Castrato

About five years ago, I discovered Man Will Surrender with their Five On A Dime EP. I may have been over 20 year late in checking out this band, but that's cool because sometimes the best finds are old bands that you missed out on back in the day for one reason or another. I really loved that 12 inch, and I was tipped off that some of their other stuff was really good as well. Five years later, and I finally decided to follow up on that advice.

I was buying some other records from a seller on Discogs and I saw the Man Will Surrender 7 inch, Castrato, was available as well. With a $4 price tag, I figured that it was time to finally check it out.

This 7 inch from '95 is a bit more raw compared to Five On A Dime, but damn, I love these three songs (two on the 7 inch, three on the CD version that I downloaded from Soulseek). Call me crazy, but there are times where a song will remind me of something from Mudvayne. Not that Man Will Surrender were years ahead of the Nu Metal sound, but there is a groove there that makes me think of that band... plus that soft vocal delivery that ramps up to a kind of growl. I don't know... but it does make me unsure if I want to dig out my L.D.50 CD or listen to more mid 90's hardcore.

Soul Control Record Release

I bought a couple copies of the Soul Control album Involution back in 2007 when it was released. I had those two copies of colored vinyl, and was certain that I didn't need any more... and then I saw Marcus post about the black vinyl version on his blog a few months ago, and I suddenly had a change of heart.

It seems that over the years, I had forgotten that the black vinyl for Involution was the more limited version that the band sold at their record release show. Marcus came through with a nice reminder of the details for that pressing and I immediately set out to see if Discogs had a copy available. I was a bit obsessed over this album a couple years back after rediscovering it, and I listened to it A LOT throughout 2021. I certainly wouldn't have been interested in the black vinyl if it had been the common pressing, but at only 100 pressed... well, it kind of made me want one.

Judging from my original post about this album in 2007, I was aware that the black vinyl was the record release pressing, and had a chance to buy one from the band on their myspace page, but apparently I was too busy trying to find the perfect song that would play on my homepage for my 12 followers, and I didn't want to mess around with this record at the time. I'd forgottan all about that detail... thanks for the memory, Blogger. That's okay, because buying it for $8 in 2023 is like time travelling, which is pretty cool too.

The Living Memories

I can't remember exactly where I heard about The Living Memories. I want to say that either Youngblood Records or Aram posted something about the band on Instagram. I'm not really sure, but I noticed that this new band had Aaron and Stephen from The First Step... so without giving it any thought, I rushed to quickly order their latest record. The First Step is one of my favorite bands from the past 20 years, so I didn't bother to check out a song or anything. I just dove in blind and bought a copy of Home Truths with unflinching confidence that this was going to be the best hardcore record that we would see this year. Fuck me.

I'm dumb. Had I done any kind of homework, I would have quickly discovered that The Living Memories is NOT a hardcore band. Now, I don't listen to The Smiths, but I imagine that this is what two older hardcore dudes that are super into The Smiths and wanted to do something similar would sound like. Again, I'm not really familiar with The Smiths, so I could be way off base here, but I'm not too interested in them and would have avoided The Living Memories by association.

There are only six songs here, and I tried to approach this with an open mind. The first song isn't terrible, but by the end of the first side, I'm ready to move on. It is probably good for what it is, but I'm just not the target audience here.

The record came with an appreciative note from Stephen, and a nice newsletter. Ohhhh. there it is in the title of the reprinted interview from No Echo. I don't think that I'm a "jangle pop" guy.

Beating Around The Bush

Back in 2017, I started a quest to collect original Australian pressings for all of the AC/DC albums from the Bon Scott era. They don't come cheap, so I've had to pace myself... basically picking up one a year. Last year, I stumbled and didn't pick one up. Record prices were getting out of control, and it made me very tentative about pulling the trigger on something big like an Aussie AC/DC pressing. This year, I needed to make it happen.

With it's unique flames cover, I knew that Highway To Hell was going to carry a big price tag... but as the final Bon Scott studio album that I needed for the collection, I was determined to just get my hands on one regardless of the cost. Fucking hell. This thing looks and sounds amazing! As soon as I dropped it on the turntable and the title track kicked off, I knew that I'd made the right decision in buying this thing.

I tend to lean towards Powerage as my favorite AC/DC record, but Highway To Hell makes a case for taking the top spot. This record is so fucking good. Front to back, every song on here is a blast.

I decided to pull out my original US pressing for Highway To Hell to get the side-by-side photo. While I do like how the flames cover catches your attention, I may prefer the other one with plain shot of the guys just standing there. Angus with the schoolboy uniform and devil's tail is too iconic to hide under a blanket of fire.

While Highway To Hell is the last studio album I needed from the Bon Scott era, I do still need an Australian press of the live album, If You Want Blood (and don't get me going on the few different pieces of colored vinyl as well). Maybe next year.

One Up Final Show

Five years ago, I posted here feeling pretty confident that I'd finished my One Up collection. As usual, I was proven wrong when someone pointed out what I was missing. Even with Discogs at my fingertips, I still fuck this up and get my info wrong.

Well, it has taken some time, but I'm finally back with a missing piece... the last show pressing of the final One Up 7 inch. Numbered out of 100 with a special cover, it feels good to add this one to my collection. I love this band so much, and while I have nothing against Texas Is The Reason, I like the One Up cover of their song on this 7 inch more than the original.

Of course, the One Up discography LP has been released over recent years, but I'm not going to bother collecting all five versions of that one. Still, I've discovered that there is still a special cover of The More Things Change that I don't have, so I'm still incomplete. Who knows, maybe I'll pick it up in the next five years.