Uniflora - More Gums Than Teeth LP - Blue Vinyl

Shuga / Charm Co-op (2025)

Until I was sent this album to check out, I hadn't heard of Uniflora.  Didn't know a thing about them or what I was in for until I started this up for the first time.  My first thought being, 'well that's a very Pixies sounding bass line they're starting off with.'  Which, if you are going to try to get me interested in an album, making me think about the Pixies isn't the worst way to keep me listening.  Uniform doesn't really sound anything like the Pixies aside from those opening moments, but the bass playing stands out on pretty much every song.

I don't feel like I write about a lot of albums and focus on how much I like what the bass guitar is doing, but this is a unique album in that regard.  The songs on here are wildly different as the album progresses.  Slower, math-y ones lead into faster noisy ones lead into sort of poppy ones and every single time the bass is doing something unique and exactly what it should be doing to make the song sound interesting and stand out.  The fact that the drumming is locked in creating a super tight rhythm section only helps to accentuate that.

They lay the foundation which allows the guitar to play a different role in each of the different styled songs.  This is a band that can take chances and succeed when they try something different, which even today I think is something not many can do.  The vocals that tie everything together lean towards the monotone.  Think So Cow or Eddy Current Suppression ring.  Sometimes they work perfect for the song, other times it might be nice if there was a bit more emoting.  But musically, this is a really interesting album to listen to and I'm glad it was sent along.  If you like some post punk math Midwest type stuff, they're worth checking out.

Uniflora - More Gums Than Teeth:

https://uniflora1.bandcamp.com/album/more-gums-than-teeth

 

Beck - Golden Feelings LP

Arquivo Perdido (2025, Bootleg)

In 1994 nothing had the impact in my life as discovering Back for the first time.  Truly one of those life-changing discoveries that forever altered my path.  I'm not sure I'd be doing this dumb website had I not found his records.  Or if I was, it would certainly be a lot different than it is today.  As I delved into the Beck rabbit hole back then, I discovered that he had all sorts of weirdo indie releases to try to find.  Multiple other albums, 7"s, a 10", compilation songs out the wazoo and the Golden Feelings tape.

To this day, I've never been able to track down an original copy of this grail of a tape.  I've tried and tried and it's aways been one of those things either just out of reach, either because of availability or cost.  The original label that released the tape, Sonic Enemy, did a small run of CDs in the late 90s and I was able to get one of those, but it quickly went out of print again.  I assume these aren't Beck's favorite songs, especially considering the direction his music has taken the past couple of decades, so odds seem slim that it'll get an official release.  Thank goodness for whoever in Brazil decided that they should bootleg this.

I assume it's just the CD pressed on vinyl and you know, I'm totally fine with that if it gets the record into my collection.  It sounds great.  This was a 4-track recorded bedroom tape, there isn't any sort of fidelity that could be lost transferring this to vinyl.  Couldn't be happier that it just exists.

Musically, this thing is all over the place, and I love it for that.  There's straightforward acoustic songs, taped infomercial soundbites, confrontational noise and general weirdness.  You have one of my very favorite Beck songs, the epic storytelling "Heartland Feeling," and you also have whatever craziness "Special People" is.  "Special People" was one of the first songs from Golden Feelings that I had heard as it and 2 other songs from this album ended up as b sides on the Pay No Mind CD single in 1994.  They certainly didn't pick the 3 best songs to put on there, but it sure made me want to hunt the album down even more.  

Ever want to hear the actual recording of "No Money, No Honey" that beck did before his man-on-the-street version on Stereopathetic Soulmanure? It's on Golden Feelings.  And early version of Mellow Gold's "Mutherfukka?" That's here too.  There's so much to unpack and while I can't say it's an easy listen for the uninitiated, it's a very rewarding one as it lays the groundwork for Beck's unreal 1994 deluge.

I am hopeful that I'll be able to find a legit cassette copy of the original release of Golden Feelings.  It's one of those things that really should be in my collection.  But for now, this LP and my old CD copy will have to do.

Beck - Golden Feelings:
https://youtu.be/MieZ50rYRuQ?si=GiijL-7rRvvXPhoK

Ed O.G & Da Bulldogs – Life Of A Kid In The Ghetto LP

Get On Down / PWL America (2019, Reissue)

Every Wednesday, in honor of Ed Lover Dance Day from Yo! MTV Raps, I take a break from rock and roll to write a little bit about hip hop. In the late 80s and early 90s hip hop ruled my musical life. During this often called 'Golden Era' I discovered so much incredible music. As I am slowly replacing the CDs I've had for thirty plus years with vinyl copies, I'm going to talk about some albums that had a really important impact on me during some very formative years.

While I haven't had this reissue since it came out in 2019, I have been sitting on it for quite a while.  I grabbed it when it was on sale, so it was a pretty inexpensive addition to the collection and it's one of those early 90s hip hop albums that is often lauded as a classic.  I don't know that I can throw around that particular c word when talking about Life of a Kid in the Ghetto, but it does have elements of the classic sound of the early golden era.

I'll start with the positives.  On the mic, Ed (or Edo G as he tends to be known as these days) is great.  He can tell stories, he can self aggrandize, he ticks all the boxes of what you want an MC to do during this time frame.  I can't call him top, top tier, but I might also have a different opinion if this was a record I'd been listening to since it was released.  I only heard it for the first time in the past ten years, so it lacks a little in the nostalgia area for me.  But that's a me problem, not a problem with the rapping.  Ed can hold his own with most MCs that put out albums in 1991.

The reason that I can't really call this album a classic for me is because I think the production is a little uneven.  Hip Hop in 1991 was going through a pretty seismic change in regard to beats and production.  While other albums that year were pushing the envelope and exploring new sampling techniques and soundscapes, Life of a Kid in the Ghetto feels like it's still clinging to late 1980s sounds.  That's not to say it doesn't move the production forward a little, but when you realize Low End Theory came out the same year, the beats on Ed O.G.'s debut feel somewhat dated on certain tracks.

But the sum of all parts is still quite good.  I wouldn't have bought the record if I didn't like it, but it's one of those albums that has a sound that I really need to be in the right mood for.  If I'm feeling a little old school, Life of a Kid in the Ghetto fits the bill nicely.

Ed O.G & Da Bulldogs - Life of a Kid in the Ghetto:

https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_m3D4AVE2F5O8EzNjQ_LEuLSbeIaaOfJu4

Various Artists - DGC Rarities Vol.1 - Coke Bottle Clear Vinyl

DGC (2025, Reissue)

Ever since Record Store Day became a thing, and particularly since it became the dumping ground for major label reissues, I've been shouting from the hills that DGC Rarities Vol. 1 was the album that needed an RSD reissue.  Years came and went and it never happened.  They added a second Black Friday Record Store Day, still nothing. 2024 came and with this compilation having originally come out in 1994, I figured it was a slam dunk for a 30th anniversary reissue.  Nope.

What did happen was on some random Wednesday in August in 2025, Interscope just put up a preorder for it.  No pomp, no circumstance.  My buddy Scott let me know about it because he got an email.  Very odd, though I am certainly not going to complain that I didn't have to play the Record Store Day game of finding a copy and paying for a nonsensical 42% markup just because it's Record Store Day.  Still, I do sort of feel that it was a missed opportunity to make this a bigger deal, but maybe it isn't as important record to most people like it is for me.

In 1994 I was going through a musical crisis.  Hip hop, which had been my bread and butter for the prior five years was moving in a direction that I didn't really like.  Trying to find something that I could connect with, my friend Scott (a different Scott from the one in the last paragraph) played me Mellow Gold by Beck.  That was a turning point in my life.  And Beck led me to DGC Rarities Vol. 1.  He had an unreleased song called "Bogusflow" on the compilation.  It was exactly the sort of Beck song I loved at the time.  Solo acoustic, off the cuff and packed full of odd lyrics that really hit home for me.  So I bought the album.

I wasn't really familiar with most of the other bands.  Sure I had heard Nirvana and I knew about Hole.  I knew that Sonic Youth had been on the Judgment Night Soundtrack and I figure I must have at least heard of Weezer.  But it was mostly uncharted territory.  The album ended up being one of those gateway drugs that led me to other rock music that I'm not entirely positive I would have heard otherwise.

First off, "Pay To Play" is probably the only Nirvana song that I truly like.  They have other songs that are fine, but they've never really been a band that I connected with on any level.  Not since my friend Pat made me borrow Nevermind way before they blew up and I gave it back to him the next day and told him the I didn't understand how anyone could like that.  But "Pay To Play" is a beast. Loud, fast, great drumming and still something of a singalong.  I know that it's essentially the same song as "Stay Away," but for whatever reason, I don't like that nearly as much as this compilation version.

