Gotta say, I'm sort of stunned by the range and caliber of the compact discs routinely turning up in thrift stores these days. It seems hard to believe that, I don't know, K Records, Nonesuch and Luaka Bop discs are all just hanging around together with Bjork and Radiohead in the 2 dollar bargain bins. Not that I need 'em. And maybe that's just Portland. Is it this way everywhere? And, don't get me wrong-- I totally TOTALLY get that blogspot, file sharing, iTunes, etc have rendered these plastic packages functionally obsolete. Once uploaded, a disc basically destined to gather dust or live on as a coffee coaster. Maybe this is my 30+, Andy Rooney side beginning to take root. I just can't help but wonder, will CDs eventually go the way of cassettes today, and become retrospectively cool in, say 20 years?
So anyway, I found this Action Patrol disc at the Goodwill the other day. I live in Portland, OR, but AP were my other favorite local punk band from yonder high school days back in southeast VA. My skater-dude friends and I even put on their second to last show at the roller rink in my hometown. It was awesome. Admittedly, I hardly listen to much of anything that involves hardcore/screaming these days. That shit just works by nerves. Action Patrol & Mens Recovery Project, however, both get a pass from me. Oh, lets add Bad Brains, Minor Threat and The Nation of Ulysses to that list. Local sentiment, I know, but that's just how it is. Or maybe its digging a semblance of iconoclastoc wit over boring meathead hardcore posturing. Hmmm. And, ok, I'm down too with a lot of those early SST & Homestead bands, not to mention The Wipers, Negative Approach, The Zero Boys, Naked Raygun, etc. Plenty of room to expand, though hardly worth it right here. Anyway, after copping this here RVA throwback, I just had to up & share it. Ready or not. 320 kbps. Word.
DL: Action Patrol : 1993-96 On Patrol (Whirled Records, WR-11)
