In addition to continuing to make music and regularly tour all corners of the globe as one of the bands that helped propel punk rock into the stratosphere three decades ago, one of the more unique and, frankly, impressive things about the Green Day camp has been their simultaneous maintenance of a seemingly unlimited network […]
In addition to continuing to make music and regularly tour all corners of the globe as one of the bands that helped propel punk rock into the stratosphere three decades ago, one of the more unique and, frankly, impressive things about the Green Day camp has been their simultaneous maintenance of a seemingly unlimited network of side projects featuring some – if not all – of the band’s core members (Billie Joe Armstrong, Mike Dirnt and Tre Cool, obviously) and a cast supporting cast of friends and musicians. A quick and probably incomplete synopsis of all of the band members’ projects reads as less of a Green Day “family tree” and more like a Green Day “family wreath”: Armstrong and Dirnt and Cool appear alongside longtime “fifth Beatle” guitarist and collaborator Jason White, longtime touring guitarist Kevin Preston and longtime jack-of-all-trades Jason Freese in Foxboro Hot Tubs. Armstrong and Dirnt and White and longtime Green Day crew member Bill Schnieder and American Idiot/21st Century Breakdown/Uno!/Dos!/Tre!/Revolution Radio/Father Of All... engineer/producer Chris Dugan in The Coverups. Armstrong and Preston are joined by Jeff Matika and David Field in The Longshot. Armstrong and Cool and Dirnt and White definitely do not appear together in The Network. White and Schnieder and Schnieder’s brother Greg and Johnnie Wentz and Willie Samuels had The Influents up and running for a bit there too.
Perhaps the oldest of these projects – and undoubtedly one of the coolest – is Pinhead Gunpowder, a band that traces its roots back to the early 90s. The Berkeley-based iteration of the band featured Armstrong and Schnieder and Sarah Kirsch teaming up with the creative force that was former Crimpshrine drummer (and occasional Green Day roadie) Aaron Cometbus. The band played sporadically and recorded a couple EPs and a handful of tracks for various compilations and they all got combined on a quasi-full-length called Jump Salty that became one of the coolest records of 1994. It was released a few months after Green Day’s genre-defining Dookie, and yet, because it came out on Lookout Records instead of a major label, ownership of Jump Salty in your collection felt like a ticket to an exclusive club. While the masses were listening to (and buying, because it was a different time) Dookie and Smash and a smaller but still substantial group of people went as far as listening to Stranger Than Fiction and Punk In Drublic and Let’s Go!, listening to albums like Jump Salty felt like you were part of the cool punk rock kids club, whatever that even means at this point.
Kirsch would leave Pinhead Gunpowder during that ground-breaking year but the band wouldn’t have to look far to find a replacement. Enter the aforementioned Jason White. The Arkansas transplant had been friendly with the band’s members for years, having befriended Armstrong after an ill-fated Green Day tour stop in Memphis earlier in the decade. Upon relocating to the Bay Area, he also joined Schneider as a member of East Bay pop punk band Monsula until that act disbanded in 1993. The Pinhead quartet of Cometbus, Armstrong, Schneider and White would put out another handful of EPs and compilations and, in 1997, their first-and-only full-length, Goodbye Ellston Avenue, all in a sound that remained true to the band’s East Bay, “Gilman Street” style and sound. (White, as you probably know by now, joined the Green Day ranks on the Warning tour in 1999 to fill out the live sound, making this his twenty-fifth year at stage right.) The band put out their last new material, the West Side Highway EP in 2008 and played their last show to date at 924 Gilman Street in 2010. They never really officially disbanded as much as they just focused on other projects: White and Armstrong and Schneider on the Green Day Family Wreath and Cometbus primarily on his writing and his consortium of independent bookstores in New York City.
There was an ill-fated attempt at reissuing all of the Pinhead Gunpowder material in 2010 under the same record label, Recess Records in this case. (Earlier versions of their works appeared on Recess and Lookout Records and Adeline Records and Too Many Records and maybe a couple of others whose names escape me.) After laying dormant for the better (worse?) part of a decade, the project found itself resurrected a couple years back. Beginning two years ago this week, the band announced plans to team with Oakland’s own Steve Stevenson and 1-2-3-4 Go! Records to reissue their entire catalog in five two-part installments. Like everyone, the team behind the reissues ran into supply chain issues and vinyl production delays (thanks Adele!?!) but the close of 2022 brought with it the rerelease of Compulsive Disclosure and West Side Highway, marking the completion of the project, and meaning that for the first time, the band’s entire discography lives under the same roof.
Yours truly had the distinct honor and privilege of catching up with the one-and-only Jason White to look back on the process of revisiting and reissuing the Pinhead Gunpowder catalog. As per usual when we conduct an interview on these pages, the conversation tended to meander in a lot of the best possible ways, covering ground that includes but is not limited to: meeting Pete Townshend; revisiting early Pinhead material after Kirsch’s 2012 death; White’s personal place in the annals of punk history; the neverending changes in the musical spectrum; the Little Rock, Arkansas, music scene; going to high school with Ben Nichols; 1-2-3-4 Go!’s importance to the East Bay arts and cultural landscape; and so much more. Scroll down to keep reading!
Green Day at Fenway Photo Credit: Brittany Rose Queen
Surprisingly, the following Q&A has been condensed and edited for content and clarity.
Dying Scene (Jay Stone): First and foremost, thanks for doing this. When I saw that the email came in saying “do you want to talk to Jason White from Pinhead Gunpowder and Green Day?” I thought it was a joke. (*both laugh*) Then I realized it was from Chris Hnat – shoutout to Chris – but I’ve been a fan of yours for a long long time, so this is a really cool thing, one of those bucket list items to check off. So thanks!
Jason White: Cool! Cool! Thanks for having me, I appreciate it.
I was talking to a couple of the guys who help run Dying Scene the other night, and we talked A) about how good the reissues have come out. One of our guys – Dylan – is real big on tracking a lot of the vinyl reissues and different variants of things that come out, and he was super stoked about them. And we were also talking about B) how cool it is that, at least for me and where I grew up, Pinhead Gunpowder was kind of like a secret handshake band. Like, a few of us kids were listening to punk rock before ‘94, listening to Bad Religion and Fugazi and especially the Lookout Records bands. And then ‘94 happened and so everybody liked Green Day, and we did too, but Pinhead Gunpowder was like the “secret handshake, oh you don’t just listen to Green Day, you listen to punk rock” band.
A little more under-the-radar, yeah, I hear you. It felt like it was a little more underground and you had to dig it up.
Yeah and you felt like you were part of something, and like you knew more. It felt like a special thing. Anyway, I know we’re sort of at the end of the reissue cycle for the Pinhead records, so it can be kind of tough to figure out where to sort of start and how the story will go, but I wanted to actually talk about 1-2-3-4 Go! Records for a little bit, because that seems like a really cool place. For people outside the Bay Area, and I’m certainly one of them, 1-2-3-4 Go! Records isn’t just a cool underground label, it’s a record store as well.
Yeah, and it actually had two locations for a bit. (Owner Steve Stevenson) had one in San Francisco as well. But yeah, it started in Oakland, and I believe he’s had it over ten years now. It might even go back fifteen. He started off on 40th (Street), between Telegraph and Broadway in Oakland, which used to be a little bit of a dead zone. He wanted to start a store, so he rented what essentially was a closet of a place. I always said that if there were three people in the place, it was crowded. (*both laugh*) He just had a few racks of records and it was just him in the back. We were just excited to have this new store, and it was small, and we were used to the only stores that stuck around were of course Amoeba Records and then one called Rasputin. They’re both great; Amoeba I kind of prefer. But anyway, it was kind of the start of having a small record store again. Now there’s several around, but he started in that closet of a place, then he ended up moving next door because he was doing well enough and he needed the space, obviously. Then he ended up across the street, where he is now. Then he expanded into the room next door too, so he’s occupying two retail spaces. It’s great; it’s awesome, and before Covid, he was having shows in the back. There was a stage, and he was having art shows and events, and it’s kind of turned into a whole crazy thing in addition to the label that he started with.
It seems like it’s sort of a hub, and a lot of scenes don’t really have that kind of space anymore. I live just north of Boston and so I’m tangentially tied to the Boston scene, which is much different than it used to be. But we don’t have a lot of those sorts of places in the immediate area anymore; everything has sort of been gentrified out, so it’s cool that that sort of thing exists and seems to be thriving.
Yeah! I’m just shocked that he did as well as he did because when he started talking about opening a little store, I was like “well, he’s got little overhead in that space,” and I’d worked at record stores in the past so I kinda knew how it worked. But then the vinyl – I don’t know if I’d call it a resurgence, but it became a thing again, right? So he kinda rode that wave and it’s still a thing – I don’t know if it’s peaking or not, but it seems like it’s still a thing.
It seems like it’s been peaking every year for the last decade.
Yeah, and it keeps climbing up, and with Record Store Day and all this craziness. It’s great.
It’s almost turned in the other direction with Record Store Day now, but that’s probably a different conversation for a different time.
