Derek™

I thought I saw a teaser – screenshot from an Instagram story – that had a mock-up of white vinyl with black splatter or wisps or something similar. I don’t necessarily need another copy of this one but I’d sell mine and upgrade if they did a coke bottle green with white labels. The dream. Throw in a booklet and fuck up the design of the spine, and I’m fully in.

No idea what the blue is limited to but +1 for placing aesthetic over rarity. Since it’s all handled by the same label it may be worth a shot to ask if they can swap your order to a blue copy instead of jumping through further hoops. If it’s a “no, sorry” then the refund could be on the table.

Superior variant now up on Bandcamp. https://pelican.bandcamp.com/album/city-of-echoes I’m not enamored with it but it’s still a better choice. With how nice that Australasia variant turned out, I was sort of hoping for a cool silver / blue / black merge or marble thing going on, in a similar style to what we got a month ago. But oh well. I still haven’t thrown down for a copy but the band is claiming that the remaster sounds “🤌” for what it’s worth.

Still can’t imagine being filtered by this album after 3 years. It’s not like Tool haven’t been balancing long tracks with meditative stretches and explosive moments for the last 2 decades.

Sure looks like that splatter turned out the most fun.

I really ought to try out LTP again, it’s been a minute. I’m very surprised something like …LC doesn’t do much for you. Do you feel like it’s too clean or overproduced, or something?

Pretty sure I just got a shipment notification for this. Whoa.

I think I’m gonna’ hold off on listening to the new tracks. The release date is only… what, 3 weeks out? I hate knowing half of an album through singles before I can hear it front to back. But that’s me.

If you got your money back (and then some), that’s a fair approach, @daegor. But to play devil’s advocate – and also as a heads up to those who missed out today – the first EP is on Discogs (sealed, new) and available for like $5 below its original MSRP. I have no idea what that one was limited to, or what this new one is, but it’s food for thought. I also imagine the marketplace would be flooded with these EPs at competitively low prices if people were offloading them in exchange for an eventual 12”. Pretty good deal for completionist fans who want to pick this up for cheap, if they absolutely need it to plug the 1 hole in their Crosses collection or something.

Gotcha’. I can’t weigh in on this band and their bullshit antics, so I’m not trying to defend them or poke holes in why you’re taking the stance you are. Your first post could just be perceived as a general “if it’s not limited, I don’t want it” kind of mentality, and that’s all I was getting at. That concept is absurd on paper, but actually something I’m seeing more and more lately from post-pandemic collectors. So at this point I’m ruling nothing out, but yeah – I would really hope that for as long as you’ve been on the boards, you’d own some records that have never seen the color treatment. It would blow my mind if you didn’t, but I’m 100% confident that somewhere out there are people who pride themselves in owning an entire collection of variants, no exceptions. Rows and rows of records with not a single piece of black wax in sight. (And in case anyone tries to cite this post of mine down the road to call me a hypocrite, I’ll be the first to admit that I’ll gladly get in line to re-buy something that I only owned on black vinyl for years, if it eventually gets reissued on a cool colorway or limited edition. I not only understand but also fully practice the appeal of that, and I’m not at all saying that variants are dumb or meaningless in the big picture of the hobby. I would just never rob myself of owning something for the time being if black was the only option it ever existed on. Especially at a reasonable price.) Moral of the story, I guess: don’t get baited by no-frill $40 Kickstarter LPs. 👎

Your post reeks of “if it isn’t on black vinyl I won’t bother” which is a pretty broad stance that reveals your true colors as a collector first, music enthusiast second. In this particular case, sure, $40 for a single LP is gross… but that I think that’s gross regardless of whether it’s limited, colored, numbered, etc. Ultimately you would have had no issue paying $40 for that same LP if it was on anything but black vinyl (😂) but since it’s “just” black wax, it can be bought… someday. Which is fine. I’m absolutely not arguing that $40 records - especially without any bells, whistles, or in limited editions - can be found on Discogs months or years later. And that seems pragmatic to me. I’ve done that before. It’s smart. But intended or not, your post makes you sound like the kinda’ guy who would enjoy an artist deeply - while pretending they’re a fan of vinyl - but forgo owning any of their records since they’ve only ever been pressed on black vinyl. And I guess I just need you to know how incredibly fucking dumb that is. I’m not talking about $40 or $150 Kickstarters. I’m talking about the bevy of music out there that’s only ever been pressed on black vinyl, without a limited edition, and is available to spin for something in the $15-$30 price range. I know your tastes are pigeonholed exclusively to things sold on Deathwish or bands that fall into a “-core” genre, so you’ll have to take my word for it; there’s a lot of those “gross” or “boring” black records out there that contain some genuinely good music. To shrug it all off and say “eh I’ll just stream it until a ~limited edition splatter variant /200~ becomes available” is some peak Reddit cringe, where I’ve literally seen comments that [unironically] read “ewww black vinyl. 🤣” You’ve been a part of the forums for a long time, so I know you’re not really a tourist to the hobby. I’m just letting you know that you sound like one, or are admitting to being one.

Just checking in to make sure you knew that black vinyl can be spun on a turntable, and actually sounds pretty good. (In case you’ve never given it a shot.) I love me a good variant as much as the next guy but vinyl is a music medium more than it is a Funko Pop.

