Beezewax - A Dozen Summits LP - Purple Vinyl

 
SellOut! / Boss Tuneage (2025, Reissue)

A Dozen Summits is a pretty pivotal record as it was when Beezewax appeared on the radar of PopKid Records HQ.  I'm not sure where the band heard of PopKid, but they sent this (at the time) CD only release and demos of some of the songs that would go on to become South of Boredom to Alan back in 1997 or 1998.  He loved them and the rest is history.  Somewhere in there we procured a copy of the CD for me as well and it's been in my frequent rotation ever since.  This is a record that has long been on my short list for my most wanted records to get a vinyl release and the fine folks at SellOut and Boss Tuneage made that a reality last year.

A Dozen Summits is only second to South of Boredom in the Beezewax catalog for me.  It's a perfect guitar pop record with perhaps a bit more fuzz a roughness than the rest of their catalog.  But it's in those fuzzy, imperfect moments where I find the perfection in these songs.  There's so many great songs on here and there's moments, like where they go from the heavier Posies-esque "Take the Wheel" to the blown out bass intro of "Miss Playin Basketball," that wow me every time I listen.

As with many things in life, it ruins my brain to realize that this album is 29 years old.  At the same time, this record is kind of a remarkable snapshot of youthful enthusiasm, energy and optimism that's probably difficult to replicate when you is double digits and starts with a 4 or a 5.  This is an album that takes me back to a hectic, stressful and challenging time in my life, but one that certainly had its good moments and a ton of great music.  So happy to finally be able to spin this on my record player after all these years.

Beezewax - A Dozen Summits:

https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_nvzAF9zW_F2bPR5feGmqPZpg5oi9IkiV0

Beezewax - Oh Tahoe LP - Clear Vinyl (#22/500)

Naked Record Club (2022, Reissue)

I have a somewhat complicated relationship with the third Beezewax full length, Oh Tahoe.  It was supposed to come out on PopKid records when it was originally released, alongside of other labels handling various other non-North American locales.  But, as things often do, everything sort of went sideways and the PopKid version of the record never came out.  It came out on a few other labels in other parts of the world, all with slightly rearranged track orders for reasons I was never completely sure of.  I think the PopKid version was meant to start with "Big Bad Car" if I'm not mistaken, but that was over twenty years ago, so I might be.

This LP is the first vinyl version of the album to ever be released.  It came out as part of a record subscription called the Naked Record Club, though you can also buy it on its own.  It is a really expensive record.  I know vinyl is more expensive everywhere and yes, I'm guilty of buying into some of the fancy and expensive Vinyl Me Please releases, but in fairness, most of those tend to be double albums.  This one is a single LP and the cost of the record, plus shipping to America came out to over $65 US, which is quite a lot, really.  It's cheaper if you join the club, but at this point I personally was only looking for Beezewax.

Is it worth it?  To me, yeah it is.  The record sounds excellent on vinyl.  While I like all of Beezewax's output, those first three albums of theirs will always be something special to me.  The way they took Posies style guitar pop and filtered through their own hook machine produced many of my favorite songs of the late 90s and early 2000s.  There's so many incredible tunes on this bad boy and finally having them on vinyl was worth every penny.  

Now, I just need someone to step up to the plate and get their first album, A Dozen Summits, pressed.  Yeah, I'd pay this much for that one too.

Beezewax - Oh Tahoe:
https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_nH_hFWk1XHkJ8Gc0iS1CAzSG9C5TOecLA

Beezewax - South Of Boredom LP

Boss Tuneage / Sellout! (2019, Reissue)

I have somewhat mixed feelings about this Beezewax record finally coming out on vinyl twenty years after its initial release.  I'm thrilled that it's available and I'm happy that labels that I love like Boss Tuneage and Sellout! are the ones who released it.  But, there is a part of me that's a little sad that this isn't on PopKid.  The original CD came out on PopKid records back in 1999, but we just never figured out a good way to do a vinyl version.  It's super cool to have this record in my collection.  I'm just a bit jealous that it's not in my collection as a PopKid records release.

