EP: Continue? – Chinese Football
Pressing: DK133, Dog Knights Productions, 45 RPM
Color: Ultra-Clear with Light Blue & Dark Blue Splatter
Having picked up Chinese Football’s self-titled debut album, I also grabbed the Continue? EP before it sold out. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to get their Here Comes a New Challenger! EP but that’s just the way record collecting goes sometimes. Unlike their self-titled album, their EPs have never received vinyl pressings before but they were finally pressed through Dog Knights Productions last year. I missed the first pressing with black and marble blue colors but was able to snag the second pressing with blue splatters.
Since it’s only an EP, it obviously won’t have a gatefold like the self-titled album but the sleeve is pretty sturdy. There weren’t any noticeable dents or creases and the artwork from 史悲 is impeccable as always. The record looks fantastic thanks to its light and dark blue hues in a splatter design. There are only five songs on this EP and they’re all relatively short with three songs on the A-side and two songs on the B-side. There’s also a double-sided full-color insert that details the tracklisting, personnel, lyrics, band members, and more. As expected from a band from Wuhan, almost everything is written in Mandarin but there are a few sections of the liner notes translated to English which was a nice bonus. The back of the sleeve is designed like a video game box with little sections like the number of players, memory cards, mouse, and DLC for a cute thematic touch.
In terms of quality, Dog Knights Productions nailed it here again as the sound is fantastic without noticeable surface noise, distortion, or skipping. Although I expected it from the self-titled album since the records were solid colors, I was impressed that the splatter design didn’t have a significant effect on sound quality. There’s not too much difference between headphones and speakers in terms of surface noise. Thankfully, there also aren’t any problems with the sleeve design like there were with Chinese Football. The record fits in pretty snugly here so the sleeve design issue seems to be exclusive to gatefolds. The only real negative flaw is that it lacks any indicator that it’s 45 RPM. I know you should expect it from EPs and it’s not a big deal but it’s a little annoying if you forget. Regardless, the quality of the pressing is great and definitely worth the pickup together with their self-titled.