THE TOP 3 OF 2022
~STAFF PICKS~
ROB M.
Amyl And The Sniffers - Comfort To Me/I'm not looking for trouble, I'm looking for love!/
Drugdealer - Hiding in Plain Sight
Jack Harlow - Come Home The Kids Miss YouI don’t care what anyone says, I'm going with the white rapper kid from Kentucky. ‘Come Home’ was put on one night and I just kept spinning it. Harlow has a calm confidence and easy flow that you you can root for.
/More like Margot Robbie/
MARIO R.
Stone Axe - Slave Of Fear 7" (Yunque Records)
Herbie Nichols - The Prophetic Herbie Nichols
John DuCann - The World’s Not Big Enough (Just Add Water Records)Long-awaited vinyl release of this hybrid glam hard rock nugget that is produced by Status Quo rocker Francis Rossi. Rocks yr socks off!
NATHAN J.
Weird Nightmare - Weird Nightmare
Danger Mouse & Black Thought - Cheat Codes
Viagra Boys - Cave WorldSuch a fresh take on songwriting with production that’ll knock your socks off. This thing is punchy as hell!
JULES M.
Belle And Sebastian - A Bit Of Previous
The Schizophonics - Hoof It
Dry Cleaning - StumpworkThis album grew on me and quickly became one of my favorites. Florence Shaw's dry and sarcastic tone is mesmerizing and absolutely wonderful.
DEREK M.
Pedro The Lion - Havasu
Swami John Reis - Ride The Wild Night
The Afghan Whigs - How Do You Burn?I also love all things Dulli. He has Twilight Singers, his own solo album, and of course The Afghan Whigs. How Do You Burn? came out in September and is the ninth studio album from the band. Marcy Mays returns to sing on the amazing song "Domino and Jimmy" as she did 30 years ago on "My Curse" from the album Gentlemen. Gives me goosebumps.
HEATHER J.
Thee Sacred Souls - S/T
The Bogie Band & Joe Russo - The Prophets In The City
Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Cool It Down
DUSTIN L.
Westside Gunn - Peace 'Fly' God
John Coltrane - Blue Train: The Complete Masters
Oliver Sim - Hideous BastardI like The XX alright but got into this album because of its compelling backstory. While talking about it in an interview, Sim explained it was a long overdue effort to free himself from expectations, judgement and shame – spurred by living with HIV since he was 17. It’s the sound of lifting an unbearable weight off your shoulders with an undeniably catchy, and pensive, electro-pop backbone.
TIM M.
Thee Sacred Souls - S/T
Fontaines D.C. - Skinty Fia
Porridge Radio - Waterslide, Diving Board, Ladder To The Sky
LETY B.
The Chats - Get Fucked
Earthless - Night Parade Of One Hundred Demons
Spoon - Lucifer On The SofaSpoon went back to their roots and delivered all killer no filler. Great album that just doesn't stop with the bangers. No skips on this one.
ABOUT US
Vinyl Junkies was established in 2012 by Eric Howarth, the former owner of record label Hi-Speed Soul (Nada Surf, Swervedriver, Afghan Whigs, and Film School). After selling his first record shop of 8 years in San Diego and taking a hiatus from record retail to run his label full time, the world of vinyl pulled him back in and Vinyl Junkies was born as a mobile record shop selling at events in Southern California.
Soon after, Eric approached Tim Mays of the legendary Casbah club about putting on the Vinyl Junkies Record Swap meet. The idea was met with enthusiasm and the bi-monthly event was born. After years of success with the Swap, in mid-2017 Eric and Tim decided to partner up financially and open the brick and mortar location in South Park that we have today. We’re located in San Diego’s quaint and fiercely independent neighborhood of South Park, right across from the popular Whistle Stop Bar.
We take special pride in the personalized service for our customers and aim to be the “go to” source for serious record collectors and new vinyl listeners alike.
Although we may not be a huge record shop, we are a highly curated store that pays close attention to detail, carrying the types of records in each genre that an expert in that genre would expect to see. Due to our limited size, it requires us to be very intentional about the records that we carry, giving a quality over quantity vibe throughout the shop.
With that said, we have a back room called the Digger’s Den, with all $3 and $5 records. You’ll find less than perfect condition copies of rare records here or great condition copies of more common records. In either case, there are gems to be found and we love seeing people come up to the counter with a stack of 50 great records they’ve pulled from the Den.
We put a lot of care and attention into not only the records that we carry, but also the vibe of the store with our mid century furniture and lighting and our tiki patio out back. Music to us is a conduit to connection with others. A way to share our life experiences with friends, new and old. At Vinyl Junkies, our goal is to be a community resource and a store that supports our local music scene. We hope that when you visit, you feel at home and find some amazing music you were looking for…or better yet…your new favorite record you didn’t even know you needed yet!
We carry music in most all genres… Classic Rock, Metal, Funk/Soul, Jazz, Psych, Indie Rock/Alternative, Kraut/Prog Rock, Folk, Blues, Punk, International- Latin, African, Indian, French, the Music of Asia, Reggae, Hip Hop, Library Music, Soundtracks, Classical, Local Music, and so much more. These genres are represented in Vinyl, Cassette, and CD formats and we have the turntables/speakers/stereo gear to get you started or upgrade from your current set up.