jackpot records Archives - Vinyl From The Vault

The Flesh Eaters “A Minute to Pray, a Second to Die”

sfilzen — Wed, 04 Mar 2026 18:10:25 +0000

The Flesh Eaters “A Minute to Pray, a Second to Die” 1981/2024 limited edition red vinyl reissue on Jackpot Records. Early punk supergroup featuring X’s John Doe and DJ Bonebrake, The Blasters’ Dave Alvin, Bill Bateman and Steve Berlin (also from Los Lobos), plus Flesh Eaters founder/frontman Chris D. (aka Chris Desjardins). A Minute to Pray, a Second to Die was their second LP and it’s weird AF. In the punk canon it’s more campy Cramps or Devo with a death wish than their early SoCal LA contemporaries like the Germs or other harder-edged bands (though Chris D’s vocals occasionally have a Darby edge). Herky jerky weirdness abounds, accented with squawking sax’s and shaky maracas (all of that and more on the track “Satan’s Stomp“). While it’s “trashy…blues horror” (Allmusic), there are for sure ass-shaking moments like on “Pray til You Sweat,” the boogie-down “See You in the Boneyard” and the vaguely Bo Diddley-esque, maraca-forward “So Long.” The John Doe penned “Cyrano de Berger’s Back” would appear later on X’s 1987 See How We Are (sidenote: Billy Zoom was replaced on that LP by fellow Flesh Eater Dave Alvin on guitar) and again on their 2020 surprise release Alphabetland.

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Riding the Low “Riding the Low Are Here to Help the Neighborhood”

sfilzen — Thu, 06 Jan 2022 20:03:49 +0000

Riding the Low “Riding the Low Are Here to Help the Neighborhood” 2016. Jackpot Records, limited edition blue vinyl. UK alt-pop and a little bit jangly, Riding the Low Are Here to Help the Neighborhood is the band’s second LP and the first to be released in the US. Riding the Low is fronted by actor Paddy Considine who has been in a ton of movies (the ones I’ve seen: 24 Hour Party People and Hot Fuzz but it could be more, I have a horrible memory for films I’ve seen) and he is currently filming for House of the Dragon, a Game of Thrones prequel. Until this moment, I was completely unaware of Riding the Low’s existence – a student of mine gifted me this record for Christmas knowing my affinity for most things alt-Brit and, of course, vinyl records. The record is enjoyable, though a tad bland for my tastes; one reviewer describes it as “fill[ing] the under-catered to middle-aged market,” though to be fair that writer does not necessarily mean it as a total slam against the band or the record. Riding the Low seems to have a self-awareness about their demographic, too: in the song “The Sentiment Now” Considine sings “Are we too old for their sentiment now…I’m getting old and I wanna sit down.” While I begrudgingly admit to falling neatly into that target market, I still really prefer to rock out. Fortunately there are a fair number of rocking moments, like on the tracks “Battle of the Unnatural Law,” “Sally Street Team,” the heavy “The Greatest Blast” and my favorite song on the LP, the all-out banger “Heed.” There’s also some good tension in the excellently-named “Bleeding Eyes at Breakfast” and I quite like the titles “The Piss Parade” and “Beer Tears” which is fairly quiet, acoustic-ish and sad; they did a Zoom-performance of it in 2020 during the lockdown.

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Wipers “Alien Boy”

sfilzen — Tue, 23 Apr 2019 19:28:43 +0000

Wipers “Alien Boy” 1980/2019 Record Store Day release. Jackpot Records, 4 song EP from the original master tapes, first time reissued. “Alien Boy,” along with the B-side tracks “Image of Man,” “Telepathic Love” and “Voices in the Rain” also appear on the Wipers’ 1980 debut album Is This Real? initially released on Park Avenue Records and then reissued on SubPop in 1993 without the band’s involvement. Apparently the tracks were first recorded on a four-track recorder in the Wipers’ rehearsal space and then rerecorded more professionally for the LP. I can’t be sure about the masters used for this RSD 7″ but the sound is pretty good: a punked-up, Devo-ish weirdness and a lot of high-end tension in the guitar.

The track “Alien Boy” is about James Chasse, a Portland, Oregon man who suffered from mental illness and was a friend of Wipers frontman/guitarist Greg Sage (their conversations inspired much of the lyrical imagery on Is This Real?). Chasse (aka Jim Jim) was killed by two Portland police officers in 2006. Sage wrote in a 2007 website entry for Zeno Records about Chasse’s death at the hands of the Portland police: “The Sad Facts: Jim’s toxicology came back clean, no drugs – alcohol. All 17 of his ribs were broken. His lung was punctured. He suffered head trauma from being kicked while he was on the ground. He was not taken to a hospital, but to jail. He died in the back of the squad car. Medical Examiner Reports: James Chasse was bludgeoned to death. Witnesses claim excessive force was used. It would seem that the police would have known that Jim Jim was disabled since he spent so much time on the streets. So far the PDX police claim that his death is Justified!” There was additional public outcry about the incident and after a few years and investigation, the officers were mostly exonerated but steps were taken for the police to change their training on dealing with their response to citizens with mental illness.

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