{"title":"Scat","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eScat Records is an independent record label that was founded in January 1989 by Robert Griffin, a member of the band Prisonshake. Originally based in Cleveland, Ohio, the label later moved to St. Louis, Missouri before returning to its roots in Cleveland as of November 2022. With a rich history spanning over three decades, Scat Records has established itself as a prominent player in the music industry.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eKnown for its diverse roster of talented artists and performers, Scat Records has consistently delivered groundbreaking music across various genres. The label's catalog boasts an impressive collection of releases that showcase the unique and innovative sounds of *Prisonshake* and other notable acts.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eWith each release carefully curated and meticulously produced, Scat Records continues to push boundaries and challenge conventional norms within the music scene. As an independent label with a strong DIY ethos, it remains committed to supporting emerging talent while also nurturing long-standing relationships with established artists.\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"same-place-the-fly-got-smashed-bjrxju","title":"Same Place The Fly Got Smashed","description":"\u003cp\u003eOriginally released in 1990,\u003ci\u003e Same Place The Fly Got Smashed\u003c\/i\u003e was Guided By Voices’ fourth album in as many years. Roughly a concept album about an alcoholic named Joker Bob who goes on a bender, someone dies, and Bob gets the chair (“the electrifying conclusion”). From the moment the needle drops, the listener is served notice that this isn’t going to be an easy listen, as an argument taped off of a TV cuts to a basement recording of a lone, blaring electric guitar with someone yelling over the top. But for those brave enough to pass the opening hazards, there are wonders within.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis particular album has come to be held in higher and higher regard by fans, and they are correct to consider it a top-tier release. The story and sequence have a flow, and consideration for approachability is optional. Many of the crudest tracks reveal themselves as necessary stitches in the album’s tapestry. Yet it also contains all time greats like “Drinker’s Peace,” “Mammoth Cave,” the epic “Local Mix-Up\/ Murder Charge,” and of course “Pendulum” with its immortal opening line: “Come on over tonight, we’ll put on some Cat Butt and do it up right!”—a rare break in the clouds on one of the band’s darkest albums.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis reissue, like the previous ones in this series, is a mostly faithful reproduction of the original pressing of 500 on the band’s own Rocket #9 label. And like the others, the virgin RTI vinyl is housed in a thick tip-on jacket, and includes Robert Pollard’s original handwritten lyric insert.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Scat","offers":[{"title":"Red LP.","offer_id":50390819602763,"sku":"2178079","price":32.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/product_id._e80c2a96_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1726395031"},{"product_id":"self-inflicted-aerial-nostalgia","title":"Self-Inflicted Aerial Nostalgia","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eSelf-Inflicted Aerial Nostalgia\u003c\/i\u003e was Guided By Voices’ third album, self-released by the band in 1988 in a pressing of 500. While both of the band’s earlier albums exhibit strong songwriting and plenty of vision, it is here that the GBV sound really begins to coalesce. While \u003ci\u003eDevil\u003c\/i\u003e \u003ci\u003eBetween My Toes\u003c\/i\u003e is rife with contrasts, variety, and dark psychedelia, and its follow up \u003ci\u003eSandbox\u003c\/i\u003e is a cohesive ’60s-influenced affair, Self-Inflicted Aerial Nostalgia marries the two approaches to outstanding effect. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e  Unsurprisingly, recording began before \u003ci\u003eSandbox\u003c\/i\u003e was even done pressing. These sessions would yield an aborted LP titled Learning To Hunt, but after personnel changes and second thoughts, Robert Pollard shelved most of the tracks, dismissing them as too similar to those on \u003ci\u003eSandbox\u003c\/i\u003e. Fair enough, as many of Pollard’s more recent songs were simply on another level than previously. Here are the first of the classic Pollard slow-burners, often built on a simple melodic or rhythmic figure that circles itself ever outward, accumulating heft, variation, and inevitability as the song evolves into something unexpected yet inevitable. It’s the aural equivalent to watching a butterfly grow out of its cocoon. