Alkaline Trio – E.P. 7″

Alkaline Trio released a new three song EP, aptly title E.P., in 2020. The only physical release is on vinyl in the form of a 7”. Due to the limitations of the format only two of the three songs are found on the 7”, but if you buy this online from the band’s official web store [hosted by Kings Road Merch(KRM)], you will be e-mailed a download for all three songs.

The three songs are “Minds Like Minefields,” “Radio Violence” and “Smokestack.” The song omitted from the 7” is “Smokestack.” It’s a shame all three songs were not released on the same record, because if it’s never released in the future “Smokestack” will be one of the few Alkaline Trio songs not released on vinyl. It leaves the window open for this song being released on another b-sides album, soundtrack or comp that may cost exorbitantly more just for Trio collectors to add to their collection. Though I will say that if one song was going to be cut from this 7”, “Smokestack” was the best choice.

I know lots of people are not fans of 10”s, but a 10” would be perfect for this EP, as it would be able to fit all three songs. As much as 10”s cost to press, a 12” would likely be just as if not more expensive. Especially since the b-side of a hypothetical 12” would be blank, it leaves the possibility of an etching or screen-print open, which while cool features, are completely pointless and only drive up the price of a record.

Matt Skiba teased this EP and 7” on his social media accounts, with a fan picking up on a special variant. Before I get to the details on that variant, here is all the info pertaining to this 7”. There are four variants in total, with only three of them having pressing info released. There are 500 copies on red, 1,000 on red, an unknown amount on black and 500 copies on “St. Pauli” brown. That last variant, if you couldn’t guess, is the special variant I hinted at above.

St. Pauli, better known as FC St. Pauli, is first and foremost a German club soccer team that plays in the second tier of German football. Attached to them is a supporters group that is left leaning. Which at times can be contradicting to opposing European club teams’ supporters, especially with hooligans and some ultras. The club has socially conscious ideals as well, and because of these facets of the club, a handful of bands around the globe have partnered with FC St. Pauli on various endeavors. Alkaline Trio is the latest one, releasing a limited variant of their most recent 7” EP.

While initially only available from FC St. Pauli’s web store, which ships out of Europe, it was quickly made available in the band’s U.S. based web store (KRM) as well. So the shipping price became more practical and affordable for U.S. fans as well as European based ones. Which is nice to see. With that said, the blue variant was U.S. exclusive, with the red being exclusive to Europe. Black is not exactly widely available, as not many distros or indie record stores anywhere are selling it. Some are though, but it’s tough to find. Maybe because of the Covid pandemic this 7” is not widely distributed.

Retail price on this 7” is $9 (before shipping). KRM does tend to charge more for shipping than other distros. As of posting this the only variant available is black. All the colored variants sold out relatively quickly, and are fetching a surprising amount on the secondary market, ranging in price from $25-50 depending on the variant. Which is absurd.

I would like to think it’s because of practically everyone being stuck at home under quarantine when this was released and had too much time on their hands. But if you’re buying this on eBay or discogs none of that money is going to any worth cause supporting anything other than someone else’s’ greedy pockets. Lots of bands are upcharging for merch during the pandemic, with some if not all of that money going to support various people in need that are suffering financially as a result of the pandemic. Alkaline Trio may not be one of them, but they have and currently are doing charitable efforts in the past. So thanks for continuing to support flippers during a pandemic!

 

Love You Moon – Waxwane

This is an album I asked Matt Embree a handful of years ago if he had any intentions of getting pressed, and he said yes. But it never came to be for whatever reason. That is until 2020 when his debut solo album released under the moniker Love You Moon finally saw the light of day on vinyl.

Waxwane is a fantastic album, even more so when you consider it’s Embree’s first steps as a solo artist. It does have RX Bandits vibes, but in a stripped down way. There are 10 songs on the album, and my personal stand outs are “Screams In A Vacuum,” “Brown Shingle Berkeley” and “Why Pop Stars Sell Silicone.”

There were 500 copies pressed, all on 180 gram “tri-color” vinyl. I put “tri-color” in quotes because it’s not the traditional idea or what most people think when they hear ‘tri-color.’ This record is simply three colors; there is not pattern or sectioning of the colors. It’s a white base with swaths of blue and baby blue. The album was re-mastered for vinyl by Matt’s friend Marcel Fernandez, whom he previously collaborated with on his Macaracuay and 2019 records. All copies come with a double-sided insert that has the lyrics printed on it, along with a download card/code, but it’s for poor 192 kbps MP3s.