This is the first time I had ever heard Weezer and "Jaime" was a song that instantly grabbed my ear and turned me into a fan.  I didn't rush out and buy the Blue album immediately, but this was the song that laid the foundation for me.  This comp was my introduction to that dog, and I did immediately go out and by their album Totally Crushed Out after hearing their song.  It was the first time I heard The Posies who I ended up loving and the first time I heard Sloan, who are fine.  

Not that there aren't some stinkers on here.  The Sonic Youth song "Compilation Blues" isn't for me, but neither is 99% of their catalog.  While not a surprise now, back then I didn't know anything about them.  But even with the up and down quality of the album (for every Weezer there's a Murray Attaway), it's a great compilation album.  It's also among the first that I bought when I was trying to find may way through a world of punk, indie, rock and yes, alternative that was so new to me.  A real touchstone record that I am so excited to finally have on vinyl.

Various Artists - DGC Rarities Vol.1:
https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_n54v6CRldlt9oEr4KQGCkgXN0XH1-rUdw

Harleckinz – 90two90six: The Demo Tapes 4xLP

90s Tapes (2024)

Every Wednesday, in honor of Ed Lover Dance Day from Yo! MTV Raps, I take a break from rock and roll to write a little bit about hip hop. In the late 80s and early 90s hip hop ruled my musical life. During this often called 'Golden Era' I discovered so much incredible music. As I am slowly replacing the CDs I've had for thirty plus years with vinyl copies, I'm going to talk about some albums that had a really important impact on me during some very formative years.

I've been sitting on this Harleckinz record since early 2024.  I really should have written about it way before now, but I've always felt it to be a daunting proposition.  Harleckinz are from Germany, so I have no real familiarity with them.  They certainly didn't make their way to the mountainous regions of northern New Jersey when I was younger.  This album is also a quadruple LP, so there's just a ton to get through,  Because of these things I've just delayed writing about it over and over, but that's not to say I haven't listened to it quite a bit.

What brings me in for this album, and with pretty much all hip hop is the production.  Beats are the most important thing for me when it comes to what I like about hip hop.  I don't think a spectacular MC works over bad beats, but great beats can elevate the most mediocre rapper.  That's not to say that anyone in Harleckinz is mediocre, but it's the beats that make be keep going back and listening to this.  These songs were gathered from various recordings from 1992 to 1996, and the ones that resonate most with me are the ones from the earlier part of that time period.

It's hard to generalize the sound of 25 tracks from a 5 year period, but as a rule the production is steeped in ;ow end, bass heavy samples over loud drums.  Most of the time, the tempo doesn't get dragged into that later 90s thing where all of the beats have to be slow enough to set your pacemaker to.  We've got decent BPMs most of the time and it gives the MCs in the group a great foundation for their lyrics.

And the lyrics are pretty good.  I can't really detect a thick accent or anything.  It's not like listening to this album is comparable to throwing on a Wizo record.  If you didn't tell me the group was from Germany, I don't know that I'd catch on that they weren't just part of the US based groups from the golden era.  I wouldn't call any of the rappers top tier, mind blowing MCs, but they get you from the start of the song to the finish with clever wordplay, solid rhymes and chant along hooks.  Paired with the excellent production and you've got the sort of record that I'm going to be into.  

I understand the completist mentality of loading this release up with all of the songs, but it's a large amount of music to take in during a single sitting.  There aren't that many groups in any genre that I want to listen to for over two hours straight, but throughout that time I can't point to many songs on here that aren't worth your time (other than the fact that I tend to skip the instrumentals, but that's a me thing, not really an issue with said instrumentals).  Harleckinz are a group that I'm glad I took the chance on, I love adding new golden era records to my collection and this is a great one.

Harleckinz – 90two90six: The Demo Tapes 4xLP:

https://90stapes.bandcamp.com/album/90two90six

The Absolute Best Records and Reissues of 2025

2025 was definitely a year.  I checked.  It had the right amount of days, but it didn't always feel like it had the right amount of records.  I definitely bought less new music this year than any previous year I've been alive since high school, I think.  I'm not sure if that's something that is just going to keep happening as I get older, or if I wasn't as aware of what was going on this year.  Or maybe this year simply had fewer records for me.  I'm not really sure, though putting together a really strong top ten was still pretty easy.  

Despite only having had it for a month, it is very obvious to me that Plosivs put out my favorite record of the year.  As I mentioned on Monday, it's one of those records that grows on you and every time I listen to it I like it more and more.  If I had more time with it, I think it would have been a runaway number one, but I debated quite a bit between Plosivs, Melvic Centre and the Swami John Reis album.

Melvic Centre was certainly the best new band I've heard this year, or at least a new to me band as this album is their second.  What a record.  The Swami John Reis album is the best of his solo records I think and was quite close to taking the number one spot for me.  All three of these records are excellent and if I had put any of them at the top, it still would have been correct.

As far as the rest, they're all great too.  Radioactivity is not going to put out a bad record and disappoint the legions of Marked Men fans out there.  If you are looking for some stellar melodic UK punk, Diaz Brothers and Roach Squad have you covered.  Bob Mould and Superchunk are as consistent as ever, each turning in a very good album this year.  And if there are bands that I think might have been overlooked in 2025, it's Lutheran Heat and Model Martel.  I haven't seen much chatter about those records (though admittedly, I don't even know where chatter happens anymore), but both are worth going out of your way to check out.

The Absolute Best New Records of 2025

01 - Plosivs - Yell At Cloud - Swami
02 - Melvic Centre - Trawler - Brassneck / Evil Tone
03 - Swami John Reis - Time To Let You Down - Swami
04 - Diaz Brothers - The World Is Yours - Dead Broke / Serial Bowl / Waterslide / Break The Silence
05 - Radioactivity - Time Won't Bring Me Down - Dirtnap / Wild Honey
06 - Lutheran Heat - Hi Again - Pinata

07 - Roach Squad - Roach Squad - Little Rocket / Sounds of Subterrania / Waterslide / Rad Girlfriend
08 - Bob Mould - Here We Go Crazy - Granary / BMG
09 - Model Martel - A Thousand Couple Times - Snappy Little Numbers
10 - Superchunk – Songs In The Key Of Yikes - Merge

On the reissue side of things, rock and roll releases were quite excellent this year. LONG time wants like Sultans, Beezewax and Fig Dish got first time vinyl releases of some of my favorite albums.  After me screaming about it forever, DGC Rarities Vol. 1 finally got reissued and I couldn't be happier.  It's awesome that the Leatherface Peel Sessions got an LP release, and I couldn't be happier to see some singles comp action from Bum and Gentleman Jesse.

On the hip hop side of things 90s Tapes continues to be the gold standard of record labels,  While there aren't as many of their records in my top 15 this year as there were last year, had I done a top 30, they would have had most of the bottom 15.  They also had the number one spot with their glorious release of the one and only album from The Future Sound.  It's one that had been on my wishlist forever and it's great to finally have a nicely done, full artwork copy of this record on vinyl.  Their take on the Rough House Survivers album is also incredible.

Casual's sophomore album was released as a double LP with full artwork for the first time.  All of the Cenobites songs were compiled onto a double LP and you know how I love me some early 90s Kool Keith and Godfather Don.  I was also really excited to get the chance to pick up the first Ugly Duckling on vinyl, thanks to the excellent reissue that Back2dasource put out in 2025.

The Absolute Best Reissues of 2025

01 - The Future Sound - The Whole Shabang Volume 1 - 90s Tapes
02 - Sultans - Shipwrecked - Swami
03 - V/A - DGC Rarities Vol. 1
04 - Beezewax - A Dozen Summits - Boss Tuneage / Sellout
05 - Leatherface - The Peel Sessions - Little Rocket
06 - The Cenobites - The Cenobites - Downtown Music / Fat Beats
07 - Fig Dish – That’s What Love Songs Often Do - Forge Again
08 - Casual - Meanwhile... - Trumindz
09 - Gentleman Jesse – I Wonder If You Would Even Notice - Beach Impediment
10 - Bum - Kidd Bitz (& Glazed Rookies) - Hey Suburbia / Radiation
11 - Rough House Survivers - Straight From The Soul - 90s Tapes
12 - Ugly Duckling - Down The Road - Back2dasource
13 - Clikatat Ikatowi – The Trials And Tribulations Of... Box Set - Numero Group
14 - Pudgee Tha Phat Bastard - Give 'Em The Finger - Rarebreed
15 - Smif-N-Wessun - Dah Shinin' - Fat Beats

And that's going to be a wrap on 2025 for me.  As I say every year, I'll be taking a couple of weeks off to recharge those batteries and then I'll be back at it.  In particular, I have a bunch of reissues I didn't get a chance to write about before the end of the year (several are on the list above), so I'll be hitting those pretty hard when I start back up again.  Merry New Year!

