An Indie Christmas

Hello avid reader. I am back from my month long hiatus. I took some time to reevaluate the alternative scene, and tried to find something positive. Luckily, I did - and it came at a 30 percent discount.

I'm talking about this year's Record Store Day, of course. It's the one day a year where all of us indie kids

can celebrate our holiday. This year marked the third annual RSD, where over 700 independently owned record stores across the country came together to give us music nerds some huge discounts.

I was lucky enough to hit up two Newbury Comics here north of Boston, and found some awesome deals. They were offering a 30 percent discount on all used CDs, and 20 percent off all vinyl. To feed my newly found hunger for rare music memorabilia I headed over to the Burlington store with one of my favorite readers of this blog (also my drummer).

Inside we found some awesome stuff. We were able to score a whole bunch of free vinyl, including a Kings Of Leon 7-inch. They were also giving away tons of free stickers, buttons and even pint glasses.

We did some shopping, too. I snagged three old blink-182 single CDs, which each came with a few live songs. Taking Back Sunday released a special vinyl with a few songs off their upcoming CD, which my partner-in-crime picked up. I was also able to grab AFI's Love Like Winter on 7-inch, as well as New Found Glory's Listen To Your Friends on blue vinyl. Sweat deal.

We left the Burlington Newbury Comics totally pumped about our small vinyl collection and bag full of free stuff. That's when we decided that hitting the Peabody store would pay off, too. Twenty minutes up 128 and we were there. 

It was a quick trip, and within minutes we were out the door with a used copy of The Mark, Tom, and Travis Show, which was snagged for a mere $14 (I dare you to find a better deal anywhere...or a copy of it for that matter), as well as a 12-inch My Chemical Romance vinyl. And once again, bags of free stuff including Duffy and the Hollywood Undead on vinyl. Go ahead, laugh.

It was a great day. The stores were packed, and the vibe was totally relaxed in that chill-indie-kid-mood sort of way. 

Be on the look out for next year's RSD, sometime in April as usual. We didn't stick around until the afternoon, but many stores opt for in-store performances later in the day from bands ranging from local musicians to Disturbed. Remember them? Yeah, they were in Maine this year at a Bull Moose. Weird.

And on an unrelated note, I hit NC this past weekend for a post-RSD shopping spree and picked myself up a blue 7-inch vinyl of blink-182's They Came To Conquer...Uranus. Yeah, that's right, an original copy released in 1995 featuring the songs Wrecked Him, Waggy and Zulu. The back cover has even got photos of Mark, Tom and Scott (yep, Scott Raynor, blink's original drummer). It's okay to be jealous.