SKiN GRAFT News for Yous

B A L L P E E N ( ! ) B U L L E T I N S

updated: December 11th, 2020

TWO NEW T-SHIRTS join the UNFIT APPREL COLLECTION
and TERMS host a December BBQ

( see the unfit apparel collection )

- - - PLEASE NOTE - - -
UNFIT Apparel T-Shirt orders are fulfilled by the DARK SLIDE Skate Shop. T-Shirt orders will be re-directed to their storefront. Vinyl, CDs and other items from the SKiN GRAFT Shop may NOT be combined with UNFIT Apparel T-Shirts and separate shipping charges apply.
VISIT The DARK SLIDE SKATE SHOP HERE.

CLICK HERE TO READ THE UNFIT APPAREL PRESS RELEASE!
SKiN GRAFT Records at BANDCAMP

Hi Everyone,
We're back with one more update before we close the book on this year. To follow up the SIDES 1-4 Joybuzzer and Black Lives Matter shirts (check the SUMMER 2020 update), our UNFIT Apparel Line has added two more new designs - neither of which have ever graced a T-Shirt before. Here's the story...

click for hi-res

SHORTY "Fly With..."
Design by Mark Shippy
UNFIT #11 / Double-Sided T-Shirt

Shorty was an American rock band formed in Chicago, Illinois in 1991. The band consisted of vocalist Al Johnson, guitarist Mark Shippy, drummer Todd Lamparelli, and bassist Luke Frantom. Described as “A sinus cleaning din that flips you upside down, shakes the keys from your pockets and then drops you headfirst to the astroturf”, the band released a number of singles followed by a full length, with their last two releases on SKiN GRAFT Records. After the group's breakup, Al Johnson and Mark Shippy would go on to form the underground art rock band U.S. Maple. Hear them here: https://skingraftrecords.bandcamp.com/album/fresh-breath

This never before seen artwork was drawn by guitarist Mark Shippy exclusively for the Unfit Apparel collection.

Fun Facts: The Jesus Lizard's David Yow lifted Al's "microphone in the pocket" technique after Shorty disbanded. He would later give Al credit in a series of interviews across the United States. Prior to changing their name, Shorty was called Snailboy and were nearly included on the flipside of the very first SKiN GRAFT Records release with Dazzling Killmen.

click for hi-res

U.S. MAPLE "Championship Tee"
Design by Mark Fischer
UNFIT #12 / Double-Sided T-Shirt

U.S. Maple formed in Chicago in 1995. The band consisted of Al Johnson (lead singer), Mark Shippy (guitarist), Pat Samson (drummer), and Todd Rittmann (guitarist).

The artwork was originally designed by SKiN GRAFT’s Mark Fischer for the band’s North American tour poster - and was later immortalized by its prominent placement on the front counter of the record store in the film “High Fidelity”. Hear them here: https://skingraftrecords.bandcamp.com/album/long-hair-in-three-stages

“The underground rock scene’s sloppy dependence on dissonance, fractured rhythms, and quasi atonality has by and large rendered these elements ineffective. But within this sad state of affairs arrives U.S. Maple’s stunning debut “Long Hair In Three Stages”, released by Skin Graft, produced by Jim O’Rourke, proving that noise can be more than just a racket. Fronted by al Johnson, the whirling white-trash dervish of the late hick noisenicks Shorty, U.S. Maple plays music that can sound utterly disorganized at times. But Johnson’s wheezing cries and drunken whoops fit so tightly into the aggressive, disjointed machinations that there is no doubt this Chicago band possesses a keen if complicated sense of order”. - Peter Margasak (The Chicago Reader)

Please go HERE to see the entire UNFIT Apparel collection and visit the Dark Slide to place an order. Almost all of the UNFIT Apparel shirts are going to be restocked, so now is your chance to place an order for any of the earlier shirts that you may have missed. The U.S. Maple and Shortyshirts are expected to ship in January.

TERMS - BBQ: an excerpt of "The Cinematographer's Silver Band"

And one more thing before we sign out - - -
The arrival of TERMS and their releases "Hoarder Of Operations" and "Asbestos Mouth" is one of the great things to come out of this difficult year and they are closing out in grand fashion - sharing a "Summer in December Hot Jamz" mix tape and a "Winter BBQ" video to boot. You can check out the video above and watch for their mixtape over at I Heart Noise.

Thanks Everyone!
- Mark Fischer

SKiN GRAFT RECORDS at BANDCAMP:

PREVIOUS UPDATE:

updated: December 4th, 2020

( click HERE to embiggen )

SKiN GRAFT Records BLACK CHRISTMAS SALE
We've reactivated the code for one more go-round!
Take 20% off of EVERYTHING (Digital and Physical) at the SKiN GRAFT Records Bandcamp Store.

