I've got a new game to play.

I've always been pretty bad about labeling cassettes. Over the years, I've accumulated hundreds of them. Many remain unlabeled. Many are over fifteen years old; a good amount are a solid twenty. The game is to grab two or three of these unlabeled tapes, put them in the car and listen to them. It's like Russian Roulette, only less lethal.

So far I've listened to an old NY hardcore band, and I can't remember if it's C.F.A. or Adrenaline O.D.; an old SoCal Mystic Records hardcore comp (mostly awful but with one astonishingly great song by a band whose name utterly escapes me), and a whole album's worth of tracks by a very post-punk, somewhat self-indulgent stoner rock band that sounds very S.S.T.ish, but with unforgivably bad vocals; I can't remember if it's a demo of an old friend's band or something I actually bought.

I don't know how many tapes I'll make it through. Certainly, there's nothing like a little chance operation to enliven your drive. Even if the ratio of good to bad isn't good, it's probably worth it for the forgotten gems I'll hopefully uncover.