epitaph records Archives - Vinyl From The Vault

Plague Vendor “By Night”

sfilzen — Thu, 13 Feb 2025 18:35:30 +0000

Plague Vendor “By Night” 2019. Epitaph Records. Noisy, hard-rocking post-punk that is, as the band’s name and LP title suggest, super dark. By Night is the California-based band’s third full-length record. This is one of those albums I literally know nothing about- same with the band, it just appeared on my to-do stack, without context. That said, I had zero expectations throwing it on the platter and am pleased to find out that it’s pretty great. Relentless beats, some real ass-shakers, some malevolent psychedelic swirls: think Black Rebel Motorcycle Club meets the big-dick energy of Queens of the Stone Age and then add a dash of Black Angels’ smoke-tinged neo-psychedelia space rock. The opener “New Comedown” grabs you by the throat and pretty much never lets go. “Let Me Get High/Low” and “Night Sweats” are both high-energy stoner rock (an oxymoron but it works) and “Prism” is an all-out butt-shaking banger. “Pain in My Heart” is reminiscent of the chaotic noise-rock of Sonic Youth with extra alt-metal screaming and then the grungy “Snakeskin Boots” goes off the rails, combining rap, thrash and funk. The album closes with another buzzy, fuzzy ass-shaker, “In My Pocket.” It looks like Plague Vendor is on tour this spring with another band I don’t know (L.S. Dunes) and will be playing in Madison in April. Might have to check these guys out live.

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Descendents “9th & Walnut”

sfilzen — Wed, 12 Jun 2024 19:37:48 +0000

Descendents “9th & Walnut” 2021. Epitaph Records. Limited edition green vinyl. 80’s era California punk, now a lot older: their 8th studio LP – the “lost album” recorded in 2020 by the ’82 lineup, the songs all written between 1977-80. “Only three of the originals had been previously released, with the album featuring re-recordings of “Ride the Wild” and “It’s a Hectic World” from the band’s first 7″, as well as “Like the Way I Know”, an outtake from the Milo Goes to College sessions that was eventually released on the 1999 compilation The Blasting Room…recording started way back in 2002…and featured drummer Bill Stevenson with former members guitarist Frank Navetta and bassist Tony Lombardo. The sessions laid dormant until the COVID-19 lockdowns in 2020, when singer Milo Aukerman recorded vocals at his home in Delaware. This marked the first time the “classic” lineup had been featured on a recording since Everything Sucks (1996), and the first album since Enjoy! (1986) not to feature current members Stephen Egerton and Karl Alvarez.” (Wiki) My top tracks are the long (for Descendents and this record; most tracks clock in around the one-minute mark) “Nightage,” the dancey “Tired of Being Tired,” the speedy “Like the Way I Know” (which seems to be credited to Dave Nolte of The Last, a 70’s/80’s garage-psych band that purportedly inspired Descendents and Black Flag), the all-out snotty punk’d “Yore Disgusting” and “It’s My Hair.”

We caught Descendents about a week and a half ago at Punk Rock Bowling in Vegas. I got one photo from pretty far away. I’ve seen them enough times that I didn’t feel the need to get to the rail.

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Bad Religion “No Control”

sfilzen — Wed, 30 Jun 2021 18:02:20 +0000

Bad Religion “No Control” 1989. Epitaph Records. Short and tight melodic hardcore punk. No Control was Bad Religion’s fourth LP since they got together in 1980 and though there’s been a TON of lineup changes throughout the years, they continued to play live and record (17 LP’s to date) nonstop through to 2020 when the pandemic forced them to stop touring (they’ll likely resume later this year or early next). I didn’t really listen to Bad Religion at all in the 80′s and I’m not sure why because several of my friends were huge fans and it’s the kind of hardcore punk I like: fast but also melodic, not at all screamy, some harmonization, danceable (well at least in the jump up and down kind of way) and they’re liberal with lyrics that comment on political and social issues. My top tracks on No Control are “Change of Ideas” (ranked by one online magazine as one of the best songs under one minute; it clocks in at 55 seconds), the title track “No Control,” “You,” “Progress” and “Billy.”

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