Plosivs - Yell At Cloud LP - Black Vinyl (/500) & Clear w/ Splatter Vinyl (/2000)

Swami (2025)

Back in 2022, Plosivs released their debut album and it is still the best record I've heard since then.  To say that I have been eagerly anticipating this release is perhaps the understatement of the year, especially because it's been looming on the horizon since 2022.  The bulk of these recordings were started very soon after the first album was recorded, but for a litany of tawdry reasons that you can read about on far more reputable websites than this one, it is just now being released.

And unsurprisingly, it is great.  Now, I didn't find it as immediate as the first Plosivs record.  That one was a whirlwind of in-your-face hooks and I was completely floored the very first time I listened to it. Yell At Cloud has definitely been more of a grower for me.  I'm not one to throw around music writer terms all willy nilly, but if there's one that comes to mind when I listen to this record, it's tension.  There's a lot of pent up tension in this record and it builds in each of the songs, sometimes getting a satisfying, catchy release in the chorus, but other times not so much.

It's a record that rewards multiple listens and each time it plays, I find myself picking up on something new.  A hidden melody here, and overlooked riff there.  It's darker than the first, without sacrificing any of the inherent optimism in Rob Crow's vocals.  In general the songs are longer this time out (the shortest clocking in at just under three and a half minutes) instead of the many under three minute pop smashes of the last one.

I'm definitely doing that annoying thing where I'm focusing too much on comparing this album to the last one, and while it's different, it is every bit as wonderful.  Few people wield a guitar as iconically as John Reis does.  While his myriad of bands all have different sounds, there's always that thread that ties each of them together.  You're unlikely to mistake his guitar playing for someone else's as it has an instantly identifiable style, not matter what sort of song he's playing on.  When you add Rob Crow to the mix, it's a guitar combination that's unique, but familiar.  And those vocals. Sheesh, you'd be hard pressed to find someone better suited to turn songs like this into something so inherently hummable in the back recesses of your head.

Plain and simple, I love this record.  I think it's every bit as good as the last, while being different enough from it to not just be the same thing again (which for the record, I also would have been totally fine with).  As usual with Swami affiliated releases, I picked up both versions.  The main retail version is on splatter vinyl and there were 2000 of those pressed.  As usual for Swami releases, the black vinyl is the scarcer of the two versions and there were 500 of those, available from the Swami web store.

Plosivs - Yell At Cloud:
https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_kcnCrNO6-HYWs5OOva6iJ863pwmRbMwdU

The Cenobites - The Cenobites 2xLP - Green & Yellow Vinyl (/300)

 

Downtown Music / Fat Beats (2025, Reissue)

Every Wednesday, in honor of Ed Lover Dance Day from Yo! MTV Raps, I take a break from rock and roll to write a little bit about hip hop. In the late 80s and early 90s hip hop ruled my musical life. During this often called 'Golden Era' I discovered so much incredible music. As I am slowly replacing the CDs I've had for thirty plus years with vinyl copies, I'm going to talk about some albums that had a really important impact on me during some very formative years.

There are few things in this world that I like more than prime, golden era Ultramagnetic MCs.  Their first three albums are one of my favorite runs in all of hip hop.  I always wanted more, but I tended to be disappointed with anything that came out after The Four Horseman.  While Kool Keith has some other interesting projects, the production never rises to level of those first three albums, so I usually end up being disappointed.

But what I didn't know was that Kool Keith had hooked up with Godfather Don and recorded a bunch of songs under the name The Cenobites.  They release an EP on Fondle 'Em in 1996 and that was pretty much it aside from some other tracks trickled out on 12"s over the following decades.  I became aware of this project a few years ago and while I found the tracks online and downloaded them, the vinyl was a bit pricey to me.  Plus I really wanted a bit more than the seven songs on the EP.

Luckily for me, my patience paid off as a double LP Cenobites collection of what I assume is every song that they could scrape together.  Clocking in at 21 songs, there are so many gems on this album.  In some ways it feels like an extension of what was happening on The Four Horsemen.  Dark jazz loops drive the production with Keith and Don trading the sort of off kilter lyrics that are everything you really want out of these two.  

As much as I love 95% of this album, I do have to call out "Kick A Dope Verse" (both versions, as there's also a remix on here).  Don't get me wrong, it's a great song and Keith and Don tear it up.  But Bobbito from The Stretch Armstrong and Bobboito radio show (and who also ran the label the EP originally came out on) shows up and delivers one of of the worst verses I have ever heard on a good track.  Sandwiched in-between Keith and Don both rocking at a high level, Bobbito sounds like a failing open mic MC that just wandered into the studio.  I have absolutely nothing but respect for everything that Stretch and Bobbito did for hip hop, but woof, this verse is epically terrible.  And you have to hear it twice because of the remix.

Anyway, I just had to get that one off my chest.  But don't let that dissuade you from grabbing this otherwise incredible album.  I could not be more thrilled that all of these songs have finally been compiled and given a quality release with full artwork and all that.  Completely essential.

Various Artists - Rock Stars Kill LP + 7"

Kill Rock Stars (1994)

Recently, my buddy Alan and I were talking about the albums that were most influential to us. In fact we did a whole YouTube live stream about it if it's something you'd be interested in (YouTube: Perfectly Excellent).  The topic wasn't necessarily our favorite records of all time, but those really important ones that were life changing and sent us down different paths.  One of the five records I selected was this compilation album that I heard for the first time in 1994 early on during my senior year of high school.  It then dawned on me that I still only had the CD that I bought back then and never picked up a copy on vinyl.  Due to its importance, I felt that I really needed to correct this.

In 1994 I started to go through something of a musical crisis.  The hip hop landscape was drastically and rapidly changing into something that I didn't really like the sound of anymore.  I knew absolutely nothing about anything that was going on outside of the hop hop world until a friend of mine, Scott, played me the Beck album Mellow Gold because there were a few songs on there that he thought sounded enough like the Beastie Boys for me to be interested in them.  Not only was he right about those songs, I ended up loving that album.  Especially the weirder stuff and that sent me digging around to find more things like that.  

That's where my other friend Dave came into the picture.  He wasn't even a particularly close friend at the time.  Just a guy I had a few classes with, but he was more knowledgable about punk and indie rock than I was.  He let me borrow his CD copy of this album.  When I played it for the first time, it was kind of that second awakening where I just couldn't comprehend what I was hearing.  This stuff didn't sound like anything I had ever hear before.  I had no idea that music like this was being made and even less of an idea of where to get more of it.  That led to my friend Pat taking me to Flipside records for the first time and I was finally able to really start exploring rabbit holes.

I'm pretty sure it was the diversity of sounds that really intrigued me when I first started listening to this album.  There's loud songs, quiet songs, fast songs, slow songs, weird songs, serious songs and everything in between.  There were a handful that jumped out at me immediately.  I can't tell you how much I loved (and still love) the Peechees song "Patty Coahuila."  At least the actual song after the intro thing (which is way too long).  I bought three different Smog albums trying to find a song anywhere near as good as "37 Pushups."  I was not successful.  

This compilation is where I discovered The Spinanes (who I ended up being a huge fan of, especially their first album Manos), Rancid (this is pretty much the only Rancid song I ended up liking, though enjoying this song let to Pat recommending I try out Operation Ivy) and Team Dresch (whose record I bought on an early trip to Flipside, but I didn't end up enjoying the record as much as the song on here).

This album also marked the beginning of my Compilation Era.  I bought so, so many comps during this time period as it was pretty much the most economical way to discover a whole pile of new bands all at once.  I did discover a ton of bands this way.  But all of that sort of stems from listening to this album at a very important, transitional time in my life.  I'm grateful that I heard it when I did (especially as a good amount of it doesn't really hold up to me 30+ years later) and I'm really appreciative that Dave let me borrow this.  I haven't spoken to him in over 25 years, but him lending me this album had a far more profound impact on me that I'm sure he realizes.

Various Artists - Rock Stars Kill:

https://killrockstars.bandcamp.com/album/rock-stars-kill

Melvic Centre - Trawler LP - Orange Vinyl (/254)

Brassneck (2025)

Leave it to Scott at Brassneck to find a way to break through the barrier to new music that has been forming around me over the last few years.  It's not that I don't want to hear new things, it's just that so little tends to interest me and in turn, I become one of those cranky old guys that doesn't think there are any good new bands anymore.  I'm wrong (not just about this, but in general life I'm also usually wron0 because here comes Melvic Centre with an album that knocks me off my chair.

Melvic Centre is from Australia and Trawler is their second full length album.  I am very much looking to get a copy of their first self titled LP, so if you're holding, please get in touch.  Trawler was initially released in Australia on Evil Tone records earlier this year, but Brassneck threw their hat in and this lovely orange vinyl version is on that fine label.  Bloated Kat had some copies in America, if you want to give Instagram a shot to see if they have any left.

