Philadelphia legends Stinking Lizaveta & SRA Records kick off massive reissue project with debut, sophomore album & more!
Legendary Philadelphia instrumental rock trio Stinking Lizaveta kicks off massive reissue project with Steve Albini-recorded debut, »Hopelessness And Shame«, second record, »Slaughterhouse«, recorded with Steve Austin (Today Is The Day), plus early Albini demo and 2023 live record – all available on vinyl for the first time.
• Albini recorded debut and demo is an essential document for Stinking Lizaveta fans and Albini enthusiasts
• Massive 2025 European Tour
• Pre-orders available now at srarecords.com
RIYL: Black Flag, Gone, Bad Brains, Steve Albini, Earthless, The Obsessed
Three decades ago, a thunderous roar emerged from the West Philadelphia punk underground. Stinking Lizaveta assembled, a rock ‘n’ roll powerhouse fronted by the ferocious screaming of guitarist Yanni Papadopoulos’ black Les Paul and propelled by the growling electric upright bass of his brother, Alexi, and the pummeling assault of drummer Cheshire Agusta. Rocking with extreme abandon, they were iconoclasts, delivering instrumental music that matched the intensity of their hardcore forebears.
The band followed the template provided by Greg Ginn’s Gone – as well as the guitarist’s vocal-less explorations within Black Flag (»The Process oO Weeding Out« and »Family Man«) – a rare precedent for instrumental guitar-driven rock in the heavy music scene. “We were just trying to find our place on the shoulders of giants,” recalls Yanni. “I was copying the previous generation, as was Greg – he was copying Mahavishnu Orchestra and other stuff from the ’70s that he dug.” The guitarist cites other influences, notably stoner-rock stalwarts The Obsessed and the Bad Brains’ »I Against I«. “That’s stuff you can’t escape that influenced the whole generation,” the guitarist says. “Anyone who started playing guitar in the ’80s, you just hear [Bad Brains guitarist] Dr. Know in there. Is it metal? Is it punk?” The same questions would apply to Stinking Liz.
Over the course of thirty years, the band has maintained their steady trio lineup and have earned a legendary reputation among a dedicated cult following in the punk and metal underground. They’ve performed widely across the U.S. and Europe, where they’ve toured alongside like-minded artists including Clutch, Corrosion Of Conformity, The Sword, and Don Caballero, as well as regularly hitting the rock festival circuit. Their discography encompasses nine full-length albums that span their 1996 debut, »Hopelessness And Shame« through 2023’s »Anthems And Phantoms«.
But as with any fervently independent band whose existence is measured in decades, the availability of their work across a host of small labels has remained inconsistent. Now, SRA Records is dedicated to reissuing Stinking Lizaveta’s complete discography with new mixes and remasters, plus additional material including studio and live recordings and demos, many of which will be available on vinyl for the first time ever.
That process begins on March 7, 2025, with the re-release of the first two Stinking Lizaveta records: the Steve Albini–recorded »Hopelessness And Shame« and 1996’s »Slaughterhouse«, tracked in part by guitarist Steve Austin of Today Is The Day.
Recorded in 1995 at Albini’s Chicago home studio, »Hopelessness And Shame« shows the band in extreme form, fresh off a national tour with Japanese noise rockers Zeni Geva and American post-hardcore experimenters Today Is The Day – a tour that Papadopoulos says inspired them to crank the volume knobs on their amps to excess. Performed live at Albini’s, the band’s early inspirations are recognizable, but they’re definitively speaking their own language. Papadopoulous’ guitar snarls as the trio weave heavy, angular, riff-centric rock grooves, always ready to burst from the seams.
Now available on vinyl for the first time ever, »Hopelessness And Shame«, remastered from the original analog master reels by James Plotkin, is an essential document of Stinking Lizaveta’s incendiary prowess – and equally essential for fans of Albini. Available on red and yellow vinyl, the first 100 copies purchased directly from SRA Records will include a black-vinyl copy of the band’s 1994 demo, also recorded with Albini, remastered from the original analog masters by Bruce Howze.
This monumental recording documents the first meeting of the band and engineer, who continued to work together for years to come: Stinking Lizaveta joining Albini when he co-curated the All Tomorrow’s Parties festival in 2004, and they recorded their 2007 album, »Scream Of The Iron Iconoclast«, with the late engineer at his Electrical Audio studio.
