Craft Recordings announces a special vinyl reissue of Silverstein’s best-selling debut, When Broken Is Easily Fixed. Originally released in 2003 on Victory Records, the title has become an emo classic, and features such favorites as “Giving Up” and “Smashed into Pieces.” Available on July 9th and for pre-order today, the newly remastered album is pressed on 180-gram, canary yellow vinyl and housed in a tip-on jacket, and a limited-edition yellow marble vinyl can be found exclusively at Silverstein’s webstore.
Following Concord’s 2019 acquisition of Victory, Craft Recordings is now proudly managing the legendary indie label’s genre-defining catalog, which includes titles from such foundational acts as Taking Back Sunday, Thursday, A Day to Remember, and, of course, Silverstein. As the catalog division of Concord, Craft is working closely with Victory’s artist alumni on a variety of high-quality reissues and special content—all while honoring the label’s 30-year legacy and cultural impact.
Formed at the turn of the millennium in Burlington, Ontario, Silverstein has long been at the forefront of the hardcore scene, thanks to their dynamic mix of melody and aggression—all blended with the unabashed earnestness of emo. When the five-piece—whose name was inspired by a shared fondness of the poet Shel Silverstein—signed to Victory Records in 2002, they already had two EPs (Summer's Stellar Gaze and When the Shadows Beam), one tour, and a strong regional fanbase under their belts.
The following January, the band entered the studio with producer Justin Koop (Walk Off the Earth, Grade, New World Son) to work on their debut full-length. Incorporating newly re-recorded highlights off their EPs (including “Red Light Pledge,” “Last Days of Summer,” and “Wish I Could Forget You”) plus a selection of fresh material, When Broken Is Easily Fixed showcased Silverstein’s influences of hardcore, metal, and punk.
Thanks to the popularity of “Giving Up” and “Smashed into Pieces,” plus more than a year of non-stop touring with bands like Rise Against, Bayside, and Hawthorne Heights, When Broken Is Easily Fixed became a breakout hit, eventually selling more than 200,000 copies. AllMusic, meanwhile, praised the album as “a rousing, cathartic record that effectively blurs the lines between emo, hardcore, and metal.”
Reflecting on the band’s new relationship with Concord, bassist Billy Hamilton says, “When Craft Recordings took over the Victory Records back catalog, they reached out to discuss reissuing our first four albums. We figured the best place to start was at the beginning, with 2003’s When Broken Is Easily Fixed. Back when we signed with Victory, we insisted that we wanted all of our albums pressed on vinyl. I was just getting into collecting vinyl around this time and was excited to get my hands on our first LP pressed to wax. We released just over 500 copies pressed on marble gray and translucent blue-colored vinyl with hand-silkscreened covers. At that point, we barely thought we would ever sell 500 copies of the album, let alone the roughly 250,000 that it eventually did.”
Hamilton continues, “The vinyl album remained out of print for over a decade, and that original pressing remains one of the most sought-after items by our most die-hard fans and collectors. While the record was eventually repressed in 2014, we wanted to raise the bar with this reissue. We went with a modern remaster and cut new lacquers, choosing to press on 180-gram vinyl with an elevated, vintage tip-on style jacket. Being a massive collector of vinyl now, I not only love having a record that sounds good, but also one that feels and looks aesthetically pleasing. I can’t wait to get my hands and ears on a copy of this reissue!”
Since the release of When Broken Is Easily Fixed, Silverstein (whose current line-up includes vocalist Shane Told, guitarists Paul Marc Rousseau and Josh Bradford, bassist Billy Hamilton, and drummer Paul Koehler) has played thousands of shows around the world, sold more than one million records, and earned multiple Juno nominations—including one for their most recent release, A Beautiful Place to Drown. While the band was unable to support their tenth studio album amid COVID-19, they are eager to return to the road this fall with an extensive North American tour. The 19-date run kicks off November 4th at Cleveland’s House of Blues and concludes December 12th at Toronto’s Danforth Music Hall. Click here for tickets and more information.
