Saturday, June 30, 2012

Clear Meat

16 posts so far this month. It a pretty strong showing, but because I've been churning out so many posts lately, I feel like I'm been slacking on the blog since I haven't written anything since Monday. It's been a busy week, and while I've ordered about 7 more records, I haven't been able to touch the backlog of new vinyl that is stacking up in my music room. With that said, let's get start swinging again.

Originally released back in 1985, Drastic Plastic reissued the War Of The Superbikes LP from The Meatmen in 2010. While this album isn't as raw and offensive as the first recordings from The Meatmen, make no mistake, there were no punches pulled to please the more PC crowd with this one.

Limited to 1,000 on clear vinyl.

I can understand that Graham McCulloch from Negative Approach was in The Meatmen, given the Detroit connection, but it still blows me away that Brian Baker and Lyle Preslar from Minor Threat were also in this band.

One of the cool things about the Drastic Plastic represses is how they change their logo to match the record label logo from the original pressing. I find it to be a nice touch.

Honestly, because I already own an original pressing, I wasn't too interested in buying the repress. However it is difficult to walk away from a sale this good.

Monday, June 25, 2012

Mouthpiece Tour 1995

Yeah, I may have started collecting vinyl late in the game, but I've got to tell you, there is nothing more satisfying as when I pick up one of those records that I ignored the first time around. Feeling as strong as I do about this kind of music, it is hard not romanticize the experience...it's like these are records that I'm supposed to own...they belong in my collection, and finally acquiring them all these years later is like reuniting long lost friends.

In 1995, Mouthpiece released their Face Tomorrow 7 inch on New Age Records. It was a strange time for me, as I was still heavily into bands like Shift and Christie Front Drive, plus I was digging on Endpoint's last record with the slide guitar...yet, under the surface bands were starting to make a more straight forward, traditional Hardcore sound. Bands like Fastbreak, Floorpunch, and Ten Yard Fight were starting to make some noise, and reminding me that music didn't have to be uptight and pretentious all the time...it didn't always have to be an ultra-serious experience. Right there in the middle of this revival was Mouthpiece. They had stuck it out through some of Hardcore's darkest days, and they survived to release their strongest record with Face Tomorrow.

I don't believe that there are countless special pressings for the Mouthpiece records, therefore I haven't been too tempted to really make a run at collecting their vinyl. Where was the challenge?

Prices seem to have come down for Mouthpiece vinyl, as popsike shows that a few years ago this record went for $85, then last year one went for $40...in 2012 one went for $28, and then I picked up mine for under $20. Seemed like a good time to pick one up.

Thursday, June 21, 2012

Second Press Of Turnstile

There is no denying how much I love the debut Turnstile 7 inch. For about two weeks straight, it was the first thing that I would listen to in the morning as I got ready for work. I finally had to choose a different playlist because the wife and kids got tired of me turning our kitchen into a dancefloor and knocking them to the ground when Death Grip would kick in.

Second press on black vinyl. Limited to 300.


Wednesday, June 20, 2012

Satan Did Not Appear

After releasing the amazing First Four EPs back in 2010, I expected we'd never hear from OFF! again. I figured the band would make a big splash, and then they'd vanish, with Keith Morris going back to doing whatever he'd been doing for the past 15 years. I was pretty shocked when I heard that they had a new full length album in the works for this year. I was even more surprised when I found that the songs from the LP retained that same explosive energy that OFF! threw at us a year and half ago. I don't know, I kind of expected them to lose some of that fire they had with the first EPs, but I was glad to discover that it was not the case.

I don't typically buy much from Interpunk, but when I saw that they had the new OFF! LP available on colored vinyl, I decided to grab one from them. I beieve that the white vinyl was listed as an "Interpunk exclusive", so they forced my hand.

There were 1,500 pressed on white, but people still seem to be going crazy for these, with ebay pricing showing between $40 and $50. Glad that I grabbed one when I did.

Monday, June 18, 2012

I'm Not Of This Earth

I can't seem to get caught up with this blog. I've been banging out a high number of post counts each month, and I'm still around 25 posts behind. Still, I guess too many records is a good problem to have. The new Fire & Ice vinyl as been on my shelf for a while now...Hell, even Marcus beat me to the post by a month, so you can see how far behind I still am.

