At the Independent Label Market in London last year I got some gems on vinyl. Some of the highlights came from the Matador Records 7" box, which was three records for a tenner. There was a good handful of records I could have happily bought, but in the end I opted for this Japanese release of Fucked Up's Year of the Pig, a Modest Mouse test press and a Jesu record from the Matador Singles Club. Three records by bands I like that I certainly wouldn't have sought out unless they were in front of my eyes like that. I'm very glad I bought them.
Fucked Up have released more 7" records than I care to count and I've not made much of an effort to buy any of them, despite becoming a big fan over the last few years (David Comes to Life was my album of 2011 and the albums either side of it were excellent too). This hasn't become the beginning of a collection (yet) but it is very pleasing. I think I've always been fascinated by Japanese versions of records since I got a few Japanese Manics cds back in the day. If I ever go I know I'll spend a small fortune on music. It will be excellent.
Year of the Pig is a pretty interesting song - it spends most of the time with some gentle vocals before briefly becoming a song more similar to Fucked Up's other material. It's much shorter than some of the later Year of the... songs but hints at where that series was going. By contrast, The Black Hats sounds very simple and almost reminiscent of 70's punk. The artwork is different to the UK/US release and included is a mini-poster with Japanese lyrics, which is a nice touch. All in all, a pretty lovely find for £3.33.
Format: 7", a4 poster
Tracks: 2
Cost: £3.33 new
Bought: Independent Label Market
When: 13/07/13
Colour: Black
Etching: none
mp3s: no
