The Pooh Sticks Featuring Alan Pt. 1

As the year comes to a close, I suddenly got the feeling to do another post or two. Not for anything other than the fact that I received a box set that I felt was worth reviving this thing for. Following the 'On Tape' 7'' re-release from Optic Nerve, the label decided to go all out and do a reissue of the Pooh Sticks box set; with a twist on the original press. The reissue comes with a fun book and coloured vinyl and a bunch of B-Sides that the original press sacrificed in favour of etched B-Sides. 

But somehow I'm not posting about that today. In fact, the record I'm posting about doesn't even belong to me (although I really wish it did!). 

The Pooh Sticks - The Pooh Sticks - 1st Press - Fierce Recordings 021-025 - 5 x 7'' Box Set (Unknown quantity but assuming somewhere in the 100 -200 mark - maybe Alan knows?) 

So as I pull the reissue out and photograph it, you'll see some of the differences, but for now we have this one. All of the centre labels and the boxes were doodled on by hand, presumably by the band or label. Maybe a Hue Pooh solo job, who knows? 

The history of this band fascinate me, and over the last year I've slowly grabbed more and more releases from them. This photo is pretty incredible, and perfectly sums up the cool slacker twee indie vibe this band capture so well. 

POOH in big letters for the back of the box. I'm not sure if all of them had this on the back, but the reissue has a different design for sure. 

The whole contents of the box laid out, with a variation of A and B sides to show off the doodling. The A-Sides had track titles and on the B -Sides some squiggling. 

Here is a close up of some of the etchings. Etched B-Sides were a common theme in the early Pooh Sticks releases and there'll be a few more of them shown in this blog before too long. 

The insert contains a track - listing, band personnel, a fun anecdote on their trip to New York City (I'm sure the full story has tales of love, hidden club spots, a flat burning down, hanging out in Rick Rubin's apartment and some band getting upset over a false billing - but the history is out there to read I'm sure). 

The final thing I'll add here is why I'm writing about a record that doesn't even belong to me, and why I'm going to head down a Pooh Sticks rabbit hole for a few releases whether anyone likes them or not... 

I met Alan through an old friend years ago, and I'm sure that a massive percentage of my collection is through him. He has released music from my band on his label (Different Kitchen Records) and he has welcomed me in to his house for coffee and a deep dive in to his collection many times. In fact, I don't think I've ever ordered online from him; I just head to Different Kitchen HQ and that won't likely ever change. 

There's a history to these records, that I feel goes unnoticed unless you were there at the time, and I get to live vicariously through him. This box set came out before I was even born, but Alan seems to remember where he was when it came out, the store he got it from and the letters he received from the band. In fact, I've seen the letters from the band and they're pretty special! They provide a timeline to him, where he was, who he was dating and even down to him finding an old T-Shirt from the era with the classic cover art on the front. 

This box set has sold for as high as £250 on Discogs, and grabbing an original press is about as likely as grabbing a shirt from the time. But the next best thing is to hold one in my hands, hear the history of it all and be able to capture a moment in time and romanticise it a little. It makes hearing the songs that more special to me. 

The next few posts are about The Pooh Sticks, so I apologise if you're not a fan. But even if you're not, these DIY releases with their hand embellished packaging and short run pressings are just as fun as any punk record. So what's the harm right?

Pinwheel Wicca Phase

As a precursor to the release of the new Wicca Phase Springs Eternal release 'Suffer On' (due out via Run For Cover records in February 2019 (I have preordered and hopefully i'll get around to posting about it); RFC also reissued previous LP 'Secret Boy' in August of this year. 

Wicca Phase Springs Eternal - Secret Boy - Run For Cover Records / Dark Medicine - 1st Press - Hot Pink / White Pinwheel /200 (RFC Store Exclusive Variant) 

This LP was originally released by Disposition Collective in 2016. The label also put out a WPSE 7'' and a split 7'' featuring Spur and Jake Clarke from Superheaven in 2017. But since then they have become quiet/ inactive sadly. 

