Suburban Daltonic

It is funny how I can overlook some records for years. I remember picking up the first Daltonic 7 inch around 1995 or so, and enjoying it. It was kind of basic, meat and potatoes hardcore, but I'm a sucker for those 90's bands, so it was something that I'd still spin from time to time. Over the years, I became aware that Daltonic had also released a 2nd 7 inch around that time in the 90's, but it has eluded me until now. Almost 30 years later, I'm finally hearing that record.

These four songs are in the same style as the first Daltonic record. While I'm sure that it isn't going to excite most people in 2023, I'm pretty stoked to finally dig into this all these years later. Any time that I discover a lost 90's nugget, it's a good day.

Only released on black vinyl for Al Quint's Suburban Voice label.

Death By Colored Vinyl

One more record from my haul at Wanna Hear It to close out this successful visit. I wasn't expecting to pick up as much as I did, and it was a surprise that I had to pump the brakes and keep my spending in check. Man, I could have bought so much more.

I'm generally not interested in reissues, but I've been itching to pick up both the Leprosy and Spiritual Healing records from Death for the last couple of years. Of course, I wanted original Combat pressings, but holy fuck, I wasn't expecting that they were $200 records. I mean, I've listened to both of those albums a lot in the past year, but I wasn't sure that I wanted to commit to that kind of price tag right now. My other option was one of the Relapse reissues that the label have been turning out for the past few years. Those reissues have seen some wild colored vinyl splatter pattern options, and as much I tend to hate that shit, I've strangely found myself attracted to these. I don't know what it is... maybe it is a case of "so bad that it's good"... but I wouldn't kick one out of bed for eating crackers. Seeing one of recent reissues for Spiritual Healing in the rack at Wanna Hear It, and seeing the $20 price tag, was too much temptation for me to resist. I had to have it.

"Custom butterfly with splatter" colored vinyl. Man, this whole album is just so sick. One of Death's best.

OMDB Farewell

After picking up a handful of 7 inches at Wanna Hear It, it was time to venture over to see if there was any action in the LP section. After a quick glance of the more expensive records that were on the wall (and was tempted to pick up that Sheer Terror album), I started to check to see if there was something available that was more in my price range for the day.

Over My Dead Body were a straight edge band out of Southern California in the early 2000's, and they were a pretty big deal for me at the time. I kind of forgot about them for a ten year stretch, but in 2021 I rediscovered them and had such a great time listening to those records that I immediately set out to collect some OMDB vinyl. I quickly grabbed a couple copies of their first album, but haven't made any other moves until I saw another record in the bins at Wanna Hear It.

When the band played their last show in 2004, they created 100 special Farewell Show covers to wrap around the Sink Or Swim album. Man, I love the look of red and black on white cover. Definitely my favorite find of the day.

The Discogs listing for this Farewell Show cover doesn't have any photo listed, and since I've never done a deep dive into the internet for it, I've never known what it looked like until I found this copy in the store... and that was super exciting for me. The first time that I saw the cover was when I was holding it in my hand. That doesn't happen very often these days. Initially, I was tempted to quickly load a picture to the Discogs listing, but the more that I think about it, the more I want to keep it a Discogs mystery.

Ships Sinking

Another post for records that I picked up at Wanna Hear It, and another band that I didn't pay much attention to when they were around and releasing records.

A couple of years ago I wanted to revisit records from that mid to late 2000 period. It had been a while since I'd spent any time with those bands and it was fun to dust off some of that stuff and take it for a spin again. Along the way, I came across the Sinking Ships track on the Generations comp from REV. I had never paid much attention to the band back in the day, but hearing that song put me in the mood to dig in deeper. I was immediately impressed with the Meridian 7 inch, and quickly picked up a copy on blue vinyl. The record was a cheap pickup, and I quickly found myself wanting more Sinking Ships records.

Despite wanting to add some Sinking Ships records to my collection over the past year and a half, it just hadn't happened for me yet. Walking into Wanna Hear It and seeing a bunch of their records available, I knew that now was the time to make my move... starting with the tour press of the Meridian 7 inch.

The "Mars, Bitches" cover was made for the tour that Sinking Ships did with Shook Ones (another band that I have never paid any attention to). Red vinyl and numbered out of 100.

Picking up the tour press on red vinyl, I probably didn't need to also grab the red vinyl with the regular cover, but fuck it, I just wanted to buy more Sinking Ships records.

I also grabbed a copy of the Safe / Revenge 7 inch. I like that the hand stamped cover for mine is for "Ships Sinking".

This is a weird record. The packaging is boring as fuck, and the songs don't really sound like Sinking Ships. They sound like Sinking Ships playing cover songs. I'm sure there is a story in here somewhere, but this 7 inch just feels strange and out of place in the Sinking Ships catalog.

The last Sinking Ships record that I grabbed was the Out Of Touch / Bee Honda 7 inch. These two songs are great, and as the last release from the band, it sends them off on a high note. 250 pressed on blue vinyl and self released by the band on their Sinking Ships Records label.

