'd like to make a run at building a decent collection. Until then, I'll grab this copy of the band's first 7 inch on blue vinyl.

I skipped REV's RSD pressing of the first Sense Field LP last year. I've always though of it as a bit of a turd, but I do really enjoy Killed For Less and Building. I'm not out to collect multiple copies, but since I didn't already own Building on vinyl, I figured that this was a good opportunity to finally buy one...plus that red vinyl looks great!

Another band that I'd like to get around to collecting someday is Battery. I think that the only piece of vinyl I had for them was the copy of the 7 inch I got a couple years ago. Embarrassing. I happily took this opportunity to grab my first piece of vinyl for Whatever It Takes.

Quick story...I remember sitting outside a show talking to Lacroix from Ten Yard Fight, and he was telling me that Ken Olden was bragging about how easy it was to write a Youth Crew Hardcore record. Apparently, Ken said he could crank one out in 5 minutes. When I first heard Whatever It Takes, I was disappointed with how uninspired it sounded...kind of like the band rushed through it in 5 minutes. The record is okay, and I probably enjoy it more today than when it was released, but let's not kid ourselves...Until The End crushes this one.

At one point, I was a huge fan of Strife. I saw them a few times in Boston back in the day, and they always were great live. In This Defiance hasn't aged that well, and I rarely even bother with it these days, but I never owned it on vinyl, so I figured "what the Hell", and bought one on Record Store Day.

Scott Vogel has done a lot of bands. I liked Despair, and while it has been many years since I've bothered with Terror, I remember digging those first two records. I've never really spent a lot of time with Buried Alive, and figured that the Record Store Day provided a good opportunity to dig into them beyond a casual listen.

Once I had all the Hardcore vinyl that I wanted, it was time to decide what else I wanted to pick up. It seems that each year, there is some "limited" release from Jimi Hendrix. Typically it is some throw away 7 inch that I can't imagine anyone really needs, but this year we got a vinyl pressing of Live At Monterey. I love most of the Hendrix stuff and this is a solid live set. I was in the mood for spending money...plus that cover is too bad ass to resist...so I grabbed myself a copy.

Speaking of spending money...I had an internal debate over purchasing the reissue of The Doors compilation, Weird Scenes Inside The Gold Mine. While not really a Greatest Hits record, there is nothing new here, but it does have a couple of B-sides that I don't own on vinyl. These songs, in addition with how great the vinyl looks, convinced me to spend the money and buy a copy.

Now that I had plenty of new RSD vinyl, it was time to hit the used bins...to be continued...

Farrah Loves To Get Off!

I'm not that into live albums. They are interesting, especially for bands that are around for a number of years, in that they capture what a band was doing at that particular time in their career...but, it is a pretty rare case for me to ever give them more than a handful of listens.

I'm a huge fan of of all things Keith Morris, and when I heard that there was a new live album from OFF!, I was interested in checking it out. The Live At Generation Records 7 inch was a bit of a bust, but when I saw the track listing for the LP included Rant 1, Rant 2, and Rant 3, I was curious, as I do love between song banter on live records. Overall, this album is a fun listen. It was recorded back in 2011, so it contains 15 of the 16 songs from the first four OFF! EPs, but it also includes Sexy Capitalists, which has never been released. Worth checking out.

When I first heard that OFF! had a new live album out, I immediately started hearing about how it had sold out quickly. Thankfully, I was able to track down a copy, and I quickly purchased it. 1,000 of these things were pressed on red, white, blue, and yellow colored vinyl (plus a limited run of 100 on pink). I figure that red and blue (and possibly even yellow) would look great with the simple black and white cover, and unfortunately, I managed to get the least exciting color of them all...white.

Satan Did Not Appear

After releasing the amazing First Four EPs back in 2010, I expected we'd never hear from OFF! again. I figured the band would make a big splash, and then they'd vanish, with Keith Morris going back to doing whatever he'd been doing for the past 15 years. I was pretty shocked when I heard that they had a new full length album in the works for this year. I was even more surprised when I found that the songs from the LP retained that same explosive energy that OFF! threw at us a year and half ago. I don't know, I kind of expected them to lose some of that fire they had with the first EPs, but I was glad to discover that it was not the case.

I don't typically buy much from Interpunk, but when I saw that they had the new OFF! LP available on colored vinyl, I decided to grab one from them. I beieve that the white vinyl was listed as an "Interpunk exclusive", so they forced my hand.

There were 1,500 pressed on white, but people still seem to be going crazy for these, with ebay pricing showing between $40 and $50. Glad that I grabbed one when I did.

Getting Off!

Record Store Day 2011. I had heard that OFF! was going to have a special release for this day last year. I found the Live at Generation Records 7 inch, and was pleased that I was able to score this limited vinyl release. However, when I got home later that night, I started to hear some rumblings about a separate OFF! release from Southern Lord Records. While the 7 inch, Compared To What b/w Rotten Apple, is made up of two cover songs, OFF! truly make them their own.

By the time I'd heard about this record, it appeared to be sold out. As the months rolled by, I soon knew that I was going to have to rely on eBay if I wanted a copy. Colored vinyl for this release seems to be going for around $30. I went cheap for now and just picked up the black vinyl for $6. Someday I'd like to grab the blue and red pressings of this as well.

Pissed OFF!

As far as Black Flag goes, I've always been partial to the Keith Morris era, and it goes without saying that I've been a long time fan of the Circle Jerks. In my long list of favorite shows, I would have to include the two times that I saw the Circle Jerks...once in 1990 for their "farewell" tour, and then again in 2003 with G.B.H. and Good Riddance for a reunion tour. There have been rumors for years about another Circle Jerks album...a follow up to 1995's Oddities LP. Apparently disagreements within the band have kept the album from getting finished. Because of these disagreements, Keith Morris began working with the producer for the new album and wrote some songs for a side project called OFF!. They joined up with Mario Rubalcaba (who handled drums for 411) and Steven Shane McDonald from Redd Kross (who also played on the first Tenacious D album) and recorded 16 songs to make up four EPs for the band.

I've got to say, I'm pretty impressed. Fast and with a fistful of punk attitude, these songs sound like they were written right after the Circle Jerks session for Group Sex.

Packaged with original artwork from Raymond Pettibon, this box set contains the four EPs from OFF!, and looks amazing.

I'm not sure why the band chose to release these songs across four separate EPs, instead of just doing one LP. Still, there is no question that this is Keith Morris' strongest release in over 20 years.