Swinebolt 45 – Jeering at Shamen

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Jeering at Shamen was released by Sound of Pig (now Pogus Productions) in 1988. Swinebolt 45 was a project by Memphis recording artist rolmo whom I never had contact with, having only received his tape through tape labels like Sound of Pig, audiofile Tapes, etc.

Sound of Pig cassette packaging was usually xeroxed in black and white and a 20lb colored bond paper, single-sided. In the late 80’s this was probably done by pasting art with glue sticks on a master sheet, two-up on an 8-1/2 x 11 sheet to maximize the space. The cost was around 7¢ per copy. You would cut out the two inserts either with the table top cutter at the copy shop or with scissors at home. It’s also possible you had the copy shop staff cut them on a larger cutter in the shop, if you were running a lot of copies. Money was always the primary consideration.

I don’t know for sure if this is how Al Margolis produced his cassettes. He also generally applied a paper label on the front and back of the cassette shell.

I’m guessing these were glued on the shell, but this could also be done by copying onto a label stock with either a matte or glossy finish. The label stock would be much more expensive, however.

I distinctly remember my first experience in a copy shop. It could be why I eventually made my career in one. I went into a small shop in Logan, Utah, to see if they could make some stickers for a band project I was doing called The Spastics.

Turned out they could, indeed, and did. I wonder if I may still have some of those stickers somewhere?

I reviewed Jeering at Shamen in GAJOOB #4 and 1988 me was less impressed than 2022 me. Let’s say I’ve acquired a more nuanced appreciation of this music over time.

I’ve digitized and archived the tape below.