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Magnolia Thunderpussy
Rating Details »
Categories: Music & DVD's, Vinyl Records [Edit]
Neighborhood: Short North1155 N High St
Columbus, OH 43201
(614) 421-1512
- Hours:
Mon-Sat. 10:00 a.m. - 9:00 p.m.
Sun. 12:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m.
- Price Range:
-
$$
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Parking:
- Private Lot
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
12 reviews for Magnolia Thunderpussy
I feel like magnolia is what it is, a local record store that charges more for a cd than you would find at a chain. But that is not why we come here. We come here because it has a wide variety of albums that we may find difficult to find at a larger chain, or are willing to spend the extra dollar to support a local shop. Magnolia is hit or miss at all times, because when I shop here I tend to immediately walk to the back of the store and begin to look in the used section to find what gems there are. They have a large selection of used CD's, some dvd's, some shirts, and some vinyl.
What I have to say about the DVD's is that many are priced higher than at some other places, but they do have an excellent selection of Troma films and old propaganda (at least the last time I visited).
Their shirts while nice are all about 20 dollars and for a band shirt that I could get at their concert for 10 dollars normally I always choose to pass...
Their vinyl section is smaller but at least they have some...
Their used CD section though is quite large, and on a good day you can find a few dozen CDs that you want all for about 5-6 dollars a piece.
So while Magnolia may have its hangups (like selling ICP merchandise) it is still a quality record store, and a place that I will continue to frequent.
My one big issue with this place is that on some albums that include a sticker price set by the band they go over it... It just seems like if you want to sell a Crass album then you ought to price it as such.
I remember hearing about Magnolia Thunderpussy when I was in high school as THE place to go for music memorabilia. The name almost scared me away. But growing up in a tiny Ohio town with not even a Wal-Mart (it has one today, though), we had nothing even close to this. My friends and I would often drive down to Columbus as soon as we were old enough to drive to go to concerts, and if we'd get down here early enough, we'd stop here. Back when I was a teenager and just had to have everything sporting my favorite bands' logos, this place was heaven. They had everything; much more than the Sam Goodys and FYEs in the malls.
I found a lot of cool stuff here. I remember my most exciting purchase was a rare band poster I still haven't seen anywhere else. It was like Christmas for me the day I bought it. I've bought CDs, T-shirts, all kinds of stuff from here. And I don't think the prices are that bad, really. I think they have just about everything here, but every time I went in I made a beeline for my kind of stuff. So all I remember is rock. And the name and the look of the place also scream rock, too. But their website seems to have an ad for Britney Spears, so I guess anything goes here. I don't remember seeing that stuff here back in the day, but I might have had my proverbial blinders on.
Years later, now that I've calmed down a bit and just listen to (and download) my favorite music instead of also having to decorate my room and my body with it, I don't really come here so much. (BTW, what is it about being a teenager that makes you so crazy for bands? Maybe it was just us being bored in a small town.) If I ever need any kind of rock anything, I'd check here first, though.
And the location is great. It's within walking distance of my place (so it's in the Short North) and it's right next to Skully's. (So you can use Skully's parking lot!) The kind of crowd that goes to Skully's looks like they would also go here, so that location is probably keeping them alive while other record stores wither away. The staff here has always been friendly and helpful, and I remember the day I bought that poster I talked about earlier. The guy at the counter could see my excitement and instead of making me feel like a stupid kid, he made me feel like this poster was some sort of secret that I was let in on. It was very cool. I wanna give Magnolia 5 stars, but I never go to record stores and think CDs are overpriced. But if I ever did need anything, I would go here first, hands down.
I want to like Mags. I really do. I want to support small business. I shopped at Mags constantly in the late 80's/early 90's. Now? the last time I went in was to buy the new CSS CD for a friend's birthday, the guy at the counter (who did not acknowledge me at all, not even as I was checking out) continued his conversation with some rando girl in the shop, including a comment about how he thought the CD I was buying sucked. Nice. No thank you. No hello. No good bye. Well, good bye to you Mags.
One would expect the Short North to host a much hipper and obscure leaning record store, but once you realize that Used Kids has that part of the market cornered, Magnolia Thunderpussy makes a lot of sense. This is my first stop in Columbus when I'm in search of semi-obscure new releases that I don't feel like waiting to order off of the internet. The prices are average and usually depend more on what's set by the albums label, which is a huge step up from places like Johnny Go's House of Music and Singing Dog, which seemingly mark up their prices at random for no good reason.
The used selection here is OK, but everything is stuck in those obnoxious plastic cases that most record stores only use on new releases. I dare you to try and sift through the used section in its entirety before you get annoyed and wander off in another direction. The prices are usually stuck around $6 no matter how bad the album is, too, which probably explains why the stock of 90's alt0rock one hit wonders has been static ever since I started shopping there over 5 years ago.
One thing Magnolia has that most other places don't is cool extras like t-shirts, magazines, and a glass case full of tons of of awesome pins, patches, and stickers. I went as an emo scene kid for Halloween three years ago and managed to do most of my shopping right here at Magnolia. The staff is entertaining and rarely judgmental, which makes this a great stop during an afternoon of window shopping in the Short North.
I feel dirty and silly when I say its name: Magnolia Thunderpussy. It sounds like the name of a pornographic super hero.
Jokes aside, this is a pretty decent record store, especially considering record stores are dinosaurs in our time.
