Wiretap Records and Friend Club Records have announced Undercover on the Streets: A Vagrant Records Tribute Comp, due out 20 May 2022. The 30+ track compilation will feature a a bevy of songs by acts throughout the storied label’s history, including covers by Tiny Stills, American Television, Avenues and more.
Wiretap’s Rob Castellon says about the comp:
If bands have influences, than indie labels do too. There’s no question, that Vagrant Records indirectly influenced the sound and aesthetic of what Wiretap Records has become. Blending punk, emo, pop punk and more into a roster of bands that on paper shouldn’t have made sense….but absolutely did. I had the honor to intern at Vagrant Records from 2000-2001 for school, and while I spent most of my internship folding shirts, and drilling holes in promo CD’s, I was exposed to the exciting salad days of Vagrant. We’re talking a label’s roster that included Rocket From the Crypt, Alkaline Trio, with Dashboard Confessional, Paul Westerberg and Koufax. Those bands shouldn’t have anything in common…but they somehow worked! I’m also privileged to have had the chance to work with Vagrant alumni Matt Pryor and Jim Suptic from The Get Up Kids and Josh Berwanger of The Anniversary, for their Radar State record that came out in 2019. Things have a tendency of always coming full circle.
To celebrate the announcement, two of the cover songs have been made available. First is UK via Greece quartet Burnt Tapes covering The Get Up Kids‘ “Holiday” from their 1999 Something to Write Home About.
Next up is Common Sage cover Balance and Composure‘s “Midnight Zone” from 2016’s Light We Made.
The comp will be released on digital platforms on 20 May 2022, with pre-save options available via this link page. Below you can check out a list of contributing artists.
the white drew carey (aka – Jeff Sorley) is the founder and head editor of TGEFM. He’s lived (outside of) Chicago, Madison WI, (ugh) Penn State, Lyon FR, Oxford UK, central New Jersey, and now within earshot of SFO in the Bay Area. When not scouring the web for more great bands and labels to post about, he also spends time drawing (mostly) silly sci-fi and anime stuff under the name Asplenia Studios.
