Taking Back Sunday – 152

After a seven year gap Taking Back Sunday triumphantly return with a new album. The band’s eighth studio album, 152 is a much mellower take on the band’s trademarked frenetic sound. The term ‘elder emo’ has been flung around a lot recently on social media, and despite my dislike of nonsensical terminology like that, it may be the most ample description of 152. If you’re expecting stuff along the lines of “Makedamnsure,” “Liar (It Takes One to Know One),” “ A Decade Under The Influence,” or “Cute Without The E’ (Cut From The Team)” you are barking up the wrong tree.

The band’s new album came out of left field a bit, as the band didn’t really tease new music; they simply dropped a new song that turned out to be the lead single off the album. TBS was rumored to be working on new stuff, but apparently the pandemic, as it did with so many things, derailed it. The new song/lead single was released in June of 2023, with pre-orders launching about as late in August as you can get. 152 was released by Fantasy Records at the end of October 2023 and was done so on a ton of variants.

There is a Project M exclusive (Revolver/Brooklyn Vegan/AltPress) limited to 500 copies on white w/ blue splatter, an Urban Outfitters (UO) exclusive on opaque yellow and black vinyl limited to 500 copies, a band web store and tour exclusive on copper limited to 1750 copies, a label exclusive on “juice” “marbled” limited to 1500 copies,  another label exclusive apart of the “juice” “marbled” variant that comes with an alternate artwork screen printed jacket that is autographed and limited to 250 hand numbered copies, a Spotify exclusive on blue mix with white “marbled” limited to an unconfirmed amount, a UK indie store and HMV exclusive on brick red limited to an unknown amount, a made up Assai Records (Scottish indie record store) exclusive apart of the brick red variant w/ an exclusive hand numbered obi-strip limited to 100 copies, the “standard” variant on bone vinyl limited to an unknown amount and black vinyl limited to an unknown amount.

If you’re keeping track that is 10 variants. And to make matters worse the label doesn’t use hype stickers; they use bar code stickers that denote both the exclusivity retailer and the variant. And what is printed on this barcode sticker often times differs from what the descriptions of the variants says. For instance, the Spotify exclusive that was advertised as blue mix with white “marbled” comes with a barcode sticker that says sky marble. The “juice” “marbled” comes with a sticker that says tan marble and “D2C,” which means direct to consumer. This system is not the most obvious way to denote variants, but at least it’s done. What I do like is the fact that the sticker also says where/who the variant was sold by.

All copies were pressed as a single LP housed in a gatefold jacket. The record itself comes in a full color printed dust sleeve on glossy paper. A download card/code is not included with physical copies, and you are not provided a download card/code if you order direct from the label. Retail price depends on the variant. The alternate artwork screened jacket variant cost $50 before shipping and taxes (should they apply), the Project M variant cost $28 before shipping and taxes (should they apply), the UO exclusive cost $30 before shipping and taxes (should either apply), the Spotify exclusive cost $26 before shipping and taxes (should they apply), the band exclusive cost $35 before shipping and taxes (should they apply) from their web store (don’t know what it cost on tour), the Assai Records exclusive cost around $38 before shipping (should it apply), the brick red variant cost around $33 before shipping (should it apply).

My personal perspective on buying this record and the variant I chose: I wish I didn’t buy the alternate artwork screen printed cover. I am a cover variant collector. Which is probably something I should not directly admit to and comment on at this point because I feel like more and more labels and/or bands are capitalizing on it. Fantasy Records did a similar altenate artwork screen printed cover with the L.S. Dunes record, and that, for what I hoped was for unique circumstances, did not actually fit over the regular cover like a ture alternate cover should. But unfortunately, when it comes to this TBS record, the same also applies.

I don’t know why Fantasy Records can’t get this right. But at this point I am going to assume it’s a systemic problem with their creative or product development team. I could let the L.S. Dunes record slide given the circumstances of it, but in the grand scheme of things, anybody with properly functioning eyeballs and brain could tell that yet another cover would not fit on a single LP package that already had an additional alternate cover/slip cover on it. I bet wrong.

But I wasn’t going to miss out on something like I did the L.S. Dunes alternate cover variant. Missing out on the L.S. Dunes variant had extenuating circumstance though. TBS is one of my favorite bands. I literally stumbled upon the pre-order for 152; right place right time kind of thing, and didn’t scrutinize the price like I have been doing more and more of lately as vinyl prices continue to exceed ridiculous levels. What also factored in to my compulsory buy now mentality was the fact that pressing info was not released for the alternate artwork screen printed cover variant. But the label seemed to be intentionally misleading on that front.

Yes, the pressing info for it was not released at the time pre-orders went live. But the description, given the album title, made it seem like the alternate artwork screen printed cover variant was limited to 152 copies. In my fervor to get a copy before it sold out, in case it was actually limited to such a small amount as 152 copies, I rushed to place an order. As I checked back throughout that day to see how quickly this variant sold out, I was shocked to see it still available the next day. Which is when I went back and re-read everything in the item listing, discovering pressing info was never mentioned.

In the end, upon finally receiving my copy on the mail, about a week after lots of other people and well after the release date, despite undoubtedly being one of the first hundred people placing an order, it was discovered that the alternate artwork screened printed cover variant was limited to 250 copies based off the hand numbering. As I feared, the alternate artwork screen printed cover does not fit over the top of the gatefold jacket that houses 152. Again, this is something someone at Fantasy Records should have easily noticed and changed. Maybe simply not done this type of variant at all.

But Fantasy Records, while technically being an indie label, is a fringe major label in my book because they have ties to Universal Music Group; with their major claim to fame being the home to Creedence Clearwater Revival, only cares about money. They have been snatching up bigger name artist in recent years, and have access to wider distribution channels than true indie labels out there that struggled to get by. After the L.S. Dunes garbage they should have recognized the glaring logistical issues with an alternate cover variant, but chose to not properly address it.  And to make matters worse; the alternate artwork is literally the cover art done in different colors. Which is something completely on me as the mock up accurately depicted the finished product. But again, I caved to rarity and fear of missing out.

Armor For Sleep – Dream To Make Believe

After years of waiting, lots of wishes were fulfilled when Equal Vision Records (EVR) finally pressed Armor For Sleep’s debut release Dream To Make Believe. It was the band’s lone outstanding album to be released on vinyl, and it seems EVR was waiting for the album’s 20^th anniversary in order to press it. Which somewhat makes sense given the label re-pressed What To Do When You Are Dead for its 15^th anniversary a few years ago. But you have to ask yourself, with labels doing cash grab re-presses left and right, EVR could’ve pressed Dream To Make Believe long before now, and simply went and re-pressed it this year for its 20^th anniversary.