Use the code TAKEITOFF2020
The SALE IS LIVE HERE: http://skingraftrecords.bandcamp.com

TWO MORE FROM THE METAL SHOP DEPT.:
For the November Bandcamp Friday, we listed our remaining copies of the U.S. Maple "Long Hair In Three Stages" metal sleeved LPs. For the final Bandcamp Friday of 2020, we are going back to the sheet metal shop one last time - - - Discounted and now in the store are limited quantities of the ARAB ON RADAR "silk-screened and polished" aluminum sleeved 7" single (plus the Ultimate Edition with 8 additional tracks) and the PRE "Epic Fits" Glass-mastered CD - pakaged in an Embossed Metal Box ! You can read more about them in the paragraphs that follow...!

AND - in conjunction with I Heart Noise, we are pleased to unlock the digital versions of the three December 2020 tracks from CHEER-ACCIDENT's new album "Fringements One".

The December tracks are:
20. Weather Report
21. Shaft
22. Salvation Army Salad

Preview them and get the CD delivered straight to your door here: https://skingraftrecords.bandcamp.com/album/fringements-one

"Fringements One" is currently a CD-only release. If you order the CD (or the digital edition) via bandcamp you will receive an immediate download of the unlocked tracks. Then, the DIGITAL ALBUM will add THREE TRACKS per MONTH until complete. The physical CD version contains the complete album from the get-go. More details can be found in the updates below, so keep scrolling kimosabee!

ARAB ON RADAR
"The Yahweh or the Highway Sessions"
ONE-SHEET

“Arab On Radar's avant-gargling wasn't some dry exercise in "playing the spaces between notes." They clogged those spaces, distended them, poked them inside out. I've seen plenty of discordant bands and enjoyed lots of annoying records over the years - but there will always be a special place in my heart (and a soft spot in my brain) reserved for this one-two cockpunch of transcendental retardation.” - A.V. Club

During the sessions that would become their final album “Yahweh or the Highway”, Arab On Radar recorded updated versions of two songs that had originally appeared on a split 7” EP with The Locust a year earlier. Locked away on a roll of analog tape since 2001, the band and SKiN GRAFT Records are made these unheard recordings available in an edition of 550 7” vinyl singles. Produced by Weasel Walter at Sound Station Seven, each single comes with a hand fabricated aluminum jacket, custom polished and treated by the band’s own Mr. Clinical Depression - and then screen-printed with new artwork by Mat Brinkman and Neil Burke. No two sleeves are alike. The single comes complete with a hand-numbered certificate of authenticity and a heavy, double-sided tri-fold sleeve featuring band photos and lyrics.

The ARAB ON RADAR "The Yahweh of the Highways Sessions" 7“ tracks are also available on CD in two editions, each with unique cover art. Also in our Bandcamp Shop are two specially priced Ultimate Edition bundles, which brings together the aluminum sleeved 7" single - with your choice of CD packaging. You can order them HERE.

We've gathered together some photos from Ralph Fischer, Neil Burke, Jeff Schneider and Dave Stone to give you a behind the scenes look at the making of the sleeves. You can check it out at the SKiN GRAFT Facebook Page or by clicking the thumbnails below.

- - ARAB ON RADAR - -

Behind the Screens of the SKiN GRAFT Single

PRE
"Epic Fits" One-Sheet
(Archival copy)

NOW - Let's take a look at reporter "Jazzy" Joe Romita's original NEWS DESK update from way back in September 18th, 2007

Hello Hepcats, Howdy Hipsters! Pull up a seat and pull up those pants, its time once again for a parade of positively pointed postings from your self-proclaimed prince of problematic pop, profusely peppered with plenty of persuasive ponderings and practical postulations pertaining to a pair peerless platters of particular prominence (!) - a pair plainly pressed in hopes of turning a paltry profit. You guessed it - it's time to get the gab on the goose-pimple giving goodness of the new long-players from none other than PRE and ATHLETIC AUTOMATON (editor's note - AA's killer second album was also released on this day!)

ITEM! Point your peepers down a line or four, where press magnate Charlie Nite has penned a powerful piece of prose pertaining to our pals PRE:

Born in a basement, based in London, the first outing of PRE had the entire audience locked outside, watching through barred windows from above. To the assemblage up top, it was clear that these five noise sprinkled nu-wavers had already figured it out - sound moves quicker in high pressure.

