It's been a little while. Sorry about that; life has been pretty hectic. But I got something I had to write about, so I'll make the time. The wording may be a little rushed, the photography may be a little worse, but it'll all be there.
A couple of days ago I went to see Nothing at the Oobleck in Birmingham. As it stands, it's a two way toss up for my favourite show of the year, and Guilty of Everything is in a two way toss up for my favourite LP of the year. Fancy that.
At the merch stand, they had this (and a couple of other things that I picked up - not vinyl related // not important) which I wanted to get on release, but held out on the hopes of it being available on the night. I also got it signed, with some minor cover adjustments.
Whirr // Nothing - Split - Run For Cover Records - 1st Press - Pink /1000 (w/ Etched B-Side).
First up, lets look at the cover. I first asked Nicky (singer) to sign this. 'Straight on the cover?', and about 5 seconds later I had an LP being passed round the band to be signed, after he'd slammed a massive dick on the cover. No regrets at all; it shows underneath that these dudes have a great sense of humour. I've never seen a bunch of guys so happy, and they were all super friendly. Also, it's a nice little reminder of the night.
On to the inside of the gate-fold. Yup it's completely blank. I get the funny side of it now.
As a cool extra though, there's a 'Making of ' DVD that follows the two bands through a 3 day bender at Studio 4 with Will Yip. It's mostly footage of Nick Bassett (Bassist in Nothing and Guitarist in Whirr) fucking about in the control room and Brandon shotgunning beers. I'll watch it again a few times I'm sure.
Back cover.
The tracks are all piled on to one side which makes way for an etching on the other. Whirr kick off the split, and both bands do two tracks each, as you can see from the track-listing. RFC logo in the middle. I'm sure the Mixed Singles stuff that RFC does (and maybe some of the splits too) has a similar layout. Main photo in the background and the text is separated the same. I'm pretty sure, but not certain.
Insert.
Single sheet, two sided full colour insert. This is a photo of Nicky from Nothing, with about 2/3 of a Strat in his hands. It's probably not the first time it's happened. If you scroll through the Nothing tumblr, you can see some photos from the same gig. The same photo is used as the DVD central design.
Insert.
This thing is well laid out and easy to follow. Lyrics to the two Whirr tracks, lyrics to the two Nothing tracks. In the middle are the credits. I believe Loren Rivera has something to do with Whirr (maybe the old vocalist), and she handles all the photography for this split.
Spine View.
RFC: 109
On to the LP.
There is a bunch of White mixed into this Pink variant, and that's cool. RFC are always on top of their game with the colours. The centre label is a little weird, but it works. I have no idea who the baby is mind.
B-Side.
The etching is a take on the Nirvana 'Smiley' logo. Whirrvana. I do like the inclusion of the Whirr and Nothing logo as the eyes, and I'm sure this logo has been used before for a tour or something? As a quirky side note, I believe Brandon from Nothing has a Nirvana tattoo.
Finally. stickered sleeve.
I'm sure I've said this before, but I do love a sticker on the poly-sleeve. Which is funny considering I get miffed at stickered shrink wrap. This kind of tells you everything you need to know about the record too, which is helpful.
As a parting note. These are some truly incredible songs from both bands. Probably their strongest to date. These are my favourite Whirr tracks, and Nothing never let me down. Will Yip did a great job on making it sound right, and his work over the last few years has been mad consistent. Finally, RFC may be the strongest label for me this year, I think I've picked up around 2/3's of their 2014 output, which doesn't happen for me too often. Especially considering it's an overseas label. Beyond chuffed with everything about this release.
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