I really wanted to have the Savage Amused reissue done for this weekend, but due to a miscalculation on my part – how am I supposed to remember that there was a huge national holiday last week with all of these projects going on – the inserts were delayed by a day, so now I will have them Monday. In the mean time, check out this video where Savage Amused members John Bendik and Bill Morris as well as Mind Cure Records’ founder Mike LaVella talk about the band and the Demo cassette, which is soon – very soon – to be a deluxe LP.
Pittsburgh’s EEL Are Going to Shock You Out of Your Thanksgiving Food Coma: The latest installment of the Mind Cure Singles Series is out tomorrow – Saturday November 30th. This months record is from Pittsburgh’s Noise Punk Maniacs EEL. The self proclaimed “Monty Python of Punk who love Japanese Hardcore” are hard to pin down. Drawing heavily from the sounds of now classic bands from The Land of The Rising Sun such as Gauze, G.I.S.M., Zouo and Lip Cream, EEL are also treading into territory that shares borders with Einsturzende Neubauten, Throbbing Gristle and S.P.K.
But forget about all that – with a truly punk-by-any-name-no-rules-allowed-spirit, EEL make songs that make you want to dance the pogo and dance the slam. See what they have to say for themselves here.
After far too long I made it down to Get Hip for a much needed restock. The store is flush with great records from all your favorites – The Wipers, Thee Headcoats, Naked Raygun, The Misfits, The Minutemen, Black Flag, Otis Redding, The Velvet Underground and much more! There is also a nice used LP collection going out today with records from Test Department, Legendary Pink Dots, Psychic TV, Michael Gira and more in the mix – don’t sleep on this one, collections like this don’t come around every day.
Lastly, if you remember over the summer I had begun a video project documenting the Punk scenes of Pittsburgh. That project is currently up for a grant. This grant would really help me to do things like interview and include more people into the project who are not currently living in Pittsburgh by allowing me to pay for transportation expenses and make this an even better movie. If you could check out the trailer for the video here and if you like what you see vote for it on the video page. This is a fantastic grant opportunity for artists working in film and video, please check out the other projects as well and vote for them too if you like what they are doing too – you can vote for as many projects as you like, but you can only vote for each project once.
In any case – there’s lots of things to be excited about around Mind Cure these days so stop on down!
Keep Thrashin!
We are so close to finishing the latest reissue: Savage Amused LPs and jackets are here – all that we need now are the liner notes/inserts and these can be up for sale. However there is a bit of a traffic-jam-of-records going on at Mind Cure and I need to make some room around the shop to fit all of this stuff. On top of several large LP collections that I have bought this week and need to hit the bins I need to clear some shelf space – I am pulling out a lot of stuff that I have been on the fence about keeping for myself and putting it out for sale. Not only are there are a ton of used LPs going out right now – to sweeten the deal I am offering 15% off to all email list subscribers – not an email list subscriber, read on.
All you need to do is either print out this weeks email and bring it in the shop, or just bring it up on your phone when you are at the shop and you will get 15% off of your entire purchase. If you have friends/family who are not currently subscribed to the email list, but would like to get in on this action – if they sign up in the store this weekend they can get the discount on the spot!
This starts right now – Friday and runs until Sunday at closing time (5pm). Hope to see you soon – Keep Thrashin!
A few months in the making and they are finally done: We have teamed up with one of our favorite local designers of printed materials – Poison Apple Printshop – to create the latest Mind Cure shirts. These limited edition shirts are metallic ink prints on black t-shirts. On top of the standard sizes we have expanded into women’s sized shirts by popular demand.
Also if you recall from a few months back we collaborated with another incredibly talented Pittsburgh artist – Ed Piskor – to create Mind Cure skateboard decks. Well, the first installment of Ed’s long awaited book, ‘The Hip Hop Family Tree,’ is finally complete. There will be a book launch party this Saturday – November 9th – at Copacetic Comics, our upstairs neighbor on Dobson Street and Ed we will be selling decks, which Ed will be signing as a part of the event. This will be an awesome evening, for an even more awesome guy so come, hang out and celebrate with Ed.
Also on Saturday there will be a record release show at Gooskis for The Mud City Manglers single of the month. The full details are available here.