In the months that followed, PRE's rhythmically infectious skip-alongs were demonstrated on a flurry of releases. The band's debut 7" EP "Treasure Trails" caught ears by surprise and wouldn't let go. A rash of vinyl came in quick succession, pairing the band up with acts like AIDS Wolf, Dmonstrations, Bardo Pond, and Comanechi.

And now, weighing 14 songs and coming in just over 20 minutes tall, "Epic Fits" will be born on September 18th. Recorded in a chilly pizza storage unit with Westminster Brown at the controls, PRE's full length is cold sweat caught on two inch tape. Those initial moonbeams shining through the barred basement windows have been caught - meticulously sliced and diced - and reflected back in a brilliant, buoyant strobelight. Guitar, bass, bass, drum and moon shriek: PRE make the noise jump.

PRESS QUOTES:
o "Gonzo punkers PRE are well on their way to superstardom. Like Karen O on a cocktail of narcotics, crazy lead singer Keeks Matsuura screeches alongside messy metal guitars with an energy that'd make duracell proud." - NME

o "Akiko only wears underwear on stage. When she comes on at first, she seems a little vulnerable in her minimal clothing.,, but then she starts singing and explodes. Even if you don't fancy girls, like me, it's still really cute to see a small Asian girl dance around in her undies and scream". - Rock On London

While only the tin-eared would deny that Skin Graft delivers the goods when it comes to musical meatiness, our lauded label is never one to skimp on presentation either. From its origins packing 7" vinyl records with illuminating comic sleeves to the packaging powerhouses of the present, Skin Graft's frantic followers are forever fawning and flailing, earnestly endeavoring to figure just what frankly fabulous fashions the forthcoming formats will be wearing.

After weeks of intense study, research and poll taking, the marketing mavericks up top determined that when it comes to sure fire sell-through, the picky populace prone to picking up our pulse-pounding productions have a perennial preference for one particular packaging process. That's right, Jazzy's talkin' about METAL! Not the long-haired, head-banging variety, as the swift-selling HIGH ON FIRE / RUINS split 7" and comic set would seem to attest, but metal of the earthen alloy variety, as graced the sleeves of the long-lauded, solidly sold-out debut US Maple LP.

So in answer to those seasoned Skin Graft sophisticates, PRE's "Epic Fits" compact disc comes correct in no less than TWO flavorful editions! A standard jewel cased CD and a Limited Edition Embossed Metal Box CD! The Limited First Edition CD includes a Fold-out poster sleeve, "I Love You Shitmouth" insert, a hand- numbered wraparound obi and a magnificent metal box - each individually embossed with PRE's loony logo! Limited to only 1,250 copies, these are such surefire collectors-items, that we've already packaged them in a resealable polybag to keep your copy minty fresh in the years to come! Jazzy fearlessly forecasts that this limited edition will be worth MILLIONS in no time at all!!! Best ask dad for an advance on your allowance so you can buy ten or twenty copies right away - so we... -er... YOU can prepare for that early retirement right now!

OKAY - back for what's left of 2020. The remaining metal boxes have been embossed and assembled and are now available HERE in our bandcamp store. For more info, you can visit PRE's archived mini-website HERE (most of the links still work!). As Jazzy put it way back then - "This multi-media stronghold of magnificence has been fortified with a multitude of MP3's, a veritable vestige of Videos, fab Photos, timely Tour Dates, and plenty of other info on London's loud-brow leaders of the Now-School of Hard Rocks!"

Thanks for making this year worthwhile!
- Mark

PREVIOUS UPDATE:

updated: November 26th, 2020

( click HERE to embiggen )

SKiN GRAFT Records BLACK FRIDAY SALE
Knock a whopping 20% off of EVERYTHING (Digital and Physical) at the SKiN GRAFT Records Bandcamp Store.

Use the code TAKEITOFF2020
The SALE IS LIVE HERE: http://skingraftrecords.bandcamp.com

Additionally, we have temporarily reduced the prices of four titles BEFORE the application of the 20% off code - making for some MASSIVE SAVINGS - the likes of which HAVE NEVER BEEN SEEN BEFORE!!!!!!!

The titles are:
YOWIE "Synchromystism" LP/CD/Ultimate Edition
CHEER-ACCIDENT "Gumballhead the Cat" CD and Comic Book Set
AIDS WOLF vs ATHLETIC AUTOMATON Gatefold LP/CD/Ult-Ed
COLOSSAMITE "All Lingo's Clamour" CD (Their debut!)