This pinwheel variant is pretty stunning and definitely the best example of this kind of colour split I own. The new album comes on a black/ gold version of this pinwheel effect too. 

Single sheet insert with all the production credits listed and a photo on the reverse that you can see below. 

This record flows way better than I remember it doing before I bought a  physical version. I let the first press really pass me by, probably because ordering overseas is a massive hassle nowadays. Plus the physical bonus track (See You as a Dove) is probably the bet thing here. Either way, I'm glad that Run For Cover have a UK Store and I'm really intrigued to hear what Will Yip's production can add to this type of music. 

The Pooh Sticks (not) On Tape

Well it's been a while right? And I'll apologise in advance if you've come here hoping for a similar theme to my last post. We've got from 6 inches of screamo/ power-violence to 7 inches of pure twee indie pop brilliance! 

The Pooh Sticks - On Tape - 1st Press - Optic Nerve - 1st Press - /250 (Blue Vinyl) 

Although this is the first press through Optic Nerve, this is technically the 3rd press and follows almost 30 years since it's original release. Optic Nerve have also released a copy on Pink also /250 with matching art and extras (following a similar pattern of the first press artwork; although at the time there were only 50 made of each). 

Optic Nerve have made a singles club of sorts titled Optic Sevens; releasing 12 classic Indie 7"s over the course of 12 months and I'm kicking myself for not getting involved. This copy is only here today because Alan at Different Kitchen grabbed it for me. Now all of the releases have been announced; I'm really regretting letting this singles club pass me by. The latest release is the first The Wedding Present 7'' and if I ever end up with that I'll post it for sure! 

Back Cover and B-Side 

The B-Side here actually contains an instrumental of the song 'On Tape' that features on the A-Side. This is different from previous pressings; as the original Fierce pressing has a blank B-Side and the 2nd pressing has an etched B-Side. 

Held up to the light this record also has a kind of marble quality; which matches the centre labels quite nicely. As well as looking great it sounds marvellous too, and I've listened to it a good few times in the 24 hours or so that I've had it! 

Inserts! 

I think most of these Optic Sevens come with a fold out poster, and this release is no different. Obviously this is the cover art, and the cover art isn't The Pooh Sticks at all! Mostly this is due to the fact that The Pooh Sticks weren't a band at the time. Essentially it was Hue Pooh and a completely made up lineup; and the cover art is of the band FLESH! (I've never heard of them either). I had a bit of a history lesson on this one from Alan; and it just added to the fun and mystery of this band. 

The pink variant of this new pressing comes with pink dots over the faces on the poster; not that you can really see features for all the hair anyway! 

Finally we have a couple of postcard sized inserts; and again the Pink copies comes with pink tinged (and completely different) inserts! If you stumble across a copy I would definitely recommend grabbing one, especially as you'd be lucky to find a previous pressing for under £150 nowadays; and with the RSD reissue of The Great White Wonder recently out there's no reason to not add some Pooh Sticks for your collection! 

Whilst I was picking this up yesterday, I also got the chance to rifle through Alan's other Pooh Sticks stuff, and there's a lot! I also stand little to no chance of owning any of it, as most of them were released in short runs and the box sets/ extra cool bits are probably trashed by now. Alan's are pretty much mint and are some of the most interesting releases i've seen with my own eyes. If you like this post and would be interested in seeing more similar stuff, I'll try and arrange a couple of guest entires as they're really worth seeing in my opinion! 

Maybe my next post will be something a little louder and fast, maybe it'll be an old post that's been saved in my drafts for months that I forgot to post. Regardless; i'll try not to leave it so long next time! 

6 Inches of Orchid

Here's a bit of an odd one for any Screamo collectors out there. 

Orchid / Combatwoundedveteran - Split 6'' - Clean Plate Records - 2nd Press - Purple Marble /1000 w/ 2018 cover. 

So I'm a bit foggy on the details here, but try and keep up with this loose retelling. 

