A deeper look at the grooves pressed into the LP + 7” reissue of Peculiar by The Slackers. I remember the first time The Slackers released Peculiar in 2006 (back then, it came our on Hellcat Records). At that time, I was only a few years into working in the music press. I had a pretty good relationship with Epitaph, and they sent me a CD copy of Peculiar for review. Back then, I wasn’t too into ska – I...

A deeper look at the grooves pressed into the Take The Light With You LP by Wildlife. Sometimes the arrival of a record doesn’t bring with it a spectacular introduction – in fact, it would be easy enough to overlook some albums completely on the wrong day – but those albums can sneak up on you, win your heart and capture your imagination if your back is turned and are otherwise engaged. That’s precisely what happened to this critic when...

A deeper look at the grooves pressed into the 12” UV digitally printed “Lost” single by Noi!se. For novelty’s sake, let’s address all of the obvious potential talking points to be found about Noi!se’s UV Digitally printed 12” “Lost” single. Yes, it looks really, really cool. Yes, I think that stranding a three-and-a-half-minute song all alone on a 12” vinyl record is a questionable use of resources, regardless of how cool it looks. Yes, the quality of the graphics on...

A deeper look at the grooves pressed into Territories’ When The Day Is Done 10” EP Work in the press long enough, and eventually one begins to rely on the complications that one finds with a release, because the difficulties in qualifying or quantifying the sound of an album (and the media – for that matter) become the fuel for for what makes that release good or not and why. It’s actually a really easy cheat which, now that I’ve...

A deeper look at the grooves pressed into the vinyl reissue of Wonderful by Circle Jerks. Easily the most underrated hardcore band since the genre’s inception in the early Eighties has been the Circle Jerks. The reason that claim is so easy to make is that, pound-for-pound and album-for-album, they broke a surprising amount of ground that a lot of bands would tread upon (and make a lot more money from) later. When the band first appeared with Group Sex...

A deeper look at the grooves pressed into The Slackers’ 12″ UV digitally printed vinyl single. Ignoring the, “Gee whiz!” quality of The Slackers’ new single as well as the talking point of, “Well, this is a new way of combining digital and analogue formats into one release,” (rather than being pressed, this release is UV digitally printed vinyl) it needs to be pointed...

A deeper look at the grooves pressed into the 2LP Deluxe Edition reissue of Sirens of the Ditch by Jason Isbell. It’s pretty uncommon for me to wonder where I was when I review a reissue of an album which was originally released after 2002 (a.k.a. The year I joined the press). That is not to say there weren’t great albums that I didn’t get my hands my hands on to review them when they were new, it’s simply something...

A deeper look at the grooves pressed into the The Pain, The Blood and The Sword LP by Lion’s Law. There’s a certain comfort which can be found in a record which, while new, sounds familiar. As albums like that play, it can be pretty easy for a listener to sigh as a turntable’s stylus finds its intended groove and each cut seems to spontaneously align and produce an accessible, pleasing sensation for its audience. Now, in the case of...

A deeper look at the grooves pressed into the Songs! From The Bathroom Stall? EP by Houston and the Dirty Rats. More than the other things that Songs! From The Bathroom Stall? certainly represents for Houston and the Dirty Rats, the most important rule to keep in mind when listening to the band’s new EP is that it’s unwise to judge a book by its cover. Were one to delve no deeper than just a superficial look or cursory glance,...

A deeper look at the grooves pressed into Fat Possum’s vinyl reissue of Wild Gift by X. As good as Los Angeles was and as important as that album would ultimately prove to be in the presentation of X, the band’s debut album will ultimately always play a supporting role to the band’s sophomore long-player, Wild Gift. Now, it’s important to note that Wild Gift would not, could not have happened had the groundwork not been laid by Los Angeles,...