vinyl records Archives - Vinyl From The Vault

The Sleeveens “National Anthem”

sfilzen — Tue, 09 Jun 2026 15:50:02 +0000

The Sleeveens “National Anthem” 2026. Goner Records, limited edition white vinyl variant. The latest from Dublin/Nashville punks – love these guys! We’ve been fans since even before their debut LP (on Dirtnap Records) was released having gotten the inside scoop from Dirtnap Ken back in late 2023 or early 2024. National Anthem is a raucous garage soaked good time, reminiscent of the 70s punk sound (The Clash, Ramones, Buzzcocks and Stiff Little Fingers — I think two of the Nashville-based band members still do tech for SLF tours – here’s a photo of Sleeven bassist, who also recorded and mixed National Anthem – doing guitar tech before the Stiff Little Fingers set at Punk Rock Bowling in 2024 ): fun, melodic and a bit snotty. There’s even a bit 60s-style girl group energy (which is of course also like the Ramones) meets jangly power pop (think early Elvis Costello) on “My Pretend Girlfriend” and some country twang on the title track “National Anthem” (though it is sarcastic AF). As usual, my top tracks are the bangers like the opener “If I Was a Casual,” “Six Counties Punk” and the snappy “Cowboy Queen.” Despite the album’s name, there’s just one song that I’d describe having an anthemic sound: the hypnotic, driving “Town of Horseheads” that definitely leans into heavy garage psych territory. There’s just one cover on National Anthem – “The Rat” originally by The Walkmen (2004) and since I’m not familiar with that indie rock band I’ll just go ahead and say The Sleeveens version is great.

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Duran Duran “Violence of Summer”

sfilzen — Mon, 08 Jun 2026 17:42:11 +0000

Duran Duran “Violence of Summer (Love’s Taking Over)” 1990, 12″single. Today, June 8th, is Nick Rhodes’ birthday (b. 1962). Funky “Violence of Summer” was the lead single off of their 1990 LP Liberty: it went to #20 in the UK and to #64 in the US. Honestly (and regretfully) I wasn’t paying much attention to D2 in ’90 so I’m woefully unaware of this single and that LP. This was the time period where both Andy Taylor and Roger Taylor had left the band and Warren Cuccurullo was on guitar and Sterling Campbell was filling in on drums. There were several variants of the single released: this one is the US 12″ with four versions of “Violence” plus “Throb,” a previously unreleased track which is an instrumental remix of “My Antarctica” (also on Liberty). The four remixes are pretty similar: lots of throbbing dance beats, Simon vocal samples, sci-fi(ish) voiceovers, etc. which make it difficult to pinpoint a favorite. The Story Mix is kinda cool as it starts out with Simon doing a beat-poet-like thing which is kinda awesome and hilarious. The Power Mix is super ass-shaking and segues seamlessly into the Dub Mix. I’d say my least favorite (though it’s still good!) is the Rock Mix with the train horns but the beat is crazy infectious and hypnotic which almost balances out the horn blast. The radio single/album track isn’t on the 12″ but it is here:

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The Bags “All Bagged Up”

sfilzen — Fri, 05 Jun 2026 19:49:56 +0000

The Bags “All Bagged Up” the collected works 1977-1980. Artifix Records. Last night we had the immense pleasure of seeing the Alice Bag Band at Anodyne Coffee here in Milwaukee – omg she is still so fantastic: vibrant, intelligent, a great storyteller, lovely but still a pissed off punk at heart. A US punk pioneer, Alice Bag led The Bags, a first-wave L.A. punk band that didn’t really receive the national (underground) attention as they’re LA contemporaries like the Germs and Black Flag. All Bagged Up is a compilation of original Bags that Artifix says is “After years (Literally) of hunting, researching, tracking down and finageling, Artifix is proud to present ALL BAGGED UP…the collected works 1977-1980. This 12″ LP represents everything we could dig up by L.A.’s infamous BAGS.” (from Artifix’s website). On it are The Bags first single “Survive” and “Babylonian Gorgon” which, along with “We Don’t Need the English” and “We Will Bury You” were recorded in 1978 at the Dangerhouse recording studio. Last night “Survive” was the encore (video Joe recorded below) and Alice told a delightful story to introduce “We Don’t Need the English” – former Bags bassist Patricia Rainone (Pat Bag) had married The Damned’s Dave Vanian and while the song was not written about him, the band decided it would be funnier to introduce the song saying it was definitely about him. Four tracks were recorded live at The Masque on February 24th, 1978 – this show just 2 weeks after their debut performance at the Masque (at which The Germs Darby Crash – then going by Bobby Pyn – was there and rushed the stage yanking off the bags from The Bags’ heads). Recorded live in 1979 in Oregon are the songs “7 and 7 is” – a Love cover, “1, 2, 3,” “Gluttony” (which Alice played last night, introducing it as a song written by an original Bags member who suffered from an eating disorder – can’t remember if she said which one but it was one of the guys; this song also appears in The Bags appearance in the 1981 Penelope Spheeris directed concert/documentary film Decline of Western Civilization) plus “In Love with Romance” and “Survive.” There’s also a few studio rehearsal recordings and their first demo “Bag Bondage.” Finding any Bags on vinyl has always been a challenge so having some of their classic tracks compiled in one place has been a long time in coming.

