New Vinyl from It's Trash! Records

We just got a nice little pile of fresh 7-inches from London, Ont. trashmeisters It's Trash! Records.

It's Trash! put out the Marshmallow Generation 12-inch last year that featured some Guelph and Hamilton bands as well. All killer punk garage stuff!

In store now are:

--It's From London (feat. The Glebes//Chachi on Acid//Disleksick//Excelsior//Don't Touch the Dancers//Bath Salts//Johnny Terrien and the Bad Lieutenants.)
--Noise Pollution EP (feat. Flesh Rag//Jimmy and the Jerks//Get Off the Cop//Noble Savages.)
--Flesh Rag s/t EP
--Punk Floyd EP by Excelsior
--Heart Attack Kids s/t EP
--Terminal Licks s/t EP

25 Holiday Records: 1 : Christmas 1979 by Wild Billy Childish

We're counting down to Christmas Day with a list of 25 records we have in the shop at Royal Cat Records! Why? Because vinyl rules!

Our last record is by a personal fave of Royal Cat and a special surprise:

#1

Christmas 1979

by Wild Billy Childish and the

     Musicians of the British Empire

Damaged Goods Records

DAMGOOD 296

2007

Billy Childish (Milkshakes, Thee Headcoats, Thee Mighty Caesars) is a favourite of ours here at Royal Cat but we had no idea of this record's existence until we were given a copy as an early Christmas prezzy. Billy Childish is the keeper of the Garage Rock flame in the UK and this is a classic garage Xmas LP from that enchanted isle. We only saw Billy once, in Toronto with The Makers back in the mid-90s but he's been going strong since the late-70s.

It seems that no matter what incarnation of his band he is making music with, Childish always returns to the same basic heroes: Link Wray, The Sonics, The Who, and all of the great garage standards. Many of these are referenced on this record, with the tunes lifted from classic tracks, with new punk rock xmas lyrics pasted on top. They all rock. Some nice harmonies. Some nice feedback. Some nice spoken word intros. Perfect!

Merry F***ing Christmas To You All!

Tracklist:

Santa Claus
Christmas Lights
Knick Knack Paddywhack (Chuck It In The Bin)
Father Christmas Is Dressed In Green
A Poundland Christmas
A Quick One (Pete Townsend's Christmas)
Mistletoe
Dear Santa Claus
Comanche (Link Wray's Christmas)
Merry Christmas Fritz
Christmas Hell
Christmas 1979

Check it out:

25 Holiday Records: 2: If I Should Fall From Grace With God by The Pogues

We're counting down to Christmas Day with a list of 25 records we have in the shop at Royal Cat Records! Why? Because vinyl rules!

Our next record only has one Xmas song on it!

#2

If I Should Fall From Grace with God

by The Pogues

Rhino/Warner

1988/2015

So this is the Pogues record with "Fairytale of New York" on it. Not the only reason for buying the record, since it is one of the top 3 Pogues records and a classic of its type, but this is the reason the record is on this list. One of the least sentimental, least seasonal love songs/duets ever, it is still a work of beauty. Very punk, even if it is by a band specializing in a punk take on traditional Irish music. Here's the song!

25 Holiday Records: 11: Christmas Songs by Bad Religion

We're counting down to Christmas Day with a list of 25 records we have in the shop at Royal Cat Records! Why? Because vinyl rules!

Our next record is a modern punk rock Xmas tribute!

#11

Christmas Songs
by Bad Religion
Epitaph

Kudos to this band for tackling some VERY traditional yuletide carols on this record. We never really thought about it before, but the whole punk thing seems kind of at odds with tradition and history in a way. At least, that's how punk situated itself back in the 70s and early 80s. By the time Bad Religion got around to recording this, punk had become pretty mainstream, more of an "alternative lifestyle" than a transgressive art movement or DIY challenge to the status quo of the music industry. Formed in 1980, Bad Religion were part of that first wave of U.S. west coast punk, so nowadays they are something like the elder statesmen of the music. Their music hasn't changed much in all that time and they sort of represent to us what Jello Biafra once called the "fonzie punks" --those frozen in time punks who think the music should look and sound the same way, always.

That's not to say we can't appreciate what Bad Religion does. At Royal Cat we like to bob our heads along and slam dance to "traditional" punk just as much as the next old geezer. And why shouldn't practitioners of this lifestyle have holiday music to share with their kids while they wait for the tattooed and pierced Punk Santa Claus to shred down the chimney on his skateboard? So it only makes sense that even crusty old punkers should have an xmas record like this for themselves. For many years, most of the punkers we knew were so anti-establishment that they wouldn't even admit to liking the holidays one little bit. If you pressed them, they would maybe admit that The Pogues' "Fairytale of New York" or Miles Davis' "Blue Xmas" or The Fall's "No Xmas for John Keys" or some other songs about drunks and junkies and capitalism were the only Christmas songs they liked. Now we have this, which is just as bland and background-y as most other offerings of the genre.

