2012.09.23 Shellac -1000 Hurts

Color: Black

Released: 2000, August 8

Label: Touch & Go

Ever since that Shellac show I caught in Chicago a few weeks ago, I’ve been taking that band even more seriously than I was before. I go to a decent amount of shows and it’s hard to remember details of a lot of those shows. But every now and then you go to a show and you walk away knowing you’re going to remember that one for a long time. So, with such an impression made - I thought it was high time I make the final purchase that would ensure every Shellac full length to date existed in my vinyl collection. I’m least familiar with this set of songs when it comes to the band, and so I look forward to becoming intimately familiar with them. There are bands you know about and even listen to for some time, but that doesn’t mean you fully “get” them or automatically passionate about them. I think Shellac are finally a band I am reaching that stage with. The packaging for 1000 Hurts might be their most elaborate. The record comes in a box designed like the sort of box an actual reel of recording tape would come in and then the inner sleeve sort of mimics an old recording console of sorts. The band are making a statement here - championing analog method. If you don’t think so, then consider that even the band has been so kind to give you a CD with the record, it’s just issued loosely in the box with no label or indication as to what it might actually be.