The new Fire & Ice has been one of the more anticipated releases, for me, this year. I've been all over this band since the end of 2010, and looking to collect their vinyl since hearing their first two 7 inches. I had some high hopes for Not Of This Earth, and didn't hesitate to order the three record package deal. Weeks later, Reaper was offering these packages at a discount. Damn. Are Fire & Ice not as "hot" as I believe them to be?

First off, let me say that the album cover is head and shoulders above what we saw with Gods & Devils and Grim. The cover art for Not Of This Earth is finally a good representation of the quality of songs that Fire & Ice produce...and man, they truly deliver and meet expectations with this LP. It took a few spins to start to sink in and for me to appreciate, but once it got a hold on me, it did not let go.

When Reaper released the last Take Offense 12 inch, they had the black vinyl as the most limited pressing. Since labels usually make black vinyl the most common pressing, I was surprised. Once again, Reaper keep the black vinyl limited for the Fire & Ice release as well. 300 pressed on black, 700 pressed on blue, and 1,000 on white.

Sunday, June 17, 2012

Providing For A Wasteland

That tough Hardcore sound seems to be popular at the moment, as kids are jumping all over bands like Trapped Under Ice, Backtrack, and Fire & Ice. So it should be no surprise to see new bands coming along that are picking up that style as well. If Madball was Agnostic Front's kid brother, then Provider would play that role for Backtrack (without the literal family connection). Do you want more of the same? That is up to you, but Provider deliver with some no frills, straight up Hardcore with plenty of crunch.

I had a bit of a dilemma when I was placing my order with Life To Live for their newest release. I wanted the most limited pressing that was available for pre-orders, but I also wanted a copy with the regular cover art. I'm not looking to collect for this band, but still I ordered two copies.

The pre-order cover is a simple design of Charlie Brown getting the football yanked away by Lucy. Seems like a strange choice for the cover...I wonder if there is a story behind it.

Limited to 75 and hand numbered.

To avoid any confusion, both the record label and the cover are numbered.

The regular cover is far superior to the pre-order one, and was the reason why I needed to order two copies. Very well done, and it reminds me of Agnostic Front's Cause For Alarm cover art.

The violet colored vinyl looks great as well.


Thursday, June 14, 2012

Second Look For Prying Eyes

I don't actively collect Cruel Hand records, but every once in a while I grab one from Bridge Nine if they are in stock. I'm not sure why I feel the need to buy them if I'm not working towards a complete collection...it is just something that I do.

To be honest, I was surprised to see Cruel Hand's second album, Prying Eyes, get a second pressing. Cruel Hand vinyl doesn't seem to fly off the shelf...of the three colors pressed for the 2010 album, Lock & Key, Bridge Nine still has two colors available. Because of this, I didn't expect to see another pressing of Prying Eyes so soon. The vinyl looked good, so I figured what the hell, and I bought another copy. Of course, now I feel incomplete since I don't own the purple vinyl from the first press...no...wait...I said I'm NOT actively collecting Cruel Hand vinyl. Fuck.

This is listed as orange with teal swirl, but it looks more like an orange with yellow. Either way, that is a sweet looking color.

Wednesday, June 13, 2012

Youngblood: Part 4 - Free Records

The final post from this Youngblood series. Nothing really exciting, but Youngblood included a couple of free records from their distro with my order. Honestly, from the look of these record covers, they aren't anything that I would have picked up on my own.

The Our Times 7 inch isn't terrible, in fact some of it is pretty good straight forward Youth Crew influenced Hardcore. That cover on the other hand, may be one of the worst I've ever seen...The Incredible Hulk with X'd up boxing gloves? The image leads me to believe they are some militant Straight Edge band, yet they have a song called X's Aren't Everything. I don't know...I want to like it, but I wonder if I'll ever look to spin this again.

The other record that Sean Youngblood cleared out of his distro was a 7 inch from a band called Ability. I'd never heard of them, but since Todd Jones wrote one of their songs, I'm wondering if they were more well known in Southern California. While the record was released in 2008, they remind me of that Bridge Nine sound from the early 2000's.

103 on green.

Tuesday, June 12, 2012

Youngblood: Part 3 - Next Pressings

In addition to the four new releases, Youngblood also had some new pressings of older records available.

First up is the second pressing of the Number-ology 7 inch from Lion Of Judah. While I enjoyed this 7 inch when it was originally released back in 2010, I don't think I spent a lot of time with it. Lately though, it seems like I've been listening to this band more and more. I've been looking to add some more LOJ vinyl to the collection, so this was a nice addition. 350 pressed on clear.

