It's Alive Records - 2008 NEWS ARCHIVE


2008 News Archive
12/02/08 - Two new records and a holiday sale! Times are tough all around, but we're hanging in there and hope you're all doing the same. With that said, we've got two new records for ya! First up and long overdue, the latest and greatest from Evansville, Kentucky's Be My Doppelganger, Sonic Annihilation! These four tracks make up what is definitely one of the best 7"s we've put out to date. Few bands over the years have gotten me as excited as Be My Doppelganger. They bring the hooks and the hits like few others out there can. They've been kicking around in the underground for a few years now and we hope to introduce a lot of new fans to the band with this release. If you dig it, and I am sure you will, be sure to pick up a few of their earlier releases available in the distro section of our store page before they're long gone. We've had the masters for this bad boy for quite a while now and I couldn't be happier to see this release finally coming together. Up next we've got the second release from Cincinnati, Ohio's drunkest, The Dopamines pairing up with their buddies Till Plains on their debut release. We see The Dopamines as one of the young bands leading the way for the newest generation of pop punkers in the little scene we call home. They do it better than just about any of their contemporaries and even better than many that have come before them. On the flipside we've got something totally different than anything we've released thus far. Till Plains bring it with a style of dissonance and intensity that's new to It's Alive. We're more than happy to have them on board to open us up to a wider style of underground punk rock music and to have been part of their very first release. This 7"s is a split with a new little label called Soapy Hand Records. We expect great things from our good buddy Nick Toerner and his upstart label. Keep an eye on them! Check out these myspace pages for song samples: It's Alive Records, Soapy Hand Records, Be My Doppelganger, The Dopamines, Till Plains Tons of new stuff has been added to the distro! We've got every release still in print from Tampa, Florida's Kiss Of Death Records, a handful of choice cuts from Finland's Killer Records, and a few restocks from our buddy Timbo over at Mutant Pop Records. There are new records being added to the distro weekly, keep an eye on it! For the months of December and January all of our t-shirts will be on sale for $7.00 (regularly $10.00) and all of our zipper hoodies for $20.00 (regularly $25.00). If you're looking to get someone some sweet new gear for Christmas now's the time. Or if you find yourself with some spending cash after the holidays, come back before the end of January and spread the love. From us to you, happy holidays! We'll be back early next year with more records for your eager ears!
10/10/08 - Distro A Go Go! In an effort to spread great records from near and far reaches of the world we do lots of record trading with other labels and bands to sell in our distro section of the store page. No, it is not a pretty display, but it gets the job done! We keep it updated near daily with new additions. It's easy to lose sight or just not even see the great additions within the current format, but hey, it's like digging for records in record stores - you gotta work for it! We've always got something new and great being added, but it can be hard to keep up with. So we'll be posting here every now and then when there are new records we think deserve a little extra special mention. Mutant Pop Records was one of, if not thee biggest inspiration for starting It's Alive Records. Timbo called it quits a time or two over the past ten years. Every time he stopped it sucked, but made for an awesome re-start! MP was gone for a few years this past time and it looked like Timbo was done for good... but here we are seeing the second, third or fourth comeback! We couldn't be happier. It looks like he's going all in too. This past month has produced six new Mutant Pop releases! We've got 'em all in our distro. Pig out! The Catalogs s/t 7", The Connie Dungs I Hate This Town 7", Dillinger Four More Songs About Girlfriends And Bubblegum 7", The Impulse International Saturday Suzie 7", The Loblaws Won't Stop! 7", The Peabodys The Future Will Kill You dbl 7" And here are a few other additions you should check out: Blotto / Ringers split 7" - Snuffy Smiles can't lose! We've always got their newest releases Kepi Ghoulie & Jerry Hormone The Lives And Loves 7" - Stardumb Records Lives! V/A Living Dead Special 7" - great first release from a promising Spanish pop punk label featuring tracks by The Connie Dungs, The Ritides, No Picky and F.A.N.T.A. Dead Mechanical Medium Noise 12" - Great album, thick vinyl, excellent packaging The Popsters Our Bites Bring You Back CD - Awesome new album by a fantastic Italian band The Riverdales Phase 3 CD - remixed, remastered, five new tracks, it's like a whole new record!
