Sub Pop Screaming

A couple of months ago, I mentioned a music project that I've been doing with my friend Sarah. At the start of the year, we picked 12 albums from 1996 (happy 30th anniversary) and we would dedicate a month to each one... getting together on a call to discuss them. It has been a lot of fun, and it has introduced me to a number of bands that I most likely wouldn't have listened to otherwise. While I don't feel the need to go back and listen to a few of those full albums again (Sebadoh and Cake specifically), we have still been able to pull some songs we've enjoyed from each release and create a Spotify playlist that is a fun listen.

One of the more interesting experiences has been for the Screaming Trees record, Dust, that we did in May. I initially struggled a bit with that one, but it really grew on me over the month, and now I think that I really enjoy it. Dust was the last record from Screaming Trees, and in the middle of checking it out, I had told Sarah that maybe it wasn't the best starting place for me with the band.. like I really should have checked out someting earlier in their career first.

I took a quick look at the Screaming Trees discography on Discogs, and when I saw that they had a double 7 inch release on Sub Pop, I figured that I'd check that one and compare it to what they were doing with Dust seven years later... plus that cover photo, live on stage, just looks cool to me. Oddly, the Sub Pop songs weren't available on Spotify, so I did a quick download from Soulseek and settled in to listen.

I don't know if it was because I was somewhat familiar with Screaming Trees through the album Sarah and I were listening to, or maybe these songs from '89 just sat better with me, but very quickly I knew that I was going to need to get the record for this.

Screaming Trees have a sound that isn't easy to nail down. They kind of fall into that "grunge" style, but also, not really. All I know is that I really don't think that I would have liked this a few years ago... but here in 2026, this hits perfectly. I love the songs on this double 7 inch, and keep returing to the Dust LP. I see more Screaming Trees in my future.

Keepin It Real

It is kind of shocking to me just how quickly I forget about recent bands and records. Even though I've slowed way down on the number of new releases that I buy, I still find that the majority of them don't stick around on my radar for very long. I listen to them throughout the year they are released, but then in January my brain resets and I kind of leave them behind. After picking up this Struck Nerve 7 inch, I took a look back at what else had been released in 2018, and there was so much good shit that year that I haven't thought about for years. Thanks for the reminder that hardcore rules.

I love finding other cool records when I'm buying from a Discogs seller. As I was scrolling through what else the seller had when I recently added a record to the cart, I was very surprised to see the record release version of the Struck Nerve 7 inch... and even more shocked that it was listed for under $10.

Special record release cover... number 13 of only 15 made.

Tear It Up / Fast Times

When I picked up a few Frostbite records earlier this year, I didn't expect it to spin me into a full-on early 2000 hardcore obsession... but here we are.

Tear It Up were a big deal in the early 2000's, and I can't dive into a playlist from that time without needing to listen to their brand of fast hardcore. As I was picking up some records from a Discogs seller, I noticed they had the white vinyl pressing for the Tear It Up / Fast Times split that Youngblood released back in 2001. Embarassing fact... I've never heard this record. Somehow despite my love of Tear It Up and Youngblood, I just never checked out these songs. I think that Fast Times had a lot to do with it, and while that band isn't bad, I just wasn't interested... and that was enough to put me off from this split for 25 fucking years. However, being in an early 2000's hardcore mindset right now, and finding this for under $4 was enough for me to say, yeah this is the time.

Man, I'm loving listening to this record... even the Fast Times songs are fun here. I didn't expect it, but these two bands are a good fit for a split.

350 pressed on white vinyl.

Bleed Season

Mean Season were one of those 90's hardcore bands that I lost track of over the years. I really enjoyed their Bleed To Me 7 inch, and their comp tracks, in the early 90's, but I never had much interest in their Grace LP. As Marcus and I were wrapping up our conversation from the Initial Records first five project, he threw a few recommendations at me. He knew how hard I fell for stuff like Disembodied and Harvest last year, and he mentioned that if I wasn't listening to the Mean Season album then I really needed to check it out.

I was surprised to find that I still had the red vinyl copy of the LP in my collection, but I really hadn't touched it in 25+ years, so I gave it a spin. Oh hell yes. Listening to Grace put me on a Mean Season kick, and I've been listening to the LP along with the 7 inch and comp tracks from the early 90's quite a bit. Another case where I totally understand why I wasn't digging this when it was released... there was just too much good hardcore being released in 1994... but this stuff hits me hard in 2026.

The version of the Bleed To Me 7 inch that I had in my collection was the regular black vinyl pressing, and since I had a bit of a Mean Season obsession going, I didn't hesitate to grab the clear version when I saw a seller had it listed on Discogs. Scoring it for under four dollars felt like a hell of a deal too.

Initial First Five: Part 4 - This World Rejected

This is my final post for the Initial First Five project that Marcus and I did. Initial Records number 5 was the This World Rejected 7 inch.

