When you walk into the brand spankin’ new storefront of indie record label Counter Intuitive, you’re prone to get slammed with a wave of nostalgia. If you’re expecting to find records from the lineup of artists that the label has represented in a decade of operation, you’ll find them for sure. However, when you push open the door to the shop on Boylston Street in Brookline, the first thing you’re bound to notice is the large glass display case of Nintendo 64 games on the right. Yeah, you’ve got Marios and Zeldas and Pokémons for sure, but you’re also going to be looking at deeper cuts like Conker’s Bad Fur Day, Twisted Edge, Destruction Derby 64, South Park: Chef’s Luv Shack. Real OG shit.
Indie rock records, retro video games, VHS tapes: imagine a one-stop shop, niche interest haven for hardcore collectors and true believers. That’s what Jake Sulzer, the label’s founder, has done with this recent endeavor.
Sulzer lists some of his favorite N64 games as Diddy Kong Racing, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, Mario Party, and Pokémon Snap, which he says “holds up insanely well.” A copy of the official strategy guide for the photography based Pokémon title sits on display behind the desk where Sulzer sits in front of an desktop and a large iced coffee from Dunkin’ Donuts within reach.
The desk offers a nice seated view of a Spongebob Squarepants television set with built-in VHS and DVD players, plus a Venusaur doll sitting on top. Cameron Crowe’s Oscar-winning Jerry Maguire (1996) plays. It looks like I may have just missed the famous “Show me the money!” scene between Tom Cruise and Cuba Gooding, Jr. Sulzer mentions that he’s careful about what VHS tapes he puts on during open hours. “I realized it can’t just be stuff I want to watch,” he explains. “We’ve got to keep it family friendly.”
In September, the indie label will celebrate its 10 year anniversary. In that time, Jake Sulzer and co. have helped dozens of DIY bands record, release, and distribute their music. Prince Daddy and the Hyena, Macseal, Mom Jeans, Bay Faction, Weakened Friends: these are just a few of the names that the label has represented over the years.
What began as an operation out of an apartment now has a physical location in Brookline, just across the street from Brookline High School and the Brookline Hills stop on the Green Line. A few days after the shop opened, Sulzer invited Allston Pudding in to have a look around and chat about the new store.
Working at Counter Intuitive has given Sulzer multiple opportunities to travel, which has expanded the label’s global network. They’ve recently signed bands from Tokyo and Sweden. While on tour with a band in Germany, Sulzer met someone who takes old GameBoy Advance games and puts music on them. Working with them, the label ended up putting out an Origami Angel single on GBA cartridges. Once the game cartridge is plugged into the console, the band’s music plays and a 16-bit slideshow of photos of the group. While that is an extremely niche release format that most people don’t have the method to use, it’s a really cool idea nonetheless.
Sulzer cites the Philippines as one of the coolest destinations he’s traveled to. The Pacific island country doesn’t get a lot of touring bands coming through, but Sulzer says this creates an intense passion and interest for those that do. “[They] aren’t getting nearly as many bands as someplace like Boston where there’s a show every night,” he says. “So when a band from across the world that they’re in love with ends up there, it’s just like a sea of gratitude from all the fans there.” He says this is one of the coolest, most beautiful experiences of his life.
For music, the current stock of records is limited to releases that Counter Intuitive has put out, which might be important to know going in if you’re more of a casual create digger looking to sift through stacks of used classics and hidden gems. But if you want something by Macseal or Prince Daddy and the Hyena, then there isn’t a better place to trawl through than the small shelving unit set up near the register. There is a small distribution section, but Sulzer estimates that about 95% of the records in store are Counter Intuitive releases.
As we talk upstairs, Sulzer breaks down the process of giving the label a physical storefront. The idea grew out of the label’s need for a physical space. At first, that was mostly just going to be for storage, due to the piles of thousands of records that were starting to cramp Sulzer’s apartment. At first, the Counter Intuitive team had a warehouse space in mind, somewhere that could double as both a storage and distribution center, but could also potentially have a functional use for bands: a recording studio, a rehearsal space, something tangible to make the label a fully in-house operation.
Eventually in 2024, the team decided that a storefront was the best option, so Sulzer set out to find a space. He says within 48 hours finding the listing for the Boylston Street location, he had signed a lease without ever stepping foot inside. The price, he explains, was too good to resist. “I was like, all right, like, let’s just roll the dice and, you know, see if we like it and see what we can do with it.” Afterwards, it was just a matter of setting everything up and giving the shop a layout that made sense.
With the help of a carpenter friend, Sulzer installed the shelving units and hung the glass display cases. “We didn’t make any alterations to the room itself,” he says, “but every single thing in the room I added in myself. It was basically a blank slate.” That’s the spirit of DIY. Sulzer loved the experience of customizing that blank slate. “This might be the only time I ever get to build out a storefront exactly how I want,” he says.”
The official grand opening was a week before our conversation. Sulzer says he was blown away by the turnout. From 12 to 6, there wasn’t a single moment that the store was empty, with customers coming in all day to casually browse or make a purchase to support the new store. While the records have been selling pretty well, the decision to also make the shop a retro gaming store might be the best business decision the team made, giving them a distinct personality and unique flair not found at other area record stores. He explains where this decision came from. “I was just trying to think of what could make the store more appealing, because, you know I’m grateful that the label has a lot of fans, but not necessarily enough where there’d be dozens of people coming in every day, because it’s a pretty niche thing. But for more daily foot traffic, I just had the idea of like, what if we started, like, building up a stock of retro games.”
After we finish talking upstairs, Sulzer leads the way down to the store’s basement with excitement. There isn’t anything in the narrow space for customers to browse, just some back stock, a cardboard cutout of Michael Myers (the Halloween killer, not the Austin Powers actor), plus one of the features he seems most eager to show off.
He leads to a corner of the room where there’s a baggy sofa and a twin mattress set up in front of a TV. Sulzer explains that it’s a crash pad for touring bands who can’t find a more affordable place to stay when they’re in town. It would be a tight squeeze for a band of four or more. At 6’3”, I have to watch my head and doublecheck the ceiling so I don’t ding my head on anything hanging a little too low. But despite the basement’s square footage, it’s got a warm, welcoming feel.
The real kicker that will convince a band to crash there is that Sulzer gives them full access to any of the games upstairs during their stay. The Xbox hooked up to the TV is tempting; I wonder if he has a copy of Morrowind upstairs; I’d crash for the night. This idea came from Sulzer’s personal desires from touring. “I feel like it would be the type of spot that when I was first touring and we were staying in like, you know, wherever we could for free, it would have been a dream spot to just have that experience.”
Once we go back upstairs, it’s time to open shop. A few minutes after unlocking the door, the first customer of the day pops in, looking to exchange some GameBoy games. As Sulzer chats him up a bit, the pair head over to one of the glass displays, pulling out a GameBoy Advance SD and copies of Mario Kart Super Circuit and Super Mario World: Super Mario Advance 2. He lets the customer test the cartridges out to prove that the store has been bringing in items in good condition. It’s a quick, simple way to build trust and make sure that customer will be back.
Head down to 358 Boylston Street in Brookline to pop into Counter Intuitive Records yourself. Check out more photos from our visit below.
