Toxic Ranch

This place holds a lot of nostalgia for me. I am sad to hear that this Tucson one-​and-​only punk music spot will be closing soon. As an awkward teen, I was certainly not a punk rock kid, but I went to the shows at Skrappys, drank bad malt liquor in ditches, and bought my favorite Subhumans records at Toxic Ranch. I was never a part of «the scene» or enough of a poseur to don a spiked leather jacket and Dead Kennedy’s patches, but the music is a part of me and my life at that time. As is this place. Toxic Ranch, with those crazy days of my youth are gone, but won’t be forgotten. Let’s give this place a nice sending off, shall we?

Dumb! Doors were supposed to open at noon. We hung until about 12:15 and nobody opened the store. Bummer!

Toxic Ranch is in large part responsible for the plethora of Smiths, Cramps, Black Flag merchandise that i’ve purchased since i moved to Tucson. I’m from a puny little town in northern AZ so I was dumbstruck at the idea that a little shop like this exists, they have great selection in merchandise between quirky comic books, patches, tiki heads and of course records and cds. I can’t go in here without buying something!

One of the last punk rock stores left on the planet. I love this place.

This place is so punk in a great way. I stopped through while in Tucson and picked up a 7″. Excellent selection and great help! Highly recommended!
TATG~

Hmmm if I could find Flex Your Head and This is Boston no LA and a couple of Crass disks I might have to saddle up and check this out. I believe these young men are doing a wonderful service to the community by providing classic punk like Minor Threat, Negative approach, etc etc Well done!

While I’m on the subject of reviewing things from out of town that I went to years ago, let’s take a stop in at Toxic Ranch, one of the best record stores I’ve ever had the pleasure of spending money in.
Familiar with the record label Toxic Shock? You know, the ones that put out those AMAZING Raw Power records back in the 80s? This is them. In fact, I picked up my first piece of Raw Power vinyl, the Wop Hour 7″ while here for ridiculously cheap. Probably one of the best impulse purchases I’ve ever made.
I poured over every nook and cranny of the store for well over two hours during my one visit, not wanting to miss any chances. I found some pretty great stuff in music (the above mentioned Raw Power 7″, amazing Live From The Masque comp LP and more), clothing (bright blue Adolescents shirt that eluded me for years, coming right up!) and zines (supremely old yet near mint condition back issues of The Big Takeover from the 80s!). I can’t even remember the stuff I had to pass up but I know there were some good ones.
At my old company there was a former punker who went to school in Tuscon in the early to mid 90s and he’d regale me with stories about all of the bands he saw do in-​stores. Knowing the size of the place, shit must have been crazy.
When I was paying for all my things a kind older man was working behind the counter. He knew, based on the amount of time I’d spent in his shop, that I was from out of town. We chatted for awhile and he assessed what I bought and gave his stamp of approval, saying it was a pretty decent haul for an out-​of-​towner and that I should make an effort to stop by again. How I wish I could.

When I was attending UofA back in 1991, Toxic Ranch and Wrex Records was pretty much the only place to purchase punk and the not so mainstream stuff. Both were well run, easy going but only Toxic is still in business. In fact, I was so broke for a while that I sold my Poison Idea — «Pick your King» EP and C.I.A — «God, Guts, and Guns» EP to them. May I get those back, p’wease? Yet again, thanks for the Raw Power CD the other day.

Toxic Ranch kicks ass, plain and simple. A no-​nonsense music and punk merch shop on 4^th. The selection is exemplary and unique, the staff is knowledgeable and the store itself is full of character. They sell and buy used but also have a great selection of new rock, post-​rock, punk, hardcore, indie rock, what have you, in CD, LP, 7“s, compilations from labels, local bands, and all while setting the mood with the music they sell playing all around you.
As a bonus, I came in here once looking for a copy of Captain Beefheart’s «Trout Mask Replica» on vinyl and upon not finding a copy, they let me fill out a form and had it within a week on 180 gram, sealed, for a reasonable price. Now that’s something I can appreciate.
Whenever I’m on 4^th I’ll try to stop by to grab a few releases and maybe a «33 1÷3» series issue (only place in town that has them — and other such things that these kinds of people can appreciate!), and while I always see them and want to, I refrain from buying paranormal eye-​witness stories.
This is what local business is supposed to be.

After all these years, toxic ranch is still kickin’. You can’t get an experience like Toxic Ranch anywhere else, and you couldn’t have a Toxic Ranch without Tucson. It evokes memories of gunfights, and the weird tender days of Tucson’s yesteryear.
It’s distinctly local (a Super Large Swing Ding Amigos Kings of Culo poster adorns the front window), and too tough to die. Get your ass down there, by some high quality punk rock tshirts, books, and music and make sure Toxic Ranch continues to add to the local punk rock ecosystem!

This is one of the hidden gems of Tucson. A quirky little locally-​owned punk music, leftist thought, zine and t-​shirt store right off fourth. Fuck Zia – THIS is the last REAL record store, and probably one of the «realest» ones you’ll ever find. The staff (which is 3 people, I think) is extremely knowledgeable about any sort of punk music. I have found great books, great records, great zines, great graphic novels, great stickers and great t-​shirts here, stuff I’ve never seen elsewhere.
If Toxic Ranch ever goes belly-​up, it’s a sign that Tucson has finally gone down the shitter for good.

I love this place, ever since it was on Grant rd years ago, I’ve bought all my punk stuff here since Roads to Moscow Records died (1983 or 1984?) and Wrex Records died (1993 or 1994?). They have a great selection of classic tunes, books, VHS, posters, shirts, etc. They’ve survived thru the years & have a neat location on 4^th that has been trashed by idiotic drunks from the idiotic street fairs, idiotic concert crowd etc. They don’t receive any help from the city. They have some amazing in-​store shows. Don’t buy your punk at the malls or corporate stores folks, get it here along with a zombie shirt. Oh yeah, punk is dead but you still can listen to it.
Offers mailorder for you hermits.