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e  A few things are unique to this particular LP. Original powerhouse drummer Peyton Eric returns for nearly half the tracks, while engineer and lead guitarist Steve Wilbur shines at his brightest, resulting in some of the most thoroughly rocking GBV songs to ever be cut to lacquer, such as “Earful o’ Wax,” which simply explodes out of the speakers when the solo section begins. On the other end of the spectrum, you get Pollard recording perfect pop gems at home with just voice and guitar, which would become a calling card on later GBV albums. There’s simply a tremendous variety of material, all strung together in such a way that the album is all of one piece, a mosaic.  \u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Scat","offers":[{"title":"Yellow LP","offer_id":50441595617611,"sku":"2029905","price":32.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"LP","offer_id":50441595060555,"sku":"2029904","price":27.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/Self-Inflicted_Aerial_Nostalgia_c5712a96_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1726983135"},{"product_id":"disease-is-relative","title":"Disease Is Relative","description":"\u003cp\u003eOriginally released in January of 1984, \u003ci\u003eDisease Is Relative\u003c\/i\u003e is an unapologetic and wholesale embrace of death, disease, and dystopia, with liberal doses of absurdism and an unrelenting devotion to anything unexpected, chromatic, or evil sounding. Sporting influences as diverse as no wave, death rock, funk, post-punk, hardcore, metal, and prog rock, this music somehow happened in the midst of a first wave hardcore scene, before there was a 'post-' to be 'post' of. Less surprising is that this happened in Cleveland, which also inspired a desire to recreate the feeling of the city's post-industrial desolation in sound. There's also some epic screaming and crazy guitar playing. The album features three songwriters (brothers Andrew and Chris Marec, Robert Griffin), who also divide guitar, bass, and vocals equally between themselves here. Drummer Bruce Allen is the secret weapon, and provides a clue to what a young Bill Bruford might have done in a band like this. And yet, beyond all odds, the end result is cohesive, cathartic, and utterly idiomatic. The distinct vibe of the album, and its sheer quantity of killer riffs, songs and performances have made it an album that people have championed over time, while others have come to know it through the interwebs as a result.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Scat","offers":[{"title":"Black | LP","offer_id":50455913333067,"sku":"1116856","price":24.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/64156da1-587e-4f64-b12b-bd8762eb7af6_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1727195060"},{"product_id":"devil-between-my-toes","title":"Devil Between My Toes","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eDevil Between My Toes\u003c\/i\u003e was the debut album by Guided By Voices, originally self-released by the group in February 1987 in an edition of 300 copies. Disillusioned by the lukewarm reception to the band’s debut EP the previous year, Robert Pollard resolved that this record would be conceived for an audience of one: “(it) is strictly for me and me only. Because no one’s going to buy it, no one gives a fuck, but I’m still gonna do it. So I might as well put only what I want on it, for me. An album for me.” \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eEven amongst the 30-odd proper GBV albums, \u003ci\u003eDevil Between My Toes\u003c\/i\u003e remains unique, and not simply because it was the first to be released. Much like its out-of-focus cover photo of the mean rooster next door (Big Daddy), the album’s vibe is dark, minimalist, and mysterious. Most of the album was recorded as a trio, and it contains more instrumentals than any other GBV album, but like the best LPs in their catalog, the sequencing renders these tracks essential to the flow and mood of the LP. While there are the expected Brit Invasion hook-fests sprinkled throughout, we’re also treated to career highlights like the monolithic “A Portrait Destroyed by Fire” (Tobin Sprout’s first GBV appearance) and “Cyclops,” a track that would be right at home on Vampire On Titus had it been recorded more crudely.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Scat","offers":[{"title":"Black | LP","offer_id":50460633203019,"sku":"1144600","price":27.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"LP","offer_id":50460632842571,"sku":"1144601","price":26.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/d6dbffc9-0504-41dd-bfcc-35acc086a9f7_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1727235791"},{"product_id":"death-drives-a-cadillac","title":"Death Drives A Cadillac","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eDeath Drives A Cadillac\u003c\/i\u003e was Spike in Vain’s second album, never officially released and unheard in its final form until now. Like many hardcore bands circa ’84 and ’85, the group was ready to further expand its palette and ease off the thrash tempos. Recorded roughly a year after \u003ci\u003eDisease Is Relative\u003c\/i\u003e with a bigger budget, the album is even more wide-ranging, and the songs are more fleshed out. \u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Scat","offers":[{"title":"Black | LP","offer_id":50460635300171,"sku":"1120599","price":24.