Artist: The Starlite Desperation

Title: Take It Personally

Format: 12-inch

Label: Infrasonic Sound Records

Artwork: Laena Myers-Ionita and Dante Adrian White

Manfacturer: Erika Records

Someone should start a vinyl blog called “You can’t make an omelet without breaking eggs.” When dealing with a manufacturing process as sensitive and complex as vinyl, it’s very difficult to get through an initial pressing in fewer than 10 weeks and without any delays or hiccups. In the creation of The Starlite Desperation’s new album, for example, the first set of test pressings were denied due to a minor skip on the B-side. When inspected more closely through the scope, it appeared that a pesky hair in a groove, transferred over during the creation of the mother and stamper plates, was to blame. But patience pays off when you get a final product as phenomenal as Take it Personally. This is easily one of the best sounding psych-rock records to hit vinyl shelves this year, as well as the L.A. trio’s most realized album to date.

Mixed, tracked and mastered for vinyl at East L.A.’s Infrasonic Sound, the record was an in-house project through and through. Infrasonic co-founder and Starlite Desperation drummer Jeff Ehrenberg says, “This record and the studio complex are the epitome of a labor of love. After putting The Starlite Desperation record together piece by piece, as we did the studio, both shine as an example of who and what we are all about.” Judging by the warmth and all-around sonic quality of the LP, it’s evident that for Ehrenberg and Pete Lyman, lacquer engineer and co-founder of Infrasonic Sound, “love” is certainly the key word here.

Reminiscent of the band’s debut LP, Show You What A Baby Wont, yet still containing all the punkish spirit and energy of Go Kill Mice and Violate A Sundae, Take it Personally is filled with classic guitar tones spewing reverb, tape echo and tremolo. It pushes listeners around with funky, fuzzy low tones tightly woven around thumping and spastic drums. The album is also filled with the twisted lyrics and moody paranoia that vocalist Dante Adrian White is known for.

The LP package honors a classic approach instead of piling on all the bells and whistles, yet still exceeds its late-1970s counterparts in both look and durability. The jacket is printed on rigid board and a water-based coating was used to keep the color integrity intact. Thus, the psychedelic light beams and the water from which the band, disguised as bats, drinks doesn’t appear too glossy or dull. Planning to repress only in color, a second batch of turquoise blue vinyl was pressed after the initial black. Designed to match the water on the front of the jacket, the custom color blend, which the band has coined “Toothpaste Lagoon,” also bears a stunning aqueous quality. As a final touch, a lyric sheet typeset to perfection is included as an insert.

The greatest feature of this record, though, is that it’s meant to be played at a more than liberal volume. Opener “Spirit Army” starts off soft and acoustic, and erupts with driving guitars that set the stage for the following tracks. Anyone who has seen The Starlite Desperation live would agree that, in comparison to the CD or MP3 version of the album, this vinyl is the closest representation of the band’s actual sound, feel and mood. They nailed it.

www.myspace.com/thestarlitedesperation

-Mack Jackson