Probably about $80+ cheaper. All these reissues have me in a chatty QOTSA mood though. Do you – or anyone else – have some general thoughts on specific albums or anything else you feel like discussing? ⚠️ TLDR warning. Thoughts, personal history, and babbling ahead. Ignore if you’re only interested in links or chat about these vinyl reissues. For me it all started with SFTD. And by “started”, I mean I checked them out and really did not enjoy them. 😅 It’s such a weird introduction, but SSX3 on the PS2 had a pretty banger soundtrack that made the extreme nature of virtual snowboarding way more enjoyable for me. (I owe that game gratitude for getting me into Thrice and, by proxy, modern music as a whole. But I digress.) On that game is a remix by UNKLE, of Queens’ No One Knows. I thought the track was great, and got so used to the remix that when I finally checked out the studio version, it sounded so… rancid. It was way more funky, with noticeably more swagger and groove. My narrow tastes couldn’t handle it and I dismissed them for years while exploring newer artists. I don’t know what changed but at some point down the road, after my tastes and tolerances for different sounds opened up a lot more, I tried out the entirety of SFTD and really enjoyed it. Especially its scale and ambition, and all the detours it took. I also really clicked with Rated R around that time. To this day I can’t really get into LTP or Era Vulgaris. I think that there are some excellent cuts on each but as a whole, front to back, those records never quite clicked with me. I keep revisiting them every few years to see if that will change. …LC, I thought was brilliant. That album garnered so many accolades and shouts of praise, and I think it’s all pretty justified. Villains is a step down for me. I feel like everyone was shitting on that record; I don’t think it’s as consistent as …LC, and I remember thinking its pacing is very odd, with some nice moments earlier on and a string of bangers near the end. Don’t quote me on any of that though, it’s been a while and I never played it obsessively. I’m curious to hear what others think about it now that some time has passed. And then, finally, only after Villains was released did I figure I’d check out the S/T. Really weird approach to their discography, I know. The S/T feels pretty lean and mean. I dig the instrumental tracks and everything that isn’t making this single LP reissue, but at the same time I’m not gutted that those are missing. For the price and presentation, I really can’t complain. It’s a shame I didn’t start listening to it back when SFTD got the thumbs up from me. I know some people are avid fans of the band. I don’t think I’ve ever been that hardcore, but I do believe that they’ve got a very solid discography under their belts, and Villains was good enough that I’ll gladly keep checking out their trajectory they’re on with their songwriting.

Nice catch. Packaging looks great but I’m all kinds of underwhelmed by that variant. I wonder if this will be the only version available? 250 seems like such a low number by comparison of the Australasia reissue.

Are these songs actually good or more of the last EP? This whole thing is such a double-edge sword: I think it’s very cool / savvy that the band is finding a way to milk $60-$120+ out of their gotta’ catch ‘em all fans before releasing them on an LP [that the same people will buy again]. A+ marketing, I tip my hat to that. But the same dipshits acknowledging how gross a $30 10” is – while grumbling before handing over their credit card or PayPal credentials – are also the same ones who try to insist that double LPs are “about $40 these days, that’s just the new norm.” They’re also the same folks who enable trash like NFTs being forced into $50 LPs. “This is whack but what are you gonna’ do?” “The FOMO is real. 😂💵🔥” Clown world.

Some dipshit Redditors will cry that it requires too much flipping and isn’t practical to have at 45 RPM. (As if anything about this hobby is practical.)

I’ll see that claim and raise you on it – this is personally my favorite PBTT record to date. I said it. Completely unexpected considering how eh I felt about WFL. I’ve enjoyed everything they had put out prior to that LP, but the flow of Drift, its production, and their choice of melodies & track progression this time around… pound for pound, punch for punch, I find it so consistent. It’s doing it for me. I think at its core it’s probably more of a post-rock record and that could be why it’s resonating so well with me. I also can’t help but feel like there’s probably quite a bit of overlap between people who hate this record and Turnover’s Good Nature.

*holds up spork*; the band.

Kinda’ same here. I really thought Trent was specifically waiting to reissue it in 2022 for obvious reasons. But we’re in September…? Someone needs to let him know that if he wants this definitive edition to wrap up neatly with the concept of the album, his time is [tick, tick] ticking away.

That didn’t last too long. Up on Spotify at least.

Are you suggesting that you don’t wish his family would heal or find peace?

Yeah, I’m surprised by how good this record is. I thought the singles were pretty nice on their own but the entire flow and energy of this record is something else. At 37 minutes it’s lean and “mean”, and I already like it way more than Wait For Love. I’ve never had an issue with their stylistic shift over the years but this record sounds like they’ve managed to fully dial into it.

I wish I had a super cheap link to share in this thread, but all I wanted to say is that I love the music on this set so damn much. I think I paid $38 PPD or something for it, and sentimentally it’s worth so much more to me.

You can get some nicer conversation pieces or wall art for a lot less than $150. Just a courtesy FYI.

Not that it helps much - and is definitely not what you want to hear - but I pounced on my last SH pre-order at 5:51 AM. Probably stirring from sleep, checking my phone, and seeing that it [new Russian Circles] was available. Snagged a copy and went back to bed. No idea if that that means 3 AM, 4 AM, 5 AM, etc. Just that it was up at an ungodly hour of the morning, our timezone. https://www.hellomerch.com/collections/botch – this is the place to watch, for anyone curious. Confirmed by the bandcamp email that just went out for One Twenty Two; First new Botch song in 20 years. Included on the new re-issue of "We Are the Romans" available11/4 via Sargent House. 2xLP / CD pre-order available here -https://www.hellomerch.com/collections/botch