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.

Forgive Durden – Razia’s Shadow

Forigve Durden’s ambitious Razia’s Shadow was pressed by Near Mint Records, an eclectic label to say the least. Near Mint partners up with Unoriginal Vinyl for many of their vinyl releases, and for this release the packaging is surprisingly nice.

Admittedly, I have not been impressed by the minute amount of releases I own that Unoriginal Vinyl has had a hand in. But on the other hand, I have seen the results of labels/releases that can’t be bothered to re-tool artwork to fit the vinyl format. To meet somewhere in the middle, I think Unoriginal Vinyl gets more praise than they deserve. I don’t know how much of a role they played in actually making the gatefold jacket and fold out insert for Razia’s Shadow as nbicely out together as it is. To me, the quality of the material the jacket is printed on is what sets it apart; not the artwork, design or layout.

Circling around to the music, Near Mint did things right by getting Razia’s Shadow properly re-mastered for vinyl. Instead of simply using whatever source material they were given, they had the audio itself re-mastered by Matt Riefler, and then that re-master sent to Sterling Sound where it was mastered for vinyl by one of their sound engineers; UE Nastasi. As a result this is one of the better sounding records in my collection. In my opinion, one of the few, if not only thing that could make this a better listening experience was if it was recorded analog directly to analog tape.

What you get with all those extra facets thrown in is an expensive record. Overpriced is debatable. But $36 (one variant cost even more than that) for a double LP is on the high side despite what scores of people, mainly people who started buying records around the time the pandemic hit, think.

The pressing info is fairly straightforward. For whatever reason(s) Near Mint likes to utilize obi strips, or what they call “Japanese Obi Strips.” And that is where some slight confusion comes into play. For one of the variants, Near Mint simply slaps on an obi strip, in this case the black 180 gram, thusly making a super rare variant out of the already rarest color variant. Gimmicky? Likely; but without knowing why the label chooses to do these obi strip variants (I’m assuming there is a legitimate reason like they mean something to the label owner), I’m not going to bash them for it. All I know is that I’m never going to pay $45 instead of $36 for a record where the only difference is an obi strip. But to lend further credence to the gimmick philosophy, this is also a label that does sand filled records that cost $125 before exorbitant shipping costs.

With all that said there are 50 copies on black 180g vinyl that come with an obi strip/“Japanese obi strip”, 150 copies on black 180g, 300 copes on clear w/ brown & tan splatter and 500 copies on opaque brown (A/B) & Bone (C/D). I mentioned above some slight confusion, and it revolves around how many copies were actually pressed on black 180g. Is it 200 total copies considering there are 150 copies available without and obi strip and 50 copies available with an obi strip; the most likely scenario? Or is it possible there were only 150 total copies pressed on black 180g and out of that 150, 50 copies were set aside to come with the obi strip? While that last scenario is highly unlikely, I have seen instances where pressing info was very misleading when it came to adding additional stuff to existing color variants. For example; silk screened covers with alternate artwork. In no way shape or form am I accusing Near Mint of anything nefarious. It just leaves the door open to speculation, which I hate doing.

Getting back to the music on this album. Razia’s Shadow is a musical; that extra tidbit in the album title is not superfluous. This is not your traditional album. It has a fully fleshed out story with an array of characters set in a fictional world. It also happens to featured a who’s who of scene vocalists, who each play the role of a their own character. In no short order it features Casey Crescenzo of The Receiving End Of Sirens and The Dear Hunter fame, Max Bemis of Say Anything fame, Chris Conley of Saves The Day fame, Brendan Urie of Panic! At The Disco, Dan Young of This Providence, Nic Newsham of Gatsbys American Dream fame and John Gourley of Portugal. The Man fame.

