LOCAL RECORD STORE ROUNDS

I made the rounds last weekend, getting the new record stocked at Mills Record Company, Sister Anne’s, and Records With Merritt. FM Vintage Sounds picked it up a couple weeks ago.

The risk (or reward) of going to three record stores on a Saturday is…more records. Almost four decades ago, when I wasn’t really shaving and often borrowed my mom’s Camry to hit record stores on the sly, I picked up an Einsturzende Neubauten album that confused the hell out of me. So I gave it to Steve. (This was around the time of the infamous show in Kansas City where Blixa Bargeld sliced his leg open on a piece of sheetmetal on stage. Turns out my pal Sean took him to the hospital). I found this one and it is many years later in their career and quite refined and a beautiful listen. The album art is amazing, too.

The seasons between Husker Du releases in their prime were pretty short but felt long, and I used to try to psychically predict what the album art would be. This never worked but it was fun. Now the archival releases are starting to arrive. This one is the band sounding merely mortal, glimpsing their essential sound at 19 and 20 years old. It’s a little melancholy but will still peel the paint off the walls of your cell and bust the jail doors open.