'When I Couldn't Breathe' by Sundials

By Jason Duarte (originally published in Jaded In Chicago)
Release date: September 25, 2012
12'': Asian Man Records
Rating: 5/5

Sundials cranks the gain and treads more emotional terrain on its latest album, When I Couldn’t Breathe. Sundials is heavier, more introspective and frankly, a bit sadder this time around. If this album were among the Billboard-ranking, “Completely Broken” would be its single. Singer/guitarist Harris Mendell sings seemingly bittersweet about a breakup, summing up the details in just over two minutes. He doesn’t get too personal but repeats, “I don’t mind, cause I know I’ve gotta be completely broken” for most of the song. It’s as if he’s trying to convince himself of something rather than tell it. “Untitled” is unique for its progression, and for being one of the shortest songs on the album, at 1:31. Musically, it walks a fine line between slight sonic dissonance and melody. An earnest acoustic love song, “Strange,” closes the album. Mendell appeals to a woman despite obstacles within and without. His romantically ideal vision about the two of them falling in love is endearing and willful. “We can fall in love, wouldn’t that be strange?/Let’s talk about the things we’d never change,” Mendell sings. He sings as if he’s talking to her half serious, half speculative. Take ‘90s college rock bands like Chisel, Braid and Harvey Danger, and inject more lovesick, unsettled pop punk angst into them. When I Couldn’t Breathe carries the torch of its genre’s predecessors, is laced with emotion and riddled with introspection, with happiness and contentment just out of reach.

Stream When I Couldn't Breathe:

Interview with Miguel Chen (Teenage Bottlerocket/That Guy/Rad Bradleys) on his new side project, Stat Dad

I recently spoke with the bass player of Teenage Bottlerocket, Miguel Chen, to discuss his new band, Stat Dad and its debut 7'' EP titled, Mominatrix, out on Sexy Baby Records.

Squid Pro Quo: Who and what is Stat Dad?
Miguel Chen: "Stat Dad is a side project band I (bass/vocals) started with my friends, J.D. (guitar/Redbush) and Ferg (drums/That Guy). Clint (guitar) is in the band too, but he sucks. By definition, a stat dad is a father who keeps statistics of his kid's little league games. We just thought it sounded cool, but then later came to terms with it being a pretty dumb band name. I'll go ahead and publicly blame Clint."

SPQ: You have a song called "Mominatrix." Please tell me there's a true story, or a story somewhat rooted in truth behind this.

MC: "(Laughs) I mean, I've hung out with doms who are also moms, but mostly I thought it was a clever song name slash record title. Plus, moms are hot and so are dominatrixes, so it worked out."

SPQ: The 7'' has an overall BDSM/gender-role-challenging theme to it. Why?

MC: "The whole band is sort of built around that stuff. I think anyone who knows me or has heard Teenage Bottlerocket's song, "Mutilate Me," which Ray (Carlisle/Teenage Bottlerocket) wrote about me, is aware that I am a little fucking pervert. I like drinking pee and being tied up and hurt. When I was developing Stat Dad, I knew I wanted it to be raw, sort of crusty punk songs. The BDSM aspect just came naturally."

SPQ: Were you really forced into a dress?

MC: "Yes and it gave me a boner. We have a couple of wigs, some makeup and some panties at my house just for when my girlfriend decides I need to be a pretty girl."

SPQ: The song, "Church of Shit" reminds me of Rudimentary Peni crossed with NOFX. Regarding musical influences, what inspired you to write these tunes - bands and otherwise?

MC: "When I started the band, I was listening to a lot of Rudimentary Peni and Subhumans. As far as "Church of Shit," I think the whole band is sort of focused on the idea that everything is shit and we should all have weird sex. So some of the songs are about the kinky side of that spectrum, and some are about how other things are shit."

SPQ: Will Stat Dad be recording and/or releasing a full-length or more material?

MC: "The plan is to do a full length eventually, but again, I'm really busy with my main gig, Teenage Bottlerocket, so it'll probably be a while."

SPQ: Is Benito still incognito? Are the Rad Bradleys dead?

MC: "Benito is ruling in Texas. Radleys are long dead."

SPQ: Is That Guy still doing stuff?

MC: "That Guy comes out of the wood works once every year or two to play a show, but not very often."

SPQ: One final question: is Stat Dad really Masked Intruder? 

MC: "I wish."