Back to the record at hand, this is exactly what I want to listen to.  Big, chunky guitars the fuel catchy songs and vocal melodies for days.  There are so many bands that I hear when I've got Trawler on.  You can pick out the parts that sound a bit like Sugar, there's some nice Big Drill Car style vocals on certain songs, some hooks that remind me of Doughboys and the general 90s sounding nature of the recording makes me feel like I am absolutely the target demographic for something like this.  

There's one song in the middle with a bit more yelling than I prefer ("Snake Oil"), but aside from that, Trawler is pretty perfect from start to finish.  Every time I listen to it I just find myself loving it more and more.  It's one of those albums that's so completely my cup of tea that I struggle to find away to accurately convey that.  So I'll just say this.  If you read this dumb website, you probably have a pretty decent idea of the sort of rock and roll music I tend to like.  Trawler is all of those things.  You really need to listen to it if you ever bother to come here and read my ramblings.

Melvic Centre - Trawler:
https://brassneckrecords.bandcamp.com/album/trawler

The Future Sound - The Whole Shabang Volume 1 3xLP

90s Tapes (2025, Reissue)

Every Wednesday, in honor of Ed Lover Dance Day from Yo! MTV Raps, I take a break from rock and roll to write a little bit about hip hop. In the late 80s and early 90s hip hop ruled my musical life. During this often called 'Golden Era' I discovered so much incredible music. As I am slowly replacing the CDs I've had for thirty plus years with vinyl copies, I'm going to talk about some albums that had a really important impact on me during some very formative years.

I could (and sometimes do) go on and on about what an amazing lebel 90s Tapes is.  They are the kings of the reissue game and release classic after classic, all of the absolute highest quality.  Even if the album isn't one I'm super into, the care they put into each album is the gold standard that all other labels should be held to.  Now, when you have that perfect storm of 90s Tapes tackling an album I genuinely love, that's been desperate for a real reissue, that's when the magic really starts to happen.

The Whole Shabang Volume 1 was the first and only album released by The Future Sound.  It originally came out in 1992, which I have said many times could be the absolute best year in hip hop history if you look at the overall quality of everything that was released.  Well, The Future Sound got lost in the that shuffle.  I have no memories of them from 1992 and it wasn't until decades later that I stumbled across the album on one of those internet lists touting under-appreciated albums. 

In the few years that I've been listening to The Whole Shabang, I've become completely enamored with it.  The incredible, upbeat production mixed with lyrics from Flashback and Relay create the sort of album that begs to be listened to repeatedly.  When I wrote about the original pressing of this album (a barebones, no artwork, single disc, promo only  endeavor) I compared them to UMCs and Lords of The Underground among others.   I still feel like that's the camp The Future Sound fits best in, feel good hip hop with killer production.  I wish they had the chance to follow this up with another album.

The 90s Tapes reissue is pretty much flawless.  We've finally got full artwork and the triple disc pressing not only sounds great, but includes pretty much every sound they could find that this group recorded.  Maybe noone really needs to listen to six remixes of "Lady / What's a Bro to Do?" in a row, but as a completist I sure do love having all of them at my disposal when I do want to listen to one of them.  I'm so thrilled that 90s Tapes was the label to finally reissue this semi-forgotten classic and it's on my shortlist for the best reissue I've picked up this year.

The Future Sound - The Whole Shabang Volume 1:
https://90stapes.bandcamp.com/album/the-whole-shabang-volume-1

The Blues Brothers - The Lost Recordings LP - Blue Vinyl (/2500)

Z2 (2025)

If you know me even casually, you likely know that The Blues Brothers are one of the most important things in my life.  The movie is the only favorite movie I've ever had and the music is the foundational bedrock that all of my tastes are built on.  Earlier this year there was an announcement that a comic book style graphic novel was coming out that continues the story of Jake and Elwood.  Honestly, I can't say that I was all that interested as comic books really aren't my medium of choice most of the time.  Then it was announced that there would be an obnoxious bundle with the comic, a bunch of unnecessary tchotchkes and a vinyl record of some unreleased Blues Brothers recordings.  

I begrudgingly preordered said $150 bundle as the Z2 folks indicated that it was the only way you could get the record.  Then, of course, a few months later the record became available to preorder on its own.  I was quite cranky about this, but luckily Z2 was kind enough to let me cancel the order for the bundle and I was able to pick up the album on its own.  And I am really glad this album didn't cost me $150.

That's not really to say anything bad about the contents of the record.  In fact, I find them absolutely fascinating.  It's a recording of the band essentially going through the set of their first album, which was recorded live at the Universal Amphitheater.  I believe that this is a recording of a rehearsal leading up to those shows.  You can see the evolution of what they were doing with a different intro section that wasn't built on top of "Can't Turn You Loose," but still had most of the same intro dialog from Elwood about how one day the blues would only be available in "the classical records department of your local public library."

The rest of the album is recordings of the songs that ended up on the Briefcase Full Of Blues album.  There's also two additional songs.   "Excusez Moi Mon Cherie" is here and it was the original B side from the "Soul Man" single that came out in the 1970s.  Also included is a version of "Green Onions" that is really neat and quite a bit different from the one that eventually ended up on the third Blues Brothers album, Made in America.

All of those good things said, the recording quality of the recording is not great.  It sounds like it was recorded by a tape player in the corner of the room.  Now, it seems like it was a really good tape player as the quality isn't unlistenable or anything.  But it's really lacking the fullness and low end of a professionally recorded session.  As a fly-on-the-wall document, it's an incredible, behind the scenes glimpse at an unbelievably important event, album and band.  But as a record you would sit down and listen to regularly, I can't really see why you wouldn't just pick up Briefcase Full Of Blues 99 times out of 100.

The Blues Brothers - The Lost Recordings:
https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_k3D8KAVmMuKAPKrdj4jG4l6uxiGn3mM3A

Sultans - Shipwrecked LP - Black Vinyl (/350) & White w/ Splatter (/1600)

Swami (2025, Reissue)

Long one of the records at the tippy top of my 'never released on vinyl' want list has been the second Sultans long player, Shipwrecked.  When this was originally scheduled to be released in 2004, I was pretty excited, having enjoyed the stripped down, garage blasts of their first album.  In no way was I prepared for the fairly dramatic departure that Shipwrecked was.  Gone was the impenetrable wall of fuzz from Ghost Ship and in its place were jangly guitars that flirted with power pop sensibilities.  

When John Reis, errr...I mean Slasher, is playing guitar, his sound is always going to come through in some capacity, though these tones and arrangements weren't something that was as familiar in his work up to that point.  Shipwrecked wades into raucous pop with bright, shiny guitar chords that are still anchored in the sound that is recognizable to fans of Rocket From the Crypt, Hot Snakes, Drive Like Jehu, etc.  It was something of a harbinger to the later Night Marchers records, but was also parked a little more firmly in a throwback to the 70s.

I have loved this record since the moment it first came out and I've been desperately hoping for a vinyl release for decades.  The Swami finally came through with this reissue.  The entire album sounds fantastic and it's clear there's been some sprucing up in terms of sound quality.  Everything sounds a little richer and clearer.  In addition to the album tracks we've got four bonuses.  "Permission to Bored and "Blow Up" from the Walk Of Shame 7" are included along with "Empty Hole" from the Swami Southwest Seance compilation 7".

To make things even better, there's a previously unreleased song, "Out Of Focus."  With it's jagged guitar riff and booming chorus, it fits in perfectly with the rest of the songs and makes this absolutely the definitive version of Shipwrecked.  Thank the Swami I can finally play this on my turntable, the way it was always meant to be listened to.

Radioactivity - Time Won't Bring Me Down LP - Green Vinyl

Dirtnap / Wild Honey (2025)

It's been two years since we had a Radioactivity album from one of my favorite songwriters, Jeff Burke.  I initially discovered Jeff through the second Marked Men album, On The Outside, when the company I worked for sent copies of it out to college radio stations in 2003.  Ever since then I have been continuously wowed by pretty much everything he's been involved in.

Time Won't Bring Me Down is another excellent entry in the Jeff Burke catalog.  It starts out like you'd hope, with fast paced, downstroke heavy, hook-filled, Marked Men-ish rippers.  I've always said that Burke has this insane mastery of having the chord progression go in the least expected direction and that's on full display here, but as usual he keeps the songs on track with vocals that tie everything together perfectly.

