Howdy gang! We got a new one on deck - the debut 12" from NYC's Phantasia, available NOW for order! More on all that below. We were hoping to have some more slabs ready for ya but there are various projects in various stages of limbo that I will not bore ya with. With that said, expect some more before the year is out, yeah? On to the matter at hand!
PHANTASIA - GHOST STORIES 12"
Pastels by candlelight, a spilled bottle, cigarettes burnt to the filter, the outline of a face being tanned by a flickering neon light, the vinyl debut from NYC's Phantasia is hard to get out of your head. A polytropos of black lace tinged beachfront kitsch melted together with the clever gloom of prime-era American indie, all topped by the wavering and haunting vocals of what could be likened to a baritone Siouxie Sioux. Elements of death rock, pure pop, punk, and rock and roll are all here fighting for space amongst lilting synths, reverb-soaked guitars, and muscular drumming. Recorded and mixed by Sasha Stroud, this captures both the spirit of their influences — the Feelies, Alaska y Dinarama, Bruce Springsteen, and Pylon — but holds nothing back in terms of what these songs are capable of sounding like in the 21st century. Each record comes in a jacket adorned with art by Phantasia's own Dylan Cameron.
Words by Jonah "Birdass" Falco.
There are 100 copies on PURPLE VINYL for mailorder only available here and here while they last.
UK FRIENDS - the living legends at STATIC SHOCK have multiple copies of this record including a good grip of them on purple vinyl, go snag since that postage cost will be way less barbaric than the one coming from me!
EURO FRIENDS - In other across the pond news, the fine folks at Germany's SOUNDS OF SUBTERRANEA also have copies for those not looking to break the bank. More to come on this front!
Loads and loads of distros, stores and other record selling entities have copies en route as we speak, so keep an eye or two peeled for that.
Despite my vows to stop doing a distro there's a little bit of activity here and there as of late... we got the long awaited Gentleman Jesse single from Third Man Records that serves as a companion piece to the "Lose Everything" LP that B.I.R. released back in November of last year, the first slab from legendary local label Zero Degree records in nearly 40 years - the L'AMOUR / BEEX split 12", some vintage French Oi via the D.E.M. Demo 7", some classic Midwestern American hardcore punk in the form of the Violent Apathy 7" from Radio Raheem and No Idols, some varied fan clubbery and whenever the USPS allows it I will have some hot slabs from PDX's finest Black Water, so check back in at a later date should ya need some Syndrome 81, Rigorous Institution, or any of that.
In the coming months, if the various set backs holding stuff back at the moment subside we'll FINALLY let loose some hits like the LONG KNIFE - CURB STOMP EARTH LP (a split release with the aforementioned Black Water), the GRAVEN IMAGE - STUDIO SESSIONS '82-'83 12", the US press of THE CHISEL / MESS Split 7" and hopefully the RED CROSS - NO MESSAGE 12". There might be a few others as well but your guess is as good as mine the way shit is these days!
Stay tuned! Please be well in the meantime.
-Mark / B.I.R.
