Saturday, June 30, 2018

Another Step

The plan was to stay on task, and knock out a bunch of posts for this month. I've got a good 30 records waiting in the wings, and I'm so far behind on the blog, it ain't funny...but I still managed to drag my feet, and had to scramble at the end of the month to barely get my post count to ten.

Okay...I'm going to get serious for July. I've got a ton of shit to post here, and I've got to try and get things under control.

My collection for The First Step is goddamn solid when it comes to the What We Know album and Connection EP...but for everything else, it is fucking pitiful. I made a move to correct this back in 2011 when I grabbed the blue vinyl pressing for the demo, and now seven years later, I'm finally taking another step.

As I was picking up another piece for the One Up collection, I noticed that the Discogs seller had a red vinyl copy of The First Step demo available as well. I'd been buying a string of cheap records lately, and made the impulse decision to step things up and finally cross this one off the Want List.

Second pressing on red vinyl. Limited to 200.

Friday, June 29, 2018

The Finest Line A Man Can Walk

Earlier this year, I picked up a One Up record, and I had such a good time with it, that I picked up another, and then another. Things escalated quickly, and I wanted more.

The peak for One Up was their The More Things Change 7 inch. This record ruled back in 2004, and it is just as vital today. Man, these songs still give me a charge.

Chasing these One Up records has been cheap and easy, with each one readily available on Discogs for under $10. Once I started picking them up, it just made sense to get them all, with this gold vinyl pressing of The More Things Change being the last piece of the puzzle.

Now if the band would only get their full length, It's Time To Believe, finally pressed to vinyl instead of just being a CD only release.

Seemed like a good time to get them all out for a family photo.

Thursday, June 28, 2018

I Dig A Pony

It took me until I was around 35 years old before I started getting interested in The Beatles. It was just a casual thing for a few years, basically just occasionally listening to the hits. To be honest, this listening style really annoys me...save the Greatest Hits bullshit for your parents...I've got to either be into the full albums, or I'm not really going to stick around. I figured that I'd draw a line in the sand, and I downloaded a copy of Let It Be. If this album didn't work for me, I was walking away from The Beatles.

The album certainly hit the spot for me, and it didn't take long before I was diving into the entire catalog...definitely leaning more heavily on those later albums. Still, while I was really liking The Beatles, it wasn't until these past couple years, that things have kicked up a notch, and now I'm fucking loving them. Honestly, I don't know how it happened, but those records from Rubber Soul to Let It Be give me charge, and I don't get tired of spinning them.

As I was making my way to the counter at the record store in Hanover, New Hampshire, I stopped to flip through one more bin of records. These were new additions to the store, and judging from the store's selections, I was expecting to strike out...then I saw this copy of Let It Be. I've added some of my favorite Beatles records to the collection this year, so I took the opportunity to add one more.

Friday, June 22, 2018

Double Down

It was slim pickings while flipping through the vinyl stacks at the store that I'd stumbled upon in Hanover, New Hampshire. I did alright with the Whitesnake album I'd grabbed, but this place was obviously not catering to the Metal crowd.

While I looking through the records, the copy of Van Halen's Diver Down caught my eye. I mean, I already had a vinyl copy in my collection, but I remembered it as being kind of beat up. With this copy still in the original shrinkwrap, and the promo sticker for (Oh) Pretty Woman, I figured that it was time for an upgrade.

It isn't too exciting, but now I've got two copies of the worst Van Halen record...since obviously only the original David Lee Roth line up matters.

Thursday, June 21, 2018

Ready An' Willing

To give you an idea of how far behind I am with the blog, when I picked up this record, there was snow on the ground. Okay, that might not be saying much, since we had a longer than normal winter here in New England, but with this record sitting in the "to be blogged" pile since April, it shows how much trouble I've been having in keeping this thing current.

Back in April, my wife and I took a weekend vacation on the New Hampshire/Vermont border. It was a great trip, and the unexpected ice and snow storm certainly made it memorable. While we were walking through the college town of Hanover, I spied a some hole in the wall store with a sign advertising "used vinyl". I made puppy dog eyes and my wife, and asked if we could duck in there and look around for a little bit. I wasn't expecting very much, but I still managed to add some classics to the collection.

Over the last few years, I've done a fair job of making the point of how much I hated Whitesnake when I was a teen in the 80's. These are definitely different times, and I've been slowly building that Whitesnake collection.

When I first started to sink into a 70's rock obsession, and finally understood the attraction to that sound, I took my first tentative steps towards Whitesnake by downloading their 1980 album, Ready An' Willing. I mean, I was already a huge fan of Deep Purple's Burn album by this time, and with half of the roster for Ready An' Willing having spent time in Purple...well, it just seemed like the safest place to start. I obviously took right to it, and it remains one of my favorite Whitesnake albums (although Lovehunter gives it a run for it's money).

