Talkin' Spiritual Cramp

So far, 2024 has given me two newer albums that have had me straight up obsessed. I posted about the new IDLES record earlier this month, but right there alongside it as one of my favorites this year is the latest from Spiritual Cramp.

The band caught my attention last year when I was chasing all kinds of new and different music. I was on Spotify and noticed they had a playlist for new releases that they put together based on my listening tastes. Normally, I would have ignored it, but given my mood most of last year, I figured that I'd give it a quick check to see if anything jumped out at me. One of the first things that I saw was a song called Earth To Mike from Spiritual Cramp. Given that my name was in the song title, I decided to listen to it... and it was so much fun. As I was getting into that song, Spiritual Cramp were set to release their new full length record, but I was still hesitant to commit to the band. I mean, Earth To Mike and a couple other songs from the Here Comes More Bad News EP were cool, but did I like them enough to hang with a full album?

As we were closing out February this year, early in the morning one of the newer Spiritual Cramp songs, Talkin' On The Internet came up on Spotify and I was instantly hooked. I immediately jumped in to listen to the full album, and by 10:00 that morning, I'd run through it three times. Fuck. It was so good. Two months later and I still can't get enough of this record, and I have to actively choose to NOT listen to it for fear that I'm going to overplay the damn thing. In fact, I'm also trying to not rush out and buy the three other vinyl options for this record like an addict.

Rattle Your Boots

Back on my bootleg bullshit. I posted one earlier this year when I added another live Slayer boot to the collection, but I had the itch for more, so this is my first one for Megadeth.

I wasn't too impressed with the goofy looking cover art for this Megadeth bootleg, but since it was a very early live set for the band, I couldn't resist it. Recorded live in San Francisco on February 19th, 1984, so these are the very early years of the band. We are a full year out from the release of Megadeth's first album, and Mustaine is still cobbling together musicians trying to find a group that works... in fact, based on the time frame, I'm fairly certain that this live set is one of the five shows that had Kerry King on guitar before he went back to focus on Slayer full time.

The setlist had me excited to check out these songs but the sound is so rough at the beginning that I can't tell what is playing. The first song is Hook In Mouth, and I was curious if this was an early version of the song that ended up on the So Far, So Good album from '88, but the sound is so bad that I have no idea... same with the next song Burnt Offerings...it is just a blur of noise. Thankfully things clear up and sound much better by the time we hit Chosen Ones, and the rest of the album is a lot of fun to listen to. It is very raw and really captures the young thrash scene with Mustaine's over the top between song banter... and yes, he talks plenty of shit on Metallica. Overall, this record is very raw and what I would expect from a live bootleg from this time period.

Red Chunks

At some point last Fall, Marcus reached out to me with an eBay link for someone that had a copy of the Last Rights 7 inch on red vinyl for sale. It was no surprise that I hadn't heard anything about this colored vinyl pressing, but Marcus appeared to be stumped as well. We couldn't find any info anywhere online. Was it a legit TAANG release, or was it a boot? Well, for $15 I figured that I'd take the chance.

Turns out, TAANG is selling the record on Discogs, and have it listed as only 200 pressed on red, so it appears to be an official release. Surprisingly though, Discogs shows the selling history is at zero. None of these have sold through Discogs... and I'm one of three people listed as owning it there? Kind of weird for a classic hardcore record reissue that has been available for at least six months.

I love the Last Rights songs... a lot. Their entire output is some of the best Boston Hardcore, but the reality of me owning an original pressing of the Chunks 7 inch was very low. Sure, I've dropped $500 on original pressings for albums... but, man, to spend that for a two song 7 inch... I don't know. Seeing this colored vinyl version seemed like a good enough option to get something into my collection.

Test Tour Remission

There was a time, not that long ago, when the first thing that I'd do each morning was open my latest Discogs wantlist message to see if there was anything new that I should buy. Over the past 6 months or so, I gave that routine up. Same shit everyday with the same shit prices. It was frustrating, so I started ignoring them. A couple months back, I was itching to buy some records, but didn't know what I wanted... so I hit one of the wantlist messages and was surprised to see something that I wanted... and at a good price.

What? Posting my second test pressing this year? Damn, this almost feels like a record collector blog again. I've got a pretty solid Remission collection, so when I saw this test available on Discogs from the guy that used to run Amendment Records, I quickly added that shit to my cart and bought it.

This has been a nice reminder of how great Remission were. This record came out near the height of my record collecting mania, and it is cool as fuck to get my hands on this test press eleven years later.

I exchanged a few messages with the seller after he had shipped the record, and discovered that he also had a copy of the tour press that I was missing. I was so excited about the test press, that I failed to look to see what else he had available when I ordered. We worked a deal off Discogs, and quickly another Remission record was headed my way.

There were 110 copies on blue vinyl, with the European Tour 2013 stamped dust sleeve.

The tour press also included a couple of nice inserts with tour dates and stuff. Cool additions to capture the moment in time. This completes the Pain Understood collection, and now all I need are the tests for the two albums (and a transition press of Winds Of Promise if you want to get technical about it).

New Idles

Last year, I was all about checking out new music that was outside the normal spectrum of what I typically listen to. I was really craving something new and different for me, and I found all kinds of stuff that was fresh and interesting to me. In that spirit, I stumbled upon the band IDLES as I was checking out some new music on Spotify. The artwork of the pink frosted cake for the single Gift Horse caught my eye, and I figured that I'd take a chance and give it a quick listen.