This record did not come completely out of left field however, as Amazon put it up for pre-order months (May 2023) before it was officially announced by the label. Amazon never took down the listing, and up until it was officially announced by going up for pre-order in July 2023, Amazon was the only place to buy/pre-order it. Lots of times when retailers jump the gun as early as Amazon did, the label requests them to remove their listings. But for whatever reason Amazon always keeps their listings live. Not sure if they just thumb their nose at requests like this because Amazon is THE biggest kid at the big kid at the table, or if EVR simply never bothered to ask Amazon to take it down.

As expected, this record sold very well and a few variants sold out quickly. EVR had three exclusive variants; half maroon/half white limited to 250 copies, green in white color in color limited to 250 copies and apple green w/ white splatter limited to 500 copies. Brooklyn Vegan (Project M exclusive) was given an exclusive variant as well, which is on “opaque” white limited to 350 copies. There is an additional variant without pressing info officially released, which front man Ben Jorgensen confirmed on social media to be “translucent” black, which is being sold by Amazon. The “translucent” black is exclusive to Amazon is highly doubtful. It’s not confirmed to be a mass retail variant, but odds are that it is.

The two variants limited to 250 copies sold out in about 45 minutes, which is not surprising. The splatter variant sold out in about nine hours, which is surprising considering how quickly the other label exclusives sold out. Most times the mad dash to secure the more limited variants sends those who missed out on them into a further frenzy to secure whatever is left. But in this case idiots moved over to Brooklyn Vegan/Revolver/AltPress, all of which are owned and operated by conglomerate of Project M, because it was the next rarest. All despite how much more expensive they charged for it.

EVR charged $25 before shipping and taxes (should they apply) for all three of their variants. Meanwhile, Project M via the Brooklyn Vegan, Revolver and AltPress web stores charged $33 before shipping and taxes (should they apply). Which is status quo for Project M. They are one in a long line of greedy retailers who overcharge for their exclusive variants. And they will continue doing so as long as morons continue to sell them out.

All copies were pressed as a single LP housed in a single pocket jacket with a full color printed dust sleeve on glossy paper. Each variant comes with a similarly designed hype sticker that denotes the color. They are designed and placed to replicate the infamous barcode that is conspicuously plastered on the front cover. Though my copy has a horridly placed hype sticker, as you can see in the photo gallery below. There is no download card/code despite this being an EVR release. The download card/code would’ve been nice considering how great this record sounds, assuming the label would supply the vinyl master with it. There is a debate about whether or not the album was re-mastered. But there is no denying the record is nice and crisp, especially when compared to the CD release and official MP3 downloads out there. Jumping in on the debate, I highly doubt the label went to the length of completely re-mastering the album without making note of it anywhere. What I think happened is EVR had it properly mastered for vinyl rather than taking the cheap, easy route of submitting the original CD master (whether it be an actual retail CD or a digital file of it) to the pressing plant and having that used to make the stampers.EVR has not officially confirmed one way or the other as of posting this.

New Found Glory – Catalyst

It finally happened. Catalyst was pressed on vinyl. New Found Glory’s last album to get the treatment, and one most fans cried for relentlessly; was released in 2023. After some slight teasing, it took about a week from when the band said in an interview at When We Were Young Fest that it would be coming out for pre-orders to drop without any sort of announcement. Unfortunately for myself I was on vacation at the time pre-orders launched and missed out on all of the rarer variants, but I did manage to easily snag a copy.

Catalyst was apparently licensed by Mondo (yes, that Mondo) from MCA/Geffen/Drive-Thru. Mondo had a hand in the re-press of the band’s self-titled album a few years ago, so it’s not a complete surprise they helped get Catalyst pressed. What is surprising is the lack of creative details that Mondo is typically known for.

Instead of a gatefold jacket, Mondo opted to go with a oversized single pocket jacket, and a cheap one at that. Now, most of time oversized single pocket jackets are printed on rather thin material, but Mondo should have done better. Another, slightly less noticeable issue with the packaging is that the artist’s name who handled all the art for Catalyst is actually misspelled in the liner notes/credits. Instead of Gunnar, which is how he spells his name and is also painfully obvious as it’s on the back cover for all to see, Mondo never corrected the typo of his name being spelled “Gunner” in the liner notes/credits that are printed on the back of the second printed dust sleeve. So it’s very obvious all Mondo did was enlarge all the artwork from the original release of Catalyst. Since Mondo altered the original artwork on the back of the jacket to include “Gunnar” signature, it’s likely not a contractual reason the liner notes/credits kept the typo.

I kind of hinted at the fact, but Catalyst was pressed as a double LP, coming in the inexcusable oversized single pocket jacket. The records themselves come in full color printed dust sleeves on glossy paper. The artwork used for the dust sleeves is taken directly from the CD booklet from the album’s original release back in 2004. As was the case with some other NFG records, all traces of the band’s original guitarist, Steve Klein, have been removed. His caricature is not presented, and his name is stricken from the liner notes/credits. Though it was pointed on a message board, sadly after your typical internet tough gay name calling, that technically Steve is still getting credit for everything as the band entered into a collective ASCAP at some point instead of giving each individual credit(s). That is all I’m going to say about Steve and any and all associated topics.

Maybe some of the saving grace for Mondo’s packaging choices is the fact that cover art feature glow in the dark effects. It’s not the entire jacket, only portions of it. Honestly, I’m not going to expose my jacket to direct sunlight for any length of time in order to photograph it. I am going to include a stock/promo photo that Mondo used for all their press for the vinyl version of Catalyst. But to put it into words, only the band’s name, album title and all the doorways on the cover art feature the glow in the dark effect. There was some incorrect speculation that only certain variants come with a glow in the dark cover/jacket; but every copy comes with a glow in the dark cover/jacket.

Another great touch Mondo did was to include all three bonus tracks from the various international version of Catalyst when it was first released. The three bonus tracks, “Whiskey Rose,” “Radio Adelaide” and “Constant Static,” are all properly tacked onto the end of the album, appearing on side D. There was some incorrect speculation that only certain variants included these bonus tracks; but they appear on every copy.

Now down to the nitty gritty; pressing info and the associated finer details. The band had three exclusive variants, with one of them only being available in a bundle containing all three aforementioned variants. They had a magenta/yellow/blue limited to 500 copies, yellow/orange/maroon limited to 1500 copies and a glow in the dark variant limited to an unknown/intentionally unannounced amount. The glow in the dark variant was the bundle exclusive one. I typically don’t like to speculate, but there are at most 500 copies of the glow in the dark, which is based solely on the fact there are 500 copies of the magenta/yellow/blue variant.

I mentioned above the simple nature of the band exclusive variants; that is how the band’s web store listed/described them. In reality, the magenta/yellow/blue is a swirl variant and the yellow/orange/maroon is a tri-color variants. The mock ups/actual pictures of each of those variants supported that. So why the web store couldn’t simply put in swirl or tri-color is beyond me.