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/c8c833c2-aa96-435a-8dad-1e51ea93d8f3_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1727235828"},{"product_id":"peace-love-and-murder","title":"Peace, Love and Murder","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003ePeace, Love and Murder\u003c\/i\u003e was the second album by Cleveland’s My Dad Is Dead, originally released in 1987 by Boston’s Birth Records. Like the debut, \u003ci\u003e...And He’s Not Gonna Take It Anymore,\u003c\/i\u003e Mark Edwards wrote and performed all the music on his own. While not a significant departure from that album, \u003ci\u003ePeace, Love and Murder \u003c\/i\u003edoes differ from its predecessor and has some qualities that make it unique in the voluminous MDID discography. While combining live drums with drum machine is a hallmark of the MDID style, on this album Edwards introduced the Roland TR-505 into the mix, and in a bold move recorded the live drums first, which had the effect of making the rhythm tracks feel a bit more organic despite the presence, and occasionally the prominence, of the TR-505. Modal guitar tunings remain de rigeur here, but Edwards’ abilities as a guitarist display a marked increase in proficiency and imagination. While the debut album sprawls a bit, PLM is a tight and focused ten song set, buoyed by a more impactful production job by Chris Burgess. Just as the debut album had a few lighter (or at least slightly less grim) songs, so does this album, but here they shine with a bit more pop sparkle. “Babe In The Woods” and “Hill O’ Beans” would go on to be fan favorites for many years, as would the utterly harrowing unstoppable bulldozer that is “Like A Vise.” All these years on, the album’s closer “Fireball” has become oddly relevant and chilling. Sung from the POV of a mass shooter to a droning riff that evokes Middle Eastern modes, the narrator intones, “I’m gonna go out in a blaze of glory \/ today’s the day I’m gonna make it to the headlines.” The whole album has remarkable cohesion and pacing, as well as variety, and, not to mention ,what a god-tier track “Breakdown” is. So grab a black overcoat and “Open Wide.”\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Scat Records","offers":[{"title":"LP","offer_id":50466418458955,"sku":"2003517","price":32.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/getImage.php_14f519e9_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1727312582"},{"product_id":"dressing-the-corpse","title":"Dressing the Corpse","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe Dark were a Cleveland hardcore \/ deathrock hybrid that in many ways was ground zero for The Guns, Spike in Vain, Knifedance, and several more beyond. For The Dark’s first ever vinyl album \u003ci\u003eDressing The Corpse\u003c\/i\u003e, Scat has collected highlights from sessions recorded between 1981 and 1984 that range from savage post-punk (imagine Venom covering Warsaw), to raging exacto-knife thrashers, deathrock, and proto-black metal  -there’s even the requisite creepy, atmospheric instrumental to open the album (“Beyond The Ice”) - which is naturally followed by “Fire In The Church.” Then things go other places, the group covered a lot of ground in its two and a half years and were always ahead of the curve. Although the band’s median age ranges from fifteen to seventeen across these recordings, the rhythm section is second to none. The guitar playing is way further afield than most hardcore bands of the era. Namesake vocalist Tom Dark howls like a wolf, and could command a stage like few others. To be fair, the band’s youth does make itself known in some of the lyrics, but otherwise you’d never guess this was just a bunch of kids - it needn’t be graded on a curve. The Dark had auspicious beginnings. They cut their teeth as The Decapitators in 1979, learning to play at the feet of the electric eels, Pagans, Dead Boys, and Cramps. After a year off, the four reformed to play only originals as The Dark, and almost immediately Mike Hudson of the Pagans wanted to manage the band. Included here is a demo Hudson recorded just three weeks after the band’s first practice. Hudson only lasted a year, but it was a hell of a start. The majority of the recordings on \u003ci\u003eDressing The Corpse\u003c\/i\u003e are culled from the band’s 1984 album \u003ci\u003eScream Until We Die\u003c\/i\u003e, which was not released until 2006 when Grand Theft Audio did a comprehensive double CD version of it. Included here are a few of the best non-album tracks from that release as well. Previously unreleased tracks include the aforementioned Hudson demo, as well as a previously unknown second demo from early 1982, ably representing the pre-thrash version of the band.