Yeah we're friends... But sometime friends are dicks

Sometimes I have a knack for falling off topic. I can run completely away from a conversation mid-sentence, and my thought processes urge me to blurt out every bit of nonsensical drivel that pops in my head. Such is the way with this blog really. I started this blog as a way to focus more on the packaging and design of a record, and although I still aim to do that as much as possible I feel I have been a little sidetracked. I had a post lined up from a cool label that gave me some cool (and free) records; but I'll put that off for a quick minute and post about something that really fits the criteria of what this is all about.

Florence and Libby //Kids // We Were Skeletons // Paxton - 4 Way Split - Chumpire Records // Square of Opposition // I Heard You Hate Caskets - 1st Press - Black /500 (Boy Scout Cover Variant /400) 

Well that's a mouthful! 4 bands, 3 record labels. 500 records. Instead of A/B sides, the record has themes to the sides. This is State Side. 

Hand Side // Back Cover. 

This record comes in a screened sleeve with a half-fold back cover. It's pretty neat, and the art is on point. 

Here is the cover laid out in full. The cover contains the name of all contributing bands, the back cover contains the names of the contributing labels. And an image of someone being pushed off a cliff. Chirpy. The cover is screened really thick, and as a result looks really vibrant which doesn't come across too much in the photo. The only downside is a little of the excess print came off on the poly sleeve in transit. No worries though it still looks great!

A Young Scout's Field Guide to Penn's Woods Hardcore. 

Instead of an insert we get this. It's a booklet, laid out to look like a Scout Guide; and contains writing from all of the bands involved. Among the writings are some pretty neat illustrations too. I like the recurring Boy Scout theme here; it gives a feel to the record. It's a good one to walk around to.

I won't post all of the pages, but here's a few. This is the track-listing and shows how the sides split up.

Here is a page contributed by Rafael from We Were Skeletons. He writes about the involvement he's had with Square of Opposition, and about the realities within the label. It goes to show how much bands and labels doing what they love are doing it (most of the time) at great risk and financial loss. In the background there are some fairly mental looking live photos too. House shows and DIY venues are hard to come by in England so I get mad envy at this kind of set-up. 

This last page is mostly about the labels involved with the release, and a shout out to anyone who helped. It seems a bunch of people got involved with this release; and I'm really curious about the Kurt Russell cover /100. Courtlyn Mcpeak handled the art here, and Chris who owns Square of Opposition printed them. Everyone had a job to do, that's cool. 

These are some stickers involved in the package. I believe that they are supposed to represent each contributing band: 

Top Left: Florence and Libby 

Top Right: Kids (Does he look like a bitch?) 

Bottom Left: We Were Skeletons 

Bottom Right: Paxton

These have not been used and stay in the sleeve, as always. 

Left: Square of Opposition flyer with new and upcoming releases. Also included is a weird drawing of some dude. 

Right: Square of Opposition sticker. 

Again these both sit in the sleeve looking important. That's about the only purpose they'll ever serve. 

I bought this LP from SOO as part of a 3LP deal. I think it was this, Literature and Snowing LP's for about $30 shipped. I wanted the other two, and the package deal was cheaper than buying them separately so I grabbed this as a cool extra. But I probably spin this more than the Literature LP, and I definitely think this steals the show in terms of effort and layout. 

Finally, Group Shot. 

That's a bunch of stuff for one LP right? From a design perspective, I think this LP is pretty tough to beat. Heavily DIY, screened cover, a little thinking outside the box. It was cool to get back to what this is all about. I'll do it a little more often!