Boots’n’Booze Vol. 1. w/ Swingin’ Utters – Live At Ritchie’s New Years Eve Party 7″ (Pirates Press Records)

Once again, Pirates Press Records went a step further to treat loyal fans of streetpunk and Oi! culture. This time, they teamed up with Boots’n’Booze, the longstanding subcultural magazine based in Santa Cruz, California. Boots’n’Booze is known for being one of the most longevous skinhead oriented fanzines, which started back in 1986. The magazine entirely dedicates its pages to music reviews, beverage reviews, and interviews with musicians and bands, which are an integral part of this specific movement. Nevertheless, this special issue serves as an anthological graphic novel, which reflects on the adventures of teenage skinheads who’re living in a small beach town in California. The gang shares their surroundings with punk rockers, surfers, valleys, mods, and neo-nazi bone-heads with whom they mostly clash during the novel. They’re trying to steer through their teenage days through series of hilarious situations, but the graphic novel also captures their sincere tendencies to mimic a classic sixties skinhead movement during the eighties. The graphic novel includes an impressive amount of artworks and stories contributed by the artists, such as Lucas Musgrave, Joel Loya, James Reitano, Dannyboy Smith, John Bush, Courtney Schamach, Misty Hecht, Glen McHenry, Jessica Louise, and Rob Sporleder.

This anthological graphic novel comes with a bonus that could easily be considered as a longtime hidden gem among punk rockers. Both Pirates Press Records and Boots’n’Booze decided to feature a rare live audio footage by Swingin’ Utters, then known as Johnny Peebucks & The Swingin’ Utters. The audio footage includes two live compositions from Ritchie’s New Years Party, documented within the novel. These numbers are capturing the essence of the group’s earlier days before they shortened their name to Swingin’ Utters. It’s nearly mindblowing how these songs are sounding almost too clean for the regular live demo, considering the fact these tunes were probably tape-recorded over the stereo. You’ll be pleasantly surprised how all the instruments are equally hearable. Perhaps the Tell Us The Truth has a more polished sound than Sorry, but both numbers are seizing the true essence of the eighties American streetpunk sound. This material comes on a 7” record and represents neat addition to the eye-peeling comic book.

This set will be right up your alley if you’re into graphic novels and rare audio footage. This comic book looks good on its own, but it’s even better with a rare 7” record that includes rarities by one of the best Californian streetpunk bands. The vinyl itself comes in different variants, such as standard black limited to 1000 copies, beer yellow limited to 500 copies, and blood-red / mustard / translucent dark green splatter limited to 500 copies. Head over to the Pirates Press Records web store and purchase this gem.