Raleigh, NC’s Negative Fun Records has really been feeling the RVA love lately. In addition to releasing the upcoming LP from local noise-rock trio Hoax Hunters later this spring, they’ll also be including not one but two RVA bands in their 2014 Singles Club roster.
Raleigh, NC’s Negative Fun Records has really been feeling the RVA love lately. In addition to releasing the upcoming LP from local noise-rock trio Hoax Hunters later this spring, they’ll also be including not one but two RVA bands in their 2014 Singles Club roster. Richmond is the only city to have multiple bands involved in this collection; in addition to our own Hot Dolphin and Positive No, the singles collection will also include EPs from Philadelphia’s No Other, Carrboro, NC’s Midnight Plus One, and Livermore, CA’s Bad Daddies.
But the 2014 Negative Fun Singles Club doesn’t just include those 5 EPs–each of which, by the way, will come with a specially designed picture sleeve with art by documentarian Julianna Thomas. Subscribers will also receive a cassette collecting the music from all 5 EPs (so that you can listen to them in your car–unless you’re one of those weirdos with a car that was made less than 15 years ago; who can afford one of those?), plus buttons and stickers, and a 25% discount on orders from the Negative Fun webstore–which will come in handy when it’s time to order that Hoax Hunters LP.
On top of all that, pre-order customers will receive a bonus split single by Raleigh’s Ghostt Blonde and Vermont band The Pilgrims, the second installment of Negative Fun’s “Home & Home” split single series. And what’s more, the first 100 subscribers will get a randomly selected test-press edition of one of the five Singles Club EPs! All this, plus “maybe a few surprises here and there,” for only $50? It’s really quite the deal!
If you’re not familiar with Positive No and Hot Dolphin, we’re not sure where you’ve been hiding out for the past year or two, but here’s a crash course on each band.
Positive No have attracted a ton of favorable press over their relatively brief existence thus far. Bringing together vocalist Tracy Wilson (Dahlia Seed/Ringfinger), guitarist Kenneth Close, and drummer Willis Thompson (Thao With The Get Down Stay Down), along with a succession of bass players that has included Josh Quarles (The Low Branches) and James Menefee (Fun Size/Long Arms) before settling on current four-string player Andre Phillips, Positive No has channeled many of their influences from that long-gone but suddenly in-vogue decade, the 90s, into a delightful power-pop concoction. Their first EP, Via Florum, was released on vinyl late last year by Little Black Cloud Records, and contains five amazing songs that are unforgettable once you’ve heard them (stream that EP above). Positive No’s contribution to the Negative Fun Singles Club will be mailed to subscribers in July 2014.
Hot Dolphin brings together Robert Barrow and Alison Hancock of Tyrannosaurus Awesome with Diamond Center drummer Tim Falen and WRIR’s Lindsey Spurrier–who is an absolute spitfire of a frontwoman, and impossible to ignore in a live context. Hot Dolphin’s raging garage-rock tunes translate well in a studio context too, as the band proved on last year’s cassette release, Hotter Dolphiner (which you can stream above). Their contribution to the 2014 Negative Fun Singles Club will be their first appearance on vinyl, and is an absolute must-have. It will be mailed to subscribers in October 2014.
Negative Fun’s 2014 Singles Club starts shipping in June. Pre-order your own subscription by clicking here: http://negativefun.storenvy.com/products/6090466-negative-fun-2014-singles-club