Right, that’s the one day to not go to the record store! (*both laugh*)
I used to love it, man. I used to love standing in line in front of the record store, but then it turned into having to stand in line in the mall, because the major record stores around here all moved into the mall, which is a weird thing because malls are dying around the country, yet that’s where our Newbury Comics moved to.
I was going to say, yeah, I remember the Newbury Comics stores.
They’re still alright, and the one on Newbury Street is next door to where it used to be – and smaller than it used to be – so I appreciate the 1 2 3 4 Go! Records has expanded a few times, and the original Newbury Comics is not only much smaller but most of it isn’t music anymore. It’s kitschy things and Pop dolls…
Yeah, t-shirts and posters. I went into that (Newbury Street) location within the last five years when we were on tour, and I peeked in and yeah, it didn’t seem like there were many records anymore, it was more paraphernalia.
They had standalone locations in suburbia, where I am, but they’ve all moved into malls now. So to have to go into the mall to buy records now, it’s like things went full circle a second time… Anyway, so I know that Recess Records had reissued the Pinhead records years ago, and that’s a whole other thing, but when did the idea to reissue them for real under 1 2 3 4 Go! Records come about? Was that during Covid?
It was before that, because I think it had just been long enough where we felt like we could talk about it or address it again. The Recess thing kinda just didn’t work, and we were like “well, it seems like everything’s a little bit hard to find, a lot of it is out of print at this point, and we kind of need to do something besides just having the records that are already out there and then having everything on streaming services.” And it was really easy – a no-brainer, really – because Steve is local, he’s right down the street, he’s a friend, we see him all the time, and he said he’d love to do it. And he said we could do it in these phases, so that it wasn’t just ten records at one time and everything gets lost in the shuffle.
I was going to ask where that idea came from, because that was really neat to do basically five two-episode installments.
I think it became like a 7-inch and an LP at the same time, and then a shirt. And we had never done shirts, so I was kind of more excited about that than anything! (*both laugh*) I do think that financially, it would have been hard to pay for everything right away, so it became “put phase one out, and then as money starts coming in you can pay for phase two” and so on. And that way it would keep things on people’s radar, like “oh, a new Pinhead thing will be out every six months” or whatever it was. It seemed like an okay idea. We wanted to kind of do what we tried to do with Recess, which is to have one home for everything so we don’t have to think about it anymore. It’s all under one rough and it’s easy to manage. That was the thought behind it really.
And this is the first time it’s really been under one roof. I guess it sort of was for Recess, but that didn’t work out.
Yeah, that’s true. Everything came out on different labels.
Did that mean buying rights back or anything? How involved was that process?
No, Pinhead always owned everything. That was not an issue, really.
They’re not necessarily remastered or remixed or anything; was there talk of doing that as well?
For the Recess thing, I might be wrong, but when we were moving forward with it, we kinda did remaster everything, so everything was kinda done. This is actually kind of a funny story, but I think we had mastered it for CD maybe at that time, so everything had kinda been done, and we were like “well, let’s listen to it and if everything is fine we don’t have to do anything to it.” We ended up having to redo a few things for vinyl, and the mastering person we used – I worked at Adeline Records years ago when Pinhead did the records there, and this guy Ken Lee, who was in Oakland at the time, he’s still working and mastering stuff, but he had moved, and unbeknownst to me, he lives five houses down from me, on the same side of the street.
(*both laugh*) That’s pretty wild!
Yeah, it’s really strange! Bill had to come to my house to pick something up, because I had some of the original source material maybe, and he was here and he was like “well, Ken Lee is actually in El Cerrito now” – which is where I live – “and he’s actually on this street” and I’m like “that’s my street” and we looked at the address and I was like “that’s that house right over there.” It ended up being an even smaller world than it already was.
That’s really bizarre, yeah.
It made things really easy to get him materials. So I became in charge of that.
So you’re ultimately happy obviously with how everything came out? Like I said, our record radar guru, Dylan, was saying they came out awesome, and he’s pretty discerning about that stuff.
In terms of sound quality, it was a little hard to approve the test pressings, because I kept A/B-ing stuff, and when we first started, I was like “I don’t know if it’s as good as the original.” And you had to consider how things used to be mastered twenty or thirty years ago versus how they’re mastered now, or how hot they make (the vinyl) now. Initially, I didn’t think it was hot enough, but then they sorta don’t do that anymore because you end up with records that skip and all kinds of things like that. And they sounded fine, I just had to maybe turn it up a little louder than the old version. But it didn’t distort or anything like that, so yeah, I was happy that it all came out great. And Aaron is very detailed. He does all the art, and everything I thought came out awesome. And Steve worked with him and other people and they got it done. They came out great.
Did you run into any of the almost comically long vinyl production issues that people were running into during Covid? Because I feel like the originally-scheduled end of this project was like nine months ago or something like that?
Yeah, we did, all over the place. I think as early as Phase Two, we were like “well, it’s going to take a little longer.” (*both laugh*) Anybody who’s making records now knows that it takes forever. You’re on a waiting list and it’s just a mess. We definitely ran into some of that. He gets them pressed in England somewhere, so we didn’t run into a lot of the usual stuff for the US plants that I’ve heard about. United in Tennessee is very backed up, I think. And honestly, I don’t even know what’s left down in LA from when I used to work at labels and stuff.
I don’t know either, but there aren’t many in my very limited understanding of it.
There used to be a ton but they all pretty much went out of business. Now I think there’s a bunch of new ones, I’m just not familiar with them.
I don’t know of any new ones, truthfully, but then being tied to the punk rock world, I feel like so much stuff gets produced in the Czech Republic by Pirates Press.
I have heard that too. And I have friends with smaller labels that’ll press stuff at a small place in Chicago, and then there’s one in Australia that’ll do like one-offs of like 50 or something.
That’s gotta cost a fortune.
It does, but if you’ve got somebody that has a record that’s not going to sell a ton, you’ve got a cool artifact. It might cost six bucks a 7-inch or whatever, but it seemed worth it, I guess.
It didn’t really dawn on me before, but the last new Pinhead Gunpowder stuff is like fifteen years old now. I think West Side Highway was ‘08.
Yeah, that sounds about right. Going back and listening to everything, the way we did it, since we did the phases, I started with the oldest stuff first and got to the most recent stuff at the end, so it was like riding the arc again. Listening to the first record, I was a fan of the band before I was in it. And (Sarah) Kirsch, who was in the band before, has passed on, so it was sentimental to hear that stuff, because I hadn’t listened to it in so long. But everything made me happy to listen to, still. Some stuff stuck out to me that used to not.
Did all four of you relisten to everything and, like you said, A/B stuff for the project?
Yeah, yeah, for sure. And then some of it got a little confusing in the later stuff because we were like “wait, what record was that on? Or wait, we put out live versions of stuff? I don’t remember that…” We had some stuff from KALX, a radio station here in Berkeley, that I didn’t remember at all. I mean, I remembered doing it, but I didn’t remember it being released on anything. It was cool to listen to the different phases, and to listen to it as “a release.” I guess I always thought of it as “we got together and wrote some songs,” and we had bits and pieces we would either leave behind and then pick up later, or whatever. But it was cool to think about it as a release. So when I hear Shoot The Moon, I think “oh, this one’s a little more loose.” But then …Ellston Avenue was tight and well-recorded or whatever. And the other stuff had its own sort of personality. That was the most interesting part about going back to it.
I know Aaron wrote a lot of the material for Pinhead, but when you guys came together to record, was it like banging it out in a couple days, or were there longer recording sessions?
It kinda varied on each record, but most of the time it was “okay, we have this two weeks to put everything together, so let’s hammer out the songs, practice as much as we can, and then go record them.” Sometimes we’d change stuff, especially vocals. You hear clearer when you’re in the studio and you can make a few decisions there. So usually, it was like “this is the allotted time for the project,” and we’d hash it out in two weeks most of the time. Ellston Avenue took a little bit longer, because it was our only attempt at doing an LP’s worth of stuff at one time. Usually it was five or six songs or whatever.
Ellston Avenue is a tight-sounding record, and a big-sounding record as Pinhead records go. Was there ever talk of making it more of a stand-alone thing, and taking it on the road more? I mean, it was always going to be at least number two to Green Day obviously, but the band never went out on the road an awful lot. Was there ever talk amongst you four about doing it as a bigger “thing,” or would that have been almost impossible given how big Green Day was?
Yeah, I think, in my mind, it was always going to be a project that we could do when everybody had time. Obviously, Green Day stayed busy all through the years, so most of the time we’d be like “we just wanna write some songs together, record some stuff, go play a few shows.” We’d done a couple of mini-tours here and there, like we went up to the Pacific Northwest, to Seattle and back years ago. We went to LA at one point and kinda played around there. It was never really “let’s put the push behind this one and tour it” and all that stuff. It was always just sort of a meeting of the minds or whatever.
But they’re such fun records! And I say this knowing that I live 3,000 miles away and would have never had the chance to see the band anyway, but I feel like that’s stuff that people would enjoy hearing live. Do you miss playing some of those songs live, even semi-regularly?
