Paper + Plastick has been my favorite record label since they started putting out records. I think they sign the best up and coming bands and give their vinyl the royal treatment regardless of how popular the artist may or may not be. I’ve never had any problems with my orders and have had pleasurable experiences when working with them and their artists on projects for the site. So you can imagine how surprised I was when I started hearing that people were having troubles with P+P and their orders.
When I placed my order with them a few weeks back I had no question that it would get here safely and in a timely manner because I hadn’t ever had problems with them before (and since I’m trying to collect their entire catalogue, I order quite frequently). The first thing that should have tipped me off that something was up was the $13 shipping fee that was up from its usual $5-6 price. Still I ordered a lot this time so I just figured they’d fix it when it went out (sadly it never did).
Long story short I placed my order on 6/23, P+P sent me a notice saying it had shipped on 6/28, and then arrived at my house on 7/11. The postage date was marked 7/7 so it never actually shipped when they said it did and the postage was priced at $3.23 (a whole $10 cheaper than I paid). Somewhere along the lines someone wasn’t on their game at HQ, which is fine, I’ve waited longer for orders. It’s just sad to see because I’ve heard others say they won’t be ordering from them again because of it, which would be a shame because they really do put their heart and soul into the music they put out. So get it together guys so I can continue bragging about you all!
Oh yeah and give that intern who sleeved my records open side out a smack on the hand, I nearly had an aneurism when they spilt out of the package onto the floor.
Getting back to the vinyl, my personal favorite from the lot would have to be the Protagonist - States 7” and Make Do and Mend - End Measure Mile 12”. I’m a bit biased with Protagonist having the artwork for The Chronicle tattooed on me and all, but I’m not kidding when I say they pulled out all the stops for this release. The packaging is printed on heavy card stock, the cover has spots where it is shiny, and the record sleeve is designed and in full color, not to mention how awesome the splatter vinyl looks itself.
Now I’ve heard how epic this Make Do and Mend packaging was from just about everyone and it didn’t disappoint. The cover of the album opens up from the center making it a tri-fold sleeve, but that’s not all. When you open it up a die-cut tree sits in the center revealing the lyric sheet that holds the record. It really raises the bar for vinyl packaging which P+P had already set higher than most other labels. The only thing that I regret about this record is that I didn’t pick it up during its first press.
For more pictures for this lot click here.
