Get Done

One of the many things that is interesting about record collecting is that there are some records that, over time, you come to realise are seem stupidly hard to find. I mean, that's probably an obvious statement as there are LOTS of records that are rare and hard to find. But what I am specifically referring to here are records that aren't that well known (or remembered) and that are not actually that sought after or valuable. There are quite a few of these low value but super rare 7"s that I have become aware of over the years. But the same thing happens each time - the more time passes, the more my interest level increases. The mere fact that they are hard to find makes me want them more.

Back in 2003/4 there was a Boston band called Get Down who had a 7" put out by Painkiller Records. I picked it up partly because it was on Painkiller, and partly because of who was in the band (Anthony Pappalardo from In My Eyes plus other people from other Boston bands of the early 00s). At the time I liked the record as it reminded me a little of Swiz. So when I saw that there was a second 7" released in 2004, I added it to my want list. And then a lot of time passed.

So here we are in 2024 and I finally managed to find a copy. Or rather, two copies. I was pretty excited when I saw this for sale, because over the last twenty years or so, I had never seen it for sale, and began to wonder whether it really existed at all. But when I finally saw these copies for sale, they were cheaper than new release 7"s are these days.

The first copy I obtained was this blue vinyl copy. This was released by a label called Mosh Camp Records.

The second copy is a clear vinyl copy, but on this copy the Mosh Camp Records name has been covered by a sticker for 'Piss Mountain'.

The clear vinyl copy also has a stamp on the inside of the sleeve, and the name of the person who bought it is written there too. If anyone happens to know Steve Chaya, please tell him that I now have his Get Down 7".

I wasn't sure why this record seemed so rare. In my mind this was one of those records where the label ripped people off and never sent the records out, although clearly a few got out somehow. I had always wondered whether the label guy gave a few copies to friends (which would explain how some are out there) and then just didn't bother selling the rest, so I was curious as to whether there may still be a couple of hundred of them sat in a cupboard somewhere. I reached out to Anthony Pappalardo to see if he could fill me in. This is what he came back with:

''We took the entire pressing and put it out ourselves and put “Piss Mountain” stickers over his logo and they all had a card with everyone’s name who ordered that was hand screened. The whole thing was totally odd because the record happened over email and shit.

We had a recording ready and my friend Nathan Nedorostek put together an amazing layout but Evan O’Hara (Mosh Camp founder) ghosted/wasn’t the greatest communicator. That being said, Evan was a good egg because even though he was over it, he gladly gave us all the 7”s to handle which was cool but stressful--so many of them were shipping overseas so that meant filling out mad customs forms...

So we mailed out hundreds of 7”s and then had a grip of them sitting around without an active band. Someone offered to take them but this time I flaked so a few boxes sat in my storage unit for years until I left them on the street in East Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Maybe they made good ashtrays or some shit.'

I'm happy with this story because in a way I'd feel bad if I ended up with these knowing others got ripped off. So it's nice to know what happened after all these years, and also to have this record. Listening to it now and I have to say that this has ageed really well. It definitely still has a Swiz vibe to it, like the first 7", but to me this one sounds a little groovier. I really like this and I'm stoked to have another one of these seemingly uber rare records that most people aren't particularly aware of.