The Vandals-When In Rome Do As The Vandals (1984)

October 12, 2020

Artist: The Vandals

Title: When In Rome Do As Vandals

Label: National Trust Records

Format: LP

Cat #: NT884

Year of Release: 1984

Country and Year of Edition Issue: US 1984

Sold Price: $14.99

Listed Condition: VG+ /VG+

Sell Date: 10/5/20

Discogs Last Sold: VG/VG $9.41

Low: $3.00

Median: $12.50

High: $40.00

Current low price: $2.80 F/VG, $15.26 VG+/VG

Current Number on Sale at Discogs: 19

Have/Want: 613/199

Where Sold: Clinton Twp, MI

Time it took to sell: 4 years

Where and When Bought: Al Bums Worcester $3.99 with coupon (sales sticker still on cover with .50 discount from a coupon sale) sometime mid-80's, used

Gwiz-gau Letter Grade: B-

Sad To See It Go?: No

This sort of funnypunk wasn't my bag as the years went by. More hardcore and certainly better than the Dead Milkmen, but very West Coast (Long Beach, CA to be exact). I did play the shit out of the 12" Peace Thru Vandalism at WICN and the CD couples that with this album. That might be all ya need, I never kept up and they are still cranking out releases on heavy punk hitters like Epitaph and Nitro, so they really don't need support from the likes of The Reverse Collector (TM).

So the lone song I remember from this was "Mohawk Town," a punks vs. skins acoustic comedy track that wraps up side 1. Oh the youthful shenanigans that play out to this day with grown ass men. I cranked this in headphones and when they got down to business there was some quality punk rock here particularly on the first side, but nothing up to "The Legend of Pat Brown" or "Anarchy Burger (Hold The Government)" from that 1983 prior release. While I hold that EP in high esteem at the time, it must be said I never bothered to buy it, having access to it at the radio station was enough. When In Rome got snapped up used maybe even before I was on the radio or close to the start of it.

This vinyl has an over the top sales history. Some maniac threw down $40 for a near mint copy last April, but I only got $14.99 for my solid VG+ and that is right around the median sell price for that condition and someone in Europe sold a VG copy for $9.41 last August. I probably opened at closer to 30 when I listed it, and over the years the price sank like a stone, however I don't have to think about it anymore, which is nice at twice the price.