Male Nurses Ep...

here's a fun little record.... Boston's Male Nurses put together a nice cut and paste collage concept for the layout of their 7" on Deranged. these jackets were professionally offset printed and glued on a thinner coated paper stock. black and white with a hit of baby blue looks oh so nice, especially in the way they "sort of" colored the Male Nurses lettering on the cover... really love that lettering!

it's pretty cool that you can see the difference in paper dimension in certain areas of this layout. it does a nice job of retaining that textural collage feeling even though it's been run thru a computer and printed.

back panel of the cover is pretty killer as well, and i like that their clothes in the band photo have that same "sort of" colored treatment that the type had on the front cover.

photocopy insert is 6.5" x 10" folded inside, more ridiculous collage work! this page must have been so much fun to make....

flip it over for a lyric that is a bit of a challenge to read, but it looks great so who cares! nice and dirty, just like i likes it! i love that one crappy hand drawn skull hanging out in the bottom right corner....

A and B labels are a total snooze, oh well. also, the printer totally missed the blue that was used on the covers, which i am guessing was intended to match. pantones are your friends people, use them!

The Reactionaries

i recently picked up this 12" out of curiosity since it had a "file under MINUTEMEN" sticker on it. The Reactionaries were indeed the pre-Minutemen band that practiced and preformed in the San Pedro area between 1978 and 1979, and as a fan of the Minutemen, this record does not disappoint. the cover art was beautifully illustrated by Joe Baiza, who i can't find any other artist information about but i guess was the guitarist for Saccharine Trust? kinda weird, you would think someone with this much commanding style and illustrative presence would have a website or online portfolio somewhere... anyway, i absolutely love this cover art, it's fucking incredible. ...

this brush and ink illustration has a little bit of everything going on in it, but still reads clean. i really like how he worked in a few negative spaces instead of trying to fill every possible inch of space. also, the uncoated covers on a nice cardstock were an excellent choice! they feel so nice in your hand and really compliment the rawness of the art.

the back cover is a expertly organized panel of photos and information.... nothing flashy, but very well done. the playful use of black and white spaces makes for a rather dynamic composition while keeping the text orderly. i mean, it's easy to read and nice to look at, what more could you ask for?

offset printed insert is 8.5" x 11" on a delicate uncoated sheet. i like that they mono-printed these in a sort of off-black brownish color, just different enough so you know that it wasn't a photocopy. on one side, all the player information...

flip the insert over for another beautifully treated type layout, this one is of all the lyrics and some flyers at the bottom....

clear vinyl has always been my favorite! looks like another Baiza illustration on the A side...

B side label is all tribute....

there is lots more info about this project on their own blog here, and you can buy this record from the man directly...

Forgetters - 2x 7" EP

i recently stumbled onto this Forgetters double EP while flipping thru the record bin at Amoeba in Hollywood and picked it up just based on the cover art. it's pretty unique, to say the least... i mean, i really can't think of any other DIY punk or hardcore release that looks anything like this, which is no small accomplishment! here is a shot of the front cover, it's a full color offset printed and folded jacket...

comprised of boldly colored clip art type and some flowers from your grandmothers wallpaper, they were able to collage together a front and back cover that is truly their own.....

i appreciate the fact that they credit themselves for the layout as a band, too. this is punk rock people, get your hands dirty....

this is where this layout really starts to connect with me. the jacket unfolds for a black and white printed lyric sheet, and just look at all those beautifully hand written lyrics! that is some excellent penmen ship right there! tying in the type setting and floral themes from the cover of the jacket into this panel was a good call too. not only does it make this insert look more approachable in a cut and paste punk sorta way, but it also validates the ideas from the front cover and creates a consistent theme for the record.

all four labels are the same except for the little critter icon.... it's a pretty nice looking label.

you can get this from Midheaven directly....

Hawaii Bound....

i really wanted to get another post up on here before i leave for Hawaii in the morning for a work trip, but that just isn't going to happen unfortunately. so in the meantime, please enjoy this awesome video of surf-guitar gods The Ventures and think of me!









seriously though, these guys were like the godfathers of punk in my book. i mean, look at all that down picking... incredible!

if you have a twitter accound, be sure to follow @art4punks for up to the minute hawaian shenanigans! see you next week....

paul

Dry Feet - Philadelphia Beach Cassette

it's not everyday you hear about a new band of surf punks coming out of pennsylvania, so i was very glad to receive this nicely done self-released cassette in the mail from philadelphia's Dry Feet. everything about the approach used in creating this layout feels spot on for the 60's surf vibe. it literally looks like when the record companies would take the LP artwork and just plop that little square down in the center of the rectangular tape cover.... put the band name on top, record title below, and then go get some lunch! check out that Rat Fink inspired blocky / jumbled type floating above the goofy band photo on the front cover though.... well played, sirs...

the covers are printed on a semi-glossed card stock and scored to fit inside the case nice and snug, just like your favorite Dokken tape you had when you were a kid. i like the duotone print look this layout has going for it, especially with that nice pop of orange from the cassette against the blue. the cut out heads floating with the song titles are cracking me up, kinda reminds me of a VHS box for a Cheech & Chong movie or something....

this little illustration on the inside panel is by far my favorite thing about this layout, based solely on it's fart content....

click that link at the top if you want one of these, or if you just wanna check out their songs.