And we're back! It's been a busy year with not much to show for it... until now! As luck would have it all of these projects pretty much came together at the same time, thus they will be released as such! B.I.R. unloads 4 more slabs of all kindsa types today with more to follow next month! But for now, let's focus on the heavy hitters in question - READ ON!
BLOOD PRESSURE - SURROUNDED 12"
Say there was a Keystone State Wrestling Alliance of sorts that consisted of a plethora of regional hardcore punk bands instead of a gaggle of scantily clad lowbrow beefcakes in spandex... Pittsburgh's own BLOOD PRESSURE would surely be the undisputed heavyweight champions of this fictitious league that I envisioned whilst rocking a slash in that alley across from the Rock Room. Yeah, I was pretty hammered BUT who would object to such a notion though?! Hell, the proof is right here in the pudding buddy roe, which in this case is essentially just a bunch of pureed proteins and starches - AKA precisely the recipe of audibility that these yinzers have mastered and carried out time and time again. Two years away from the studio clearly didn't turn them into slouches by any stretch of the imagination. "SURROUNDED" supplies an undeserving world with ten tracks of seething and hate filled hardcore punk that is bound to tickle the fancy of any and all "real ones" or whatever. Cover art by the esteemed and ever so handsome Nicky Rat. BPHCFU b/w "WHAT YOU GONNA DO WHEN MOLE-A-MANIA RUNS WILD ON YOU?"
There are 150 copies on RED VINYL for mailorder while they last!
European pressing of this record has been cancelled, please order it from Beach Impediment.
VANITY - EVENING RECEPTION LP
"A lost episode of Fawlty Towers set in the present day astride a shoddy sofa in a den in Brooklyn: Instead of not “mentioning the war” the challenge is to swim through this LP without uttering or even entertaining the tiniest sniff of dearest Nanker Phelge. This proves far more rewarding than throwing a knee-jerk ticker tape parade for the open-tuned greyzone murk of Guitar-Centre blues musicians everywhere and frankly, that would be a lazy disservice to what you're about to hear. Rising up instead, we have the grandiose and pampositical return of the perfectly named, Vanity. Yes that’s a compliment, no it's not a real word. Energetic punk consommé indebted to rock and roll but coming across less like the deliberate broken chains of Vans slip ons and Target 501s swapped for sequins, strides, and scarves - but more like an effort forged in Billy Zoom’s living room on Warren Zevon’s gear as played by the Saints’ roadies in a bar that serves really, really, really cold beer. Coincidentally, I would endorse that as a suggested serving. Take a long hard look in the mirror, slyly lit so your cheekbones pop, and preen yourself ’til your skin peels off."
-Jonah Falco, 2018
Each record comes in a matte jacket adorned with stunning art by the remarkable Lauren O'Connor.
L'AMOUR - LOOK TO THE ARTIST: 1978-1981 12"
When admiring a piece of cultural and historical significance it's not uncommon for the admirer to question where it all began; to trace it all back to the epicenter of the event that set it all into motion. If RICKY AND THE WHITE BOYS were the punk rock meteor that crashed into an unsuspecting Richmond, VA in the age of disco then L'AMOUR was the shock wave immediately following that fabled and chaotic impact event, forever altering the cultural landscape within the city limits. Formed in 1978 by a couple of disciples of rock and roll who'd had their lives altered by said genre / belief system in the years prior to that, Tom Applegate and Dave Stover recruited other like minded rockers to aid them in their aural conquest over the next few years that followed in the group's all too brief existence. In that time they left behind a trail of broken bottles, perhaps a few broken hearts, and definitely some perturbed club owners up and down the east coast. But most importantly, the fellas in L'AMOUR left us with documentation of their rock in the form of some long forgotten tapes. Nearly 40 years after the band entered the studio to lay down tracks for their first and only 7" single on the band's own legendary ZERO DEGREE RECORDS (a label that became synonymous with the release and widespread circulation of the early Richmond punk scene that was soon to follow), Beach Impediment is proud to not only re-release those classic songs but also bring to light a slew of previously unreleased tracks, alternate demo takes, and even a rare later era soundboard recording of the band live in their hometown that exhibits a grip of originals that sadly never made it into the studio before the band's untimely demise the day before Reagan took office. Lovingly transferred from the original 1/4" reels (some of which were a wee bit moldy after years of being M.I.A. but were thankfully salvaged via professional cleaning) along with a new mastering job, these tracks hit harder than ever! Members would go on to play in other classic and ground breaking Richmond bands like BEEX and THE PREVARICATORS. Each record comes with a fold out 12" x 24" double sided insert chock full of archival photos and flyers plus liner notes from Tommy the Rock himself that give the reader a glimpse into the counter-cultural explosion of the late 70's / early 80's in the land once known as Dixie. Electric guitars were (and still are) their only desire. Limited to 500 copies.
