Grim Record Release

I was a little late to the party for Fire & Ice. I remember seeing their Gods & Devils 7 inch for sale in the Triple B store, and was completely turned off from the band due to the record's cover art. I expected some serious tough-guy/meat head Hardcore, and I stayed away. Back in 2010, they were scheduled to play the first Triple B showcase, so I downloaded Gods & Devils on a whim. I was surprised by how much I loved the band, and I quickly got to work making up for lost time and started building my FNI record collection.

A year or so later, Marcus gets into the band, and starts his own collection by picking up the record release version of Grim. What the hell? What's this? Since it's not listed on the Triple B discography page, I didn't even know this existed. It was kind of a dick move for him to pick up this record before I did, but record collecting is a cut throat hobby. Don't be fooled into believing that any of us are friends. All we do is make the game more difficult for each other.

A few months later, I took the opportunity to score my copy from FNI guitarist, Ryan Groat, through eBay.

The cover for Grim, with the four green heads, isn't any better than the one for Gods & Devils. The record release cover isn't too bad though, limiting it to just one green head.

The back cover includes the date of the record release show.

Hand numbered and limited to 50.

After acquiring this record release pressing, I was feeling pretty good about my collection. I knew that I was missing the black first press of Gods & Devils, but I thought I had everything else. I laid them all out for a photo, and realized that I'm also missing the orange vinyl pressing of Grim. Damn. So close. Come on...anyone want to help out an old friend?

Wig Out With Shawn

I picked up a couple of the Dag Nasty remasters from Dischord recently.

Before there was the Can I Say LP...before there was Swiz...Shawn Brown handled the vocal duties for Dag Nasty. There have been some unofficial releases floating around for years, but it's nice to see Dischord finally recognize those first recordings with a proper release.

The back of the album cover documents the brief history of the Shawn-era Dag. There is no mention of why Shawn left the band, but hey, it gave us Swiz, so I'm not complaining.

Until now, I have never bothered to really listen to anything past Can I Say that did not have Dave Smalley as the singer. Can I Say is perfection, and around 1990 I followed it up by buying the All Ages Show 7 inch. As a young kid whose world was starting to be taken over by Hardcore, the All Ages Show record was complete shit. I dropped the needle on the vinyl and immediately hated it. I couldn't believe how bad it was, and vowed to never bother with anything post-Can I Say.

Here we are 30 years later, and I get an introduction to the Dag Nasty song Safe from H2O's recent covers album. Of course I'd never heard this song before, so it was new to me. I did some research and found that it was from Dag's Wig Out At Denkos LP. I was diggin' H2O's cover, so I figured that I'd track down the original. Surprisingly, Wig Out isn't nearly as terrible as I expected...sure When I Move is painful to get through, and but overall, this is a solid album.

Since I liked Wig Out At Denkos a lot more than I expected, I decided to pull out the copy of All Ages Show that I bought so long ago. Upon first listen, I can certainly see what turned off the 20 year old version of me. Really, these songs are pretty far removed from Can I Say. After a couple of spins though, I'm not hating it, and I can see it fitting in with the whole Revolution Summer thing that DC had going on at the time. Yeah, I'll keep it. Who knows, maybe if I get daring enough, I may get around to checking out the Field Day LP.

The Golden Answer

The early 2000's were a strange time for me musically. While I still loved Hardcore, I was desperately searching for new musical styles. I was listening to a lot of Hip Hop, some healthy doses of Slipknot and Limp Bizkit, as well as some swing bands like Big Bad Voodoo Daddy. Access to free music via Napster and then WinMX and Soulseek, kicked off a kind of musical experimentation, and I was willing to try just about anything. Looking back now, I wasted a lot of time on music that I was interested in mainly because it was free and available. I downloaded hundreds of CDs that I could give a shit about today, and most of them ended up in the trash as the years ticked by. Add in the fact that I was only buying CD's at the time, and it is no surprise that I missed out on some great Hardcore bands of the time like The Answer.

I finally caught up to The Answer around 2009, picking up their second 7 inch on Aram's pre-REACT! label, Anchor Records. At this point, I can't remember what prompted me to check out the band, or even where I got the record. All I can say for sure is that it has been a slow growing appreciation of this band since that time. After picking up the 7 inch collection pack a couple years ago, and reading that Doug had 22 pieces of vinyl for the band...I was itching to jump into the game. I'm barely out of the starting gate at this point, but picking up the gold vinyl pressing from the Excursion 7 inch, only fuels the record collector in me. I need more.

500 on gold vinyl with the gold foil stamped cover. Such a nice look...and at 99 cents on ebay, it was a nice price.

Give and Give Again

A few months ago, I ordered one of the newest 7 inches from Give. Triple B released I Am Love, and for some reason I only ordered the clear vinyl pressing. Since then, I've become more interested in collecting Give vinyl, which means that I had to go back to Triple B to pick up the two other pressings that I passed by the first time around.

Red vinyl is limited to 300.

400 on black vinyl.

