Vinyl Friday is Back!

Well I kind of dropped the ball on vinyl Friday leaving the last two Fridays vinylless, but after a huge swelling of calls and concern (or just a text from Johnny) I'm bringing the wax back. So here for all your collecting pleasure is Vinyl Friday #2
Cloak/Dagger
Lost Art LP European tour press
Jade Tree Records #1128

These days the term "old school" gets thrown around a lot, and most of the time it doesn't really mean anything except there's probably a fast part thrown into the music somewhere. About a month ago Richmond Virginia's Cloak/Dagger released "Lost Art" on Jade Tree Records, a collection of songs that nods to the early days of punk and hardcore without the use of of buzzwords. It's 13 two minute songs that are brash, furiously played and perfectly unpolished. It very well could've been recorded in Ian Mackaye's basement with H.R. behind the controls and Henry providing the free Haagan Dazs ice cream. But the harDCore sound isn't the only thing present in "Lost Art." Jason Mazzola's vocals carry the wit and bite of a snotty garage rock band like The Vicious or International Noise Conspiracy, and Colin Barth's guitar playing is based on hooky riffs that could have come straight from The Stooges' "Raw Power" sessions.

Given the band's garage approach to the music, it makes sense for the packaging of their vinyl release to reflect it, especially the european press, which is what I happen to have gotten my hands on. Nothing says punk rock like black vinyl in a plain white sleeve with only a white sticker on the front boasting the name of the record and the song titles. The label on the record is also hand stamped and there's messages etched in the inner ring of the vinyl that say "What does heeee want!" on one side and "Let me clear my throat eheheh God d*mn!" on the other.

This particular pressing of "Lost Art" is limited to 200 and was sold on the band's European tour and at The Fest 8, but it seems Jade Tree has set aside 45 of these and are selling them on their website, so it's not too late to get a hold of this pressing. The Jade Tree website is calling this pressing the "European tour test press," but it seems odd to me to have a test press of 200 and not like 20. I wouldn't doubt if they added "test press" to boost interest.


The other pressing of this record features actual artwork, though it's still simplistic, and is limited to 200 white and 1,300 black.
If you get a chance, pick up this record that is sure to become a classic staple of the Jade Tree catalog.