Standards: A Record Store

Come in at least once a week. Never have I left disappointed! Amazing selection for hardcore and punk

Colin is such an amazing shop owner. His store has a lot of bitchin’ finds and you’ll end up wanting to buy every single record you uncover. Plus, Colin himself is an awesome person to hang around with. He’ll educate you with the history of Punk music and you’ll walk out of the store with a lot of knowledge.

punk and funk, great place for me to pick up both. never leave empty handed and the guys are always very helpful and friendly.

I got the chance to make it to Standards on my last trip down to Vista and I was absolutely blown away. Not only is there collection of new and used Punk vinyl extensive, the also carry TONS of tee shirts from all the legendary punk and hardcore bands. One of the best record shops I’ve ever been too. very helpful and knowledged staff as well. Fuck yeah Standards!

Lots of records. Cheap prices. Plan to hunt if your looking for quality.

Just finished checking this place out. I ended up walking away with some pretty cool stuff at a very reasonable price!
The place is pretty small but they have a decent sized inventory. If I didn’t have to be somewhere, I would of definitely stayed longer and looked through their dollar bins.
I will definitely be back. I recommend this place if you love records. You’ll for sure find some good stuff!

My husband and I just became owners of our first record player (Merry Christmas to us!) and as such, like the picky vinyl snobs (or should I say noobs?) that we are, we want to buy specific records that have a lot of sentiment to us, but even more specific we want records from places that aren’t so, well, Barnes n Noble or Frys.
So we started Unilocaling for record stores and came to find this treasure trove. Sure it’s small but there is a certain appeal to it.
The selection and organization of the vinyls, CDs, DVDs, cassettes (and I think I saw 8tracks too?!) and t-​shirts are both excellent. Every genre you can think of or perhaps have never thought of is accounted for.
It just feels how a record store should feel; equipped with a couch covered with records in the front portion of the shop and the aesthetic of being a little grungy while being one totally respectable business: it’s great. The gentleman that rang us up for our Black Holes and Revelation album ($ 20 and change) let us leave with it for $ 20.00 (even) since we were paying cash, no need for digging through coinage or breaking a dollar.
We were looking for Dark Side of the Moon, but no luck. The guy, so well-​aware of his stock, let us know he was out of it at the moment but they would definitely be looking to buy more Pink Floyd. They buy every single week. They even buy record players!
They had my favorite Styx album for $ 3! Should have bought it, but I know I’ll be back again and I’m willing to pay whatever for the music I love (but hopefully no one else likes the Styx as much as I do and that vinyl is still there!)

Cool shirts, cool music, and cool environment!

quality Hardcore punk, tough guy hardcore, metalcore, emo, youth crew, metal, thrash, doom/​sludge, crust, death metal, reggae, indie, jazz
a great selection of punk shirts, patches and stickers
some bootleg concert dvds and b movies
a few cassettes on the wall ranging all genres

I love this place. The selection is awesome and I like the fact that the owner goes through each single record. I’m a vintage stereo broker so I get to see a lot of records stores and Standards is one to remember.

Colin is the shit! Awesome selection on tunes. Pretty decent prices. If you’re were bored it’s a fun place to just dig through bins and you can usually find some awesome gems.

Love to stop in here whenever I am visiting Southern CA. Awesome place to buy your music & tshirts~ \m/

Love Standards. I’m from Seattle, and Standards reminds me of the legendary «Singles Going Steady» punk record store downtown. If you’ve been record shopping in Seattle, you’ve probably been there.
Yes, I love punk. And yes, there is much more than punk in the bins here. But my favorite thing about Standards is that Colin rotates the stock on the regular. Every other SD area shop I visit has the same stuff sitting in the bins, sometimes for years! I can go to Standards once a week and there will be significant amounts of new stuff to comb through. Love that. The only thing limiting me is my bank account.
Pricing here is awesome. You won’t find a cheaper place for used records, or new records straight from the distro with barely any markup. Yeah, there are $ 35, 180 gram, double gatefold, pressed from Morrissey’s hair Smiths reissues. Those are expensive from the distro, Standards isn’t setting those prices so don’t be down on the shop just for carrying them.
So yeah, just go here but be careful… You might not make rent on the 1^st if you spend too much time browsing.

