Wow. I’m not one to buy into end time theories – but between the office getting flooded, the recent oh-so-rare earthquake, and the house TV being broken, I am fairly certain that humankind will not last the week. That said, things are still chugging along here in West Chester. It’s looking like we’ve just secured a new space in our little hamlet to do shows. It can be really tough to sell the idea of doing shows to a place that hasn’t done them before. It doesn’t help that a lot of venues in this area were shut down over the past decade because of fights. Hopefully the dust from those shit storms has settled by now.

Did you hear that SELF DEFENSE FAMILY (formerly END OF A YEAR) is doing a run of west coast dates? Well, you are now. If you live within two hours of any of these dates and have reliable transportation, you really should have no reason to miss one of the world’s best bands. Jobs and familial commitments shouldn’t take priority over making it out to these dates. I can personally vouch for the show on the 27th in Santa Cruz as being especially worth checking out. That space and the homie booking it are awesome. But seriously, try to see this band. I know a lot of people are still snoozing. Check out a new track they recorded at Tuff Gong studios in Kingston. As a long time devotee of Jamaican music, I lost my shit when I heard that the band was recording there. I’ve been begging Patrick to do another Runner Up release for some time, but it would seem that there are a million other better labels doing the same. Can’t say I’m that surprised.

SPRAYNARD has some big news of their own. My little critters are playing with KID DYNAMITE on September 11th at the First Unitarian Church in Philadelphia. I’m not really sure how to follow that up. Do I need to?

To wrap up this little update, I wanted to direct everyone’s attention to THE HEADIES – Deleware’s finest! As homies that share our love for all things West Chester punk rock, it was kind of a no-brainer when it came to doing a release with them. Just a bunch of dudes that love weed and being from Delaware playing brain-splitting pop punk madness in the vein of PLOW UNITED and any band that MUTANT POP ever put out. YES.

In an ongoing effort to rip off everything Mike Park does, I’m going to be making updates in the form of a regular, bi-weekly newsletter. Every other Tuesday, that is. I figure this will push me to be more on point with getting these done more regularly. Fun fun?

This first update could very well be a long one – a lot has been happening recently in the world of Runner Up, and I feel somewhat obligated to share at least some of my experience at Asian Man Records 15 Year Anniversary Fest in San Francisco. We’ll also take a look at some fun that was had with SHOOK ONES and SPRAYNARD, as well as some action going on with BY SURPRISE.

But before we dive face first into that heaping pile of rad, let’s reflect on the sheer greatness of an upcoming split that we are releasing from SUNDIALS and HOLD TIGHT!. These southern gentlemen came at me a few weeks ago seeing if I’d be into putting this record out. I said “duh” and sealed the deal. I already love both of them as artists and as people – easy decision. These bands sound completely different from one another – which I’ve always believed makes for a great split right off the bat. Sundials have always reminded me of a little less weird SHINOBU that leaned more in the directions of THE WEAKERTHANS – really clean but still pretty raw. Hold Tight!, on the other hand, play straight-on LIFETIME-inspired punk rock that people into TITLE FIGHT will probably like. The split between these Richmond, VA homies is looking like it will be out in early fall-ish. We’ll post a more accurate time as we work it out. For now, get psyched on what they have out already. I’m really happy to have them as part of the fam!

So now let’s turn our gaze away from the white-hot future and towards the past. Let’s go back, way back… to three weeks ago. Ah, yes – I was on a beach in Santa Cruz, CA with SPRAYNARD and THE WILD, feeling the sunny beach vibes rejuvenate my essence as if I were Captain Planet. I spent the better part of a week with that entire crew, and it was about as perfect a time as I could have hoped. The Wild have been one of my favorite bands for the past few months, and it was a treat to be able to see them a million times in one week. I think it’s that irresistible southern charm that does it.

One particular Spraynard/Wild show stands out to me when I reflect on AMR 15 week. You see, early on a typically sunny day, the lot of us went down to the Asian Man office (where I did work for Mike once upon a time) to hang out for a little. While shooting the shit about the San Jose show that was to take place later in the day, Mike dropped the bomb on us that THE CHINKEES would be opening. There’s no way I could overstate the Christmas-day-esque joy that filled my heart and loins. The Chinkees have always been my favorite AMR band and I truly never thought I’d get the opportunity to see them in such a personal setting. Their set and the rest of that show was a highlight of my life. Seeing that band reminded me of all of the lyrical qualities that drew me to them in the first place – it served as a much needed reminder that I could try way harder to be less selfish and more positive all the time!

Speaking of SPRAYNARD, the repress of “Cut and Paste” should legitimately be here any day now, at least as far as I know. If you’ve been waiting on an order that includes that, thanks for being patient! I promise to include freebies when I send those out this week.

While in California, I also had the pleasure of seeing SHOOK ONES (the aural object of my obsession)  in Santa Cruz (the geographical object of my obsession). It was crazy! The space was great and the show went off. Truly, it was the best set I have seen them play to date. Talk about a band that has come a long way and done their own thing the whole time. I kind of like that they don’t play that often – it always makes seeing them all the more satisfying.

Wow, this is really long. I should start wrapping this up. I wanted to mention that BY SURPRISE has a new LP on Topshself Records. Check that out! Even sweeter is that we are getting ready to repress the split between them and HIGHTIDE HOTEL. Expect some retweaked artwork but the same amazing songs from each band. Wooh!

Time to get back to catching up on mailorder! ONE LOVE. JAH RESPECT.