09/30/08 - The Copyrights records, tour and more... The Copyrights Make Sound LP 2nd pressing has arrived! If you're in need of a refresher, the first pressing of green and black vinyl sold out in just under 2 weeks. We wanted this 2nd pressing to be on grey vinyl, but apparently there's no white vinyl to be found in Nashville to make the grey mix. We had to setlle for clear vinyl for half of the copies and black for the rest. For you completist collector nerds out there (we love each and everyone of you), you can tell which pressing is which by looking at the address info on the back of jacket. Just like we did with the Chinese Telephones s/t LP, the address is printed in a different color than it was the first time around. The ridiculous (-ly awesome!) We Didn't Come Here To Die picture disc LP's should be ready to go in less than 2 months. This coming year will also see the long overdue 2nd pressing of Mutiny Pop. The Copyrights are on their first Eurpean this next month with the always awesome Zatopeks. Be sure to check out their myspace pages here and here for tour dates. Both bands really deliver at their live shows. If you're anywhere near the tour route, don't miss it! We've got a list of the next 9 releases we plan to put out. If all goes according to plan, this is going to be a great year for It's Alive. We'll do our best to keep you posted here and on our myspace page.
08/25/08 - New Records, New News! Hey folks! For anyone out there keeping track, our past five release have been full lengths either on 12" only or 12" and compact disc. If you were wondering if the days of 7" records coming out every few months were over, stop wondering - we've got a couple more ready to go right now. First up we've got the second 7" by Canada's finest, The Varsity Weirdos. Much like their first 7", the second is loaded with all the pop and hooks that made their first so damn great. In addition to the old tricks, the all-down-strokers added a few new ingredients to the mix - a third lead vocalist and a hard-rockin' political jam. In the world of Ramones inspired pop punk music you are guaranteed to be inundated by a shit-ton of horrible, crappy bands. But if you've got enough love for the style to stick it out through all the crap, you'll be rewarded with the awesome tunes by a handful of great bands doing that Ramones thing right. The Varsity Weirdos are one of these bands. They might not be breaking any ground with this release, but they might break a few record players from all the repeat listens. And with the new we bring the old, made new again! The crazy collectible Retarded Gambling On Rock 7" with four variations of artwork and vinyl color is back... with yet another cover art variation and two more vinyl colors! I am not sure if I should be apologizing to all the vinyl collectors and completists out there, or accepting thanks for providing them with another fix. The first pressing sold out pretty fast and I don't imagine this one will hang around too long either. Hopefully some of you out there who missed it the first time will take advantage of its second pressing. After this one we're done, I promise! Speaking of crazy collectible releases. We're teaming up with our nutty buddies over at Insubordination Records to releases The Copyrights debut album We Didn't Come Here To Die on 12" vinyl. But it doesn't end there... This bad boy will be available with four different picture inserts - one for each band member. Check out the picture discs here. In addition to the crazy collectibility of the picture discs, 100 people will have the chance to own 1 of 100 copies of the Chicago Smasher 7". The only way to get a copy of the 7" is to pre-order the entire set of 12"s. Insubordination is handling the pre-sale. To get in on the action click on the link below. To find out more about the record, check out this thread on the pop punk message board. You can email us as well if you've got questions. Click Here To Pre-Order The Entire Set! We're always adding great new records to our distro lists on the store page. Below are a few titles that deserve a lot of attention and you should definitely consider adding to your shopping cart next time you place an order: The Copyrights / The Methadones split CD - two great bands, twelve top-notch songs. The Mugwumps Banana Brain CD/LP - Austria's finest export, finally available on CD! Sugus Learn To Be A Mornard CD - maybe the best poppunk album to come of Spain this decade. The Apers / 20 Belows split 7" - two great bands, one great new label Peabrain Records. Be My Doppelganger Convertible Girls 7" - one of the best bands playing pop punk today. Connie Dungs I Hate This Town 7" - back in print after many years with a new jacket on color vinyl. Dillinger Four More Songs About Girlfriends & Bubblegum 7" (repress) - need I say more? Fear Of Lipstick EP II 7" - even better than their first 7" on IAR, this record is fantastic!
