Can't Relate

Earlier this year, I was heavily into my 2008 playlist on iTunes. There were a bunch of records from that year that I hadn't bothered to listen to in a long time, and diving into them again had me hooked quick. So many great bands that I imagine no one really thinks about in 2022... records from Alert, Broken Distance, Balance, Coptic Times, and Thought Crusade... and I was having a blast revisiting them. As I was digging into stuff from that year, I discovered that I had the songs from the Can't Relate demo in there. I didn't remember a thing about that demo and was kind of expecting that could just delete it from my computer. I expected very little from it, but before I trashed it, I figured that I'd give it a spin.

I've been surprised with how much I've enjoyed some of those long lost hardcore 7 inches from 2008, but I don't think that any of them have surprised me more than the Can't Relate demo. I probably didn't listen to this more than a handful of times back when I downloaded these songs, and it has easily been ten years since I've bothered to listen to this demo, but holy shit, this thing is a blast. Straight forward hardcore that would have probably fit right in on Youngblood or the early days of React Records... so you know this shit is my jam.

The demo was originally released on cassette in 2008, but apparently Positive and Focused thought this needed a vinyl release and pressed it to a 7 inch in 2013. After repeat listens, I knew that I needed to find a vinyl copy of this. I was so desperate to get a copy of this 7 inch, I didn't even mind paying for overseas shipping when I found a German seller that had it available on Discogs. Black vinyl with a special stamped cover and dust sleeve... number 34 of 42.

The seller also had a test press for the Can't Relate demo. At only 10 euros, I couldn't resist picking it up as well. I've been out of the game of collecting multiple pressings for so long, and it feels a bit weird to be picking up my third test press this year.

"Hey dude, if you hold this record you're one lucky bastard!" Number 6 of 21 for the test press.