Family Friend Legends End Of Year Zine 2021

Big Scary Monsters Albums Of The Year

Just A Little Note To Say...

Welcome to your end of year zine for 2021! While it’s been an incredible year for music, it’s also been an odd one and we can’t thank you enough for being an invaluable part of the Big Scary Monsters family. You really are a legend!

We began the year with a bang, giving you an exclusive variant of Laura Jane Grace’s wonderful solo album Stay Alive, new music from The Sonder Bombs and the heavy hitter Infinity Stare by Alpha Male Tea Party pressed to vinyl, then rounded off the year with indie pop banger jams from Orchards and Portland’s indie rock trio Weakened Friends.

On top of all of the music we managed to get out at Bigfoot Festival which was awesome to be back in a field with live music (albeit a bit rainy), and in September we headed down to Brighton to re-open our popup shop. A fun week was had by all with lots of instores from our bands and friends. Our bricks and mortar craft beer and record shop in Oxford, Big Scary Monsters Social Club, has just celebrated its first birthday and we’ve loved welcoming everyone through its doors for the last 12 months.

Now the year is coming to a close, we wanted to celebrate all of our lovely artists and their beautiful vinyl variants in this zine just for you Legends. We’ll take you through the year just passed, through all our releases and more with a little help from all our artists and friends, plus if you missed anything you can find it all by listening to our label sampler. Simply scan the QR code below to listen.

As ever we hope that you have enjoyed receiving some absolutely stunning and exclusive records each month.

We’ve loved having you as a Legend and with 2022 already taking shape we can’t wait to share all the new bands and new music coming your way next year!

Team BSM xx

Kev Douch Label Owner At The Moonbase

by Slaughter Beach, Dog Little Oblivions

by Julien Baker As The Love Continues

by Mogwai Dave Owen Label Manager Bless My Psyche

by Sincere Engineer Fuck These Fucking Fascists

by The Muslims Radical by Every Time I Die Connor Laws Junior Label Assistant Infinite Granite by Deafheaven Future Suits by Pet Symmetry The Cold in Every Shelter

by I Feel Fine Josie Faulkner Admin & Events Assistant FLOWERS for VASES / descansos

by Hayley Williams GLOW ON by Turnstile Bloodmoon 1

by Converge / Chelsea Wolfe

EDITOR & DESIGNER Josie Faulkner THANK YOU FOR SUPPORTING US IN 2021 DMS, The Orchard, Awesome Merchandise, Fleet Union, Someone Great PR BIG SCARY MONSTERS IS: Kev Douch, Dave Owen, Connor Laws, Josie Faulkner, Katie Malcolmson

Katie Malcomson PR Engine Of Hell

by Emma Ruth Rundle Valentine by Snail Mail

Printed by Awesome Merchandise

Planet (1) by Squirrel Flower

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When we were approached by our friends at Polyvinyl and Laura Jane Grace about her solo record back in the summer of 2020 we almost had a heart attack. There’s not many out there who can say they have worked with their heroes, but we can. Stay Alive is an audacious folk-punk album, recorded with Steve Albini straight onto analogue tape.

From songs about haunted swimming pools, burning churches and mountains to eating croissants in Spain and dirty rivers that smell like pee in Glasgow, Stay Alive is a spellbinding listen and an album we’re so proud to have been a part of. Not only that, the vinyl came out looking absolutely to die for!

1st Pressing Starburst Black/Blue Black

The Sonder Bombs - Clothbound 1st Pressing Clear Blue w/ Pink/Green Splatter Black LP The Sonder Bombs AOTY

Death of a Cheerleader

by Pom Pom Squad GLOW ON by Turnstile Pono by A Great Big Pile of Leaves

We worked with Sumner Howells for all the artwork & promo pics surrounding Clothbound. We discovered her through work she did with Snarls and absolutely fell in love with her style! Willow didn’t give much to go off of for the album cover; basically just some colors & fabric textures and Sumner not only ran with it but NAILED it.

