Does Anyone Give A Crap About What I Bought On Record Store Day?

I mean, you shouldn't, but everyone else seems to have written about their own hauls, so in the interests of promoting whatever's getting throw at us in the name of "indie", I guess I'll take a turn, too.

The only two records I was really interested in were the Obits and Flight of the Conchords ones, so I picked those up-- there was actually still a whole stack of them left. I guess the two records that sold out the quickest at the store I went to (Redscroll) were the Bad Religion and Tom Waits ones... take that for what you will.

Redscroll was also having a 20% off sale (Record Store Day records were included in the sale, too), so while I was there I grabbed the new Deep Sleep "Paranoid Futures" 7-inch, as well a bunch of used 7"-ers from a pile that someone must've just turned in: a Chisel 7" on Gern Blandsten, one of the uncountable Electric Frankenstein 7"-ers, and the Rat Byte/Concrete Facelift split, all for around two bucks each. Best of all, I found the very first Art of the Underground Single Series 7" (The Failures' Union, 250 pressed) for under two bucks, too. I was really psyched about that.




Obits, "I Can't Lose"

Flight of the Conchords, "Pencils in the Wind"

(both of these files are listen-only)
The Obits song is super good. By the end of yesterday afternoon, both the Flight of the Conchords and Obits 7"-ers were already being listed on eBay for $29.99 plus shipping, which is about 8 times what they were selling for in the stores only hours earlier.



Redscroll was also giving away a tote bag that had a bunch of free stuff in it, like so:

A poster that just says "Prints" on it - Maybe it's a band, or something? Am I gonna Google it, and look it up? Fuck no!!
An issue of Paste - At first I was excited about this, because the ad on the front said that anyone could go on-line and sign up for a year's subscription for whatever they wanted to pay, even if it was only a buck. Then it turned out that this was an old issue (2008), and the magazine itself is really, really crappy. Instead of "Dear Music Lover" on the front, it should say "Dear Person Who Likes Eating Dog Shit."
An issue of Inkwell Press - Local zine that just put out its first issue, and it looks pretty sharp. The things they can do with computers these days.
A Sony "Record Store Day" LP - A bunch of unreleased "indie" stuff on the a-side, out of which Franz Ferdinand is the only band I've actually heard a song from before (unless the local Stop n Shop played a MGMT song while I was there once). The b-side has a Willie Nelson song, which could make this worth taking the shrinkwrap off. I could listen to Willie Nelson sing the phone book. This is already listed for $50 on eBay, by the way. Has a sticker on the front that says Blender on it, which is never a good sign.
An issue of Hear/Say - "America's College Music Newspaper." Has ads for Kelly Clarkson and Napalm Death in it. Is this what CMJ was like? I can't remember.
"Fresh Breath of Mint" zine from Mint Records - This was actually pretty good.


A bunch of sampler and demo CDs - Wild Light, Zee Avi, Newandyke (CT grind), a Lost Highway sampler, and an Asbestos Records sampler. The Newandyke and Asbestos discs are probably the only ones I'll ever listen to.
An unidentifiable 7" - I think it's Assspatula.


Then earlier today I was at the WESU Record Fair, at Wesleyan. I found a copy of the Shellac "At Action Park" LP in perfect shape for only $8, which was too good to pass up. I also found the Thinner 7" on King Bung sitting in a dollar bin, which is probably twice what it's worth but I bought it anyway. Other purchases: Crystallized Movements "Mind Disaster" CD, They and the Children/Daniel Striped Tiger split, and the Clusterfuck "Mid Life Crisis" tour edition CD EP (only 66 made?). Also, Brian Frenette of Iron Hand was spinning some records while I was there, and played some pretty cool stuff: TJSA, Fu Manchu, The Replacements...

And that's it.

Put It In Writing

“The shot heard ‘round the world. The two best songs ever written by the best band in the world. Best guitar and bass playing and skin beating. The best lyrics ever sung. This record will change your life and give you a new start. Best packaging, easily. Genius. Mensa, mensa, mensa! Makes everybody else look real bad. Buy the shit out of this record.” - I dunno, some dude I guess

When I first heard about the Obits single last month and read the above blurb, I was a bit skeptical, so I went to the Obits page on MySpace to see if it was really worth checking out... and they didn't have either of the songs posted there, or on their Facebook either. Plus the record was sold out everywhere I looked except for busted-out Vinyl Collective, who were selling it for their usual nine dollars plus six dollars postage or whatever it is that they charge for a measly 7". Screw that, I figured, deciding that it wasn't worth it and I'd just wait for the LP or something.

Then last weekend I went to Redscroll, and wouldn't you know, they had a couple of copies. Turns out this thing is friggin' killer. Really, really good. (It's former Hot Snakes and Drive Like Jehu, if you didn't know.) So far, it's definitely the best 7" from 2008 that I didn't hear until 2009.

I won't post a download of this, since Comedy Minus One keeps their stuff digitally "in print" for just about infinity, but I will post both songs as listen-only files for everyone else who, like me, wants to hear what this sounds like before thinking about plunking down eight or nine bucks for it (it's being repressed, supposedly). I like the b-side better than the a-side, but that's how it usually goes with me anyway.

Obits -

"One Cross Apiece"

"Put It In Writing"

(these are listen-only files)