06/15/08 - The Veterans and The Dopamines albums out now! We're proud to announce the second and third full length albums to be released on It's Alive Records. The first comes from the land of pretty women, pizza and pop punk masters. We're talking about Italy! More importantly we're talking about Andrea Carreda, front man of Italy's premier pop punk outfit The Manges! On The Veterans self-titled debut album Andrea has put together a classic summertime soundtrack of beach inspired tunes for all the pogo pop fanatics the world over. For this mission he enlisted the help of friends from all over the world from bands including Supermarket and The Popsters from Italy, Surfin' Lungs from The UK, and The Leftovers from the USA. Sure, this style of pop has been around for years and has been done many times before, but it's not often it is done this well. The ten tracks on this debut album from The Veterans are as catchy as they come. The second of our pair of full length albums comes from the land of beer, chili and more beer. I guess that could be any number of cities in the mid west, but we're talking about Cincinnati! We're talking about The Dopamines! Their self-titled debut album, which is also their first release ever, is all about growing up, getting drunk, falling in love, falling down and getting back up again. The rock on this record is a healthy mix of modern day pop punk with some mid 90's Pennsylvania style power punk and a touch of that early 90's Epi-Fat sound; all fueled by way too much alcohol! This band puts a ton of heart into what they do and this album shows it. If The Dopamines don't get you movin', you're probably already dead and just don't know it yet. We hope these are just the first of many releases from both of these great new bands. We feel lucky and honored to have been able to work with both of them! Check out tunes from both bands and all the most recent releases at our myspace page. Both bands, as well as every band we've ever released a record with can be found in our top friends section. Head over to their pages for even more great songs!
06/09/08 - First Things First Things have been quite the rollercoaster ride around here these past few months. Sorry for the lack of updates. Sometimes we get too busy with putting out records and all that it entails to get the digital word properly spread online. In addition to big happenings on the It's Alive front, we've gone through some big changes in our personal lives - some good, some bad, but mostly bad. But we're keeping it positive and hanging in there until things turn around, which they have already started to. The Steinways Unoriginal Recipe and The Peawees Walking The Walk all but sold out all available copies within a week or two of us releasing them. This is always awesome, but also kind of a tough thing to deal with as far as promotion - you can't send out review copies or get them into distros when there are none left! We're not complaining, mind you. Anyway, we've got represses and restocks available now, so if you missed it the first time (which wouldn't have been hard to do) now's your chance to get in on the good stuff. In the whirlwind wake of the former two releases we released the vinyl version of The Copyrights' third stellar album Make Sound. Much like The Copyrights' first two albums, this one's another pop punk piece of gold. And much like our last two releases before this, this one all but sold out all available copies crazy fast upon its release. We didn't even get a chance to properly post about it here on this website before most of our copies were sold. The pop punk message bored crowd has a big appetite and huge stomach for this stuff, and apparently it's growing! If you haven't picked up a copy of this album yet, act fast. We have about 5 copies left in stock. And no, they're not green vinyl copies! If you're looking to score the green vinyl version you might get luck out at Interpunk. If they're all gone over there, try ebay! And now that we're just about caught up with ourselves, it's time for more records! That's right. On June 16th we will release the debut album from The Veterans as well as the debut album from The Dopamines. We'll have more info to post about both albums within the week. In the meantime, head on over to our myspace page to check out a track from each band. Both bands are also listed in our top friends list, so you should click on over to those pages too to hear more of new tracks. Take our word for it - these are easily two of the best records we'll have put out to date. Both album will be available on cd and lp, both will have limited edition color vinyl copies, and both will be availlable in super packs (cd+lp+t-shirt). If the past few releases are any indication of how fast the limited color copies will go for these albums, I'd make a date with the F5 key for Monday June 16th!
