Atomic Kingpin

One of the greatest crimes of the early 90's hardcore era was seeing the second Kingpin record fail to be released. At the time, there was talk that Redemption Records was going to release it, and after a strong string of records from Encounter, Ressurection and Four Walls Falling, I thought that this label would give Kingpin exposure to a wider audience outside of Boston. Then Redemption Records disappeared, and along with it, Kingpin's second record.

The songs from the recording session of their unreleased record had been shared through the internet for years, but it was great news to hear that Atomic Action was finally making them available with an official record release in 2018.

I was at the final Kingpin show back in '93, which I assume is where the photos on this record are from, so I as disappointed to not find my face in the crowd...although, earlier that night, during one of the other band's sets, I got kicked in the face from a stagediver, knocking me out for a second, giving me a black eye and chipping my front tooth...so even though I was up front for most of Kingpin's set, I was a bit gun shy, and was probably covering my head and protecting my face when the crowd started to get wild.

300 pressed on both white and red vinyl.

Atomic Action is one of the few labels that will make copies of the test pressings available to buy direct from them. I grabbed their reissue of the Verbal Assault album earlier this year, and did not hesitate to pick up a copy of the Kingpin test as soon as it was available. A steal at $15, and I can't believe that months later, they still have some available in their webstore.

Nice test press cover. Well done and hand numbered.

Atomic Action likes for you know which number you have, and they let you know on the back cover, the label, and the dust sleeve...although, the back cover says it it limited to 25, while the dust sleeve and label stickers show it is numbered out of 20.