Heathen Disco Music Reviews #0110 (July 18, 2025)

Look, I got some new stuff to write about here — the new Ryan Davis 2xLP landed, so did this tape from Brooklyn-via-Australia called Trick Tips, much more; those’ll run in upcoming editions of this newsletter.

My record retail habits changed dramatically this year when I decided I didn’t want as much stuff holding me down anymore. I’m OK with this; I’m sure some shop owners are a little bit sadder that I’m not around lining ‘em up anymore, but those days will return in due time. I’ve done a little snoopin’ around and have been picking up things here and there at estate sales, which I’ll get to this week or another, but I’ve struck upon an phenomenon I find curious, untenable, and wildly exciting for the right person.

Cut-out bins as we knew them are gone, but a store in my new neighborhood has seemingly resurrected them out of retail stock that hasn’t moved (not naming names, but Larry “Fuzz-O” Dolman mentions them a bit in his Blastitude updates — email me if you’re really interested). It’s wild these records are there in the first place, as this shop (while quite big, with a majority new stock) doesn’t really cater to the heads, and the wishful thinking that they’ll show up has clearly not happened. This isn’t a new development, and I’ve bought markdowns from here before, but there have been moments where all this stock had mysteriously been shuffled out of the store, only to be replaced with all-new albatross records.

This place really shines in under-bin storage as well, (it’s where all the disco 12”s, and oddly anything classified as an EP winds up), but it’s perplexing that thousands of dollars of new stock is going at or below cost. Who could ever subsidizing this? Distributors? One-stops? The price points reflected on these records are largely similar to what they’re retailing for on Discogs, which lends credence to that assumption. One not versed in the art of music wholesale may never know.

But this is the whole thing — these are good records, mixed among the truly lost, the unnecessary, non-returnable RSD remnants (like these stupid shaped Manilla Road singles instead of reasonable reissues of their full albums) and those that didn’t have the go-juice to take off, all eliciting blank stares from most customers, if they notice them at all. I’m wondering if any stores near you pull the same shit. Maybe we can get a network going of educated consumers who are willing to wait out list price in stores around the country, and to be frank, this is one way to feel good about buying stuff, either for the sensibility of getting one over, or putting the music in the hands of those who work for it.

Here’s the list. There was a lot more there, and the stuff I left (half-off copies of the most recent Electric Eels comp, the Deep Tunnel Project LP, a riot grrrl/postpunk comp, various releases on one of the most expensive labels for new music) will certainly turn a few heads. All of these records are new and sealed, maybe a little shopworn in cases, no big deal, and no cut corners or scratched out UPCs.

This post is free — fuck it, even the music is a discount, I’m letting you off easy. Keep this thing going by subscribing to Heathen Disco. It’s cheap, regular, and keeps you on your toes.

Send in new music to [email protected] / PO Box 25717 Chicago IL 60625 USA for review consideration. I’ll do more than consider it.

LAS MORDIDAS Ex-Voto LP (L.G. Records)

• Discount: 75% off

Psychotically minimum prices for a priceless object, as goes with most releases on this reissue imprint (really looking for that Sam Jayne record, the Han-Shan 12” and the Sloog one in a store). This came amid the spate of reissues around lifer Chris Thomson last year/late ’23, chronicling a year-long, post-Circus Lupus project with rippin’ metallic leads from Chris Bald’s sibling Jon K, and a snap-tite rhythm section of Dug Birdzell and Jerry Busher. You may have heard the live Monorchid set from my old college radio station where they’re playing in double-time; that was Jerry on fill-in drums, bringing them to punk tempi. Most of this was heard by No One, apart from those who bought the band’s seven-inch or heard the two comp tracks they released. It’s fierce, it’s vital, Chris’ voice sounds like it could melt steel, it’s a link in the chain to DC post-hardcore history that almost rusted away, and it’s gonna make a nice gift for somebody.

THE CHILLS Kaleidoscope World 2xLP (Fire)

• “Limited Edition Double Blue Vinyl”

• Discount: 50% off

A foundational comp, a divine gateway into the precious, all-encompassing world of New Zealand music and Flying Nun’s size 13s treading all over the consciousness of the ‘80s and ‘90s underground the world over, step by step. Martin Phillips left us nearly a year ago and it’s a brilliant wonder that he got any sort of second act before then, so while I have bones to pick with the exorbitant costs of any Fire Records releases, they did a good thing. The reduced prices take the sting away, and since I dumped my Creation UK press of this, it’s good to know it’ll always come back. repackaged the original eight-song collection of singles and Dunedin Double comp tracks, with their Lost EP, the “I Love My Leather Jacket” single, and live versions and demos from early on, the same way Captured Tracks did it in 2016. There’s more of these sitting down there. I remember what it was like the first time I sat down and put on “Pink Frost,” and here are opportunities for others to experience that.