Stream "Mominatrix:"

'So Steady' EP by In Between

By Kevin Toomey
Release date: August 7, 2012
7'': Toxic Pop/Photobooth Records
Rating: 1.5/5

I didn’t know melodic hardcore was still a thing in 2012. Apparently it is and Baltimore’s In Between are championing its survival or rebirth or whatever stage that scene is in right now. The five songs on their second 7” So Steady are pretty run of the mill mid-2000s pop punk, for lack of a better term, taking cues from bands like Lifetime and Texas is the Reason. There’s nothing groundbreaking on So Steady which isn’t a bad thing, but I’ve heard this band 100 times before and it’s not something I think there’s a huge demand for right now. Musically speaking, the five of them are decent, with the standout being the vocalist who has definitely found his voice since their 2011 demo. The other member that really stuck out to me was the drummer. His annoying, flapping double-bass style really overpowers the melodic aspect of the music. The drumming overwhelms each song and makes it hard to focus on anything else. It sounds like someone repeatedly hitting a shoe against a brick wall and it doesn’t help that it accentuates the handful of times that the band doesn’t seem to be in time with each other at all. Hopefully that’s just a production issue and not a band issue, but there is a spot or two that sounds off time in every song. I’d pass on So Steady unless you’re a really big fan of the genre.

Stream the EP:

'American Despair b/w The Coming' by Run Down

By Jason Duarte
Release date: July 25, 2012
7'': Firestarter Records
Rating: 3.5/5

Run Down recorded this two-song 7'' in 2007 and since then, the band adopted a new moniker - Voight-Kampff. "American Despair" is a classic-style punk tune with hints of haunting surf influence reminiscent of the Dead Kennedys, but it embodies the darkness of Rudimentary Peni and nihilistic lyrical tendencies of Pegboy as well.

After a minute-long creeping intro, much like a less melodic "Smash It Up Pt. 1" (The Damned), "The Coming" reveals its meaty innards as a faster, early-style hardcore tune by way of Black Flag. I would recommend this 7'' if you're a fan of any of the aforementioned bands. Not many go for this sound in punk rock world 2k12, though Night Birds and Culo are two current bands that share it. These two very well-written songs are a refreshing throwback and the only bummer is that it's a posthumous release.

This piece of wax is limited to 300 copies on white vinyl via Firestarter Records.

Listen for yourself:

'Hollow Earth' by Black Wine

By Jason Duarte
Release date: July 3, 2012
LP: Don Giovanni Records
Rating: 5/5

Black Wine, hailing from the Matawan, NJ area, released its third full-length, Hollow Earth, earlier month via Don Giovanni Records.
On Hollow Earth, the band continues to take steps outside its comfort zone, thus maturing its sound. The band's haunting and sometimes eerie tones linger in songs like "Blurry" and "Naysayer." Singer/guitarist Jeff Schroeck (The Ergs!/The Hamiltons) and Miranda Taylor (Full of Fancy/Hunchback/Noun) offer four songs each, while Jay Nixon (Hunchback/Psyched To Die) offers two.

Black Wine instills an inquisitive mentality on its listeners. The concept of Hollow Earth deals much with perception and how we relate to each other and everything around us.
"The architect has plans/His bricks and expression/Tricks are paint to the magician/I am always searchin' for an alteration or a clever iteration," Schroeck sings on "Heavy Veil."
I highly recommend Hollow Earth not just because the lyrics and music top everything they've ever done as a band, but the minds behind it weave some of the best sonic tapestries I've ever heard. Listen hard enough and you might look inside yourself and around you in a different way.

Hollow Earth, as well as the rest of Black Wine's catalog, is available here.
Stream Hollow Earth below:

Black Wine playing "Burlap" at Township in Chicago on 7/1/12:

Black Wine playing "Flatland" at the Empty Bottle in Chicago, on 6/30/12:

Black Wine's music video for "Burlap:"

'Missing Link' 7'' by Sore Subjects

By Kevin Toomey
Release date: April 14, 2012
7'': Surfin' Ki Records
Rating: 4/5


Sore Subjects is back with four new songs on its second 7'', Missing Link, released earlier this year. It’s obvious on Missing Link and from the band's recent live shows, that the Sore Subjects is really finding their own sound and style. The band is playing tighter than ever and somehow managed to pull off an even more lo-fi sound than last year's self-titled 7''. A-side tracks, “Obscene Calls” and “Wearing You Down,” are both reminiscent of the Marked Men and the Busy Signals, and have made their way onto my summer party playlists. The last two songs continue in the same vein, although they lose some of the momentum from the first side. But, this 7'' still good enough to earn 4/5 stars. Purchase the Missing Link 7'' on Sore Subjects' Bandcamp page, and stream it here:

'Days Go By' by The Offspring

By Jerry Cola
Release date: June 26, 2012
CD: Columbia Records
Rating: 1/5


*DISCLAIMER*
[This review was strung together from a thread of Facebook comments].

