Vinyl Vault Entry #10: The Distillers' Raw Punk Power on Coral Fang

For Marcos Trujillo, vinyl collection is more than a hobby, but a way to support the artists they love. "When I think about buying records from Arizona bands or trans/queer artists it feels like collecting and honoring a piece of history and communal contribution, a documentation of other peoples self-expression." For the tenth entry in the T&E vinyl vault, we talked with our friend Marcos on the repress of LA punk band The Distillers' Coral Fang with the original, explicit artwork, the romantic and raw energy on the album, as well as their overall collection and intention behind each purpose.

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Album: Coral Fang (2003)
Artist: The Distillers
Label: Sire/Hellcat
Genre: Punk
Favorite song: “The Hunger”
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Why did you choose this record? 

When my eyes crossed this in my collection I felt like I had to talk about it.  When I started collecting records The Distillers were a band that I quickly looked to see if their records were still available.  Sing Sing Death House was the easiest to find as it was still in print but both their self-titled and Coral Fang were nowhere to be found, I didn’t even know about Discogs at that time LOL (Their self-titled album just got a 20th anniversary remaster/rerelease treatment though so that's cool!)

The first time I heard the The Distillers was on the Punk-o-rama 8 compilation released in 2003. Right away I was enamored with Brody Dale’s raspy, powerful, emotional and kinda lethargic/mushmouth style of singing. I quickly bought Sing Sing Death House (2002) which is the album that preceded Coral Fang.  Coral Fang was released just a year after SSDH, I was excited and anticipating this album to come out.  This has always been my favorite album of theirs, so when I had the chance to buy it on vinyl a few years ago I was so pleased and it still makes me happy knowing that it is part of my collection since it is such an impactful album to me.
 
Give us some background on this record. What does the album sound like?

I love this record because it retains the best parts of The Distillers raw, southern California style punk style while upping the production quality and stepping closer to a “commercially appealing” sound that is softer around the edges and a bit more dynamic and diverse song styles (this was also their first/only major label release).  There is also what I would call a certain “punk romantic” sound on this album, longing, passion, exhaustion, and emotionally raw.  It's a great sing along record, has very catchy instrumentation and every time I come back to it I feel like it's aged so well.
 
 What is the significant history of this album?

One thing that really sticks out to me about this record and encountering it for the first time is the artwork and the controversy surrounding it that resulted in the artwork for the album being scrapped after its release leaving the wider commercial release with pretty lackluster art.

Where did you get it from?

 The vinyl copy of Coral Fang I have I bought online from a record store that somehow had leftovers after RSD, I think I got it from the shop radio cast website.

Flagstaff [AZ] used to have such a great record store called Gopher Sounds.  My friends and I would spend quite a bit of time in there and were exposed to a lot of great music in that store.  I feel bad I can’t remember this one dude who worked there’s name, but he was always so cool to me even though I was a highschool kid who couldn’t buy anything half the time, but he always took time to chat with me and show me things.  He introduced me to and sold me my first  A Tribe Called Quest CD (which he had playing over the store sound system) which is something I will always appreciate.  I bought the CD version of Coral Fang there at Gopher Sounds when it first was released, I just wished I was collecting vinyl when they were open as I'm sure I would have found some very cool things there.
 
Tell us about the album art featured on this record.

The original artwork for this album is INCREDIBLE.  The original CD cover is an illustration of a naked feminine figure wearing high heels crucified to a cross (the head is not visible).  On the right side of the body there is a cut in the upper abdomen that has bright red blood spurting out of it.  When you look closely, the blood is a bunch of small red razor blade illustrations collaged together.  The vinyl release cover featured the same image but with a photo of a nude feminine figure replacing the illustrated one, it's beautiful.  The interior artwork features these great grotesque/vivid mixed media collages.  The typeface of the insert/lyrics is done in a great messy red and black ink style that is slightly reminiscent of Ralph Steadman, the lyrics are printed on this insert in alternating red and black ink and are placed on top of one another so its makes it almost impossible to decipher the majority of the written lyrics.  The vinyl versions retained the original artwork, eventually being packaged with a thin slightly transparent paper insert covering the front image. 

​There were a small number of CDs released with the original artwork but it was quickly deemed too explicit for record stores, so alternative artwork was created.  The replacement artwork was an illustration of a bunch of different animals that had red dots placed over the eyes.  With the replacement artwork instead of printing lyrics inside the booklet, there was just a bold message that said something along the lines of “the original artwork was deemed inappropriate for your local record store” or something like that.  When I bought this CD, I was unaware of the original artwork so I remember being so curious about what could have been so offensive that it needed to be removed which added a cool mystery around it initially.

What pressing is this record? 

​2017 RSD repress on clear red vinyl

What is the packaging like for this release? Are there any inserts or gatefold images?

The record I have is a repress that was released in limited quantities for Record Store Day in 2017.  This release preserved the artwork and layout in its original glory and I was so so pleased and excited to finally have a copy of this record not only on vinyl but to have my own copy of this epic artwork.

The double-sided insert also preserved its original artwork and includes the lyrics as well.
 
Tell us more about your record collection in general.

I grew up in Flagstaff, AZ, and that is where I started collecting records.  When I moved to Tucson about 6 years ago, I put the majority of my records in storage at my parents house (they constantly ask when I will be retrieving them…) the majority of my collection is up there so what I had to select from for this piece are the records I have purchased since moving here to Tucson.  If I had access to those records right now I may have picked my 1st pressing of Fallow by The Weakerthans, my original pressing of Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge by My Chemical Romance, or the European tour pressing of Paradise by Paint it Black which is cool because it has a screen printed cover and a green with white splatter vinyl.  I tend to buy records that I enjoy and know I will listen to not things that will be too “special or rare” to play and enjoy.  I'd rather buy 3 records than 1 rare or expensive one, so the majority of my collection are new records or represses, or things I got for a reasonable price, I just want it to sound good. I think the most I have spent on a record was like $60 which was the Sunn o))) & Boris vinyl release of Altar which I bought a couple years after it was released and had been out of print for a bit.  The majority of what I buy and collect would probably fall into hardcore/punk/metal genres but I like and have quite the variety of things.  Especially when I first started collecting records a lot of what I would buy was from from online retailers, Vinyl Collective (which does not operate in the same way anymore) was a major site for me, the dude who ran it, Virgil, created a great community that was an awesome way to enter into collecting vinyl.  Through Vinyl Collective A Wilhelm Scream’s Mute Print was released on vinyl for the first time which is another very important record in my collection.  Nothing beats flipping through the bins though, I'm so grateful to have a good records store like Wooden Tooth in Tucson!
 
What does record collecting mean to you? 

Collecting for me is a way to support artists that I appreciate and a documentation process.  A way to remember and document my music taste, certain events, or a way to remember and relate to a certain time in a lot of ways.  Honestly, I think I could pull out almost any record in my 750+ collection and tell you where I bought it or what website I got it from and if I bought anything at the same time, it's just a way my brain relates to music.  When I think about buying records from Arizona bands or trans/queer artists it feels like collecting and honoring a piece of history and communal contribution, a documentation of other peoples self-expression.  Before it was vinyl records, I loved buying CDs, as a way to support artists but to also have a tangible item with artwork and liner notes or lyrics, the physical aspect of music whether it be going to shows or buying records/CDs has always been something I gravitated towards and highly valued.
 
Thanks for letting me share one of my favorite albums with the Trial and Error Collective, I appreciate your zine and all the cool work y’all do!
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