Record Store Visit: Flipside II - Pompton Lakes, NJ - Record Store Day2012

Record Store Visit: Flipside II - Pompton Lakes, NJ - Record Store Day 2012, a photo by Tim PopKid on Flickr.

Once upon a time I spent more hours in this little hole in the wall record store than I spent almost anywhere else. This store is so intimately intertwined with how my taste in music developed, I honestly couldn't tell you where I would be without it. Of all the places I've been, this is one of the most important.

Back in the 90's my friend Alan worked at Flipside. I used to go and hang out for hours at a time. We'd bs, go through promo CDs (throwing the bad ones into a giant fan resulting in impressive destruction) and just immerse ourselves in all of the great music pouring into the store. It was here where I found out about labels like Crackle, Snuffy Smiles and Rugger Bugger. This is where I first heard Chester Copperpot, Starmarket, Leatherface and so many, many more.

Well, Alan left this store a long time ago, and little has changed. That's not the compliment that it sounds like. Little has changed because the stock hasn't been updated since the 90s. It's literally the same records. Now for some, this will probably be like walking into a treasure room (especially if you're looking for Schleprock 7"s for some weird reason), but for me, it's just nostalgia. Sure I picked up a Flop LP and some cheap Edsel Auctioneer LPs, but for the most part, it was just kind of sad being in this place. It's dirty, it smells kind of funny and the records are really old, but damnit I spent my 20s in this place and I am happy it's still standing even if it's a shadow of its former glory.

Oh and even though this store doesn't seem to advertise in any way shape or form that they participate in Record Store Day, they did have about 12 RSD releases. Nothing worth getting, but I figured it was worth mentioning.