So why did this get made? No big deal, the band was just nostalgic for Christmas and thought they could sell some units. According to The Village Voice, lead singer Greg Graffin is a former choirboy: "I remember fun singing events," Graffin says of his childhood performances. "It wasn't about a religious feeling or celebrating a sacred time. It was just really fun performing these songs."

It's a pretty boring record. Inoffensive. All the songs sound the same. Most of them are actually religious. Two have angels in the title and several mention Jesus. They sound very earnest! The presentation is pretty straight-ahead super-fast punk. The band just blows through these, like a cartoonish marching band on speed. But the whole thing is kind of awkward. The machine-gun drums only make sense on "Little Drummer Boy," for instance. The boys do some nice "ah"-ing backing vocals on "What Child is This" and a couple of others. There are some lame guitar solos. Mostly by-the-numbers, highly-polished run throughs (the band is tight). The only standout is the band's original composition, "American Jesus," which is kind of a political, anti-consumerist rant.

Track List:

Hark! The Herald Angels Sing
O Come All Ye Faithful
O Come, O Come Emmanuel
White Christmas
Little Drummer Boy
God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen
What Child Is This?
Angels We Have Heard On High
American Jesus (Andy Wallace Mix)

We've got it on vinyl in the shop!


Check it out:


 

NOW IN STOCK CUPCAKE DUCTAPE "GET OVER IT" EP

New at Royal Cat Records in Guelph:

Cupcake Ductape
"Get Over It" EP
limited edition cassette

We are super-excited to have copies for sale of this debut EP from the coolest new punk rockers on the scene! Cupcake Ductape make short, sweet, and mean music and they don't care if you like it or not! The band is comprised of Steph Yates (Esther Grey) and Alanna Gurr (Alanna Gurr and the Greatest State) and they are the queens of "sparkle punk."

Check them out on bandcamp or watch this video:

New Release: Work by Bullshit Hardcore Band

 Just got some of these beauties in the shop! 

  "Work" 
12-inch 45rpm vinyl 

Clear lathe-cut polycarbonate records by Peter King in New Zealand in an edition of 30 

with wood-cut print covers by GB and xerox'ed insert/lyric sheet

( Includes unlimited streaming of work via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.)

  "Work" - by The Bullshit Hardcore Band 

 Work Part 1 is a cut-up edit of various 4-track cassette demos and rehearsal recordings made in Spring 2014 by the BSHC that was subsequently stitched together via Audacity freeware. 

 Work Part 2 was spontaneously composed and recorded by the BSHC also in Spring 2014.

The Bullshit Hardcore band is GB on guitars and vocals, and Lee Shatwater on vocals and drums. 

bandcamp 

 Also available: "super-weirdo limited 78rpm" 

homemade lathe of the FTP EP carved onto an old videodisc!!!!! 

bandcamp



"Pummeling, experimental hardcore from two greying Southern Ontario punks. BSHC harkens back to the ferocity and breakneck speed of ‘80s hardcore greats, while embodying something that disavows any real comparison. This is classic, abrasive, and intelligent music from a couple of dudes who know how to instill something with true punk spirit while pushing things forward and sounding like nothing else. A galloping wall of noise with something to say."

  --Kazoo! Fest review

It's the Prog Rock-pocalypse!!!!

It's the Prog Rockpocalypse!

Just got a big collection of 60s-70s-80s rock with tons of prog stuff in the shop. Also some punk and oddball stuff.
Full list:

Adicts, Songs of Praise Alan Parsons Project, Eye in the Sky
Arlo Guthrie, Alice's Restaurant
Bauhaus, Bela Lugosi's Dead EP
Bauhaus, 4AD EP
Bob Marley, Legend
Buckingham Nicks, s/t
Cat Stevens, Foreigner
Cat Stevens, Matthew and Sons
Cat Stevens, Numbers
Cat Stevens, Izitso
Cat Stevens, Back to Earth

CCR, Best K-Tel
CCR, Greatest Hits 3LP
David Bowie, Heroes
David Bowie, Peter and the Wolf
Deep Purple, Stormbringer
Deep Purple, DP in Rock
Deep Purple, Book of Taliesyn
Dire Straits, Love Over Gold
Emerson Lake and Palmer, Best of ELP
Eric Clapton, Slow Hand
Forgotten Rebels, In Love With the System
Genesis, Rock Roots
Genesis, Lamb Lies Down on Broadway
Genesis, Seconds Out
Genesis, Foxtrot
Gentle Giant, Octopus
Gentle Giant, Power and the Glory
Iggy and the Stooges, Raw Power
Iron Butterfly, Scorching Beauty
Jeff Beck, Wired
Jethro Tull, Thick as a Brick
John Williams, Star Wars soundtrack
Jon and Vangelis, Friends of Mr. Cairo
Jon and Vangelis, Short Stories
Judas Priest, Sin After Sin
King Crimson, Starless and Bible Black
King Crimson, In the Court of the Crimson King
Kinks, Golden Hour
Kinks, One For the Road
Leonard Rosenman, Lord of the Rings soundtrack
Mike Oldfield, Airborn
Mike Oldfield, Tubular Bells
Mott the Hoople, Rock and Roll Queen
Mungo Jerry, In the Summertime
Municipal Waste/Crucial Unit split LP
Neil Young, Harvest
Pink Floyd, Wish You Were Here
Pink Floyd, Piper at the Gates of Dawn
Pink Floyd, Dark Side of the Moon
Rolling Stones, Some Girls
S-Haters, Come
Sisters of Mercy, First and Last and Always
Stomu Yamash'ta, Henze/Takemitsu/Maxwell Davis
Stray Cats, Built for Speed
Strawbs, Burning for You
Strwabs, Deep Cuts
Supertramp, s/t
Tomita, Greatest Hits
U.K., s/t
Velvet Underground, MGM Special
Walter Carlos, Clockwork Orange soundtrack
Who, Magic Bus/My Generation 2LP
Who, Who's Next?
Who, Quadrophenia
Yes, Shows
Yes, Drama
Yes, Tormato
Yes, Relayer