The World Is Ours

Motorhead recently released a live album this year. Do we really need another live album from this band? Including the live sets from the deluxe versions of Iron Fist, Just Another Day, and Orgasmatron, this marks my ninth live release from this band. It's a bit excessive...although I think that Iron Maiden may have them beat.

Overall, The World Is Ours does a decent job of capturing Motorhead live after more than 35 years of touring. That said, I'm not sure how many times I'll really listen to this. First of all, I don't really spend a lot of time with live albums, and even though this double LP has a great mix of songs, I don't need more versions of Ace of Spades and Overkill. Second, this record does not come with a digital download, and with free album downloads online becoming more and more scarce, I don't have a copy of this for my ipod. Seriously...is it worth it for me to rip the mp3s of this album myself?

Iron Chic

When I was picking up a 7 inch from The Ladies in the Dirtcult webstore, I was searching for something else to add to my cart. Buying just one record is kind of lame, and feels like a waste, so I wanted to add something else to my cart. There really wasn't a lot that I had much interest in, and then I saw the Not Like This LP from Iron Chic.

I remember that Sandwell had made numerous posts about this record on his blog, but I'd never really been interested in checking them out. Since I was desperate to buy a second record from Dirtcult, I thought that Iron Chic might be a decent option. I did a quick search of the internet, and found a download to check them out before I clicked the Add To Cart button.

I really didn't expect to like this at all. For the most part, it just seemed silly...and I struggle with "silly" in Hardcore/Punk. First off, I hated the band's name. Iron Chic = Iron Sheik...you know, like the pro wrestler from the early 80's...the one that Hulk Hogan defeated for his first WWF championship. Silly. Then there were the song titles like Cutesy Monster Man and Know What I Mean, Jellybean. Seriously? It made me want to punch this record in the face. In spite of all this, I still gave them a shot based on Sandwell's recommendation.

I queued up the songs for a spin. Fuck me. My head was bobbing. My foot was tapping. When the record was over, I felt tricked. I couldn't have possibly liked that as much as I thought it did. I better listen to it again to make sure that I really did enjoy Iron Chic's infectious style of "pop punk". I expected that the second listen would reveal that I didn't really enjoy it as much as I thought that I did. Goddamn it! Two listens in and I like it even more. How did this happen? You win Iron Chic. This album is crazy good. I'm hooked, and I finally add the record to my cart.

200 pressed on orange vinyl as part of the third pressing.

Petal Pushing

Painkiller recently released another 7 inch from the series of records that Give have been releasing. REACT!, Deranged, Triple B, Painkiller, and then the latest that should be arriving soon from Youngblood. This band gets around! While each 7 inch is released on a different label, I love that they continue to maintain the same look for each one.

I don't pay too close attention to what Painkiller releases, so I'm thankful that Marcus gave me a heads up when Petal Pushing was available for pre-order. Green vinyl was limited to 218 copies, and I expected it to sell out quick, so I didn't hesitate.

I only ordered the green vinyl from Painkiller, and as soon as it arrived, I was scratching my head as to why I didn't pick up the black vinyl as well. A quick shopping trip to the Revelation webstore solved this problem.

Choice Of Green

There are some albums that I listened to so much as a kid, that I rarely give them a spin nowadays. Albums that were so good, that I listened to them over and over again...until the magic had worn off. Screaming For Change was one of those albums. As a 20 year old, just discovering Straight Edge Hardcore around 1990, this record spoke to me. "If drinking's what it takes to be accepted, I'd rather stay aware and be rejected". Sure, I was digging Slapshot at the time, and I loved the anger in their message, but I wasn't going to fool anyone...I wasn't hard...I wasn't tough like those guys. Bands like UC and Insted were more my style.

I can't even begin to imagine how many times I listen to this record in those days (and by record, I mean CD). But you know, sitting here now, 20 years later, I can't remember the last time I listened to this. Thankfully, Wishingwell Records reissued Screaming For Change for 2012 and gave me a great excuse to revisit this album and remind me how great it really is.

I had originally heard of this reissue from Lins. As I mentioned earlier, I only owned it on CD, so I was stoked to pick up a copy on colored vinyl that didn't cost me a few hundred dollars. Lins had posted about a clear green copy, but soon I was hearing about a second green vinyl pressing...this one was a guacamole green. I finally got around to placing an order with REV, and discovered that I got the "ugly" green copy.

I still desperately wanted the clear green vinyl, so I rolled the dice and placed another order with REV. Luckily, I received the copy that I wanted.

Of course this pressing looks an awful lot like one of the original pressings. A few people have done all the comparisons as to how to tell the two apart, so I won't go into it here. I'm just happy to finally have this in my record collection.

The Ladies Love Dick

After buying my first 7 inch from The Ladies last year, I was on a quest to own all four of their records. Three of them were relatively easy to track down, but the Trashed 7 inch was a little bit more difficult to track down. The search finally paid off when I managed to track one down at the Dirtcult Records webstore.