01/21/08 - Two more next week... We've got two releases coming out next week. First up, The Steinways Unoriginal Recipe 7". It's six new songs from pop punk's funnest (yeah, it's not a word, so what) band around. We wanted to give everyone a heads-up on this release because it is going to be released in a super pack similar to that of the Chinese Telephones album. The super pack is officially a Pizza Pack. The Pizza Pack is an actual pizza box stuffed with the following: a pizza crust color vinyl 7", a thermo printed cd-r, an insert, a poster, a standard 7" jacket, a magnet, a button and a t-shirt with the cover art for the record silk screened on the front. The pizza pack will go up on the site next Monday (01/28/08) and will ship the following week. We felt the heads-up was necessary because they will be limited to 100 copies and shirt sizes are limited. If you want one, be sure to order right away. Once they're gone or your shirt size is gone, that's that! On the same day we will be releasing The Peawees Walking The Walk on 12" vinyl. If you aren't already familiar with The Peawees check out their myspace page and get ready to rock n roll! They do the whole rock n roll soul, rockabilly, punk rock thing better and different than any band out there. We've been huge fans for many years and it's really awesome to be able to finally release a record with them. We will be running a contest for this release. The main prize being a copy of their debut album Where People Smile, which was released long ago in Italy only and only on 12" vinyl. In the meantime we are trying to stock up on copies of their second and third albums for our distro as well as the import cd version of Walking The Walk. So keep an eye out for the news update next Monday to get in all the action! In the meantime, check out the It's Alive Records myspace page for song samples. In other news, the Chinese Telephones s/t 12" is already sold out not two months after its release! But fear not, if you missed it you'll have a chance to get it again in a month or two. We placed a repress order for another 500. This time, the first 200 on opaque blue vinyl. The jacket artwork will have a very small difference than the first time so you'll be able to differentiate 1st pressing black copies from 2nd pressing black copies.
01/01/08 - Contests and OOP Records update Interpunk just sent us the list of winners for the Chinese Telephones contest they were running this past month. The winners are below. Thanks and Congratulations! Your prize packs are in the mail. 1st Place: Timothy Peacock from Opp, Alabama 2nd Place: Chris Chambers from Seattle, Washington James Hansen from Newport Beach, California Ashley VanTilborgh from Godfrey, Ontario, Canada 3rd Place: Anita Yancey from Barnesville, Georgia Alfredo Arraiza from Pamplona, Spain Lonna Mahurin from Afton, Oklahoma Martin Tangman from Erlanger, Kentucky Erica Berumen from Santa Maria, California Vinyl Collective is currently running a contest for the Chinese Telephones album as well. They are raffling off a copy of the 12" vinyl test pressing for the album. Only five of them exist! If you want to be entered in the contest all you have to do is buy the album from through their site. The first pressing of Chinese Telephones s/t LP is just about sold out! We have only about 10 copies left. A handful of mailorder distros still have copies, so if you get here too late, try No Idea, Interpunk or Littletype. I think Littletype might even still have a copies on clear vinyl. The album will be repressed asap. Hopefully we'll have another 500 copies in month or maybe two. A few other titles of ours have recently sold out and slipped into OOP status. Here's everything we've put out so far that is all sold out: IAR02 Teenage Bottlerocket / Prototipes split (500 clear, 500 black) IAR03 The Copyrights Nowhere Near Chicago (100 white, 100 red, 300 black) IAR04 Kitty & The Manges Joey's Song (600 multi-color) IAR08 The Apers / Sonic Dolls split (500 purple) IAR09 The Copyrights / Zatopeks Handclaps & Bottlecaps (250 orange, 250 green) And here's a list of records we have less than 20 copies of before they are sold out: IAR05 The Varsity Weirdos Fly Me Up To The Moon (500 clear) IAR06 The Popsters The Scene (500 blue) IAR07 Zatopeks Smile Or Move (500 gold) IAR10 The Badamps Two Face (500 black) IAR11 Retarded Gambling On Rock (200 grey, 200 red, 200 purple, 200 pink) IAR12 The Copyrights Mutiny Pop (500 clear w/ orange & black splatter) IAR13 The Manges Go Down (500 black) IAR14 The Popsters Two Minutes (500 black) IAR17 Dear Landlord / Chinese Telephones split (500 violet, 500 black) IAR22 Chinese Telephones s/t (200 clear, 300 black) Some of these titles will more than likely be repressed, but not many of them. If you're still holding off, don't wait any longer! Two new records coming this month! The Peawees Walking the Walk 12" vinly LP and The Steinways Unoriginal Recipe 7". More news on these coming soon!

