Today the fine folks over at Punknews.org are premiering the first track, “A Minute to Breathe”, from the brand new Wes Hoffman and Friends LP, How It Should Be. Give it a listen before it drops on your favorite digital platform tomorrow and keep your eyes peeled for a vinyl pre-order real soon!
Smash this link to give “A Minute to Breathe” a spin. How It Should Be drops February 23rd.
I know we’ve been quiet of late, but 2024 looks to be a pretty busy year for the label. Right now we’ve got at least 5 releases lined up and we’re excited for all the shows coming up through our sister promotion company, FW Shows. To get get things rolling we’ve got, for the first time ever, the classic Jump Start release from DIVIDE BY ZERO, Answer to No One, available on vinyl and now available outside our Subscription Club!
I’ve made no secret that Divide By Zero’s 2005 release, Answer to No One, is one of my Top 5 Jump Start releases. Over the past 28 years and 130 plus releases, I always come back to this record. It’s one that holds a special place in my head that always reminds me of a time and place that’s truly important to me and I make it a thing to call my dear friend, Tom, guitarist for Divide By Zero, each and every year to let him know that I’m listening to the record and how much I love it and how much it means to me. How’s it going, Tommy!?! Hope you and the DBZ boys are doing well.
Originally pressed as part of the first (and to date, only Jump Start subscription club), this limited pressing of 100 was done on solid, opaque yellow vinyl with random black swirl and pressed at Sun Pressing in South Florida on some of the original presses used to press the original records from Bob Marley on Studio One. With the original Subscription Club over and done (for now), we’re making the remaining copies of this record available to the public. There are less than 50 copies remaining, so if you want to own a copy of some ‘Jump Start history’, here’s your chance.
“So why should I care about Divide By Zero?” you ask. Give this record a listen and you’ll know why.
Divide by Zero was a four piece outfit from Chicago formed in 2002 heavily influenced by contemporary bands like Hot Water Music, Dillinger 4, and Small Brown Bike. Their power and emotion was drenched from head to toe and born from their hometown and everything that a city like Chicago does to a person. During their time they did what every band before SoundCloud and Bandcamp did, they hit the road playing with the likes of The Lawrence Arms, Rise Against (Dan Precision from 88 Fingers Louie/Rise Against recorded and mixed Answer to No One), Mae, Glasseater, Northstar, Spitalfield (whom TJ from DBZ later played bass), and The Ghost just to name a few. While their time was short lived, their output wasn’t and will forever be an imporant part of this label’s history.
Whether it’s the driving lead off track “Grave” or the haunting and driving “Hold On”, Answer to No One is a complete record from start to finish. The raw emotion, driving and at times manic and thundering drums balanced by soaring guitars and insightful and introspective lyrics make this a Midwest gem that certainly never got it’s due.
Additionally, if you grab a copy of Answer to No One from our Bandcamp page there are three additional Bonus Tracks that come with your vinyl purchase. The original/first released version of the track “Timber”, along with the tracks “Anywhere But Here”, and “Accusations” from the three song Timber EP released in 2003 on Waste of Time Records.
Here’s the obligatory, For Fans of – Cave In, The Cure, Dillinger 4, Hot Water Music, Jawbreaker, The Lawrence Arms, Rise Against, Small Brown.