Publication:
MaximumRockNRoll

Author:
Felix Von Havoc

MRR #231-mail order and record trading
This month I would like to talk about some of the specifics involved with mail order record distribution and record trading, and of course Hardcore Music!

First off, some really good books and films about punk have been coming out. I’ve discussed in this column before about how punk and hardcore are starting to gain some cultural legitimacy. The same rock critics and music business types who once sneered at punk now consider the Clash and the Ramones to be some of the greatest rock bands ever. Those cultural elite types can take a long walk of a short pier for all I care. I thought the Clash was great the first time I heard them, I didn’t need 20 years of subsequent music history to prove me right and I could give a fuck if Spin or Rolling Stone think the Ramones are worthy of inclusion in the rock and roll hall of fame. My only fear is that in the coming years these same jokers will start to mythologize bands like Minor Threat, Bad Brains and the Big Boys in the same fashion. Where were these guys when hardcore started? Listening to U-2, REM and the Smiths that’s where. Don’t let our history and culture be hijacked by a bunch of know nothing rock critics and cultural studies writers who sat on the sidelines during the golden age of hardcore punk rock. Remember this, when punk and hardcore started most of the rock press put it down, Rolling Stone, Circus etc. ignored and denigrated punk in favor of crap like Springsteen and Tom Petty. Only Creem and maybe Trouser Press gave punk any respect and Spin and MTV didn’t even exist yet. Now those guys are talking up the Ramones and Clash, fuck em. And bring back Creem! Boy Howdy!

That said, check out the documentary film Westway to the World about the Clash directed by Don Letts. If you like the Clash I also recommend the book Last Gang In Town by Marcus Gray. For collectors there is a good discography book Clash Retrospective. Another film I would highly recommend is Dog Town and Z-Boys which tells the story of the early days of modern skateboarding in So. Cal in the mid 70’s. I was never much of a skater myself, but this film made the connection between punk and skating crystal clear even though punk is barely mentioned. It’s all about the rebellious attitude and high energy. Also check out Brenden Mullen’s two books We Got the Neutron Bomb and Lexicon Devil about the early days of LA punk and the Germs. OK now that the professor has given out the summer reading list lets get to the meat of today’s lecture.

Record trading and mail order rip offs! Actually in 14 years of doing mail order distro and many more of ordering records I’ve been ripped off maliciously only a very few times. I think the vast, vast majority of supposed rip offs are what we would call “failures to communicate.” In my experience the best way to keep from having your mail order or trade from getting fucked up is to provide as much information as possible. Write legibly and make sure you list all the records you want, quantities and titles, and put your address on everything. You would be surprised how many orders come in to distros and labels with cryptic as fuck messages like “Here’s 10 bucks, send me both” or “Send me the Black Flag one” OK, was that a record or a CD? Maybe a shirt? And where do you want it sent, as there is no address on the envelope. List alternates in case something is out of stock, include your email address, anything to demystify and idiot proof your order. You can never provide too much information. In my experience the orders that are the most confusing and difficult are the ones that get dealt with last. When you have a big pile of mail in front of you and the post office closes in two hours, the first letter to get set aside to deal with later is the one that’s illegibly written, has no return address and doesn’t specify whether they wanted an LP or CD version of the release they ordered and is a buck short. Read the fine print in a distros ads and make double sure you got the postage right if the items are not post paid. The number one thing that will slow down your order is not the distro ripping you off, it’s the customer not taking the time to prepare the order right in the first place. If something does go wrong, like you get a different record than your ordered, or your order doesn’t show up, contact the distro and once again, give them as much information as possible. A letter like “dude I never got the stuff I ordered from you” isn’t going to get you very far. Provide your name, address, what you ordered, how you paid for it (cash, money order, credit card, etc) and what the problem was. Most distros are happy to straighten thing like this out quickly as their reputation, and having you as a future customer are on the line. Don’t assume you are being ripped off, assume there was a mistake, like the order was addressed wrong, or the person filling the order misunderstood what you wanted, or the post office returned it because the stamps fell off. Keep in mind that the most economical way to ship records is the Media Mail (formerly book rate) Rate. This is very slow, especially for large packages, but the keeps the price of shipping your records down. If you order records, unless Priority/First Class is specified, assume it’s going media mail and will take up to a month. In today’s internet driven, instant gratification society a lot of people expect their records to show up the day after they click their mouse. Most DIY labels aren’t able to provide that sort of overnight service that corporate retailers do, and if they did you would be paying more in shipping and handling than the records you’ve ordered cost.