2008 News Archive

12/02/08 - Two new records and a holiday sale!

Times are tough all around, but we're hanging in there and hope you're all doing the same. With that said, we've got two new records for ya!

First up and long overdue, the latest and greatest from Evansville, Kentucky's Be My Doppelganger, Sonic Annihilation! These four tracks make up what is definitely one of the best 7"s we've put out to date. Few bands over the years have gotten me as excited as Be My Doppelganger. They bring the hooks and the hits like few others out there can. They've been kicking around in the underground for a few years now and we hope to introduce a lot of new fans to the band with this release. If you dig it, and I am sure you will, be sure to pick up a few of their earlier releases available in the distro section of our store page before they're long gone. We've had the masters for this bad boy for quite a while now and I couldn't be happier to see this release finally coming together.

Up next we've got the second release from Cincinnati, Ohio's drunkest, The Dopamines pairing up with their buddies Till Plains on their debut release. We see The Dopamines as one of the young bands leading the way for the newest generation of pop punkers in the little scene we call home. They do it better than just about any of their contemporaries and even better than many that have come before them. On the flipside we've got something totally different than anything we've released thus far. Till Plains bring it with a style of dissonance and intensity that's new to It's Alive. We're more than happy to have them on board to open us up to a wider style of underground punk rock music and to have been part of their very first release. This 7"s is a split with a new little label called Soapy Hand Records. We expect great things from our good buddy Nick Toerner and his upstart label. Keep an eye on them!

Check out these myspace pages for song samples: It's Alive Records, Soapy Hand Records, Be My Doppelganger, The Dopamines, Till Plains

Tons of new stuff has been added to the distro! We've got every release still in print from Tampa, Florida's Kiss Of Death Records, a handful of choice cuts from Finland's Killer Records, and a few restocks from our buddy Timbo over at Mutant Pop Records. There are new records being added to the distro weekly, keep an eye on it!

For the months of December and January all of our t-shirts will be on sale for $7.00 (regularly $10.00) and all of our zipper hoodies for $20.00 (regularly $25.00). If you're looking to get someone some sweet new gear for Christmas now's the time. Or if you find yourself with some spending cash after the holidays, come back before the end of January and spread the love.

From us to you, happy holidays! We'll be back early next year with more records for your eager ears!

10/10/08 - Distro A Go Go!

In an effort to spread great records from near and far reaches of the world we do lots of record trading with other labels and bands to sell in our distro section of the store page. No, it is not a pretty display, but it gets the job done! We keep it updated near daily with new additions. It's easy to lose sight or just not even see the great additions within the current format, but hey, it's like digging for records in record stores - you gotta work for it!

We've always got something new and great being added, but it can be hard to keep up with. So we'll be posting here every now and then when there are new records we think deserve a little extra special mention.

Mutant Pop Records was one of, if not thee biggest inspiration for starting It's Alive Records. Timbo called it quits a time or two over the past ten years. Every time he stopped it sucked, but made for an awesome re-start! MP was gone for a few years this past time and it looked like Timbo was done for good... but here we are seeing the second, third or fourth comeback! We couldn't be happier. It looks like he's going all in too. This past month has produced six new Mutant Pop releases! We've got 'em all in our distro. Pig out!

The Catalogs s/t 7", The Connie Dungs I Hate This Town 7", Dillinger Four More Songs About Girlfriends And Bubblegum 7", The Impulse International Saturday Suzie 7", The Loblaws Won't Stop! 7", The Peabodys The Future Will Kill You dbl 7"

And here are a few other additions you should check out:

Blotto / Ringers split 7" - Snuffy Smiles can't lose! We've always got their newest releases
Kepi Ghoulie & Jerry Hormone The Lives And Loves 7" - Stardumb Records Lives!
V/A Living Dead Special 7" - great first release from a promising Spanish pop punk label featuring tracks by The Connie Dungs, The Ritides, No Picky and F.A.N.T.A.
Dead Mechanical Medium Noise 12" - Great album, thick vinyl, excellent packaging
The Popsters Our Bites Bring You Back CD - Awesome new album by a fantastic Italian band
The Riverdales Phase 3 CD - remixed, remastered, five new tracks, it's like a whole new record!

09/30/08 - The Copyrights records, tour and more...