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Scat Records","offers":[{"title":"Black LP","offer_id":50469511037259,"sku":"2006353","price":27.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"LP","offer_id":50469511856459,"sku":"2006354","price":29.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/getImage.php_17915902_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1727361936"},{"product_id":"spin-age-blasters","title":"Spin Age Blasters","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe Electric Eels were the first punk band, full stop. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThey may not have “started” the genre, but they were the first to tick all the boxes. The eels rejected every 1970s rock convention—professionalism, virtuosity, subject matter, image. Dave E.’s caustic vocals, complete with an aggressive lisp and a head full of snot, would become de rigeur a few years after the group disbanded. Meanwhile, the songs’ focus on car crashes, suicide, neuroses, and generally hating people were as far out of the mainstream as possible. The two eels tracks that do approach the subject of romance couch it in terms of not really caring that much about it (“Jaguar Ride”) or placing it in the context of a grisly murder (“Silver Daggers”). Also consider John Morton’s signature guitar sound, a nails-on-chalkboard tone with brutally free soloing inspired more by Albert Ayler than the blues or aspirations to technical facility. Ditto Dave E.’s clarinet playing and affection for lawnmowers and vacuums during live performance. They were notoriously violent not only among themselves, but towards audiences, police, and anyone unfortunate enough to be around them when things went south. Then of course there are the leather jackets, the clothing festooned with rat traps or safety pins. And no bass player, why bother. There is simply no other “proto” band to have had all these pieces in place circa 1973- 1975. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eYet it is a mistake to consider the eels exclusively in such a context. Yes, the eels could and did shock anyone who encountered them, but they also had great songs. While both Dave and John were visionary writers, they also had rhythm guitarist Brian McMahon, a melody and riff machine who wrote many of the band’s signature songs. And they were no one-trick pony. Although much of the band’s material is appropriately high-energy, there is also the downer eels—morbid, harmonically risky, and in full existential crisis. Although it’s not a focus of this compilation, the eels also had a penchant for completely free improvisation. Over the last forty plus years, there have been several electric eels compilations. Spin Age Blasters is quite simply the best one ever assembled, every single key track is here in its best version, properly mastered by John Golden, and sequenced with an eye towards both flow between tracks as well as individation between sides. A true monster of an album\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Scat","offers":[{"title":"Black LP","offer_id":50482542510411,"sku":"2028142","price":37.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"LP","offer_id":50482541527371,"sku":"2028135","price":44.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/getImage_22_012718a7_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1727553540"},{"product_id":"sandbox","title":"Sandbox","description":"\u003cp\u003eEven back in 1987, Guided By Voices was not content to release just one album in a year - \u003ci\u003eSandbox \u003c\/i\u003ewas released in the summer of that year following \u003ci\u003eDevil Between My Toes’\u003c\/i\u003e appearance that February. Likewise, in similar GBV style, the sound and approach of the two albums could not be more different. Where Devil mostly mines a darker, lo-fi psychedia, along with several instrumental explorations, \u003ci\u003eSandbox \u003c\/i\u003eis sunny, direct, has a bigger, crunchier sound, and zero instrumentals. Where Devil has a murky and impressionistic black and white photo of a rooster for a cover, \u003ci\u003eSandbox \u003c\/i\u003esports a full colour photo of the band relaxing on a lawn on a sunny day. Let’s also recall that unlike today, in 1987 a full-color album jacket wasn’t just a little more expensive than a black and white one, it was way more expensive. Right up front, the band was communicating that this was a more commercially ambitious endeavor, while behind the scenes they rented better gear for a bigger sound, and tackled more sophisticated arrangements and honed in on the hooks and harmonies of the songs. Of all the band’s early self-released albums,\u003ci\u003e Sandbox\u003c\/i\u003e differs the most from the sound fans would later associate with the group, which is in itself a recommendation. Nowhere else will you hear the perfectly rendered three-part harmonies of “Long Distance Man,” direct Beatles quotes, or Robert