The cheapest way to get records around at a decent price is through trading, especially for foreign records. Most small labels and distros do a lot of trading and I’ve written about this here before. All the time I hear stories from distros and labels about how they got ripped off by another label or distro. Often I know both of the parties involved and I always have to wonder. Once again, most of these “rip offs” are failures to communicate and misunderstandings. I do a ton of trading with labels all over the world. I frequently fuck up and delete emails, or forget to send records etc. The most confusing is when dozens of emails are exchanged over a single trade to the point where you forget what you were originally trading. Once again, provide as much information as possible. Band name, title of the record, quantity, address etc. Don’t assume the person you are emailing remembers which Unholy Grave split 7” you are talking about and where you wanted it sent. Another very important thing for foreigners is to specify any special instructions you might have to get your stuff through customs. Be specific about how you want the forms filled out (gift or merchandise, value of records) every country is different, don’t assume the label knows how to treat your package. And once again, don’t assume the person is ripping you off. Chances are the more accusatory you become, the less enthusiastic they are going to be about straightening out your problem. I honestly assume most people wouldn’t last too long in DIY hardcore being dishonest or ripping other people off in a malicious fashion. There are a few exceptions, such as Oliver Simonpietri formerly of Sludge records, now using the name Acrude records. This guy is a total swindler and has ripped off dozens of bands and labels. The fact that he keeps having to change the name of his label and use alias’s like Michel and Barbara should be a clue to his dishonest double dealings.

One genuine way to get ripped off if you run a label or distro is credit card fraud. If you do a mail order over the internet and accept credit cards be sure to look into getting fraud verification software to screen for stolen credit cards. I’ve talked to a lot of other distros and labels about this. Most of the fraudulent orders come from Indonesia, Malaysia, Yugoslavia and Russia. Note also, that Indonesian scam artists will try to use Australian or Dutch addresses as well. Most fraud verification software rejects any credit card orders from these areas. If you are a legit mail order customer from one of these places, save your time and send cash or a money order. No one trusts orders from these places anymore, so don’t be frustrated when your favorite distro rejects your order. Our fraud verification software rejects several bogus Indonesian orders everyday, give it up kids!

Mykel Board wrote years ago about going to a flea market in Mexico and seeing all the latest US punk records for sale at dirt cheap prices. How could this be? There was a cottage industry of kids writing to US labels telling them they were poor Mexican punks who really, really wanted the new Queers album or whatever and the GG’s (guilty gringos) would send it to them. This sort of racket still goes on, I get “something for nothing” letters from spam artists all the time. OK, if you have the time, money and records to spare and you want to send these kids your stuff, go for it. I can ill afford to give stuff away, especially when the writer is obviously sending out a spam email to hundreds of labels asking for “free stuff.” If you are going to try to scam labels out of free records at least start a zine or get a college radio show!

Postage is a fucking raped ass! The Post Office is using Anthrax as an excuse to jack the postal rates again. The international rates went through the roof last time and I think we are going to have to prepare to pay higher prices for records, especially foreign stuff, as shipping costs continue to escalate. I have a few recommendations to make when shipping overseas. One is the Global Priority Flat Rate envelope. You can sandwich 20 7”S between two pieces of cardboard and stuff them into one of these. This is a pretty cheap way to send 7”s air mail in multiples of 20. Also there is the M-Bag rate. This is a special rate for periodicals and books, but most postal workers can be bamboozled into letting you ship records and CDs this rate as well as it roughly corresponds to the domestic Media Mail rate. There are some extra forms to fill out, but it is way cheaper than normal Parcel Post and Letter Post rates. A word to the wise, pack the shit up good as it will get hammered!

Wow, that was pretty boring huh? Let’s talk about Dutch Thrash, which is On the Rise. Conveniently that’s the title of a great new comp 7” that features a slew of the New Wave of Dutch Thrash. But let’s turn the clock back a few years to the golden age of hardcore. Holland had this raging scene in the 80’s that I’ve written about in this space before. Pandemonium, BGK, Larm, No Pigs, Mornington Crescent, Gepopel, Indirekt, Wulpse Varkens, Z’miv, Neuroot, Jesus and the Gospelfuckers, Agent Orange, and a little later Seein Red and Manlifting Banner. Fucking raging bands, fast and raw as fuck. Holland’s output of high quality hardcore is up there with Finland and Sweden, just not quite as well known. Holland underwent a big “youth crew revival” in the 90’s which was roughly contemporary to the “youth crew revival” in America that seemed to center around bands like Floorpunch and Ten Yard Fight. Sorry to say, I dozed right through that revival. Let me know if I missed anything crucial, OK.