Here is possibly the worst album of 2012.
It's hilarious how The Offspring is blatantly writing songs already written by other bands. "The Future Is Now" sounds like "Prayer For the Refugee" by Rise Against, "Days Go By" sounds like a pale imitation of Foo Fighters' "Times Like These" and "Turning Into You" sounds like "Ready To Fall" by Rise Against. Then there's all this horrible pop shit like "Bumpin' In My Trunk" and "O.C. Guns" that sound like they could be Weird Al Yankovic-style parodies.
"All I Have Left Is You" is a horrible rock ballad. "Secret Family With You" is also terrible. It's like Dexter Holland (vocals/guitar) keeps trying to outdo himself in writing the worst song ever.
And why the fuck is a re-recording of "Dirty Magic" sandwiched between "O.C. Guns" and "Secret Family With You?" It's like Holland personally wanted to remind people that his band at one point was actually a really good punk band, but now is writing songs that will give you ear-AIDS and insult your intelligence at the same time. Of course the re-recording of "Dirty Magic" has no fucking soul or real emotion behind it like the original did.

Imagine how much better life would be if The Offspring would have stopped making albums after Americana. Then the only embarrassing songs you'd have to deal with would be "Pretty Fly (For a White Guy)" and "Why Don't You Get a Job."

There are really no major redeeming qualities to Days Go By. The songs that aren't blatant ripoffs or terrible pop songs are just average, run-of-the-mill punk rock songs. They're only boosted in musical quality due to the fact that there's so much shit on the album.

Stream Days Go By here. Or don't.

'21st Century Breakroom' by House Boat

By Jason Duarte
Release date: June 1, 2012
LP: Bloated Kat Records
Rating: 5/5

I know what you're thinking: "sweet! Another lyrically self-depreciating batch of House Boat songs in which Grath cries about stuff. I already own that in too many analog formats." Well guess what, buddy?! Never before have you felt sorry for Mr. Madden for 9:25 straight. As in, with no breaks. This isn't the kind of pity you feel for 2 minutes and then it's emotional break time. Oh no. House Boat fucks your heart and fingers your emotions while they're sleeping on this one. Haus Butt is re-paving the pop punk world. It's the 21st century and that means we get pop punk songs longer than the album version of "Free Bird" by Lynyrd Skynyrd now (current pop punk bands, take note).
The incredibly entertaining comic book-style album art accompanies the title track, "21st Century Breakroom." So in case you can't imagine what's going on in the lyrics, you've got cartoon drawings of cum rags, a brain in a cage, a bloody volcano head, the 5-0 and a guy with a basketball for a head smoking a d00b. All of which happen in the song and leave you feeling pretty dirty actually. The album art is a parody of Big Brother & the Holding Company's album art from Cheap Thrills, which was done by Robert Crumb. So that's side A. And it's all right, but side B is where House Boat really shines.
Side B features a song titled, "Suburban Grit;" the best song on the record, in my opinion. In this one, Grath spills his heart about how he gave said heart to a girl (I'm assuming), and she left it on the floor in the basement for a solid century. Then she returns to him (having not aged a day), puts her hand on his and it's ice cold. Nothing triggers empathy, pain and letdown like "Suburban Grit." This song could be the plot of a movie; it's that good.
The LP is available through Servo at Bloated Kat Records here. The MP3s are available from Grath via Bandcamp here. And if you're a cheap son of a bitch, you can still be a House Boat fan by listening to the entire record below.
Read a review of Thorns of Life here.
Read a review/see pics and video of their performance at the Don Giovanni Records Showcase 2012 here.
Read a review of The Delaware Octopus here.