Willow forgot to mention they envisioned the name Clothbound running vertically down the middle which is wild because that’s exactly how Sumner envisioned it! We also saw the album cover for the first time in person cuz our photoshoot with Sumner was the same day we filmed the Crying is Cool music video. Everything lined up perfectly, it was like magic! You can follow her @ sumnerhowells on IG. - Jimmy Wilkens 4

New Pagans - The Seed 5 March 21

29 January 21

11 December 20

Laura Jane Grace - Stay Alive

1st Pressing Pink Green/Black Splatter 2nd Pressing Eco Mix

19 March 21

Alpha Male Tea Party - Infinity Stare

Infinity Stare is a distillation of our collective experiences in the years leading up to its creation. We came out of our last record (Health) feeling a need to be moved in a different way with what we were creating so Infinity Stare is a direct response to that. As a result, it’s the most visceral and personally affecting record we’ve made and we’re really proud of it. It’s insane that it’s nearly a year old already but we’re super happy to have finally been able to get out and play it to people at last. - Tom Peters

1st Pressing Red/Yellow Cornetto Black

d, The Vessel, The Roots And All New Pagans AOTY Seventeen Going Under

by Sam Fender Crawler by Idles Mdou Moctar by Afique Victime

The title for the album comes from one of the first songs we wrote together, I Could Die Die. For me personally this has been a journey of firsts: first songs I’ve ever helped write, first time in a recording studio, first baby and my first album. I didn’t know how to be in a band and to be honest I’m still figuring that out but I feel really privileged to have such great people around to help. - Lyndsey McDougall

Writing and recording this album has been an eye opener for me, from recording vocals in our kitchen to recording drums next door to a gym that was blasting out dance anthems, to laying down guitars in a shed. I’ve realised that I love the process of making an album which has led to Allan and I putting together our own studio, Badlands. We’re currently recording some new material for New Pagans and we’ve some other exciting projects lined up for next year. Badlands feels like the child of The Seed, The Vessel, The Roots and All and we’re delighted to see it grow.- Cahir McDougall 5

23 April 21

1st Pressing Cream w Pink Splatter Transparent Orange

On Clock I had the idea to record a power drill we found lying around in the studio, and Connor played it rhythmically. For Like a Stone Connor recorded the sound of him closing his front door for the beginning of the song. Later on while Jack is singing, you can hear me dragging my monitor headphones away from the mic where I was recording vocals, to the far side of the room to yell “I want it too.” On Eggs Catherine recorded the sound of several eggs boiling in a pot. - Carmen Perry

Remember Sports - Like A Stone

The Glora Record - Start Here

16 April 21

Originally released in 2002, The Gloria Record’s debut album Start Here finally had a re-issue in 2021. The band formed in 1997 following the demise of emo band Mineral - taking an acoustic and more organic approach to their craft than their previous work. In 1998 the band released their self-titled EP, followed by the intricate offering of 2000’s A Lull In Traffic (which we also re-issued back in 2020 and you should check it out if you haven’t yet) and Start Here, before disbanding after extensive US tours in 2004. So it made sense to give you this fantastic record on double yellow/ orange vinyl with four bonus tracks including rarity The Dead Brother, a live version of L’Anniversaire Triste and demos of I Was Born In Omaha and My Funeral Party! And this isn’t the last you’ve heard from The Gloria Record, keep your ears to 1st Pressing the ground for maybe more Yellow/Orange in 2022.

Black 6

Did You Know?

According to Wikipedia Matt Hammon (drummer) and Simpson were in a bar when the former asked “[W]hen are we going to get some songs together and do the Gloria record?” Instead of simply going with Gloria, Simpson opted for The Gloria Record as he felt it was a better name!

MAN ON MAN - MAN ON MAN

7 May 21

Our album was created in the middle of uncertainty; Joey had just lost his mom, Roddy was about to lose his, and the pandemic was just beginning. What started as something just to pass the time in quarantine has turned into a global community of people who don’t feel like the current queer music scene represents them. We are lucky to be a part of it.

- Roddy Bottum & Joey Holman

MAN ON MAN’s AOTY DEACON by serpentwithfeet Unbelievable Animals by Macy Rodman Colourgrade by Tirzah

1st Pressing Hot Pink Neapolitan

Kevin Devine - No One’s Waiting Up For Me Tonight

25 June 21

1st Pressing Oreo

Originally released as a three-song digital-only single, this 12” from Kevin Devine has been expanded to a total of five tracks on the A-side of the vinyl. The B-side features a silkscreen and was super limited to you Legends.