I've entertained the thought of chasing a UK pressing for this one, but holding this US pressing in my hands, with a reasonable price tag, and I took the more convenient option.

Sunday, June 17, 2018

Dirty Rotten LP

I've recently been on a bit of a kick, buying different pressings of Hardcore records...something that I haven't been interested in for years now. After going on a bit of a shopping spree, and picking up a bunch of cheap 7 inches, I had the urge to chase something a bit more substantial, and I wanted to cross a heavy hitter off my list.

After spinning the songs from D.R.I.'s first record, I knew that I had a target in my sights.

Originally, the Dirty Rotten record was released as a 7 inch EP in 1983, but when I was tracking down a copy, I was more interested in the 12 inch LP reissue from later that same year. I suppose that I could have tried to track down a legit, non-bootleg copy of the 7 inch, but reading Doug's experience hurt my head, and I figured that I didn't want to get caught up in that mess, and stuck with the LP instead.

What really surprised me was how easy this was to pick up. $20 off Discogs, and the job was done. I expected a higher price tag for this classic.

This album is a straight up ripper. I remember when I first heard this around 1988, and my brain struggled to keep up with the speed of some of these songs. To this day, I basically just mumble my way through, trying to keep up while singing along.

Tuesday, June 12, 2018

Wake Up!

I've been having a blast lately, throwing money at some cheap Hardcore records from the early 00's. It is funny how easy it is to forget about some great bands from a certain period, especially when your attention is continually pulled in other directions. Going back and revisiting some of these records has been a great reminder and has rekindled a desire to chase multiple pressings from a time when I was only buying CDs.

Wake Up Call were a local band from Maine, and as this state doesn't really have a strong history of Hardcore bands, Wake Up Call were definitely a diamond in the rough. The band didn't get the attention they deserved, but their One Eye Open 7 inch from 2006 can go toe to toe with some of the other heavy hitters from that year.

When I was picking up a couple of One Up 7 inches from a Discogs seller, I noticed that they had a copy of the Wake Up Call demo 7 inch, and I scooped it up. The preorder version comes with a special cover, and is limited to 30...and for $5, this was deal too good to pass up.

Sunday, June 10, 2018

Rally The Troops

As I mentioned in my Count Me Out post last week, the 2000's had some great bands that I've been overlooking in recent years. I'm not sure why, but for the longest time, I've kind of written off those years, and have forgotten that there was some great stuff being released. One of the bands that I've been obsessing over lately has been One Up.

I've already hit Discogs a couple times this year for One Up records, and with that fire still burning, I headed back to the well once again. This time I was looking to cross off a couple copies of their demo from the list.

There was a seller that had a copy listed for the clear vinyl pressing...but instead of being numbered out of 100 on the inside cover, this one just has the word "swirl". Bottled Up is known for some crazy transition pressings...especially with the Have Heart records...so I'm assuming that this is a similar deal. "Hey, there are a couple of faint black streaks, lets set this aside, and list it as a transition".

The Discogs seller also had a white vinyl pressing available, so I grabbed that as well.

Tuesday, June 05, 2018

Hypocrite!

2018 has delivered when it comes to new Hardcore bands, and I've had a solid string of EPs and demos building up in my playlist for the year. While I was riding the high of some newer shit, I figured that I'd take a chance on another up and coming band I'd never heard of before with Hypocrite.

The band is out of Copenhagen and features some dudes that used to be in bands like Stop And Think, Coke Bust, and Government Warning. That is a pretty solid resume, but still, when I first heard about the band, I kind of shrugged and moved on. I don't know why...I'm just stubborn like that sometimes.

When Never Back Down Records announced that they only had a few copies left of the preorder version, that was when I figured that I'd better move on it.

I'm glad that I jumped on this when I did, because this demo 7 inch fits right in with the great new Hardcore bands that I've been spinning lately. These songs are raw and recorded rough, and goddamn, they rip!

30 of these come with the preorder stamp on the dust sleeve.

Sunday, June 03, 2018

Second Chances

I love Count Me Out, but they are one of those bands that I seem to always forget about. The early 00's was a weird time for me for Hardcore, and I don't spend a lot of time revisiting bands from that time period. No doubt, there were some great records released, but sometimes I forget about them when I start looking at the wave of bands at that time that just don't do much for me.

Count Me Out have always been one of the better bands for me from that era, but strangely, I've never bothered to chase and collect their vinyl. When I saw a flurry of activity on Instagram recently, of people posting some Count Me Out record cover that I'd never seen before, I sat up and started to pay attention.

Apparently, Count Me Out were playing a reunion show at the United Blood fest this year, and as a special release for the show, Indecision Records pressed up a few demo songs from their 110 album sessions.

I tracked one down on Discogs, and quickly grabbed it.

The packaging is pretty minimal, but that tri-fold cover is pretty bad ass. 250 pressed for this one-sided 7 inch.

It might be time to look into starting that Count Me Out collection.