Blue Fuzz on Vinyl (Preview)

“Lilo & Stitch?” Steven said, looking up from the record at Calvin.

“Mhm!” He nodded eagerly, pulling the record back. “The official soundtrack of the movie! Isn't it cool?” He seemed incredibly proud of that fact.

Steven looked between him and the record again, seeing the adorable blue and human leads of the movie on the sleeve. Something about it felt… wrong to him.

“I found it at this cool garage sale on the way home!” Calvin explained, not noticing the blank, puzzled expression on his friend's face, “I don't know why, but I felt I just had to stop by. And it turned out great! These green ladies had the most amazing collection of records I've ever seen, even better than that shop downtown!”

“Green ladies?” Steven looked more puzzled.

“I didn't have time to check all of their boxes, but I found this and had to take it!” Calvin ignored him or didn't really hear him, just going on. “I'll have to stop by tomorrow and really look around! Who knows what else they might have!”

He took the record out of the sleeve and popped it into the large player next to them. “I love the soundtrack to Lilo & Stitch. All the Elvis songs, the original ones… oh! So damn good! I can't wait to hear them like this! They're going to be amazing!”

He was about to place the needle down on the record, but then came a low buzzing noise. Calvin paused and reached into his pocket, pulling out his phone. He read whatever notification had come in, his expression dropping, along with his jaw.

“CRAP!” he shouted, making Steven flinch in surprise, “I forgot about the groceries! Crap crap crap! I forgot to pick them up on the way home!”

Oh right, it was Calvin's turn. Now that Steven thought about it, when Calvin arrived home, the only thing he was really carrying was that record. He hadn't seen a single thing else before or after that sleeve was shoved in his mug.

The whole thing made him chuckle. “Someone got distracted by a certain garage sale. This always happens, dude.”

“It does not!” Calvin huffed, hurrying back to the entrance. He grabbed his keys from the hook, quickly looking back and saying, “I'll be right back! I'll make dinner tonight.” Then, he was out the door with it slamming shut behind him.

Steven was alone once again. He sighed and took a step towards his room, stopping quickly. The record sleeve was on the ground, right under foot. He stepped around it and picked it up. Calvin may love his collection, but he was pretty bad about putting his sleeves away when their records were in use.

Steven looked at the Lilo & Stitch soundtrack again. That wrong feeling came back, and he thought he understood why. The movie came out in the early 2000’s, long before the nostalgic record boom came back in full swing. It was highly unlikely Disney actually released the original soundtrack on vinyl in the case.

Whatever Calvin had bought, it couldn't possibly be official. It was a fake, a bootleg, or whatever the term was when it came to vinyls. Calvin isn't gonna like this.

Steven placed the sleeve down on a speaker and glanced at the record player, the vinyl still slotted in and ready to go. A hint of curiosity struck him as he looked. He loved the film's soundtrack as much as Calvin did. Sure, when it came to vinyl, he never noticed much of a difference in sound quality via CD and record. He wasn't an audiophile. However, listening to the music would still be fun.

He thought back, remembering how Calvin played his records, and got things started. Keeping the volume at a reasonable volume, he moved the needle into place as the record spun.