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Drakulas “Midnight City”

sfilzen — Wed, 03 Jun 2026 18:16:57 +0000

Drakulas “Midnight City” 2026. Dirtnap Records. Green Noise Records red vinyl exclusive. DRAKULAS! I love these guys: their performance was amazing, hysterical and ass-shaking when we caught their set at last year’s Dirtnap Records fest. Midnight City is the side project of the super group’s third full length release…so not really a side project at this point. Composed of Riverboat Gamblers Savage Lord Mic (aka Mike Wiebe) and Sam Fransisco (aka Sam Keir) plus Rise Against and GWAR’s Pink Rick (aka Zach Blair), Midnight City is a rocking, tightly wound good time that mixes hard garage rock, dance rock, indie rock and new wave synthpop. The first tracks on both Side A (“Going Going Gone Gone“) and Side B (“Sex“) have shimmering synths for an updated new wave sound, the latter with a stomping early aughts indie rock beat. Other tracks rock harder, and those are my top picks: the infectious “Singin’ With My Tongue Cut Out,” the garagey “Head in the Clouds,” “Is it Enough” and the hand-clappy dancey “White Off Your Nose.” Wacky describes their live performances (well, I’ve only seen them once but guessing eccentric is generally the vibe for all shows) and that offbeat impulse appears on songs like “Morning/Night” and the insane, wild and high energy “FAFO” (another fave that also has some bleep-bloop action). The whole record is fantastic and I hope a tour is on the horizon.

There aren’t any videos for any of the tracks on Midnight City nor could I find any recent live footage so here’s a link to their set in Dallas, 2025. DRAKULAS!

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Jerry Garcia “Garcia”

sfilzen — Mon, 01 Jun 2026 17:41:22 +0000

Jerry Garcia “Garcia” 1972. Grateful Dead’s Jerry Garcia’s first solo album, some record store or distributer put a hype sticker over the not-at-all offensive breast. I spent a full day in Madison this past weekend; my time at the university there in the late 80’s/early 90’s was heavily soundtracked by the Dead so today I’m taking an aural trip to those hazy college days. While Garcia sings and plays all the instruments – except drums played by the Dead’s Bill Kreutzmann – the LP is full of classic tracks that the full Grateful Dead band would go on to perform in their non-stop touring for the subsequent 20+ years including the single “Sugaree” which went to #94 on the US charts in April 1972; it was Garcia’s only chart single. He also released “The Wheel” as a single but I’m not sure that charted – it’s a really catchy folk/country track. Other Dead show classics include the Americana styled opener “Deal” (one of my old-time faves) and “Loser.” The country twinged lament “To Lay Me Down” shows off both Garcia’s steel guitar and piano talents; I think this one was played somewhat frequently on the road as well. Other tracks have a trippier, psychedelic bent to them like “Bird Song” which was a tribute to the recently-ish deceased Janis Joplin (and was another Dead show staple) and the cosmic freakout weird “Late for Supper,” “Spidergawd” and “Eep Hour” (like during “Space/Drums” I would be taking a bathroom break if they were played at a concert).

