after making the post last week about the new Social Cirkle LP on
NO WAY Records i decided to pull out some other No Way Releases that have impressed me lately....
Albany's Acid Reflux put out a great 7" earlier this year, and they did a spot on job with the layout. simple black and white glued sleeve jacked that is printed (not photocopied) on a nice off-white paper stock to give it a nice aged look, and while both the front and back covers are clean and presentable, they still look like they were made on a photocopy machine. they also put some time into their 11"x17" fold out insert, one side featuring a mirrored collage of live pics and owls (?) and then the other side..... ok i have no idea what is going on with the imagery on the other side, but all the lyrics and info are all present and that's what matters!
what really stands out about this record is the attention to detail. the off-white paper they printed the covers on is a fine paper stock, not a cover sheet, so when you are holding it in your hands it feels authentically old. same goes for the paper they used for the insert.... they could have just photocopied this on any old 11x17 paper, but instead they went with something a bit more delicate. really nice touch in my book.....
LA's Rough Kids just self released their first 7", and they are now officially my favorite band in the area. their music is a balanced blend of punk and power pop, and the art for this 7" delivers the vibe perfectly. really loving the blown out black and white photo theme of this layout. nice big half tones work to obscure the over-sized images for a gritty abstract feel. especially feeling the back cover panel! great job on your first release guys!
Hjertestop are a punk band from Denmark. i'm guessing this is a self released 7" since there is no label info anywhere to be found in the layout (no insert either, for that matter). They did a nice job with the collage art on this 2 color cover. the diagonal blue stripes mixed back with the cut and paste photocopied style gives a nod to the Dangerhouse Records aesthetic of the late 70's LA scene. the use of tiny typewriter type in the white space of the collage was a nice touch as well, especially on the top left corner. i had the chance to play a show with these guys while they were on the west coast this past spring and was impressed with their live set. check them out if you have the chance.
this is the third and final post on my No Way Records kick.... Thank You Satan came up with some pretty killer throw back 60's psychedelic art for this record, and it's definitely worth a post! Excellent Filmore style typography on the front and back panel make for some pleasing creative design in this controlled 3 color layout, and while the execution is clean and crisp, it doesn't come off as contrived at all. i really like the bold strokes of white spaces mixed into the saturated colors of the art as well..... the insert is little more than a well organized lyric sheet, but since i don't speak Swedish i don't really feel like i'm missing anything anyway. 
FULL DISCLOSURE.... i picked this 7" up not knowing anything about this band, and truthfully, this is not very good musically (...it's kinda electro pop bullshit....or whatever). but since i bought it for the layout exclusively, i figured i should still make a post about the layout regardless of what the record sounds like.
