The Sub Pop Singles Club is back for yet another year! Subscribe to the Sub Pop Singles Club Vol. 7 to get twelve exclusive, limited-edition, colored-vinyl 7” records that you will, undoubtedly, love and adore and absolutely not sell on the internet for a lot of money in a few years!
We have, yet again, convinced some of the top musicians of the day to allow us to put their songs out: Vol. 7 of the series will include L7, Bartees Strange, Party Dozen, Matthew “Doc” Dunn, The William Loveday Intention (feat. Billy Childish!), The Shadracks (feat. the son of Billy Childish!), Sidney Gish, and six more TBA artistic geniuses.
Subscribers will be mailed two singles at a time, every other month, starting April 2022 and ending February 2023. And they’ll get digital versions of the songs via their Sub Pop Mega Mart account. Only 1,000 subscriptions are available. Subscribe now to avoid a life of regret!
While we have you, we’re down to the very last few sets of Vol. 6. Snag one of the last available subscriptions here. The final single – by awesome Seattle rock group The Black Tones – is out in February!
Hear music from Sub Pop Singles Club, Volumes 1-6 now via the Singles Club playlist!
Plus, Donita’s SiriusXM “Volume West” interview with Lyndsey Parker airs tomorrow 5pmPT.
“power-packed” - SPIN
“this is how your rock should be rolled.” [9/10] - Classic Rock
“After thirty years, this is an album that remains as relevant as ever, and now sounds just as well as it did when it influenced a generation” - The Big Takeover
“has only become more potent with age.” - Irish News
On Friday, September 18th, Sub Pop will release L7’s Smell the Magic: 30th Anniversary Edition, the classic second album from these rock and roll grunge pioneers.
This 30th-anniversary edition includes all 9 songs from the seminal record, remastered and together on vinyl for the first time ever! A multitude of rock music scenes populated the expanse of Los Angeles in 1989: hardcore punk, industrial goth, roots rock, and Sunset Strip hair metal, to name a few. L7 fit into none of them, creating their own unique blend of punk and hard, hooky rock loaded with humor and cultural commentary. Originally released in 1990, Smell the Magic is a landmark of ’90s feminist rock.
Earlier this month, L7’s singer and guitarist Donita Sparks recorded brand new vocals for a feisty performance of “Fast and Frightening” as part of KCRW’s Summer Series, 2020. The video stars Donita Sparks and the Lucha VaVOOM dancers who are seen shimmying on the streets of Los Angeles during a pandemic and pandemonium ensues!
Additionally, Sparks sat for an interview with Lyndsey Parker for Sirius XM’s Volume West show, which airs tomorrow, Friday, September 18th at 5pmPT.
Smell the Magic: 30th Anniversary Edition is now available for purchase from Sub Pop. LP purchased through megamart.subpop.com and select retailers in North America will receive the limited Loser edition on clear with high melt orange, blue, and gray vinyl while supplies last. Meanwhile pre-orders through select retailers in the UK and Europe will receive the Loser edition on neon orange vinyl.
[L7 Photo Credit: Charles Peterson]
Due out September 18th worldwide through Sub Pop. Pre-order the album and stream track “Shove” now.
Yep, you read that right! On Friday, September 18th, 2020, Sub Pop will release L7’s Smell the Magic: 30th Anniversary Edition, the fiery, American grunge pioneers’ second album.
This 30th-anniversary edition of the ‘90s underground rock classic includes all 9 songs from the album, remastered and available together on vinyl for the first time ever! A multitude of rock music scenes populated the expanse of Los Angeles in 1989: hardcore punk, industrial goth, roots rock, and Sunset Strip hair metal, to name a few. L7 fit into none of them, creating their own unique blend of punk and hard, hooky rock loaded with humor and cultural commentary. Originally released in 1990, Smell the Magic is a landmark of ’90s feminist rock.
[Photo Credit: Charles Peterson]
Smell the Magic: 30th Anniversary Edition is now available for preorder from Sub Pop. LP preorders through megamart.subpop.com and select retailers in North America will receive the limited Loser edition on clear with high melt orange, blue, and gray vinyl. Meanwhile preorders through select retailers in the UK and Europe will receive the Loser edition on neon orange vinyl. There will also be a new t-shirt design available.
L7
Smell the Magic
Tracklisting:
1. Shove
2. Fast and Frightening
3. (Right On) Thru
4. Deathwish
5. Till the Wheels Fall Off
6. Broomstick
7. Packin’ a Rod
8. Just Like Me
9. American Society
About L7’S Smell the Magic:
A multitude of rock music scenes populated the expanse of Los Angeles in1989: hardcore punk, industrial goth, roots rock, and Sunset Strip hair metal to name a few. L7 fit into none of them. Guitarist-vocalists Donita Sparks and Suzi Gardner, bassist-vocalist Jennifer Finch, and newly added drummer Dee Plakas were creating their own unique blend of punk and hard hooky rock, with humor and cultural commentary along for the ride.
But making a mark on the LA underground rock scene was more challenging than it seemed.
Originating out of art punk circles in 1985, L7 played countless poetry readings, drag shows, art happenings and punk rock dive bars. They were nothing short of perseverant.
Having already released one album, eponymously titled, L7, the band was touring up the West Coast when they began to meet like minded artists affiliated with Sub Pop Records. The band managed to score a phone number for the imprint, and convinced label founders Bruce Pavitt and Jonathan Poneman to come see them live.
That show would take place a couple of weeks later in 1989 at an arts center in Seattle. The stage was finagled out of folding tables, and friends recruited to work a smoke machine (members of the group Cat Butt) decided to drop acid before attending to their duties. This led to a thick fog filling the entire venue and the band’s performance could hardly even be seen. L7 were convinced they blew it. Instead, they got signed: Sub Pop may not have been able to see them, yet, but they could hear them and asked if L7 would do a recording for their monthly Singles Club.
Later in the year, the band went into the label’s go-to studio in Seattle, Reciprocal Recording and in one day recorded “Shove,” “Packin’ a Rod,” and “Fast and Frightening.”
Released in January, the single’s A-side “Shove” would kick off the 1990’s with a bang and L7 would have an underground hit on their hands.
The band was then given the go ahead to record a full EP. The buzz from their Sub Pop’s Singles Club release was almost immediately palpable.
A few months after “Shove,” L7 continued with recording the EP—later expanded into a full-length album with three cover songs (“Packin’ a Rod,” “Just Like Me,” and “American Society”). They recorded again with Reciprocal’s producer, Jack Endino, and later Michael James and Ramones-producer Daniel Rey in Los Angeles.
This 30th-anniversary edition of the ‘90s underground rock classic Smell the Magic includes all 9 songs from the album, remastered and available together on vinyl for the first time ever! Originally released in 1990, Smell the Magic is a landmark of ’90s feminist rock.
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