There were three additional variants available at the time pre-orders/ordering went live. Mondo had an exclusive variant, which actually did not have any sort of description. I kid you not, Mondo now has the balls to just say “on a Mondo exclusive color vinyl” rather than simply state what their variant is. All when there is literally a picture of it posted right next to that text. Because there is no official description, it leaves it open to interpretation. Who/whom ever (yes, it can be multiple users) uploaded info to Discogs has Mondo’s exclusive variant as a color-in-color A-side/B-side variant, with it specifically being “blue in green (A/B) red in black (C/D).” That description is fairly accurate. But I still can’t help to feel the first disc (A/B) is more of a swirl variant than a straight up color-in-color.

Another terrific aspect of Mondo’s variant is that pressing info has not been officially confirmed. But of course, there is someone on a message board making the claim that they know how many copies were pressed for the Mondo variant. But Mondo has not posted that number anywhere, which makes it unofficial. And of course, that fact does not stop people from posting that unconfirmed number on Discogs. So of course lots of people are taking it for fact. I will not post said number here. Because I will not post pressing info that I cannot verify myself, which comes from a confirmed source.

The remaining two variants feature a RevHq (indie distro) exclusive and a wider release variant that is not exactly available everywhere. For whatever reason, the band/Mondo chose to only make what I’m calling the wider release variant available from a handful of retailers/sources in a handful of countries. To keep this entry as brief as possible, the RevHQ variant was limited to 499 comes on “green.” I’m not kidding, RevHQ simply put down “green” for their exclusive. And boy, was it not even close to “green.”

The RevHQ exclusive turned out being a convoluted mess in the end. Despite there being a picture/mock up of their exclusive variant, Rev decided to just put green. That did zero favors. An actual description would’ve been very beneficial, as it once again leaves things open to interpretation. For whatever reason, who/whom ever submitted info to Discogs claims the Rev exclusive is “green cloudy;” whatever that is. Where I have problems is multi-fold: A; this variant does not much green. My best description is that it’s a mustard puke nonsensical mixture that has elements of everything; swirl, cloudy, marble, splatter, swirl. Honestly, the finished product looks like someone ate a soft pretzel with lots of mustard at a sporting event of some kind, had too much beer, and wound up puking somewhere on the concourse mid walk without missing a step and just continued on without so much as a second thought.

The mock up shows a nice “green” variant that was clearly a clear with green/yellow swirl/splatter. What actually shipped to people was what I described above. I’ve seen pictures of a solid army drab green/olive/mustard with slight hints of blue splatter. There are even literally puke chunks thrown in for good measure. Some people have also described the RevHQ exclusive as snot, which is also apt. Bottom line is this variant is a mess.

The remaining variant, which is the somewhat widely available one, is very straight forward. It’s limited to 1,472 copies on clear with pink and purple splatter. It has an actual description, the description is accurate, and it matches the picture/mock up used. That’s the trifecta, and all you can ask for. RevHQ is the only place in the U.S. selling the clear w/ pink and purple splatter as far as I can tell, and there are several retailers/distros in Europe selling this variant as well.

Something most people can agree on is that the vinyl version of Catalyst is overprice. A single variant cost $40 before shipping and taxes (should they apply). I don’t know what the bundle cost because like I stated above, I missed out when pre-orders/ordering went live. Whioe some of the band’s exclusive variants found their way to be available for purchase again, the bundle never did. And because I’m the way I am, I won’t necessarily take anyone else’s word for granted unless I can back it up with visual proof I can get for a verified source. I screenshot everything as soon as I come across it for the sake of writing this blog.

As of posting this the only variants sold out are all three of the band’s exclusives and the RevHQ exclusive. The secondary market will need some time to settle into a going rate for many of the variants. But there were lots of copies pressed, and despite this being the first time Catalyst has been pressed, it has yet to sell out. Granted, the recent re-pressings of Sticks & Stones were far more limited in terms of numbers; there really was not a legitimate reason for it to receive three different pressings since 2022.

One of my favorite aspects of Catalyst that gets overlooked by pretty much everyone is the fact that Andy Jackson of Hot Rod Circuit fame, another of my favorite bands, does guest/backing vocals on the song “Over The Head, Below The Knees.” Other guest vocalists are Toby Morse of H2O and Freddy Cricean of Madball, who both appear on “At Least I’m Known For Something.”

New Found Glory – Make The Most Of It

New Found Glory’s latest album, released in 2023, is actually their first acoustic album. Make The Most Of It was released by Revelation Records; the legendary hardcore/punk label. After getting out of their deal with Drive-Thru Records and major label MCA/Geffen, NFG has partnered or signed with a lot of different labels; Epitaph, Bridge 9, Hopeless, Triple-B, and now Rev. Some of those partnerships seemingly make no sense to the unacquainted, but they go back to Chad Gilbert’s hardcore days when he was in Shai Hulud.

I’m not sure what happened with NFG, they’ve always been a very popular band; practically mainstream at some points in their career. But their recent vinyl releases have sold better than some of their past releases. I’m not talking about the long overdue re-press of their s/t album or even Coming Home. It all started with the pandemic boom of everyone going out of their way to spend more money on band merch (includes music) and Forever + Ever x Infinity was released at the height of it. For what I felt was subpar album, it sold very well and variants sold out at a much faster clip than I expected. That trend continued with their Christmas album and now with Make The Most Of It. Meanwhile, older records like Resurrection / Resurrection: Ascension and Makes Me Sick / Makes Me Sick Again can still be bought from Hopeless Records’ web store.

Make The Most Of It is currently in its second pressing. The first pressing, which was put up for pre-order in November 2022, has four variants; translucent violet limited to 300 copies, translucent green limited to 300 copies, “natural” clear limited to 500 copies and translucent yellow limited to 3,000 copies. The translucent violet, which turned out more maroon than any shade of purple, was a RevHQ (Rev’s label store that also happens to be a distro) exclusive, and it sold out in under 15 minutes. By the time I saw the band’s post on social media about it it was already sold out. The translucent green, which was a Brooklyn Vegan/The Hard Times/Revolver exclusive sold out in less than 24 hours (not exactly sure how many hours it took, but it was in the first day). Rev has “natural” clear listed as a retail store exclusive on their web store, but on social media that have said it’s an indie store exclusive. Slight confusion there, but since they listed a bunch of well known indie record stores that would be getting copies, the “natural” clear is 99% assuredly an indie record store exclusive.

The second pressing is limited to 2500 copies on opaque turquoise. It was put up for sale in March 2023. Was a second pressing needed? Maybe, maybe not. What I do know is that Rev sold out of all their variants, or at least however many copies of the whopping 3,000 on translucent yellow they kept to sell, sometime in February 2023. Now with that said, some places like Target, Amazon and even other distros have been selling copies for quite a while. So who knows what pressing you’ll get if you order from any of those places; it will either be a copy from the first pressing on translucent yellow or a copy from the second pressing on opaque turquoise.

