Red House Painters-Old Ramon (2001)

 

Artist: Red House Painters

Title: Old Ramon

Label: Sub Pop

Format: CD

Cat #: SPCD 565

Year of Release: 2001

Country and Year of Edition Issue: US 2001

Listed Condition: VG+/VG+

Sell Date: 11/30/25

Sell Price: $9.99

Discogs Last Sold 11/23/25 VG+/VG+ $3.93

Low: $2.99

Median: $5.81

Average: $6.63

High: $18.00

Current low price: $2.50 G+/VG

Current Number on Sale at Discogs: 32

Have/Want: 1602/167

Where Sold: Southport, NC

Time it took to sell: 2 years

Where and When Bought: Facebook marketplace $2 lot

Gwiz-gau Letter Grade: B+

Sad To See It Go: No

"Playing Hanoi Rocks and Social D/my sweetest angel set me free.."-"Cruiser"

Mark Kozelek's "romance" record, bloodied but not not unbowed by the metoo# blender he later found himself in.  Like Louis CK, Chuck Berry and John Lennon, you can't try to box the subversive arts of rock 'n roll and comedy in a moralism matrix.  The person will come out of the box to reign in blood for generations to come.  Unless of course there is a prison cell or lawsuit for him from some sort of transgression.  I'm trying to imagine a Mark Kozelek led prison band.  Sorry, I can't, he ain't Johnny Cash. I don't know if I can even imagine Johnny Cash in a prison band come to think of it.

These recordings were from 1997-8 and issued by Sub Pop in 2001 when Kozelek was having a bit of a run with solo records covering AC/DC and the great Sun Kil Moon debut album Ghosts On The Highway coming in 2003.  Red House Painters slogged through much of the 90's on the gothy 4AD then had a 1995 major label bump when "Have You Forgotten" got on The Basketball Diaries soundtrack.  These recordings were sat on for a bit after said major Supreme Recordings went down for the count due to corporate restructuring in the Polygram umbrella.   After the Old Ramon release, there were 2001 Red House Painters dates, but Kozelek has been Sun Kil Moon ever since.

For the most part, everything that Kozelek does has something to it.  The man makes no bad records.  Then the question becomes is this distinguishable from anything else he does.  Was there a good reason I played it only once after buying it brand new?  Maybe the same reason I didn't play this copy after repurchase a couple years ago.  

That said some songs stick: "Cruiser" with it's love interest playing Hanoi Rocks and "Social D."  "Void" has a red light getting him home probably with the girl from Missouri (the show me state!). The chimey guitar of "Between Days" plopped in between the two.  You want an epic? 11:20 of "River" enough for you?

"My sweetest angel set me free..."