Funny enough, when I took my records up to the counter to pay, the woman working there said that they had seen only one other customer that day, and that he had also bought a Sinking Ships record. I'm glad that Marcus also bought one that day to keep the Sinking Ships buying streak alive. Three for three!

Wanna Buy It

Early in December, I had the opportunity to meet up with Marcus for an afternoon down in Boston. After a great lunch at Veggie Galaxy, we were thinking about hitting up Armageddon Shop for some records, but when it was recommended that we check out Wanna Hear It, we decided to head over to that store instead.

I don't hold out a lot of hope when I go to record stores these days. Usually the selection is very thin for what I'm looking for, and if they do happen to have a record that I'm interested in, it is usually overpriced. None of these things were the case for my first trip to Wanna Hear It. I'm still thinking about records that I saw in that store that I wish that I'd picked up while I was there. I'm going to spread my record haul out over a handful of posts, so lets get things started with this one.

To be honest, I never paid much attention to The Suicide File. I was kind of out of touch with what was going on in hardcore in the early 2000's when the band was active. They were from Boston, and I would go to shows in Boston, so the fact that I never really picked up on them just shows how far removed I was from what was happening. In 2005, I did pick up the Some Mistakes You Never Stop Paying For comp, that collected the songs from their 7 inches and splits, and while I dug it, it didn't leave a lasting mark on me.

Last year, as I was diving in deep with some of those early 2000-era bands, I had a pretty solid stretch where I kept returning to those songs from The Suicide File. The hooks were finally in me, and they were in deep. Fuck, I was loving this stuff. I had wanted to pick up some vinyl from the band throughout 2022, but I'd never made it happen. When I saw the white vinyl for the Things Fall Apart 7 inch at Wanna Hear It, I knew that I was leaving that store with it.

Thickfreakness

The early part of the 2000's were a weird time for me musically. I'd kind of lost touch with the more underground side of hardcore, and was actively looking for different things to listen to. I was all over the place and spending a lot of time with bands like Slipknot, Linkin Park and Limp Bizkit... plus I was checking out a lot of hip hop as well as some blusey garage rock stuff like The White Stripes and The Black Keys. Strange days indeed. By the time we were hitting 2004/2005, I ended up shaking off most of that stuff and diving back into straight ahead hardcore again. Still, every once in a while, when I'm feeling a bit bored with everything and need something different, I'll dip back into what I was listening to during those weird years to shake things up.

When I was recently picking up the reissue of Seaweed's Actions And Indications, I noticed that the store also had a pink vinyl copy of Thickfreakness from The Black Keys. I hadn't really bothered with this band for well over ten years, but seeing this album in the store gave me the sudden urge to revisit them. Sure, I could have probably just queued them up on Spotify, but instead I decided to spend money on the vinyl. Makes perfect sense, right?

While this is listed as "pink vinyl" as a part of some campaign with other bands to raise money for cancer charities, I don't think they did a great job getting the color right. I mean, it matches the red from the cover perfectly, but as far as "pink" goes... not quite.

Seaweed Actions

When I first discover an older band, I take my sweet time in digging into their back catalog. I don't want to rush it and be overloaded with every record that the band has released. I'm taking my time and savoring each one. When I first heard Seaweed at the end of 2013, I thought that Four was the only record that I was ever going to need to hear from the band. That album was so perfect, I was afraid to fuck around with anything else the band had released for fear of spoiling my high opinion. Marcus wasn't going to let me sit complacent too long, and a year later he mailed me a bunch of Seaweed records, including the Weak LP. Damn. That made two Seaweed albums that I loved. Around 2019, I finally decided that I'd check out Spanaway. Fuck me. I read somewhere that people that think that Four is the best Seaweed album haven't heard Spanaway, and that may be the truth because now I can't say which record I like more. Now here we are, nine years after first hearing Seaweed, and I'm finally giving the Actions And Indications album my first listen.

Last November, I was out for the day, driving to New Hampshire with my wife. We had just stopped to check out a thrift store along the way for some used books when I got a message from Marcus, giving me a heads up that there was a new reissue of Seaweed's fourth album, Actions And Indications, on colored vinyl. I'd been trying to get my hands on the green vinyl for Spanaway for a couple of years with no luck, and hearing this news from Marcus, I casually drifted to a different part of the store from my wife, and I quickly used my phone to place my order. Thank you technology.

Despite never hearing this album, I still didn't hesitate to order a copy. I've only listened to this record a couple of times, so it will take some time to get familiar with the songs (although the Warsaw cover was an immediate hit with me... although I only knew it because of the Swing Kids version and not the original by Joy Division). So while it might rank at the bottom of the four Seaweed albums, this is still a very good record and I'm looking forward to revisiting it over and over throughout 2023.

300 pressed on "reddish yellow" colored vinyl... or more commonly known as "orange". This reissue includes a song that wasn't on the original album (Everybody's Ok was on the Brazilian release), plus the download gives you three more unreleased songs. 15 new-to-me Seaweed songs.

Follow Through Crew

Follow Through were a straight edge hardcore band that were around at the height of the Youth Crew revival scene in the mid to late 90's. For me, the band doesn't get the recognition they deserve and their Taking It Back album is a straight up classic from that period.