What makes things a lot easier is that every variant, regardless of pressing, comes with its own hype sticker on a certain color. I didn’t say color coded because the “natural” clear variant comes with a black sticker. But other than that variant, the rest of them come with a color coded hype sticker. Even the translucent violet that turned out maroon; it too has a maroon/dark red hype sticker.

All copies are pressed as a single LP, come sealed/shrink-wrapped, and included a fold out poster. There is no download card/code included with physical copies, and I’m not sure if Rev supplied one to people who ordered directly form them. One interesting tidbit about this record is that the artwork for the center labels was done by bassist Ian Grushka, which were taken from painting he did of the band while they were in the studio recording the album.

A key aspect of the vinyl version of Make The Most Of It is that is excludes four tracks; live takes of previously released songs “Understatement,” Failure’s Not Flattering,” “My Friend’s Over You” and “Hit Or Miss.” These songs are mostly at the end of the album (digital and CD versions. Which lends credence to my theory that that were cut from the vinyl version due to special reasons. But I have not seen anything official as to why. Some people thought at first it was a licensing issue regarding physical formats, but considering all the omitted songs from the vinyl version are on the CD version, that theory doesn’t hold water. Considering the prices being charged for this single LP, it would have been better had Rev just went ahead and made this record a double LP.

With that said, let’s get to the pricing on this. It’s all over the board. Rev charged a reasonable all things considered $22 before shipping for the first pressing no matter which variant you bought. However, for whatever reason, they jacked up the price of the second pressing to $25 before shipping. Controversial? Absolutely. Especially without any sort of explanation. It’s like they hoped nobody would notice. Stuff like this is just another sad reason I’m being driven away from collecting/buying vinyl these days. It’s just too damn expensive.

And with that said, let’s move on to cost of the translucent green variant. It cost $30 before shipping. Despite that ridiculous price it still sold out in a day simply because it’s rare. This is the biggest reason why vinyl prices are climbing. Sure, inflation, supply chain issues, etc.; they are all legitimate reasons. But the underlying reason is greed. Labels and retailers see the trends; they’d be idiots and irresponsible business owners not to. So as long as people keep buying overpriced variants/releases, the prices will continue to climb because they know they will sell at least 7 out of 10 (for argument’s sake, but the ratio can be extrapolated to your heart’s desire) copies priced at $30, $40 even $50 before they possibly have to start marking things down. Even then idiots will still buy it thinking they’re getting a deal because look! It’s on sale now for $25 when they it used to be $30!!!

With all the ranting out of the way, here are some pertinent details about the variant featured here; the Bridge 9 Records Warehouse show exclusive alternate cover. In support of Most Of It, NFG did an acoustic tour at small theatre type venues with seating only, which had a stop in Boston. Before that stop on the tour, the band did a full plugged in live set at the new B9 Warehouse in Beverly, Mass. Aside from the secondary market, it was only available for purchase at the B9 Records physical store leading up to that show, which acted as your ticket for entry. In plain English, you had to buy a copy of this record/variant in order to get into the show. The show was widely advertised, so at least it wasn’t a secret/surprise show with a corresponding secret show variant. Granted, for anyone living outside driving distance of the Boston area, it would be a tall order trying to get a copy if this B9 variant.

I’m not sure if the B9 warehouse show sold out or not, but copies have not been up for sale in B9’s online store since it was held on March 16, 2023, unlike the new B9 store exclusive cover variants of Tip Of The Iceberg. As of writing this I have only seen two copies pop up for sale on the secondary market. The first of which I was planning on bidding on, but the price jumped to ridiculous amounts. The second copy I literally stumbled upon a few hours before the auction ended simply because I didn’t search for it on ebay for a few weeks. I’m fairly confident the only reason I won it, let alone for the price I did was because the person selling it had the auction end at 4 am EST. So I put in my bid, went to sleep at a reasonable hour and woke up the next morning to discover I actually won it for below my max bid. For those crying hypocrite at this point (because you can easily look up what this auction sold for), just know I purposely save up cash back bonuses I earn for cases just like this, so my out of pocket expense was literally zero on this record. Did I support a flipper? Yes. Did it sell for a lot of money? Yes. Did it sell for more than the $30, $40 or even $50 I ranted about above? Yes.

The B9 warehouse show exclusive variant comes with a copy from the second pressing on opaque turquoise. All copies are hand numbered in blue sharpie on the back of the fold over sleeve. The foldover sleeve, which is a quarter fold, is screen printed. The alternate cover art is inspired by the cover art for Judge’s debut album Chung King Can Suck It, which was released by Revelation Records in 1989. So this completes the trifecta of B9 exclusive alternate cover variants inspired by past Rev releases for NFG releases that came out in 2023

One last tidbit about B9 warehouse show exclusive variant, which was something I was not aware of so I would be none the wiser had the seller not included it; the B9 physical storefront placed all copies in a paper bag that was also hand numbered with the corresponding number on the sleeve. Since I’ve yet to visit B9’s storefront in Massachusetts, I can only assume this bag, which is screen printed with their logo, is what the store uses for the bulk of customers after making a purchase.

Made available for that performance only (until copies hit the secondary market, which has yet to happen as of adding this portion to this entry) was an exclusive alternate cover variant of Make The Most Of It, which was widely advertised and promoted

Absolutely no reason the label can charge $22 but other retail outlets with an exclusive can charge almost $10 more. This is what places like Newbury comics, urban outfitters and in this case Brooklyn vegan/rock sound charge what they do because they know idiots will buy it. And if by some chance it sits around and doesn’t sell, they’ll simply mark it down slightly to what the actual going rate is/what other retailers charge, and once again,

For whatever reason the vinyl version omits 4 songs. The songs are randomly scattered throughout the album and we’re all previously released songs, just obviously reworked in an acoustic styling. These songs are on the CD version, so it would be an odd, but not unheard of, contractual stipulation for it to not be on vinyl yet on other physical releases. Could also be a space issue, and rev chose to keep actual new songs on the vinyl version and omit songs that have already been released, some of which have also been released acoustic.

Blackbear – In Loving Memory

Blackbear might not be a lot of people’s cup of tea, myself included, but as a collector and completionist I felt compelled to buy his latest album, In Loving Memory for the simple fact the New Found Glory lead singer Jordan Pundik is featured on a track. Despite the entire band being listed as being featured in the title of the song, it is only Pundik who is featured when reading the credits.

Pundik lends his vocal talents to the song “Nothing Matters,” signing a couple verses; the bridge through to the end of the song. For those curious Travis Barker plays drums on the entire album, so if you’re looking at the album cover and thinking to yourself that guy looks familiar but it can’t be him; well, it is him.

Thankfully there are not variants for this record; it was only pressed on black vinyl. But with that said, pressing info has not been released for it and likely never will be seeing as this is a major label release. All copies come in a gatefold jacket, with the record itself housed in a full color printed dust sleeve on glossy paper. The dust sleeve has the liner notes printed on it, which is where you discover that the track listing is a bit misleading.