Pollard reveling in his southern Ohio drawl. It’s also true that one of the more enjoyable aspects of the record is finding all the places where the band’s future is indeed foreshadowed. Simply put, Guided By Voices just can’t help but be a little weird, even when attempting something like a power pop album. At the close of the opening track, Pollard announces, “Ladies and gentlemen! Back by popular demand for your entertainment and spiritual enlightenment...Electric Jam Soul Aquarium!” a truly “wtf is happening here” moment. Or the stripped down gloom of “Trap Soul Door” - a track that could be right at home on nearly any later GBV album wherein Pollard intones, “Just one spark can start a hell of a fire.” Little did he know how true that statement would become.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Scat Records","offers":[{"title":"LP - Black","offer_id":50482742034763,"sku":"2006356","price":29.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"LP - Glacial Blue","offer_id":50482742985035,"sku":"2006358","price":32.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/Sandbox_bd2dafa6_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1727555498"},{"product_id":"shelter-from-the-smoke","title":"Shelter From the Smoke","description":"\u003cp\u003eScat Records offers up a definitive vinyl edition of Bill Fox’s debut solo disc, \u003ci\u003eShelter From The Smoke\u003c\/i\u003e, back in print after more than half a decade. Originally self-released in 1997 and reissued the following year by SpinArt, both previous versions featured different tracklists. This edition includes all songs from both versions, as well as the two tracks from a scarce 1996 Scat 7-inch. Fox began his musical journey in early 1980s Cleveland with The Mice, who fused punk energy with British-Invasion-style songwriting and harmonies. He infamously dissolved the group on the eve of a European tour, then dropped out of the scene altogether, with an unfinished Mice LP in the can. In the early ’90s, he began a series of home recordings which revealed a growing preference for acoustically based music, and formed the basis for \u003ci\u003eShelter From The Smoke\u003c\/i\u003e as well as the follow-up \u003ci\u003eTransit Byzantium\u003c\/i\u003e (also being concurrently reissued). Shelter also includes four electric tracks recorded with Fox’s short-lived band The Radio Flyers. After a 1998 tour, Fox once again dropped out of music. Fox is one of those rare musicians who really does not enjoy the limelight, even having declined an interview with Joe Hagan of The Believer, who went so far as to fly to Cleveland in hopes of meeting him. That and his refusal to “be on the internet” has probably only helped the growing cadre of music fans who sees his solo albums as mysterious, lost classics. Or perhaps they just delight in the ringing sound of Fox’s perfectly pitched voice or his deft lyricism. Either way, Fox’s two solo albums are jewels not to be missed by anyone who enjoys traditional songcraft or iconic vocalists.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Scat Records","offers":[{"title":"LP - Yellow","offer_id":50483577454923,"sku":"1111252","price":32.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/0060c667-47c1-4048-a460-cfa4b1cfa9b8_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1727569642"},{"product_id":"jesus-was-born-in-a-mobile-home","title":"Jesus was Born in a Mobile Home","description":"\u003cp\u003eReady for some more racket from the titans of the tritone? The deans of decay? The earls of entropy? Until recently it was unknown how prolific Cleveland’s Spike In Vain were in their three year run, roughly Fall 1982 through Fall 1985. Had all the group’s songs been recorded, they would’ve filled five LPs handily. While only the debut album \u003ci\u003eDisease Is Relative\u003c\/i\u003e, compilation appearances, and a virtually unknown cassette were issued during their run, 2021 saw the band’s unreleased second album\u003ci\u003e Death Drives A Cadillac \u003c\/i\u003epulled out from its secret lair, and 2023 sees the release of the \u003ci\u003eJesus Was Born In A Mobile Home\u003c\/i\u003e cassette via this much expanded double vinyl edition. Upping the original’s twelve track program with an additional fifteen unreleased or rare tracks, this compilation provides a panoramic view of this mercurial, many-headed beast of absurdity, discord, and death. This release is loaded with surprises for even die-hard fans. Among other highlights, there’s a nine minute version of “Opus.” While the recording on Disease Is Relative is essentially three short songs smushed together, this later live version doubles that, with all new material seamlessly tacked onto the original. “Winter’s Black Hand” is a shocking outtake from the second album with the same insane, harrowing quality as “Children In The Subway.” There’s a 1982 rehearsal recording of “Tenement Housing,” the closest the band ever came to a straight up punk song. Or the rambling, shambling, and devastating “Drunk And Ugly Soul Food (As I Understand It)” from an early 1985 radio session. Along with other live recordings of songs that never saw the inside of a studio and a few more outtakes, Jesus also gathers stray songs from compilation albums with much improved sound. The majority of the tracks here were mastered from the original reels, while others had to be rescued from cassettes. Veteran engineer John Golden has done a knockout job dealing with the wide variety of source materials, lending it cohesion without sacrificing the skullsplitting rawness of some tracks.