RECORD STORE DAY 2021: Real Gone’s Top Picks (Drop 1)

After living through something that’s felt like a perpetual groundhog day, it’s felt like a long year, to say the very least. In other ways, it really doesn’t feel like it’s been that long since the scramble for David Bowie related items during one of the Record Store Day events of 2020.

This year, the RSD shenannigans are held across two days – 12th June and 17th July – with a varied selection of items available during each event. As always, we can’t tell you where your desired goodies will be stocked or how many copies will be floating around, or give you a definite price (anything quoted below is an educated guess), but we can offer an opinion on what we feel are the year’s coolest collection fillers.

These are our top picks for the June event (RSD Drop 1).

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TWISTER – Ten Years Of Failures EP

Their name might not be among punk’s most familiar, but Twister are one of many great punk bands from Italy. They’ve shared labels with Latte+, Mega and Killtime, churned out some solid melodic punk and Ramonescore sounds, and slowly forged their way to cult status. Their 2016 LP ‘We’ll Be OK’ gained a few positive online reviews, but became most memorable due to a sleeve that paid homage to the legendary Teen Idols. By the end of 2020, they were still relative unknowns compared to some of their peers, but they were still capable of releasing some fine, melodic fare.

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VARIOUS ARTISTS – Riding The Rock Machine: British Seventies Classic Rock

Ever since the CD boom of the 90s, the market has been flooded with easily affordable and easily accessible rock compilations. These sets, often adorned by artwork showing a guitar or having a car and open road theme have typically been aimed at the undemanding listener – the kind of person wishing to revisit the classic rock singles of their radio filled youth; the kind of person who’d happily listen to Thin Lizzy’s greatest hits in their car forever. You’d think the market would eventually run out of these people as their target market, and yet year after year, cheap comps featuring Thin Lizzy’s ‘Boys Are Back In Town’, Rainbow’s ‘Since You Been Gone’ and Free’s ‘All Right Now’ seem to fill supermarket shelves continually.

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DEVILZ BY DEFINITION – The Bitter Remains Of Human Consumption EP

The arrival of ‘The Bitter Remains of Human Consumption’ marks the end of a near five year silence from Devilz By Definition. However, within about twenty seconds of hitting the play button on their 2021 EP, it’s clear that they’re not approaching their return in a half-arsed way. The lead track ‘Time Is Near’ absolutely thunders from the speakers with a perfect blend that combines twenty first century thrash and groove metal with a metalcore attitude. Moving through a barrage of jagged and intensely heavy riffs, the band show a huge love for Lamb of God and the more melodic end of DevilDriver, often showcasing a really tight musical symmetry between guitarists J. Couvillon and B. Munro as they use their sharp style to lock into T. Robert’s drum groove.

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COTTER – On Sunset EP

Ohio pop punkers Cotter use their debut EP ‘On Sunset’ to deliver a barrage of emotionally charged messages. Its title, agreed on by the whole band, ‘On Sunset’ refers directly to their formation on Sunset Drive, but also – in their own words – how “heartbreak occurred, [the band] started and something beautiful came at the end of from it.” For those who’d rather not get too immersed in the song’s personal messages, most of the songs are loaded with absolutely classic pop punk riffs. Whether they’re tackling the Sum 41-esque bounce of ‘Blackout!’ or the obviously Fall Out Boy derived ‘Clumsy’, their musical talents shine brightly.

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