Near the intersection of Whittier Blvd and Garfield Ave in Montebello hides a gem of a record store for hardcore music fans. The Record Jungle. It was founded by Andy Perez in 2010 next door to what is now their current location. I still remember visiting the hot room during the summer. I would start sweating when I would dig through the leaning records on the floor. It was so small that I would often have to wait until enough people were out of the store to eventually look through the section I wanted to see. At any rate, I would make sure no record was flipped through since a rare find could have been hiding in any corner. And they would! I would consider it a chore to go through it all without ever knowing what I would find but more often than not, it was worth it. The interesting thing about the Jungle is the varied selection. It isn't the lace to go find your favorite, brand-new band who just released an EP or the place to receive the usual judgment from a guy who doesn't want to be there that day. It's the best place to go on a treasure hunt for rare records. Every day is different, as Andy constantly brings in more records from a variety of places. Sometimes, as seen on Instagram, he hauls garage sale and flee market finds. That isn't to say that these are junk bin records. He knows the good stuff. He knows what people want and what will make them do a double-take. Personally, I have found sealed records from the 70's that were somehow forgotten through their years in a garage and played marvelously well, probably content to finally see sunlight after 40 years. I have also found lots of Spanish music by artists like Juan Gabriel and Los Bukis. I wouldn't be able to say that the store lacks in any genre since I've also found Jazz, R&B and Hip-hop records that were, by the way, reasonably priced.
Their current location opened in 2014 and is probably three or four times the size of the old shop next door. It was amazing to see it open since I knew Andy's selection well by then. This also made it much easier to maneuver around the records and it allowed Andy to bring in more records!
My experience with records stores is determined by a few things: inventory, price and the person behind the counter. If any of those are unsatisfactory, then I personally wouldn't consider it that great of a store. The Record Jungle covers all the bases. Not only is it difficult to find music in Montebello, I think we're lucky to have Andy's shop out here on the East Side.
Record Jungle is located at 2461 W Whittier Blvd in Montebello.
