There are times when I really don't see the point in collecting multiple copies of a record. This summer has not been one of those times. I've been listening to a lot of newer hardcore recently, where "newer" is defined as anything from the past 15 to 20 years, and that shit has been hitting me hard. It amazes me that this music can still still excite and move me so deeply. Trends seem to move at the speed of light, but I'm still here getting a charge from a 7 inch that was released in 2008, and for the most part seems to have been buried by time and dust by the rest of world.
Thought Crusade were a band out of Chicago, and they released a couple of 7 inches in 2008 and 2009. They were supposed to have an LP come out on Triple B around 2015, but things appear to have fallen apart for the band before that happened. Either way, those two 7 inches are still fantastic, and when I was recently stuck in my 2008 playlist the
Common Man 7 inch was seeing spins daily. I'd been eyeballing the special Dumbface cover for a while now, and while you can pick it up off Discogs for about half of what a new 7 inch costs in 2022, the cover looks kind of dumb...so I kept putting it off.
Like I said, I've been listening to a lot of hardcore lately, and my excitement overruled my temperance enough that I bought this goofy looking cover. Number 7 out of 50.
While I was picking up the Dumbface cover for the
Common Man 7 inch, I noticed the seller also had a test pressing available as well. It was listed with a Make An Offer option, so I took them up on it figuring that a Thought Crusade record wasn't seeing a lot of action in 2022, and I walked away with the record for $15. Solid deal as far as I'm concerned.
The Discogs seller for this was actually the label that originally released the record, Organized Crime Records. When the test press arrived numbered 21 out of 20, I had to send them a follow up question to get the story on this. The label confirmed that while they were supposed to get 20 test pressings, the plant actually send them 21. Covers had already been printed numbered out of 20, so they just numbered the extra record as 21 out of 20. Test pressings are cool to own regardless, but having number 21 for this one is even better.
There is also a rejected test press cover that I don't own for
Common Man, but this is close enough to warrant a group photo.