DS Record Radar: This Week In Punk Vinyl (Green Day “American Idiot” 20th Anniversary, Keep Flying, Groovie Ghoulies & More!)

Green Day‘s American Idiot celebrates its 20th birthday this year and is getting the same box set treatment its older brother Dookie received last year. This 8 LP set features plenty of B-Sides, bonus tracks, and previously unreleased demos and live recordings. And as if that wasn’t enough, you also get two Blu-Rays (one of which includes a brand new American Idiot 20th Anniversary documentary), a 36-page book, and a flag. 1-2-3-4 Go! Records has the best deal I’ve seen on this box set, at $189.99 with free shipping, and if you buy it through the Shop app you’ll get an extra 5% off your order.

But wait, there’s more! If box sets aren’t your thing, or if you need to collect every variant, there’s also a standalone 20th Anniversary American Idiot double LP on red and black splatter vinyl (sans demos, bonus tracks, etc.). Honestly this looks cooler than the 50/50 split color variants in the box set. If you’re gonna get this and the box set, you may as well get both from 1-2-3-4 Go! since shipping over $75 is free. If you’re just getting the 2xLP and don’t qualify for free shipping, Amazon will be cheaper.

But wait, there’s still more! And this one’s for all you fart huffing audiophiles. Because Sound Matters‘ One-Step Edition of American Idiot costs nearly as much as the box set, coming in at $119.99 for the double LP alone (if you buy from 1-2-3-4 Go! Records) ($124.98 elsewhere)). Here’s some words from the fart huffers at Because Sound Matters:

“American Idiot was recorded in the digital domain and mixed to analog tape. Those original flat master tapes were then carefully transferred to 192/24 wav files that ended up being our audio source for the One-Step pressing.

We used Neotech VR900-D2 180g vinyl compound which is the same as what is known as Super Vinyl or Clarity Vinyl – the best in the world.

Levi Seitz at Blackbelt Mastering (Linkin Park,Metallica, Pearl Jam, Beyonce etc) cut the multiple sets of lacquers required. Being a massive Green Day fan himself – Levi already knew every little sound on this iconic album.

Dorin Sauerbier at Record Technology, Inc (R.T.I.) has been plating records for decades and is considered the best in the world – he also has done more One-Step processing than anybody. This is a vital step in the process to ultimately delivering the absolute best sounding version of American Idiot ever.”

I think that’s enough American Idiot for now; let’s move on to something else. A little ska perhaps? Keep Flying has released a live version of their latest EP Daylight, simply titled Daylight Live. This is very limited and 1/3 of the variants has already sold out, so head over to Smartpunk Records and grab the record while you still can. And if you get a chance to, catch these guys live! Check out their upcoming tour dates here.

The Groovie Ghoulies’ 2001 Freaks on Parade EP is being reissued as an LP with 6 bonus tracks and brand new cover art by Tom Neely. You can get this on Godzilla Green colored vinyl from Eccentric Pop (US) and Stardumb Records (EU), and Fiery Orange colored vinyl from 1-2-3-4 Go! Records (I swear they’re not paying me – maybe they should be!).

German Ramonescore powerhouses, Germany’s Haermorrhoids and Italy’s Proton Packs, have joined forces for a bad ass new split 7″ out now on Mom’s Basement Records in the US and Striped Music in Europe. Both of these bands are sick as fuck; don’t sleep on this!

A new(?) clear variant of Blink 182’s Enema of the State has popped up on their webstore. I’m not 100% sure if this is a brand new pressing because Discogs lists a clear variant released in Europe last year, but at the very least it’s the first time this has been available in the US. On a related note, it looks like a good chunk of Blink’s back catalog – including Dude Ranch, Cheshire Cat, the self-titled album, TOYPAJ, and Neighborhoods, is back in print and available on their online store, all sharing the same August 14th street date.

A similarly suspect “new” translucent yellow color variant of MxPx’s Panic has popped up on Amazon. Earlier this year, the same thing happened with an opaque yellow variant of the same record popping up, unannounced, on Amazon and shipping in April. It was real, I got it, and it showed up with the center label for a Casualties record on the A Side (lol). That one’s still in stock at a few record stores. Maybe this one’s the same, maybe it’s different, only one way to find out!