Like their last album, there is a an obvious focus on including a good amount of slower song, and in particular the back half of this album has a good amount of them.  While I think I'm always going to prefer the faster one, these showcase the range that Burke has when it comes to crafting impeccable songs that, at least for me, become instantly lodged into my subconscious, destined to play on an internal loop in my brain.  It's so great to have a new Radioactivity record and I plan on spending some serious quality time with it as who knows when we'll get the next one.  Hopefully it won't take ten more years.

Radioactivity - Time Won't Bring Me Down:
https://dirtnaprecords.bandcamp.com/album/radioactivity-time-wont-bring-me-down

Rascalz - Really Livin' LP - Orange Vinyl

Smoke On (2020, Reissue)

Every Wednesday, in honor of Ed Lover Dance Day from Yo! MTV Raps, I take a break from rock and roll to write a little bit about hip hop. In the late 80s and early 90s hip hop ruled my musical life. During this often called 'Golden Era' I discovered so much incredible music. As I am slowly replacing the CDs I've had for thirty plus years with vinyl copies, I'm going to talk about some albums that had a really important impact on me during some very formative years.

Rascalz have an interesting story that I'm going to do my best to piece together as succinctly as I can with the extremely limited information that I can find online.  It all starts off in Canada in 1992 when the group was called Ragga Muffin Rascals.  They released an album called Really Livin' on in independent label.  Said album garnered the interest from Sony and they got signed to rerelease that album.  Feeling that the album was already dated and that their sound had evolved past that, the group opted to redo the album with new songs and redone versions of a few songs from that first album.  The result is pretty much a completely different album released in 1993.  Also called Really Livin', which is the part that I found confusing trying to figure out what was going on.

The 1993 version of Really Livin' is the one that Smoke On Records rereleased in 2020.  It took me a while to find a copy of this for a good price as I had missed the boat on the reissue when it first came out.  This is the first time either version of Really Livin' has been available on vinyl and it's great to have this album that was completely unknown to me when it originally came out.

Perhaps if I had grown up in Canada as opposed to New Jersey I would have been more aware of Rascalz in 1993.  But I never remember seeing them on Yo! MTV Raps or reading about them in The Source.  Much like fellow countryman Maestro Fresh Wes, it would be years and years later that I discovered their record only to be blown away and annoyed that I hadn't been able to listen to it from the jump.

This is a perfectly produced 1993 style record.  Lots of upright bass riffs, giving it that jazzy undertone, while having the loud cracking snare drum bits and hard hitting percussion that keeps things sounding energetic and harder than some of the sleepy production of the later 90s.  Lyrically, they remind me a little bit of the Pharcyde in places, but mostly due to the how the vocals sound and the cadence a bit.  The whole package doesn't really sound anything like The Pharcyde, but the vocals combined with the xcellent production makes this album really stand out.

It really is a great record that I feel is probably lost in time to a lot of people.  I certainly missed the boat on it completely for decades, but I'm glad that it finally hit my radar as it fits in wonderfully with the other 1993 hip hop albums that I love.

Rascalz - Really Livin'
https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_kMslu2PD5ISli5X-irOs4bBSqsoTBvmM8

Model Martel - A Thousand Couple Times LP - Orange Vinyl

Snappy Little Numbers (2025)

An album being on Snappy Little Numbers is usually all that it takes to stir my interest.  It's a label with a remarkable string of quality records that always has way more hits than misses, so I'm going to pay attention as it is.  Throw in a band name that references pro wrestling, and not only am I paying attention, but now I'm setting expectations.  You don't want to waste a good band name on a band that's bunk.

Luckily for all involved, Model Martel lives up to their name and their label.  This quartet has put together an album of punk-adjacent songs that are heavy on melody, choruses and hooks that get lodged in your head pretty easily.  I say punk-adjacent because the ethos is surely there.  There's that energy and scrappiness that are the hallmarks of of any good punk rock record, but this is a band that's not yelling or hollering or playing a million miles an hour for the sake of it.  They're crafting songs that draw equally from the 90s alternative rock cannon (the good stuff, not like Stone Temple Pilots) as they are from their Lookout records catalog.

Also, I feel the need to call out how much I like the vocals.  So often these days there's a band that's playing something I like musically, but as soon as the singer steps up to the microphone, I'm out.  There's this thing that seems to be going around that requires bands making melodic punk records to scream over the top of them as opposed to sing.  Not the case here.  There's a roughness to the vocals that keep them authentic, but not in a way where the inherent melody is being sacrificed.  It's good stuff and I wish more bands could pull it off.

Just as I was lamenting the lack of good new records by new bands, here comes Model Martel to make a liar out of me.  It's probably the best debut album I've heard this year by a long shot and easily among the overall ten best albums of 2025.  Definitely worth checking out.

Model Martel -  A Thousand Couple Times:
https://snappylittlenumbers.bandcamp.com/album/a-thousand-couple-times

Lutheran Heat - Hi Again LP

Pinata (2025)

Maybe you remember 2016?  Much of it is a blur to me in that way that it seems like it was yesterday and there isn't much of consequence to remember.  While at the same time it was nine years ago and well enough in the past to legitimately forget a lot of what happened because you're old now.  Once of the things I didn't forget about was the band Lutheran Heat.  Their album from that year, Louder From The Other Side, was one of my favorites.  And then they just kind of vanished.  Maybe not to the folks lucky enough to have them playing shows locally, but as far as a record releasing entity, that was the last I heard of them.

And here we are, nine years later.  Lutheran Heat is back with their new album, Hi Again.  Despite the length of time between records, this one picks up right where the other one left off.  Jangly guitar that drives the sounds forward in a way that's bouncy, catchy and the exact sort of thing that's helpful to listen to when you might need your spirits raised up a bit.  Whenever I listen to them, the band that comes to mind most often for me is Title Tracks.  Even though Lutheran Heat doesn't have a sound that's quite as frantic and the recording fidelity is significantly cleaner, there's still something about the two bands that strike me the same way and it's an energy that I wish more bands had.

Lutheran Heat is tight as all get out and the alternating female/male vocals create dynamic songs.  When those vocals combine into any of the album's memorable harmonies there's something textural that happens to the music that I'm having a difficult time describing (likely because I don't write particularly well).  But needless to say, these songs soar and I'm just loving every second of this record.

That brings me to my only complaint.  The seconds on this record.  There aren't nearly enough of them with only eight songs on the album.  Having 12 songs like their debut would have only made me love it more, but I'll take eight over none any day of the week.  

Lutheran Heat - Hi Again:
https://lutheranheat.bandcamp.com/album/hi-again

Mad Skillz - From Where??? 2xLp + 7" (/750)

90s Tapes (2023, Reissue)

Every Wednesday, in honor of Ed Lover Dance Day from Yo! MTV Raps, I take a break from rock and roll to write a little bit about hip hop. In the late 80s and early 90s hip hop ruled my musical life. During this often called 'Golden Era' I discovered so much incredible music. As I am slowly replacing the CDs I've had for thirty plus years with vinyl copies, I'm going to talk about some albums that had a really important impact on me during some very formative years.

This is another one of those albums that's been in my backlog to write about for ages.  90s Tapes rereleased this back in 2023.  Even though that doesn't necessarily make this the most timely time to write about From Where???, it has given me a good amount of time to sit with a record I had never heard before picking up.

The story goes is that Mad Skillz debut album, packed with top tier producers and guest appearances, was dropped in 1996 the same day as a 2 Pac record and The Fugees.  This led to it being drastically overshadowed and resulted in Mad Skillz being dropped.  Which led to him changing his name to just Skillz and taking another swing at things in the early 2000s.  By 1996, I wasn't paying attention to hip hop at all really, so I wasn't aware of this album.  I'm not sure how I would have felt about it if I had heard it at the time.  I think that if From Where??? had dropped in 1993, I would have been into it.

We've got a rogues gallery of producers on here including Large Professor, The Beatnuts, Buckwild and J Dilla.  They've put together an album that's full of cool and interesting beats that are way better than the bulk of production that was happening in 1996.  That said, it does still suffer from slow-tempo-itis for the bulk of the album.  Don't get me wrong, it's good.  It's very good, in fact, if you think about the year it came out.  But I'm always going to be more interested in an album that has some higher bpm numbers.

Lyrically, Mad Skillz can really hold it down.  He reminds me a lot of Maestro Fresh Wes in his voice, cadence and subject matter.  He spends a lot of time talking about how good he is in relation to his geography.  Just as Maestro Fresh Wes liked to spit about how good he was despite being from Canada, Mad Skillz treads similar territory, but swapping Canada for Virginia.  This isn't a dig.  I love Maestro Fresh Wes, so if you have something in common with him, I'm going to be OK with that.  Guest verses by the aforementioned Large Pro and Q-Tip don't hurt either.

This is a fun record.  I wish it was a little faster and had it come out a few years earlier it probably would have been.  Considering the desert that 1996 hip hop was, Mad Skillz and From Where??? stand out as being among the top tier of that year.