 

Mikey Erg/Alex Kerns 7''

By Jason Duarte

Release date: 2012
7'': Asian Man Records
Rating: 4/5

I love it when two members of two of my favorite bands go head-to-head on a split. In this case, it's Mikey Erg (The Ergs!) and Alex Kerns (Lemuria) joining forces with Asian Man Records, and they created one of the most cohesive splits I've ever heard. Plus, both tracks by both dudes are full-band, by the way, so it's not any of that hippie-dippy, namby-pamby flower business (just kidding, hippies (not really)).
On his side, Mikey Erg first re-recorded "Song Against Ian Raymond" in an electric, full-band fashion. It's much more well-rounded-sounding than the original recording (off 42,069 Seconds With...Ergquist by Ergquist). He told me the song is about three years old, so I'm super glad it's seeing the light of day in a shiny, new way. Mikey Erg also covered "Flower Tattoo" by Down By Law. That's Down By Law's best song in my opinion, and his homage is quite enjoyable. He sings and plays all the instruments on his half, which clocks in at just over three and a half minutes.
Alex Kerns contributes two originals; "Responsibility of the Doll" and "Criminal To Be Alone." I dig Kerns' unconventional-yet-strangely-catchy songwriting technique. The intro to "Responsibility of the Doll" is just over a minute long and then suddenly it switches into the song. As a big fan of Kerns' past solo material, this 7'' shows how he's progressed on his own since the release of his demo his self-released Art of the Underground 7''. "Criminal To Be Alone" is faster and sounds more like a Lemuria track than a solo one.
Both songs by both guys are fun ones. This is a great release, and I think it'll be especially enjoyed if you're already an Ergs! or Lemuria fan.

'Gates of Home' by Sick Sick Birds

By Jason Duarte

3/31/2012

LP: Toxic Pop Records

Rating: 4/5

If you're reading this, chances are you're familiar with the annual Insubordination Fest in Baltimore and if you've been, you've probably eaten Sick Sick Burgers in the alley at some point. My hungry, wandering belly was how I first heard about these guys, and now they grace my turntable with their second full-length, Gates of Home.
"Pick and Choose" is a strong opener. Immediately, there's recognizable influence by Joe Strummer. The song is particularly catchy, and sticks out like a sore thumb on the album as one of its best tracks.
A little deeper into the album, "Marietta" speeds its vibe. It's reminiscent of early Cure songs (as is the bass line of "New Shoe Leather"), particularly when it comes to the clean bass and vocal tracks.
Sick Sick Birds take the melancholy, slightly-gothy and progressive characteristics of bands like The Cure and The Smiths and add a punk rock/garage touch, making something new.
The songs on this album tease the listener a bit, keeping the vibe steady and bringing it up in the chorus with catchy leads, but they don't let it go on too long, thus creating an awesome ebb and flow effect.
This is a strong album that brings new stuff to the scene, and I can feel it's already rooting itself into "Best of 2012" lists.

Stream Gates of Home:    

Review: Lipreader/Brick Mower @ Township, 4/17/12

By Jason Duarte

Nothing breaks up the work week like a weeknight show. Tuesday night, Lipreader, The Please & Thank Yous and Meat Wave joined forces with New Brunswick, NJ's Brick Mower, for a fun night of pop punk tuneage.

This was my first introduction to Meat Wave, which features local recording dude, Joe Gac. Their drummer was mesmerizing, and their hooks were memorable. The vocals and guitar reminded me of the Marked Men, but more electrified and gritty.

The Please & Thank Yous played next and belted out some new songs. According to singer/guitarist Geoffrey Schott, there's a finished new record, so keep your eyes peeled for that. Those dudes are always a good time live.
Brick Mower took the stage next, and killed it. They too, played some new songs, and existing favorites such as "Slow Too Fast." They were selling a tour-exclusive demo tape limited to 30, which has three of my new favorite Brick Mower songs. Much love was shown and their Chicago fanbase grew that night - just in time for their return on June 30 with Black Wine.

Lipreader closed out the night, playing songs off their Broken Heart Attack 7'' and some others I hadn't heard before. It's always cool seeing a drummer who's also the lead singer. The Ergs!, Phil Collins/Genesis come to mind. And The Eagles. And Black Wine actually. They played a solid set to their hometown friends and fans, and when the music was done, everyone was hanging out and mingling; buying merch, shaking hands and drinking beers. A damn good way to throw some fun into the workweek. Plus, BRICK MOWER SLUMBER PARTY!

Here's a dark video I shot of "Slow Too Fast," the last song of Brick Mower's set Tuesday night. Enjoy!

Matt Skiba and the Sekrets announces summer tour

Looks like Matt Skiba and the Sekrets is kicking off its first tour on June 7 in Chicago at the Metro in support of its brand new debut album Babylon, out on Superball Records May 8.

