One Up Final Show

Five years ago, I posted here feeling pretty confident that I'd finished my One Up collection. As usual, I was proven wrong when someone pointed out what I was missing. Even with Discogs at my fingertips, I still fuck this up and get my info wrong.

Well, it has taken some time, but I'm finally back with a missing piece... the last show pressing of the final One Up 7 inch. Numbered out of 100 with a special cover, it feels good to add this one to my collection. I love this band so much, and while I have nothing against Texas Is The Reason, I like the One Up cover of their song on this 7 inch more than the original.

Of course, the One Up discography LP has been released over recent years, but I'm not going to bother collecting all five versions of that one. Still, I've discovered that there is still a special cover of The More Things Change that I don't have, so I'm still incomplete. Who knows, maybe I'll pick it up in the next five years.

XLathekeeperX

Near the end of last year, WAR Records announced they had added a new band to their roster with XGatekeeperX. The band seems to be a project from dudes that have been in other bands (Life Force, Decline, Bystander, Noose... and others). I'm assuming this is just something they threw together for fun, and it isn't going to be around in any serious capacity. Just some guys showing their love for the straight edge.

XGatekeeperX definitely caught my attention with the X's in their name and the straight edge executioner on the record cover. You know that I had to check this out. Five songs clocking in just under five minutes, so the band don't fuck around and waste time. Get in... hit hard... get out. Musically, it isn't really blowing me away, but I do dig the raw angry hardcore style they have going on. I'd definitely be interested if they give us more.

Initially WAR Records released this as a cassette and a limited lathe cut 7 inch on clear, which were formats that I wasn't too excited about. That clear 7 inch sold out fucking fast, so when they did another 50 on white, I grabbed one right quick. WAR Records has done a few more lathe cut releases since this XGatekeeperX release, so it seems that the label might be sticking with this format. Again, I'm not very excited about it, but I guess it is a better option than doing another flexi.

Yellow Flame

Somehow I totally missed the first 7 inch from The Killing Flame when it was released back in 1999. I'm not sure how that happened. I think that Livewire just escaped my radar at the time. I did hear the Another Breath album in 2000, but honestly, it didn't really do much for me back then, so I never bothered to check out anything else that the band did.

In recent years, I've come to appreciate that Another Breath album a bit more. Good solid melodic hardcore. I dig it. When I was recently picking up a record from a Discogs seller, the only other thing of interest was that first 7 inch from The Killing Flame. I quickly downloaded a copy to see if it was worth chasing, and five minutes later it was in my cart and I was checking out. This record is great and it is quickly becoming one of my favorite older finds this year.

Hardcore was weird back when The Dream Dies was released. The 7 inch contains four songs, but the CD has six. I don't understand why hardcore bands were doing this. How did this make sense to anyone? I guess that even hardcore was putting nails in the coffin of vinyl at the time. I mean, I know that I was out of touch and didn't think anything about this at the time, but were hardcore purists and record collectors up in arms over this kind of negative attitude towards vinyl?

The Bluest West

A couple years ago, I discovered that Third Age had a second 7 inch, released in 1994, and I quickly got my hands on the clear vinyl pressing. There is no greater feeling than discovering a long lost gem like that, I was definitely stoked to find that record so long after its initial release.

As I was discovering that Third Age had released a second 7 inch, Discogs also informed me that the band's first 7 inch had seen a blue vinyl pressing that I was unaware of. Back in the day, I had picked up the black vinyl somewhere along the way, and I didn't give it a second thought. As soon as I found out that a colored vinyl version existed, I needed to get my hands on a copy right quick. When I found one for only $3, I rushed to add it to my cart.

Third Age totally fit that Northeast hardcore sound from the early 90's, sitting alongside bands like Kingpin, Temperance and Flagman. Maybe it is the nostalgia talking, but this shit it so good.

Demon Outsider

Night Demon's last album, Darkness Remains, was one of my favorite metal records of 2017. That series of singles they released throughout 2020 was was a lot of fun as well... so obviously I was looking forward to a new full length from the band this year.

Night Demon have a great old school 80's metal vibe, and everything that I'd heard from the band has been great, so I didn't even bother checking the preview singles that were released to promote their latest album, Outsider... I just ordered a copy blind. I was a little slow to check out the record after it arrived, but after giving it my first spin last week, this record has seen a lot of playing time. Outsider may be a bit more relaxed than previous albums, and not front to back high-speed rippers. It feels like a more mature metal album, and while that is typically a turn off for me, this record still has some bite, and can hit hard when it wants to. There are layers here, and I'm fully on board with what Night Demon are delivering.

The "coke bottle clear" colored vinyl was listed on the Night Demon bandcamp as "only 100 available in Bandcamp store", which lead me to believe that there were only 100 pressed. Discogs is showing this as limited to 500, so maybe I just fell prey to a clever sales pitch. Oh well, I would have bought this anyway.

Hot Girls Fantasy Singles

A few years ago, I was having a lot of fun chasing some Japanese 7 inch singles for old 80's MTV hits. We were in the middle of some dark times in the world and it really felt like everything was on the verge of falling apart. Chasing those singles was a much needed distraction for me.

At the time, I really wanted a Japanese single for Aldo Nova's Fantasy. It had probably been 35 years since I'd given that song a thought, but as soon as I stumbled upon it during my MTV obsession, it all came back to me. Man, 12 year old Mike loved this song. It was definitely one of those defining moments that helped point me down the path to heavier and heavier music. Scoring the Japanese single never happened at the time, but I recently found a US pressing, and the price was right so I grabbed it.

I'm not even sure where I picked up this Loverboy 7 inch. I've had it for probably a year or maybe even two, but it seemed stupid to dedicate a full post just for this record. Hot Girls In Love was another big song for me at the time that I was rollin' with Aldo Nova's Fantasy, so it is a good enough fit here. I already owned the Japanese single for this song, but I guess at some point I wanted the US single as well.

The Black And White And Yellow

A few years ago (and by "a few" I mean seven, because holy fuck, I have no concept of time anymore) I discovered Rough Kids. The band came on to my radar in 2016 with the release of their self titled album. At the time, I was neck deep in a late 70's punk obsession, and while Rough Kids were a newer band, they definitely fit that sound that I couldn't get enough of.

Shortly after the release of that self titled record, I started hearing that one of the guys was in a new band, Form Rank. I kind assumed that Rough Kids was done, and we wouldn't be hearing anything more from them. So it was a very pleasant surprise when I discovered earlier this year that Rough Kids had a new album on the way.

The Black And White And Gray maintains that same early punk vibe. It isn't a sound that I hear a lot of newer bands doing, so this still sounds fresh for today. I'm sure there are other bands doing this style, but they probably just fall outside of my view... however, this kind of catchy and upbeat punk sound will always hook me. Give me more.

100 pressed on yellow vinyl.