Angry Young & Poor

Angry Young & Poor is a punk-focused record store and subculture shop rooted in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. The shop started as a punk-only store in 1995 and grew from that foundation into a broader punk-focused record store with metal, classic rock, indie, clothing, patches, pins, stickers, and other scene essentials. Even as the selection has expanded, AY&P still carries a strong DIY identity and a clear connection to punk culture.

The store is especially relevant for people looking for punk, metal, and physical media that still feels tied to a real scene rather than a generic retail shelf. AY&P keeps prices as reasonable as possible, still values the physical experience of flipping through records, and encourages people to support smaller independent businesses instead of defaulting to Amazon or big-box stores.

The Lancaster storefront gives AY&P the feel of a real destination shop, not just an online catalog.

Interview with Angry Young & Poor

Angry Young & Poor feels like a real punk shop in Lancaster, not just a general music store. What does running a physical punk shop still mean today?

We started out as 100% punk. We did not even carry metal, just all forms of punk rock and nothing else. That was always our plan since that is the music I love, but after a while I had more and more customers looking for other genres, so we slowly started carrying more styles of music.

Now we have a ton of metal, classic rock, indie, and more. I guess we are more of a punk-focused record store instead of a punk store now. Having a physical store is really important as a record store. Being able to flip through records is just more satisfying to customers than browsing a website. Our website could probably sustain us as a business, but we always wanted to have a place for music lovers to come and experience.

Rows of punk, metal, and adjacent records make the physical browsing experience central to the shop.

You mostly stick to punk and metal and tend to skip 45s. What makes a punk or metal collection worth a closer look?

Punks love their records, and since that is what I grew up with, that is the direction we went. Punks and metalheads seem more motivated to own physical media, so it kind of works out for us.

We do not really skip 45s, but the pricing on singles got so crazy I stopped carrying most because I just thought it was stupid to charge $20 for a 7-inch. We do have a bunch in, but mostly it is more affordable punk titles that I can sell for $7-$12. I miss the old days when almost all of the 7-inches we sold were $3-$4. We do have some cheap ones; Discharge 7-inches are still around $5.

The floor mixes records, shirts, patches, and accessories in the same DIY retail language.

In punk, rarity can mean first pressings, small labels, local bands, or imports. What kind of rarity actually matters to your customers?

As for modern rarities, it is pretty much Record Store Day anymore. We get a ton of customers that day, which kind of bums me out because a lot of them only show up on RSD and we do not see them, or get orders from them online, until next RSD.

Lancaster is not usually the first city that comes up in punk history, but your shop puts it on the map. What does the local scene bring in?

We had a punk record store in Lancaster when I was growing up called Web Of Sound. They went out of business, and that is what inspired my friends and I to start AY&P.

Lancaster is a weird town. It is a mix of country, Amish, a very diverse multi-cultural city, and a thriving art scene. We used to have a club in the city, Chameleon, but they went under after COVID, so the only thing lacking in the city these days is a music venue. There is a cool one just outside of Lancaster, Phantom Power, but most shows seem to be going to Reading or Harrisburg these days.

The scene was much better when we had constant shows in the city. Now it is kind of struggling, so most of our customers seem to come from out of town. People travel from all over the country to come to AY&P, which is pretty cool. We are actually moving out of Lancaster City this summer, to Columbia, PA, a small river town just west of Lancaster.

Beyond records, AY&P still feels tied to the visual culture around punk: buttons, stickers, patches, flyers, and shop-made identity.

If someone has records plus zines, flyers, or shirts, what should they mention first?

They should just mention what they have. AY&P also carries thousands of shirts, belts, clothes, patches, pins, stickers, and lots of other punk-related items, so records are only one part of the wider shop.

Clothing is not a side detail here; it is part of how the store serves the scene.

How did you end up focused specifically on punk and metal rather than going broader?

Short answer: I like punk rock. AY&P started as a punk shop because that was the music I loved, and the store grew outward from there as customers asked for more genres.

What is a record or band that always gets people excited when it shows up?

Music tastes have changed so much since we opened in 1995. Back then we could not keep classic punk in stock: Ramones, Johnny Thunders, Sex Pistols, The Clash, Buzzcocks, Partisans, Cock Sparrer, The Damned, and bands like that sold like crazy. Then street punk hit hard, and it was all customers with mohawks and liberty spikes buying bands like The Casualties, Blanks 77, and Defiance.

Now it is wild and all over the place. Classic bands are hit or miss. We still sell a ton of Misfits, but other original punk bands have really dropped off. Metal is massive, and we have a ton of customers who only buy metal and are very passionate. We also sell a lot of bands I do not even listen to, but bands like Pierce The Veil, Bring Me The Horizon, and Deftones all sell great. It is not my style, but the kids love them. There is also a big resurgence lately in grunge-era bands like Alice In Chains. We have customers who get really excited that we have Radiohead, Arctic Monkeys, and indie rock too. It makes it a lot more difficult carrying all these styles; just doing punk was much easier to keep up with. But I do my best.

Is there a local band or scene you wish got more attention?

The local scene is pretty dead lately. Mid-Rats are cool old-school punk, Ogham Stones are good Celtic rock, and The Virus made it big, for punk, and have been going for a while now, but there are not many. We honestly need more local bands. The clubs are almost always having cover bands and dance parties these days.

What is the biggest misconception people have about selling punk records or running a punk business?

There is definitely an issue with being a punk business, since punk and capitalism do not exactly go together. We just try to keep our punk ethics by keeping prices as low as we can and running it as DIY as we did when we opened 30 years ago. It is just my wife and I that do everything now, so we are definitely not some corporation cashing in on the scene.

I would say the biggest misconception is that we are getting rich off this. I guess having an online retail site makes people think we are bigger than we are. We have really been struggling since COVID, but we have streamlined things as much as possible to stay in business, so I cannot complain.

What is one thing about Angry Young & Poor that the average store listing completely misses?

I just wish more people would support smaller businesses instead of going to Amazon or Walmart for punk records. Support the scene. If you do not have a local record store, check us out. We also have thousands of shirts, belts, clothes, patches, pins, stickers, and lots of everything.

The shop's own shirts connect its record-store identity with Lancaster, Columbia, and punk culture at large.

Last updated: 2026-06-26