One last thing I want to add. It took quite a while for the record to ship for a multitude of reasons. Personally I might have been one of the last few people to receive a copy, as mine didn’t get to me until the first week of March 2023. Pre-orders launched in October 2022 with an expected ship date of January 2023 (in fact, as of posting this, the label’s web store still lists this as a pre-order). Delays happen, I get it, especially with everything that is still wreaking havoc on supply chains. But making excuses for why it’s taking so long to ship outstanding orders while you continually launch pre-orders for multiple other, new releases, is BS. Sorry, but take care of the people who already gave you money before taking more money from more people.

I kept track of the label’s social media, and saw excuse after excuse. If you literally have to post an excuse explaining you’re a small company and only have a couple people (including yourself) shipping orders so it may take a while to ship orders; that means lots of people complained to you that their order is taking too long to ship to you. On top of that, there was an additional wahhh story (I do appreciate the hypocrisy of me complaining about and the label attempting to deflect criticism) and my personal favorite explanation which I’m paraphrasing; that they are expanding into larger pressings but still don’t have the means to meet the demand. There was also additional excuses posted like there was a fire in their building that didn’t affect them but it would slow down shipping orders.  Personally, it took about a week from the time I received a shipping notice till the time it actually shipped. So the old age tactic of printing a shipping label just to have an order marked as shipped but wait several days to actually take it to the post office or have them come make a pickup happened.

With all that said. Yes, this is an overpriced record. But that didn’t stop it from selling well, but slowly in the grand scheme of things. The rarer variants obviously sold out first. But as of posting this the /500 variant is still available. I didn’t pay full price for this; I bought this when the label was running a 25% off sale. But of course there was a catch, as Near Mint does not accept PayPal (what 99% of online transactions utilize). You can ONLY pay with credit cards directly entered into their checkout process. I admittedly balked at buying this record when the label ran a sale around Black Friday 2022 because of the fact they did NOT accept PayPal. But decided to bite the bullet when they ran another sale a few days before Christmas 2022 when I saw that Razia’s Shadow was starting to sell out.

Eisley – I’m Only Dreaming

It’s always interesting discovering that some of your favorite artists/vocalists appear on other albums by bands you were aware of, but aren’t a fan of. This Eisley record is a great example. Ordinarily I wouldn’t buy this, but after I listened to the two songs that Anthony Green and Max Bemis appear on, respectively, I was sold. Why it took me until 2022 to discover these two guys appeared on this album is ignorance on my part.

I’m Only Dreaming came out in 2017. How I went this long without realizing those two did guest vocals on the album in beyond me. I guess I simply wrote off the album because it was Eisley. So I didn’t pay any attention to the press and promotion it was receiving. Admittedly, I only bought this for two verses; one sung by Anthony Green on “Louder Than A Lion” and one sung by Max Bemis on “A Song For The Birds.” That’s all it takes. My requirements as a completionist record collector nerd has a neurotic stipulation that in order to splurge on a record that features a vocalist from a band I’m a fan of/collect, it has to be at least a verse. It can’t be background vocals, gang vocals, or a hook here or there.

This record was pressed a single LP, coming in a single pocket jacket. It includes an insert and a download card. Oh how I miss the days where most records came with a download card/code. 2017 really wasn’t that long ago, but those were the dying days of digital downloads in any form being offered with vinyl. Released by Equal Vision Records, they pressed the record on five different variants. They clearly overestimated demand, as some of the rarer variants are still readily available almost six years later.

Despite this coming out in 2017, the label jumped on trends that are holding strong to this day. Mainly the fact that there is a VIP ticket exclusive and a regular tour exclusive. On top of those exclusives, there are also an indie record store, mass retail, and Merchnow exclusives.  The VIP ticket exclusive is oddly not the most limited/rarest variant however. That distinction goes to the indie record store exclusive, which is limited to 300 copies on red and black swirl. The VIP ticket exclusive is on opaque light teal limited to 500 copies. The regular tour variant is limited to even more, with 1500 copies on “oatmeal.” The retail variant, which was initially advertised as being blue/green in white, but actually turned out being on white w/ teal center, is limited to 1,000 copies. The Merchnow variant (featured in the gallery below) is limited to 500 copies on green and cream haze. It’s important to note that leftover copies of the regular tour variant were sold online by Merchnow, as well as a portion of the pressing being available for pre-order prior to touring.