Oh yeah! I mean whenever we got together to play shows, which was more often than we recorded…I mean, Pinhead is super fun to play live with because it has its own feeling and setting and tempos and energy. It was great, I loved it and hopefully we will do it again soon.
Well that was certainly going to be a question, but now that the revisit has wrapped up, does that stoke the fires amongst any of you to play some shows for the first time in ten or fifteen years or whatever it is?
Yeah, I think if all the stars align soon…we’ve been talking about it for the last couple years, even before we were doing the rereleases, like, if Aaron came into town – the rest of us all live here in the Bay Area – we would get together and just jam at the practice space and play these songs randomly, it was always super fun, but it would always be like “oh, we should play a show…but I’ve gotta leave by Tuesday” or whatever. So it didn’t end up working out, but hopefully we’re going to do it soon!
Where does Aaron live? I always just picture him in the Bay Area.
He’s in New York! He’s been there for a while now, and he’s doing great out there. He’s the owner of a collective that has bookstores out there. They’re really cool. He’s doing great out there.
Is that why the rest of you did other projects – The CoverUps, Foxboro Hot Tubs, The Longshot…not The Network, obviously…so with Aaron 3000 miles away, let’s work on some other projects?
Yeah, like “we’re around…what else can we do?”
I’ve always appreciated that about that whole Green Day crew. That it didn’t stay just Green Day, that you did all these other projects that were creative and under different names and done independently, and more traditional to what I think we envision the whole East Bay scene to represent.
That’s how Bill Schnieder and I ended up doing The Influents+, the band that we had for a little while. I’d come back to town – I was out of town for a couple years and I came back to do Shoot The Moon, and then once we finished that, I just stayed here. We were like “well, what should we do now?” That phase of Pinhead was done and everyone kinda went their own ways, and I was like “well, I’ve got a few songs” and he was like “well, my brother’s got a few songs, let’s start another band.” It was just kind of the natural progression of things.
Did you go back to Little Rock in between?
I did, I went home to Arkansas for a couple years, between ‘96 and ‘98. I went back to play with some friends in a band called The Big Cats, and we gave it a shot for a minute, and then my dad became ill and I stayed behind to help take care of him. Then I came back here and stayed.
We talked earlier about the scene that is the Bay Area, and related to that, Little Rock had a pretty cool scene of its own. If people don’t know about Little Rock, Towncraft is such a great movie.
Oh you know of it!
Yeah, I’ve watched it a couple times! I think I stumbled upon it on Amazon one day, and I would watch almost exclusively either live sports or music documentaries, but this was so well done, and it throws back to that underground scene. I knew nothing of the Little Rock scene aside from that you’re from there and Ben Nichols is from there.
Right! Yeah, I went to high school with Ben. He’s great. We had art together; I think I was one year older than him…maybe we were in the same grade, it’s tough to remember. But I knew him. He was in bands obviously and so we were in the same scene.
It’s such a great snapshot of a scene that I’m not sure exists in too many places anymore. That sort of real, underground, junior high and high school kids starting their own scene and then it becomes this beautiful, a little bit incestuous, sort of thing. I don’t know of many places where that sort of thing exists in this country anymore.
I know, it’s tough to tell. I think there probably are, I just don’t know about them. But not in the same way, especially because of the way we consume things or look things up or find out about them, that part has completely changed, so I don’t know if it is even possible. It was a special time, I think. That was my friend Richard Matson who made that documentary about that time. A lot of cool things came out of that scene. I was stoked to find those people when I did.
I had known of Red 40 a little bit – posthumously, of course…I don’t think their influence really made it to New Hampshire where I grew up, necessarily. But I think it was through watching that documentary that I realized “oh wait, that’s Colin from Samiam!” I obviously knew him as playing drums for Samiam but he was the guitar player from Red 40…
It’s funny because Colin is the oldest friend that I have.
Amazing drummer too, by the way.
He’s the best. I’m so glad that he gets recognition through Samiam, because he’s incredible. We were in our earliest bands together. He was the first person I ever played music with. He co-wrote a couple of the Pinhead things that I did. But about the Red 40 thing…Colin was always known as a drummer, because he’s incredible. Everybody wanted him in their band. But Ben wanted to kinda do this new project, he wanted to start a new band, but it seemed like everyone was already in another band, and so in order not to pinch from other bands, he asked Colin to switch roles and play guitar, and then the guitar player in Colin’s band at the time, Substance, this guy Steve Kooms, switched roles and he played drums. Steve was a pretty good drummer, Colin was a pretty good guitar player, and Ben just wanted to do something different, you know? So he wrote these songs and they ended up recording them almost off-the-cuff. Now I think it’s one of the best-known things out of Little Rock, at least from that scene.
I haven’t seen it happen at Lucero shows, but when you go see Ben solo, like, we drove down to New Jersey a couple weeks ago because he does a one-off every year in Jersey, of all places, at a place called Crossroads, and it’s awesome, and people always yell for Red 40 songs. They clearly only know them from the Lucero connection, the same way I do, but people always yell out Red 40 songs and it’s kind of a cool thing. It’s gotta be cool for him.
Does he ever end up playing some?
He does sometimes. He didn’t last time, but sometimes he’s got one worked up and it depends how the whiskey is flowing by the middle of the night. (*both laugh*) But yeah, I really dig that documentary and sort of like I was saying at the beginning, we had like six kids who listened to punk rock. In New Hampshire, we had little pockets of kids here and there around the state who were into the music, but not enough to probably qualify as a scene, necessarily, but I think we all looked at the Bay Area, the Easy Bay especially, as a special thing, because it wasn’t LA, it wasn’t New York and the hardcore scene – frankly, it wasn’t the Boston hardcore scene which was never really my thing anyway, we all kinda gravitated toward the Bay Area scene and that became the music that we listened to. But to know that there were other places where there were these people just a little older than us and putting these organic little scenes together, it was wonderful. People should watch it. I don’t even know where you can get it now.
Yeah, I don’t know? I think it’s probably on Amazon.
Thanks for doing this. It’s been really cool to follow the Pinhead reissues and to have Pinhead Gunpowder sort of trending on a lot of the punk rock social media pages and record websites. To have that stuff trending again is pretty cool.
Yeah, I agree. I used to sort of be of the mindset of “oh, why reissue everything? Everyone that wants those records already has them, or they can get them if they look hard enough.” But I’m stupid and I forget that younger people might just be getting into it now and will be like “well, I want that, how do I get it?” I’m just dumb enough that I never considered that. But I’m very happy that it’s all out there and available and if anyone is getting hip to it now, that’s awesome.
I forget who I heard talk about a similar thing…Jack White, maybe…but about how stuff shouldn’t be out of print. Obviously he’s got his own label and his own printing press and all that, but I think it was him saying that music should be accessible and available. That people are always finding out about music and they should be able to go out and buy it.
Yeah, there’s value in that. I see that now. I used to feel like “well, we made enough.” I figured nobody else was going to want it. I forget that I’m getting old (*both laugh*) and that younger generations might be interested.
I’ve got a fifteen-year-old, and there are kids in high school that are starting to listen to that era of punk rock now, and that didn’t happen really through middle school. There are kids who listen to and love Green Day, and to me, that’s awesome, and it’s really awesome that they’re falling in love with the same band that we did thirty years ago.
Yeah. Everyone has their own entry point, at whatever age they might be at whatever time, and it’s really neat to see how it all works out.
Do you ever think about where you fit into that whole thing? And maybe that’s a weird thing to even think about, or a super ego-y thing to think about.
Gosh, no, not really. A little bit as recently as last night. We played a Coverups show last night out in this suburb called Walnut Creek, and I said goodbye to my kids and I started driving to go play the show, and I was thinking “well, I’ve pretty much been doing this same thing for thirty plus years…is it weird? No, because it just seems normal. But I think of so many people that I’ve known over the years don’t do it anymore or whatever, so I’m like, well, this is what I set out to do. I just wanted to play music and be in bands and it worked out somehow, you know?” I still always look up to the people who came before me, probably way too much.
(*both laugh*) Yeah, I think we all do.
I think I’m still trying to maybe impress them, you know? That’s still on my mind.
Do you have a running list of people that you’ve looked up to and been able to meet that you check off? Like The Stones and people like that?
There’s a few, yeah. That list grows all the time. Sometimes I’m a little shy about it these days, because essentially I’m like “well, I’m just bothering this person.” I’ll say a quick thank you, I appreciate what you’re doing.
I feel like as a guitar player, you can talk to guitar players …
Yeah, you can talk a little shop. There’s a guitar player that’s younger than me that I approached and just made a fool of myself. I was like “you’re my favorite guitar player on the planet” and he just sort of was really embarrassed for me, I think. It was Paul Maroon of The Walkmen. And I just think he’s incredible. But then it goes both ways. I got the opportunity to talk to Pete Townshend a couple months ago, because we played a charity event with them, and I just got like a quick 30 seconds to a minute to say “Hi Pete, how ya doing? Do you remember me?” I didn’t really want to bother him, he didn’t really want to be bothered, so it was a cool exchange and that was fine!
