Last month, I got to do yet another interview with Jay Bentley, legendary bassist of punk’s elder statesmen Bad Religion. Sure, this is the third time I’ve posted Jay in the digital and physical pages of Life In A Bungalo, but would you turn down an interview with one of the most charismatic punks rockers of our time. Jay expounds on the anniversary of “Stranger Than Fiction,” the economy, and what it’s like being in a band for 30 years.

Record Store Day turned out to be a huge success in Northern New Jersey this past Saturday. I woke up early to head out in search of some limited vinyl records, only to get a call from my friend Josh that Vintage Vinyl had already been pillaged and that the place was pretty packed.

So I decided to find Scotti’s Records, an old CD store I use to visit for Ticketmaster tickets (back before the Internet). Record Store Day’s Web site was down so I put all faith in my GPS and it actually found one of the stores in Summit, NJ.

Luckily, the place was pretty well stocked with some of the exclusive gems, including the first Bad Religion 7-inch, the Slayer psychopath red 45, an Elvis Costello 7-inch, a Jenny Lewis duet with Costello, the Sonic Youth/Beck split, and the Gaslight Anthem live 10-inch. I also snagged the reissue of The Misfits’ “Walk Among Us” on 180 gram vinyl (not a special release, but still pretty cool).

We eventually made it to Vintage Vinyl, but there was no parking and the place had a line out the door. I caught the final few chords of Willie Nile covering “Sheena is a Punk Rocker” before running out as throngs of emo fans made their way to the stage for an upcoming Mayday Parade performance. It was great seeing the place teeming with vinyl entusiasts and kids willing to spend money on actual physical music.

Sure, I never scored the Tom Waits and Leonard Cohen exclusives, but the joy of seeing the record stores that filled me with so much joy as a kid actually making some cash was more than worth it.

Epitaph just sent out a link to a fantastic performance by Bad Religion on KROQ. It’s just Brett, Brooks, and Greg performing three songs on acoustic guitars and a snare.