Each variant comes with a hype sticker that identifies the color along with the amount of copies it’s limited to, which is very nice to see. It’s good when a hype sticker identifies the color; it’s great when it also says how limited that variant is. One odd thing about the colors is that “oatmeal” is pretty much the same color as the cream used for the haze variant. Though, the “oatmeal” has some light marbling effects to it.

Because I didn’t pay attention much when this record was first released, I’m not sure about retail prices on it. But it’s safe to say that it was around $20 because that is what the label’s web store (hosted by Merchnow) is charging for it as of posting this. As such, I don’t know how much a VIP ticket cost, or what else it included on top of the exclusive variant, or if you had to pay extra to buy the VIP exclusive variant, or if you had to pay extra for a GA ticket for the actual show. Because it’s been almost six year since it’s release, the only variants of I’m Only Dreaming that is readily available is the green and cream haze and white w/ teal center mass retail exclusive. But that is not to say you can’t find a copy of the indie store exclusive at random stores around the country. With all that said, copies on the secondary market are not fetching absurd amounts. Even the VIP ticket exclusive, easily the hardest to find because it was the least available to the general public, not because it’s the rarest, has sold for a high of only $30. The rarest variant, the red and black swirl, has hit $40 on the secondary market.

Maxim Mental – Fucking

Max Bemis has a new project, Maxim Mental. It’s a huge departure from Say Anything, well at least the Say Anything most people enjoy. There are elements found in some of the later Say Anything albums. This EP was about as under the radar as you can get, especially considering it’s from one of the more high profile frontmen in this scene. When the official Record Store Day (RSD) release list comes out I typically scour it pretty thoroughly. For example, I check out the track listing for all the comps and soundtracks to see if there is anything of interest to me on them. But sometimes releases slip through the cracks, and this record is one of them.

As far as I can tell there was very little promotion for this EP. Admittedly, I’ve pretty much spaced on following the social media pages of the involved parties. I actually stopped following Say Anything because they are no longer an active band, never bothered to follow Max Bemis, and stopped following Dine Alone Records because up until now their roster doesn’t have anything left to press of interest to me. I had no idea Max was up to anything. So when the RSD list came out I just skimmed over Maxim Mental as I was not looking for anything by that artist/band.

Eventually I discovered that Max had this new project, but by the time I did it was after RSD. So when I placed my online order for the few releases I wanted this year, this was not part of it. Initially I was kicking myself; not because I wouldn’t be able to score a copy, but because I’d likely have to pay more for it by not including it in a larger order that qualified for free shipping. In the long run I won out, as I bought a copy for $14 shipped. Retail price on this was around $20, with plenty of stores charging more than that.

For whatever reason, the official RSD list does not have the pressing info listed for this EP, despite it being printed on the hype sticker. There were 1,000 copies pressed on pink vinyl with an etched b-side. So obviously this is a single sided 12”. It comes housed in a picture disc sleeve, which I despise. It’s one thing for a picture disc to come in a picture disc sleeve (still not a fan of that), but it’s inexcusable for a record that is not a picture disc to come in a picture disc sleeve. This is a RSD first release, implying that it may be re-pressed in the future, or even have a different variant be released in the immediate days or weeks after RSD. Considering there is already a full length album coming out, I have my doubts the label will re-press this EP, especially considering how poorly it sold.

With that said, yes the label sold this entire pressing, but that is only due to the fact it was an RSD release. RSD releases can’t be returned to distributors, which is one of the faults of RSD. Indie record stores are stuck with tons of unsold releases that they eventually have to take a large loss on in order to clear them from their inventory. Which is how I was able to get a copy for $10 before shipping; which is essentially 50% off. So even though this RSD pressing is marked sold out in the books for the Dine Alone, I’m sure they’re well aware that this EP is in clearance bins only a few months after RSD.