I mentioned above how the song “Nothing Matters” says it features New Found Glory and that aspect is flat out false. Well, the same goes for the rest of the album where there is a guest appearance. The Used and Bayside are listed as a guest appearances according to the song titles/track listing, but once again it’s only lead singers Bert McCracken (The Used) and Anthony Raneri (Bayside) actually featured on those respective songs. For what it’s worth Machine Gun Kelly is also listed as a guest spot on one song, but he is not actually credited in the liner notes as providing anything to the song (vocals or instrumentation).

Retail price on this record is around $30. Thankfully I was not foolish enough to pay that much for this record, especially for just one song. I bought this during a indie record store’s insane 50% off sale, so I wound up spending $14 all said and done. My best advice is to just wait this record out. It’s not going anywhere so odds are more and more places will mark this record down in an effort to clear shelf space and/or clear out old inventory. Only problem with that approach I can find is the fact that this is not a Led Zeppelin, Taylor Swift, Rolling Stones, Pink Floyd, Pearl Jam, etc. release. So retailers might not be able to take as big a hit on this Blackbear record because they simply haven’t sold many, if any copies of it to make up for the profit loss.

Maxim Mental – Make Teams Presents Maxim Mental In Maximalism

Max Bemis’ quasi solo project, Maxim Mental released its first full length album in 2022. It follows on the heels of their debut EP Fucking. Make Team Presents Maxim Mental In Maximalism was released by Dine Alone Records on three variants; black limited to 900 copies, translucent red w/ black marble limited to 500 copies and “black ice”/ “translucent” black w/ red splatter limited to 100 copies.

The translucent red w/ black marble is an indie retail exclusive. The “black ice” / “translucent” black w/ red splatter was a Dine Alone web store exclusive that comes with an exclusive obis-trip and the black is a mass retail exclusive. It’s important to note that Dine Alone was selling all three variants because not only is it their release, but they also operate a brick & mortar indie record store in Canada.

As the label has been doing with pretty much all their releases, their exclusive variant comes with a stock label obi-strip, which when it boils down to simply adds to the cost of the release. These obi-strips are pointless. They are just a cash grab. Especially when it comes to Dine Alone because their obi-strip is a glorified hype sticker. All it says on the front “Exclusive” is large letters with the label’s logo, with the back having a description of the variant and hand numbering. When it comes to the record itself, it’s an interesting variant as it looks clear when held up to the light but almost black when laid flat on your turntable. Max describes the variant as “translucent” black but you literally can’t have black be translucent; there are no degrees of black because it’s the absence of color in the light/color spectrum. It’s either black or it’s not black. So this variant is basically translucent brown, but “black ice” is applicable because they doe share similarities.

All copies come pressed as a double LP housed in a gatefold jacket. That’s it. No physical download card/code with copies and you are not supplied a download even if you order directly from Dine Alone. Dine Alone also rips you off on pricing for this record. Despite it being their release, they charge more depending on how rare the record is, so each of the three variants cost a different amount if you bought it from them. Dine Alone charged almost $31 for the “black ice” / “translucent” black w/ red splatter, $27 for the translucent red w/ black splatter and a little over $23 for the black. Granted they originally price things in Canadian dollars, so the odd prices are after the conversion to USD. But the fact remains they charge more for rarity, which just adds to the reason I’m never going to buy anything directly from them again.

Another reason, easily the biggest, revolves around their shipping fees. Dine Alone charged me for international shipping via Canada Post, but in actuality they shipped my order from within the continental USA via USPS media mail. Canada Post shipping was the only shipping method available at the time, and it still is as of posting this. I chose the cheapest shipping option, which came out to over $25 CAD, which converts to a little over $18 USD for four records ( Say Anything’s Junior Varsity , Menorah/Mejora, Baseballand the Maxim Mental full length) rated out at a three pound package [despite it actually weighing almost four pounds (yes, I weighed it) which USPS always rounds up to the next closest pound]. The media mail shipping rate for my package, which I figured out using USPS’ shipping calculator, was a little over $5 USD. This is fraud folks, on multiple levels. You can’t charge for a service you don’t actually provide. I’m sure they did this will all USA bound orders. And they scammed the USPS out of money by shorting the weight. Thankfully my package was not mark postage due.

To say I’m disappointed with this release is an understatement. I intentionally held off on buying a copy mainly because of the price point. I also felt it wouldn’t sell well. While I knew the Dine Alone exclusive would sell out quickly, which it did, I knew I’d be able to grab a copy cheaply at some point down the road. Distros are selling copies, but for even more inflated rates than directly from the label. Technically this is an import release, and prices reflect that at U.S. based retailers. I bit the bullet and bought this record in the Say Anything bundle when Dine Alone surprisingly released all of Say Anything’s back catalog, hoping to save on shipping. But boy was I ripped off.

Say Anything – Baseball (1st Press)

When Say Anything signed with Dine Alone Records not many people thought much of it. The band, well Max, was at the tail end of the band’s lifespan and well past their high point in popularity. But in Summer 2023 the label surprisingly announced that they would be pressing some early Say Anything releases on vinyl, marking the first time any of them received the vinyl treatment.

Baseball, the band’s debut album, is held in high regard by the band’s diehard fans. It was pressed as a double LP spread across six variants; opaque bone limited to 1500 copies, pink “galaxy” limited to 300 copies, bone, pink & black a-side/b-side limited to 100 copies, “black ice ghostly” w/ bone, pink & evergreen splatter limited to 300 copies, pink in milky clear limited to 300 copies and coke bottle clear w/ bone and pink (as per the description) limited to 300 copies.  And it It wouldn’t be vinyl in 2023 without overpriced exclusives.

The pink “galaxy” is an Urban Outfitters (UO) exclusive and cost $35 before shipping and taxes (should either apply). The bone, pink & black a-side/b-side is a Dine Alone exclusive that comes with one of their pointless hand numbered stock label obi-strips they’ve been using for most of the exclusive variants of late, and while Im not sure of the price of it because it sold out before I could see, it had to be at least $35 Canadian Dollars (CAD) before shipping given the price of the single LP Junior Varsity and Menorah/Mejorah Dine Alone exclusive variants, and the cost of the opaque bone variant, which is deemed “standard” (whatever that means) the label sold, which cost $30 CAD (a little over $22 USD) before shipping. Just to show how money hungry Dine Alone is, they were selling test pressings of Baseball for $150. They were limited to 20 for some reason, which is four times the amount of Junior Varsiy and Menorah/Mejora. It took a while (longer than the EPs likely due to the price and there being four times as many), but they sold out despite that price tag. But hey, they did come with alternate artwork!