When the first Iron Age LP, Constant Struggle, was released in 2006, I probably only listened to it a handful of times. I thought it was okay at the time, but I was too busy comparing it to Far From Breaking, and didn't really appreciate it like I do today.

When Sean Youngblood put up the four record pre-order back in December, he also made available the last few copies of the Youngblood Ten Year Anniversary press for the Constant Struggle LP that he found laying around. After buying the pre-order press for this LP back in 2006, I then proceeded to ignore all other pressings that Youngblood did for this album. My loss, and now I've got to try and catch up. This copy is a good place to start.

215 pressed on red vinyl...stamped and numbered on the dust sleeve.

Yes, another Youngblood release that I didn't appreciate at the time of it's release. The Escapades LP from Justice seemed like such a departure from the excellent Elephant Skin album. Just like the Iron Age LP, I was one and done...I grabbed the pre-order and then ignored all other pressings. Man, I'm kicking myself now, but at least it will be fun trying to track down what I've missed.

Along with the pre-orders, Youngblood also released the Final Pressing for the Escapades LP. White vinyl with a screened cover. Determined to not miss anymore Youngblood pressings, I quickly added this one to my cart before they were gone.

Saturday, June 09, 2012

Youngblood: Part 2 - Give and Police & Thieves

The second half of Youngblood's epic four record pre-order.

Just when I was starting to fall in love with Give, Youngblood posted pre-orders for the Flower Head 7 inch. Of course this was back in December, so I had to wait nearly 6 months to finally hear these songs. Yeah, I could have downloaded them for free on their bandcamp page, but I preferred to wait until I had the actual record. Who knew it was going to take so long?

120 on clear vinyl, 120 on orange, and 378 pressed on black.

Yes, I know that this collection is far from complete, but after finally adding the Flower Head 7 inch, I wanted to see all the vinyl laid out to appreciate the continuity of the cover designs.

While I picked up the record release/Youngblood Showcase pressing of the new Police & Thieves record back in December, I was looking forward to picking up the regular pressing as well. Seven great songs, capturing that DC/early Dag Nasty vibe. Such a great record.

195 pressed on white vinyl.

150 pressed on green.

My Police & Thieves collection has been slowly growing, and with the addition of the Fracturing album, I figured it was time to get a picture of my accomplishments.

Friday, June 08, 2012

Youngblood: Part 1 - Straight Edge Hardcore

I recently received a huge order of vinyl from Youngblood. A total of 16 pieces of vinyl. The thought of trying to bang it all out in one post is overwhelming, so I'm going to break it down into manageable parts.

I'll start things off with two solid releases of Straight Edge Hardcore.

Face Reality represent the Michigan Straight Edge. They released a great record back in 2009 with Positive Change. This new record shows a lot of growth for the band. The songs are harder and are more mature lyrically. That said, I'll say I like the Positive Change record more. The Youngblood record is really good, but I prefer that young, fun vibe of the first one. Word is that a new record is in the works, so I'll be looking forward to see what the band does next.

Hey Sean Youngblood, what's the pressing info for these?

Just like Face Reality, it has been three years since the last No Tolerance release, but when you are in as many bands as Justin DeTorre, what can you do? Once this record starts, it does not fuck around. Just like the Boston Straight Edge EP, this thing just continues with its harsh, fast attack...throttling you from start to finish.

I love the b-side labels on this. Youngblood Straight Edge.

Thursday, June 07, 2012

Black Train Jack

Back in the early 90's, I picked up the debut Black Train Jack album, No Reward. I had really liked the track they had on Victory's 1993 version of the Only The Strong comp, but the band's full length didn't really grab me as I'd expected. I liked the album enough to give it occasional spins, but at that time, it really wasn't "hardcore" enough for me.

During one of my recent obsessions over Hardcore from the early 90's, I pulled out that No Reward album, and discovered that it had aged amazingly well. It was such a blast to listen to that I started digging into the band and discovered that they had released a follow up a year later with You're Not Alone. I figured that I'd give it a try. After downloading it and giving it a quick listen, I knew that I needed a copy.