There are 100 copies on YELLOW VINYL for mailorder while they last! This edition also comes with a reprint of Tom and Dave's 1978 zine RICHMOND NEW RAVER scanned from the original master copy and chock full of reviews, rants, opinions, Patti Smith worship, and previously unpublished photos of THE RAMONES, THE CRAMPS, THE RUNAWAYS, and some local groups & rockers to boot PLUS reprints of three classic L'AMOUR flyers on thick card stock paper!
STIGMATISM - S/T EP
Ya know that Big City Records compilation "Montreal New York Connection 85 Live" with all the wild looking cartoon punks on it? STIGMATISM is the sonic equivalent of that big fella on the cover with the mohawk rocking boots and braces whilst letting off and undoubtedly blood curdling howl doing key bumps of meth with that flag toting skinhead from the back of the "United Blood" EP in a real seedy alleyway at like, 3:41 AM on a Tuesday. STIGMATISM is an infatuation with and/or an astute observation of the more, dare I say, "early man" aspects of that first wave of NYHC. Featuring an ex OMEGA and a native New Yorker united in their love of this particular style of hardcore punk, this demo recording has been slapped onto some slabs of plastic that can be played loud on a phonograph or utilized as a level plane for those aforementioned servings of meth. Each record comes in a glue pocket sleeve adorned with a design by the illustrious Spoiler. Limited to 500 copies.
There are 100 copies on WHITE VINYL for mailorder while they last!
As always, these releases are available for order from the Beach Impediment Records Webstore.
And they're also streaming / available for download over at the Beach Impediment Records Bandcamp.
The following distros / stores should have copies of these releases in the near future, if not already:
SORRY STATE, GRAVE MISTAKE, FEEL IT, LA VIDA ES UN MUS (UK), PUNK AND DESTROY (Japan) STATIC SHOCK (UK), PAINKILLER, NECKCHOP, STATIC SHOCK MUSIK (Germany), CRUEL NOISE, VINYL CONFLICT, CELEBRATED SUMMER, XSENTIENTX (Germany), MATERIAL WORLD, QUALITY CONTROL (UK), PATIENT ZERO, ARMAGEDDON SHOP, SLUG SALT, WILD MUTATION, SOCIETY BLEEDS, SMASH DC, VELTED REGNUB and a few others that are in the works.
And as always, these will be available from EBULLITION, REVHQ, and FEEL IT for those that like to do the wholesale thang with the big dawgz.
I've admittedly been kind of slack on the distro game as of late, but there's been some gooduns in the mix lately like:
DISSEKERAD - S/T (VARNING) EP
CEMENT SHOES - A PEACE PRODUCT OF THE USA 7"
EU'S ARSE / MUSTANG Split 7"
FORWARD - ANOTHER DIMENSION EP
TIPI & MINISTERIT - VERTA RAKASTAVA NAINEN EP
OJO POR OJO - S/T LP
INMATES - CREATURES OF THE NIGHT EP and S/T EP
BETA BOYS - LATE NITE ACTS LP
INSINUATIONS - PROMPT CRITICAL EP
KORSFAST - SKARPT LAGE LP
SNOR - SCANDINAVIAN HEARTBREAKER EP
LA URSS - NUEVO TESTAMENTO LP
+ lots of other crap, many additions to the MARKED DOWN 7"s and MARKED DOWN 12" and a bunch of incoming titles from LA VIDA ES UN MUS, PAINKILLER RECORDS, and a few others that are in the works.
Up next on the Beach Impediment Label:
MURO - ATAQUE HARDCORE PUNK 12" (North American pressing of this modern day Colombian hardcore punk classic! The band is currently touring Canada as I type this, go see em if ya can!)
VAASKA - INOCENTES CONDENADOS EP (Split release with Japan's VOX POPULI RECORDS)
CAREER SUICIDE - MACHINE RESPONSE EP (US pressing of the band's recent European tour 7" featuring a previously unreleased track)
+ some more shit that I'll tell ya about later.
That'll do it. Thanks for the interest and if you're an American reading this please fucking vote on November 6th. CHEERS!
-B.I.R.
