Earache to Release World’s Shortest Album for Record Store Day

Record Store Day is a-comin’, and with it, the expected plethora of special releases that you will either find incredibly cool or incredibly gimmicky, depending on your point of view. So props to Earache for coming up with such a release that actually manages to stand out from the pack: The World’s Shortest Album, a limited edition 5″ that has thirteen songs on it, but is all of eighty-three seconds long.

You shouldn’t even need to ask how that’s possible, but in case you’re either new here or just very dense, the answer is, “grindcore,” a genre for which an eighty-three second run time is basically a double album.

Here’s the track listing, via No Clean Singing:

Side A:
01. Napalm Death – “You Suffer” (1.9s)
02. Napalm Death – “Dead” (2.7s)
03. Napalm Death – “Your Achievement” (4.2s)
04. Wormrot – “False Grind Sodomy” (2.5s)
05. Wormrot – “You Suffer But Why Is It My Problem” (4.0s)
06. Brutal Truth – “Collateral Damage” (4.0s)
07. Anal Cunt – “Howard Wulkan’s Bald” (4.0s)

Side B:
01. Lawnmower Deth – “Be Scene Not Heard” (4.7s)
02. Painkiller – “Trailmarker” (6.0s)
03. Brutal Truth – “Blockhead” (7.3s)
04. Morbid Angel – “Bil Ur-Sag #2 Lava” (6.9s)
05. Anal Cunt – “Windchimes Are Gay” (9.5s)
06. Insect Warfare – “Street Sweeper” (13.5s)

So I guess this comp could theoretically lead to a very long discussion regarding why the hell grind bands even record such songs in the first place, but I don’t really feel like having that discussion. Like all Record Store Day releases, it’s really just meant to entice you to visit an actual honest-to-Christ record store, and there are certainly more ignoble aspirations in the world.

Below, enjoy a video of The World’s Shortest Album being played in its entirety. Go here to figure out which of your local retailers are participating in Record Store Day.