Treepeople - Bonus Tracks LP - Clear Vinyl

Self Released (2018)

Though it has taken me a while to write about this LP, I actually purchased it at the same time as the vinyl reissue of the first Treepeople tape on vinyl, No Mouth Pipetting.  I bought them from a record store in Idaho, though I see now that K records is also stocking it in their distro for a nice price.  My copy of this Bonus Tracks LP was missing the little postcard sized track listing, but the band were nice enough to mail me one when I reached out to them.  Class act.

This LP has ten songs in total, mostly mimicking the listing of the bonus tracks that were available on the original Toxic Shock CD version of Guilt Regret Embarrassment.  "Lazerbeam/Flamegrape" was on that CD and I think that it was only ever out on that CD.  The rest of the nine songs originally were released on various 7" singles the band released in the early 90s.

"Important Things," "Handcuffs" and "In My Head" are from the Treepeople's 1989 single on Silence records.  "Making The D" and "Pretty Girl" (aka "PG") are from the 1990 7" released on Battery.  "Cartoon Brew" is originally from a 7" compilation called Silence Sampler, though it eventually made its way on to the full length Just Kidding.  "Mistake" and "Ballard Bitter" are from a '91 Sonic Bubblegum 7".  "Neils Down" is from a split 7" on Toxic Shock with a band called House Of Larger Sizes.

It's nice to have all of these songs on an easy to play LP.  I love 7"s and collecting them has been a real passion of mine for twenty-five years plus, but there's something to be said about being able to just put this down on the turntable and enjoy, rather than getting up to flip 7"s every few minutes.

Treepeople - "Handcuffs":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QvEN6CGIjCw

Treepeople "Mistake":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zIcAWZnv2CI

The Outcasts - Tell Me The Whole Story 2xLP

Secret Mission (2019)

I was born in December of 1976, so the while the whole '77 punk thing wasn't technically before my time, from a practical standpoint it absolutely was.  I would have to go back and study up in order to be up to speed on such a historically significant time in music.  Though honestly, that's not something I've ever really done to any sort of extensive degree.  I know a bit of the really obvious stuff, but as far as the bands that stayed underground, I don't really know anything if I'm being truthful.

The Outcasts are not a band I've ever listened to.  Until this record arrived from Secret Mission, I'd never even heard of them.  But I'm learning to trust the folks over at Secret Mission as they have sent me quite a few records over the past year or two that have really impressed me.  You can add The Outcasts to this list.

The Outcasts are very obviously late 70s/early 80s UK punk rock.  They have that sort of sound that you would expect with a high pitched, razor blade guitar attack combined with poppier basslines and vocals.  You can tell they were around at the same time as The Clash and Sex Pistols and while I wouldn't say they really sound too much like either of those bands, there is a commonality between the three that lets you know they are certainly of the same era.

This double LP is full of songs compiling all of the bands singles as well as track by track liner notes with recording history and anecdotes.  The Secret Mission here was to make sure that the Outcasts were not lost to the sands of time.  This is a band that I would have never heard if they didn't rerelease these songs, so at least for me I would say mission accomplished.

The Outcasts - Tell Me The Whole Story:
https://secretmissionrecords.bandcamp.com/album/tell-me-the-whole-story

The Urchin - 25 Complaints Beside 18 Years CD

Waterslide (2016)

I think I can say pretty easily that this CD is the best record I've ever been sent for review.  It probably doesn't hurt that The Urchin have long been one of my absolute favorite bands from Japan.  They haven't put out an album since their 2001 masterpiece Another Day, Another Sorry State, but I have always held out hope that they were going to release something new.  That's mostly because I saw that they have still been playing in Japan all of these years.  The bad news is that this CD isn't a new full length album, but the good news is that it compiles all of their non album songs into one place.  And hot damn are these songs great.

To me, The Urchin always felt like the Dillinger Four of Japan.  Every song they've ever released has been tight and catchy, with the sort of ridiculously hooky choruses that so few bands are capable of.  They've got so many amazing songs from their various 7"s they've been putting out over the past eighteen years.  Their entire run of Snuffy Smile 7"s are present as are various other splits, the songs from a self released CDEP, several compilation songs and even a couple that were previously unreleased.  Despite having hunted down as many records of theirs as I could find, there were still a few songs on this that I had never heard before.

Even though they haven't put out a new record in fifteen years, it would still be hard for you to convince me that The Urchin is not the best band in Japan.  The songs on this record reminded me just how much I love this band and if I have to wait another fifteen years for a new full length, so be it, I'll keep waiting.  Though, I would prefer to not have to wait that long if possible, so let's get some new songs recorded!

The Urchin - 25 Complaints Beside 18 Years:

https://watersliderecords.bandcamp.com/album/25-complaints-beside-18-years