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Behind The Scenes Vinyl Maufacturing With Sam Reynolds, DMS

What is your role in manufacturing vinyl at DMS? I help to run DMS, a vinyl manufacturing broker who produces physical products via vinyl pressing plants for many record labels, bands and artists across the globe. I deal with pricing products at the manufacture stage and liaise with designers regarding stocks, print and finishes. Anything and everything from a short run of flexi vinyl up to bespoke box sets. I am also a consumer and avid collector, I buy many records as well as the beloved CD format, both old and new. I am an eighties child so its all about the physical for me, can’t get enough of it.

What colour variants have you seen trending in 2021?

The most popular by far is your standard black, due to the audio quality. After this I would say traditionally it has been the frosted clear we offer, not only is it a nice looking record, but the audio quality is arguably as good, if not better than black vinyl. After those, the most popular colour requested has to be baby pink. People can’t get enough of the pink. Up and coming is the eco mix request, which is a random colour/effect made by mixing surplus materials left over from previous orders. We used to call it lucky dip as you really do have no idea what you will get, a bit like life, or as Forest Gump’s mum would say, a box of chocolates.

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We’ve been hearing a lot this year about the vinyl crisis. How has this happened?

Crisis, what crisis? The industry is booming, not many people can say that global demand levels for the product they sell is 200% higher than can feasibly be produced in a single year. The crisis is simply due to demand outstripping capacity, and I remember when this happened at the start of the vinyl revival. It never got to a 7 month wait time, but with the popularity growing and sales up in retail too, people will look to invest again, so the capacity will grow with the demand. The main issue is not caused by a single person, it is a culmination if several factors, but quite simply people that pressed five-hundred records in the past are now doing one or two thousand. People who never pressed before are doing 500, then we have majors who are doing 20k plus for artists I have never even heard of. Thankfully we don’t work directly with these people and do our best to avoid supplying to them at all. The US market is one of the most demanding and since the likes of major retailers like Walmart jumping on the bandwagon, everyone wants to order higher quantities, so the industry has sort of shot itself in the foot by being too popular. If everyone refused to supply the majors retail outlets the situation would soon sort itself out, but of course money talks and when investments are required in order to grow, money rules.

How do you get different effects on vinyl?

Trade secret. There are several methods of doing this from mixing granule-like powders in the extruders, making up pucks with the same or varying sizes, in a combination of colours; either side by side, one on top of the other, through the

Photos courtesy of Sam Reynolds & DMS

There’s so much more to making vinyl than just pressing them, so we asked all-round legend Sam Reynolds from vinyl manufacturer DMS to give us an insight behind the scenes.

From favourite colour effects to finding “tobacco” in gatefold sleeves, Reynolds spills all.

middle etc. Once you have that, you press them under extreme heat and pressure where the colours will mix.

Which vinyl effect is your favourite?

I am a big fan of NOFX but if I had to choose, as I am a bit of an eco-warrior let’s say eco mix. Mainly because it is cheaper like black but I like random. Sometimes it is not so nice and can be a murky brown, but other times you get a really nice mix of green. I love Green in many ways and even made my own special mix for people at the plant, #33 Argyle green. Green army!!!

Have you had any crazy requests for vinyl manufacturing in the past?

Yes, all the classics like pressing piss, shit, blood and cum, pubic hair etc. to cherry scented records, comet dust, old broken records, pressed leaves,

How Vinyl Is Made

party popper string, ocean plastics is a regular one, but everyone quits when we say they have to go collect the rubbish themselves and turn it into pellets or powder that the plants can work with.

What is your favourite thing about vinyl as a format?

I love all formats equally if I am honest. Vinyl is great but it does have its negatives too. The thing I love most about vinyl is dropping that needle, turning it up and fucking partying! Also hanging out in record shops is a great way to spend any day. I love the size of vinyl and honestly, the smell. I love the smell of new print, but mostly of old records, like old books. Always a giggle when you pick up an old second hand record, get it home, open the sleeve and some leftover “tobacco” is wedged into the gatefold crease.

Ever wondered how your growing record collection is made? We did a little digging to find out and give you a quick fire round-up of the process.