Three songs in under three minutes. Fast, snotty and obnoxious. Damn, this band is fuckin' blast, and to top it off, we get a nice big cock on the front cover.

65 pressed on banana yellow vinyl.

More Have Heart Vinyl

When Bottled Up posted pre-orders for the Truth Inside 7 inch, they also put up the seventh pressing of the Have Heart demo. You know that I can't resist new Have Heart vinyl, so I grabbed each of the new pressings.

The vinyl looks amazing, with each color getting a slight streak of black in them. 100 pressed on gold, 150 pressed on red, and 250 on green.

Even though I have 18 copies of this record, my collection still pales in comparison to Doug's. Man, I've got to step up my game.

Speak The Truth

Who has two thumbs and digs new Straight Edge bands? This guy! Combine that with a new release from Bottled Up Records, and I'm ready to open up my wallet to buy each pressing.

When Bottled Up posted that pre-orders were available, I scooped in and grabbed all three pressings. If you want to download the 7 inch before you buy it, you might be able to pick it up HERE. I trust the quality of Bottled Up, so I didn't hesitate.

The most limited of the three was on black vinyl.

Hand numbered on the record labels, and limited to 92.

150 pressed on white vinyl.

250 pressed on purple vinyl.

Of course clear purple vinyl looks best when held up to the light.

Another quality Bottled Up release.

No Need To Panic

A while back, I was stuck in an early 2000's Hardcore mode. I was listening to that shit nonstop. Could not get enough. It was during this listening spree that I stumbled upon the two Panic 7 inches. I'd always liked them, but I really hadn't listened to those songs for years. I spun them once. Wow. They were better than I remembered, and I set the ipod on repeat. After working through those two records a few times, I remembered that Panic had released another record a few years after they had broken up. I wasn't too interested in checking it out when it was released in 2006, but now the band had my attention again and I was curious. With a little searching, I found the songs for the Circles 12 inch online. From the first song, Rise, I knew that I needed to find a copy of this.

My search for a vinyl copy of Circles was easy enough. REV had it in stock, and I grabbed a copy with my latest order. This record really impressed me, and I think it is a great follow up to their Bridge Nine records. I've never made the comparison before, but on this record, Panic reminds me The Nerve Agents. I can dig it.

Twice As Bold

I love everything that Bold has done. From the Crippled Youth 7 inch through the last 7 inch and Looking Back stuff. Don't start talking shit about the Speak Out album either. I have no time to listen to that nonsense.

Truth be told, Bold had kind of fallen off my radar for a few years. The discography CD, released at the end of 2005, helped wake me back up. Five years later, Revelation finally delivers the vinyl version.

The colored vinyl on this is pretty dark...dark enough that it initially looks like black vinyl. You've got to hold it up to the light to fully appreciate how good it looks.

Everything from the photos, writings from the band, and even the color choices...man, REV did a great job with this release..

Omega-2

A few months ago, a friend of mine introduced me to the new album from Omegas, Blasts of Lunacy. Very cool early 80's inspired Hardcore. The problem was, I couldn't find the LP anywhere. Every place I looked, it appeared to be sold out. To this day, I haven't found a copy. To fill the void, I picked up the band's two 7 inches.

First up is the new release, NY Terminator, on Painkiller Records. Decent stuff, but not as strong as the LP. Seems that the white vinyl was sold out when I placed my order, and I ended up with black vinyl. 600 pressed.

While I was at it, I also grabbed a copy of the Sonic Order 7 inch, which was released back in 2009 from High Anxiety and No Idea Records. It has been a long ass time since I've bought anything that No Idea released. This was a nice find. 500 on colored vinyl.

Dollar Signs In My Eyes

After a string of cheap scores from eBay, sometimes I just say "fuck it" and go for the throat. Time to spend some real cash on a true rarity. In this case, I went fucking over the top.

Other than Champion, In My Eyes was one of the first bands that I set out to obtain a full collection for. Hands down, they are one of my favorite bands of all time. I was pretty sure that I had completed my collection years ago, and then Doug went and posted about the Lil Wayne cover on Vinyl Noize. Whoa, what the hell is this? I'd never heard about a Lil Wayne cover. I knew immediately that I wanted it...the question was, how much was I willing to spend? Limited to only 10 for the band and their friends, I knew this wasn't going to come around again for some time. If I truly wanted this, I needed to commit to it in a big way. I was due to receive my annual bonus from work in the upcoming weeks...the bullets were in the chamber, and I pulled the trigger.

When I first starting collecting vinyl around 2005, I was surprised at some of the prices people were paying for records. Mentally, I set a dollar limit for myself. A price that I would not exceed for a single record. Six months into this hobby, an orange vinyl pressing of the Carry On LP pushed me past that limit. Then came the record release pressing of Champion's Promises Kept. A new high was hit last year with the Get The Most test press for the Together LP. Now with this In My Eyes 7 inch, a new bar has been set. And you know what? It felt good.

To help Lil Wayne feel like he is welcome, I've updated the family photo.