Razor Blazers commissioned 50 different artists to make 10 unique covers each for this record; 50 x 10 = 500 individual jackets. Apparently, the cover I received was the 10th one that Rob Ziemanis created. There is a card inside the record that lists each of the 50 artists involved in this project, as well as informs you which cover you have in the series.
This project was completely funded by Kickstarter, and (if it wasn't cool enough already) all of the money raised from selling Razor Blazers' 7inch record goes to Kusi Kawsay, an elementary school in the Peruvian Andes which offers children from economically challenged backgrounds an affirming and holistic education. I know I haven't even begun to tell you how great the music is, and yet you want to go buy this record now, right? You can, right over here at their Bandcamp page.
For his 10th jacket, Rob Ziemanis chose to work with a natural brown cardboard record jacket. It appears that he drew a flower-like image with the use of a compass, and then hand painted the petals with different autumn inspired colors. For the typography, Ziemanis opted to stamp letters for the front, and use a stenciled font for the back. Often with hand created artwork, you don't get a barcode or record label information; everything is very simple and innocent (which is what had me in the beginning). I'm actually very happy this is the cover I received with my Razor Blazers 7inch; I hope everyone else likes theirs.
I was immediate attracted to the dissonant guitars on "I'm Sick," side-a. They are very New York City, and reminded me quite a bit of the guitar rift from Blonde Redhead's b-side delight, "Kasuality," from their 1997 "Symphony of Treble" single. The song starts with a familiar beat that takes you back to when you first understood what made indie rock rock. The singers voice itself has a round, shoegaze-like, deeper tone; always a favorite ingredient (for me) with female fronted bands.
The easy driving pace of "Linear Rerun" goes on like an instrumental track out of the 1990's, backing one of the many reality television shows featuring our youth finding themselves as they explore our world. Once again, the soothing vocals ease in as another instrument, finding their place comfortably between the guitars.
Below is a video featuring "Linear Rerun" and a photo slide show from Razor Blazers' record release party, where they displayed all 500 of the various record covers for their "I'm Sick" 7inch. Whether you are into the music or not, this release presents an awesome opportunity to show your support for a greater cause. And if charity is not your thing, perhaps for the artistic value alone, hopefully you find it worth it to order a copy of this record with it's one-of-a-kind cover art. Any which way you cut it, don't miss out on this very special release.
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