Start Something 7" Now in Stock

Hey, we've got copies of the debut 7" from local punksters Start Something. The Hard Times slab was put out by Mammoth Cave Records and features front and back sleeve art by the great Marc Bell!

Start Something is made up of three lifelong friends (Ryan Master, Todd Dunster and Mike Deane) who have been playing in bands together, off and on, for nearly two decades. Growing up together in the country and then moving elsewhere, this Guelph-based trio reconnected at the beginning of 2013 with the goal of making music that would be as simple and fun as playing in a high school punk band. Inspired by the aggression, intensity and melody of classics like Husker Du and Mission of Burma, and contemporaries like Royal Headache, Start Something are making no-nonsense pop post punk, stripping out anything superfluous and focusing on jamming econo. Though the melodies and structures can recall lighter fare, the lyrical focus is serious: investigating problems and issues that inspire and disgust you, and trying to personally figure out how life changes and what, if anything, it means.

Metal Mayhem: New Vintage Arrivals

Yikes! We just got a totally gnarly collection of 80s punk and metal records in the shop. Some rare gems in this pile!

Abattoir, Vicious Attack (Banzai 1944)
Anti-Nowhere League, Long Live the League
Bathory, s/t (Banzai)
Carnivore, Carnivore s/t (Attic/Roadrunner)
Carnivore, Retaliation (Roadrunner)
Cronos, Dancing in the Fire (Neat 1048)
Cockney Rejects, Greatest Hits Vol II
Dramatis, For Future Reference
GBH, City Baby Attacked by Rats
GBH, City Babys Revenge: 101 Ways to Kill a Rat
GBH, Midnight Madness and Beyond
GBH, No Need to Panic
GWAR, Hell-o (Shimmy-Disc)
Iron Maiden, Can I Play With Madness ep
Iron Maiden, Women in Uniform ep
KISS, Music From "The Elder"
Mantas, Deceiver EP (Neat 6012)
Mantas, Winds of Change (Neat/Roadrunner)
Merciful Fate, Don't Break the Oath (Roadrunner)
Motlley Crue, Helter Skelter picture disc
Running Wild, Branded and Exiled (Banzai BRC 1958)
Running Wild, Gates to Purgatory (Viper/Attic VPR 105)
Toxic Reasons, Within These Walls
Venom, Black Metal (Banzai)
Venom, Calm Before the Storm (Filmtrax Moment 115)
Venom, Eine Kleine Nachtmusik (Neat 1032)
Venom, From Hell to the Unknown (2LP Raw 001)
Venom, Hell At Hammersmith ep
Venom, Live Official Bootleg (APK 12)
Venom, Possessed (Banzai)
Venom, Prime Evil (Under One Flag)
Venom, Welcome to Hell (Neat 1002)
Venom, Tear Your Soul Apart (MFLAG 50)
Venom, Manitou b/w Woman (devil's head picture disc single)
Warfare, Pure Filth (BRC 1923)
Warfare, Metal Anarchy (Neat 1029)
WASP, s/t
WASP, The Last Command
WASP, Inside the Electric Circus
WASP, I Don't Need No Doctor live ep
Wendy O Williams / Plasmatics, Beyond the Valley of 1984 (PVC 8929)
Wendy O Williams / Plasmatics, Maggots
Wendy O Williams, s/t (picture disc Music For Nations/Passport Records MFNP 24)

-----
Various, The Return of the Living Dead (Original Soundtrack)

Spotlight Pick: Average Times is Great Garage Punk from Ottawa

New in the shop is this self-titled debut record by Average Times, a great garage punk outfit from Ottawa. Released by Toronto's Hosehead Records. You can see a video of the band on the label's site.

New Arrivals: Feb 24

New

Adele, 21
Misfits, s/t
Misfits, Collection II
Leonard Cohen, Songs of Leonard Cohen
Lana Del Rey, Born to Die
Richard Hell and the Voidoids, Blank Generation (180gram)

Used

Santana x 3
Troggs, Greatest Hits
Bob Dylan, John Wesley Harding (180gram)