And now I can say I talked to a guy who talked to Pete Townshend! I’ve actually talked to a couple and it’s wild to me that I have even that connection.
You’ve probably heard by now that Green Day has a new album called Saviors on the way. Perhaps you’ve even listened to the first single “The American Dream is Killing Me”. But have you pre-ordered all 367 color variants of the album on vinyl? I sure hope not! But, if you’d like to, we’ll be […]
You’ve probably heard by now that Green Day has a new album called Saviors on the way. Perhaps you’ve even listened to the first single “The American Dream is Killing Me”. But have you pre-ordered all 367 color variants of the album on vinyl? I sure hope not! But, if you’d like to, we’ll be enabling you to do so. This edition of the Dying Scene Record Radar is dedicated solely to the many color variants of the new Green Day record! Let’s get into it, shall we?
Editor’s Note: This album has since been released but more and more color variants keep popping up, so this will continue to act as a tracker for the numerous variants of Green Day’s new record Saviors. Enjoy.
Clear (looks silver but trust me it’s just clear) No pressing info Target exclusive
“Rose” (not gonna fucking lie this looks exactly the same as 1-2-3-4 Go’s variant, we’ve been hookwinked) No pressing info JB Hi-Fi Exclusive (AUS)
“Lemonade” (it’s fucking yellow! Just call it yellow!) Probably like 5 trillion copies Punk as phuc Walmart exclusive I AM SICK OF THIS SHIT
No fucking way there’s another one and it’s called Bluejay Marble Limited(!!!) to 4,725 copies Green Day webstore variant #4
Blood Records exclusive zoetrope picture disc 4,000 copies – soul doubt Blood Records
UPDATE 1/5/2024: We have eclipsed 20 variants, folks! #21 – Tricolor Black White Hot Pink Vinyl LP Limited(!!!!!!!!!) to 3,350 copies Get it here, there and everywhere
Aaaaaaaand #22! “iHeart Exclusive” White Vinyl Limited to 1,000 copies Green Day webstore
Variant #23: UK Indie Pink / Black Marble ??? copies – this was supposed to be the same as the US Indie variant but someone fucked up Any record store in the UK
Did we miss any? Let us know in the comments!
Wanna catch up on all of our Record Radar posts? Click here and you’ll be taken to a page with all the past entries in the column. Magic!
This edition of the Dying Scene Record Radar is brought to you by the new album from UK skate punks Making Friends! Get their debut LP Fine Dying on limited edition colored vinyl here and listen to the album on Bandcamp.
New variant. Assai updated their picture. Turns out that the EU / UK indie variant (that Assai is simply wrapping with an additional obi strip) is different than the US indie variant. The US got the black / magenta split, the EU / UK looks to be getting a black & pink marble.
Greetings, and welcome to the Dying Scene Record Radar. If it’s your first time here, thank you for joining us! This is the weekly* column where we cover all things punk rock vinyl; new releases, reissues… you name it, we’ve probably got it. Kick off your shoes, pull up a chair, crack open a cold […]
Greetings, and welcome to the Dying Scene Record Radar. If it’s your first time here, thank you for joining us! This is the weekly* column where we cover all things punk rock vinyl; new releases, reissues… you name it, we’ve probably got it. Kick off your shoes, pull up a chair, crack open a cold one, and break out those wallets, because it’s go time and this week’s Record Radar is fucking yuuuuuuge. Let’s get into it!
Check out the video edition of this week’s Record Radar, presented by our friends at Punk Rock Radar:
AFI’s Shut Your Mouth and Open Your Eyes has been out of print since 2015, but it seems there’s a new unofficial pressing, potentially on yellow colored vinyl, making the rounds. I’ve seen this pop up at Death13ss Records a few times in the past week and it sells out really quick every time. If you’re chasing this record as hard as I’ve been, your best bet is to Favorite the product page on their Shopify store to be alerted if/when more copies are in stock.
How about some officially sanctioned releases? Kourtney Kardashian’s husband’s old band The Aquabats’ first three records are getting some snazzy colored vinyl reissues. Coming to a record store near you on May 24th, it’s The Return of The Aquabats! (on wax for the first time), The Fury of The Aquabats! (previously out of print for 6 years) & The Aquabats Vs. The Floating Eye of Death! (also on vinyl for the first time ever). You can pre-order all three records here.
St. Louis’ Wes Hoffman & Friends are releasing their new album How It Should Be this coming Friday, February 23rd. Jump Start Records has two sweet color variants as well as black wax on their webstore, while Canada’s Wrecking Crew Records has an exclusive coke bottle clear variant (their store seems to be down but I guess you can message them on Instagram to buy a copy if you want that variant). Check out the latest single below! Highly recommended listening for fans of newer MxPx.
Here’s something cool! Washington, DC label For Love of Records is putting out a yuge Dischord Records tribute compilation featuring local bands covering songs by Minor Threat, Dag Nasty, Jawbox, etc. Head over to their Bandcamp where you can listen to the whole thing and pre-order the 2xLP titled DC Does Dischord on some really awesome looking color variants.
Bracket’s 1994 debut album Forestville St 924 is being reissued by SBAM Records in honor of its 30th birthday. There are two color variants – blue marbled & white marbled – supposedly limited to 50 copies each, which I feel like has to be a typo considering these have been up for pre-order for over a week and haven’t sold out. Either that or this is the least in-demand reissue of a record that’s been out of print for 30 years. Anyway, get your copy here!
After giving their new single “Still” one listen, German melodic punk band For Heads Down went from being a band I’d inexplicably never heard of, to a band with one of my most anticipated records of 2024. The band’s self titled album is due out on April 19th, with Thousand Islands Records handling the US release and Disconnect Disconnect Records spreading it throughout Europe. Check out that single below and buy this record!!!
British ska-punks Call Me Malcolm have a new album called Echoes and Ghosts coming out on March 1st via Bad Time Records. Check out the latest single below and get the record here on a color variant that is equally as beautiful as its name is long: Electric Blue w/ Bone & Red Splatter. The band has another variant with a slightly less impressive character count (Electric Blue / Red color-in-color) available on their webstore as well. Members of the Bad Time Record Club will be receiving their own exclusive variant via snail mail next month, too.
Face to Face gave the very polarizing Ignorance is Bliss its first-ever vinyl release a few years ago (now that I think of it 2019 was actually 5 years ago, is that a few?). That was a 2xLP release and I remember it selling out fast as fuck. Anyway, now they’re reissuing the record for its 25th Anniversary and it’s a 4×10″ release this time. There are 3 color variants – Graphite, Cyan Blue & Doublemint – with 1,000 copies total. The price? 60 fuckin’ smackers. I’ll pass, but maybe you want it: send your money here.
Green Day’s Kerplunk is back in print for the first time in a long time. For some reason this record hasn’t gotten a repress since 2014 and I don’t mean to alarm any of you but that was a fuckin’ decade ago. Sheesh. Anyway, Kerplunk’s back on the menu! 1-2-3-4 Go! Records seems to be the place where this is most readily available online, but I’ve seen a few rekkid stores posting that copies have started to trickle in, so maybe your local store has it? Perchance.
If you like the Flatliners or mid-period Millencolin, you should check out Scotland’s Cold Years! They’ve got a new record called A Different Life coming out on April 26th. Check out the lead single “Roll With It” below and go here to pre-order the record on Half Black, Half Blood Red with White Splatter colored vinyl (say that 10 times fast!).
Fat Music for Fat People turns 30 in the year of our lord 2024, so naturally it’s time for a repress. This has been out of print (on colored vinyl at least) since 2012, so Fat’s US store sold out of the standalone LP pretty much immediately. They do have some Colored LP + Shirt bundles left, however (as well as black wax), and you can still get it on colored vinyl from their Australian webstore.
After whetting our whistles with a 20th anniversary compilation album last year, Belgian punks the Priceduifkes have announced a new album with new songs! Dancing Dirty comes out on March 15th on Striped Records, who you can purchase the record from here if you’re in Europe, or you like paying a lot to ship records to the US. If you don’t like paying a lot to ship records to the US, you’re in luck! Our friends at Mom’s Basement Records are selling this record,in the US! Also be sure to add that awesome new Odorants record to your cart before checking out.
Have you heard about the new Hot Water Music album? No? Well, let me tell you about the new Hot Water Music album. It’s called Vows and it’s due out May 10th on Equal Vision Records. There’s a bunch of color variants for this one, some of which have already sold out. You can find links to all the places you can purchase them with your preferred fiat currency here.
A bunch of dudes from Voodoo Glow Skulls (who, fun fact, I recently learned have blocked Dying Scene on all their social media accounts lmao), Death By Stereo and a few other bands have a new band called Mutiny. Their debut EP is being released by Ska Punk International as a 12” with a 30 page manga for the weebs. The first pressing is limited to 300 copies and that shit sold the fuck out. Maybe there’ll be a second pressing? I have no clue. Stay tuned!