I've had the white vinyl for this album on my Discogs want list for years, but it rarely comes around... and when it does pop up, it sells for next to nothing. There are only 97 on white vinyl, so I would expect the price to be up there a bit, but apparently there aren't very many of us interested in collecting Follow Through records these days. That's cool. It is nice to catch a break on Discogs every once in a while.

I bought the blue vinyl for this back before record collecting got so stupid, and I only paid $3 for it. This white vinyl cost me $15. I only need the red vinyl now, and while there were only 50 of them pressed, it seems a bit excessive to see copies on Discogs listed for around $75. Sure Discogs has only seen one copy sell, and it was for $100, but come on, someone has to list one for a reasonable price based on the interest for the band, right? Hopefully that happens and I can score one at some point.

12 Inches Of Faim

Faim have been around for a while, but I didn't bother checking them out until last year. I become obsessed with the band Power Alone, and in watching one of their live sets on YouTube, they acknowledged and gave thanks to the singer of Faim who was standing up front and watching them play. At that moment, I figured that maybe I should give Faim a shot as well.

Faim are harsh and aggressive as fuck. They aren't as easily digestible to me as Power Alone were. Kat's voice sounds extremely raw, pushed to the point of almost breaking and the music is so hard. Man, this shit is intense. The band is angry and bill themselves as Denver Political Hardcore, and I'm there for the music and the message.

The first Faim EP was reissued last year as a 12 inch, and I was digging the look of the newly designed cover, so I figured that I'd start there. 7 songs that clock in just over 12 minutes. This shit sounds so pissed off.

Nice looking screen printed b-side. 100 pressed on purple vinyl.

Thirty Five Year Plan

Music has always played a big part in my life, and I find myself getting wrapped up in different eras and styles at different times. My obsessions shift all over the place and constantly change, but there is one thing that will always hold true... one of the best feelings is that special charge I get when I pick up a record for one of those classic records from my teenage years. Nothing hits quite like that for me.

Dirty Rotten Imbeciles were a pretty big influence on me in those days. I had discovered Dealing With It when I was 15 or 16, and while none of the other D.R.I. albums came close to matching that ferocity, each one was still vital and important to this teen metalhead and helped shape how I saw the world around me. I remember when I first saw Crossover in the record store. Information was pretty limited in those days, and typically when a new album would show up in the store, it was a surprise. At first glance, I needed to make sure this was the same D.R.I. band that I was familiar with... Dealing With It had 25 songs, but Crossover only had 12... plus, what was up with that slick looking front cover? Right out of the gate something felt different. Still, with song titles like Go Die and No Religion, it had to be the real deal, right?

While Crossover marks a big change from the first two D.R.I. albums... kind of like the change from the first Suicidal Tendencies record to Join The Army... of course I still fucking loved it. It was still fast, snotty and with a strong Us vs. Them fuck you attitude. 17 year old me loved this record, and 35 years later I was just as siked to finally pick up the vinyl for it.

Wicker Single

With their Eddie mascot and some killer artwork, Iron Maiden should have a winning formula when it comes to selling records... so it boggles my mind that they don't take full advantage of this when it comes to singles. Of the 14 singles that Maiden have released since reuniting with Dickinson, only about half of them have seen a vinyl pressing. Some albums like The Final Frontier and the latest, Senjitsu, don't have any of their singles available in the vinyl format. They create some great artwork, and then release the singles only digitally. Seems like such a missed opportunity.

Last summer I started looking at what I was missing for Maiden singles, especially those singles post-2000 since I'm only missing a small handful of them. The biggest hole was the band's first single that they released for the Brave New World album in 2000, The Wicker Man. Sure the only vinyl release was on 12 inch picture disc, so it was guaranteed to sound like shit, but that cover art is just too good to ignore.

Great looking record. Now I just need to get the Different World picture disc, and that sould complete my quest for the post-2000 singles.

Indecision And Change

Change is one of the more recent bands that I'm collecting multiple variants for. I think it has to do with the React Records connection, and I used to be a fiend for collecting that label and sometimes old habits are hard to break. I scooped up multiple copies of the original colored vinyl (although, I'm missing a couple Refuse pressings), and then when React did a second pressing, I had an internal debate if I needed that one as well (apparently, I did). Now, here we are, two years after the release of Closer Still, and Indecision Records delivers a new pressing. There are still copies of the original pressing on Discogs at decent prices, but I guess someone wanted to get some fresh colored vinyl into the market, and here we are. This is still a great album, but it would be nice to get some new Change material at some point.

The promo image that Indecision used to sell this latest pressing hooked me. The three colors of vinyl, while they didn't match the cover at all, looked nice as a set, so I bought each option. Of course, the mock up doesn't look like the finished product and the colors don't complement each other as much as I expected. That lime green is a bit jaring. Limited to 200.

Indecision changed up the packaging for the Change records, and applied the lyrics and photos from the original insert into a gatefold sleeve. 350 pressed on clear orange.

Finally, the more common version is clear vinyl. 450 pressed.

What really sold me on buying this set was that I already owned six copies, and I knew that three more would give me a nice even square at nine copies. I'm a sucker for symmetry.