Perma – Fight Fair

Say what you will about Max Bemis, and to a lesser extent Say Anything, but he has steadily churned out music. The most recent of which is an album with his wife, Sherrie Bemis (née DuPree) of Eisley fame, under the Perma monker. Released in 2019, Fight Fair was released by Dine Alone Records on only one variant; half blue/half green limited to 300 copies.

This can be a tough record to find on the cheap for those of us in the states. It‘s not distributed, and Dine Alone is the only place selling it. The record itself it not terribly expensive; it’s the shipping price. The exchange rate will be in the U.S. dollar’s favor, but the shipping price essentially doubles the overall price. It’s 20 Canadian, plus 17 Canadian for shipping as the cheapest option. All for a single LP that is just stuffed into a single pocket jacket with nothing else. There is no download card/code included in any form and there is not insert or printed dust sleeve.

Say Anything – Oliver Appropriate

The final chapter for Say Anything was released with the band’s latest album, Oliver Appropriate. It concludes the story started with …Is A Real Boy. I for one am glad this appears to be the band’s final album. After …Is A Real Boy everything went progressively and steadily downhill. To the point where it was like you weren’t even listening to the same band, to the point where you’re asking yourself what the hell happened. …Is A Real Boy was an amazing album front start to finish, it was one of the few albums that was hyped, but wasn’t overhyped. Then Hebrews unfortunately happened, and then, even worse, I Don’t Think It Is happened.

Oliver Appropriate is still far from the graces of …Is A Real Boy, but it’s Max’s best musical endeavor since the first Two Tongues album. Which says a lot. Lyrically it’s on par, but musically is where it suffers. It lacks the energy of …Is A Real Boy. Given everything I’ve said, I think what speaks volumes is that no label other than Dine Alone Records, a small Canadian indie label, was willing to release Oliver Appropriate.

The fact that a Canadian label released this record complicates things for American buyers. As it increases the price of a record everyone other than diehard Say Anything fans will want to buy. And because distros based in the U.S. have to pay more up front to import this, prices will take a long time to come down this side of the border. Dine Alone is charging various prices based on the variant/rarity. Which doesn’t help anyone either. I really wish labels and bands would just stop charging more for different variants for whatever reason. Stop taking advantage of your most devoted fans. I know you need to make a living, but your fans and supporters need to make a living too. And the vast majority of them have a harder job than you.

At least Dine Alone is up front with the pressing info. Oliver Appropriate was pressed on four variants. There are 100 copies on “underwater” blue, which also comes with an exclusive “stock” Dine Alone “belly band.” The “belly band” is simply an obi-strip. And what a fitting name for this variant considering Dine Alone is charging 30 Canadian Dollars for it when they’re charging 22 Canadian for all the other variants…

Next variant up is the splatter, which is clear with red splatter limited to 500 copies. There is a half clear/half blue with white splatter variant limited to 500 copies, and last but not least is the mass retail black limited to an unknown amount of copies. All the colored variants are Dine Alone exclusives. The only variant to sell out as of posting this is the “underwater” blue.

All copies come housed in a single pocket jacket with an insert, which has extensive liner notes. Including a fictional Q&A to complete the …Is A Real Boy saga. There is no download card/code included with this record, which is a rip-off considering the price majority of people had to pay for this record. There is a hype sticker affixed to all copies, with each variant having their own hype sticker of sorts. As each variant’s sticker indicates the color of the record, somewhat, with a color corresponding ink. The half clear/half blue with white splatter’s hype sticker says “limited splatter vinyl in blue ink. The “splatter”  clear with red splatter says “indie exclusive color vinyl” in red ink. Which is news to everyone as this variant was not mentioned before releases as being an indie exlusive. The black variant actually makes no mention of color, but the entire text of the hype sticker is in black ink. I have no idea what the hype sticker for the “underwater” blue looks like or says, but given it’s the only variant to come with a “belly band” / obi-strip, that should be enough to help those looking for this variant ensure they are getting this specific variant in their attempts to buy it on the secondary market.

