The Book, The Record

Early in 2009, Refuse Records posted that their project for The Past The Present was available for order. The package, which included the new Birds Of A Feather LP plus a book on 25 years of history on the European Straight Edge, certainly caught my attention. Shortly after I got into hardcore around 1990, I started ordering all kinds of records from Ebullition mailorder and reading reviews in Kent McClard's No Answers zine. This was my introduction to Straight Edge bands from Europe and soon I was buying records from Seein' Red, Manliftingbanner, Betray, Blindfold and Nations On Fire. A book documenting this time period, sounded like a great read for me.

Of course, ordering the package for The Past The Present was pretty expensive, due to the overseas shipping. I was pretty disappointed, and had to let it pass me by and not order. Soon after they were available, I had an email from my friend Onno in The Netherlands. Apparently he had bought a copy, but since he doesn't collect vinyl, he offered to send it along to me when he was done reading the book. Quite a few months passed, before I received another message from Onno, letting me know that he was sending it my way.

I'm not a real big fan of Mainstrike. I like them well enough, but other than that first 7 inch, I never really lost my shit over them. Still, I was excited to check out Bigma's new band, Birds Of A Feather. I've got to say, BOAF are so much better than Mainstrike. I picked up their Chapter 5 EP a few months ago, and along with The Past The Present, I'm really impressed. The LP comes on some funky brown colored vinyl with hand stamped labels. Mine is number 41 out of 100.

The book for The Past The Present, while a nice attempt, was pretty disappointing.

I don't know, it seems like the book was lacking in a lot of details that I was hoping for. Sure their was a lot of history on 'Larm and Seein' Red, which appeared to be well documented, but some other big bands, like Nations On Fire and Blindfold, hardly saw their name in print. In the end, it seemed like the book was purely based on the authors perspective and experiences, with very little research into those bands that fell to the outside of their travels. To call the book A History of 25 Years of European Straight Edge seems a bit of a stretch. Overall, I just wasn't feeling it. If you were there, however, the book might have meant more to you.

My other major complain on the book was the format. It is nearly as big as a 12 inch record, and fucks up my bookshelf because it sticks out so far.

The other album that Onno sent me was for a band called Oil. He has been pushing for me to listen to them for years now. Sending me their Definition Delta album, paints me into a corner and forces me to finally check them out. I had seen their name dropped a few times in The Past The Present book, and apparently they played a lot with bands like Deadstoolpigeon and Seein' Red. Still, other than Onno's recommendation, I had never even heard this bands name before. After finally giving this a spin, I've got to say, this is actually quite good. I can't really place my finger on who they remind me of...maybe a big of latter-day Refused, or a bit of Movielife...or possibly a heavier rocking Lifetime. The band just does a great job with the Punk Rock sound...just enough rock, without overshadowing the punk. Cool stuff, even though this album cover is a bit hard on the eyes.

Thanks Onno!