While Record Store Day (RSD) has historically been an annual event, things have changed a lot over the past year. Taking that into account, the 2021 edition of RSD was split into two drops, previously kicking off on the 12th of June and culminating in a second drop on the 17th of July, which falls this weekend. Given our circumstances in many states across Australia, your local store might be running the RSD drop online this year, and you can scope out who will be partaking at the list right here to support the vinyl purveyors in your community. As the games begin to get our hands on the limited edition records our hearts so desperately desire, we put together a list of what we’ll be looking out for this weekend.
1. Foo Fighters – Hail Satin
It’s 2021, which means that anything can happen, but somehow it still felt like a shock when the Foo Fighters announced that they were temporarily taking shape as a Bee Gees cover band. After nailing his take on Barry Gibb’s well-known falsetto, frontman Dave Grohl declared regret that he hadn’t been singing like that over the entirety over his career, which means that the already-unveiled cover of ‘You Should Be Dancing’ from Grohl & co. is only the start of the Fooeys’ disco chapter. Recorded live at the Foo Fighters’ 606 studios, Hail Satin is a Record Store Day exclusive featuring five Brothers Gibb classics and some performances of songs from the Foo Fighters last album, Medicine At Midnight. It’s meant to be packaged “era-appropriately” in a rainbow mylar sleeve, and if we don’t have this record physically in our hands within the week, we’re going to lose it.
2. From First To Last – Dear Diary, My Teen Angst Has A Body Count
Oh nostalgia, one of the only comforts we’ve got left as we transition in and out of lockdown indefinitely. Dear Diary, My Teen Angst Has A Body Count, the debut album from post-hardcore titans From First To Last, takes us all the way back to 2004, before Sonny Moore became Skrillex and when song title lengths averaged at four words or more. The original mixes from the recordings by producer Lee Dyess have been remastered for Dear Diary‘s release on vinyl, and you can now nab an exclusive coloured pressing as part of Record Store Day 2021 to commemorate the occasion. Will From First To Last make a proper return, you ask, since they kicked off a mini-reunion cycle at LA’s Emo Night back in 2017? Maybe. But one thing’s for sure: we’ll always have their genre-defining debut album, now on physical vinyl so you can hold it tight as you cry yourself to sleep.
3. K.Flay – Don’t Judge A Song By Its Cover
We’re big fans of K. Flay at the BLUNT camp, with a caveat that the American alt artist has only just started getting the recognition that she’s actually deserved for a long time. While we’re still coming down from the high of her recent drops with Travis Barker and Tom Morello, we’re equally stoked that the three-track covers EP that she quietly released at the end of last year is getting the vinyl treatment, with a quantity of 2000 being released for this edition of Record Store Day. Featuring her renditions of Offspring’s ‘Self-Esteem’, Green Day’s ‘Brain Stew’ and Limp Bizkit’s ‘Break Stuff’, it’s a cathartic composition of iconic moments in our timeline, and let’s face it: we do really wanna break stuff right now.
4. Evanescence – The Open Door
The sophomore offering from Evanescence, The Open Door was praised upon its release back in 2006 as a worthy follow-up to the groundbreaking debut from the revered rockers. Celebrating its 15th anniversary in September, Amy Lee recently reflected on the record with BLUNT, noting that she felt like she had “a lot to prove” with this project in particular. Featuring fan-favourites like ‘Call Me When You’re Sober’ and ‘Lithium’, the double-platinum selling album will get the full reissue treatment as a limited edition 2 LP pressed on grey marble vinyl this weekend, and quantities are limited, so you’ll want to get cracking.
5. Ramones – triple j Live at the Wireless Capitol Theatre, Sydney, Australia, July 8, 1980
Previously unreleased and especially not in this format, the Ramones performance recorded from their live radio broadcast in July of 1980 is finally making it onto wax. Recorded in Sydney, Australia during their 1980 End Of The Century tour, the record will contain 23 songs, many of which are rarities from the band’s fifth studio album that didn’t quite make it onto the release. Pressed on 180g vinyl and strictly limited to 13,000 copies worldwide, this one is for music fans everywhere but remains a special collectible for Aussies in particular.
6. Matt Bellamy – Cryosleep
Muse’s Matt Bellamy’s name is enough to get any music fan excited, which is why the RSD release of Cryosleep is particularly thrilling. His first physical solo output, Cryosleep will take the form of a limited edition 12″ picture disc with a sheet music booklet, containing ten songs (including three never-before-released versions). The rendition of Muse’s ‘Guiding Light’ on this drop was recorded on the guitar that Jeff Buckley once used to play on his legendary record Grace, lending further weight to what Bellamy has put together here in paying tribute to his influences. If you’re a Game of Thrones fan, ‘Pray’ is also included from its soundtrack, if that wasn’t enough to sweeten the deal.
7. Gorillaz – G Collection
We all know that Gorillaz are more than worthy of the continuous acclaim that they’ve been privy to, and you can now celebrate that fact by copping six of their studio albums on vinyl (excluding The Fall) as part of the limited edition box set dropped for Record Store Day tomorrow. Included is Song Machine, Season 1, their latest and greatest, as musician Damon Albarn and artist Jamie Hewlett continue to offer us salvation in the form of reviving the project. You might remember them being subject to criticism earlier this year after they teased the offering of NFT digital art collectibles to celebrate their 20th anniversary (an affront to their environmental ideals), but nobody’s perfect.
8. Pearl Jam – Alive
Everything changed for Pearl Jam with ‘Alive’, the first single off their debut studio album Ten. Reissued as both a 12″ and a cassette single upon its 30th (yes, it’s been 30 years) anniversary, the release recognises how the song has achieved its iconic status over time, with the band admitting that it wasn’t an instant hit despite retrospectively being determined as one of their most notable achievements. The 12″ will feature the original promo single version of ‘Alive’ alongside three B-sides, including the band’s cover of the Beatles’ ‘I’ve Got A Feeling’.
9. Mastodon – Fallen Torches
This one is for fans of metal act Mastodon, a single vinyl drop that features ‘Fallen Torches’. ‘Fallen Torches’ was released as a new song prior to the band sharing Medium Rarities last year, a compilation album that landed in the hands of their audience last September. Featuring a previously unreleased instrumental version of the track alongside the original, it will take its form as a limited-edition-shaped picture disc. This might be the last hurrah from Mastodon before they announce their next studio album, which as of March was being mixed with David Bottrill (Muse, Tool, Rush).
10. Vitamin String Quartet – Vitamin String Quartet Performs My Chemical Romance
It’s been 15 years since Vitamin String Quartet released Vitamin String Quartet Performs My Chemical Romance, which not only makes us feel old but also reminds us how good Vitamin String Quartet really are. Known for their tribute albums, Vitamin String Quartet leverage classical technique to offer hauntingly epic interpretations our favourite artists. In this case, that means commemorating the genius of My Chemical Romance with fresh takes on songs from their first two albums, although you’ll find a sneaky bonus track on this re-release in the form of ‘Welcome to the Black Parade’. Remastered and on coloured wax, there is no deliberation required from you before you pull the trigger on this one.