Some of the records from this second press never had covers, and kinda sat in a box for the best part of two decades. Clean Plate Records (who put this release out) goes fairly quiet for the last couple of years. Said box of records without covers ends up with Var from No Idea who are also a little bit quiet at the moment. He makes up some covers for these records, and they slowly start making their way out in to the world. 

This cover (unlike the second press) doesn't comes with a die cut cover and also doesn't come with an insert. There's also no trace of anyone from No Idea having anything to do with this release either. It's just this weird thing that's happened. The cover is definitely different in colour scheme, but the record itself is definitely from the 2nd press. Why they never had covers for these copies in the first place I'll never know. The labels are great though; especially the CWV side. 

There's no information on Discogs for this release, but the No Idea website states that there were 100 records left to put in new sleeves. There are also two different sleeve variants to choose from (Blue font w/ Pink Robot // Pink Font w/ Blue Robot) and I'm assuming these are a 50/50 split (quite literally)! 

Cheers

Come Over When You're Sober 1&2

Posthumous releases are a weird thing right? I never quite know where I stand on them. So I came to a bit of a weird moment when this Lil Peep preorder came up. On the one hand, I was super on the fence about owning or even listening to COWYS Part 2. The whole thing seems a bit shrouded in controversy and opinion. There's also a couple of 'leaked' posthumous tracks under the moniker Goth Angel Sinner EP that I really enjoyed compared to a lot of the pre release material on COWYS pt. 2. However, no option came up for just owning part 1 as a single LP, and it was probably the most listened to EP of 2017 for me. So I pre-ordered via Amazon and played the waiting game. 

Lil Peep - Come Over When You're Sober Pt. 1 & Pt. 2 - Sony / Columbia - 1st Press (Deluxe) - Pink & Black Vinyl (Euro Pressing) 

Through everything I have posted on this blog, this is probably the most 'out there' in terms of my regular posting and probably one of the more divisive. People either loved this guy or hated him. Personally, I couldn't stop looking at or listening to Lil Peep and found his death truly sad. The public tension between GBC and Smokeasac & the weird posthumous XXXTentacion collaboration track only added to the mystery surrounding this really. I definitely came in with some preconceived idea of Pt.2 prior to buying. But I've settled in to these songs and found some really enjoyable material here and tried to put a positive spin on things. 

Hype sticker that was carefully removed and placed on a poly sleeve. 

This logo was designed by Duong Nguyen who has also done design work for Lil Uzi Vert and Kendrick Lamar. 

The printed inner sleeves are a mixture of Lil Peep's tattoos (right sleeve) and some childhood(?) drawings (left). 

To this day, the tattoos that stickup most to me are the EXIT LIFE across the top of his back and the Old English DADDY across his chest. It's a nice addition to the overall artwork, and makes as good reference for anyone who wanted a memorial tattoo for him. 

The track listing for Pt. 1 sits in the left panel of the gatefold, although the listing is actually wrong. U Said sits on the first track of side B as opposed to the last track on side A. Under the track listing is producer credits. 

The right side of the inside gate fold has the Pt. 2 track listing too with producer credits underneath. 

Finally, the back cover is the cover of COWYS pt. 1 

One of the differences in the EU/US pressings is the lack of a Sony Music logo on the US copies. Despite that small difference, the resale of the US copies seem to have shot up over the last month or so. You can still pick up a EU copy for around £25 posted; but I'm not entirely sure how long these will hang around for. 

If you never gave Lil Peep a try, I can almost see why you didn't. The pink grills, unmissable face tattoos and open dialogue of drug use can be a hard combination love. However, you can't avoid the fact that the death of 21 year old who really resonated with a large audience is profoundly sad and I am glad that his music was given some kind of physical celebration. 

Thank you for reading. 

