What to buy at Permanent Records' third anniversary sale
Dig deep for the Jesus Lizard's reissues, which will be available at a nice discount.
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We're all aware of the ridiculous customers waking up at 3:30 a.m. on Black Friday to trample their neighbors at the local Best Buy. But rather than risk death for a severely discounted Blu-ray player, you might want to head over to Permanent Records (1914 W. Chicago Ave., 773-278-1744) for its third anniversary sale, where you can check out local artists for cheap and are unlikely to witness music snobs wrestling over, say, a used Stereolab album. The A.V. Club rummaged through the sale bins and found a few Chicago bands worth a spin.
Item #1: Disappears, Live Over The Rainbo ($10.39)
Why it's worth your money: Pressed on rainbow-colored vinyl, this limited-edition release presents the perfect opportunity for local fans to catch up with a rising band's debut record, right before they open up for The Jesus Lizard at the Metro on New Year's Eve. Tracks like “Lux” and “Hearing Things” keep a steady, hypnotic drumbeat, allowing raucous, fuzzed-out riffs and cavernous vocals to bounce around like propulsive sonic pinballs in listeners' brains. Snatch this up immediately.
Item #2: Cacaw, Get A Brain EP ($11.99)
Why it's worth your money: The highly abrasive first EP from the local noise rockers features seven songs of awesomely cacophonous rock, as the band's throat-searing vocals and pummeling punk percussion dip into complex polyrhythms. This pressing has a striking visual component as well, as one side of the record has been screen printed with a leafy green image to show off the band's artistic chops.
Item #3: Various, You Weren't There: A History Of Chicago Punk 1977-1984 ($27.99)
Why it's worth your money: As a film, You Weren't There: A History Of Chicago Punk 1977-1984 is a thorough, if repetitive, documentary. But those wanting to engage directly with just the music should check out the You Weren't There companion LP, which compiles tracks from a wide variety of then-active acts in the Chicago punk scene. Pressed on white vinyl and limited to 1,000 copies, the set also includes a DVD of the movie —which features some impressive video footage of acts like Naked Raygun and Big Black. An essential purchase for the history-minded punk.
Item #4: Various, Light: On The South Side ($39.99)
Why it's worth your money: Light: On The South Side combines photographer Michael Abramson's black-and-wide pictures of South Side lounge and club patrons between 1975 and 1977 with two LPs, featuring an 18-track compilation of Chicago artists. Though there are a few names that should be familiar to Chicago blues aficionados, most of the artists on Light are obscure, meaning fans can rediscover the orchestral soul of Lady Margo or the funky, Meters-style blues of Ricky Allen and Andrew Brown. With a jacket-sleeve made to look like a contemporaneous jukebox, Light is a dynamite gift for any R&B fan.
Item #5: The Jesus Lizard re-issue bundle pack LPs ($63.96)
Why It's Worth Your Money: Gritty noise-rock legends The Jesus Lizard recently reissued their five Touch & Go albums (Head, Pure, Goat, Liar, and Down) separately with extensive liner notes, live tracks, and demos. Figuring out a starting off point for one of Chicago's most notoriously raucous live bands is difficult--so why not just dive in, David Yow-style? Catch up with some of the city's most seminal rock before experiencing Yow-and-company's ferocious, blood-and-sweat live show on Nov. 27-28 at the Metro.
