Boston Straight Edge

Have Heart's last show is scheduled for October 17th...Edge Day. While I really like Have Heart, the bands that I'm looking forward to the most are No Tolerance and Step Forward. I recently received the No Tolerance 7 inch the other day, and this thing is awesome. Featuring Justin DeTore and Chris Corry from Mind Eraser, but No Tolerance play a style of music that is closer to DYS and Project X. Unapologetically straight edge, raging and in your face. With songs that bring you back to the Chorus Of Disapproval album, claiming to be the judge and the jury, and a condemnation of fake edge bands like Boston X. Thing rips from start to finish. Boston Straight Edge! Drug Free Youth!

Crucial Times

I was checking the What I Got Today In The Mail thread on the React messageboard a couple months back, and saw that someone had posted a picture of the first Get The Most 7 inch on red and blue vinyl. I had no idea that this had been repressed. I checked the Crucial Response webstore and went a little crazy ordering more shit than I can really afford. Since shipping overseas is a bitch, I figured that if I'm going to place an order, I might as well make it a big one.

First thing I picked up was the second pressing of the Common Goals E.P. from Get The Most. Limited to 296 on red and 203 on blue vinyl. Band is so good.

Now I have heard that the guys in Brotherhood never really gave the Crucial Response guys permission to release this album which compiles all their recordings. If they are getting ripped off, that sucks, however this record was the only place that I was going to get to hear these songs when I picked it up 15 years ago through the Ebullition mailorder. The only pressing I had of the 12 inch is the second press on black vinyl. For the third press, Crucial Response took 101 copies of the black vinyl and created silk screened covers for them as part of their Raw Data series.

Another one from the Raw Data series with the silk screened covers...again, limited to only 101. This one is for the These Words Still Pray 12 inch from Onward. When this was released back in 1997, I had pretty much stopped buying vinyl at the time and was only buying CD's. Since this was a vinyl only release, I never picked it up. I'm glad that I finally have it in my collection.

The last record that I picked up was the Break Free LP from One Voice. I first heard this band on the Youth Crew 2009 comp 7 inch, and was really impressed. This album contains the songs from their 7 inch, plus the demo and comp song. Man, I am loving the songs from their 7 inch! Very reminiscent of the Loud and Clear album and probably early Justice, and at times it reminds me a bit of Lights Out. Limited to 300 on orange vinyl.

Speaking Out On Perfection

I've been wanting to pick up a copy of Bold's LP, Speak Out, for some time now. I didn't care what pressing it was, all I was concerned about was that it needed to have the gatefold sleeve. Sometimes the most common items are the ones that take the longest to get added to my collection. I've been after the red vinyl copy of Stand & Fight's Impact Demo 7 inch for years. Same is true for the black vinyl of Champion's Count Our Numbers record. I've spent years passing them by on eBay. Why? Because I figure that I can get one any time I want. When I saw that Al Barkley was selling his copy of Speak Out, I figured that the time had come for me to finally act...and with a winning bid of $16.00, the time was definately right. This one is the third press with the "Carrot Juice" and "Ha Ha Ha" on the matrix etching.

Man, the layout for this album cover is true perfection. I love everything about it, from the color combinations to the live photos that seem to really capture the youth crew excitement from 1987. As for the music on this album, it kicks ass all over their follow up, more "mature" 7 inch, and I may even like this LP more today than when I first heard it back in the early 90's. The only downside in buying this LP, is that it reminds me that I still have a hole in my collection where the Crippled Youth 7 inch should be. The search continues....

Save It For The Birds

First update in over a week. Man, it is going to be a struggle to get in double digit posts this month. It ain't for lack of vinyl though. Today, I just got back from a week long vacation with the family. After a real cold, wet and rainy summer, we got really lucky and had a week of sunshine and humidity for our week on the lake. We really couldn't have planned it any better. Spent every day on the beach and in the water. Great times, but it is nice to be back at home with access to my music and my computer. It was a true test being without music for a full week! The second day of our vacation, we had everyone from the family stop by for my, and my wife's, birthday party. I pulled in $180 in gift cards for Bull Moose Music. I was so excited that, over the week, there were some nights that I would lie awake in bed at 2:00 in the morning...just making mental lists of what vinyl and CDs I was going to buy when I got home.