As if The Offspring didn’t already have enough Greatest Hits album, here’s another one! Puck Punks: Powerplay Hits was released as part of the Anaheim Ducks’ Come Out and Play Night with The Offspring!. It’s limited to 1,000 copies on orange vinyl and features “Want You Bad”, “All I Want”, and a few shitty songs from Let The Bad Times Roll. Surprisingly, “Come Out and Play” is omitted from the tracklist. People are trying to sell this piece of shit for $100+ on discogs, but you can get it from the Anaheim Ducks Team Store for the somewhat more justifiable price of $34.95.
The full release list for the 2024 our third favorite retail holiday Record Store Day was just announced. I gotta say, the lineup is actually pretty impressive this time around, and there’s quite a few releases on tap for the punk rock-centric collector. The full list can be found here, but these are the ones I think you guys will be interested in picking up:
Speaking of the Offspring, here’s another Offspring record! You can’t buy this one right now though, you gotta wait til Record Store Day (April 20th, 2024 for those who are unaware). It’s a 20th Anniversary reissue of Splinter, limited to 2,500 copies on… wait for it! Picture disc. For some reason. This record’s a bitch to come by though, so I’ll probably pay $35 for it or whatever the fuck they wanna hawk this shit for.
It wouldn’t be Record Store Day without the Ramones estate repackaging previously released material for the 20th time to top up their bank accounts. But hey, I’m not complaining, I eat this shit up every time! RSD 2024 blesses us with The 1975 Sire Demos, which is exactly what it sounds like: a bunch of early Ramones demos. Limited*** to 13,500 copies (lol) on ultra-clear w/ black splatter vinyl. In the extremely unlikely case that Mickey Leigh or Linda Ramone happen to be reading this, I beg you, please reissue the following: Acid Eaters, Mondo Bizarro, Adios Amigos, Loco Live & We’re Outta Here!. Maybe you can do a 90’s box set? And then double dip with some standalone color variants for each. Hire me for your marketing department! I’ve no shortage of million dollar ideas.
Speaking of double dipping with standalone color variants, look no further than this RSD Exclusive reissue of Joe Strummer & The Mescaleros’ Rock Art and the X-Ray Style. Following last year’s Mescaleros full discography box set (still available for $140 on Amazon btw) is the standalone reissue of this record. I think they did the same with Streetcore, too. Anyway, I guess if you just want this record this is a good value proposition for you. It’s a 2xLP limited to 1,800 copies on pink wax.
The Dead Milkmen’s 1987 album Bucky Fellini has never gotten a repress, until now that is. The record has been remastered and is being reissued as a 2xLP on “Ducky Yellow” colored vinyl, packaged in a snazzy gatefold jacket. The official RSD site says this limited to 4,500 copies… but also says it’s limited to 5,000 copies. You decide what you want to believe.
Frank Turner’s got a new record called Undefeated coming out in May, but he’s also got a 7” featuring a song from that record – “Girl from the Record Shop” – coming out a few weeks early for Record Store Day. This 7” is limited to 2,000 copies and is also gonna include a B-Side called “All Night Crew”.
Here’s a real fuckin’ big time reissue. Unwritten Law’s debut album Blue Room is getting released on vinyl for the first time ever, 30 years after its original release. It’s limited to 939 copies on navy blue colored vinyl and is branded as a “RSD First” Release, which leaves the door open for other variants down the line (and I’m sure there will be many). I’m pretty excited for this one and it’s probably going to be enough motivation to line up early outside the local store.
I feel like I’ve heard the name The Didjits before (it sounds familiar anyway) but I’d never listened to these guys until now. This shit’s bad ass! They’ve got a Double LP called Strictly Dynamite: The Best of Didjits coming out on Record Store Day. It’s limited to 1,500 copies on 180g green vinyl and includes a bunch of rare bonus tracks and shit (all of which would have been new to me regardless since I’d never heard of the Didjits lol). Editor’s note: Actually I take that back, the Offspring covered “Killboy Powerhead”, so I guess I’ve kinda sorta heard at least one Didjits song before.
The last Record Store Day 2024 release I’ll be featuring in this week’s Record Radar is 40 Years of Kepi & The Groovie Ghoulies, which is doing double duty as a greatest hits collection for both the Groovie Ghoulies and their fearless frontman-turned-solo artist Kepi Ghoulie. It’s a Double LP set with an orange record and a purple one, limited to 900 copies. Hey Kepi, Let’s Go! to the record store and buy this bad ass record!
Wrapping things up, I thought I’d do something a little different on this week’s Record Radar: featuring a CD release! Yes, you read that right, compact disc. Those are pretty fucking cool, too. Especially when they’re released by an awesome band from your hometown that you didn’t know existed until your friend in New York told you about them. Clearwater, Florida’s Toe Knife kicks ass. Their new EP Endless Cycle kicks ass. It’d be pretty kick ass if you checked it out and bought the CD (or maybe just buy the digital download if you don’t share my affection for shiny little plastic discs).
Well, that’s all, folks. Another Record Radar in the books. As always, thank you for tuning in. If there’s anything we missed (highly likely), or if you want to let everyone know about a new/upcoming vinyl release you’re excited about, leave us a comment below, or send us a message on Facebook or Instagram, and we’ll look into it. Enjoy your weekend, and don’t blow too much money on spinny discs (or do, I’m not your father). See ya next time!
Wanna catch up on all of our Record Radar posts? Click here and you’ll be taken to a page with all the past entries in the column. Magic!
Greetings, and welcome to the Dying Scene Record Radar. If it’s your first time here, thank you for joining us! This is the weekly column where we cover all things punk rock vinyl; new releases, reissues… you name it, we’ve probably got it. It was another very busy week and we once again have a […]
Greetings, and welcome to the Dying Scene Record Radar. If it’s your first time here, thank you for joining us! This is the weekly column where we cover all things punk rock vinyl; new releases, reissues… you name it, we’ve probably got it. It was another very busy week and we once again have a shitload of records to cover. So kick off your shoes, pull up a chair, crack open a cold one, and break out those wallets, because it’s go time. Let’s get into it!
But first, new this week: It’s the very first video edition of the Dying Scene Record Radar! Presented by our friends at Punk Rock Radar:
In case you’ve been sleeping under a rock, AFI‘s Sing the Sorrow is getting reissued on vinyl in honor of its 20th birthday. Two variants have been revealed so far; the Red & Black Pinwheel Splatter” one we told you about earlier this week (get it here). There’s also a Red w/ Black Smoke color variant that was initially thought to be limited to 2,000 copies and exclusive to the anniversary show in LA, which has since popped up on the official AFI webstore. I’m sure that’ll make all those eBay flippers nice and pissed.
Most of Streetlight Manifesto‘s records are getting reissued through their own Pentimento Music Company. Everything Went Numb, Somewhere In The Between, 99 Songs Of Revolution: Volume 1, and The Hands That Thieve are all back in print on white colored vinyl. Head over to the band’s webstore to snatch these up.
Rancid‘s And Out Come The Wolves is getting repressed on it’s like 20th(?) new color variant. This red/white marble color is limited to 1,000 copies. Epitaph‘s US store is the only place you can get it.
Also from Epitaph: a new pressing of Tim Armstrong’s lone solo album A Poet’s Life on white w/ black splatter colored wax. Once again, “limited” to 1,000 copies and the only place you can get it is Epitaph’s Kings Road Merch store in the land of the free.
And because good things come in threes, we have a third reissue from Epitaph this week. It’s the 20th Anniversary of The Weakerthans’ Reconstruction Site. If you live in Canada, you can get the “brown/apple” color variant here. And if you live anywhere else, here‘s a handy page with links to where you can buy the record depending on your region.
Alright, that’s enough reissues for now. We’ll cover more further down the page, I promise. How ’bout some new music? New music’s cool, right? Here’s some new music from another awesome Canadian band, Brutal Youth! Their first new record in seven years Rebuilding Year is due out April 21st on Stomp Records. Check out the lead single “Moonstones” below and pre-order the LP here.
Here’s a brand new record from a brand new band called Seitans! Check out these Italian Ramonescore newcomers if you’re into Teenage Bottlerocket, Screeching Weasel, The Queers, etc. And hey, they’re on Monster Zero so you know they gotta be good. Listen below and get the record here.
More new music! We’re on a fuckin’ roll, folks. Pretty sure we covered this a few weeks back, but the pre-order just went live so fuck it, we’re circling back. Manchester, UK punks Clayface‘s debut album Ailments is due out in May. It’s being co-released by Punk Rock Radar, Cat’s Claw Records & White Russian Records. Check out the new single “Employee of the Year” below and find links to all the places you can pre-order the record here.
The next stop on our punk rock trip around the world is the Netherlands, where Harsh Realms are putting out their first new album in nine years! CVLT is coming out on April 1st (those silly jokesters) via Shield Recordings. 200 copies on black wax, 300 copies on “Dracula” color vinyl. Check out the new single “Saltwater” below and grab the record here.