DRAHLA Useless Coordinates LP (Captured Tracks)

• “Cardinal Red Vinyl For Indie Retailers”

• Discount: 50% off

I saw this British band on some sort of CapTrax package tour with Lina Tullgren and New Zealand’s Wax Chattels, maybe just before their album came out. If I’m being honest, getting to chat for a bit with Dave Martin might’ve put this one over the top for me. But I remember some of Drahla’s set, and it was very cool – shot-from-a-cannon postpunk in an SY-meets-post-HC vein, stylish, ricocheting, made me turn around and focus up, the “just right” in an outta balance eve (no shade to Lina, this was definitely not a balanced match). Following up five years later I can’t really say the same from their 2024 follow-up Angeltape, mostly for stylistic reasons – what sounded like discovery and mastery on Useless Coordinates got an odd, galvanized production that hollowed out their sound. The heat and sweat are not as evident there as is here. This is a sterling example of how to do it, and would that most people know it was there, we wouldn’t be finding their records so close to the floor.

FRANTIX My Dad’s a Fuckin’ Alcoholic LP (Alternative Tentacles)

• Discount: 50% off

Support groups and peers didn’t cut it in 1983 Denver, who’d use your situation as a platform to get you back in the track of a productive society. Better that you start a punk band and let the town know about your fuckin’ dad. Such was the way of these guys, who put out two singles and hit KBD levels of collectorism with this Flipper-ish stew of waste, hollered anthems, two-note bass leads and unhinged energy, like the test market for Jolt Cola. Frantix’s entire output, with demos and live tracks, runs roughshod across this AT reissue; guitarists Matt Bischoff and the late Rick Kulwicki would take this out further a few years later as The Fluid, refining their ‘60s psych-garage bonafides with what we’d know as grunge, and finding themselves on the early Sub Pop roster. Those records, even the one on Disney’s Hollywood Records, are worth your time, and so’s this. Unless I’m just writing to old men who’ve seen it all, some of you missed this and it’s a chance to rectify for the nice price.

NATHAN BOWLES TRIO Are Possible LP (Drag City)

• Discount: 50% off

Maybe the most recent album in the stack, as I wrote this up in the lifespan of this newsletter, back in August of last year. It’s great, and as I considered back then, has improved in the space of 12 months and repeat considerations, and now it’s mine.

OG thoughts:

“Been aware and fond of Bowles as a player but something has shifted in this recent trio effort, to where I’m getting the same ‘a-ha!’ moment I did with compatriot Steve Gunn’s breakthrough Time Off. Patient confidence, maybe? Confident patience? Bowles and crew throw three or four back to the banjo traditions for which he’s staked, but there’s this other side of things at play on Are Possible that intrigue even harder, most evidently on opener ‘Dappled’ which bathes the lead instrument in fuzz and brings an open, damn near British beauty to a slowly evolving melodic scheme and some falsetto vocals I did not see coming. The abrupt ending is a little pat, but I get it – it’s like that one late Talk Talk track ‘Ascension Day’ where it feels like it might detonate if it went any longer. The remainder of this doesn’t need to aspire to that level of alt-genre expression, with the textures afforded these instruments in a jazz / conservatory bag that opens up a new side to this sort of play. Loving it more and more with each spin, and I imagine anyone who likes to wear shirts with buttons now and again will feel the same.”

BLACK BOX RECORDER England Made Me 25th Anniversary Edition LP/10” (Chrysalis)

• Discount: 50% off

A track from this wound up on the vaunted summer playlist of my girlfriend’s older brother, which I’ve come to look forward to over these past three years. It also reminded me that while I am an ardent supporter of Luke Haines’ previous band The Auteurs, I never checked out BBE too closely, kind of in the same way I never zoned in on Arab Strap (hey, there’s always value in leaving something to discover, so’s you don’t get bored). Was curious to see this was on a major in most of the world, whereas in the US they were relegated to the purgatory that was Jetset Records. Either way, this corrective seems vaguely familiar, a hard pivot to a more sophisticated, personal pop record takes on Lynchian mystery twang in a cocktail dress and an acid tongue. In the wake of Portishead’s arch triphop retelling, here’s the Masters’ program version. The bonus EP is what I presume to be B-sides, with a little more grit to ‘em, and a fit-for-closing-credits cover of Terry Jacks’ “Seasons in the Sun.” There’s not enough to this record to really suit me – it’s pretty clean overall, and lacking the flourish I would want from the time and place, and I’m not shocked nor scandalized by the lyrics, but maybe a single spin is required to unlock this box.

