One of the unfortunate casualties of the coronavirus pandemic and the lockdown of several cities around the world are our record stores. Independent record stores rely heavily on foot traffic for their sales - people who love to go sifting through the boxes for something to take home that day, instead of waiting for an online delivery - and that has suffered greatly in the last few weeks as people are asked to stay home and avoid non-essential work.
Off the back of the global initiative called #LoveRecordStores, which launched on March 26th to show solidarity to the small businesses hit hard by the pandemic, we wanted to help out some of these record stores by launching a throwback Diggin' In The Crates series for the next three weeks.
We'll be sharing nine episodes from all the different record stores around Australia that we've taken some of the world's biggest acts to, from Bazzi to Best Coast, as well as a ton of local legends, like Alex Lahey, Allday and Client Liaison. We'll also be sharing the online store details for each record store and how to purchase from them during this time.
Kicking off the three weeks of content is a brand new episode from Californian hip hop/punk poet Hobo Johnson. He was in Australia earlier this year for a set of music festivals (back when they weren't getting cancelled left right and centre!) and he took the time to hit up Sydney's Utopia Records with us.
Utopia Records has been around since 1978 and is Australia's largest heavy metal and hard rock indie record store, so Hobo had an awesome time picking up records from My Chemical Romance, Beck and heaps more. You can purchase from Utopia Records online here.
The good news is, many of Australia's record stores have started to offer home delivery or local pick-up so here are a list of record stores you can purchase from over the phone or online.
Keep an eye on Cool Accidents' Facebook for nine throwback Diggin' In The Crates episodes over the next three weeks and we can't wait to shop IRL at our favourite record stores again!
