I bought a record once...

I'm gonna try to start a series of blogs about records I have, allegedly called "I bought a record once...". In my latest zine I wrote something about records and record purchase so I thought it'd be cool to go some cool gems in my own collection, in extension to that.

This first part is actually about a very recent record, both in terms of release as in terms of purchase.

Drug Church - S/T (No Sleep records, 2012)

A1. Mohawk
A2. Northway
B1. Latham Circle









I bought this at the No Sleep webstore. I intended to buy the new Mixtapes lp, which I did, but obviously I looked around a bit further and I picked up the Tigers Jaw/Balance & Composure split and this 7". Drug Church.
I'd never heard the music, but I knew Patrick EOAYSDF "sings" (read: does vocals) so I was pretty curious about it. It's their first EP, apparently they've done a demo too but I haven't heard it. So it's a general introduction to the band, as well as a personal introduction. A first glance at the cover art tells you nothing because there is so much going on. Most notably a woman with a skull facing her ass towards you, a skating nuclear zombie reaper, an a-bomb explosion and a broken nuclear plant. Other than that a lot of faces, bombs, a peeing dog, and people in weird positions.
Anyway, after I rewired the amplification system of my record player (which sounds cooler than it really was) last week I got around playing a bunch of records I had laying around from buying the past few weeks. A lot of Ramones-inspired pop punk, so that was cool. After a few I got to the Drug Church 7" and I was still curious about it. But, I put the needle on and something magical happens. It figuratively dropped an a-bomb in my room. Maybe all this poppy punk rock has softened my mind but it doesn't often happen that I am fully enthused by a hardcore/punk EP. Drug Church did that. The moment Mohawk started with that riff and then that bang I was hooked. It's got a groovy, post-hardcore vibe but it's energetic and fast like more old school hardcore. The first lyrics immediately brought Cincinatti Harmony by the Dopamines to mind: Heard you got that job, Heard you got that truck, heard you got of drugs, heard I should give a fuck. versus So you got a raise this week? So you got a new car? Oh how have I been doing lately? Wouldn’t you like to compare. I don't think the guys in Drug Church would appreciate a pop punk reference, but hey, I did it. The other A-side is pretty heavy as well, while the B-side is more slowed down and has a weird outro.
It also doesn't happen a lot that I keep playing a 7" over and over again (it's really a hassle to turn it every 4 minutes or so) but this is an EP I can listen to on repeat for a couple of times

So this is a prime example of how you can sometimes buy records of bands you've never heard but heard of in good contexts (SDF, No Sleep records) and love them. It's funny how music works.


So, this isn't so much supposed to be a review, but rather my personal experience with the record. How, why and when I bought it; what it did to me/what it does now; why I value it; ... Hopefully there'll be a couple more episodes of the record-blogging.