Limited to One

New York, NY
Limited To One is a newer record spot in lower Manhattan, NYC. The shop was started by a couple of true record nerds. They specialize in a curated record experience focused in the punk, indie, hardcore and metal subgenres. Limited To One may be the place to find you what would be known as your white whale record. Specializing in limited variant copies. -Samantha Barrett

Sit & Spin Records

Philadelphia, PA
Sit & Spin records is a relative newcomer to Philly, having opened its doors about four years ago. Run by two old school punks -Leora and Collin- that know their way around a battle jacket, you’d be hard pressed to find two more knowledgeable punx. In fact, whenever I go in, I try to best them by “casually” mentioning some obscure fact, and inevitably, I get bested ever single time. Example- John: “Oh, man, I loooooove Psycotic Pineapple. [laughs to self and rubs hands together]” Leora: “Yes, they are great. We just got in the rare book/CD combo reissue of the debut album if you’d like it. Have you checked out the spinoff band, Chuckleberries?” The store gets a very high volume of P-U-N-K daily, with a heavy focus on the 80s stuff. The pair go to Japan about once a year and usually bring back some very tasty rarities- Zouo and Gauze, anyone? The non-punk selection seems more limited by design, but the shop also has a very large selection of new and used punk shirts, including some really vintage stuff. Be sure to check them out during bigger punk events in Philly as that’s when they haul out the creme de la creme. -John Gentile

Amoeba Music (Hollywood)

Los Angeles, CA
For record collectors any of the three Amoeba Music locations the closest thing you can get to heaven on earth. The one located in Hollywood though is my favorite. The former Virgin Records store is massive. It contains not only many on vinyl and CD’s (in just about any genre), VHS tapes, DVD’s, posters, pins, T-Shirts and other items, plus in-store signings and performances sometimes. I go for the crate digging though. It can take you hours go through rock section, but in the back corner of the room lies the punk section. Of three locations, the punk section at Amoeba Music Hollywood is the largest ranging from brand new releases, to used and to vintage. If you find yourself in that part of the store, be sure to look up at the wall for the rare records. And once you’re done there, you can walk back towards the front of the store to dig through the huge punk 7-inch section as well. And be sure to look up at that wall for the rare release they have for sale in that section, too. I usually make out to Amoeba a few times a year (including for Record Store Day, which is nuts and incredibly fun). On one trip I found a first pressing of Night Birds’ self-titled 7-inch, and during my last trip there I found a first/gray pressing of Dillinger Four’s C I V I L W A R, which had been on my “white whale” list for a number of years. -Ricky Frankel

1-2-3-4 Go! Records

San Francisco, CA
In early September I traveled up to San Francisco to visit some friends for a weekend and managed to drag them through a couple of record stores. Amoeba Music San Francisco was an obvious go-to, but I had always been curious about 1-2-3-4 Go! Records. Right in the heart of the city, 1-2-3-4 Go! Records is a smaller record store, but for record collectors it is a great place to fill in the missing pieces of your collection. For the most part it specializes in punk, metal, and new wave vinyl -- but A LOT of punk rock. I managed to find a near- mint, first/blue and white pressing of the Swingin’ Utters’ album Fist Full Of Hollow while I was there. -Ricky Frankel

Rhythm Records

Athens, Greece
Located in the heart of Exarchia, a perennial hub for counterculture movements and radical political activism in Athens, Rhythm Records is arguably the finest record store in the city catering for punks. The store was set-up in 1999 from one of the guys who worked at the long-defunct multi-story Happening record store nearby and I initially discovered it while enjoying an ice coffee across the road. A Social Distortion poster in the shop window caught my eye, so I popped in and five minutes later I walked out with the second Fat Wreck compilation in a plastic bag. Over the years the shop has expanded (both in size and variety) and now features a rather impressive selection of vinyl. You can find pretty much everything on the popular side of things in punk and hardcore – from Anti-Flag to Youth of Today – to more eclectic stuff like Anti-Cimex, Hard Skin and Tragedy. In the newer section in the back you can also find a ton of stoner, doom and garage records, as well as a very neat and ever-expanding section of Greek releases and zines that is worth a trip there alone. The owner is a pretty solid friendly guy who has supported the local scene for years and will probably be up for a chat if he’s not busy. -Ioannis Pelegrinis

Radiation Records

Fullerton, CA
For the last couple of years I found myself hanging out with friends in the Anaheim area and going to concerts at The Observatory in Santa Ana. During lot of those trips down there, I’d make it my mission to do some crate digging at Radiation Records. The record shop is located a smaller and unassuming strip mall in Fullerton. And while it is not the biggest record store, it is packed -- and I mean PACKED with most punk rock vinyl along with some metal and new wave as well. You can spend hours in there searching the 7-inch section alone. Unfortunately, I haven’t been down there in a while, but if you’re in the area you need to visit it. Punk record collectors will be overwhelmed when they first walk in. My favorite part of the store is the rare record section where you can find some amazing gems from back in the day. I dropped everything that I thought I was going to buy when I stumbled upon a first pressing of the Dead Kennedys’ Fresh Fruit For Rotting Vegetables with the orange cover, shrink wrap still on it, and containing the original poster/lyrics sheet. -Ricky Frankel