Mad Skillz - From Where???:

https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_n5AE8o7T2ysIpYQmlSf5PRrVRRVORV35M

Fig Dish – That’s What Love Songs Often Do 2xLp - Blue Vinyl (/500)

Forge Again (2025, Reissue)

This is one of those records that I was worried would never come out on vinyl.  Despite how much I love Fig Dish, along with a cadre of friends whose taste in music I trust very much, I was worried they were being forgotten.  Then came last year's release of the 'lost' fourth Fig Dish album, Feels Like The Very First Two Times.  That got my hopes up that we might actually see the release of the band's two major label albums from the 90s.  And Forge Again followed through with the first of those two, That's What Love Songs Often Do.

Originally released in 1995 on Atlas/Polygram, this was Fig Dish's first foray into the major league feeding frenzy on 1990s rock and roll.  I can't say that I have a lot of perspective on how it was received upon release.  I was 18 at the time, and I don't think I actually stumbled across them until sometime in 1996.  And that stumbling occurred in the used/cut out bin of my favorite record store.  Though Fig Dish's appearance in that sort of bin was not limited to that one store, as I did see them there kind of frequently.  

Assured that the record was more than worth the dollar or two price tag on the CD, I picked it up and for the next 30 years never understood why they weren't more lauded and appreciated.  I love this record and always have.  It's got that perfect, huge 90s guitar sound that cranks through song after song of earworm-ridden hooks.  This is a band that really got how to put a song together for maximum catchiness, while keeping the tempo of the album varied and interesting.

This has been one of my most wanted albums on vinyl for ages.  The fact that I'm finally holding it, along with some pretty heavy hints that we're also going to get their subsequent album, When Shove Goes Back To Push, is cause for immediate celebration.  Thank you to Forge Again for releasing this classic and to Fig Dish for creating it.

Fig Dish – That’s What Love Songs Often Do:
https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_kdHZsWRzBRvu89c0Zdn8CXu8hJCmf1NO0

Superchunk – Songs In The Key Of Yikes - Orange & Black Swirl Vinyl

 

Merge (2025)

I will readily admit that I was very disappointed in Superchunk's last album, Wild Loneliness.  It was slow and kind of boring, in my opinion.  I've always preferred the faster, punkier Superchunk songs and that album didn't click with me.  Luckily, there's no shortage of Superchunk albums out there that will give me that fix, but I can't say I was particularly excited or expecting a whole lot when they announced this year's new record, Songs in the Key of Yikes.

As long as they keep making Superchunk records, I'll keep buying them.  So, as usual I preordered the new one without listening to anything.  Once I put it on, I was pleasantly surprised.  It's much better than Wild Loneliness.  While I can't fathom they'll ever hit the highs they hit in the 90s for me (seeing them close their set opening for Rocket From The Crypt with "Slack Motherfucker," "Precision Auto" and "Hyper Enough" pretty much confirmed my opinion of that), this is a solid record, with upbeat and catchy songs.  The mope is on the back burner and the hooks are at the forefront.

Thirteen albums (and forty-five 7" singles) into their career, I don't know exactly what I could possibly say about Superchunk that wouldn't be a rehash of anything else I've ever said.  If you are reading anything that I write, the odds of you not having your own opinion of Superchunk already seems absurd.  You know what they sound like.  You know they're great most of the time.  All I can really tell you is that this is one of their their records with upbeat songs than slower ones.  It's on the more subdued side of their upbeat catalog, but it's a good record.  I dig it and unlike a couple of their other albums, I will definitely listen to this one from time to time.

Superchunk – Songs In The Key Of Yikes:
https://superchunk.bandcamp.com/album/songs-in-the-key-of-yikes

Casual - Meanwhile... 2xLP (/200)

Trumindz (2025, Reissue)

Every Wednesday, in honor of Ed Lover Dance Day from Yo! MTV Raps, I take a break from rock and roll to write a little bit about hip hop. In the late 80s and early 90s hip hop ruled my musical life. During this often called 'Golden Era' I discovered so much incredible music. As I am slowly replacing the CDs I've had for thirty plus years with vinyl copies, I'm going to talk about some albums that had a really important impact on me during some very formative years.

Casual's debut, Fear Itself, is one of my favorite records in the history of hip hop.  Easy top five, probably top three.  Jive dropped him before he had a chance to release a follow up and it wasn't until 1997 that Casual released Meanwhile.  It was independantly released via Hieroglyphics own label, Hiero Imperium, and only came out on cassette.  I picked that up off the Hiero website in 97 while I was in college.  I liked it well enough, but I remember being a little disappointed with it considering how much I loved his first album.

Truth be told, I wasn't really in a space to appreciate a good hip hop album in 1997.  I wouldn't go so far to say I was against hip hop or anything like that, but I was really sour about how much the sound had changed and the type of music that I had identified with in formative high school years had kind of left me behind to seek fame and riches.  When Dope Folks released a barebones vinyl version of Meanwhile a few years ago, I reevaluated it and found that it had aged so much better than I had remembered it.  Are the beats on par with Fear Itself? Not exactly, but they're still really good.  Especially in comparison to what was being shoveled out by most rappers in 1997.

Up to that point we had a self released tape and a single LP with a generic sleeve for Meanwhile's official releases.  But finally, nearly 30 years later, Trumindz stepped up to the plate of put out a double LP version with full artwork, remastered and with a bonus track.  This is absolutely the definitive version of this album.  It looks great and sounds great, finally elevating this release to something that can stand shoulder to shoulder with the other incredible Hieroglyphics releases of this era.  

I'm so thrilled we finally have this version and can only hope that Trumindz decides to give the same sort of love and attention to The Shamen record that got a barebones CD release on Hiero Imperium in the early 2000s.  To me, that's the last crown jewel of the Hiero catalog that needs the deluxe reissue (though I certainly wouldn't turn down more Hiero Oldies and Hiero B Sides reissues).

Casual - Meanwhile...

https://casual1.bandcamp.com/album/meanwhile

Diaz Brothers - The World Is Yours LP - White Vinyl

Dead Broke / Serial Bowl / Waterslide / Break The Silence (2025)

I have a very hard time coming to grips with the fact that the first Diaz Broithers record came out five years ago already.  I also acknowledge that the old man time-goes-by-so-fast-now trope is also a bit tiring and overused.  But I'm one for a good trope and I feel like it's an easy way to explain that the first album still sounds so fresh, exciting and vibrant I haven't really filed it into 'old friend' status yet.  It's a record I'll put on when I want to hear something new instead of an old standard.  But again, I've been doing that for five years now and that doesn't make a lot of sense to me.

What will definitely move the Diaz Brothers' debut to that 'old friend' status is their new album The World Is Yours.  The fact that anyone is making music like this in 2025 is miraculous and anyone longing for those sounds of the mid 90s melodic punk scene in the UK, your ship has come in.  Sharing members with HDQ and The Jones, you're going to find that electric guitar work that fits so elegantly in the Hammond/Stubbs school of riffage and that's something I find to be in tragically short supply these days.

What sets Diaz Brothers apart from the few bands that do dip their toe into this sort of sound is how the vocals are just head and shoulders above what you tend to hear.  Rather than someone shouting like a malfunctioning Decepticon, Dave "Golly" Golledge has complete control of his vocal apparatus, weaving together melody with a passionate, intense delivery that so excellently complements the guitar maelstrom being thrown around by Mike Jones and Neal Cox.  It all comes together so perfectly and would fit right in with your favorite record of the 90s, while still having the sort of electricity that makes it feel like a new record that's currently relevant, not some nostalgic throwback.

I couldn't possibly say enough good things about The World Is Yours.  It's giving me exactly what I want to listen to when it comes to melodic punk rock.  I only wish there were more bands that could capture this sort of lightning in a bottle in 2025.  It would sure make putting together a top records of the year list a lot easier as Diaz Brothers will certainly be in the upper echelon of this year's list.

Diaz Brothers - The World Is Yours:
https://deadbrokerekerds.bandcamp.com/album/the-world-is-yours

Godzilla Minus One Soundtrack 2xLP

Rambling Records (2023)

While this isn't the last kaiju soundtrack I have on deck, this is the last Godzilla one.  Shin Godzilla hasn't had a vinyl release, but since that's a standalone movie and not part of a series of soundtracks, I don't feel the need to call out any record labels for not releasing it.  It would be nice to have at some point, and I assume that a label will get to it eventually.

But to the matter at hand, we have the soundtrack to Godzilla Minus One, with the bulk of the score composed by Naoki Sato, with a little bit of Akira Ifukube as all good Godzilla soundtracks should have.  The movie was spectacular and I cannot possibly recommend it highly enough.  Stop whatever you are doing right now and go watch it.  Even my wife loved it and she doesn't really care for Godzilla movies.  It's everything you want in a Godzilla film and I'm so excited to see where they go with these characters next.

