Stop The World

What do you do if you've been waiting patiently for your favourite band to release a new record for over 20 years and they've delivered nothing? Well, if you're a regular schmo like me, you probably don't do anything other than listen to different bands instead. But some people are different...

Welcome to 'Stop The World' by NOT. Quite possibly the only record I have ever bought by a band put together to sound exactly like another band. Or rather, the first record by a band happy to openly admit that they are ripping someone else off... because that's exactly the point.

Basically, this band and record is an attempt to create the new ALL record. You know, ALL - the band that is The Descendents with a different singer. The first clue is that the band name is in capitals, and also and the cover art is very similar to any of the ALL records. These are pretty obvious clues.

But aside from the visible similarities on display, the music itself is also incredibly close to sounding just like ALL. It's actually very impressive. I read about this, went to bandcamp feeling sceptical about it, and then after about ten seconds thought that I was listening to the new ALL album. Listen yourself and you will see what I mean very quickly.

I have to say, after my initial scepticism, I am left thinking that this is one of the coolest ideas ever. Clearly now the answer to the question 'what do you do if you've been waiting patiently for your favourite band to rekease a new record for over 20 years and they've delivered nothing?' is that you just say 'fuck it' and make it for them.

Oh yeah, this is the second pressing of this record on blue vinyl. I narrowly missed out on the purple first press, but I'm ok with it as this one probably looks better anyway. You can still get this one pretty easily, although I don't think it will be around for too much longer as people are starting to catch on to this.

Allroy Saves (Me Money)

Last year I lost a big parcel of records in the mail. Yeah yeah, I know, I've mentioned it a few times before. But in that box was a near enough full set of ALL LPs. I was gutted abot many records lost in that parcel, but the ALL LPs were high up the list at. Anyway, the only early LP that comes on colour vinyl is the 3rd LP 'Allroy Saves', which came out on Cruz Records in 1990. It comes on two different colours - gold and green. I'd managed to acquire one copy of each colour last year, until fate cruelly robbed me of both copies. Even more satusfying was that I'd bought both for good prices too, much less than the going rates on discogs. So when I looked to try to replace them, I couldn't find either for any lower than the standard $30-40 each. Knowing I had bought both previously for less, I couldn't face paying the market rate, hoping I would have some good luck in future and once again find them cheap. And lo and behold, a gold copy popped up on eBay a couple of weeks ago at a low starting price, and I bid and won it for only $5.50! I was stoked. Well, that is until I realised that postage was super fucking expensive, which kinda killed the satisfaction dead. But still, even factoring in the additional $27 for shipping, it was still much cheaper than getting a copy from discogs. So I still won.

It was hard to get the vinyl colour to show up properly in the photos. The white paper inner sleeve reflects the light and makes the record look bright yellow, but it's actually more gold. The second photo, of the record on top of the front cover, is a much more accurate representation of how the colour looks in 'real life'.

What's also good is that, as well as being cheap(ish), both the record and cover are in really great condition. So I'm happy. But I'm still hoping to find a green copy for a bargain price (again) at some point. I mean, why would I stop at one copy when I could potentially own two?

Problematic

Another ALL LP for the collection. 'Problematic' is the band's 8th album (or 9th if you include the live album 'Trailblazer') and originally came out back in the year 2000. I wasn't really into them back then, so have no idea how it was received, but I would guess that it probably didn't make much impact.

This copy is a reissue from a couple of years ago. The fact that this is still available from the label two years later kinda suggests that this isn't the most popular record or band... which is a shame, as this is a really great record. In the same way that the Descendents 'Everything Sucks' and 'Cool To Be You' LPs don't sound quite the same as their early LPs, this doesn't sound much like the early ALL LPs. However, just like those aforementioned Descendents LPs, it's full of catchy tunes.

I've lost count now of how many ALL LPs I have managed to pick up now, but I've still got at least couple more to get for the full set.

Pummel

So yeah, as I was saying, I had picked up four ALL albums and had them go missing in the mail, so a few months later went to buy them again. One that I didn't manage to pick up last year, however, was the band's major label release on Interscope Records, 'Pummel'. Released in 1995, at a time when major labels were starting to severely cut back on the amounts of vinyl they pressed, this remains the hardest ALL record to find... and is therefore the most valuable / expensive. So imagine how stoked I was recently to find a sealed copy.

I don't believe in keeping records sealed. I don't believe that there is any benefit to doing so. If a record is rare and sought after, it will be so whether it is sealed or not. So I did what I always do, and I opened it up.

There's something really quite satisfying about opening a record that has been sealed for 20 years. I can't explain why, exactly. But this isn't the first time I've done it.

It's not easy getting into a band and records many years later and understanding the history and the context. If I were a betting man, I'd put money on the fact that ALL were signed by Interscope after Green Day got huge, in an attempt to find bands with hardcore / punk credentials and a lot of melody. The sixth LP from the band, it sounds less poppy and more angry than the previous (and subsequent) records. After reading around a bit, it feels as if this is not overly liked by ALL fans, although I think there are some truly brilliant songs on this record.

It's funny, but just as I've managed to bag an original pressing copy of this record, it is about to be re-issued on vinyl for the first time since it's release. So look for pictures all over instagram in about a month's time.

Mass Nerder

Almost exactly a year ago, I posted up three ALL records that I has bought, and explained that I had just got into the band and was on a mission to pick up all their records. So I bought up 4 albums and they promptly got lost in the post. So I gave it a few months then started to look for them again...

'Mass Nerder' is the band's 7th LP. It was originally released in 1998 by Epitaph. It was then repressed on clear orange vinyl in 2015.

Unlike any color Descendents record that's ever been made, this album was available to buy from the label for a good few months. I was able to buy one, store it for a couple of months at a friend's place, have him send it & it go missing, wait three months and then buy another one before it sold out. I guess this really does highlight how much less popular ALL are than The Descendents.

In Search Of ALL

I started listening to Descendents in 2009. This was circa 16 years after I had first bought one of their records and subsequently decided that I didn't like them. A couple of months back I watched the Descendents movie/documentary 'Filmage: The Story Of Descendents/ALL', and they had interviews with the vocalists of their alter ego band, ALL. Well, one of these dudes seemed both puzzled and disappointed as to how ALL had never been as popular as Descendents. I remember him saying 'it's the same band', and it made me feel bad that I had not given ALL another chance after also dismissing them as a band I didn't like circa 1993. So I downloaded one of their albums and gave it a go. And it clicked pretty quickly. So I then downloaded a couple more. When I realised that I now definitely liked ALL, I also knew it would mean that I would want to start looking for their records. A couple of weeks ago I bought three from a UK seller on eBay, which felt like a good start.

The first LP, 'Allroy Sez.....' features Dave Smalley on vocals. This was the first band he did after leaving Dag Nasty.

The 'Allroy For Prez' 12" was the follow up to the first LP. Dave Smalley was still on vocals. This is a six song EP, not a full length.

Smalley left after this 12" due to the band's relentless tour schedule. He was replaced by Scott Reynolds, who stayed with the band for three albums. The third of these was 'Percolater' which came out in 1992, and which was the first LP to not feature the band's mascot, Allroy, on the cover.

So that's a start to an ALL collection. I do intend to pick up more of their LPs, and hopefully it shouldn't be too difficult or expensive as there aren't really any colour vinyl or limited pressings of any of them. I'm hoping to bag them by the end of the year, so expect to see more ALL records in the next few months.