June 7, 2012 Chicago, IL Metro

June 8, 2012 Cleveland Heights, OH Grog Shop

June 9, 2012 Philadelphia, PA Theatre of the Living Arts

June 10, 2012 Washington, DC The Black Cat

June 12, 2012 Cambridge, MA Middle East

June 13, 2012 Brooklyn, NY The Bell House

June 20, 2012 San Francisco, CA Bottom of the Hill

June 22, 2012 West Hollywood, CA Troubadour

June 23, 2012 San Diego, CA House of Blues

June 24, 2012 Pomona, CA The Glass House

Presale tickets can be purchased through Front Gate Tickets here.

Listen to "All Fall Down" and "Voices" off Babylon.

Review: Screaming Females @ Subterranean, Thursday, 4/12/2012

By Jason Duarte

Originally published by Gaper's Block

New Brunswick, NJ's Screaming Females are not just another three-piece punk band. It would be unfair and inaccurate to pigeonhole their sound as simply punk, garage or indie because it's all too vague. If you threw indie, garage, punk, noise, pop and a dash of darkness into a blender and set it to high, walked out of the kitchen, forgot about the blender, then came back an hour later, you'd come back to a huge mess, blended to perfection. Soak it up, wring it into a glass, introduce some radiation from your microwave and then you have Screaming Females.

Screamales, as the band's fans refer to them, played the Subterranean in Wicker Park Thursday night in support of its new fifth studio full length; the Steve Albini-engineeredUgly, out on Don Giovanni Records. Screaming Females' vocalist/guitarist Marissa Paternoster has a voice that carries the Riot Grrl torch. It isn't "pretty;" actually, it's quite an acquired taste, but once the taste graces the palate, a Screamales song to a fan is the bell to Pavlov's dog.

The Females played fan favorites like "Laura and Marty" and the ever-melodic, "I Don't Mind It" off its 2010 full length, Castle Talk. Paternoster's patented screaming plays a more dominant role on the Screamales' earlier songs like "Theme Song" or "The Real Mothers" off What If Someone Is Watching Their T.V.? To watch her transition from singing to screaming is to watch Lon Chaney Jr. turn into the Wolfman just for a few seconds before turning back. It appears she unhinges her jaw and flips a switch into her alter ego, engulfing the microphone with her mouth and letting loose a barrage of sound, bellowing from the depths of some seemingly faraway hollow place.

The Screamales added some new ones to their set; their first single and the first track on Ugly, "It All Means Nothing" as well as "Rotten Apples," which much of the crowd already knew. Fans were eagerly pogo-ing, singing along to Paternoster's urgent lyrics and moving their bodies to her gritty guitar solos, which were orchestrated well with bassist Mike Abbate's driving, progressive bass chords. The Screamales inspired camaraderie between fans last night. The total stranger next to me who was losing his mind noticed I knew the words to some tunes, so he proceeded to grab my shoulder several times throughout the set as if to say, "How about that one!?"

The band had an interesting stage presence — Paternoster is short and fiesty-looking, whereas Abbate is tall, silent and has a gentle demeanor, and drummer Jarrett Dougherty falls somewhere between the two, and always wears what looks like a Polynesian kukui nut necklace. The band isn't one for stage banter and when Paternoster does speak, she sounds apathetic and complacent — but in a cool way. She'll say, "Here's another song." A female audience member yelled, "Marissa, my boyfriend loves you!" to which Marissa, looking unimpressed replied, "That's nice." The flattery kept coming, which seemed to make things just a little awkward, since it wasn't reciprocated. They blazed through some more tunes before closing the night strong and without an encore.

Teenage Bottlerocket to release 'Freak Out!' July 3 via Fat Wreck Chords

By Jason Duarte

Holy shit! It's been a few years since Teenage Bottlerocket's last full-length, 2009's They Came From the Shadows. On that record, TBR seemed to be moving in a more skate-punk/thrash-fueled direction. Judging by the title and song names of this new album, it looks like they're moving even futher in it.

Being a friend and fan of this band since 2005, I couldn't be more excited for this release. The dudes have come a long way in their 10 years of being a band and I can't wait to see what the future holds for Kody, Miggy, Brandon and Ray with this one. Here's something you may not know about this record: "Headbanger" was written by Kody and Brandon's previous band called Sack. Listen to it here. They've been throwing it into their live set for years now, so I'm stoked they're re-recording it as a TBR song.
As a matter of fact, they're shooting a video for it at Brandon's house in Ft. Collins tonight at 5 p.m. So show up if you're in the area dressed as a metalhead and be in the upcoming TBR video, dummy!