I. LOVE. STANDARDS.
honestly my favorite record store ive ever encountered. heavily steeped in punk and hardcore, but spans over plenty of genres (i’ve bought everything from Venom to the Maytals and Poison Idea to Johnny Cash here) great compilations and hard to find items available and new items regularly coming in. great place to pick up new patches and tees without feeling ripped off! I NEVER leave empty handed. They have a smaller but equally good and eclectic CD and tape selection constantly rotating too :) Each time i come in, i have to make the hardest decision of the week and choose what i have to leave and hope will be there when i revisit! i also love that they will gladly throw on album while you shop so you can try before you buy or look up an item you’re looking for and offer to order it for you as well if you’d like them to. &I always look forward to music discussion with Colin :)
I give standards a solid 5 stars, BUT, i do have two personal «cons»
1. No/​slim pickins when it comes to psychobilly/​rockabilly — not really a downside because there REALLY is so much to choose from even without it, but good to keep in mind that if you’re looking for that, you wont find any here. everything in this store really feels like it was personally picked out by collin and you can tell he really knows his stuff across the board so i am still overly impressed with the selection each time i come in like i said.
2. I hate shows here: X its a personal thing, and by no means do i want to put down anyone who feels differently. the bands that ive seen there have been good and i love that he offers the north county community a space for people with common interest to express and connect with each other, but its too small and no one has ever been quoted saying «yeah i went to this AMAZING show and no one moved around or danced or misbehaved» I respect the place too much to enjoy myself here in that setting IMO, and it makes me want to scold my friends for having fun/​pissing off the owner because i dont want my precious happy place gettin shut down. Capishe?
anyways if you’re a fan of punk/​metal/​hardcore/​d-​beat/​reggae/​ska/​new wave/​jazz/​oldies/​not so oldies on vinyl, you gotta check this place out!

I recently had the pleasure of visiting Colin at his excellent Standards record store.
Standards is one of those special, off-​the-​beaten-​path destinations for serious record collectors. I’ve been a die hard vinyl collector for close to 30 years now, and I walked out of there with a hefty stack of platters, including several titles from my want list and even a couple that I had never seen in person before. My last visit to Amoeba Hollywood yielded NOWHERE NEAR this results.
The store is rooted in Punk/​HC for sure, but its selection is much wider than you might expect. In fact Standards boasts a very impressive variety of old and new titles of many genres, including a most excellent selection of Reggae LPs.
Standards is a record store worthy of the attention and support of any record collector. Whether you’re a local or passing through town on a record buying mission, you need to make Standards a regular stop when you’re on the hunt for rare vinyl.

I love Standards! What a breath of fresh air in downtown Vista. As a vinyl lover, what excites me the most about this local shop is the incredibly varied selection of records available for purchase. Any genre you can think of, Colin probably has it! From hardcore punk to rootsy dub reggae, you can find it at Standards. Colin is so friendly and always down to chat about music, and the prices are so fair. If you ever venture into Vista be sure not to miss this wonderful hidden gem!

I Just checked this place out today and was pleasantly surprised. They have a pretty good selection, lots of punk which everyone else has already stated. I picked up a copy of DSOTM and M83’s Hurry Up We’re Dreaming, so I’m sure you’ll find something you’ll like.
The dude was really chill and let me know when they get new records in. They accept credit cards too, which I really like (I hate carrying cash).
Give these guys your business!

While staying with a friend in Oceanside, we decided to check out the 3 vinyl stores in the area (see my reviews of Lou’s Records & Spin Records) and search for some of the LPs on my husband’s list.
Standards was a great find. Yes it caters to the Punk Rock vinyl collector, but I found 2 LPs on my list: Santana III ($ 5) and Miles Davis’ In a Silent Way ($ 12). Plus a bonus LP: Introducing the Beatles ($ 3). I had never seen this Beatles album!
The only reason I’m not giving Standards 5 stars– they don’t give you a printed receipt for the sale.

I stopped in about six months surprised to see a vinyl store in Vista. Right away I found some albums that I had been looking for at a pretty decent price. I traded in a bunch of vinyl that I did not need anymore and worked out a very good trade for what I had and was able to pick up copies of albums by Big Star, Velvet Underground, fIREHOSE, as well as Exile on Main St and the recent Beach Boys Smile release.
If you are into punk, this place specializes in it and you will likely be able to find what your looking for or the owner may be able to track it down. I like supporting local business when I can and suggest anyone looking to buy or sell their albums to come to Standards.

Selection absolutely fantastic, you can find all sorts of genres and styles of music in this place. A tad pricey depending on the vinyl you seek to purchase.
If you’re a avid record collector this is the place to be in North County.