Aaaand back to new plastic with old music pressed into it. Cowpunk veterans the Supersuckers’ 1997 album Must’ve Been High is back in print for the first time in a long time, but that’s not all! The Steve Earle & The Supersuckers EP and the Must’ve Been High demos are getting their first-ever vinyl releases. Get ’em all here.
BL’AST!‘s 1989 LP Take the Manic Ride is back in print for the first time in over 30 years! According to the hype sticker, the album has been “sonically enhanced with an aggressive remaster from Brad Boatright”. Available on green vinyl (200 copies) here and black wax here.
Our friends at 1-2-3-4 Go! Records are always cranking out bitchin’ exclusive variants, with the latest being these Alkaline Trio records. Goddamnit and Maybe I’ll Catch Fire are each limited to 1,000 hand numbered copies. Both can be purchased for money here.
Beer City Records is releasing a new Boris The Sprinkler compilation LP called Bits O’ Boris. The record “collects a veritable cornucopia of 19 stray Boris tracks (all restored and remastered) from 1992-2003 that originally appeared on singles, compilations, and whatever else!”. There’s a shitload of color variants, all available here.
Originally released as a CD box set in 2005, The Lillingtons‘ Technically Unsound is finally getting the vinyl release it deserves. The 2xLP reissue features awesome new cover art from Chris Shary, and copies are going fast. Get yours here before they’re gone.
Hey, while you’re grabbing that Lillingtons record from Clearview Records be sure to pick up the new Flight Kamikaze album! These guys are a killer new pop-punk band from Denver. Listen below, buy the record here.
Dutch punks Antillectual have launched pre-orders for their new LP Together. This is being released by 20(?) labels worldwide, but Thousand Islands Records is distributing it in North America. Check out the new single “From City to City” below and pre-order Together here.
Holy shit, you made it to the end! Well, that’s all, folks. Another Record Radar in the books. As always, thank you for tuning in. If there’s anything we missed (highly likely), or if you want to let everyone know about a new/upcoming vinyl release you’re excited about, leave us a comment below, or send us a message on Facebook or Instagram, and we’ll look into it. Enjoy your weekend, and don’t blow too much money on spinny discs (or do, I’m not your father). See ya next week!
Wanna catch up on all of our Record Radar posts? Click here and you’ll be taken to a page with all the past entries in the column. Magic!
Greetings, and welcome to the Dying Scene Record Radar. If it’s your first time here, thank you for joining us! This is the weekly* column where we cover all things punk rock vinyl; new releases, reissues… you name it, we’ve probably got it. Kick off your shoes, pull up a chair, crack open a cold […]
Greetings, and welcome to the Dying Scene Record Radar. If it’s your first time here, thank you for joining us! This is the weekly* column where we cover all things punk rock vinyl; new releases, reissues… you name it, we’ve probably got it. Kick off your shoes, pull up a chair, crack open a cold one, and break out those wallets, because it’s go time. Let’s get into it!
Check out the video edition of this week’s Record Radar, presented by our friends at Punk Rock Radar:
Dine Alone Records has reissued (almost) every Gob record! This is the very first time any of these albums have been released on vinyl. They’re available individually for $22 CAD each, or in a 5 LP bundle for $100 CAD. That’s about 15 Freedom Dollars a piece for my fellow Americans; pretty good fuckin’ deal! Get your Gob records here.
Lagwagon‘s Let’s Talk About Feelings is the latest iconic in Fat Wreck’s back catalog to receive the 25th Anniversary reissue treament. Head over to the Fat webstore to get the colored 10″ record (editor’s note: the record pictured is the “EU Store” variant, available at BrakRock and Punk Rock Holiday).
Boris The Sprinkler’s Group Sex cover LP is getting its first ever vinyl release, thanks to Radiation Records‘ pop-punk imprint Hey Suburbia Records. Get it on pink colored wax (limited to 500 copies) here.
Ska-punk veterans Mustard Plug have announced their new album Where Did All My Friends Go?, due out September 8th on Bad Time Records. There are a bunch of color variants; my favorite is this Alternative Press exclusive yellow & black pinwheel variant. Check out the lead single “Fall Apart” below and go here for links to buy all the different variants.
German melodic punks Astronuts‘ debut album Dark Matters is out now on vinyl, with two color variants limited to 100 copies each. If you’re into No Use For A Name, Good Riddance, etc. you’ll dig these guys. No matter where you are in the world, there’s probably a label you can get this LP from – it’s being co-released by Punk Rock Radar (US), Cat’s Claw Records (UK), Johnny Be Good (EU), and Waterslide Records (JP).
Australian skate punk mainstays The Decline have a new record coming soon! Magical Misery Tour is a compilation of all the singles they’ve put out over the last few years. There are two color variants: orange galaxy & pink/purple marble w/ white splatter, each limited to 250 copies. You can get it from Pee Records in Australia, Thousand Islands Records in North America, Disconnect Disconnect Records in the UK, and Bearded Punk Records in Europe.
1-2-3-4 Go! Records just put out an exclusive variant of Jawbreaker‘s Bivouac a few weeks ago, but they’re back with another Jawbreaker exclusive. This time they’ve got the band’s 1990 debut Unfun on “Marble Masher” colored vinyl, limited to 474 hand numbered copies.
Keeping it in the East Bay, we’re wrapping up this week’s Record Radar with a surprise reissue of Knowledge’s A Gift Before I Go. The band fronted by Link 80’s Nick Traina recorded this album before the singer passed away. Asian Man Records released it on CD in 1998, and 25 years later it’s getting its first ever vinyl release. Grab a copy here.
Well, that’s all, folks. Another Record Radar in the books. As always, thank you for tuning in. If there’s anything we missed (highly likely), or if you want to let everyone know about a new/upcoming vinyl release you’re excited about, leave us a comment below, or send us a message on Facebook or Instagram, and we’ll look into it. Enjoy your weekend, and don’t blow too much money on spinny discs (or do, I’m not your father). See ya next week!
Wanna catch up on all of our Record Radar posts? Click here and you’ll be taken to a page with all the past entries in the column. Magic!
Greetings, and welcome to the Dying Scene Record Radar. If it’s your first time here, thank you for joining us! This is the weekly* column where we cover all things punk rock vinyl; new releases, reissues… you name it, we’ve probably got it. Sorry if you’ve missed us the last few weeks, with Father’s Day […]
Greetings, and welcome to the Dying Scene Record Radar. If it’s your first time here, thank you for joining us! This is the weekly* column where we cover all things punk rock vinyl; new releases, reissues… you name it, we’ve probably got it. Sorry if you’ve missed us the last few weeks, with Father’s Day and all that fun stuff going on the Record Radar went on the backburner, but we’re back now and that’s all that matters, isn’t it? Kick off your shoes, pull up a chair, crack open a cold one, and break out those wallets, because it’s go time. Let’s get into it!
Check out the video edition of this week’s Record Radar, presented by our friends at Punk Rock Radar:
Green Day‘s debut LP 39/Smooth gets its first new pressing since 2015 and Oakland’s own 1-2-3-4 Go! Records is the only place to get it. They’ve got an exclusive hand-numbered silver colored LP with the bonus 7″s on colored wax as well. Not sure how many copies were pressed, but they’re apparently almost sold out. Get it here now or pay more on Discogs later.
1-2-3-4 Go! also has an exclusive new variant of Alkaline Trio‘s self-titled compilation LP. As always, these are hand-numbered, but like the Green Day record I have no clue how many copies were pressed on this red/grey split colored wax. Get it here.
Like most other weeks, a new Bad Religion repress was announced this week (a few weeks ago actually, but nevermind that). This time It’s Recipe for Hate, which turns 30 this year. As always, there’s no shortage of color variants. Links to where you can get all of them are here.
PUP‘s latest album The Unraveling of PUPTheBand has a new variant up for pre-order at Newbury Comics. The “Clear With Black/Yellow/Neon Pink Splatter” (say that 10 times fast) LP is limited to 1,000 copies and they are all signed by the band. Get yours here.
Just shy of its 20th birthday Tiger Army’s III: Ghost Tigers Rise has gotten its first repressing since 2004. The yellow w/ gold splatter LP is limited to 300 copies and is a Zia Records exclusive. Get it here.
One of my favorite Floridian ska bands, Osceola County’s own Supervillains, have announced a vinyl reissue of their 2008 album Massive. These guys have been around over 25 years, but this will be their first-ever vinyl release. Get it here.
Speaking of Floridian ska bands… if you’ve got $50 burning a hole in your pocket (yes, that’s just about how much this will run ya after shipping), Less Than Jake‘s Greetings and Salutations has been repressed on 500 copies of “Greenyl”. Apparently it’s a “100% eco-friendly, PVC-free vinyl” material. Get it here.
The Swingin’ Utters‘ Five Lessons Learned is the latest record in Fat Wreck Chords‘ back catalog to receive the 25th Anniversary treatment. Get your copy here (US) or here (EU).
On vinyl for the first time ever, it’s The Hippos’ 1999 LP Heads Are Gonna Roll! This cult classic third wave ska record was previously only released on CD, but that changes now thanks to Asbestos Records. Limited to 1,000 copies across two color variants; get yours here.
