Music nerds love the idea of “real reissues” (not the kind that come out six months after a release date with a lame bonus DVD and two non-album tracks). We dream of epic pairings between bands and labels, lost b-sides, buried demo tracks, and remixed and remastered coatings. Because of this, Pastepunk reached to two of our favorite fellow music nerds, Adam White and Aubin Paul of Punknews.org. We gave each of them free reign to talk about reissues they would like to see. Adam took the approach of matching each original release with a naming a different label to put out the reissue while Aubin discussed why a reissue would be needed and the likeliness of such happening. Enjoy!

ADAM WHITE / Editor, Punknews.org

PILFERS – Pilfers Original released by: Self released Wishful reissue label: Asian Man The third wave ska boom gave rise to a lot of horrible bands, but New York’s PILFERS were one of the few gems. The featured former TOASTERS toaster Coolie Ranx with members of BIM SKALA BIM and SKINNERBOX. The band ended up signed to Mojo Records, in retrospect a deal with the devil, but at the time quite the place to be for a ska band with mainstream potential. (Witness the prolonged screwing of REEL BIG FISH for the full, gory details of Mojo’s legacy). Before Mojo the band released a self-titled full length – an independent release which reportedly moved 20,000 in 1998 with no retail presence. Pilfers moved huge numbers off stage and online, a phenomenon that net-savvy bands these days would kill for. It was ahead of its time in more ways than one, and I distinctly recall the term “4th wave” applied to the band’s mix of reggae, ska and hard rock. While styles shifted for their Mojo debut and the band eventually dissolved, this is a fine little artifact that deserves another shot. Paired with some early demo recordings or any salvageable tunes from Chawalaleng and this would be a great catalog record for a niche punk/ska label. Asian Man? Megalith? Stomp? Pick it up!

SHADOWY MEN ON A SHADOWY PLANET – Savvy Show Stoppers Original released by: Cargo Records Wishlist reissue label: Mint Oh I’m afraid you simply won’t understand if you’re not Canadian. Coming of age in the early 90s in Canada meant exposure to a ton of fantastic, quirky indie acts that simply couldn’t have the same impact south of the 49th. This was the age of HUEVOS RANCHEROS, CHIXDIGGIT, DUOTANG, the SMUGGLERS, the EVAPORATORS, FLASHLIGHT, the All Skanadian Club comps and of course the PLANET SMASHERS. It was a nation that existed between Mint in Vancouver and Stomp in Montreal, as essential a part of our upbringing as the good ol’ hockey game. Part of this elite group was SHADOWY MEN ON A SHADOWY PLANET, an instrumental rock combo best known for “Having an Average Weekend,” the theme to Kids In The Hall. Savvy Show Stoppers contains that track and more. The 1988 record collected early tracks from singles and EPs, a fact I only learned in retrospect. To me this was simply a quirky, off-kilter bit of rock when I needed it the most. Cargo released this back in the day, but its heart lies further north. Let’s see Mint give this a spit shine and a new lease on life.

FRANKLIN – S/T Originally released by: Tree Records Wishful reissue label: Hydrahead FRANKLIN was a brilliant Philadelphia-based punk / dub act. I’ve never heard a band that sounds quite like them, or one that evokes the same mood. From the wild indie-minded mod punk of songs like “Inventor of Loud” to the frenetic opus of “Major Taylor” this release is just chock full of amazing songs that nobody’s heard. I’m not exaggerating to say I actually inquired about the rights to this record a few years ago. Tree Records, the label behind the 1999 release, imploded some years ago. The band’s voice and style were recently resurrected in the JAI-ALAI SAVANT, and hopefully that act can drum up enough interest to give the FRANKLIN catalog another go. With that in mind, a remastered version of Franklin would do well alongside the new act on Hydrahead.

NEW BOMB TURKS – Information Highway Revisited Originally released by: Crypt Records Wishful reissue label: Swami BAD RELIGON’s Brett Gurewitz once told Punknews.org the following about remastering: “I’m not trying to polish something that wasn’t meant to be polished. Let’s say you have a camera that takes clear pictures, and you also have a crappy disposable camera that takes crummy pictures. Say you take a picture of something dirty and crusty, like a nail. When you take a picture with the excellent camera, you get a clear picture of every bit of crust and rust as it was meant to be seen. That’s the way the nail really looks.” Apply that thinking to the early NEW BOMB TURKS records, since they could use the improved sonics but don’t ever think of cleaning them up. Both Destroy-Oh-Boy and Information Highway Revisited would benefit from the treatment, but if we’re choosing one I’d go for the latter for purely personal reasons. The NEW BOMB TURKS inspired far more bands than they get credit for and deserve to have their catalog spiffed up a bit. Crypt Records released the original, but if we’re looking for some added impact I’d hand the reissue job off to Swami.