Before anything can be done by the manufacturer, artists need to supply digital master files that are then optimised by specialised sound engineers: adding levels, limiting to avoid skipping and equalising.

Did you know that in modern times vinyl records are made from polyvinyl chloride, also known as PVC. From 1897 until late 1950s records were made from shellac, also known as Shellac 78s, a by-product of crushing beetle shells.

Their use declined steadily after WW2 as labels shifted towards the newer technology of PVC.

Next a master plate needs to be made.

Electroforming or electroplating is the process of making a copy of the lacquer master. It is sprayed with a silver solution to create a Mother, then placed in a nickel bath to create a stamper. Stampers have grooves used to press indents into vinyl.

GZ Media

Vinyl starts out as pellets which are formed into hockey puck shaped discs known as biscuits. The Biscuit is sandwiched between top and bottom labels and heated with steam, then compressed by the stampers on hydraulics.

GZ Media

The edges of the new vinyl records are softened, rounded and trimmed, then cooled with a dip in water and set to cure.

Once cured, the record is packaged, usually in an inner sleeve and outer sleeve and shipped off to record labels and record stores.

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Lakes AOTY The Cold In Every Shelter

by I Feel Fine Spring Island by Delta Sleep Valentine by Snail Mail

30 July 21

1st Pressing Yellow/Orange Green

Start Again is our positive progression. We’re back, it’s been mad, but we’re doing okay.

It’s a collection of honest stories told through the ripping guitar riffs and sparkles you know us for, but with an attitude and energy that’s totally new. A bit of rawness to reflect the realness we’ve all been going through. Plus more fun with guitars because we just can’t help ourselves.

- Matt Shaw

Lakes - Start Again Back when we first started working with ME REX in 2020 the band let us in on their mammoth project Megabear and let me tell you, our minds were blown! Inspired by the symbolism found in alchemical text Splendour Solis by Saloman Trismosin, the band set themselves the challenge to write a song split up into a series of short cells, each lasting

for roughly 32 seconds in 4/4 time and Bb key. They were broken into 52 tracks that you shuffle to create your own combination of perfectly transitioned songs. They then replicated onto a deck of cards to mimic the album experience in physical form. We think it’s clever and cool as hell, so of course we had to figure out how to put this enormous project out into the world.

1st Pressing Blue Moon

Coupled with (quite frankly) stunning artwork from Jono Ganz and an interactive website to match, programmed by Lee Martin, Megabear is an album like no other and is truly a beast that comes to life on it’s own. Have you figured out your favourite track listing from Megabear yet?

This isn’t the last we’ve heard from ME REX in 2021. They recently released toe tapping single Never Graduate and announced there’s a new EP in the works for the beginning of 2022, and there’s so much more in the works. All will be revealed soon!

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We wrote and recorded Enjoy The View within six months, starting from the day the first lockdown was announced. We sent projects through modems and tweaked them on computer screens. It wasn’t our usual approach but it was one we grew to appreciate. We were extremely grateful to have a project to focus on during the first few dark months of lockdown! - Adam Thompson

We Were Promised Jetpacks AOTY Any Shape You Take by Indigo De Souza GLOW ON by Turnstile Jubilee by Japanese Breakfast 1st Pressing Red/Blue Black

10 September 21

We Were Promised Jetpacks - Enjoy The View

Did you miss these digital releases?

ME REX - Megabear 27 August 21

Honey Lung Room/Oh So Real/Something BSM296 / March 21 Shoegaze alt-rock singles to sooth the soul.

Proper.

Do Over/Don’t/Zuko Alone/Aficionado BSM294 / August 21 Four superb tracks, coproduced by The Wonder Years.

Tree River Garden EP BSM309 / September 2021 FFO Say Anything, oso oso, The Hotelier. You don’t want to miss out on this!

NOBRO Better Each Day / Julia Two singles taken from something incredibly awesome coming soon!

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8 October 21

We started working on this record without knowing when anyone would get to hear it.

It was written when things felt very isolating and uncertain, but in some ways it gave us the extra space to dig deeper on this record than ever before.The title Still Blooms comes from a lyric in Undone: “Unwind the clocks, pull

the blinds, and you’ll find that the sky still blooms.” The record deals with some heavier themes, but ultimately it’s about searching for light amongst the darkness.

