MANILA - Indie rock favorite the Pin-Up Girls finally join the vinyl parade when their smashing debut album, Hello Pain, released independently in compact disc back in 2001, is given a new lease on life by underground label, Eikon Records.
Hello Pain came out in 2001 as a surprise and unexpected release among some heavyweight albums such as Greyhoundz’ self-titled sophomore album, Rivermaya’s Tuloy ang Ligaya, Daydream Cycle’s self-titled debut, Brain Salad’s magnificent debut, and some others.
The Pin-Up Girls’ featuring two ex-Keltscross members in guitarist/vocalist Pam Aquino and bassist/vocalist Jeng Tan. On board as well were guitarist/vocalist Mondo Castro, guitarist Ryan Nachura, and drummer Noel Garcia.
The album was 16 tracks of the affairs of the heart, existential challenges, drug-free hallucinations, and suicide, but because of the intoxicating boy-girl harmonies driven by clever riffs and an upbeat stickwork, it sounded like a happy if not masochistic album.
“The vinyl idea was offered to us by Eikon Records, which was a nice surprise,” enthused Aquino who now resides in California. “I personally was looking into releasing Hello Pain on vinyl and it was just so timely and I know that it will be in good hands.”
“It was Jennifer Tan who advocated adding bonus tracks,” Pam added. “Mondo suggested we pull together some songs written about the same time as when we worked on Hello Pain, so these songs were the result. They were composed so many years ago but are still important pieces to us.”
“We are in different countries now, but it was amazing how we recorded and bounced parts to each other and still made it work,” explained Tan. “And Pam’s return to the band is something we are really celebrating.”
Aquino migrated soon after Hello Pain’s release. Garcia left the band and passed away a few years after. Tan left for the US around 2010 with Nachura going to Canada a few years later.
Of the three newly recorded songs, Castro bared his excitement: “They are a welcome treat for those who supported us in the past.”
The vinyl release of the Pin-up Girls’ Hello Pain is the 23rd anniversary release and we wanted to make it really special,” said a spokesperson for Eikon Records. “We loved the band and the album back then and we felt that this needed a vinyl treatment. An oversized one to be sure!”
The 23rd anniversary edition features the original 16 tracks plus three newly recorded songs that paint a picture of where the band is headed for their new album that is due in mid-2025. The 19 tracks are split into two transparent with black streaks colored records that are slipped inside gorgeous matte-finished sleeves to go with two-page liner notes and pictures. All this is housed in a “pin-up” gatefold format where the original Leinil Francis Yu stylized Bettie Page homage is given its eye-popping due.
The record fetches for Php 3,800 and can be purchased by fans from Eikon Records’ Facebook page.
“Eikon put a lot of thought and work into the packaging of this limited vinyl release. We just loved it!” summed up Aquino.
The vinyl rerelease of Hello Pain saw an unplanned reunion of four-fifths of the original line-up who have begun to write new material for a new album slated for spring of 2025
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