It was approximately 25 years ago that I started working at Reptilian Records. I'd been visiting the store for several years by that point, steadily expanding my taste in music. I'm sure I've gone on ad nauseum about the things I heard for the first time within those four deteriorating walls. Even if it'd only been the Stooges and Unsane, it would be a huge influence in my life. But I discovered the Slits, Spazz, Cop Shoot Cop, American Nightmare, Pleasure Forever, the fuckin' White Stripes via hearing them at and buying them from Reptilian. It was terra firma, my home away from home, and by 2001, it was my paying gig.
This label sampler got a ton of play in the store. Everything appearing here had come out over the past 24 months. I ended up packing a fair amount of these for mail order and walking them the six blocks or so to the Fells Point post office. What a lineup: Pageninetynine's "Document #5", the Pig Destroyer 7" picture disc, "The Fuses Are Lies", the Cutthroats 9's "Anger Management" 10", Easy Action's self-titled LP, and Midiron Blast Shaft's "Starts Fires In Your Pants" all spring from the head of punk rock while presenting wildly different interpretations. It's loud as fuk, blasting alongside fellow travelers Man's Ruin, Amphetamine Reptile, Touch & Go, and Relapse. It was a golden age, if you ask me.
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