I briefly mentioned pricing above. And it varies widely given two main factors; where you bought it and where you’re located. If you’re Canadian based, then you may have finally won the argument of being screwed by import fees and shipping. If you’re outside Canada, it depends on the exchange rate on the given day you decided to buy it (if you bought directly from the label). If you waited to buy it from a distro, you’re likely out of luck. Because said distro had to initially import it, and the record itself came at a premium price as a result, so they won’t slash their prices for a good while. While the exchange rate actually favors Americans; the shipping charges nullify any gain in that department. Which further negatively impacts pricing if you bought from an American based distro.

I purposely held off on buying this hoping for a price slash, sale, coupon code or any combination of the aforementioned; and had little luck. After waiting close to a year, I opted to go with a bulk order with free shipping, where I got every item 25% off. So I wound up getting Oliver Appropriate for $21. I’m willing to hedge my bets that I won’t be able to find this for cheaper due to the upfront cost distros have to spend in order to obtain this.

I know I kind of slammed Dine Alone in this post, but they are great guys. I just don’t agree with the price structure of this record. I’ve ordered directly from them before and had no issues. They’re prompt to respond to any issues via e-mail and have rectified any issues I’ve had (which was only once, and not the biggest deal).

Two Tongues – Two Tongues 2

One of my most anticipated albums last year was Two Tongue’s sophomore album, aptly titled Two Tongues 2. And boy, was it a huge let down. The first Two Tongues album was great. Not only because it combined lead singers from two of my favorite bands (Saves The Day and Say Anything), but the music was inherently good. But the follow up sounds nothing like its predecessor. It sounds more like recent Say Anything albums, and that should give you an indication of how disappointing this album is.

Two Tongues 2 was pressed as a single LP spread across three colors. Yes you read right, three colors. Equal Vision hid the fact that they pressed a third variant because it was intended to be a tour exclusive, and said tour was abruptly canceled with no reason given. In fact, the label really only advertised one variant and never made mention of the 180 gram black either. But people actually knew the 180 gram black exists because it’s available for sale at some places.

So here are the three colors and pressing info (which is exclusive to this blog); split white/black with purple splatter 180g limited to 500 copies, black 180g limited to 500 copies and white 180g limited to 500 copies. The splatter (which is half white/half black base) was a label/band exclusive via Merchnow, and when it sold out Merchnow started selling black copies. Black is likely a mass retail exclusive though, so if you buy this at your local record store or online anywhere you’ll get black. White is the aforementioned tour exclusive. But since the tour fell through Equal Vision is just sitting on these. They did make same available to a random record store out of Michigan, Revival Records, which now goes by the name Alien Cow Records. When I emailed Equal Vision for the pressing info I was told the white was given to Revival Records, but the store changed their name long ago to Alien Cow Records, which I only discovered via a Google search. This indie record store was given a mere five copies of the white variant, and they sold all five copies on eBay for retail price.

An insert is included along with a download card/code.  Retail price on this is around $20. Something to be aware of with this record is that they were likely not shipped properly somewhere along the way; either from the plant or from distributors. As the copy I was sent that I ordered from a distro had a seam split, and both copies I saw at my local record store had seam splits as well, which is why I didn’t buy a copy from my local store. I would say the distro didn’t pack great, which they didn’t, and they’re notorious for shoddy packaging, but considering my record store had copies with seam splits indicates the problem runs higher up the food chain. It also helps when I told the owner of my store about the seam splits, because the store is usually very good about not putting out damaged copies like that on the sales floor, and he told me “That is how they arrived to us. So we’re kinda stuck with them. Nothing else in that shipment came damaged.”