Let’s not pull any punches: Captain Beefheart’s Trout Mask Replica is weird as shit. Unconventional in its time as well as today, the album frankly doesn’t make much sense. But…it’s also a goddamn classic worthy of all the praise it has ever received — past, present, or future.
As such, Trout Mask Replica will soon be receiving a huge vinyl reissue befitting of it’s legacy as a bizarre work of genius. The reissue comes courtesy of Jack White’s Third Man Records, which is fitting, because I’m pretty sure Jack White’s whole “hat and whiskers” look from once upon a time was just an attempt at Trout Mask Replica cosplay.
Being that this is reissue is a Third Man Records production, you naturally get a lot of bang for your buck. Get a load of all this bang:
- The album itself, of course, a 2xLP pressed on heavyweight, 180-gram, “fruitcake fish-scale” colored vinyl. This is the first time the album has been repressed in 10 years.
- A 7-inch of the previously French-only single “Pachuco Cadaver” b/w “Wild Life”. The single is being repressed for the first time ever on white vinyl.
- A fabric patch of the album’s cover art you can wear on your jacket to pretend you’re part of some fish-based cult. Or maybe you meet someone also wearing one, and they become your next husband/wife/life partner. The patch is versatile!
- A replica of the trout mask replica from the cover of Trout Mask Replica. A trout mask replica replica, if you will.
- A tote bag adorned with a line-drawing inspired by the album, created by Jess Rotter of Rotter and Friends.
- A print of Jack White’s epitaph for Captain Beefheart himself, Don Van Vliet, originally published in a March 2011 issue of MOJO Magazine.
This mega-luxurious reissue of Trout Mask Replica is out April 30. You can learn even more(!) about it via Third Man Records’ website here and check out what the whole package looks like down below. And remember: if you do happen to snag yourself a copy, please practice safe trout mask replica replica-mask wearing.