As the saying goes, “one man’s trash is another man’s treasure” and I thought I’d take the time to highlight some records I love that’re often floatin’ around for next to nothing. Some of this stuff might not be easy to find but that’s most likely because if people aren’t bothering to even look for em, stores might not bother to buy em. Here’s where Discogs comes in: Sellers fill their days listing this stuff on there for (slightly more than) pennies in the hopes that people like you and me will throw a couple cheap extras in our carts when we’re shelling out for the Record Store Day reissue of a record we already own in an inferior not-picture disc or OBI-less version. Nothing makes me happier than placing an order for 17 records that comes to $47 total knowing that I’m basically challenging some guy to construct a makeshift cardboard mailer out of an empty Amazon box he found on a curb. Enjoy!
As the insert states, “WHITE is the revolving-membership group fronted by Jon Skuldt, owner/operator of Coat-Tail Records. WHITE has been playing and recording since 1991.” I first heard of Coat-Tail Records in 96 when I bought the first and second “Sixty Second Compilation” 7″s they released, specifically because Chicago’s Scissor Girls were on volume 2. The same label introduced the world to the great Xerobot who I got to see live at the Middle East Upstairs in Cambridge while touring to support their full-length CD on Coat-Tail. When all this stuff was coming out in the mid-late 90’s it all fell under “no wave” as far as I understood. Listening now, WHITE actually fits in more with some of the more chaotic post-hardcore “emo” bands of the 90’s Gravity or Ebullition Records scenes like Angel Hair or Antioch Arrow. WHITE kinda takes the frenetic freeform drumming, wailing guitar feedback and screamed vocals of those bands and rounds third base at full speed and crashes right into the burgeoning Bulb Records/Load Records universe. If I played this and told you it was one side of a split 7″ with Wolf Eyes or Orchid, both would probably make sense. Regardless of where it fits in contextually it’s a possibly part-written/possibly part-improvised roar of anger exemplified not only by sound but with the statement on the insert that declares the track “comments on the inter-relationships between miscommunication, xenophobia, and violence.” Foldover box sleeve reminiscent of Independent Project Press, three cardstock inserts, hand-numbered run of #600 copies. Overall cool release and definitely worth the $3 average price they seem to be going for on Discogs.