But now Dutch Thrash is putting Holland back on the map! Almost all of these bands are doing 7”s and splits. Which I think is cool because you will be able to check out a lot of bands for less money and short, fast, thrash is better on a 7”! Seein’ Red have been playing fast, intense hardcore in Holland for longer than most of you have been punk, these guys are super dedicated. I was honored to do a show for them in Minneapolis a few years back. They have done dozens of records over the years, including a lot of splits with bands I’m not too crazy about but like all those Crudos splits at least one side rages! After Seein Red I think the first of the new Dutch Thrash bands would be Boycot who combined political crust core with fast thrash and a little of the classic Larm/Pandemonium/Seein Red/Manlifting Banner Dutch SPEED and set the tone for a bunch of bands to follow. They also did a split with Bettercore (Bettercore’s later material is much better) which sort of focused on Punk/SE Hardcore kid unity. This seems like a no brainer now, but remember in the mid 90’s things could have gone a lot differently and the idea of crust/punk kids and SE/hardcore kids all uniting around fast DIY hardcore was actually a little ahead of its time. And a damn good idea that was too. Boycot have done a ton of split 7”s, a 10” and a US tour.

How about some comps? First off there’s the Sturm Und Drang LP with Point of Few, Bettercore, SoberResponse and Office Killer. Actually I thought Office Killer was more of a Screamo/Emo Violence band but the other three bands are total ragers! Then there is Neder Thrash in Opkomst 7" with Mihoen, No-Men, Cockroach, Betercore, Tuco Ramirez, SAF and Seein'Red. All these songs are in Dutch too! Most Dutch bands (well most bands period) sing in English these days but in Holland English is so widely spoken that there is sort of a “save the Dutch” movement so singing in Dutch is a political statement against globalization in itself. Now what the fuck are they saying?

My personal favorite is Point of Few. I’ve heard these guys broke up, which sucks if it’s true. But they will long be remembered by their vinyl output. First there is the Beneath the Surface ep on Coaltion which is good, but even better is the Silence ep on 625. Not sure where this one fits in but there is an S/T 7” on Goat Head records that has a totally emo looking cover but is top notch thrash nonetheless. But if you ask me the absolute best of the current Dutch Thrash records has to be the Point of Few/Bettercore split 7” on Balowski Records. This is a non stop burly as fuck thrasher that will start a pit in any living room! Second only to this is the Point of Few split 7” with Mihoen on Kick and Punch. Again both bands are off the hook with top notch, top speed thrash power. Speaking of Mihoen (what the fuck does this name mean?) they also did a critical split 7” with Cockroach. What kind of music does Cockroach play? Why raging, hyper fast Dutch Thrash what did you expect? Like the POF/Mihoen split this has a very DIY screenprinted cover with a DIY manifesto contained within. Great to see bands doing it themselves, AND explaining their political motivations for doing so. I guess this was originally released a few years ago, but the screen printed cover is a reissue on Balowski. Vitamin X, Ok, I got a soft spot for these guys mix of SE Youth Crew and fast thrash. They did 2 7” on Commitment which were more Youth Crew, a 7” on Havoc which I must modestly say is totally awesome and then two LPs, one on Underestimated and another split release of Underestimated and Havoc. Olho De Gato are another raging Dutch Thrash band who, I believe, have no Dutch members, Holland being a very cosmopolitan sort of place. Olho De Gato have a split 7” with our friends we met above Bettercore. Now on this release we have Billy from Boycot added on vocals in Bettercore which means that the vocalists in this band are BILL AND TED! Most Excellent! Just as you would expect this is more hyper fast, raw, hardcore punk with sick breakdowns and thrash, thrash, thrash. OK, so you track down the records I talked about above right. You patiently make a 90 min tape of all your favorites. What do you get? The ultimate Friday night Dutch Thrash living room mosh tape!

OK, sit down, I’m not through yet. In my opinion two of the most under appreciated hardcore bands ever are Finland’s Sairaat Mielaat and Holland’s Jesus and the Gospelfuckers. I think I’ve written about both bands in this column before. It looks like both bands will finally be treated to vinyl re-issues, Passing Bells will be doing a Sairaat Mielaat LP and Kangaroo will be doing a record of Jesus and the Gospelfuckers. If you love hardcore like I love hardcore pick up both of these the minute they hit the streets, both killer bands gone totally overlooked and under appreciated. It blows my mind how third rate stuff like Slapshot sells tens of thousands of copies and every college kid has their T shirt when the best hardcore languishes in obscurity, Henk, hurry up with that stuff man!

Publication Date:
January 1, 2001

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