The bottle clear w/ bone and pink is actually coke bottle clear w/ bone and pink splatter, is a Smartpunk exclusive and cost $30 before shipping.  The “black ice ghostly” w/ bone, pink & evergreen splatter is officially described as an AltPress exclusive, but in actuality is a Project M Group exclusive; the conglomerate that bought a bunch of music media (Brooklyn Vegan, Revolver, The Hard Times) and has it for sale in all said web stores. It cost $33 before shipping and taxes (should they apply). The pink in milky clear is a Newbury Comics exclusive and cost $37 before shipping and taxes (should either apply).

Because Dine Alone is a Canadian label, they sell everything in Canadian Dollars (CAD). So for the ill advised or just plain ignorant, it may be difficult to determine prices. The label’s store does however offer their prices to be converted into U.S. dollars (USD), but with a catch. You can view items in USD, but when you go to checkout everything in your cart automatically reverts back into CAD, which is supper nice of them considering most U.S. based customers are then charged a conversion fee by their credit card or Paypal. The web store conversion is a nice feature, but in the end it’s pointless considering there a plenty of websites out there that do foreign currency conversion rates for free, which automatically update whenever the exchange rates increase or decrease.

In terms of pricing, Dine Alone offered a bundle that included Baseball, Junior Varsity and Menorah/Mejora for $70 CAD, or around $52 USD before shipping. It totals out to a whopping 12% savings according to Dine Alone’s web store. I bought the bundle in order to save money, so Baseball ultimately cost $26.25 CAD (slightly over $19 USD) via the bundle instead of $30 CAD (slightly over $22 USD).

Another super nice thing Dine Alone did with my order is charge me for international shipping via Canada Post, but in actuality they shipped my order from within the continental USA via USPS media mail. Canada Post shipping was the only shipping method available at the time, and it still is as of posting this. I chose the cheapest shipping option, which came out to over $25 CAD, which converts to a little over $18 USD for four records (Junior Varsity and Menorah/Majorah, Baseball and the Maxim Mental full length) rated out at a three pound package [despite it actually weighing almost four pounds (yes, I weight it) which USPS always rounds up to the next closest pound]. The media mail shipping rate for my package, which I figured out using USPS’ shipping calculator, was a little over $5 USD. This is fraud folks, on multiple levels. You can’t charge for a service you don’t actually provide. I’m sure they did this will all USA bound orders. And they scammed the USPS out of money by shorting the weight. Thankfully my package was not marked postage due.

Given how vinyl prices have continued to climb and climb, buying Baseball via the bundle is a steal without factoring in shipping. Under $20 for a double LP is pretty good. Baseball does come in a gatefold jacket, but the gatefold artwork leaves A LOT to be desired. The jacket is already incredibly cheap. To the point where I actually put a crease in the opening edge trying to take out the first LP. I’ve struggled to get records out of jackets before for various reasons, but I’ve never damaged the jacket in the process. This was a disappointing first. And it wasn’t like I manhandled the thing either. On top of that there is no insert or any other bonuses like a download card/code is not farfetched because Menorah/Majorah was not licensed from another label; it was originally self released by the band back in 2001.

In November 2023 Dine Alone was is likely a new pressing; unless they literally sat on this variant for months. It’s a Black Friday 2023 exclusive that initially will only be available at their physical store in Canada starting on Black Friday 2023. It’s not an official Record Store Black Friday release however. Dine Alone is just cashing in on the Black Friday craze. This new pressing is limited to 250 copies on hot pink.

Say Anything – Menorah/Mejora EP

When Say Anything signed with Dine Alone Records not many people thought much of it. The band, well Max, was at the tail end of the band’s lifespan and well past their high point in popularity. But in Summer 2023 the label surprisingly announced that they would be pressing some early Say Anything releases on vinyl, marking the first time any of them received the vinyl treatment.

These early Say Anything releases are held in high regard by the band’s diehard fans. Initially it was only announced that their debut album, Baseball, would be pressed. The label owner hinted on a message board that the band’s first two EPs; Junior Varsity and Menorah/Mejora would also be pressed, but didn’t go as far as to confirm it. Once pre-orders for Baseball went live it was confirmed that both EP’s were also being released on vinyl.

Menorah/Mejora was pressed as a single LP spread across three variants; black limited to 500 copies, clear/black marble limited to 400 copies and black inside milky clear limited to 100 copies. The black inside milky clear was a Dine Alone exclusive and comes with an exclusive obi-strip, which is the same hand numbered stock label obi-strip they’ve used will all their exclusive variants of late that come with an obi-strip. The marble variant is an apparent “D2C” exclusive, which I’m assuming means direct to consumer, implying it’s a retail exclusive, yet Dine Alone is selling copies of it. The black variant was deemed “standard,” whatever that means in terms of exclusivity.

Because Dine Alone is a Canadian label, they sell everything in Canadian Dollars (CAD). So for the ill advised or just plain ignorant, it may be difficult to determine prices. The label’s store does however offer their prices to be converted into U.S. dollars (USD), but with a catch. You can view items in USD, but when you go to checkout everything in your cart automatically reverts back into CAD, which is supper nice of them considering most U.S. based customers are then charged a conversion fee by their credit card or Paypal. The web store conversion is a nice feature, but in the end it’s pointless considering there a plenty of websites out there that do foreign currency conversion rates for free, which automatically update whenever the exchange rates increase or decrease.

All the variants without an obi-strip cost around $18 USD before shipping, or $25 CAD. The Dine Alone exclusive variant, the one with the pointless obi-strip, cost a whopping $35 CAD before shipping, which comes out to almost $26 USD. So that teeny bit of paper with a miniscule amount of text hand written constitutes the label charging $10 more in their currency. Just to show how money hungry Dine Alone is, they were selling test pressings of Menorah/Mejora for $100. They were limited to 5 and of course they sold out despite that price tag. But hey, they did come with alternate artwork!

In terms of pricing, Dine Alone offered a bundle that included Baseball, Junior Varsity and Menorah/Mejora for $70 CAD, or around $52 USD before shipping. It totals out to a whopping 12% savings according to Dine Alone’s web store. I bought the bundle in order to save money, so Menorah/Mejora ultimately cost $21.88CAD (slightly over $16 USD) via the bundle instead of $25 CAD (around $18).

Another super nice thing Dine Alone did with my order is charge me for international shipping via Canada Post, but in actuality they shipped my order from within the continental USA via USPS media mail. Canada Post shipping was the only shipping method available at the time, and it still is as of posting this. I chose the cheapest shipping option, which came out to over $25 CAD, which converts to a little over $18 USD for four records (Junior Varsity and Menorah/Mejora, Baseball and the Maxim Mental full length) rated out at a three pound package [despite it actually weighing almost four pounds (yes, I weight it) which USPS always rounds up to the next closest pound]. The media mail shipping rate for my package, which I figured out using USPS’ shipping calculator, was a little over $5 USD. This is fraud folks, on multiple levels. You can’t charge for a service you don’t actually provide. I’m sure they did this will all USA bound orders. And they scammed the USPS out of money by shorting the weight. Thankfully my package was not marked postage due.

