Brat Fest

Sometimes you see a record online and your brain instantly shouts 'WANT!' at you. Such was the case when I saw a picture of the test press for the upcoming repress of the Disembodied 'Psalms Of Sheol' 12". It comes in a rip off sleeve of the Charli XCX 'Brat' album, which is pretty iconic in it's own right, and also comes on a matching colour vinyl... which is rare for a test press. It just looked awesome so I decided that I wanted one and then made a move.

This thing looks so good that it even made me want to buy the Charli XCX record. I listened to it, and I wasn't really into it, but there's this part of my brain that thinks it would be good to be able to put the two things side by side in order to appreciate this thing even more.

The repress of this record was announced last week, and features all new artwork. But of course, it doesn't look anywhere as cool as this test press. I love a good rip off cover, and one that comes from outside of the world of hardcore / punk seems somehow even more interesting, as even 'normal' people may appreciate it. Not that they will ever see it of course.

Well anyway, I had for many years also wanted the Mudhoney rip off sleeve for the same record. It was made for Rain Fest in Seattle back in 2010. Watching their set now, the first thing that strikes me is how young the singer looks. Anyway, I love how they made a rip off cover of a Seattle band for a Seattle event. Given that they also made a New Order rip off for the UK show in 2010, it seems that someone here gives some real thought to what they are doing, which I really appreciate.

Interestingly, this rip off cover is technically a rip off of a CD rather than an LP. Mudhoney's first 12" was titled 'Superfuzzbigmuff' (named after two guitar pedals, 'Super Fuzz' and 'Big Muff'), but there was a later CD version titled 'Superfuzzbigmuff plus early singles'. I am sure that this would have been intentional, as ripping off the CD cover & title makes more sense, as this Disembodied release is itself a compilation of early singles. So again, the thought that went into this is fantastic.

Of course, I now find myself in familiar territory. I never intended to collect this release, but now that I have these I feel myself wanting the Bauhaus sleeve version, and the first press test press. And might as well get a regular sleeve version too. Ugh. Why does my brain work this way?