My love of the Mud City Manglers is no secret: At this point I have been a die hard fan for over half of my life. The Manglers were one of the first local (Pittsburgh for all you out of towners) bands that grabbed me in this way that I can’t really explain. In a dank basement on Neville St, which smelled like spilled beer and failure, I saw them play a brand of Rock and Roll that was all new to me. It was Punk, but it wasn’t punk. It was Rock, but it wasn’t rock. It was a stripped down, high powered Rock and Roll that moved so fast that it made time stop. I knew right then and there that it was the real thing, and I was hooked. Over 16 years later I still get that same faster than the speed of light while frozen in time feeling when I see the Manglers or even just put on one of their records.
In any case, when I decided to do the Single of the Month series there were a lot of new bands playing in Pittsburgh who I was really excited about working with, but I also realized that this was an opportunity to finally do a record with one my all time favorite bands, so it is with great pleasure and years of fan-boydom that I’m proud to announce the release of the Mud City Manglers Single of the Month this Saturday at Mind Cure. Since I’ve said more than enough, check out this video and let the band explain themselves:
As promised I got some better photos taken of the new Mind Cure scarves, these are going fast, so if you want one act fast. They are $20 in the store $25 shipped in the USA.
and if for some reason you are still reading this and I didn’t loose you in my long winded reminiscences about the Mud City Manglers – here is something that I was shocked to discover that Manglers guitar player Ted Tarka still had – the photos that I took of them when I was a 17 year old aspiring photographer and the envelope that I shoved under Ted’s door at the Forbes Cottages.
Make sure you get one of these singles on Saturday, you won’t be disappointed – Keep Thrashin!
I’m really excited to finally be able to unveil the latest Mind Cure Threads: Over a year in the making these scarves were manufactured by Ruffneck – the premiere manufacturing company for soccer scarves (football? footie? I make for a pretty terrible anglophile so I’ll stick with soccer). It was a little late in the winter season last year when I was admiring a friends St. Pauli scarf and got the bright idea that I should make club scarves of my very own – determined not to let this idea fall by the wayside I grabbed my calendar and marked it with reminder to get these made with enough time to be here for fall. These showed up in early September, but with the unseasonable summer weather we have been having I kept them under wraps until now. I promise that there are better product pictures to come, but I wanted to get these for sale as soon as possible. These are $20 in the store, $25 shipped in the USA. I would act fast because they are selling really fast!
Now on to why we are all really here – the music. There are two new records to tell you all about – the upcoming Single of the Month and the next Mind Cure reissue. Next in line for our monthly singles – this one being the 5th already(!) – is a band who I have loved for (and this is mathematically true) most of my life – The Mud City Manglers. It has been a long time dream to work with the Manglers and their no frills, no bullshit brand of Rock and Roll, and I am very proud of the result – their single is an absolute smoker, so don’t sleep on it. Keep your eyes peeled for their video which will hit the web next week.
In the reissue department the next Mind Cure LP from Savage Amused is almost complete. In the last few weeks I have spent a lot of time listening to the test pressings, the more I listen to this record the more it blows my mind and the more it confuses me. This is one of the least “Pittsburgh Sounding” records that I have heard from Pittsburgh. At one moment sounding like Pushead-approved-insanity in the vein of G.I.S.M., Zouo or GAUZE and in the next it sounds like American standards like The Dead Kennedys or Naked Raygun with out ever missing a beat or sounding mismatched. This a record that has to be heard to be believed. In fact, if you haven’t already check out the remastered opening track of the LP here.
There are also tons of great LPs that have been hitting the bins this week and will continue through the weekend – many from my personal collection, so stop on by. In the mean time have a great weekend and Keep Thrashin!
At 3pm They Will Set Up Shop in Front of Mind Cure: I hope that you will come out and welcome Third Man to Pittsburgh. As they are known to do, these folks are playing their cards a little bit close as to what to expect when they get here, but I am sure that it will be a sight to be seen. So make sure that you are here. If you are unfamiliar with what this store on wheels is all about check out this video from when they rolled it out for SXSW.