Green Monster

Purists will probably shit on me from a great height over this one; and I'll definitely be kicked out of 7th House; but I love Graves era Misfits. The first thing I heard from Misfits was the Scream video on P-Rock TV when I was about 8 or 9 years old. A couple days later I had Famous Monsters on CD and I absolutely worshipped it. I didn't even know who Danzig was until a couple of months later when I bought Earth AD. 

Famous Monsters has been pretty high on my want list for some time, and I've nearly pulled the trigger on it a couple of times. However I was never going to take an apparently hideous sounding picture disc for big money, so I played the waiting game. Fast forward about 18 years and here we finally are! 

Music On Vinyl really came out on top with this one. It sounds incredible and looks just as good as it sounds. Stickered outer sleeve as is normal on MoV releases on the right hand side with some information on the release; with an added Roadrunner sticker on the left side. Not normal procedure but a nice little addition. Between this and the Frou Frou release earlier in 2018, I'm really impressed with recent output from Music On Vinyl. Really consistent and dynamic sounding records, with some real nice aesthetic features. 

This pressing is /2500 on Green Marbled or Green/ Yellow Marble depending on where you get your information from. I can tell you from holding this one and inspecting it pretty closely; if there's any yellow in there it's hiding pretty well! 180 Gram and a nice anti static inner sleeve to get the ball rolling. 

I ended up with 000679 out of a total of 2500. I was obviously hoping for 000138 or 000666 but never mind; I'm just happy to finally own this album. I'm assuming a larger 180 Gram Black pressing will follow this one. 

Now we get to the real reason why I wanted this. It comes with a dang sticker sheet! I'd be completely lying if I didn't mention that I think this is way cooler than it probably is. The illustrations are kinda cute, and that logo in the middle is just iconic. These will 100% just stay in the sleeve and be preserved for all of eternity. But I have it, that's the important thing. 

Finally, there is a four page booklet containing all of the lyrics. Either side of the booklet is the illustration that was found on the CD back in the day of the Crimson Ghost. 

Listening to this again has got me really feeling these songs once more, and I'll happily defend this bunch of songs for sure. 

Release Your Soul

Forced downtime is sometimes a cool thing. At the minute I've got a pretty nasty chest infection which has rendered me pretty much useless; so it's given me a quick minute to do a post here. 

This is a record that I've owned for probably around a year, maybe a little more. However, I've only just got around to writing about it. I can still recall all the details around it though; and over a year on this album still rages super hard. 

As some of you reading might know, this is a record release copy of Soul Structure by Higher Power. There were 35 up for grabs on the night and they all went. I couldn't attend the show, but thankfully a friend managed to get me a copy and brought it all the way back home to me when she was back visiting from University. 

I ended up with number 27/35. The record release cover is a quarter fold type deal across the back of the jacket. The quarter fold is screened and hand numbered, with the artwork tackled by Jimmy Wizard who sings in Higher Power. He also played bass in Fade; and makes tattoos at a great studio in Leeds called Sacred Electric. The design for the release cover was used on a hoodie that was also available on the night. Around December/ January time they threw some leftovers of that hoodie on their big cartel and I picked up one of those too. 

The variant used for the night was from the Flatspot Records 1st press: 375 Transparent Red & Orange W/ Black Splatter. Seems a little odd that they used this press and not the UK press; but I have no complaints because it works with the cover art really well and sounds great. The Orange isn't super obvious unless you hold the record up to the light.

As opposed to an insert there's a pretty nice four page booklet in the sleeve of this. I'm not sure if the UK Pressing has the same thing. 

Inside the booklet are all the lyrics and a couple of photos, and overall it's a greatly packaged LP. It also sounds fantastic; I'm sure there aren't many people into the UKHC scene that haven't heard of them. But if you haven't i'd urge you to check it out; kinda old school borderline crossover sound that makes me think a little of Leeway or Merauder. Regardless, it hits heavy and still gets a pretty regular spin from me. I still need to grab the Space to Breathe 7'', or the Control Records 12'' promo.

This record release copy still isn't listed on Discogs. I'd love to add it, but that process seems like more of a hassle than it's really worth right?

Cheers!