The soundtrack doesn't get me quite as excited as the movie does.  And that isn't because it's bad or anything.  The score is just very somber and low key for the non-Godzilla scenes.  They work perfectly in the context of the movie, but as standalone music, it becomes a bit atmospheric and lost into the background for me.  But when the music hits for Godzilla appearances, it's as loud, chaotic and frantic as you want it to be.

I ended up getting the Japanese version on Rambling as opposed to the US version that Waxwork put out.  I didn't specifically avoid the US version or go after the Japanese version, this one just ended up being the one I could get first.  The Waxwork one looks great though and were it not for the fact that I'm very consciously trying to cut down on variant collecting, I'd want that in the collection as well.  

Godzilla Minus One Soundtrack:
https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_mhw_lbL2k89bu3WU1uT_J47dBTvWUMOTQ

Godzilla: Final Wars Soundtrack - This Does Not Exist on Vinyl

 

Before I move on to another Godzilla Soundtrack write up tomorrow, I just want to remind the world that chronologically, Godzilla: Final Wars should be next.  But much like their omission of Godzilla vs Biollante, Death Waltz and Mondo never released a vinyl version of Godzilla Final Wars.  I don't know why because they never said.  They just stopped releasing Godzilla soundtracks.

Here's to hoping they start that back up again someday, or someone else comes to the rescue.

Ase Man - Step Into The A.M. 3xLP

90s Tapes (2025, Reissue)

Every Wednesday, in honor of Ed Lover Dance Day from Yo! MTV Raps, I take a break from rock and roll to write a little bit about hip hop. In the late 80s and early 90s hip hop ruled my musical life. During this often called 'Golden Era' I discovered so much incredible music. As I am slowly replacing the CDs I've had for thirty plus years with vinyl copies, I'm going to talk about some albums that had a really important impact on me during some very formative years.

I can't say that I was familiar with Ase Man when I got his record along with the two Southpaw releases that 90s Tapes put out a few months ago.  Step Into The A.M. originally came out in 1997, which puts it deeper into the 90s than I typically prefer, though indie releases tend to age better for me than what was happening on the majors during that time.  

It's typically the production that lets me down in the late 90s, but Ase Man avoids this pitfall and has an album with robust production with those loud drums that I think is so important to hip hop.  As a whole the album is slower tempo than a lot of my favorites, and that's another part of the latter half of the 1990s that bugs me - slower songs, but Ase Man doesnt sacrifice enthusiasm and energy on these lower bpm tracks.

Lyrically, Ase Man carries this record just fine.  He's not top tier or the sort of MC that will reveal himself to be a forgotten revelation or anything like that.  But he's very good, has a strong voice and can keep track of rhymes that serve the stories he's telling.  His cadence reminds me a bit of Akinyele, but without that strange guttural noise that Akinyele randomly throws into his verses, which is a massive improvement.  All in all, a very good record by a new-to-me rapper that I'm happy to add into the collection.  90s Tapes strikes again.

Ase Man - Step Into The A.M.:
https://90stapes.bandcamp.com/album/step-into-the-a-m

Gentleman Jesse – I Wonder If You Would Even Notice - Singles And Rarities LP - Translucent White ("Natural") Vinyl (/200)

Beach Impediment (2025)

There was a time when I was beyond obsessed with everything that Gentleman Jesse put out.  That sweet period of time between the release of their first single and their second LP, Leaving Atlanta, saw the release of classic song after classic song.  Many were included on those first two LPs.  Many more were scattered across various other releases.  There was then a long period of inactivity before Jesse came back with the last LP, Lose Everything in 2021.  A few years later we have this newly released singles comp.

This collection starts off with my favorite Gentleman Jesse song and the one that was the first thing I heard after seeing that Jesse was also in the Carbonas, who were another band that was reasonably new to me at the time.  "I Don't Wanna Know (Where You Been Tonight)" is one of those perfect power pop songs that is as catchy as it is fun.  I was floored by it and immediately tried to find what else was out there.  At the time, not much but the first LP on Douchemaster came out pretty soon after my initial discovery.

This song is just one of many, many amazing compositions on this LP.  16 songs in total, though the accompanying Bandcamp download has another seven extra songs.  Why? I don't know.  But more Gentleman Jesse is typically better than less. All of the tracks from the first few years of singles and compilations are present along with some unreleased outtakes and demos.  If you don't already have these singles (for shame), this is an absolutely essential record to pick up.  Even if you do already have everything, there's still new tracks on here to enjoy and I've always loved singles comps and how they let you listen to a cross section of the band's catalog while only  having to flip a record once.

They also have this really great T shirt that's a spoof on the Sound Sleeves record sleeve logo that I've been trying to get my hands on.  So if anyone has access to one of those, please get in touch! timpopkid [at] gmail [dot] com

Gentleman Jesse – I Wonder If You Would Even Notice - Singles And Rarities:
https://beachimpedimentrecords.bandcamp.com/album/i-wonder-if-you-would-even-notice-singles-and-rarities

Godzilla: Tokyo SOS Soundtrack LP - White w/ Red Splatter Vinyl & Red Vinyl (/2000)

 

Death Waltz / Mondo

Tokyo SOS is a direct follow-up to 2002's Godzilla x Mechagodzilla, making these two movies the only ones in the millennium series that aren't standalones.  Both benefit from that and I wish there had been more continuity from movie to movie in the 2000s.  Like its predecessor, this film is a high water mark for the millennium series with a great story, excellent monster fighting action and pretty much everything I'm looking for in a Godzilla movie.

The soundtrack is once again turned in by Michiru Oshima and she does her usual serviceable job.  Of the shoundtracks she's done, none of them really soar to the heights of anything Ifukube composed, but when you compare them to some other soundtracks, particularly the dreck that is Giant Monsters All Out Attack, her stuff is looking pretty good.

At this point the critiques and compliments for the vinyl release of this soundtrack are pretty much the same as they are for all of the other Death Waltz / Mondo versions.  Nice artwork that I wish had more in common with the other releases in the series, an obi, an interesting D side screen print and nothing major you can really complain about.  It's always quality work, but when you line everything up next to each other it's all so weirdly disparate that you'd never know they were all part of the same series.  Also, when you compare them to the Showa box set that Waxworks did, they tend to not seem quite as great in comparison.

This is also the last Godzilla movie soundtrack that Mondo released as they have neglected Godzilla: Final Wars the same way they neglected Godzilla vs Biollante.  It's extraordinarily frustrating to have those massive holes in the collection, especially since Mondo thought it was more important to make sure that they got soundtracks out for the three 90s Mothra movies.  That's a choice I'll never understand.  And I bought those ones too, so more on those in future weeks.

Godzilla: Tokyo SOS Soundtrack ("Mothra Suite"):
https://youtu.be/0lg5dHNWUgA?si=YRkYUZKVG5ubB74L

Souls Of Mischief - No Man's Land 2xLP - Clear w/ Blue & Orange Splatter

Get On Down / Jive (2024, Reissue)

Every Wednesday, in honor of Ed Lover Dance Day from Yo! MTV Raps, I take a break from rock and roll to write a little bit about hip hop. In the late 80s and early 90s hip hop ruled my musical life. During this often called 'Golden Era' I discovered so much incredible music. As I am slowly replacing the CDs I've had for thirty plus years with vinyl copies, I'm going to talk about some albums that had a really important impact on me during some very formative years.

This long overdue reissue of the second Souls Of Mischief album came out as part of last year's Record Store Day Black Friday.  It has taken me a moment to write about it.  This is in large part because I've already written about this album when I picked up the original pressing of it a few years ago. I'm not as motivated to tackle an album just because it's a slightly fancier reissue.

That said, it's a slightly fancier reissue worth picking up.  It's a nice gatefold sleeve with thick card stock that is miles better than the original pressing.  My original has a pretty gnarly seam split as well, so that just makes this one even better.  The colored vinyl is sharp looking, though that means less and less to me as the years go buy.  You can usually trust Get On Down reissues to sound good, and I've heard no issues with this release.

The album itself is so much better than I gave it credit for in 1995.  I was really down on it when it was originally released, primarily because I thought the production was a step down from 93 Til Infinity.  I still think that it's a step down, but over the years I have heard so much boring, abysmal hip hop production that in comparison, No Man's Land is much better.  

As far as post-1994 hip hop goes, it's pretty elite production if we're being honest.  It's just that in 1995 I was coming right out of the golden era and was watching so much hip hop turn into something I wasn't interested in, so I had turned my attention to punk and indie rock.  But today, 30 years later in 2025. I can see this album for what it is, an unappreciated album from one of hip hop's best groups.

