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C/Site

REPTILE RANCH - s/t

"In the early-to-mid 1970s the communities living in south central Wales' Ebbw Valley felt a growing insecurity as the region's coal mines began to close. Life without the mines was difficult to imagine, as they had been the lifeblood of the area for as long as most could remember. From great instability great art is often born—and such is the case when SPIKE, PHIL, JOHN and SIMON SMITH came together at a school nestled between two mines in Newbridge to form Reptile Ranch. The trio dabbled with song writing for years before escaping the Valley for the city of Cardiff. Here the band found their stride with growing influence from the burgeoning UK DIY movement. After sending a letter to Scritti Polliti's Carol Street address the boys received a package chalk full of information on how to release their own records. They wasted no time in forming their Z Block label, and releasing their brilliant debut Don't Give the Lifeguard a Second Chance 7". In a smallest of small world coincidences they ran into Scritti Polliti and NME journalist Ian Penman while leaving the pressing plant with their freshly pressed, blank labeled, double A-side singles. From this chance meeting their first review was written, their relationship with Scritti Polliti was furthered, and distribution help from Rough Trade was solidified. More invigorated than ever Reptile Ranch became a staple of a new scene in Cardiff, centered at the Grassroots Café. Like-minded bands like Riotous Brothers, The New Form, and Young Marble Giants joined Reptile Ranch in playing and releasing records. Reptile Ranch built a temporary studio in the café in order to record two Z Block compilations of Cardiff bands, Rough Cuts and Is the War Over?, as well as their masterpiece, 1980's 4-song Animal Noises 7". Reptile Ranch's sound is deeply original. Often lacking drums, Phil John's bass playing does double duty as both the guiding rhythm and backbone of melody. Meanwhile Spike and Simon Smith's guitar work are without parallel as they bob and weave through diverse sets of riffs and unique licks. Somehow the band lands in the realms of Post Punk that will excite fans of the Desperate Bicycles, Wire, and The Fall. With this release all of Reptile Ranch's work is available on a single LP for the first time. In addition to the bands released work this record also features two unreleased live tracks and two unreleased studio tracks (one of which is from the bands improvisational alter ego Reptile Cancer). Packaged in beautiful hand-stamped jackets with paste-on photographs and includes a 6-page insert of photos, flyers, artwork, journals and memos. One time pressing of 500 copies." - C/Site.

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After nearly a decade of false starts, multiple game plans veering off the rails, and a handful of shattered hopes and/or dreams, the odyssey is finally complete—the new Fusetron site is here.

This is the first phase of a multipart rollout that will span the next few months: the currently browsable stock includes miscellaneous new releases from the past 8+ months (we have a lot of catching up to do), plus approximately a third of our backstock. Note that we’ve reduced/slashed prices on many titles and will continue to do so in order to make room for new stock. We’ll also be expanding / tweaking / improving / debugging the site itself (for example, we still have work to do on the automated international postage system, not to mention the inevitable inventory discrepancies that come with transferring an ancient and massive database to a new system).

Over the next few months, as we take inventory, clean house, and delve into our storage, we will be uploading thousands of additional items, gradually, on a near-daily basis. This will include the majority of the LPs, as well as many titles, in all formats, once thought long-gone. Many currently “sold out” items are likely to resurface.

Finally, once our general backstock is up (probably in the next two or three months) we’ll begin making our extensive stockpile of rarities available online for the first time: tons of random out-of-print titles, "deadstock," warehouse finds, secondhand collectibles, etc., accumulated over the past few decades.

Frequent/returning customers will be getting early access to these items. Details to follow on how this will work (a priority mailing list? a 'frequent flyer'-like program?), but it will not be based on dollars spent. We want to reward those who consistently support us, especially in the discogs marketplace era (to those who show up trying to poach five copies of a one-off rarity, and nothing else, ever… ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ ).

So—we suggest you take some time to dig through the site—even we’ve been surprised by what’s been turning up, and there’s much more to come.
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