Music on Vinyl has been dropping a lot of punk (and punk adjacent) reissues lately. The latest round includes Unwritten Law‘s Here’s to the Mourning (on vinyl for the first time ever!), limited to 1,000 copies on translucent green 180g wax. This isn’t exclusive to any retailer, so you can probably find it in your local record store. Here‘s one place I found to get it online.
And another reissue / first-time vinyl release coming from Music on Vinyl is Authority Zero‘s sophomore album Andiamo. 1,000 copies on gold wax, same deal as the UL record. Here‘s one place I found selling it online.
Chris Cresswell has announced a new solo album! The Stubbornness of the Young is the Flatliners‘ frontman’s second solo effort, following 2014’s One Week Record. Check out the lead single “Behind the Crow” below and pre-order the LP here (NA), here (EU), or here (UK).
Absolute Melt, one of many side projects from Murderburgers frontman Fraser Murderburger, has a new EP out now. The 3-song ripper simply titled EP2 is being released as a lathe cut 7-inch. All profits from the release will be donated to Scottish Women’s Aid. Listen below and pre-order here.
Pirates Press Records is always up to something! Their latest release is a split 7″ from The Drowns and The Last Gang. Head over to their webstore to grab a copy on one of three color variants (or buy all three!).
Well, that’s all, folks. Another Record Radar in the books. As always, thank you for tuning in. If there’s anything we missed (highly likely), or if you want to let everyone know about a new/upcoming vinyl release you’re excited about, leave us a comment below, or send us a message on Facebook or Instagram, and we’ll look into it. Enjoy your weekend, and don’t blow too much money on spinny discs (or do, I’m not your father). See ya next week!
Wanna catch up on all of our Record Radar posts? Click here and you’ll be taken to a page with all the past entries in the column. Magic!
Greetings, and welcome to the Dying Scene Record Radar. If it’s your first time here, thank you for joining us! This is the weekly* column where we cover all things punk rock vinyl; new releases, reissues… you name it, we’ve probably got it. Kick off your shoes, pull up a chair, crack open a cold […]
Greetings, and welcome to the Dying Scene Record Radar. If it’s your first time here, thank you for joining us! This is the weekly* column where we cover all things punk rock vinyl; new releases, reissues… you name it, we’ve probably got it. Kick off your shoes, pull up a chair, crack open a cold one, and break out those wallets, because it’s go time. Let’s get into it!
Check out the video edition of this week’s Record Radar, presented by our friends at Punk Rock Radar:
Green Day‘s American Idiot celebrates its 20th birthday this year and is getting the same box set treatment its older brother Dookie received last year. This 8 LP set features plenty of B-Sides, bonus tracks, and previously unreleased demos and live recordings. And as if that wasn’t enough, you also get two Blu-Rays (one of which includes a brand new American Idiot 20th Anniversary documentary), a 36-page book, and a flag. 1-2-3-4 Go! Records has the best deal I’ve seen on this box set, at $189.99 with free shipping, and if you buy it through the Shop app you’ll get an extra 5% off your order.
But wait, there’s more! If box sets aren’t your thing, or if you need to collect every variant, there’s also a standalone 20th Anniversary American Idiot double LP on red and black splatter vinyl (sans demos, bonus tracks, etc.). Honestly this looks cooler than the 50/50 split color variants in the box set. If you’re gonna get this and the box set, you may as well get both from 1-2-3-4 Go! since shipping over $75 is free. If you’re just getting the 2xLP and don’t qualify for free shipping, Amazon will be cheaper.
But wait, there’s still more! And this one’s for all you fart huffing audiophiles. Because Sound Matters‘ One-Step Edition of American Idiot costs nearly as much as the box set, coming in at $119.99 for the double LP alone (if you buy from 1-2-3-4 Go! Records) ($124.98 elsewhere)). Here’s some words from the fart huffers at Because Sound Matters:
“American Idiot was recorded in the digital domain and mixed to analog tape. Those original flat master tapes were then carefully transferred to 192/24 wav files that ended up being our audio source for the One-Step pressing.
We used Neotech VR900-D2 180g vinyl compound which is the same as what is known as Super Vinyl or Clarity Vinyl – the best in the world.
Levi Seitz at Blackbelt Mastering (Linkin Park,Metallica, Pearl Jam, Beyonce etc) cut the multiple sets of lacquers required. Being a massive Green Day fan himself – Levi already knew every little sound on this iconic album.
Dorin Sauerbier at Record Technology, Inc (R.T.I.) has been plating records for decades and is considered the best in the world – he also has done more One-Step processing than anybody. This is a vital step in the process to ultimately delivering the absolute best sounding version of American Idiot ever.”
I think that’s enough American Idiot for now; let’s move on to something else. A little ska perhaps? Keep Flying has released a live version of their latest EP Daylight, simply titled Daylight Live. This is very limited and 1/3 of the variants has already sold out, so head over to Smartpunk Records and grab the record while you still can. And if you get a chance to, catch these guys live! Check out their upcoming tour dates here.
The Groovie Ghoulies’ 2001 Freaks on Parade EP is being reissued as an LP with 6 bonus tracks and brand new cover art by Tom Neely. You can get this on Godzilla Green colored vinyl from Eccentric Pop (US) and Stardumb Records (EU), and Fiery Orange colored vinyl from 1-2-3-4 Go! Records (I swear they’re not paying me – maybe they should be!).
German Ramonescore powerhouses, Germany’s Haermorrhoids and Italy’s Proton Packs, have joined forces for a bad ass new split 7″ out now on Mom’s Basement Records in the US and Striped Music in Europe. Both of these bands are sick as fuck; don’t sleep on this!
A new(?) clear variant of Blink 182’s Enema of the State has popped up on their webstore. I’m not 100% sure if this is a brand new pressing because Discogs lists a clear variant released in Europe last year, but at the very least it’s the first time this has been available in the US. On a related note, it looks like a good chunk of Blink’s back catalog – including Dude Ranch, Cheshire Cat, the self-titled album, TOYPAJ, and Neighborhoods, is back in print and available on their online store, all sharing the same August 14th street date.
A similarly suspect “new” translucent yellow color variant of MxPx’s Panic has popped up on Amazon. Earlier this year, the same thing happened with an opaque yellow variant of the same record popping up, unannounced, on Amazon and shipping in April. It was real, I got it, and it showed up with the center label for a Casualties record on the A Side (lol). That one’s still in stock at a few record stores. Maybe this one’s the same, maybe it’s different, only one way to find out!
Well, that’s all, folks. Another Record Radar in the books. Short one this week! As always, thank you for tuning in. If there’s anything we missed (highly likely), or if you want to let everyone know about a new/upcoming vinyl release you’re excited about, leave us a comment below, or send us a message on Facebook or Instagram, and we’ll look into it. Enjoy your weekend, and don’t blow too much money on spinny discs (or do, I’m not your father). See ya next time!
Wanna catch up on all of our Record Radar posts? Click here and you’ll be taken to a page with all the past entries in the column. Magic!
Greetings, and welcome to the Dying Scene Record Radar. If it’s your first time here, thank you for joining us! This is the weekly* column where we cover all things punk rock vinyl; new releases, reissues… you name it, we’ve probably got it. Kick off your shoes, pull up a chair, crack open a cold […]
Greetings, and welcome to the Dying Scene Record Radar. If it’s your first time here, thank you for joining us! This is the weekly* column where we cover all things punk rock vinyl; new releases, reissues… you name it, we’ve probably got it. Kick off your shoes, pull up a chair, crack open a cold one, and break out those wallets, because it’s go time. Let’s get into it!
Check out the video edition of this week’s Record Radar, presented by our friends at Punk Rock Radar:
I’ll acknowledge I’m late to the party on this one but I can’t just not mention it. Green Day is releasing a 30th Anniversary Dookie box set, with bonus tracks, demos, live recordings, etc. spread across 6 LPs. If you don’t need all that, they’re reissuing just the LP on baby blue colored vinyl as well. Our friends at 1-2-3-4 Go! Records have the best prices I’ve seen on these, so head over to their webstore if you wanna grab ’em.
The Wonder Years frontman Dan “Soupy” Campbell’s side project Aaron West and the Roaring Twenties are reissuing their two studio albums. We Don’t Have Each Other and Routine Maintenance are back in print on some cool pinwheel color variants. Get them both here.
It’s been a while since the Parasites put out some new music, but the wait is over. We’ll, kinda sorta. Their new 7″ EP-onymous features 5 songs they supposedly wrote for Sweet Baby 30+ years ago. So they’re old, but new to you. Anyway, the Parasites rule, get the 7″ here.
Continuing to play catch up on all the shit I missed last week, The Menzingers announced a new record. It’s called Some of it Was True and it’s coming out October 13th on Epitaph Records. Check out the first single below and pre-order the album here.
Good Charlotte’s The Young and the Hopeless gets its 2nd repress of the year. The last one was “limited” to 10,000 (still in stock here btw) while this one is limited to 500 though, so I suppose that’s notable. The black w/ lime green splatter LP comes with a copy of Alternative Press Magazine which somehow makes it worth $50. Buy it here if you’d like.
