from the LP Farm, Jagjaguwar Records, 2009When one considers these dire economic times matched with the increasing market takeover by digitized music, it’s refreshing as fuck to see the sun shining on the world of LPs; when stores are opening up that only sell vinyl---no CDs man, just the black wax---that’s a good sign. Shit, even Target and Walmart are selling record players now, so you know they’re moving units! What’s even more incredible is seeing how the heady, grungy local music store has wound up outlasting the corporate behemoths (ala Tower or Virgin Records), and to a large degree that’s on account of vinyl sales; case in point, I went down to Twist & Shout yesterday and dropped over $100 on records without even making it past the letter ‘N’ in the "NEW RELEASES ROCK" stacks, and the portion of their space that’s dedicated to CDs continues to shrink with each passing month it seems. As was the case with this LP, many bands include coupons or links for free computer downloads of the album’s mp3s, completely removing any lingering reason for the consumer to buy a CD. Bloody brilliant I tell you! This offering from the reformed Dino Jr. blew my mind last year, and duly proved that, indeed, sometimes (albeit, rarely) a reunited band really does have more to say; in fact, it’s as if they never broke up in the first place, with this coming across like the true successor to 1988’s Bug. And how ‘bout that cover art?!!!