When I got home from the lake today, I had 7 packages of new vinyl and CD's waiting for me in the mailbox. This vacation just gets better and better. But before I can get to the new records, I've got to continue to clean up the stack that I got piling up. So without further ado, this blog post is for the Birds Of A Feather 7 inch, Chapter 5. Featuring the singer from Mainstrike, you can guess that this band is going to have that old school straight edge sound, and if that is what you are looking for, this does not disappoint. Mainstrike were pretty good, but other than their first 7 inch, they never really lit a fire under me. Birds Of A Feather have the potential to do that. This is a really good record, and I love the idea of a bunch of over 30 dudes doing a Straight Edge band. Released only on black vinyl on Commitment Records...limited to 1,010 pressed.

How Are You Going To Do It?

Do it Doggy Style! When my brother first got the Doggy Style cassette back in the late 80's, I had no idea what Straight Edge or positive hardcore was, but there was something about this album that spoke to me. I never really drank alcohol...didn't take my first drink until I was well out of High School...I just never really grasped the concept of drinking to have fun. But even back then, hearing songs like Straight or even the anti-drunk driving message in Enough, just really clicked with me. But what really got me was the positivity of songs like Be Strong and Side By Side. When I did a stupid little zine in the mid-90's, I named it Still Hope, after Doggy Style's song of the same name. It wasn't until years later, after being introduced to bands like Minor Threat and Youth of Today, that the message and mindset really took hold, but Doggy Style laid that foundation.

A month or so ago, Rob and I went down to Boston to catch Richard Cheese and Lounge Against the Machine. The show was a good time which included some burlesque dancers for their version of Snoop Dog's Gin and Juice. Crazy stuff. Before the show, Rob and I stopped at Nuggets for some record and CD shopping. I only walked away with one piece of vinyl on this trip, and it was the Doggy Style Side By Side LP. This 1985 album is in mint condition and comes with a HUGE fold out lyric sheet. Awesome.

Keep It Coming

I've found myself pressed for time lately...trying to keep this blog updated, and trying to keep up with the pile of new records sitting beside my computer waiting to be listened to and filed. And while I still have 13 pieces of new vinyl waiting in the wings to be added to the blog, I still find myself with an overwhelming desire to continue to buy more. There is no question that record collecting is my vice. I curse the mailman each day that he does not deliver the package that I've been waiting for. I spend more money than I should, and I burn more time on this obsession than is probably healthy. But it is what I love, and so therefore I make no apologies for it. I just turned 39 years old this past week, and it is funny how strong a hold this music, and this record collecting hobby, still has on me. I'm not just talking about the classics that I grew up on either. Hardcore has never died for me, and I still actively search out new music, and I still get a charge finding a new band that gets my heart racing, and reminds me just how much this all means to me.

This post is for the Not Just Words pressing of the Keep It Clear 7 inch. I got the North America pressing from the band a couple months ago, and I immediately loved their old school style of straight edge hardcore. I liked it so much that I ran out and ordered the 3 pressings from Not Just Words. 125 on clear orange, 165 on clear green, and 480 on black.

Painting The Bridge Black

Bridge Nine has left me pretty underwhelmed lately. New Found Glory, Defeater, Polar Bear Club, Death Before Dishonor...nope, not interested. But somewhere in the middle of the mediocre, they slipped in a Paint It Black 7 inch called Amnesia. Yup, three full length albums into their career, and this band is still going strong. Apparently, the band recognized how rare it is for a hardcore band to have the longevity for three consecutive strong albums, and are limiting themselves to releasing only 7 inches in the near future. First is this one on Bridge Nine, and then Surrender will be released on Fat Wreck later this month.

Days Gone And Reconnected

Not only has Facebook helped me reconnect with some old friends in far off places, but it has also provided the opportunity to increase my record collection. Back in the mid-90's, when I was travelling to Boston a couple times a month for shows, I met a kid named Robb Woods. Hell of a nice guy that was always quick with a smile, and some small talk. One of the rare individuals that didn't fall in with any "crew", and seemed genuinely nice to everyone he met. I remember taking a trip to catch a Slapshot show in 1997...it was an insane line up that included Ten Yard Fight, Floorpunch and Bane...as I was hanging out between bands, Robb came over and gave me a demo from his new band Daysgone. Great stuff. The only time I got to see Robb's band play live was their record release show for the Gold 7 inch. It was the first show of their tour with Trial, at some club that I can't remember the name of in New Hampshire. I bought a copy of their 7 inch, but ended up with a black copy. Robb caught me later on that night, and immediately swapped it out for the gold colored vinyl copy, which was hand numbered and limited to 100. The funny thing is that to this day, I am missing the black vinyl pressing from my collection.