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Thompson Twins “A Product of…Participation”

sfilzen — Wed, 27 May 2026 17:45:02 +0000

Thompson Twins “A Product of…Participation” 1981. T Records (the band’s own label). Thompson Twins’ debut LP is way more experimental pop/post punk in sound than their later, more popular new wave synthpop releases. Some ska and African/world beat influences (see especially the opener “When I See You” for ska and both “Slave Trade” and “Oumma Aularesso (Animal Laugh)” for the African sounds, the latter a rearrangement of a traditional Sierra Leone song). Some tracks could have been on contemporary Talking Heads or B-52 records like the weird and rhythmically driving “Make Believe” (it’s a great track). There’s even some dark jangle-pop on “The Price” that feels Cure and Smiths-esque. Thompson Twins released a couple of singles from A Product of… in the UK (there were other singles that were originally stand-alone releases but appear on later reissues of the LP): “Perfect Game,” the aforementioned “Oumma Aularesso (Animal Laugh)” and “Make Believe.” The track “Politics” (very Talking Heads sounding) was released as a single in Germany. With most of my knowledge of Thompson Twins originating with their later, new wave/synthpop work, it’s pretty wild to hear the band’s origins with a way more challenging and experimental sound.

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The Radiators From Space “TV Tube Heart”

sfilzen — Fri, 15 May 2026 16:51:53 +0000

The Radiators From Space “TV Tube Heart” 1977. Chiswick Records. Punky power pop from Ireland. Think a mashup of the Ramones, the Buzzcocks and some mod-ish Jam-like sounds, too: 50’s/60’s-inspired pop sensibility with a snotty garage sound. The band formed in Dublin in ’76 (and have been dubbed Ireland’s first punk band); they shortened their name to The Radiators in 1979 with their second LP release Ghostown. They broke up in 1981 and Radiator frontman Philip Chevron went on to join The Pogues as their lead guitarist. (The band reunited in 2003 and were active until Chevron’s death in 2013). TV Tube Heart was the band’s first LP; three tracks that all skew power pop were released as singles: the opener “Television Screen” — the first and only punk record to make the Irish top 20 – “Sunday World” and “Enemies.” My top picks are the harder punk-leaning rippers: “Press Gang” and “Contact” and the tightly-wound “Electric Shares.” It’s a fantastic record and a shame The Radiators aren’t as well known as their first wave contemporaries.

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Pop Tarts “Age of the Thing”

sfilzen — Tue, 12 May 2026 16:56:51 +0000

Pop Tarts “Age of the Thing” 1988. World of Wonder/Funtone USA Records. Very 80’s, very dancey synthpop. Think a mixture of New Oder, Pet Shop Boys, Fine Young Cannibals with dashes of *early* Ministry, Nitzer Ebb and Paula Abdul. I know nothing about Pop Tarts (plenty about the breakfast/snack of course): turns out it was a short-lived project put together by World of Wonder producers Randy Barbato and Fenton Bailey; WoW is most notable for managing RuPaul and producing RuPaul’s Drag Race, plus a slew of other shows and films and the production company has won several awards over the years.

Age of the Thing was the first of just two LP’s (the second is Gagging on the Lovely Extravaganza, 1992, upon which RuPaul produced a couple of the tracks). It’s a fun, very danceable album though it does feel a bit generic in the disco-synth-dance genre. The opener “Money Success Fame Glamour!” has an EBM/industrial edge as does “Elected!” but that track also has some metal-shred moments and some light “rap” (it’s not really rap). The vocals on “Cherry Red!” (and some others) is very reminiscent of Pet Shop Boys’ singer Neil Tennant’s deadpan tone and other tracks could be pulled directly from a New Order record (“Ultra Brite” among others). I’m not sure I have a top pick as the LP does start sounding the same after awhile, though it’s a perfect example of the disco-synth sound of the latter half of the 80’s that evolved the simpler synthpop style of the early 80’s with more musical influences, sampling (for instance I think they lifted the riff at the intro to “Off Your Mind (Can’t Get ‘Em)” directly from INXS’ “Need You Tonight”) and better technology. There isn’t much available to link from Pop Tarts Age of the Thing – but one of the links below is from a very FYC-meets Pet Shop Boys track “Another Grey Day in London!” which is a pretty bland dance pop song, and according to the YouTube caption it “was their first music video to be broadcast on MTV. Fenton Bailey filmed and produced the music video.”