Given how vinyl prices have continued to climb and climb, you may say under $20 for a single LP is a steal. But all you get is literally the record stuffed into a cheap, thin single pocket jacket. No insert, no download card/code. For this EP a download card/code is not farfetched because Menorah/Mejora was not licensed from another label; it was originally self released by the band back in 2002.

Say Anything – Junior Varsity

When Say Anything signed with Dine Alone Records not many people thought much of it. The band, well Max, was at the tail end of the band’s lifespan and well past their high point in popularity. But in Summer 2023 the label surprisingly announced that they would be pressing some early Say Anything releases on vinyl, marking the first time any of them received the vinyl treatment.

These early Say Anything releases are held in high regard by the band’s diehard fans. Initially it was only announced that their debut album, Baseball, would be pressed. The label owner hinted on a message board that the band’s first two EPs; Junior Varsity and Menorah/Mejora would also be pressed, but didn’t go as far as to confirm it. Once pre-orders for Baseball went live it was confirmed that both EP’s were also being released on vinyl.

 Junior Varsity was pressed as a single LP spread across three variants; white limited to 500 copies, “black ice” w/ white splatter limited to 400 copies and white/black a-side/b-side limited to 100 copies. The black inside milky clear was a Dine Alone exclusive and comes with an exclusive obi-strip, which is the same hand numbered stock label obi-strip they’ve used will all their exclusive variants of late that come with an obi-strip. All variants come with an etched b-side, which is the band’s logo. The splatter variant is an apparent “D2C” exclusive, which I’m assuming means direct to consumer, implying it’s a retail exclusive, yet Dine Alone is selling copies of it. The white variant was deemed “standard,” whatever that means in terms of exclusivity.

Because Dine Alone is a Canadian label, they sell everything in Canadian Dollars (CAD). So for the ill advised or just plain ignorant, it may be difficult to determine prices. The label’s store does however offer their prices to be converted into U.S. dollars (USD), but with a catch. You can view items in USD, but when you go to checkout everything in your cart automatically reverts back into CAD, which is supper nice of them considering most U.S. based customers are then charged a conversion fee by their credit card or Paypal. The web store conversion is a nice feature, but in the end it’s pointless considering there a plenty of websites out there that do foreign currency conversion rates for free, which automatically update whenever the exchange rates increase or decrease.

All the variants without an obi-strip cost around $18 USD before shipping, or $25 CAD. The Dine Alone exclusive variant, the one with the pointless obi-strip, cost a whopping $35 CAD before shipping, which comes out to almost $26 USD. So that teeny bit of paper with a miniscule amount of text hand written constitutes the label charging $10 more in their currency. Just to show how money hungry Dine Alone is, they were selling test pressings of Menorah/Mejora for $100. They were limited to 5 and of course they sold out despite that price tag. But hey, they did come with alternate artwork!

In terms of pricing, Dine Alone offered a bundle that included Baseball, Junior Varsity and Menorah/Mejora for $70 CAD, or around $52 USD before shipping. It totals out to a whopping 12% savings according to Dine Alone’s web store. I bought the bundle in order to save money, so Junior Varsity ultimately cost $21.87 CAD (slightly over $16 USD) via the bundle instead of $25 CAD (around $18).

Another super nice thing Dine Alone did with my order is charge me for international shipping via Canada Post, but in actuality they shipped my order from within the continental USA via USPS media mail. Canada Post shipping was the only shipping method available at the time, and it still is as of posting this. I chose the cheapest shipping option, which came out to over $25 CAD, which converts to a little over $18 USD for four records (Junior Varsity and Menorah/Mejora, Baseball and the Maxim Mental full length) rated out at a three pound package [despite it actually weighing almost four pounds (yes, I weight it) which USPS always rounds up to the next closest pound]. The media mail shipping rate for my package, which I figured out using USPS’ shipping calculator, was a little over $5 USD. This is fraud folks, on multiple levels. You can’t charge for a service you don’t actually provide. I’m sure they did this will all USA bound orders. And they scammed the USPS out of money by shorting the weight. Thankfully my package was not marked postage due.

Given how vinyl prices have continued to climb and climb, you may say under $20 for a single LP is a steal. But all you get is literally the record stuffed into a cheap, thin single pocket jacket. No insert, no download card/code. For this EP a download card/code is not farfetched because Junior Varstiy was not licensed from another label; it was originally self released by the band back in 2000. But at least it’s a slightly better bang for your buck than Menorah/Mejora, which cost the same but did not have an etched b-side. The trade of in cost is having music on both sides instead of one, which is where the etching comes into play.

Thrice – The Artist In The Ambulance Revisited (2nd Press)

Thrice has started to gain a reputation for cash grabs. And this release sheds some light on why the band is trending in that direction. Thrice is not the first band to do some of what they have done over the years; like a fee required fan club, anniversary tours and releases, and VIP ticket packages. They’re also not the first to re-record an album to get around legalities. Which is what they did with arguably their most popular album, The Artist In The Ambulance.

Officially, the band re-recorded the album because they wanted to give it a new interpretation; to put a new twist on it 20 years after it was first released . Unofficially, you can read between the lines to see that the main reason the band went back into the studio to re-record it was to circumvent the ownership rights of the album. The Artist In The Ambulance is Thrice’s major label debut, released by Island Records in 2003. While the band undoubtedly benefited from some promotional aspects a major label provided, for instance getting a song, “All That’s Left,” featured on the Madden 2004 video game. Most major label record deals ultimately leave the artists(s) with a financial burden. The contracts heavily favor the label, to the point where nine out of 10 times they own an artist’s music (however many releases put out on said label) forever and can do whatever they want with it.

Was a re-recorded version of The Artist In The Ambulance needed? As in were fans excited about it or clamoring for it? Absolutely not. A simple, straight forward 20^th anniversary re-press would be better in most people’s opinions, even if they had no intention of buying another variant/pressing of the record. In my opinion, this re-recorded version does not hold a candle to the original version. It does a great album a disservice.

Sometimes, when a band is running towards the end of a contract, which most often stipulates a release or even album requirement to fulfill the contract, a mutual end to things means stuff like an acoustic or live release.  The Artist In The Ambulance Revisited is not one of those circumstances. The band self released The Artist In The Ambulance Revisited. Going as far as recording it in guitarist Teppei Teranishi’s home studio, New Grass Studios. Don’t be confused by the terminology on the back of the jacket; “under exclusive license to Many Hats Endeavors.” Many Hats Endeavors is not a label, they are a distributor.

So the band cut out the middle man as much as possible with this release. Which is well within their right. But it came at the expense of quality. Which is painfully illustrated by the fact they had the printed dust sleeves printed up with the text being backwards. Basically, it was a mirror image of how it should be. These types of problems are not unheard of, but it’s still a very embarrassing outcome on a release where the band clearly wanted to control as many aspects as possible.