Jupiter Records

Mantua Pike, New Jersey, Kirkwood Highway, Delaware
Jupiter Records is the platonic ideal of the classic record store- tons of used records spanning all genres- rock, punk, metal, Hip Hop, jazz, soul, funk and pretty much everything else. The band gets in a ton of new used records everyday and you can usually find a gem. the dollar bin is especially great, packed with hundreds of classic soul records and a lot of interesting 12-inch rock/pop singles from the '80s. They're also very reasonable on used CD pricing, so if you need to fill out your Neil Young or Led Zep collection, this is the place to hit up. -John Gentile

Core Tex Records

Berlin, Germany
When in Berlin, go stop by Core Tex Records, it is a great spot to pick up some punk records in Germany. The shop is owned and run by punks. They house a vast selection of new and used records, including records from their own exclusive record label. This shop has a very comprehensive sub punk genre categorizing system I have ever seen. They also have lots of old school punk merchandise reminiscent of the old punkish stores that were open on St. Marks street in NYC of yesteryear. -Samantha Barrett

Black Barn Records

Cambridge, UK
Although Cambridge has had a pretty strong alternative music scene for many years, it has been starved when it comes to quality record stores since the late 2000s when many of the smaller mom and pop shops closed down. At that point though a local guy who won a ton of money in the lottery decided to open a second-hand record store, Black Barn Records. The shop is primarily focused on second-hand vinyl and has a wide selection of the usual mainstream stuff (like pop, metal, reggae and rock), along with a rather decent variety of punk and hardcore records. I picked up 7” records by Agathocles, Sting & The Police and Gorilla Biscuits from there on my recent visit and saw a fair few more tempting stuff like Snuff and Hirax singles (but I also had beer to buy that day). The shop also features a rather comprehensive section with local bands and the greater region, from Ducking Punches to Inja. You can browse for hours and leave completely bankrupt, depending on how adventurous you are feeling that day. -Ioannis Pelegrinis

Vinyl Paradise

Sayville, New York
Vinyl Paradise is tucked innocuously in a small strip mall in eastern Long Island. Butting up against a barber shop and the railroad, Vinyl Paradise fits right into the main street feel of the area. But once you enter the small music store, you realize that it isn’t just anotherindie music shop. It is truly a vinyl paradise. In fact, vinyl is just about all the store carries with the exception of a few cool rare cassette demos and live recordings. Owner Dan Warnken “knew that there was a surprisingly large group of people who would be interested in a store that leaned more towards carrying records” and rare ones at that. The store isn’t big, but Dan manages the space to maximize the amount of vinyl he carries. And he’s got everything from the latest Bridge 9 releases to Against Me! vinyl to Leonard Cohen records. He tries his best to keep the records affordable and does a great job staying on the pulse of the underground music scene. In fact, Warnken has also opened his store to live shows here and there, saying, “I’m always open to having someone come through if they have a new record and they’re someone I can get behind musically and ethically.” Vinyl Paradise is a bit of a hidden gem on Long Island, but they’re doing well and are stacked with a great vinyl catalogue. Record nerds take note! -Mike Musilli

Streetlight Records

San Jose, Santa Cruz, San Francisco
Oh my God, do I love streetlight records. When I lived in the bay area, it was a sublime joy to hit up the San Jose location after work on a Friday. he bay area is famously a great place for record shopping and record swapping culture goes back to the '50s here, so the "just in" used bins always have some great stuff and you're more likely to find some punk and new wave here than most other places. Plus, the Hip Hop and reggae selections are excellent as well.For me, the best part of Streetlight is the used CD selection where you can find some mega-rarities slid non-chalantly in between common releases. I once found a white whale here- the custom mix version of Beastie Boys' Sounds of Science and I will cherish that collection only. Plus, Paighe and the rest of the staff are cool, unassuming people who have non of the vinyl-snobbery that has sunk many-a record shoppe. -John Gentile

Concierto Records

Amsterdam, Netherlands
Boasting the highest record store per capita ratio in the world, Amsterdam is THE place for record collectors, and it's no easy task for a record store to be top dawg in the fair city. So, I'm not saying Concierto is the best store in the city- surely that determination can;t be made- but Concierto is no normal record shop. In fact, it's really more like a record mall, or at least 10 record shops welded together. Inside this labyrinth of records, there's a classic rock section, a massive jazz section, afrobeat, and music from all over the world. Fittingly, there is also a massive section devoted to the deep and rich world of Dutch pop and rock. (Check out The Normaal, for starters). Stuff here isn't necessarily cheap, but it is packed to the brim with Euro and Dutch-only releases. Plus the "el cheapo" 7-inch racks, which include many, many, many unique Dutch sleeves is a treasure trove. These people know how to put a store together, that's for sure. -John Gentile