Howdy! Pardon the slightly earlier than usual email but I'm on the road most of today and wanted to get this shit rolling for y'all. CHECK IT - three new ones from B.I.R.! First and foremost, the modern offering is well done contemporary Oi music from ATL's finest SIKM followed by two archival releases from, you guessed it, the Commonwealth of Virginia circa 40ish years ago. I'm particularly proud of these two - both were rather elusive recordings that I'd known about for around 20ish years but didn't get a complete go at hearing until their respective reels were located and transferred recently. Both releases had their share of delays (and, sadly, the death of a member in one case) in the production process but I am so happy to finally have these available. It was an honor to work with the creative forces behind these groups to make these records a reality. R.I.P. to Mikey, Alford and Bryan.
And another one that can go in the "FINALLY!" category - I am beyond excited to be aiding in the North American distribution of the MURO - NUEVO DOGMA LP!! The vinyl showed up on my porch from France nearly a year ago now and I just got the print from Colombia last month. Pressed in Europe, printed in South America and assembled in Richmond, VA - phew! I've been listening to this record for close to a year now so I'm VERY excited for the rest of you to hear it and, as always, am honored to aid my friends at Casa Rat Trap in the spread of their art. Be sure to catch them in Europe if ya haven't already and are in their imminent path!
Let's go ahead and get to it:
SIKM - NOW I MUST COMPLY 12"
Hot on the heels of 2023's ass kicker of a demo, Atlanta's SIKM are back with their first 12" offering in the form of the "NOW I MUST COMPLY" EP! Here we have 6 offerings of UK82 meets infectious French Oi filtered tastefully through a modern lens, yielding truly stand out tracks in a world that's quickly becoming full of monotony and color by the numbers bullshit. Recorded and produced in Paris, France at Château Vergogne by Maxime Smadja (of RIXE, CONDOR, BOSS and many more), mastered by Will Killingsworth and featuring outstanding cover art and layout from the mind of Jeff Poleon - this is the full package!
There are 200 copies on COKE BOTTLE CLEAR vinyl for mailorder while they last!
DISARM - EXISTENCE DEMO 1985 12"
Continuing in their campaign to unveil the hidden history of the 1980s Virginian hardcore punk scene, Beach Impediment unearths the "Existence Demo 1985" by Virginia Beach skate thrashers DISARM. Taking inspiration from New Yorks’ AGNOSTIC FRONT, Boston's SS DECONTROL, Sweden's ANTI-CIMEX as well as the burgeoning thrash metal from Californias’ SLAYER and POSSESSED, DISARM were truly a product of their time and in their brief two-year lifespan, the teenaged quartet bombed up and down the east coast sharing stages with CORROSION OF CONFORMITY, YOUTH OF TODAY and GANG GREEN among others. Recorded in a suburban garage studio during a sweltering summer, "Existence Demo 1985" combines the brute sonic force of hardcore with a blinding thrash delivery to create one of the most unheralded demo tapes of the era. Remastered from the original reels by CHRIS CORRY and released in conjunction with NO IDOLS, the "Existence Demo 1985" gets its’ well-deserved vinyl debut, almost 40 years after its’ recording.
Each record features a layout adorned with imagery from the band's brief existence along with liner notes derived from an interview conducted by Tony Rettman with guitarist Raymond Epstein and vocalist Bryan Zentz. Limited to a one time pressing of 500 copies.
RED CROSS - 1981-1982 NO MESSAGE 12"
For starters, don't let the name fool you, this is Richmond, VA - not L.A. Coinciding with the beginning of the 1980s, the spread of punk's mutation into the harsher exertion known as hardcore punk began to spill across the continental United States. The music was becoming harder and faster, straying from the style and formula that some of the younger participants were starting to grow bored of and Richmond was no exception to this phenomena. Following the 1981 implosions of local punk groups MOD SUBS (see Beach Impediment Records #6) and DISRUPTORS, the illustrious Mike Rodriguez formed RED CROSS alongside friends Frank Gresham, Scott Price and Alford Faulknier. Their mission: to create and play hardcore punk adhering to the motto of "LOUD FAST RULES" and they did just that! The next year or so saw the band leaving a trail of broken glass and harshed mellows throughout the greater metropolitan Richmond area, to put it lightly. In early 1982, the boys entered Studio 2 at Union Theological Seminary under the cover of night to record 12 tracks that were intended to be the band's debut 12". Alas, as bands tend to do, they eventually broke up due to internal conflicts, which led to the almost immediate formation of Richmond legends WHITE CROSS; arguably the final form of Mikey Rod's drive to create fast, hard and ugly music. The WHITE CROSS fellas would carry the torch of Richmond Hardcore Punk all over this country for the next few years - but that is another story for another time, bud! As you might have guessed, the aforementioned break up left the aforementioned recording in a limbo of sorts, seemingly doomed to never reach the ears of the public.
Having a sense of pride for the hard work and creative process that led to the recording session in question, vocalist Frank Gresham did not want to have this session completely lost to the sands of time, leading to the creation of somewhere between 50-100 cassette tapes featuring the studio recording, a live reimagined rendition of a John Cale classic and a radio advertisement that the band ran as promotion to close it all out. With this last will and testament of early USHC in the Richmond area being spread among a small number of friends and fans, Franky left it at that, eventually moving on up to NYC. In the decades that followed, local hardcore punk enthusiasts had heard tales of this band and the elusive tape documenting their existence with fewer having ever even seen one in the wild. At long last, after 40+ years in obscurity, Beach Impediment is proud to present this long lost posthumous release of sorts, remastered from the original reel and accompanied by a 16 page booklet featuring extensive liner notes by surviving members Frank Gresham and Scott Price along with archival imagery related to the band and their brief but impactful existence in a sleepy southern town.
There are 100 copies on RED VINYL for mailorder while they last! These copies also include a risograph recreation of the poster that accompanied the original cassette tape.
Annnnd:
MURO - NUEVO DOGMA LP
The third 12" offering from Bogota, Colombia's MURO!!! Ten tracks of the blistering hardcore punk you know and love. Each record comes in a layout that was completely assembled by the band at Casa Rat Trap featuring stunning screen printed and hand made jackets, three posters and a booklet.
As always, you can buy here.
You can also buy / stream / download here.
PLEASE NOTE: MURO 12" is only available via the Big Cartel because it ain't my release nor is it streaming, dawg!
And, as always, your favorite distros / stores will have copies of these records before ya know it, so keep an eye out if you'd rather go that route.
Not much else to report! Dropped prices on a few older titles because I'm feeling pretty sassy. Beyond that, this is my last drop til about November or so. So, uh, STAY COOL!
-B.I.R.
