Criminal Records

I spent three hours in this store and didn’t even get through ²⁄₃ of their vinyl selection! They have a ridiculously large sale section where you can find a wide variety of genres and fairly new releases (1 – 2 years old) for 25−75% off. Their new vinyl section is massive and includes great alternative/​indie/​rock bands as well as a smaller hip hop, metal and punk section. You can even find a larger surf/​garage rock section than most other places have. Some of the new records are overpriced, but many are fairly priced and you can’t beat buying the records on sale.
Their used section is at the back. It is small compared to most places and is embarrassing compared to wax n facts, but their are still a good number of crates to sort through. The used records are unorganized so be prepared to really hunt for treasure. They also have a decent selection of 7“s, but they seem overpriced. I can’t comment on how rare their selections were, but most were priced at $ 8 – 10 for two song 7“s.
Add the big CD and comic book selection and you’ve got an amazing store that everyone can enjoy. If they weren’t so close to closing time, I would have finished sorting through everything they had to offer.

Walking into this store immediately brought on a sense of nostalgia for all of the time I used to spend wandering around music stores in the early 2000’s. An eclectic mix of CDs/​Records new and old, hidden comics, and Portishead playing in the background… this shopping stop is one I will definitely recommend to fellow music lovers looking to get a little lost (in a great way!) while in Atlanta. I half expected to walk out of the store with a used copy of Blink 182 as a fitting souvenir for the entire experience.

I adore this place! I have been visiting it since I moved to Atlanta (6 months ago). I think its ambiance is kind of intimate. I have seen there a few live mini concerts. And they were lovely. This place is overwhelmed with collectables sections, posters, CDs, records, comic books and so on. It is amazing that their electric records cost only $ 1. If you visit this store, you won’t be disappointed!

I haven’t been there in YEARS, but I signed up for a Unilocal account when a friend asked me about record stores in Atlanta that he should try. I remember in the 90’s desperately wanting a copy of Smoking Banana Peels and this place only had it on vinyl. «
The manager was nice enough to put it on cassette for me and didn’t even charge me much for it. I sure hope they’re still this nice.

Lenwood Crumb here and I must say, and I don’t just give out compliments, Criminal Records, the vinyl record store, is fantastic. They have a large selection of new and used vinyl records as well as compact discs and paper books! PAPER BOOKS! This isn’t your grandson’s type of digital store, folks. This is the real deal. This is where I bought my ex wife’s favorite vinyl records which I don’t have the heart to get rid of but the knowledge of their existence in my basement eats at me. I know I should throw them out, they’re useless. The basement flooded weeks ago but I just can’t bring myself to go down there and take care of the mess. They have all the hits! They have Pat Boone, Herman’s Hermit, Minnie Ripperton, Bobby Goldsboro, you name it and they might have it in stock! Check this place out. Keep up the great work!

Awesome store! My bf is a big fan of comics and other things that I hate, but I decided to make a present for him and buy something special.
Of course, I couldn’t manage by myself and choice something really good, but thanks to the cashier. He spent 30 minutes trying to help me and find an appropriate present.
Prices are average. Also there is a diverse choice of records, the store has very nice collection.
My bf was very glad to get such present. Thanks for a good work. Will go back.

Extremely friendly staff and a great selection! Don’t let the name fool you, they have way more then just records. Would go again!

High prices, not a very large music selection, and the employees wish you were dead.

This is your average record store. No more no less. The staff seems to be friendly and have always been helpful when I need assistance.
I collect records as well as action figures and this place conveniently stocks a wide selection of both.
Placed smack dab in the middle of little 5 points it’s an awesome place to stop in and look around. Every time I have a friend visiting from out of town I make sure to bring them by there.
Offering both new and used albums, you can usually find what you want for a fairly reasonable price.
Check it out if you have the time!

First off, this place rules. Awesome selection of comics. They stay pretty stocked even on the rare stuff. Good selection of records, CDs, comics and more. They even have a lot of cool little trinkets and toys for sale too. Really cool environment and the staff is always nice. You can tell they care because they love what they do and really get into it. If you’re in little 5 points in Atlanta. Stop by this place, I’m sure you’ll find something! Gives atlanta a good name. I couldn’t call Atalanta, Atlanta without criminal records. ¹⁰⁄₁₀ thank you guys!