Still, that's a just a weirdo thing for me to work through.  Everyone else should rejoice that one of my favorite records of all time is finally available on vinyl.  I remember when @alanrappa first played me the band's debut album A Dozen Summits.  They had sent it to PopKid HQ along with some other tunes.  I remember liking it right away, but Alan was the one who really loved it and knew they were the perfect fit for PopKid.  Alan & I both did radio shows at my old college station back in the 90s.  It was there where Beezewax finally sunk in and I understood it like Alan did.  He would play the song "In The Stands" on his show before we had the CDs actually pressed.  Or as I referred to it as "THE HIT."  That's the song that really made me fall for the band.

It's still my favorite song on the album, but South Of Boredom is a virtually perfect record front to back.  All of the songs are now "THE HIT" in my mind and it's been something I've been playing constantly for the past twenty years.  For the uninitiated, Beezewax play melodic guitar pop, not too dissimilar from the very, very best of The Posies.  But they also have their own way of structuring songs that in my minds, make them even better than The Posies.  I would put the first three Beezewax albums up against just about any three album run.  They're all so perfect.  I hope that those ones are next on the Sellout/Boss Tuneage agenda.  Vinyl versions of A Dozen Summits and Oh Tahoe would look pretty great on my record shelf next to South of Boredom.

Conflict of interest time.  I have a few copies of this record available on the PopKid website.  Seriously, just a few - single digits.  If you want to pick up a copy, grab it quick:

http://popkid.limitedrun.com/products/656755-beezewax-south-of-boredom-lp

For those in the UK, Boss Tuneage is the place to go.  For Norway, Sellout! is your source.  And in Japan, Waterslide has some in their distro as well.  No matter where you get it from, you'll be a better person with this record in your collection.

Beezewax - South Of Boredom:
https://popkid.bandcamp.com/album/beezewax-south-of-boredom

Beezewax - Who To Salute / When We Were Kids 2xLP

Reveal (2005)

Well, I'm a pretty big Beezewax fan.  I've been one ever since PopKid records started getting ready to release the album South Of Boredom back in 1873 or so.  But somehow, I'm often surprised to find out that Beezewax has released something I'd never heard of.  It's happened on several occasions; I'll just stumble across a record of theirs that just sneaked out into the world.  This vinyl version of Who To Salute is a prime example.  No clue it was out there, then one day...bam.  A discogs entry for it.  Been looking for a copy ever since.

All Beezewax records are great.   Who To Salute is no exception, though you'll forgive me if I have a slightly stronger attachment to South Of Boredom.  Still, just go buy all their records, every one is outstanding.  The band churns out perfect Posies inspired pop songs better than just about anyone (including the Posies on several of their records).  They can take a song slow and tender and they can get bouncy and poppy with equally successful results.  A hell of a band, they always have been.

The extra wacky thing about this LP is that it comes with a second LP called When We Were Kids.  It compiles a handful of songs from the first 3 Beezewax records A Dozen Summits, Who To Salute and Oh Tahoe.  It's pretty cool having a few songs from each of these records on vinyl.  I would obviously prefer each one had been reissued on vinyl individually, but it's nice to be able to hear my favorite Beezewax song "In The Stands" blasting from the turntable.  Someone should release all the Beezewax LPs on vinyl.  If anyone is interested in putting out South Of Boredom, I bet you I could put you in touch with the right people...

I couldn't find any songs from Who To Salute streaming anywhere, but there's a video for in The Stands up on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QkgnwzrwcFc

Collection: PopKid Records - 7"s & CDs

Collection: PopKid Records - 7"s & CDs, a photo by Tim PopKid on Flickr.

I will be the first to admit that this particular entry is a bit self serving, though in fairness I adore every single record in this picture.

PopKid records has been around since 1994. It was started by @AlanRappa. By The time PKD002 came out, I was helping stuff 7" sleeves. As the years went by I was lucky enough to become more and more involved with the label to the point where I do consider it like a child of my own. Sadly, we left this child alone at an amusement park for a few years, but it's coming back!