I'm definitely one to get my music from the internet. It's just quick and easy. But, sometimes, if it's a band you really, really love, it feels better to get in your car and go out to buy the album instead of downloading the songs from your computer or shelling out a little extra for shipping from http://Amazon.com.
Magnolia takes me back to the days when I would browse through used and new records at my favorite hometown music store, an island of misfit, discarded, once-loved toys. True, the used records back home were much cheaper, but it's that nostalgic feeling that gets me.
Magnolia has a mixed selection including rock, hip-hop, even children's music and soundtracks, but I agree they're metal heavy.
I feel slightly ignorant around the staff. The store is pretty open, and I feel like I'm always being studied. I probably don't know as much about music history and inspiration as I should. But the staff at Magnolia are not bad people, unless they mock my music preferences when I leave; then they're bad people.
Magnolia Thunderpussy- a quirky name for a record store to be sure. But it's a name that sticks in your head, to be sure. Magnolia Thunderpussy is like a lot of other independent record stores I've been to; a great, diverse selection of music, knowledgeable and sometimes-pretentious but generally happy and helpful staff, and an aggressive in-store soundtrack that even when you disagree with the choices still beats Muzak or most radio stations.
Magnolia Thunderpussy is pretty large, too, especially in an era where mp3s make the very idea of a record store decadent. There's not many record stores with an impressive goth section, for instance, if that's your bag (as it was mine many, many confused and shameful years ago).
It's a very cold day in hell when I buy music on physical media, but when I do I head to Magnolia's if I'm feeling adventurous and want to listen to something new and funky.
Ah, Magnolia......I remember when you were close to campus and nowhere near as lame. When you carried a good selection of bootlegs, mainstream, metal.....even some jazz and blues. When people with brown and black and blonde hair shopped there for quality music at a good price. Those were the days.
Honestly, what happened? Sure, they still sell a few solid rock bands who actually play guitar without distortion and have a few solid vocalists who don't grunt and squeal.....but these gems are generally high priced and burried under a pile of Underoath, Mudvayne. and Slipknot. Let me not even mention the vagrant outside with a sign asking for money for "pot - a big bag"
Sorry Magnolia, but I'll stick to the campus gems that are Used Kids and Singing Dog. Now.....um, where can I find the Sepultura and Cradle of Filth? Er, wait, nevermind, I don't want that stuff....where can I find the doorway out? Oh, there it is, by the waterpipes and the guy with the green/blue mohawk.
Magnolia's is another place i can remember being in a different location years ago--further to the north, still on High St. Back then, I was in high school and word traveled 60 miles up state route 23 that Magnolia Thunderpussy was the place to get your hands on the coolest, most subversive new music. They've always had plenty of music paraphenalia on hand--like t shirts and posters--if simply listening to the music doesn't satisfy your cravings. I traipsed in there with some older friends when i was about fifteen and bought a large die-cast anarchy necklace and the dude at the counter got testy and called me a goddamn anarchist when i told him that he could keep the three pennies of change i was supposed to get. Pretty funny now, jarring at the time, but that was probably 1993.
The place hasn't changed much in its new location and even has a significant new vinyl section and a good used cds area. Also, there are hundreds of new and used DVDs. Magnolia's can also be a good place to buy tickets for shows at Skully's and other nearby venues. It's not shrouded in lore for me like the original location, but i still like to stop into Magnolia's now and then.
A decent selection of more popular stuff, but Magnolia truly shines when it comes to some of their more specialized selections -- especially the VERY well-stocked heavy metal section (including a good selection of metal t-shirts as well) and their punk & alternative offerings. At Magnolia you can buy things off-the-shelf that you're never going to see in Best Buy, or Sam Goody, or any of the big chains. And the staff are very knowledgeable & helpful, not only guiding you to what you're looking for, but making comparable recommendations as well.
They also have a decent selection of used discs, though prices on used CDs skew a bit high in comparison to some other places in town. New disc prices are higher than you'd see at Best Buy, but cheaper than the mall stores like Sam Goody.
Magnolia was the first Columbus record store I ever shopped in. That was about 11 or 12 years ago. I was in heaven. I thought that it couldn't get any better. And who could have blamed me? I didn't know there was such a thing as Used Kids or Singing Dog.
Since then I've changed a lot and so has Magnolia.
Now that I'm older and a little wiser, I realize that Magnolia is not perfect. I can see it's shortcomings...or strengths.
This is your metal source. Period. I don't remember them stocking so much metal back in the day -- and that was back when I bought metal CDs.
They have a larger-than-average selection of music mags, t-shirts and merch.
They also had the best free stuff on National Record Store Day earlier this year. I grabbed a free issue of Paste and a Kaki King 7-inch.
All-in-all, this is certainly the most off-putting record shop in C-bus. It has it's place. I'll always stop in there...but probably after a lot of other places.
Best name for a record store ever.
Last time I was in the store (back in the late 90s before I moved away and then decided to only support Used Kids record store on my less than frequent visits back home), I encountered one of the surliest employees ever. And he was a big guy too.
His rage over Jane's Addiction was nothing if not vehement. Hopefully, he has managed to get some therapy for this.
This place has been a staple for punk & alternative music in Columbus for yeaaaaaaars. Basically the Columbus version of Amoeba Music, long before there was an Amoeba Music.
