MRR reviewed our re-released of the GNP "1985 demo" record..... From Bandcamp.
https://www.maximumrocknroll.com/review/mrr-517/1985-demo-lp/
We spent $30 sending them a copy of the record, which includes a poster of liner notes, a 12-page fanzine and a full color inner sleeve, none of which was mentioned in the review. So we sent them a letter back in June. two months later we never heard back, so we're printing it here for your amusement.
Hello MRR-
This is Ken Sanderson, Former MRR radio show host, reviewer, and person behind Prank Records in San Francisco, which I've run for thirty years.
I sent my newest release for review, GNP "1985 Demo" LP and thank you for reviewing it.....but am pretty disappointed with how the reviews were obviously made.
This release was painstakingly made by several trips to Alabama and Memphis to find archival material. There is a printed inner sleeve with full color photos and flyers from those trips, there's an additional insert with a reproduction of the tapes original lyric sheet and a long detailed history of the band from the guitarist. I *STILL* didn't feel at that point this conveyed the importance of the band, who played most people in Birmingham's first punk show, in their thirty years playing in the city, so decided to make an additional 12-page fanzine.
Printing is really expensive to do in the US, so just can;t make the 40-page full color booklets like European pressings. But the booklet contains probably another 100 show flyers, photos, and writings / testimonials from Greg Harvester ( who's also been an MRR contributor), Ian Wise ( who did several articles for MRR on Alabama punk history), Will Killingsworth from Orchid, as well as fellow old school Alabama punks, Dan Niel ( crisis within) and Alabama Sharp ( knockabouts) and myself. I really feel if you spend time with this booklet, it's hard not to love the band and what they mean to Birmingham, and the history of Alabama punk itself.
With prank, every single detail is looked at - in this record it's a conscious decision to use 24 point board, reverse board jackets, We paid more for better stock, we mastered and plated this record twice ( also expensive) so the sound would be perfect. It's one of the most deluxe presentations we've done for a reissue, or at least since LIFE'S BLOOD. We feel the totality of the packaging makes this release really special, and it's also riddled with jokes and funny stuff in the character of the band.
And We sent that in for review. The Record. For a record Review.
And your reviewer, obviously, reviewed MP3's off of bandcamp, which is not the same thing. The bandcamp DOES offer a pdf of the booklet if you purchase it, but the review doesn"t mention any of the packaging at all....because they're reviewing it from a stream on bandcamp, which is not what we sent you to review.
Now keep in mind. With a lot of hardcore, and particularly old punk like this. It's really hard to get it reviewed anywhere. There's just not a lot of outlets. So the MRR review is really important....and to me, who's spent all this time and energy making something really special, it's kind of bullshit to be asked to pay to send that in....and then have a review based off something I didn't submit. I'd send you a complete digital press kit if that's how you are going to do your reviews.
I understand in the decentralization of MRR, it does not have the local ability for reviewers to pick stuff up and there's a lot more shipping and coordination involved. I mentioned all of this online, and was told reviewers just get a big pack of free records every couple months and review off of bandcamp now....But if you're asking people to submit physical copies, there's a general expectation that that's what is going to be reviewed....and if not? Why not just ask for bandcamp links? just so you can pay reviewers in free records?
Keep in mind 90% of bandcamp streams don't include lyrics, or even any additional art work or inserts. Bandcamp is a benign thing generally, and does allow self publishing in a way punk never had access to....but it's still owned by a billionaire, and I've never seen anyone vet where that percentage upstreaming of wealth goes. Having sat at Mordam meetings in the 1990's and seen Tim Yo argue until he was blue in the face about Caroline distribution and it's connection to majors and media consolidation, it's still just weird to me that MRR essentially became a referral for this company - are you paid for links / hits?
GNP isn't a huge release for me, but it's a very personal and important one. It's one that deserved a little better given all the work and effort that went into it, work your reviewer never even saw.
Bands like to see MRR reviews, I'll probably still send stuff in ( even though the other recent review of a prank release, BURNED UP BLED DRY, was so oddly written it seemed like it was put through translation software. Maybe it was and that's okay, but the sentence structure was so poor and hard to read, it probably should've been also presented in it's original language) But do better. If you want to be and stay an authoritative voice, you have to earn that every single day with your actions and output.You're MRR, should be the best and I'm disappointed because I know you can,
Thanks,
KEN / PRANK