Alan & I have dusted the cobwebs off of the boxes of records that have been living in basements for a few years and PopKid Records is back in business.

For starters, the website is back. if you go to www.popkid.com you will see a news section, with a bit of news, A complete discography with pressing information and links to where you can buy some records.

We have digitized all of the PopKid releases from their DAT masters and have now uploaded everything to Bandcamp. You can buy MP3s or Flacs or whatever you want direct from our Bandcamp page: popkid.bandcamp.com . You can also just go there and listen to everything to see if you like it enough to buy.

And as mentioned above, we are finally selling all of our records online that we still have copies of. We don't have everything, but we have at least a few of almost every release. We've even stumbled across some records that we thought were long out of print and are selling a couple of test pressings, including the test pressing for The Stereo / Ultimate Fakebook split 7". If you want to go right to the store, you can go to popkidrecords.bigcartel.com

Anything you buy goes right back into the label. There's a new Chester Copperpot EP that's already recorded and we're just trying to raise some money to help release it finally. If you have any of these records already, thank you, but hey, if you have friends that might want some, just let them know we're back.

Sorry if this comes off as a big sales pitch, but I figured you may care if you read this site, It'll be back to business as usual tomorrow with more records that I've been buying.

Thanks!

Playground - If you Were Me 7" - PopKid - Test Pressing
Playground - If you Were Me 7" - PopKid - Green Vinyl/Tan Cover (/500)
Playground - If you Were Me 7" - PopKid - BlackVinyl/Grey Cover (/500)
Gan - Blink 7" - PopKid - Test Pressing
Gan - Blink 7" - PopKid - Clear Vinyl (/100)
Gan - Blink 7" - PopKid - Transparent Yellow Vinyl (/400)
Gan - Blink 7" - PopKid - OpaqueYellow Vinyl (/300)
Porcelain Boys / Marble - Split 7" - PopKid - Test Pressing
Porcelain Boys / Marble - Split 7" - PopKid - White Vinyl (/300)
Porcelain Boys / Marble - Split 7" - PopKid - Purple Vinyl (/300)
The Mr. T Experience / Sicko - Split 7" - PopKid - Black Vinyl, PopKid Stamp on Back Cover (/50)
Horace Goes Skiing - Domestic Violence 7" - PopKid - Test Pressing
Horace Goes Skiing - Domestic Violence 7" - PopKid - Blue Swirl Vinyl (/555)
Chester Copperpot - Bitter Sweet Tunes 7" - PopKid - Test Pressing
Chester Copperpot - Bitter Sweet Tunes 7" - PopKid - Clear Vinyl (/300)
Chester Copperpot - Bitter Sweet Tunes 7" - PopKid - Black Vinyl (/300)
Starmarket - Staying Cool 7" - PopKid - Test Pressing of C/D 7" Only
Starmarket - Staying Cool 2x7" - PopKid - White Vinyl (/300)
Starmarket - Staying Cool 2x7" - PopKid - Black Vinyl (/500)
The Stereo / Ultimate Fakebook - Split 7" - PopKid - Test Pressing
The Stereo / Ultimate Fakebook - Split 7" - PopKid - White Vinyl (/300)
The Stereo / Ultimate Fakebook - Split 7" - PopKid - Black Vinyl (/700)

Porcelain Boys - Away Awhile CD - PopKid
Starmarket - Sunday's Worst Enemy CD - PopKid
Beezewax - South Of Boredom CD - PopKid
Jettison - Search For The Gun Girl CD - PopKid
Crushstory - A+ Electric - PopKid - Green CD Face (Misprint)
Crushstory - A+ Electric - PopKid - Pink CD Face
Horace Goes Skiing - Yeah Right Sure CD - PopKid
Kenneth Ishak - Northern Exposure CD - PopKid
Beat Crusaders - All You Can Eat CD - PopKid
Chester Copperpot - The Kings Of Kirby CD - PopKid

Missing: Side A/B of the Startmarket test pressing. Not sure why I don't have one, but it seems I do not.