Verse has a song on From Anger and Rage called Consume, and when I was thinking about this post, the song kind of jumped out at me. The song is actually about mass media and consumerism...about how money rules and somehow it manages to define success in this society. Okay, that's not really the point of my post, but it does tie in with money because I really don't have much of it at the moment. Things have come to a head with the project to build the garage and addition on the house. Michelle is a nervous wreck over the finances as our savings keeps disappearing to pay the latest expenses, namely the garage door, propane stove, and sheetrock. Just before we got to the point of worry, I dropped a good chunk of change on these two pressings of the latest Verse album. First was the Sound and Fury fest pressing. This one is limited to 110, with the spray painted cover, and mine is stamped with number 2. Pretty cool to get such a low number. The other one is the "mint chip" friends press. Limited to 110 of this one as well, but this one was only given out to friends of the band. Sure it was bad timing on my part, but damn, I think I got a good price on each of them. The second thing that I'd like to bring up is the double standard I feel about buying these records. See, I can't stand it when opportunistic kids buy records to turn around and sell them on eBay. Hardcore is not a business...hell, music in general should not be used to make a quick buck for those on the sidelines. I'm not saying that people shouldn't be allowed to sell those rare items that are no longer important to them, but buying a rare record for the purpose of selling it is despicable. If you aren't interested in owning the record, leave it, so that a real fan has the chance to buy it. So my double standard is that while I hate that someone bought the Sound and Fury pressing, only to sell it for a profit, I'm also grateful, since I couldn't be there to buy it myself. So yeah, to quote Verse, "Again it all comes down to money...fuck the business man".
5 comments:
It bugs me when kids buy records only to turn around and sell them too.
There's nothing you can do about it though. I guess in a way that whole concept can be related to what you were talking about in the first paragraph.
Consumer culture and mass media have permeated every facet of society, even sub-cultures based on rejecting those things that dominate society are impacted.. much to the dismay of people who actually care.
I actually picked up that S&F pressing through rivalry right after the fest ended, #18 i think. And i think that mint chocolate chip pressing is the only one I'm missing.
I kept checking the Rivalry site after the fest to see if they were going to have any extra copies up for sale...I must have missed it. I think the only one that I am missing of this record is the red and white nuclear pattern. Well, the record release copy that I have is that color, but I don't have the regular pressing. Oh well, I'm sure I'll get it someday.
I've really been listening to this album over the past week. It gets better with each listen.
It's really is a great record. I'm going to have to listen to it more often. So much passion in the vocals and the words have a lot of meaning, i get riled up when i listen to it.
I don't even know if that was posted on the rivalry website, i heard about it browsing through the b9board. I rarely, if ever post there but sometimes it's useful for stuff like that.
damn you are a serious collector
I find myself digging into early british punk nowadays,
trying to srape up early records of the stranglers, 999, x-ray spex, buzzcocks etc.
Still money is always an issue with a family to raise and a house to pay.
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