Boise rockers Built to Spill will officially release their eighth full-length album next Tuesday.
"Untethered Moon" is the first studio album from the band since 2009, and features a new lineup with drummer Steve Gere and bassist Jason Albertini.
But as part of National Record Store Day, vinyl lovers will get an early chance to pick up the new record on Saturday.
Chad Dryden is with theRecord Exchange in Boise, which is putting on a full weekend of events to celebrate all-things-independent in music. He says the Built to Spill album is likely to be a popular item this weekend.
"Being in Boise, obviously we’re all pretty excited about the Built to Spill release," says Dryden. "They decided to make the vinyl available on record store day in advance of the wide release which happens on Tuesday. Customers at independent record stores like the Record Exchange will have the first crack at it only being released on vinyl for Saturday."
Dryden expects a line to form in advance of the store opening on Saturday morning. He says in the past, people have lined up outside the store as early as 3 a.m. to get the chance to buy exclusive and limited vinyl for their collection. The line of music lovers usually wraps around the building before doors open.
"A little bit of a party atmosphere develops, even if it’s 7 o’clock in the morning and people are shivering and waiting on coffee and getting into the store to get their hands on the exclusives."
He says Record Store Day is a big day for business too, and typically ranks among the top-five sales days every year. Despite the national decline in record stores and disruptive industry forces like music streaming and piracy, Dryden says there's some encouraging things happening in Boise's music-buying community.
“When I started working here in 2009, one of the first things I noticed was how few kids were in the store. And at that point music piracy was very popular, was very prevalent and the industry was doing its best to find solutions to stopping that. [Since] that time, what we’ve noticed – even kids in middle school are coming in here and buying vinyl. We’re seeing their parents at Christmas saying, 'Yeah I have a 14-year-old daughter and she wants to get a turntable. What should I get her?' "
Dryden says these kinds of trends make him hopeful for the future of independent record stores.
Listen to a preview of the new Built to Spill albumfrom NPR Music while it's available.
Find Frankie Barnhill on Twitter @FABarnhill
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