The Copyrights Make Sound LP 2nd pressing has arrived! If you're in need of a refresher, the first pressing of green and black vinyl sold out in just under 2 weeks. We wanted this 2nd pressing to be on grey vinyl, but apparently there's no white vinyl to be found in Nashville to make the grey mix. We had to setlle for clear vinyl for half of the copies and black for the rest. For you completist collector nerds out there (we love each and everyone of you), you can tell which pressing is which by looking at the address info on the back of jacket. Just like we did with the Chinese Telephones s/t LP, the address is printed in a different color than it was the first time around.

The ridiculous (-ly awesome!) We Didn't Come Here To Die picture disc LP's should be ready to go in less than 2 months. This coming year will also see the long overdue 2nd pressing of Mutiny Pop.

The Copyrights are on their first Eurpean this next month with the always awesome Zatopeks. Be sure to check out their myspace pages here and here for tour dates. Both bands really deliver at their live shows. If you're anywhere near the tour route, don't miss it!

We've got a list of the next 9 releases we plan to put out. If all goes according to plan, this is going to be a great year for It's Alive. We'll do our best to keep you posted here and on our myspace page.

08/25/08 - New Records, New News!

Hey folks! For anyone out there keeping track, our past five release have been full lengths either on 12" only or 12" and compact disc. If you were wondering if the days of 7" records coming out every few months were over, stop wondering - we've got a couple more ready to go right now.

First up we've got the second 7" by Canada's finest, The Varsity Weirdos. Much like their first 7", the second is loaded with all the pop and hooks that made their first so damn great. In addition to the old tricks, the all-down-strokers added a few new ingredients to the mix - a third lead vocalist and a hard-rockin' political jam. In the world of Ramones inspired pop punk music you are guaranteed to be inundated by a shit-ton of horrible, crappy bands. But if you've got enough love for the style to stick it out through all the crap, you'll be rewarded with the awesome tunes by a handful of great bands doing that Ramones thing right. The Varsity Weirdos are one of these bands. They might not be breaking any ground with this release, but they might break a few record players from all the repeat listens.

And with the new we bring the old, made new again! The crazy collectible Retarded Gambling On Rock 7" with four variations of artwork and vinyl color is back... with yet another cover art variation and two more vinyl colors! I am not sure if I should be apologizing to all the vinyl collectors and completists out there, or accepting thanks for providing them with another fix. The first pressing sold out pretty fast and I don't imagine this one will hang around too long either. Hopefully some of you out there who missed it the first time will take advantage of its second pressing. After this one we're done, I promise!

Speaking of crazy collectible releases. We're teaming up with our nutty buddies over at Insubordination Records to releases The Copyrights debut album We Didn't Come Here To Die on 12" vinyl. But it doesn't end there... This bad boy will be available with four different picture inserts - one for each band member. Check out the picture discs here. In addition to the crazy collectibility of the picture discs, 100 people will have the chance to own 1 of 100 copies of the Chicago Smasher 7". The only way to get a copy of the 7" is to pre-order the entire set of 12"s. Insubordination is handling the pre-sale. To get in on the action click on the link below. To find out more about the record, check out this thread on the pop punk message board. You can email us as well if you've got questions.

Click Here To Pre-Order The Entire Set!

We're always adding great new records to our distro lists on the store page. Below are a few titles that deserve a lot of attention and you should definitely consider adding to your shopping cart next time you place an order:

The Copyrights / The Methadones split CD - two great bands, twelve top-notch songs.
The Mugwumps Banana Brain CD/LP - Austria's finest export, finally available on CD!
Sugus Learn To Be A Mornard CD - maybe the best poppunk album to come of Spain this decade.
The Apers / 20 Belows split 7" - two great bands, one great new label Peabrain Records.
Be My Doppelganger Convertible Girls 7" - one of the best bands playing pop punk today.
Connie Dungs I Hate This Town 7" - back in print after many years with a new jacket on color vinyl.
Dillinger Four More Songs About Girlfriends & Bubblegum 7" (repress) - need I say more?
Fear Of Lipstick EP II 7" - even better than their first 7" on IAR, this record is fantastic!

06/15/08 - The Veterans and The Dopamines albums out now!