Souls Of Mischief - No Man's Land:
https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=CdRNZZPU5mI

Leatherface - The Peel Sessions LP - White Vinyl (/250)

Little Rocket (2025)

There are few bands in this world that mean more to me than Leatherface does.  I've been a fan and have been collecting their records for nearly 30 years, since the moment I bought the Do The Right Thing CD single.  The fact that there is a new release available to write about is cause for celebration as Little Rocket records has compiled the band's three BBC Peel Sessions onto a vinyl release for the first time.

I chose the white vinyl version for my collection as I've just always been a sucker for white vinyl.   But there are six different versions in total that are out there.  Four colors at 250 copies each (white, red, clear and yellow), 1000 copies on marble colored vinyl and 1000 copies on black vinyl.  I have gotten tot he point in my life where I'm trying not to collect every single variant for every single record in my collection anymore.  Though I'd love to have all six, and even though the collector inside me is chastising me for not having them all, it was just more prudent to get one copy from a US based distro.  But there's more out there if you need more.  Believe me, I get it.

On to the music.  Leatherface did three Peel Sessions in total.  One recorded in 1991, one in 1992 and their final in 1993.  The 12 tracks recorded in total is a nice cross section of their flawless discography with representation from each of their first five full lengths and a few songs from singles as well.  They're performed with the sort of energy and passion you'd expect from the band, and while everything sounds great, there's enough difference from the album versions that make the listen worthwhile.

The tracks that are the most interesting to me are the four that were recorded in 1993.  These were performed as a three piece instead of their usual four piece line-up.  Hearing these songs without Dickie Hammond's guitar complimenting Frankie Stubbs' is as jarring as it is compelling.  The songs take on a very different feel that's a little sparser, but somehow a bit more urgent sounding.  

The one that really hits for me is my favorite Leatherface song, "Do The Right Thing."  Hearing it without the phenomenal lead guitar work makes the song feel a little more approachable and less intimidating.  I'm not saying it's better, but it's definitely not worse either.  It feels like new song, but still retains the characteristics that made me fall in love with it from the moment I first heard it.

It's a little insane how long ago these songs were all recorded, but it's equally as insane how fresh, dynamic and important they still sound all of these years later.  This LP is a document of one of the greatest punk bands to have existed, and is a welcome, welcome addition to my shelves.

Leatherface - The Peel Sessions:
https://leatherface.bandcamp.com/album/the-peel-sessions

Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla Soundtrack - 2xLP - Silver w/ Splatter Vinyl (/2000)

Death Waltz / Mondo (2023)

Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla and its sequel are definitely the high point in the Millennium Godzilla series for me.  With Godzilla's return in this 2002 movie, we've got a Godzilla design that I like (eyes that have pupils!), a compelling human story and a new version of my all-time favorite Godzilla Opponent, Mechagodzilla, or as it is known in this film, Kiryu.

I love the design of this Mechagodzilla.  It takes the sharp edges and menacing vibe of the 1974 design (still my favorite robot of all time) and modernizes it.  But they don't go as far with the rounded aerodynamics of the 1993 design.  This 2002 model sides in the middle, pulling in the right choices of both approaches for an excellent looking robot who has some great fight scenes with Godzilla.

For the soundtrack, we've thankfully moved away from the dreary synth of the GMK score and have a triumphant orchestral soundtrack courtesy of Michiru Oshima.  It's exactly what I want and might be the best non-Ifukube score in the Godzilla canon.  Soaring highs, menacing lows and an energetic pace that matches up with the action on the screen.  

Death Walt and Mondo do their typically nice work on this soundtrack.  I like the art, the colored vinyl is the right choice and the fourth side screen printing looks good.  As usual, I wish there was more uniformity from record to record in this series, but as a standalone, this one definitely looks the business.

Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla:
https://youtu.be/gk-aZCm-PKI?si=iYw_9_C6MNehvKlI

Madvillain – Madvillainy Demos LP

Stones Throw (2024)

Every Wednesday, in honor of Ed Lover Dance Day from Yo! MTV Raps, I take a break from rock and roll to write a little bit about hip hop. In the late 80s and early 90s hip hop ruled my musical life. During this often called 'Golden Era' I discovered so much incredible music. As I am slowly replacing the CDs I've had for thirty plus years with vinyl copies, I'm going to talk about some albums that had a really important impact on me during some very formative years.

Many people have told the story of the Madvillainy demos over the years, they leaked, folks got mad, folks got excited, the album was changed before being released, people loved the new version too.  I don't have anything to add as I wasn't paying any attention to that when it was happening and final released version Madvillainy is not a record that clicked with me as much as others.  

You could say that about MF Doom in general for me.  Though I have come around on him in recent years and have added most of his records to my collection, at the end of the day, I'm still more of a Zev Love X fan.  But again, I've come around and have started to enjoy several of his records.  With that newfound respect in mind, I decided to check out the Madvillainy demos to see if I liked them more than the other version of the album.  And as it turned out, I do.

There's an energy here that I don't hear on the final version.  The beats seem to hit a little harder and the vocals are delivered in a more spirited way.  At least I think so.  Again, I'm not super familiar with the other version, but whether it's the sequencing or the versions of the songs used, this version connects more with me, to the point where I actually bought the record.  There's some meandering instrumentals that don't always land, but as 36 minute long listen, the demos version is tighter and again, just connects with me more than the other.

Madvillainy has always been one of those records that I feel like I should like more than I do based on the opinions of people whose taste I trust.  But this shorter, rougher version?  This is more my bag.

Madvillain – Madvillainy Demos:
https://madvillain.bandcamp.com/album/madvillainy-demos

The Minibosses - The Minibosses CD

Kraid (2000)

The Minibosses are (were?) a band that was primarily active in the early 2000s, but still were releasing records as recently as 2015 (if you count a split 10" with Mega Ran that had a previously released song on it).  I've been a fan of these guys for a while with their big guitar take on classic Nintendo video game music.  They've put out a few records over the years, covering some of my favorite background melodies from my early days playing video games.  This is their very first self released album from 2000 and it's one that has been eluding me for many years. 

What really surprised me when I got it is that half of the songs aren't covers of video game songs.  They're originals.  With vocals.  Was not expecting that and after listening to them I can understand why they decided to pretty much switch to an all instrumental, all covers version of the band after this.  As far as video game covers, we have six in total.

Of those six, four of them ("Ghosts 'N' Gobilns," "Contra," "Castlevania" and "Metroid") have ended up on other records of theirs.  These versions sound a little rougher, I suppose, but they still sound great with the guitar virtuosity shining through as always.  Two of the video game covers have only been put out on this album, "Wizards and Warriors" and "Castlevania 2."  I think at some point I had MP3s of both of these from maybe Napster or something like that, but I'm happy to have official versions of them finally.

I'm not really sure what happened to this band lately.  They were fundraising to do another album a few years ago, but it never came out and honestly, I'm not really sure what ended up happening with that.  I do hope they come back eventually though, I always enjoy those nostalgic listens to music that I didn't know was clawing its way into my head back in the late 80s.

The Minibosses - "Wizards & Warriors":
https://youtu.be/-r2SwzRpZgk?si=mJjDhZmIQo709wbx

Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack Soundtrack 2xLP - Red, Purple & Orange Vinyl (/2000)

Death Waltz / Mondo (2023)

Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack is an excellent Godzilla movie.  There is a lot to like about the storyline, the overall presentation of the main monsters, tha kaiju battling and general satisfaction I have watching this film.  There are, however, two big things I do not like about this movie.

The first is that I hate that Godzilla's eyes do not have pupils.  I get it that it's part of the overall storyline with Godzilla having the spirits of fallen Japanese soldiers lashing out against Japan.  It's meant to be a more ghostly, menacing vibe.  For me, it looks like forgot to finish that part of the suit and it really irks me.  Shin Godzilla is probably the only Godzilla design I dislike more.

The other part of this movie that I don't like is this soundtrack.  Gone are the lush orchestral passages and intense marching motifs.  Nope, this soundtrack is a synth-heavy, ambient snooze fest.  You can barely hear it most of the time and the times that you do hear it I tend to wish I wasn't hearing it.  Luckily it's not ultra intrusive and you can kind of tune it out while watching the actual movie, but listening to it as a standalone soundtrack really drives home how insufferable I think it is.  It just doesn't feel like Godzilla to me.

The vinyl presentation is nice as always.  I did the art, the colored vinyl and the side D screen print.  But this is very much just a shelf filler for me.  I need it for completist purposes, but I assure you I will never listen to it unless in 20 years I just forgot how much I don't like it and need a refresher.

Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack:
https://youtu.be/_2-oMGeVXO4?si=XeaEbkAdqc10lQ8q