(3.50 stars) With Euclid Ave crowded on a sunny Sunday afternoon, we ducked in to Criminal Records; a place I had actually read about before leaving for vacation. Being old enough to have been «raised on vinyl,» adventurous enough as a teen to have become a «regular» at more than one of the Greenwich Village old/​used record mega-​stores and having very eclectic tastes in music, Criminal Records felt very much «at home.»
While our sons browsed the music and comics, I noticed more than a few of the records which I had, in their time, regarded as outstanding music that never found a broad commercial appeal. Hopefully my copies are safe and sound in our basement, but kudos to Criminal Records for recognizing them as being significant.
Their inventory is hardly encyclopedic, but appears to faithfully represent the eras and genres that I know best. There is also quite a bit from artists I’ve never heard of; I’m inclined to categorize them as «independent,» but my sons would more likely attribute this to my advanced age!
A fun stop.

Little Five Points is filled with colorful and quirky shops. Criminal Records is one such shop, and one worth visiting. In addition to music, this place offers comic books and graphic novels, cult films, and much more. The selection is promising (the mainstream mingles seamlessly with the rare and offbeat), the ambiance isn’t forbiddingly elitist, and the pricing is moderate: not highway robbery but easily beatable online. Were I an Atlanta resident, I could see Criminal Records becoming a regular haunt.

I’ve shopped here way more times than my wife knows about. It’s usually my first stop for new vinyl in Atlanta. If I have them hold a new record for me I’ll usually browse the used records and leave with more than I’d planned on buying. That being said, they do have a good used section. They also do have toys, comics, magazines, DVD’s, T Shirts etc. You can even buy Faygo soda in a bottle at the counter. The staff here are really helpful and knowledgeable. Never have I felt judged for my music selections. Prices? They are pretty on point and fair. Rarely have I gotten anything cheap, but never has anything been a rip off. The downside to here? The parking. I liked the old store, they had a proper parking lot. I could run in real quick to grab a record. Now I can either pay to park, which I won’t because F Park Atlanta. Or you park in the back and walk a few minutes. Not a big deal, but it does eliminate running in really quick. Atlanta still has a few good record stores left, this is one of them.

For being the largest space to sell records in the city of Atlanta, I can live without it.
The one-​star rating and following review is from years of experiences with Criminal. I have been collecting, trading and buying vinyl since an early age, so I’ve been fortunate to amass a great collection. I’ve taken boxes of anywhere from 20 to 100 records to trade (always store credit), spanning multiple genres, but the same «record-​buying» employees seem to spend the same 30 seconds flipping through and telling me he’ll pass. It’s hard to imagine how they’ve managed to stock such an impressive collection of used records that nobody will ever buy, seeing as how they can flip through a box of used vinyl in record time (pun intended).
The biggest problem with Criminal Records is there is no listening station. Amoeba Music in Hollywood provides customers with a digital listening station for nearly 90% of the titles they offer. Threads in Detroit provides four turntables for customers to listen to both new and used vinyl. Gramophone in Chicago has an abundance of listening stations, perfect for when the shop gets crowded. Even Beatlab, located blocks away in Little Five Points, offers a full listening station for consumers. Maybe the average Criminal Records shopper is buying the latest Bön Iver or Jack White album (which conveniently sits next to a turntable where customers can listen to Lazaretto and only Lazaretto), but for someone digging for records and needing to listen, Criminal is a nightmare.
I could deal with the lethargic staff of scene 20-​somethings for the convenience of getting new records in town instead of ordering online, but I think my last experience was the final nail in the coffin. I arrived with a friend on a Thursday morning as soon as they opened, with maybe 2 other customers shopping at the same time. I asked one of the employees if we could take some pictures, and she said yes. After an hour of digging and failing to load samples of the records on my phone, we decided to leave. I had a list of 40+ records to listen through, then return later to purchase. A friend later messaged me, maybe 20 minutes after leaving, saying that one of the employees had a mini-​meltdown regarding my visit on Facebook. I understand that working at a record shop isn’t very mentally taxing, but to be able to reach some imaginary conclusion and post this all at work is quite impressive for someone with low social skills:
Dear Shannon —
I think your damaged ears may have deceived you, or maybe it was the constant nodding in and out of sleep. Either way, I enjoyed your little melt and subsequent posts from your cheerleader friends.
Love,
Matt
PS — I spent $ 10 at Criminal that day on used records from artists I knew, but I guess in your eyes this was not enough. I placed an order to All Day Records in North Carolina right after reading your post. It inspired me to spend another $ 150 on records for my next DJ gig when I could have wasted that money on Criminal instead. I can’t remember the last time I downloaded music, though. The Internet is pretty great, because it lets me know what a $ 20 record sounds like before I have to open it. Places like Amoeba and Gramophone seem to understand this.
PPS — You are not a very good DJ, even for passive Elmyr listening standards.
TL;DR version: Criminal Records doesn’t have listening stations and serves the trendster community of vinyl enthusiasts, not record diggers with large collections. Their staff is comprised of faux-​elitists with poor grammar and spelling.