We're proud to announce the second and third full length albums to be released on It's Alive Records.

The first comes from the land of pretty women, pizza and pop punk masters. We're talking about Italy! More importantly we're talking about Andrea Carreda, front man of Italy's premier pop punk outfit The Manges! On The Veterans self-titled debut album Andrea has put together a classic summertime soundtrack of beach inspired tunes for all the pogo pop fanatics the world over. For this mission he enlisted the help of friends from all over the world from bands including Supermarket and The Popsters from Italy, Surfin' Lungs from The UK, and The Leftovers from the USA. Sure, this style of pop has been around for years and has been done many times before, but it's not often it is done this well. The ten tracks on this debut album from The Veterans are as catchy as they come.

The second of our pair of full length albums comes from the land of beer, chili and more beer. I guess that could be any number of cities in the mid west, but we're talking about Cincinnati! We're talking about The Dopamines! Their self-titled debut album, which is also their first release ever, is all about growing up, getting drunk, falling in love, falling down and getting back up again. The rock on this record is a healthy mix of modern day pop punk with some mid 90's Pennsylvania style power punk and a touch of that early 90's Epi-Fat sound; all fueled by way too much alcohol! This band puts a ton of heart into what they do and this album shows it. If The Dopamines don't get you movin', you're probably already dead and just don't know it yet.

We hope these are just the first of many releases from both of these great new bands. We feel lucky and honored to have been able to work with both of them!

Check out tunes from both bands and all the most recent releases at our myspace page. Both bands, as well as every band we've ever released a record with can be found in our top friends section. Head over to their pages for even more great songs!

06/09/08 - First Things First

Things have been quite the rollercoaster ride around here these past few months. Sorry for the lack of updates. Sometimes we get too busy with putting out records and all that it entails to get the digital word properly spread online. In addition to big happenings on the It's Alive front, we've gone through some big changes in our personal lives - some good, some bad, but mostly bad. But we're keeping it positive and hanging in there until things turn around, which they have already started to.

The Steinways Unoriginal Recipe and The Peawees Walking The Walk all but sold out all available copies within a week or two of us releasing them. This is always awesome, but also kind of a tough thing to deal with as far as promotion - you can't send out review copies or get them into distros when there are none left! We're not complaining, mind you. Anyway, we've got represses and restocks available now, so if you missed it the first time (which wouldn't have been hard to do) now's your chance to get in on the good stuff.

In the whirlwind wake of the former two releases we released the vinyl version of The Copyrights' third stellar album Make Sound. Much like The Copyrights' first two albums, this one's another pop punk piece of gold. And much like our last two releases before this, this one all but sold out all available copies crazy fast upon its release. We didn't even get a chance to properly post about it here on this website before most of our copies were sold. The pop punk message bored crowd has a big appetite and huge stomach for this stuff, and apparently it's growing! If you haven't picked up a copy of this album yet, act fast. We have about 5 copies left in stock. And no, they're not green vinyl copies! If you're looking to score the green vinyl version you might get luck out at Interpunk. If they're all gone over there, try ebay!

And now that we're just about caught up with ourselves, it's time for more records! That's right. On June 16th we will release the debut album from The Veterans as well as the debut album from The Dopamines. We'll have more info to post about both albums within the week. In the meantime, head on over to our myspace page to check out a track from each band. Both bands are also listed in our top friends list, so you should click on over to those pages too to hear more of new tracks. Take our word for it - these are easily two of the best records we'll have put out to date. Both album will be available on cd and lp, both will have limited edition color vinyl copies, and both will be availlable in super packs (cd+lp+t-shirt). If the past few releases are any indication of how fast the limited color copies will go for these albums, I'd make a date with the F5 key for Monday June 16th!

01/21/08 - Two more next week...

We've got two releases coming out next week. First up, The Steinways Unoriginal Recipe 7". It's six new songs from pop punk's funnest (yeah, it's not a word, so what) band around. We wanted to give everyone a heads-up on this release because it is going to be released in a super pack similar to that of the Chinese Telephones album. The super pack is officially a Pizza Pack. The Pizza Pack is an actual pizza box stuffed with the following: a pizza crust color vinyl 7", a thermo printed cd-r, an insert, a poster, a standard 7" jacket, a magnet, a button and a t-shirt with the cover art for the record silk screened on the front. The pizza pack will go up on the site next Monday (01/28/08) and will ship the following week. We felt the heads-up was necessary because they will be limited to 100 copies and shirt sizes are limited. If you want one, be sure to order right away. Once they're gone or your shirt size is gone, that's that!