Rad Girlfriend Records‘ latest release comes from Pale Angels, a band with members in the US and UK. Their new record Plastic Legacy releases on September 8th. Check out the first single below and pre-order the LP here.
The pride of Australia, The Living End’s debut album turns 25 this year, and it’s getting reissued to mark the occasion. There’s a standard LP reissue available on red or white vinyl, and a 2xLP deluxe edition with a full live set on the second record. Jeffrey Bezos’ Amazon.com is the cheapest place to get both. There’s a black & red splatter variant of the Double LP available from Bullmoose as well; not sure if that’s the same as the one on Amazon or not.
Useless ID‘s Yotam Ben Horin and Old Man Markley’s John Edward Carey Jr. released their first album as Tommy and June in 2019. Now they’re back with a new 5-song EP called Monfalcone, produced by Fat Mike and out now on Fat Wreck imprint Bottles To The Ground. Check out one of the tracks below and get the record here.
Well, that’s all, folks. Another Record Radar in the books. As always, thank you for tuning in. If there’s anything we missed (highly likely), or if you want to let everyone know about a new/upcoming vinyl release you’re excited about, leave us a comment below, or send us a message on Facebook or Instagram, and we’ll look into it. Enjoy your weekend, and don’t blow too much money on spinny discs (or do, I’m not your father). See ya next week!
Wanna catch up on all of our Record Radar posts? Click here and you’ll be taken to a page with all the past entries in the column. Magic!
Greetings, and welcome to the Dying Scene Record Radar. If it’s your first time here, thank you for joining us! This is the weekly* column where we cover all things punk rock vinyl; new releases, reissues… you name it, we’ve probably got it. Kick off your shoes, pull up a chair, crack open a cold […]
Greetings, and welcome to the Dying Scene Record Radar. If it’s your first time here, thank you for joining us! This is the weekly* column where we cover all things punk rock vinyl; new releases, reissues… you name it, we’ve probably got it. Kick off your shoes, pull up a chair, crack open a cold one, and break out those wallets, because it’s go time. Let’s get into it!
Check out the video edition of this week’s Record Radar, presented by our friends at Punk Rock Radar:
Beloved Green Day side-project Pinhead Gunpowder is rising from the ashes with the announcement of their new full-length album Unt, due out October 18th on 1-2-3-4 Go! Records. This is the first new music the band has released since their 2008 West Side Highway 7″, but more notably its their first studio album since 1997’s Goodbye Ellston Avenue. Check out the album’s title track below and pre-order the record on one (or more) of five vinyl color variants at the following places:
Also available on CD & cassette (two colors), and your local record store probably has free promotional flexi 7″s with the lead single (and posters!) to give away with pre-orders.
Off With Their Heads has a new record called Inhale. Exhale. Smile. coming out soon. It features cover songs they released digitally on Bandcamp over the past year, including their latest cover of Pretty Girls Make Graves’ “Speakers Push The Air”. The first pressing sold out already but you can get it on “Laguna Eco Blue” colored vinyl here.
The almighty Smoking Popes are celebrating their sophomore album Born to Quit‘s 30th birthday with Born To Quit (Live Session), a live-in-studio re-recording of the LP. Get it here on Eco Red (250 copies), Eco Blue (350 copies), Oxblood / Aqua Blue (400 copies), and Black Vinyl (500 copies).
The Copyrights‘ fan favorite(?) album Make Sound was repressed on this color variant in 2019, but only 100 copies made it out into the wild and were sold by the band at a few shows. Good news! It’s Alive Records is back from the grave and they threw the remaining 400 copies of this pressing up on their Bandcamp, where you can obtain it for $20! Fuck yeah.
Speaking of It’s Alive Records, they’ve got a new release out now as well! City Mouse’s new record So Far Out is now available on two stunning color variants – Blue & Orange Sunburst (206 copies) and Crystal Red Stripe Vinyl (200 copies) – on It’s Alive’s Bandcamp and from Brassneck Records in the UK. You can also get a band-exclusive red color variant on their webstore and from their merch table on tour this fall.
Hopeless Records is reviving its long-dormant Hopelessly Devoted To You compilation series with this 30th Anniversary edition featuring: The Wonder Years covering a Thrice song! Bayside Covering a Weakerthans song! A bunch of other bands you probably don’t know covering songs by bands you maybe do know! Get it on yellow w/ black splatter colored vinyl right here.
Philly punks The Bad Ups will be releasing their debut album Life of Sin on September 27th through Jump Start Records. The lead single “Ego Trip” is bad ass and reminds me a lot of early 2000’s Gob. Check that shit out below and go here to pre-order the record on yellow/black splatter (200 copies) and/or black vinyl (100 copies).
Not sure how I missed this one when it came out about a month ago, but better than late than never! Santa Cruz hardcore punk supergroup Seized Up (ft. members of Good Riddance, BL’AST!, The Distillers & more) have a new record out now on Pirates Press Records. Modify the Sacred is the band’s sophomore album, following their 2020 debut Brace Yourself. You can get it on a bunch of sweet color variants here, and it looks like Revelation Records has an exclusive variant(?) of their own that might be the prettiest of them all.
Austrian melodic punk band hatsnriver‘s new record Good for Nothing is out now and it’s available on two beautiful splatter color variants, limited to 50 copies each. Check out one of the tracks below and grab the record from their Bandcamp.
Former Bad Cop / Bad Cop guitarist / singer Jennie Cotterill’s new band Reckoner – also featuring members of Fireworks, Walking With Ghosts, etc. – will be releasing their debut 7″ next month on Double Helix Records. It features the band’s first two tracks “Short Stories” and “One Size Fits All”, and is available to pre-order now on Coke Bottle Clear (250x) and Transparent Magenta (250x) colored vinyl. Get it here.
Teen Idols guitarist Phillip Hill’s label Idol Time Records has released a new split 7″ from Nashville’s The Rip Taylors and Boston’s The Cretins. For the low, low, low price of $6, this is a no-brainer pickup for any and all self-respecting (or maybe non-self-respecting) Ramonescore appreciators. Buy buy buy!!!
And it’s a two for one special on old school pop-punk splits this week, as Punkerton Records has announced The Prozacs and The Downstrokes‘ new split LP Better Late Than Never. This is due out on December 13th and is available on seven (7) color variants!!!!!!!!!!!! You can pre-order that shit right here.
And to round out this week’s Record Radar, we’ve got Jacksonville, FL pop-punk band Knives with a fun update on their new record One Cut Away From Love. They’ve announced two new color variants (in addition to the six (6) I covered in the last Record Radar!). They’ll have a Jags-themed Duuuuuuvaaaaalllll variant available at their record release show in November (date TBD) and a half pink / half blue Fest Exclusive variant available at – you guessed it – The Fest! I’m dubbing that one the Alaaaaaaachuaaaaaaa color variant. Both are limited to 50 copies each. If you can’t make it to either show, you’ve still got those six other color variants to fall back on.
Well, that’s all, folks. Another Record Radar in the books. Short one this week! As always, thank you for tuning in. If there’s anything we missed (highly likely), or if you want to let everyone know about a new/upcoming vinyl release you’re excited about, leave us a comment below, or send us a message on Facebook or Instagram, and we’ll look into it. Enjoy your weekend, and don’t blow too much money on spinny discs (or do, I’m not your father). See ya next time!
Wanna catch up on all of our Record Radar posts? Click here and you’ll be taken to a page with all the past entries in the column. Magic!
Justin
Another two releases need to be added
Neon pink green and Walmart lemonade
Screeching Bottlerocket
Thank you very much brotherman
Rob
I see another one on the Barnes and Noble Website for $60??
Andrew
JPC.de (Germany) seems to have an exclusive for Germany / Switzerland / Austria on the same neon pink that HMV is selling.
https://www.jpc.de/jpcng/poprock/detail/-/art/green-day-saviors/hnum/11631275
Eric
Blood records – Zoetrope picture disc https://blood-records.co.uk/products/greenday
Assai obi – https://assai.co.uk/products/green-day-saviors-vinyl-lp-assai-obi-edition-black-pink-colour-2024?eml=2023December6/6311131/6134461&etsubid=225821104
Tim
https://imusic.nl/music/0093624849018/green-day-2024-saviors-lp
https://imusic.nl/music/0093624849032/green-day-2024-saviors-lp
Here you have 2 “exclusive” variants
Justin
The 2nd link has the 1234 go sticker so my guess is 1234 Go are numbering them but the vinyl is the same colour as the others
Two new ones yesterday though
Andrew
New variant. Assai updated their picture. Turns out that the EU / UK indie variant (that Assai is simply wrapping with an additional obi strip) is different than the US indie variant. The US got the black / magenta split, the EU / UK looks to be getting a black & pink marble.
https://assai.co.uk/products/green-day-saviors-vinyl-lp-assai-obi-edition-black-pink-colour-2024
Screeching Bottlerocket
Added to the tracker! Thank you soldier