Another Initial release that I'd never heard before and I kind of assumed that it would be some kind of tough-guy hardcore that would leave me unimpressed. WRONG. While this might be a little "tough", this record is so fucking good. Easily my favorite surprise from this project. It has that great 90's hardcore crunch and groove that immediately has me moving and finger pointing as I sing along. This record is so rad and I want to collect every pressing. I was doing good and showing restraint for so long... content with just one version of a record, but lately I've found myself going off the rails and wanting to collect every single version that I can get my hands on. I've been listening to a lot of 90's and 00's hardcore this year, and that shit just puts me in a collectors headspace.

I was only able to track down this light blue version with the limited and numbered cover, but man, I really need the translucent blue and orange colored vinyl too.

When Marcus and I were going to start this Initial project, I saw the cover for the Jackhammer 7 inch (Initial Records number 4) and was like, nope never heard of them. When I started to dig into the details on Discogs and saw the back cover, I was shocked. Wait. This image with the band logo across the top was suddenly familiar and I knew that I did own it.

I have a box of around a hundred 7 inches that I've shoved into the back of my closet... records that I bought back in the 90's and did not like, but also never wanted to take the time to get rid of them... so there they sit and collect dust. As soon as I saw the back cover of the Jackhammer 7 inch, I knew that it was in that box, and rushed to dig it out.

Look, I totally understand why I didn't like this when I picked it up in 1993. It has a slower, more metallic hardcore sound that kind of reminds me of Integrity... and I didn't really like that style at the time. Listening to it today, I can appreciate it much more, and I'd love to get the colored vinyl version of this for the collection someday... but right now I guess I'm stuck with only the black vinyl.

At the end of the project, Marcus and I did a ranking of the first five Initial releases and mine looked like this:

1. Guilt - Empty?

2. This World Rejected - S/T

3. Ricochet - Evolve

4. Pittbull - S/T

5. Jackhammer - Estranged

As we were wrapping up the project, Marcus made some recommentations for me to check out beyond the first five. One of the things he mentioned was Initial Records number 12, the Roosevelt's Inaugural Parade 7 inch from 1995. As soon as he mentioned it, I jumped out of my chair and ran to that box of records in the back of my closet again. Yes! I owned this one too and had just tossed it aside back in the mid 90's.

This was a great one to revisit. I don't know, I just find it cool to pull a record out of the collection 30 years after you'd decided that you didn't really like it, and be proven wrong. Again, I can see why this didn't interest me back in 1995, but today this is fun to listen to.

So while this isn't technically a new record purchase for me, like the Jackhammer 7 inch, I'm considering it a new find and since I'm finally officially adding them to the collection, I'm getting them documented here as part of the project.

Yeah, this project was a blast, and I'm excited to see what other things Marcus and I tackle together and discuss.

Initial First Five: Part 3 - Guilt

Initial Records number 3 is the Guilt 7 inch. This was really the only record from the first five that I was really familiar with. I'd originally picked it up around '93, and I assume that it was listed somewhere as "features members of Endpoint", so I quickly grabbed it and immediately loved it.

It has been many years since I've really sat and listened to that Guilt 7 inch, but as soon as I gave it a spin for this project, I was floored. It all came rushing back to me on how much I loved these songs, and it was a blast to revisit it again. As I was picking up other records from the Initial catalog, I didn't hesitate to grab another version of this one.

There are a lot of different variations listed on Discogs for this 7 inch, and I'm not sure how many of them I want to chase. I have the white vinyl with the blue cover... so do I need the white vinyl with the red cover? Plus there is a purple vinyl listed... but is that really just the dark red pressing? I don't know. The clear vinyl, on the other hand, was an easy decision.

My two copies together.

Back in the day, this was really the only Guilt record that I listened to. I picked up the Synesthesia 10 inch as soon as that came out, but I did not like it very much at the time and kind of gave up on Guilt. In talking to Marcus during our conversation on this First Five project, he mentioned that I really needed to check out the band's album on Victory. I took him up on that and I've been loving it. Another record to chase for another day.

Initial First Five: Part 2 - Ricochet

Initial Records number two was the Ricochet 7 inch. I only discovered this band last year, when Marcus posted about their record. It always surprises me when I find a record like this that I'd never heard before. I liked to think that I was pretty knowledgeable about obscure 90's hardcore, but more and more I'm finding that I still have a lot of work to do. Thankfully, that tip from Marcus last year had me better prepared for this First Five project.

I'd grabbed the purple vinyl for the Ricochet 7 inch last year, but digging into these early 90's records with Initial had me in a collector mindset and I wanted more. I wasn't able to get my hands on the blue or the green vinyl pressing, but the full color cover looked too good so I grabbed the black vinyl for less than $3. Got to love a record that still sells at 90's prices.

The more that I listen to this Ricochet 7 inch, the more I like it. I enjoyed it when I first heard it last year, and still really enjoyed revisiting it repeatedly for this project with Marcus... but still, when we ranked the Initial first five, I fear that I still ranked it too low. I've been listening to this record on repeat as I prepared this post, and it is just so good.

My two copies of Ricochet. Give me more.