On the same day we will be releasing The Peawees Walking The Walk on 12" vinyl. If you aren't already familiar with The Peawees check out their myspace page and get ready to rock n roll! They do the whole rock n roll soul, rockabilly, punk rock thing better and different than any band out there. We've been huge fans for many years and it's really awesome to be able to finally release a record with them. We will be running a contest for this release. The main prize being a copy of their debut album Where People Smile, which was released long ago in Italy only and only on 12" vinyl. In the meantime we are trying to stock up on copies of their second and third albums for our distro as well as the import cd version of Walking The Walk.

So keep an eye out for the news update next Monday to get in all the action! In the meantime, check out the It's Alive Records myspace page for song samples.

In other news, the Chinese Telephones s/t 12" is already sold out not two months after its release! But fear not, if you missed it you'll have a chance to get it again in a month or two. We placed a repress order for another 500. This time, the first 200 on opaque blue vinyl. The jacket artwork will have a very small difference than the first time so you'll be able to differentiate 1st pressing black copies from 2nd pressing black copies.

01/01/08 - Contests and OOP Records update

Interpunk just sent us the list of winners for the Chinese Telephones contest they were running this past month. The winners are below. Thanks and Congratulations! Your prize packs are in the mail.

1st Place:
Timothy Peacock from Opp, Alabama

2nd Place:
Chris Chambers from Seattle, Washington
James Hansen from Newport Beach, California
Ashley VanTilborgh from Godfrey, Ontario, Canada

3rd Place:
Anita Yancey from Barnesville, Georgia
Alfredo Arraiza from Pamplona, Spain
Lonna Mahurin from Afton, Oklahoma
Martin Tangman from Erlanger, Kentucky
Erica Berumen from Santa Maria, California

Vinyl Collective is currently running a contest for the Chinese Telephones album as well. They are raffling off a copy of the 12" vinyl test pressing for the album. Only five of them exist! If you want to be entered in the contest all you have to do is buy the album from through their site.

The first pressing of Chinese Telephones s/t LP is just about sold out! We have only about 10 copies left. A handful of mailorder distros still have copies, so if you get here too late, try No Idea, Interpunk or Littletype. I think Littletype might even still have a copies on clear vinyl. The album will be repressed asap. Hopefully we'll have another 500 copies in month or maybe two.

A few other titles of ours have recently sold out and slipped into OOP status. Here's everything we've put out so far that is all sold out:

IAR02 Teenage Bottlerocket / Prototipes split (500 clear, 500 black)
IAR03 The Copyrights Nowhere Near Chicago (100 white, 100 red, 300 black)
IAR04 Kitty & The Manges Joey's Song (600 multi-color)
IAR08 The Apers / Sonic Dolls split (500 purple)
IAR09 The Copyrights / Zatopeks Handclaps & Bottlecaps (250 orange, 250 green)

And here's a list of records we have less than 20 copies of before they are sold out:

IAR05 The Varsity Weirdos Fly Me Up To The Moon (500 clear)
IAR06 The Popsters The Scene (500 blue)
IAR07 Zatopeks Smile Or Move (500 gold)
IAR10 The Badamps Two Face (500 black)
IAR11 Retarded Gambling On Rock (200 grey, 200 red, 200 purple, 200 pink)
IAR12 The Copyrights Mutiny Pop (500 clear w/ orange & black splatter)
IAR13 The Manges Go Down (500 black)
IAR14 The Popsters Two Minutes (500 black)
IAR17 Dear Landlord / Chinese Telephones split (500 violet, 500 black)
IAR22 Chinese Telephones s/t (200 clear, 300 black)

Some of these titles will more than likely be repressed, but not many of them. If you're still holding off, don't wait any longer!

Two new records coming this month! The Peawees Walking the Walk 12" vinly LP and The Steinways Unoriginal Recipe 7". More news on these coming soon!