It’s been in a state of deathly decline for some time now (especially since news first came down the pike in February of 2014 that they were looking to close up shop). Since then, I’ve sporadically made it a point to go in and (try to) shop there, but they simply never had anything left I was interested in. There was that one time that I was faked out by some empty cases, but I never managed to spend a thin, red dime there (and they still weren’t interested in selling any of their fabled posters).
In any case, EV Grieve is reporting this morning that Sounds’ “Final Sale” has commenced. I suppose the owner has found a suitable tenant, and now they’re selling off (what’s left of) their stock.
Under normal circumstances, I'd probably sprint over there and haggle with the man `til I was blue in the face about getting either the “Three Hits from Hell” promo poster (supposedly bestowed upon the shop by Glen Danzig himself) or that long-covetted Plasmatics poster, but — honestly — he’s not likely to entertain those entreaties … and they’re both in fairly rough shape by this point anyway. It’s best to let it go.
As Grieve pointed out, Sounds’ closing marks the end of an era. Once Sounds is gone, there will be nowhere left on St. Marks Place to buy music in a physical capacity.
And that breaks my heart.
More about St. Marks Sounds on Flaming Pablum....
'Fishing in a Warm Place' (February 2009)
Where Wendy Still Waits (June 2013)
Faked-Out at Sounds (December 2013)
The Silence of Sounds (February 2014)
Plugged into the Matrix (February 2014)
After hearing that the place may close, I stopped by one evening last year and bought a used $4 CD out of sympathy.
Posted by: Jeff Jotz | September 21, 2015 at 10:50 AM
seeing that price tag sticker gets me right "here", ya know? (sigh)
Posted by: G | September 21, 2015 at 04:19 PM
It's not just digital downloads and high rents that are forcing the closure of a lot of places it's also because of the death of a lifestyle that New York City was arguably the capitol of for several generations, that little old thing called 'Bohemianism'. In NYC it hardly exists any longer.
Posted by: URLBrenner | September 22, 2015 at 10:22 AM