I still love this place. I was here to do some holiday shopping and they extended their hours till 10pm.
They still got the usual music albums, cds, vinyl and comics and they have cool pop-​culture trinkets that any fanboy/​girl would appreciate.

Seriously, I’ve never reviewed this place? I’m honestly a little surprised, since I’ve been here about half a dozen times over the last year. While I love Wax ‘N Facts for their extensive collection of used records, Criminal Records is where I’d go for new ones. Yes, they have SOME used records, but even they seem to know it’s mostly a sense of novelty than any kind of effort to have an extensive used collection (I mean, Wax ‘N Facts is not even a block away).
Not only does this place have a great collection of new records, but they also have CDS (not that I’ve ever bought one here), comic books (both collectable and new), graphic novels, and action figures. They do the whole Free Comic Book Day thing here, as well. Usually there’s a wall dedicated to it, and I think a 2 comic book maximum. You’ll find all sorts of people in here at that time.
Another pretty excellent thing this place does is host artists for an intimate kind of session (though I think they have a capacity of several hundred). They’ve had Childish Gambino, CHVRCHES, New Found Glory, Maps & Atlases, etc. Really, all sorts of artists. And these pretty much always sell out. I think the one caveat is that you have to buy the artists’ album – that’s essentially your ticket to get into the viewing party. But, really, that isn’t a bad offer. 20 $ for a record, AND you get to see an awesome artist playing in a record store, sometimes an intimate acoustic type of session? Worth it.
THE VERDICT:
I really like that Criminal Records is keeping the record purchasing alive. Not only do they have records, CDS, and comic books, but they frequently host well known artists for a small in-​store session (Childish Gambino, CHVRCHES, etc.) when you purchase their record. This store honestly doesn’t seem overtly hip to me (I mean, considering the entire area), and their new record selection is excellent and varied. It’s hard for me to leave here without SOME kind of purchase.
RECOMMENDED FOR:
The record/​CD/​graphic novel/​comic book lover.
Those looking for new records.

3.5 stars.
Vintage comic books,
No restroom for customers.
The potty’s next door.
You’ll find cool stuff here.
Adventure Time, photo booth.
Hipster paradise.

Pretty pleased with Criminal! Lots of records, toys, etc. And like Adrian, the «clearance» section in the back was a total win! They had a lot of 45s, which my record collection is lacking.
Everything in the store is organized & employees are really friendly. Prices are reasonable, as well.
Parking is an issue, since it’s situated in busy Little Five Points.

Criminal Records is one of the highlights of Little Five Points, it’s an Atlanta institution, a flagship for indie music, and a mecca for hipsters and nerds alike.
As its name entails, Criminal Records’ main inventory is vinyl — lots and lots of vinyl — containing a very large selection of modern titles. Though personally, I enjoy rummaging through the dollar bins — which holds all sorts of gems. Besides vinyl, there is a fairly impressive collection of graphic novels and comic books (Dark Horse!), random nik naks — I’m particularly fond of the POP! vinyl figurines — and various movies.
My favorite aspect of Criminal Records though are their free and open to the public, in store concerts/​meet and greets. Most recently invited was one of my favorite bands — The Fratellis — they performed a quick acoustic set and then stuck around for a meet and greet! The in-​store sessions seems to occur about once a month at maximum — maybe every other month. In addition to these free shows, Criminal also frequently offers free tickets to shows at the Masquerade with a vinyl purchase — they know good bargains! Criminal is definitely worth a trek to Little Five!

I really like Criminal Records! This place is an Atlanta staple and a favorite for the Little 5 community.
I’ve been coming here since they were located next to Junkman’s Daughter. I’ve seen several live mini concerts here and loved the intimate atmosphere.
They have a really awesome comic book, record, CD, poster, and collectables sections. If you collect vinyl, be sure to check out the clearance section in the back of the store. They sell eclectic records for only $ 1.00!!!
Please support Criminal Records if you’re in the Little 5 Points area! You’re sure to not be disappointed.