- Mariel Beaumont 1st Pressing Red/Black CiC Frosted Clear

Church Girls - Still Blooms

Ian Miles - Degradation Death Decay

15 October 21

There’s a mystique in things that appear in threes. Inspired by 70s performance art, Halloween movies and artists like Conor Oberst and Leonard Cohen, Creeper’s Ian Miles’ debut album Degradation Death Decay took three years to see the light of day. Building up the confidence to put this out in the public sphere and recording the whole thing from his spare room, this record is a daring, dark and brave debut steeped in emotion and vulnerability.

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1st Pressing Pink w/ Black Splatter White / Black Galaxy Black

Church Girls AOTY Drunk Tank Pink by Shame Juno by Remi Wolf Between the Richness

by Fiddlehead

19 November 21

Weakened Friends - Quitter Writing and recording Quitter was really such an adventure for us.

It’s ironic because the title of the record is Quitter but as a record it made us really excited to just be a band and explore so much more with music and our sound than ever before! From writing these songs, to arranging and eventually recording them I feel like we’ve really grown as a band, it wasn’t an easy record to make, but we’re all really proud of it. We really cannot wait to get to play the record live and experience it with all of our friends. - Sonia Sturino 1st Pressing Green/Yellow Spinner Green Weakened Friends AOTY Home Video by Lucy Dacus Red (Taylors Version) by Taylor Swift Valentine by Snail Mail

Orchards - Trust Issues year. We’re not keeping our mouths shut now. I always say I’ll never write lyrics about something I haven’t personally experienced and at this point I’ve experienced enough in the last year to last me a lifetime” Congratulations universe you’ve finally pissed off the happiest band in math pop.

From the anti-establishment Leave Us Here We’re Fine to anti love-songs Drive Me Home and Wrong Shoes the band have found their targets and aren’t letting up.

“2020 has given us Trust Issues hence the name of the record. This EP is an angry (yet happy, we’re still on brand!) call out to all the things that have given us trust issues in the last

1st Pressing Eco Mix

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26 November 21

Those Brighton darlings Orchards are back with a new EP Trust Issues. Full to the brim of certified bangers (that’s right, who knew they could write even more hits?!?), the band locked themselves away to record their new effort. And while their glittery bombastic power indie-pop shows no sign of retreating, the EP has certainly taken on an edgier, darker lyrical tone.

Delta Sleep - Spring Island

12 November 21

After the shitshow of a year everyone was having, it felt truly liberating to have a legitimate excuse to meet up together and make new music. We’d cancelled so many plans at that stage that it felt like a bit of a fresh slate and was kind of a blessing that we had no touring options - we could just go full tunnel vision with it. Recording this was a dream, Ireland is beautiful and Guinness is the best.

Hope you enjoy! - Glen Hodgson

1st Pressing Gold Pink Yellow Marble Clear 2 x 10”

Courtesy of Sofa Boy Records

Your Family Friend Legends 7”

September 21

Jamie Lenman A Handsome Stranger Called Death

March 21

Gender Roles Dead or Alive / So Useless

Taken from his ambitious 2019 album Shuffle which features a glorious selection of covers from Annie Lennox to the Popeye theme tune, Jamie Lenman also dropped a Danger Dub remix of A Handsome Stranger Called Death on an exclusive run of 7”.

Following the success of their stupendous album PRANG, the gang returned with a bang in March 2021 with a whopping double A side single Dead Or Alive / So Useless!

June 21

We Were Promised Jetpacks If It Happens In June We Were Promised Jetpacks released the follow-up to their 2020 EP Out Of Interest. If It Happens served as the first glimpse at a musical shift for the band that we would later hear on their new album Enjoy The View.

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December 21

Owen Live At The Lexington The last time Owen (Mike Kinsella) hit UK shores in November 2019, he played a sold out show at the much-loved venue The Lexington, London where we were lucky enough to record the occasion.

Live music is back!

There are so many great shows coming up in 2022! See you there?

Bottle shop and record store Hundreds of craft beers to drink in or take away along with the very best punk, emo, hardcore, indie and alternative vinyl.

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