[Vinyl Vednesday is a weekly feature about three favorite vinyl finds. It’s not meant to be a dick-measuring contest, but it usually turns out that way. Here’s part one of a two-part installment about 10-inches, in honor of 10/10/10. E-mail pelonej1@gmail.com with your own big finds!]
Records: AFI’s “Miss Murder” (2006) on picture disc, Gatorface’s Sick and Stupid (2008) on gold with an etching on the B-side, and Get Laid’s Pretty Solid (2010) on clear red.
Place of Purchase: AFI came from Hot Topic. Gatorface was mailordered through No Idea Records on a whim. Get Laid actually sent me their EP for review.
Thoughts: Eric Crack was one of my college roommates, and he is the biggest Davey Havok fan ever. I have fond memories of 2006, and many of them relate back to Decemberunderground. Eric and I loved lead single “Miss Murder.” Yeah, the lyrics are cheesy, but that stomping beat is so dang rollicking that we got caught up in it every time. And the song overlaps with Depeche Mode’s “Personal Jesus” so well that we’d often start combining the two and… aw shucks, it’s just a big ol’ gothic bag fun for us. I feel bad for “Rabbits are Roadkill on Rt. 37.” It’s a great B-side, it just doesn’t really belong on any AFI record. It was written too late for The Art of Drowning, and maybe it would have fit in on Crash Love, but it had the misfortune of being a catchy song that just didn’t sit well with what the band was doing at this particular time. I guess this one was always destined to be a B-side. Of course, what’s funny is that Decemberunderground ended up using all that rabbit imagery in its artwork.
I never got into New Mexican Disaster Squad, which is more out of ignorance than any sort of active disliking, but Gatorface’s Sick and Stupid EP is thoroughly catchy. It’s basically a bunch of hardcore dudes playing pop punk, which means it’s infectious while still carrying more grit and less nasally whine. “Kid in a Candy Store” is just so got-damn awesome from start to finish. I almost wish that song was 10 minutes long, so I could luxuriate in its every measure. They’ve got flecks of Anti-Flag and Descendents in their sound, and hopefully one day Gatorface will be considered just as influential. I finally got around to ordering their full-length that came out earlier this year; I’m expecting good things.
I get a lot of e-mails asking me to review albums, but they’re mostly for Punknews.org and, if people are really out of touch, Wonka Vision Magazine. I rarely get stuff targeted at my blog, so I was flattered when Get Laid asked to mail me a copy of their EP Pretty Solid. I was double-flattered when it turned out that Pretty Solid was one of the best EPs of the year, packing in all types of thrashy goodness that oscillates from punk to metal and back. The music is so harsh that I can only assume Get Laid is super tough. I mean, the album reeked of cigarettes when it came in the mail.
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