That’s not all that’s going on around Mind Cure these days though. This week brought in orders from Ebullition, Mississippi and Light in the Attic with tons of great new releases and restocks. From Ebullition we were able to get copies of the new record from Japanese maniacs Zyanose who’s LP ‘Why There Grieve?’ is total ripper! Also from Ebullition are records from School Jerks, Seven Seconds, Night Birds, Cock Sparrer and more! From Mississippi records came a reissue of material from American punkers Neo Boys as well as wild sounds from farther reaches of the globe – Zebby Tembo and Mammane Sani’s respective LPs are both out there in their own respects. From Light in the Attic came a new deluxe 2LP issue of the Day of the Dead OST, and Death Waltz restocks, just in time for Halloween and more copies of the essential Roky Erickson ‘Evil One’ 2LP, which is pretty damn spooky in it’s own right, so make sure you have that on hand for all your demonic Halloween needs too.
In local music news we have in stock the new LP from long time Pittsburgh saxophonist Ben Opie, ‘Insert Title Here.’ (that really is the title, I didn’t forget to put it in there). These purple marble LPs, housed in hand made sleeves and out of an edition of 269 won’t stick around long, so make sure you get one while you can. This week also brought the LPs of the next Mind Cure reissue from 1985, The Savage Amused. I am incredibly excited to get these records out in the world and wish that I could describe it better than I can, but the sound of this is just too wild to even try – click this link and hear the opening track of this absolute rager of a record. These should be wrapped up shortly so stay tuned for more details! Until then crank this track and keep thrashin!
Take the Day off Work, Get a Babysitter, You Won’t Want to Miss This: Friday the 11th of October from 3-8 Mind Cure will be hosting the Third Man Rolling Record Store. We are really excited to have been selected as a place for them to draw their brakes set up shop, and are just as curious as everyone else to see what they have in store. If you are unfamiliar with this store on wheels or need a little extra persuasion as to why you should be here check out this video:
In the Meantime, we are jam packed with awesome used records, and the $1 bins have been filled up with the left overs form the $1 sale last weekend. There are also orders from Light in the Attic, Ebullition and Mississippi en route to the store so today is as good a day as any to stop by and flip the bins at Mind Cure.
It seemed like next weekend was going to be too hectic for a record release: So we decided to bring September’s Single of the Month out a week early (in case you are not sure what I am talking about, next weekend is the Mind Cure $1 Sale). This month’s record is from Killer of Sheep. The band itself has only been around for a few years, but the members have been mainstays in the Pittsburgh Punk and Hardcore scenes for nearly 30 years. Guitar player Oyo Ellis and Drummer Greg Mairs began playing together in the mid-80s as a part of The Battered Citizens and have played in various bands together and apart since then. They hooked up with vocalist Ollie, and after a slight lineup change, bass player Akay and have solidified into force to be reckoned with. Their original song ‘Pawns’ is backed with their cover of the Pittsburgh Hardcore classic ‘Never Give In’ by Half Life. Check them out in this video where they talk about the band and their record.
There will be an unofficial release show for this record on Friday the 20th at Gooskis – records will not be for sale until midnight, keeping with the Saturday street date. Click here for the complete details.
As I mentioned earlier – next weekend, the 28th, is the 2nd part of the Mind Cure $1 sale. There is a whole storage space that needs to be cleaned out and I am going to be putting a lot of great stuff for a buck, so make sure you stop down. I hope to see you soon, keep thrashin!
The Gotobeds have been busy over the last few weeks: Fresh off the Road and their WFMU debut on the Cherry Blossom Clinic With Terre T, they have been turning heads and perking up ears up and down the East Coast. After several incarnations over the last few years the band has cemented into a solid songwriting unit and are able to pull out live performances that are as chaotic as they are catchy. Featuring Eli and TFP of Kim Phuc fame and the rock solid rhythm section Gavin and Cary, The Gotobeds have really come into their own this year. I’m incredibly excited about this single which pairs their original song ‘Ipso Facto (It’s all Happening)’
with the classic Australian Punk song ‘Television Addict.’
As with the previous singles there is a video that gives some background on The Gotobeds and features some great live footage.
As a reminder these singles are strictly limited to 300 copies and they have been selling fast. June’s Zeitgeist single is nearly gone and last months Carousel single has completely sold out at the store – if you haven’t grabbed one yet you should still be able to get a copy from the band or from their new label Tee Pee Records.
Also as summer draws into in an end it’s getting time to bust out your denim – we got new embroidered patches in the store today so make some room on your jacket or vest and pick one of these up while you can!
As always keep thrashin!
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