A drunken ramble through my Record Store Day purchases

rsd-2012
Obviously, I have too much free time, because after I got done going for a walk on Saturday afternoon, I came home and worked my way through a bunch of beer while I listened to all of my Record Store Day acquisitions. This marks the first year I didn’t have the day off, so I stayed in Lawrence and grabbed what I could after I got off work. Here are my increasingly honest and incomprehensible live rankings of what I purchased.

100_1832Mastodon / Feist – Feistodon Fuck. For all the hype, and all the difficulty people were having tracking it down, I didn’t figure on there being any copies left when I got to Love Garden at noon. They had plenty of copies, even then. It’s boring as shit, and I regret spending $8 on it. Neither side brings anything interesting to the other act’s tune. I would’ve preferred they teamed up on two original songs. That would’ve been cool. As it is, I’m seeing if anyone’s interested in taking it off my hands.

100_1833The Hives – “Go Right Ahead” b/w “1000 Answers” “Go Right Ahead” sounds just as much like Electric Light Orchestra’s “Don’t Bring Me Down” as it did the first time I heard it a few weeks ago, but who fucking cares? “Idiot Walk” sounded like the Who’s “Can’t Explain” and it rocked socks, and so does this. The Hives know how to rip somebody off, that’s for damned sure. The b-side is even better. It sounds like vintage, Barely Legal-era Hives. Hell yes.

100_1834Bronx – Live Split release between the Bronx and their mariachi alter-egos. Basically a way to promote new releases from both, but no biggie. It sounds fucking great. The Mariachi El Bronx side is a little clean. I was hoping it would be a little dirtier, but the Bronx side does that just fine. “Boulevard of Broken Dreams” is a Hanoi Rocks cover. Seriously. It’s even got Michael Monroe on vocals. Does that count as a cover if the original singer does it? Whatever. First record to be on colored vinyl. Pretty fantastic splatter.

100_1835Lydia Loveless – “Bad Way to Go” b/w “Alison” Why the hell haven’t I bought Lydia Loveless’ Bloodshot debut yet? It came out last year, I interviewed her about it, and I’ve got a copy of her independently-released debut, which I adore. She covers the Replacements and Loretta Lynn live, and she’s a completely, cavalierly candid person both on stage and on the phone when she’s being interviewed. “Bad Way to Go” makes me feel like a terrible person for not picking up Indestructible Machine, it’s so fucking good. Clarion vocals over a down-home, raucous ramble through the brambles. Her take on Elvis Costello’s “Alison” has a vulnerable quaver that made me tear up a touch.

100_1836Various Artists – Trouble In Mind Record Store Day 2012 4-Way split These splits are kinda pricey ($10 for a 7-inch) because of licensing rights, but it always ends up being worth the money. Mikal Cronin’s take on the Banana Splits’ tune is cute, and I’m being more and more won over by his stuff the more I hear it. Apache Dropouts doing Nilsson wins because … well, it’s Nilsson. You’re never going wrong having poppy garage acts cover amazing ’70s singer-songwriters. It gets freaky near the end, too. Hackles will raise in astonishment. The Paperhead and Limiñanas go psychedelically crazy on the flipside.

100_1837Pujol – “Reverse Vampire” b/w “Psychic Pain” (home demo) Put out the goddamned LP already! The Nasty, Brutish, And Short 10-inch EP last year, and now an RSD single. Saddle Creek needs to stop teasing (and taking my money). By the time the full-length comes out this summer, I’ll be so tired of dropping cash on pujol albums, it’ll get skipped. Pretty brownish-red clear marble vinyl, although — word to the wise, here — when you press 1000, it’s not limited. That’s just a “pressing.” The music’s fucking great, though, of course. New wave meets power-pop garage. It’s timeless, reminding me of so many different rock ‘n’ roll era all at once.