BIG BOYS Where’s My Towel?/Industry Standard LP / Lullabies Help the Brain Grow LP / No Matter How Long the Line Is at the Cafeteria, Theres Always a Seat! LP (Touch & Go)

• “Aqua blue, pink and purple vinyl editions of 1000”

• Discount: 50% off apiece

I always wondered why T&G didn’t jump on doing individual reissues of these records back when they pushed out those Skinny Elvis/Fat Elvis CD comps back in the ‘90s – maybe the tea leaves of the market spelled out that digital versions wouldn’t disappoint those who were still holding onto their OGs, and it’d be a pain in the ass to press up 12s and 7s. Those 10 or so tracks are missed, but hey, so is Wreck Collection and one of my favorite jams, “Rules.” Either way, anyone coming across these, especially Lullabies, oughta sit down and listen in whatever context they wanna put ‘em in, and see what happens when “Sound on Sound” or “Manipulation” creepy-crawl their way through. Look, these are staples, stapled to an earlier time and place, which leaves me both sad and unsurprised to find them on the cheap. The ability to get the lessons of these bands out into a world so far removed from the chaos they engendered, which isn’t necessarily wired into their worldviews, is going to be tougher than expected. Removing human companionship and replacing it with first-person syndrome will be the toughest of restraints to pull through, but it’s gotta be done. Getting the full mentality of what these records are and why they were has to be in the curriculum all over.

CODEINE Dessau LP (Numero Group)

• “barely there” green vinyl

• Discount: 50% off

What woulda been Codeine’s second album never made it – tech and personnel issues left this one hiding, with tracks making it in different versions on their Barely Real EP and final album The White Birch. Dessau speaks to the moment for sure, a 1992 where a searing dynamics hit in the vein of Bitch Magnet was like holding a bolt of lightning in one’s hands. I prefer these versions, as it follows my philosophy of capturing the material when the band is more raw and prone to excitement, even one as slow and methodical as this one. Some real cage-rattling moments which the years and general decline in activity would burn off, this is a fine discovery of a great band that most of their idols are still trying to catch up to, and has cleaned up to a somewhat toothsome finish, the best-sounding of their records, not tinny like the first nor faded like the last. My old copy of Frigid Stars is long gone, and yeah I miss having “Cigarette Machine” around to blast into a deep depression, but this may be the Codeine that sticks around.

THE FUCKING CHAMPS III 2xLP (Drag City)

• Discount: 75% off

Even in the parlance of great deals to be had, this one almost pissed me off – new copies of this all-timer metallic stonebeast essentially hidden from potential listeners, like the under-$10 price tag was some sort of badge of shame. My first exposure to their music was in the live setting, sandwiched between mathy beaters by Shiny Beast and Regraped, and ahead of Ron Anderson’s peculiar freakout squad The Molecules. Champs (pre-fucking, when they had to take on the unwieldy name C4AM95 to differentiate themselves from the studio guys who cut “Tequila”) quietly set up onstage, long haired, sullen, Tim Green from NOU sitting peacefully at the drums. I didn’t play anything but was attuned to looking at amps and headstocks trying to find clues towards a group’s temperament, and I took note of Josh Smith’s extra three strings, wondering what could go down. Moments later they launched into “Lee Tom,” Smith landed on his knees in front of the amp right after the intro, and started riffing into the next galaxy. In 1996-97, seeing this sort of mayhem unfold was a rarity, and I sat rapt for the entire set, banging my head until my neck hurt. I grabbed a CD off them and sprinted up to the radio station, convincing my friend Andrew to play it amidst his brown bag screamo show, and it didn’t really fit, but I also didn’t really care; I was gonna Paul Revere these guys into the grid. Years passed, kept it on, kept it lit, marveled at the synth and wavo interludes amidst all the harmonic glories rippin’ atop. I’d see these guys a lot in the years to come, particularly after I moved to NYC, to where the edge kinda dulled itself, and this touchstone fell precariously out of print, and out of my hands. It was a joy to see it get the reissue treatment and if you play your cards right, you can get whatever copies are remaining for a more than fair price.

Look beneath the racks — Doug M