"Punk House of Horror" and "Mutilate Me" were released last year via Fat Wreck on the Mutilate Me 7''. I doubt the band would re-record them, but who knows. As far as I know, the rest of the tracks are brand new.

This is what bassist Miggy Chen has to say;
"Friends! We are beyond excited to announce our new full length, Freak Out! The record comes out in July on Fat Wreck Chords and we can't wait for everyone to hear it! These songs are some of our favorites we've ever done. We recorded it at the Blasting Room with out longtime friend and engineer Andrew Berlin and we're stoked on how everything turned out. It's been over 10 years since Teenage Bottlerocket began and a lot of amazing things have happened since then. We are so grateful to everyone who has helped make our life so awesome and we hope you enjoy the record as much as we enjoyed making it!!"

Here's a studio update from drummer Brandon Carlisle, originally posted April 4:

Track listing:

1. Freak Out!

2. Headbanger

3. Cruising For Chicks

4. Necronomicon

5. Maverick

6. Done With Love

7. Punk House of Horror

8. Never Gonna Tell You

9. In the Pit

10. Mutilate Me

11. Who Killed Sensei?

12. Radical

13. Summertime

14. Go With the Flow

Dan Vapid & the Cheats release S/T album

Dan Vapid & the Cheats made its self-released debut S/T full-length available yesterday. All 15 songs are originals by lead singer/guitarist Dan Schafer. The album was recorded in October 2011 by Justin Perkins at Mystery Room Studios in Milwaukee, WI.

The Cheats pressed up 1,000 copies of its album on CD, and are selling a limited-to-100 bundle, which includes an autographed copy of the CD, an instant download, a T-shirt and buttons, for $25 ppd. The six-panel jewel case is cool too, and includes full lyrics and more art.

Stream the album right down below, and if you like it, buy it here. The official release date of the album will be April 9.

The Cheats will be playing its record release show May 5 at Chicago's Cobra Lounge. Door time, opening bands and cover charge are all TBA.

Wax Nostalgic #3: Nirvana - 'Saturday Night Live' bootleg 7''

By Jason Duarte

Artist: Nirvana

Title: Saturday Night Live

Inches: 7

Label: Unknown

Pressing: Unknown (Possibly/500)

Color: Swirly grey

Release date: Unknown

I don't own much bootleg vinyl (if any besides this one), but I couldn't pass this up when I saw it.
It was September 2009 and I was on tour with my old band, The Kobanes, in Japan. We were trekking around Hiroshima for the day and visited Dumb! Records - one of the labels (also a record store) that co-released our album (the other label being Fixing a Hole Records).
I'd already had the way common "Sliver" b/w "Dive" 7'' by Nirvana and thought this bootleg would be a nice addition to my budding Nirvana collection. It was 500 yen, which translates to about $6 USD. I picked this up with some other records (The Riverdales' S/T album, The Damned's Music For Pleasure, etc.) and neatly put them in my rolling suitcase.

I remember it was awesome hanging with Nass (owner of Dumb! Records/drummer for So-Cho Pistons) and his girlfriend in the store. It was a small store with beer on tap and bottles of soda for sale. They had a pretty decent selection of vinyl, and a lot of CDs. They also had a Johnny Ramone signature guitar hanging on the wall, a signed Teenage Bottlerocket/Ergs! 7'', and other fun punk memorabilia. It also humbled me to see our CD, Japan Invasion, on display above the CD section.

This 7'' features live versions of "Rape Me" and "Heart-Shaped Box." As you can see, the vinyl has blank labels, and was pressed on black, and a swirly grey (shown) color of vinyl. I did a little research and found the date of the Saturday Night Live episode where the tracks were recorded for this 7'' was September 25, 1993.

Fun fact #1 - in 1993, Kurt Cobain called Pat Smear of The Germs, and asked if he'd be Nirvana's second guitarist. Pat thought it was a joke his friend Carlos Nunez was playing on him, but it wasn't. He accepted, and September 25, 1993 - this same SNL performance, was the first time Pat performed with Nirvana on second guitar (see links from the show above). He played with Nirvana till Cobain's death in 1994. That, to me, makes this 7'' go from pretty cool to incredible, and I'm fairly certain that's the reason it was bootlegged in the first place. As far as the pressing goes, one eBay lister claims there were 500 pressed on grey.

Fun fact #2 - Eric Cobain, Kurt's cousin, did the artwork for our album, Japan Invasion (see below). Holy Nirvana twists and turns, Batman!