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Scat Records","offers":[{"title":"Black LP","offer_id":50483640598859,"sku":"2003503","price":42.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"Brown LP","offer_id":50483641090379,"sku":"2003514","price":47.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/getImage-1.php_38a372eb_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1727571033"},{"product_id":"and-he-is-not-gonna-take-it-anymore","title":"...And He is Not Gonna Take it Anymore","description":"\u003cp\u003eOriginally released in 1986, the debut album by My Dad Is Dead is remarkable not only for its strong and varied material, but also how the aesthetic of MDID’s music was fully formed and instantly recognizable from the git-go. Here are the open modal guitar tunings, the primitive drum machine paired with live drums, the complete rejection of the pentatonic scale and related 1970s guitar techniques, and the dry, journalistic language that brings a distanced, subdued pathos to the harrowing characters and their situations.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFew artists who traffic in the darker realms of the human condition do so without some degree of melodrama; Mark Edwards’s penchant for understatement and distance brings even more gravity and impact to these songs of lost souls in a dying city. All these qualities would become hallmarks of the My Dad Is Dead sound for years to come. Like Edwards’s next few albums, \u003ci\u003e...And He’s Not Gonna Take It Anymore \u003c\/i\u003ewas performed and written entirely by himself, which only deepens the feeling of isolation that permeates the album. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis 2021 reissue was remastered by John Golden Sr. and is a huge sonic improvement over the original pressing and early ’90s European editions. Best of all, it includes an entire bonus LP of rare 1985 recordings that were only issued on cassette at the time. These are raw, primitive 4-track recordings that ooze with post-industrial Cleveland malaise. They include nine previously unnreleased songs, and early versions of four songs that were re-recorded for the album. Fans are certain to find some new favourites here.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Scat","offers":[{"title":"LP | x2","offer_id":50521596363083,"sku":"1140801","price":32.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/8d1db32a-a98c-4930-853f-99091e481cfb_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1727992628"},{"product_id":"for-almost-ever","title":"For Almost Ever","description":"\u003cp\u003eOriginally released in 1985, the debut EP by The Mice still stands as one of the finer song-oriented rock records of that era. Drawing inspiration from both mid 1960s British Invasion groups and the energy of punk, For Almost Ever is about as scorching as an essentially pop record can be. Although vocalist \/ guitarist Bill Fox would go on to release several much-loved mostly acoustic solo records, here he is joined by his younger brother Tommy, a veritable monster on the drum kit, bashing away with both finesse and the manic energy of a high school kid. And let’s talk about the song “Not Proud of the USA.” Conceived as an answer to The Clash’s “I’m So Bored with the USA,” this track is packed with such overwhelming hooks, righteousness, and adrenaline that it’s irresistible. During the war in Iraq, it took on a new life on college radio and online when it was reissued on CD. And with this vinyl reissue, it would seem the timing is sadly spot-on once again. Mastered by John Golden, this new pressing crackles with The Mice’s spirit, reproduced in big 45 rpm sound for deeper low end and greater definition than the original, which has been commanding a steep price for quite a while now. We’ve also been able to restore the colours of the handcolored cover photograph to their original vibrancy.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Scat","offers":[{"title":"12\" - Black","offer_id":56373149172043,"sku":"R1503-9933","price":19.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/getImage_13.jpg?v=1769200812"}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/collections\/test_455bd23b_thumbnail_4096_ccb58d47-61f9-4231-9801-cd32c41b66a8.jpg?v=1726395012","url":"https:\/\/shop.roughtrade.com\/de\/collections\/scat.oembed","provider":"Rough Trade","version":"1.0","type":"link"}