“We had two identities as a band at the time,” says Papadopoulos, recalling Stinking Lizaveta’s early days. “We had this overdriven guitar identity and this cleaner guitar identity. We used all the overdriven stuff for the first record and put the cleaner stuff on the shelf.” While on tour supporting their debut, they spent a night at Steve Austin’s house, who invited them to take advantage of his home studio. “We just recorded a bunch of stuff, and he’s such a creative person, he was able to capture this vibe in one night of unexpected recording.”
Austin’s recordings make more than half of their sophomore release, »Slaughterhouse«. These moody, bluesy excursions capture the late-night atmosphere. Effectively pre-dating the prevalent doomy jazz of Bohren & Der Club of Gore, or the proliferation of the slow-as-an-aesthetic guitar riffage in the hands of Earth, »Slaughterhouse« adds a new dimension to the band’s sound and reputation. On the record, the Austin recordings are mixed and matched with material recorded along the way at other sessions, which show the band’s rock focus was still firmly intact.
Newly remastered by Dave Eck, this reissue reconstitutes these tracks into a more cohesive-sounding form than ever before, delivering this necessary document in its highest fidelity. Along with »Slaughterhouse« – which will be pressed on gold vinyl – the first 100 copies purchased directly from SRA Records will include a copy of »Live 2023«, an all-new exclusive live recording of the trio performing a set of material culled from 2023’s »Anthems And Phantoms« at the height of their powers, fresh off a tour with Telekinetic Yeti, where they shared a bill with fellow instrumental underground rock legends and longtime compatriots Dysrhythmia at Philadelphia’s Milkboy.
Stinking Lizaveta’s trajectory is notably long and varied, but »Live 2023« offers somewhat of a full-circle experience. Papadopoulos points out that much of the formula remains the same: Not only are they the same lineup, but they’re essentially all using the same tools – the guitarist has burned through a trio of Les Pauls but has not ventured from the model, and his brother continues on with the same electric upright. Yanni has gone through phases of heavier pedal exploration in his guitar sound but is back once again to using an elemental direct-into-the-amp approach as is heard on the first two records.
Following the band’s earliest demo recordings, capturing their sound in its infancy, to the big bang of their debut, through the sonic explorations of »Slaughterhouse«, hearing »Live 2023« continues to deliver the same vitality and thrill that Stinking Lizaveta have become known for.
»Hopelessness And Shame«
• Stinking Lizaveta’s 1996 debut album
• First time on vinyl
• Recorded by Steve Albini
• Mastered from original analog master reels by James Plotkin
• Red vinyl
• Yellow vinyl
»Slaughterhouse«
• Stinking Lizaveta’s 1997 second album
• First time on vinyl
• Recorded by Steve Austin, Les Lentz and Aaron Levinson
• Remastered by Dave Eck at Lucky Mastering
• Gold vinyl
»1994 Steve Albini Demo«
• SRA Records Exclusive – only available here!
• First time available
• Recorded by Steve Albini
• Limited to 100 copies
• Remastered from the master reels
• Black vinyl
»Live 2023«
• SRA Records Exclusive – only available here!
• Stinking Lizaveta’s first live album
• Recorded live in Philadelphia after returning from a US tour
• Multitrack recording done by Joe Smiley
• Mixed at Red Planet
• Limited to 100 copies
• Black vinyl
Stinking Lizaveta / Darsombra Summer EU Tour 2025
updates here: darsombra.com/tour
23 – 24 May – Germany/Czech Republic/Poland
25 May – Berlin, Germany @ Desertfest Berlin
*26 – 27 May – Czech Republic/Poland/Germany
28 May – Warsaw, Poland @ Mlodsza Siostra
29 May – Wroclaw, Poland @ Kalambur
30 May – Krakow, Poland
31 May – Kosice, Slovakia @ Collosseum
1 June – Budapest, Hungary @ Auróra
*2 June – Slovakia/Hungary
3 June – Vienna, Austria @ Arena
4 June – Linz, Austria @ Kapu
5 June – Nuremberg, Germany @ Kunstverein Hintere Cramergasse E.V.
6 June – Potsdam, Germany @ Archiv
7 June – Dresden, Germany @ Veränderbar
*8 June – Czech Republic/Germany
9 June – Prague, Czech Republic @ Eternia
*10 June – Czech Republic
11 June – Brno, Czech Republic @ Kabinet Muz
12 June – Berlin, Germany @ Schokoladen
13 June – Brandenburg, Germany
*14 – 19 June – West Germany/Belgium/Netherlands
20 June – Herzberg, Germany
*21- 24 June – Germany/Denmark/Belgium/Netherlands
25-29 June – Lärz, Germany
*to be confirmed
Courtesy of Good Boy PR
Bojan Bidovc // music enthusiast, promoter, misanthrop and sometimes a journalist as well