I normally wait a bit between buying a record and posting about it on here; I like to give it some time until I've had a chance to really get into the songs. This record however is so lovely it deserves to be written about right away (I have owned it for nearly two months now, but for the majority of that time I was nowhere near my record player). Record Store Day does have the tendency to be a tad underwhelming at times, but there are some great records that come out of it and this is one of them. Four live songs by The Bronx and four by their mariachi counter-parts Mariachi El Bronx on a colour of vinyl that possibly deserves it's own paragraph.
There was a long time between me hearing about The Bronx and me actually hearing The Bronx. My friend's girlfriend at the time was into them, so I assumed they were an indie band since that's what she was mostly into. Of course this was completely wrong and I discovered my mistake after seeing the video for History's Stranglers. I then went on to buy their albums and see them play live a bunch of times. They're an incredible band, brilliant songs and energy by the bucket-load. Every time I've seen them they've been amazing, although the show last year at The Peel is worthy of a special mention as they played Strobe Life, possibly my favourite of their songs. They're playing again in November and I've got high hopes (I'm reasonably sure I won't be disappointed!). There are rumours of a 4xLP boxset of their albums coming out alongside the new record, which will be great as the vinyl is pretty much impossible to find. Anyway, they four songs here are everything I've come to expect from their live shows, along with a Hanoi Rocks cover for good measure.
One of the great things about this record though is the A-side. I'd never really got Mariachi El Bronx before. I thought it was an interesting idea, but could only really enjoy it for about 10 minutes when I saw them at Reading one year. Since then I'd not really bothered with them. However, it turns out they're actually pretty awesome too. The first song here, 48 Roses, is a highlight, but Revolution Girls is great too. It's easy to write the idea off as a bit gimmicky (as I did), but they're really worth a listen. I'll certainly aim to pick up their albums at some point too.
But yes, music aside, that vinyl! Wow. Banquet got a bunch of these in sometime after RSD (were they US only releases?) and put them on the website. I knew they wouldn't stay around long so I swiftly put my order in and it arrived a few days later. I'd seen a picture of the vinyl, but it's even nicer in person. The best I can describe it as is "half red and white splatter, half blue and white splatter with a clear background". There's a lot going on there. It shot easily into the top ten of best coloured vinyl I own (a list I haven't actually made, but could if I sat down and thought about it enough).
Format: 12", insert
Tracks: 8
Cost: £13.30 new
Bought: Banquet Records
When: 21/06/12
Colour: Red, blue and white splatter on clear
Etching: None
mp3s: download