Look, mistakes happen. It’s why, as they say, pencils have erasers. Or in this case, why test pressings are made. But often times artwork and other aspects of the packaging get not just overlooked, but egregiously so. How nobody noticed the fact that the lyrics were printed backwards on the dust sleeve is beyond me. At some point the band caught wind of what happened and included a corrected dust sleeve with the variants they sold in their web store. So some people received two dust sleeves; one incorrect/misprint and one correct. But many of the other variants were SOL. How you are aware of a misprint and still allow thousands of copies out into the general public and not issue a recall is reprehensible. These records were done and in hand long before the release/ship date in March 2023. Everyone knows this because Banquet Records posted in February 2023 a picture of a copy of their exclusive variant; not a mock up image.

I just mentioned variants. The Artist In The Ambulance Revisited sold very well. The band did a whopping nine variants for the first pressing, with all them being exclusive to one place or another. Some of the variants were not announced till well after pre-orders initially went live. Pressing info has been somewhat officially released for all the variants. I say that because there are some discrepancies between what was announced and what actually appears on the hype stickers. What is important to note is that pressing info was not announced for many of the variants when pre-orders launched. So here is the pressing info I can confirm:

1500 copies on blue and cream “galaxy”/blue “galaxy,” 1,000 copies on clear w/ blue and yellow splatter, 300 copies on cloudy clear w/ cream, green, and blue splatter, 300 copies on blue, 300 copies on green/cream split, 1500 copies on green/olive green, 1500/1,000 copies on blue and cloudy clear/blue in cloudy clear. There is one outstanding variant without a confirmed number; black 180 gram.

The blue and cream “galaxy”/blue “galaxy” and cloudy clear w/ cream, green, and blue splatter were exclusive to Thrice’s web store. The blue was a Banquet Records (UK indie record store) exclusive. The blue and cloudy clear (web site description/blue in cloudy clear (hype sticker) is an Urban Outfitters exclusive. The green (band’s web store)/olive green (hype sticker) is a mass retail variant, which Thrice also sold in their web store. The on green/cream split, which a half and half split done vertically, is a Newbury Comics exclusive. The clear w/ blue and yellow splatter is a tour exclusive, and it’s one of the variants that was not known about when The Artist In The Ambulance Revisited  was first announced. Some fool actually called this the “blockbuster variant; please be aware that is not the official name/description of the tour exclusive.

The black 180 gram is an Alliance exclusive, which is Thrice’s fee based fan club. Despite all the variants coming with a hype sticker that say how many copies that variant is limited to, I have yet to see a picture of the 180 gram black variant let alone the hype sticker for it.

I feel like I say this with every post, but I don’t put up rumored, as in unconfirmed pressing info. In the past I used to mention it. But at this point I don’t even say those said numbers. It’s easy enough to get pressing info. Either the band or label puts up the numbers with the item page in a merch store or via social media. There is no need to speculate. It just adds to unnecessary confusion. Especially when the band posts potentially incorrect info that conflicts with what is printed on the hype stickers.

Echoing the quality control issues, the band sold some variants on their Bandcamp page; the blue and cream “galaxy”/blue “galaxy” and the “ultra” clear. But for whatever reason they have the “galaxy” variant as being limited to 1600 copies, which is wrong according to the hype sticker affixed to all copies of this variant. But at the same time it also begs the question; did the band actually get 1600 copies of the “galaxy” variant due to an overrun? The math there is about right, as overruns can be as much as 10% of an order.

Another variant with some confusion surrounding it is the UO exclusive. When they first put up their pre-order (and still till this day as of posting) they listed it as being limited to 1,000 copies. I know this for a fact because I have a screenshot of it that was taken on February 1, 2023. Meanwhile the hype sticker for the UO exclusive says it’s limited to 1500 copies.

Another interesting tidbit about one of the variants revolves around the Newbury Comics exclusive, as it popped in and out of stock. For a bit, mainly around the time pre-orders were launched, it was listed as “out of stock,” but as of writing this in July 2023, Newbury magically has copies back up for sale. So it’s simply more shady sales tactics by Newbury, who have also shamelessly resorted to jacking up the price of some of their exclusives to even more absurd prices; like $65 before shipping and taxes (should either apply) for their exclusive variant of the most recent re-press of Alkaline Trio’s Remains and $109 for Operation Ivy’s full length.

Despite the first pressing still be readily available, the band decided to launch pre-orders for a second pressing at the same time as the first pressing. Literally the same day, but of course after they sold out of their web store exclusives. The second pressing, which comes with the properly printed dust sleeve sealed inside the jacket, is limited to 6,000 copies on “ultra clear.” Many of these copies were sent out to various retail outlets, but while Thrice’s web store sold copies on “ultra” clear, they quickly sold out of it as if by magic.

On that note, a third pressing has ben quietly in the works. It will apparently be on cream vinyl limited to an unknown amount, and it’s slated to come out in September 2023. There seems to be some minor confusion about how many pressings there are. The first and second pressings were both announced and out up for pre-order at the same time. The problem lies in the fact that the band failed to mention that the “ultra” clear variant is a second pressing. Which is based on the fact that it had a release/ship date well after all the variants from the first pressing. The first pressing was slated to ship in March 2023, while the “ultra” clear variant had a release/ship date of May 2023. As for the third pressing, I literally stumbled upon it when I went to buy a copy of The Artist In The Ambulance Revisited , discovering a cream variant/pressing listed for pre-order from the indie record store.

I also want to point out that it’s pathetic that the band’s web store goes as far as making the statement that “flipper orders will be cancelled” but they have a limit of two. So people could easily buy two copies with the sole intent to flip both, or buy an extra copy just to flip. Again, well within the band’s right to enact purchase limits, but it’s a bit hypocritical that they can circumvent the system for a cash grab release while wanting to restrict other people from making money.

I touched on some of these aspects. But all copies were pressed as a single LP instead of a double LP like every other pressing of The Artist In The Ambulance. How and why they managed to squeeze this album onto a single LP is ridiculous. Oh that’s right… this is a cash grab. As such, it should not come as a surprise that this record comes housed in a single pocket jacket.

An insert is included, which is a surprisingly nice touch for such a cash grab release. The insert has notes from all the band members about each song on the album. There is not a download card/code included (yet another greedy cost cutting move by the band). Each copy comes sealed with a similarly designed silver square/rectangle hype sticker that denoted the variant and how many copies it’s limited to. Some variants, kike the UO and Newbury Comics exclusives will come with their shameless self promotion exclusive variant hype sticker as well. Retail price on this ranges from $25 on up to $29 for the UO exclusive and an even more ridiculous $40 for the Newbury exclusive. So no wonder why those two variants some of the only ones from the first pressing not to be sold out as of posting this.