By no means was this a cheap release. Retail on it is $25 before shipping. Granted this was released during the Covid-19 pandemic when pretty much every artist was struggling to some degree, but I have always had the stance that $25 is too much for any single LP release. This is also not a widely distributed release, as a result there are only two options to buy this from; Matt himself in his label’s web store, or via distro Hello Merch. If you buy this from Matt you will save yourself 50 cents in shipping; so $31.00 instead of $31.50.

Anchor & Braille – Tension

After four years, Stephen Christian released another solo album under the Anchor & Braille moniker. Tension is his fourth solo album released under this name, and it follows in the electronic vibe set out in The Quiet Life and Songs For The Late Night Drive Home. It seems he’s ditching the heavily influenced acoustic tinges found on his debut, Felt. With that said, this album caught me by surprise, in a good way. I wasn’t expecting much, but this is a very solid album. The only physical release was on vinyl, with there being two variants.

Rather than simply naming the variants based on the colors and pattern, fancy and/or stupid names were placed on them. There were a total of 500 copies pressed, with 250 on each color. First up is “closer and farther,” which is red w/ cream/white/bone swirl. The other variant is simply listed as “A & B,” which is half clear/half red. The slight problem with this variant is that while is obvious the half/half split was chosen to match the cover art, the way the record was pressed has the colors split horizontally instead of diagonally like the cover art. Funniest part of all that is the mock ups still had the layout of the split wrong, but took it to another level of wrong by having red on top and clear on bottom. The center labels on each side reflect the hands on the cover art, with the A side getting the top left hand, and the B side getting the hand on the bottom right.

All copies come with a full color insert, which has the lyrics printed on one side with a promo shot of Stephen Christian on the reverse side, and a download card/code. Every copy also comes sealed, but there is a sticker placed on the cover that denotes color. I’m not sure if this sticker is put on by the pressing plant, the label or Merchnow (distro handling order fulfillment). I’ve seen these stickers placed on releases from multiple labels, and without knowing the plant involved, the only common denominator has been Merchnow. But Merchnow does not put these stickers on all releases they sell, and neither do the labels they have been placed on.

Tooth & Nail released the album, but it’s surprisingly not over $20. Which is refreshing. That price will quickly fade into oblivion though, as all of Anchor & Braille’s other vinyl releases have at least tripled in value since going OOP. As of posting this only one of the variants is sold out; the swirl. But the half and half split is quickly on its heels. Tension was put up for pre-order the first week of April with the album coming out at the end of May, and the swirl did not sell out till some time in June.

Piebald -A Christmas (Seven Inch) Adventure 7″

Piebald has been “broken up” for close to 10 years now. They’ve reunited a few times to play some one off shows and tour back in 2016. But for the most part they haven’t released new material since 2007’s Accidental Gentlemen. That is until now.

But it’s still not what you’re hoping for, thinking of, or expecting. It’s not quite straight up new Piebald songs. It’s a Christmas themed release. And while yes, there are original tunes on this 7”, it’s just not the same.

A Christmas (Seven Inch) Adventure is the title for this three song EP. It was pressed on two variants; silver limited to 300 copies and red limited to 700 copies. An odd choice to make the painfully obvious Christmas color the least rare of the two, but whatever. All copies come with the 7” in a printed dust sleeve, which has the lyrics printed on it. Instead of a traditional jacket, a fold out sleeve is utilized, which has a note from the band printed on the inside. On the back of the sleeve there is a space for each copy to be numbered, but its left blank for whatever reason. Seems like an oversight on the label’s (Photo Finish Records) part. No download card/code is included, which is lame, especially considering the cost of this 7”.

Retail price on this is $12 before shipping. And for the longest time there was no media mail option available on it until I brought it up to Hello Merch (the only place selling this). I believe the cheapest shipping option was around $7 before they offered media mail for $4 and change. This was the only 7” they were selling where media mail wasn’t an option, so it was an obvious glitch on their part. I bought this with another record, and by adding this 7” to that order the shipping rate did not go up. Would I have liked to buy this for less? Absolutely. But I doubt I’d ever buy anything else from Hello Merch (this was my first ever order with them), so I felt like this was the optimal time to buy it. Even if they slash prices on it by 50% in the future, I’d still pay over $10 for it. In the end $1 and change is not the end of the world.