VARIOUS ARTISTS – The Last Pogo Originally released by: Bomb Records Wishful reissue label: Paper Bag On December 1st, 1978 Toronto area promotion team “The Garys” threw an event dubbed The Last Pogo, intended to be (whether literally or in jest) the last Toronto punk concert ever. The entire event was filmed and record, resulting in the short documentary and live album of the same name. Most of the city’s best punk bands were in attendance, groups like CARDBOARD BRAINS, the SCENICS, the VILETONES, TEENAGE HEAD, the SECRETS,the MODS and the UGLY. A Can-punk answer to the BAND’s Last Waltz, this record deserves a place of prominence in the nation’s music history, not just a footnote. Has this LP ever been released on CD? If so I’ve never seen one. This deserves a proper reissue with all the bells and whistles. The original LP lacked TEENAGE HEAD’s material due to some long forgotten rights issues, and that would be a perfect bonus for the reissue. Heck, dig up some material from the FORGOTTEN REBELS and others and make an entire second disc featuring bands of the era. I don’t care who puts this sucker out, just get it done because it needs to be done, but for the sake of argument let’s use a Toronto label like Paper Bag.

– AUBIN PAUL / Founder/Editor, Punknews.org

AT THE DRIVE-IN – Hell Paso / Alfaro Vive Carajo I know it’ll never happen. I went so far as to ask Jim Ward about it and he was pretty straight that we’re unlikely to ever see a widely available version of either of these two EPs. But I want them all the same; both singles represent a great band in its infancy, and despite their flaws, are wonderful in their own right. The only options right now are horrific sounding vinyl-to-MP3 conversions and incredibly expensive eBay auctions, and with the band’s retrospective already behind us, it’s unlikely we’ll be seeing any way of rectifying the situation.

CAVE IN – Until Your Heart Stops This is another album I asked about. I asked Hydrahead boss Aaron Turner if they had ever considered a reissue of the album and he remarked that he was perfectly happy with it. I must respectfully disagree; while it contains arguably the best and most innovative fusion of metal and hardcore that CAVE IN’s remarkable output ever presented, the album suffers from a hollow mix and much of it’s brilliance is lost to a tiny dynamic range. The recent remix/remaster of COALESCE’s Give Them Rope revealed never-before seen depths in an already incredible album, and Until Your Heart Stops deserves the same loving attention to its details.

ENVY – Angel’s Curse Whispered In The Edge Of Despair / Eyes Of A Single-Eared Prophet While both albums are available for reasonable prices with a little digging, few people have heard them. ENVY’s music takes the now-familiar sound of early screamo (Saetia, Heroin) and adds an emotional core that is unparalleled. In a recent year end list, I invoked the image of a cemetery on a sunny day because there is little other way to describe a band that can take such serene beauty and instill a heart-wrenching air of tragedy. The two EPs reveal ENVY in their earliest experiments with hardcore and melody, and the results are astounding for any band, let alone such a young one. I maintain that ENVY is one of the best bands working today in any language, and these two EPs should be shown to the wide-audience they deserve.

ROCKET FROM THE CRYPT – Scream, Dracula Scream! Without a doubt the best of ROCKET FROM THE CRYPT’s major label output, Scream is out-of-print and increasingly difficult to find. The blessing and curse of major label distribution is how widely available and cheap it is when new, but how quickly it vanishes after it’s lost of the sheen of the major label marketing machine. Taking all the best elements of the band’s early classics, and upping both the production, the horns and the energy, Scream is a record worthy of the same treatment as frontman John Reis’ other band, DRIVE LIKE JEHU. Swami, throw on some great B-sides and put this one out!

- Since we’re all about attribution at Pastepunk, it should be noted that James came up with the idea of this feature and poked and prodded Adam and Aubin relentlessly until they churned something out. James is good like that.