Like the Bad Trip albums, I found that finding a copy wasn't as easy as I had anticipated. Sure there were overseas sellers on ebay offering up a copies for about $50 a piece, but I figured that Black Train Jack didn't have that strong of a following, and if I waited it out, sooner or later someone would put a copy up for auction and I could get one for a much better price. In the end, I grabbed one from a seller in UK for $16. The price was still higher than I had expected to pay, but they weren't showing up very often on ebay, and my patience was stretched pretty thin by that point. I just wanted to own a copy, so I finally pulled the trigger.

Black Train Jack is just a classic case of those early 90's hardcore bands that didn't really fit into a specific style, and just did their own thing. Sure they could have skipped the cover of The Joker on this album, but still, I'm so glad that I revisited this band, and discovered their second LP.

Monday, June 04, 2012

Full Speed Ahead DC

I was outbid at the last second for the Brotherhood LP on pink. I got distracted and forgot to bid on the Fire & Ice Grim 7 inch on gold. Two big losses. I was feeling defeated, and I needed a good win to boost my spirits. Then I spotted an auction for the Rain On The Parade 7 inch with the DC cover, and I was a man on a mission. A desperate need to win, combined with rare records, are a dangerous combination. Thankfully, it appears as though the price of Rain On The Parade records have come down a bit over the past few years, and I was able to walk away from this one with out doing too much damage to my bank account.

For Rain On The Parade, there are a couple of records that you need if you want to make a run at a serious collection...one is the Redcheeks pressing of the Body Bag 7 inch, and the other is the pressing of Full Speed Ahead with the DC cover. One down, one to go.

I'm not sure what the occasion was for this special cover. The green vinyl is considered the record release version for their show on August 24, 1997, but the DC cover is dated August 3rd. A pre-record release sleeve?

Number 39 of 44...although I guess there are actually 45 of these things, as there was an extra one made up for number 88.


Sunday, June 03, 2012

Not Record Store Day 2012

I was a little confused when Revelation announced their vinyl reissues for Record Store Day this year. It took me a few weeks to realize that there were two different colors...one specifically for Record Store Day, and then a different color for the REVHQ store. I got so caught up in all the excitement, that I made sure that I got one of everything.

The best thing about these reissues is how much it has pushed these bands back into view. Ever since buying the Keep My Soul Awake 7 inch from Al Quint at Rockit Records along Route 1 on the way to Boston, I've been a fan of Farside. I've never set out to collect their vinyl, but having three copies of Rigged on my shelf makes me think I want to take a stab at it.

If you had told me back in 1991 that someday I'd own three copies of the self titled Into Another record, I would have laughed at how absurd it sounded. First of all, I didn't understand the point of collecting vinyl back in the early 90's, and second I thought that the Into Another LP sucked. How the times have changed...I can't listen to this album enough these days.

I've always loved the first couple Ignite records. Call On My Brothers and Past Our Means blew me away in the late 90's, and I'm scratching my head as to why I've never sought out the vinyl until now.

I was happy to pick up the RSD pressing of the Sensefield LP (wait, is it Sensefield or Sense Field, I've never known)...I'd never owned it on vinyl, and I was glad to add it to my collection. After ordering the regular color vinyl pressing from REV, I was scratching my head as to what the point was in buying another copy. I like a couple of the Sensefield records, but I will never care enough to actively collect them. So why did I feel the need to buy two pressings? Sometimes even I can't figure out the answer to these things.

After pulling out the Record Store Day pressings to compare and take a picture of them next to the regular colored vinyl pressing, I suddenly felt happy that I picked up that Sensefield record after all. While I may not actively seek out all the vinyl from each of these four bands, it gave me a good feeling to see this complete 2012 collection.

Saturday, June 02, 2012

Record Store Day 2011: Late Pass

When Revelation repressed the first Elliott LP to vinyl for last year's Record Store Day, I honestly didn't give a shit. Stacked up next to reissues from Burn, Youth Of Today, and Quicksand, Elliott was the odd man out. Apparently I wasn't alone, because my local record store still has a bunch of copies of the US Songs LP taking up space in their vinyl section. By the time Record Store Day 2012 rolled around, they all had 50% of stickers on them. Seven bucks? Now that's a price I'd pay for Elliott vinyl.

While I tend to slag some of REV's more "rock" releases, this Elliott LP isn't really that bad. Sure I liked them better when they were called Falling Forward, and they had a bit more grit to their sound, but still, I can hang with this LP. Actually, after spinning this vinyl reissue, I was surprised by how much I enjoyed it. Hey, maybe someday I'll check out one of their other albums. Yeah, someday.

500 pressed on grey vinyl.