AND - SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL RECORD STORE!!!
We have a new CD-only release at participating record stores NOW!
Alternately, if you order the CHEER-ACCIDENT "Fringements One" CD (or digital edition) via bandcamp you will receive an immediate download of the opening three tracks and the song "InnTrialTaint". Then, beginning in December 2020, the DIGITAL ALBUM will add THREE TRACKS per MONTH until complete. The physical CD version contains the complete album from the get-go. More details below!

CHEER-ACCIDENT
"Fringements One"
Glass-Mastered CD / Digital (see notes below)
( ORDER at BANDCAMP )

CHEER-ACCIDENT
PDF One-Sheet
cat #: GR145CD

“Most bands still churning in their fourth decade of existence don't see the kind of creative surge CHEER- ACCIDENT has nursed since 2017.” - POPMATTERS

Once a band reaches that four-decade mark in their existence, particularly a band such as CHEER-ACCIDENT, who have travailed so much aesthetic ground during this time, you just know that they have a veritable treasure trove of flotsam and jetsam (in varying degrees of “fi”) lying around, just waiting to be turned into a whimsical encyclopedic series of semi-random aural events. - This Is That.

“Fringements One” is the first chapter, wherein CHEER-ACCIDENT avails to the public documentation of intimate practice space encounters, obscure demos, and even some “slicker” recordings that just never found a home on any of their other releases.

NOTES:
1) Each 25 track, glass-mastered compact disc comes complete in a matte-finish six panel gatefold jacket - jam-packed with extensive liner notes on each and every practice space encounter, answering machine message, demo track and previously unreleased studio recording.

2) Fringements One will be available exclusively as a physical Compact Disc for at least six months. Beginning in December, the digital version available for purchase at Bandcamp will add three tracks per month until complete.

"Fringements One" Compact Disc can be found in participating record stores now - or you can place an order over at the SKiN GRAFT Records Bandcamp page.

PREVIOUS UPDATE:

updated: November 6th, 2020

U.S. Maple "Long Hair In Three Stages"

Aluminum Jacket Front Embossing
(prior to polishing)

U.S. MAPLE "Long Hair In Three Stages"
Die-Cut, Embossed Metal Sleeve LP /
Full-Sheet, Embossed Metal Sleeve LP /
Compact Disc / Ultimate Editions

U.S. MAPLE "Long Hair In Three Stages"
- #85 on the Alternative Press “90 Greatest Albums of the '90s”

The State Is Bad Dept:
Hi Everyone. This is Mark writing. U.S. MAPLE's debut album "Long Hair In Three Stages" was originally released in 1995 on CD and in an edition of 1000 vinyl LPs - packaged entirely in handmade, individually polished aluminum jackets. You can read a bit about them HERE at our vintage US Maple Band page.

The entire run sold out within the first month of its release, and in 2013 - after it began selling for tidy sums around the world and we could safely assume we would not be getting any returns from distributors - we went back to press. The reissue provided a great opportunity to revisit both the design and the sheet metal shop where the original sleeves were fabricated 18 years ago.

SKiN GRAFT's Chief Sleeve Fabricator: Ralph Fischer

It was important that the new editions be different and immediately discernable from the the 1995 edition. Unlike the original run of aluminum sleeves which were crimped and folded on the right side, the revised edition is crimped at the bottom. Each is hand polished differently, has the band name embossed into the metal on the front and has an individual control number embossed on the back. There are two editions - one sporting a full uncut sheet and a variant with a circular die cut on the front that allows a hint of the printed jacket to show through. The die cut and non-die cut sleeves are numbered sequentially as individual editions (ie: there is a #010 die cut and a #010 non die cut sleeve) All LPs include the vinyl only bonus track "Found A Place To Have My Kittens" (remastered for this release), a metallic pantone printed lyric card, and a standard "printed" LP jacket.

U.S. MAPLE "The State Is Bad"
from the album "Long Hair In Three Stages"
Directed & Edited by Andrew Dryer / courtesy of Hardeye Films

US MAPLE "Long Hair In Three Stages" LP Aluminum Sleeve
Below: Circular Die Cut Variant Expanded View

With help from my brother Todd, my dad - Ralph - was the lead fabricator on the new edition - and U.S. Maple's Al Johnson and I both worked on the sleeves when we were in St. Louis for 2013's SKiN GRAFT Homecoming show (with Yowie, Lovely Little Girls and Xaddax) but we both had to return home shortly after the show and did not complete polishing and assembling all of the sleeves we had cut. This new run sold out quickly and in the years since, my father would occasionally polish and put the finishing touches on some of the copies we had started all of those years back.