At some point Robb moved out to Colorado, and it had been many years since I had heard from him. I was listening to Daysgone and recommending them to some friends on last.fm, when I figured, "what the hell", and I looked him up on Facebook, found him, and reconnected. During one of our conversations, he mentioned that he should sell me all of his old vinyl. I told him to make up a list and I'd gladly take some stuff off his hands. Months passed with no list. I kept bugging him, and he mentioned that he had lots of stuff that I would probably be interested in, and dropped the name of Boston greats like Eye For An Eye and Kingpin. Another month passed and still no list. I couldn't take it anymore and just made him an offer for a few of the records that I knew he had.


I asked Robb if he had any copies of the Daysgone 7 inch laying around. I wanted to pick up a gold copy for a friend, and I was hopeful to get a copy on black vinyl for myself. Robb didn't have a black vinyl copy, but he did offer me the one and only test pressing made for the Gold 7 inch. No special cover or anything for it, but I can't explain how excited I was to have this in my possession. In addition to the test pressing, Robb threw in three Daysgone t-shirts as well. Very cool. Only two are pictured above because it seems that my wife confiscated the one shirt that was too small for me, and she wears it as a night shirt.

I had no idea that Suburban Voice had pressed the Kingpin 7 inch on colored vinyl. I was looking at a larger version of the colored vinyl photo that Marcus has at the top of his blog, and there it was...the Kingpin 7 inch on gold vinyl. How could this be? I was there when Al Quint pulled into the parking lot at the Kingpin show and started assembling the records for sale for the first time, and they were all on black vinyl. Right after I saw the picture from Marcus, Robb mentioned that he would sell me his copy. Sweet, I'll take it.

The other piece of colored vinyl that Robb mentioned he had was the Omega Drone 7 inch from Eye For An Eye. I had forgotten how great this band was until I was recently listening to the 100% Unnatural discography on TAANG!. I had been unsuccessful searching eBay, looking for this record on colored vinyl. When Robb mentioned that he had their first 7 inch on red vinyl, yeah, I took it. I recently saw a blue vinyl pressing of this on eBay, but lost the auction at the last minute. If anyone has a copy of this on blue vinyl that they want to let go, let me know, and I'll make you a solid offer.

Robb also tossed in a copy of the Tone 7 inch from Flagman. Apparently his dog had taken a bite of the record cover, so he threw it my way. I'd never heard this record before, and you know, I kind of like it. Very much in the same vein of melodic hardcore of the time.

Straight Edge vs. Godzilla

Call the National Guard, Straight Edge is on the loose and it is coming to destroy your city! Man, for the most part, letting your friends draw the cover for your up coming record is usually a bad idea. The cover for the Resolve 7 inch is no exception. Seriously, is there anyone other than Wide Awake that could pull off the cheesy looking edgeman record cover? All in, this is a decent record...pretty generic hardcore with a few attempts to not be cookie cutter core by including some political lyrics surrounding prayer in school, corporate lobbyists, plus a few other topics. Hopefully they continue to improve their sound, because they really have some potential, and next time stay away away from the Sunday comics for inspiration on the next record cover.

The Truth About Lathe Cut Vinyl

Reveal The Truth recently released their Courage demo on vinyl. This ain't your average vinyl pressing though, these were created using a lathe cutting machine. This is a really old process used for cutting records by hand, and apparently the only guy that still does it is in New Zealand. Due to the cost and effort to create records using this process, it is limited to only small runs of vinyl. So when Reveal The Truth announced that their record was going to be limited to 50, I jumped on it as soon as Thunder Lizard had them up for sale.

The whole package on this thing is mint. Nicely screened covers, clear vinyl, A and B side stamped records and inserts, plus each one is hand numbered. Because of the cost involved in creating the vinyl on this, Thunder Lizard is only selling them as package deals with a t-shirt option...but really, $12.95 for a t-shirt and this record is a great deal. Get in on this.