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The Hollywood Brats “Hollywood Brats”

sfilzen — Wed, 29 Apr 2026 17:59:05 +0000

The Hollywood Brats “Hollywood Brats” 1973/1980. Cherry Red Records. Glam rock/protopunk from the UK (and sometimes credited as the UK’s first punk band), originally recorded in 1974 for NEMS Records but the label refused to release it. The band formed in ’71 as The Queen, changed their name, added a guitarist in ’72 (recruited through an advertisement in Melody Maker for a guitarist “drunk on scotch and Keith Richards”) and then disbanded in ’74 after being boo’d offstage and kicked off their label. The Brats performances have been described as raunchy, flamboyant and meant to “to annoy and disturb.” Contemporaries of and very similar to New York Dolls musically and with nihilistic tendencies like The Stooges and other US hooligans, the band leaned into shaking things up and being obnoxious. Singer Andrew Matheson “hobnobbed with (and stole from) Cliff Richard, punched a young Freddie Mercury in the mouth for having the temerity to call his band Queen (before renaming themselves, The Hollywood Brats were The Queen), and managed to alienate every record company that came sniffing. Even when his band was thrown a lifeline, Matheson managed to torpedo it. In 1974, Mick Jones, not yet of The Clash, introduced him to an eager Malcolm McLaren, convinced the Brats might just be on to something. Matheson considered McLaren a man of no substance, and sent him packing. McLaren had to settle for signing The Sex Pistols instead.” Reportedly The Who’s Keith Moon said they were the best band he had ever seen.

Hollywood Brats is snotty, glammy, hard rock and hilarious. The track “Sick on You” is about a man so tired of his girlfriend’s actions that he wants to vomit on her. Their cover of the Phil Spector penned and The Crystals performed classic “Then He Kissed Me” is dripping with punk sarcasm. The Brats continue to foreshadow the Ramones’ sound which evolved 50’s/60’s pop into a punk sound (“Zurich 17“) while “Tumble With Me” flips the narrative to the chaste “Wake Up Little Susie” (Everly Brothers ’57) and asks her, point blank, to enjoy herself and take a tumble. It probably had those early 70’s record execs clutching their pearls. Other tracks lament the irritations of youth like “Another Schoolday” (it’s sooo good!).

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Starjets “God Bless Starjets”

sfilzen — Tue, 28 Apr 2026 18:20:38 +0000

Starjets “God Bless Starjets” 1979. Power pop from Northern Ireland. The image is blurry because I had to keep the original Jem Records import sticker/shinkwrap on the album. God Bless Starjets was their first and only LP release, though they did have a whole bunch of singles from 1978-1980. I know nothing about the band, and there’s not much on the internet either, so here’s some info from Discogs:

They were formed in Belfast, Northern Ireland in 1976 by guitarist – lead vocalist Terry Sharpe, guitarist Paul Bowen, bassist Sean Martin and drummer Liam L’Estrange. They were signed at Epic by Muff Winwood where they released one album in 1979 and a bunch of singles with “War Stories” being their biggest hit (No.51 in the U.K. charts in 1979). They supported Bay City Rollers and Stiff Little Fingers and because of their amiable style they were labelled “the Bay City Rollers of punk”. After their album failed to chart, Paul Bowen left the group and they changed their name to Tango Brigade adding guitarist Pat Gribben in their line up. After one single at Epic in 1981, Tango Brigade disbanded due to musical differences and Terry Sharpewith Pat Gribben formed The Adventures in 1983 and Sean Martin joined Jake Burns And The Big Wheel.

God Bless Starjets is power-pop lite; the quote above about the Bay City Rollers totally checks. Beach Boy-esque harmonies and sweet poppy melodies. The single “War Stories” is one of the “power” ie harder tracks and also one of my top picks, as are “Schooldays” and “Sitting on Top of the World.” Both have some anthemic moments, t00. There are sounds similar to some of their UK contemporaries, too: “I’m So Glad” is super similar to Elvis Costello and “War Is Over” rings of The Jam and Stiff Little Fingers. There is a bit of (unintentional?) silliness on this record as well: “Smart Boys,” which about the band themselves, is pretty ridiculous.

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