Fast forward to this year and my dad decided the time had come to retire and bring the business to a close. Fischer Heating and Sheet Metal was started by my great grandfather way back in 1939. My father and his brothers Ted and Paul worked there their entire lives. As a kid I worked there for a few weeks every summer, sweeping and cleaning up - and later helping out in the office. Same with my brother.

These days - as some of you probably are aware - I don't actually work in the states. I'm living overseas, so I was unable to come home to complete the work on the remaining metal sleeves before the business closed down. Graciously, dad made sure to finish them up for us before he turned the lights off for good. We are making them available now and putting them up on our bandcamp page today to coincide with Bandcamp's fee-waiving Friday. You can get them HERE while supplies last.

And - (!) - out as of last Friday are two AIDS Wolf reissues - now with SKiN GRAFT and on CD for the first time ever. The vinyl we had on "Ma vie banale avant-garde" has already sold out, but limited quantities of the "Very Friendly" vinyl (featuring The Flying Luttenbachers' Weasel Walter and Wolf Eyes' John Olson) remain in-stock and are ready to ship. Read all about them, as well as Cheer-Accident's upcoming "Fringements One" in the previous updates below.

Thanks!

MORE NEW NEWS:

updated: October 2nd, 2020

CHEER-ACCIDENT "Fringments One" (Now Up for Pre-orders)
TERMS "Asbestos Mouth" (Out Now)
AIDS WOLF "Two CDs" (Out 10/30)

CHEER-ACCIDENT
"Fringements One"
Glass-Mastered CD / Digital (see notes below)
( Pre-ORDER at BANDCAMP )

CHEER-ACCIDENT
PDF One-Sheet
cat #: GR145CD

PLEASE NOTE: A pre-order of the CHEER-ACCIDENT "Fringements One" digital album gets you an immediate download of the song "InnTrialTaint" (which can now be streamed over at The ORGAN) and then beginning in December 2020, the DIGITAL ALBUM will add THREE TRACKS per MONTH until complete. The physical CD version contains the complete album from the get-go and will ship on or before November 27th.

IMPORTANT NOTE:
1) Each 25 track, glass-mastered compact disc comes complete in a matte-finish six panel gatefold jacket - jam-packed with extensive liner notes on each and every practice space encounter, answering machine message, demo track and previously unreleased studio recording.

2) Fringements One will be available exclusively as a physical Compact Disc for at least six months. Beginning in December, the digital version available for purchase at Bandcamp will add three tracks per month until complete.

"Fringements One" Compact Disc will be released on November 27th, 2020. You can check out the first available track "InnTrailTaint" - and place an order over at the SKiN GRAFT Records Bandcamp page.

TERMS
"Asbestos Mouth"
MOD Digipack CD / Digital
( OUT NOW )

TERMS, the band
(click to embiggen)

TERMS
PDF One-Sheet
cat #: GR142CD / Digital

TERMS debut album "Asbestos Mouth" is out now and the reviews are starting to roll in. Here is a sampling of some of the early write-ups...

"Danny & I had messaged back & forth a bit over the years about our bands possibly playing shows together, but nothing ever worked out. One day, he wrote asking if I'd be interested in some sort of collaboration. I said "sure!", which is my usual response, knowing that 99% of the time nothing ever comes of these sorts of conversations. Much to my surprise, Danny started sending me drum recordings right away. It took a few false starts before we figured out a productive long distance work flow, but once we did, it actually made things easier & less time consuming than a standard 'everyone in a room together at band practice' type situation." - Chris Trull interview excerpt from FECKING BAHAMAS

"The full length album is a wild and frantic affair; brimming to the gills with mesmerizing drums accompanied by grooves that either exacerbate or alleviate the feeling that everything is about to spin out of control. But it never does!" - BEARDED GENTLEMEN

"Drummer Danny Piechocki and guitarist/bassist Christopher Trull honed their craft in bands like Grand Ulena, Jitters, and Yowie. In TERMS, Chris creates dissonant riffs and skewed melodies, which collide with Danny’s syncopated thunderstorm of percussion, to create a balance of tight precision and spontaneous discovery. It’s simply jaw-dropping!" - PROGZILLA

"The Hoarder of Operations" EP, a mind-melter of the highest order, carved an atonal and acidic pathway appropriate for the band’s forthcoming debut album, "Asbestos Mouth". Ghettoblaster has the pleasure of premiering the first of many delightfully weird and strangely rapturous discoveries the album offers". - GHETTOBLASTER

and a Track premiere and an exclusive TERMS Station ID can be found at... - THE PROGRESSIVE TRACKS SHOW

You can grab your copy now over at our BANDCAMP page and read more about the album in the updates below!!!

CLICK HERE FOR MORE NEWS