I was really digging the Gift Horse single and quickly checked the other two song that were on Spotify to promote the upcoming album TANGK. I listened to those songs a lot... partly because I really liked them, but also because I wasn't sure how much I really liked them. A couple of the songs were a bit raucous but still restrained, and one of the songs, Grace, was really laid back... and I couldn't easily define the band. I could feel myself starting to obsess over the songs, and after being drawn back to Grace over and over, I started to wonder if I wanted to buy the record.

There was a deluxe edition of the vinyl available, and I was wondering if I should make the jump for it. It cost a bit more than the regular version, but the holographic cover sounded like it would be a cool touch... but I still wasn't sure if I wanted to spend the cash for a band that I didn't know too well, so I stared at it in the webstore for about a week... and then it sold out. I was mad at myself for not making a move sooner and for playing it so safe... and then a couple of days later the webstore had it in stock again, so I quickly pulled the trigger.

Initially I wasn't sure how I felt about the full album, but after a few listens it really started to click with me, and it is one of the most listened to records for me so far this year. I'm still listening to a bunch of stuff that is a bit different for me, and this IDLES record is definitely one of my favorite things right now.

The entire packaging of this record is so good. The metallic holographic TANGK logo on the front, the great looking vinyl, the large booklet insert, and the Love Is The Fing sticker on the front. There is also a sticker that is stuck over the opening for the record, and I had to carefully peel that off to get into the gatefold cover, which was a bit of a pain in the ass, but was a unique touch. Well done all around.

Out Of Takes

I'm not big on alternate recordings for songs. It just doesn't interest me. All I need is the final version that ended up on the record. Anything else is wasted on me. So when I heard that there was a new Minor Threat record with some outtakes, I didn't give it much thought. However, as I was listening to the DJ station on Spotify and it queued up this different version of In My Eyes, it caught my ear and I thought it was kind of cool.

Okay, a little backstory. Chad Lutzke is an author that I enjoy quite a bit. He writes short novellas that tend to come in just over 100 pages, and focus on darker coming-of-age themes and slice of life stories. He writes in a very stripped down style that works incredibly well for him, and I binged seven of his books to start the year, including his classic Of Foster Home And Flies and a reread of one of my favorite novellas ever, Out Behind The Barn. The other thing about Chad is that he loves old school hardcore punk, and we have exchanged a few messages and comments through Instagram... but I was surprised when he had tagged me in a post a few months ago asking if I'd picked up the new Minor Threat 7 inch. While I hadn't really considered buying the record, getting called out like that had me rushing to the Dischord store so that I didn't lose any punk points with the man.

Was I happy that I caved to peer pressure when the record arrived? The packaging is great, with the story on how this recording came to be, plus the photos from that time are a perfect documentation of history... the clear vinyl looks great, and the songs are fun as hell. Does that answer your questions, motherfuckers?

Newbury Power Trip

When I first heard the Manifest Decimation album from Power Trip back in 2013 it didn't do much for me. I think that I just had so much great new music that year, that I couldn't sit still long enough to appreciate it. So many other great records were taking up all of my attention. Power Trip finally clicked with me with their Nightmare Logic album in 2017, and even though that record was one of my favorites that year, I was still slow to go back and give Manifest Decimation another go.

Last year had me revisiting Nightmare Logic a bit, and I figured that it finally time to give Manifest Decimation another listen... and it was no surprise that the record hit me in the best way this time around. The record is pure crossover thrash, and I completely love that style, so I'm happy to be spinning this record even if it is ten years too late.

After listening to these songs a few time, I started my hunt for the vinyl. I wasn't too concerned with original pressings, and just wanted to pick one up for cheap. I found that Newbury Comics did an exclusive pressing, and the vinyl looked nice, so I opened a tab on my browser for the Newbury's store with the intent to buy it soon. That was probably about nine months ago. That open tab to buy the Power Trip record just sat there month after month, and I kept telling myself, "soon". When I saw Marcus post earlier this year about a couple of Newbury Comics exclusive pressings (coincidentally also for an album originally released in 2013), that was the push that I needed to finally just get it done.

Nice sticker for the Newbury exclusive. Rest in power, Riley Gale.

Give Me The Cure

No doubt, last year I really branched out on what I was listening to for music. I was craving something different, and I discovered all kinds of stuff that hit that spot. Part of that shift was that I allowed myself to listen to single songs. I've always been a "full album or nothing" kind of guy, but realizing the freedom with Spotify to listen to a song with zero commitment to chase anything else changed my entire outlook. Plus, as my friend Doug and I were sharing with each other the oddball shit that we had listend to that year, he told me, "Spotify is totally for listening to shit you won't buy." Words of wisdom, and recognizing that I can love songs from the first Lorde album with no commitment to have it on my record shelf was freeing.

Of course this is good for me in theory, but apparently if the obsession is strong enough, I'll still find myself buying records.

Last year, my friend Sarah shared the song Open from The Cure with me. Like a lot of the songs that she shared with me at the time, it took me a while to fully appreciate it, but once it hit me I found myself really enjoying it and returning to the song often. I didn't venture too far away from Open, but earlier this year I wanted to check out more from the band and happened to check out the song Pictures Of You. Wow. This song hooked me immediately. It had all the sad vibes that I was craving and I listened to that song so many times. My obsession with it finally got to the point where I started looking at 12 inch singles for it. I found a UK colored vinyl pressing from a seller in Canada, and even though the price was higher than I expected, it didn't matter as I quickly added it to my cart and checked out.

After sitting with the song Pictures Of You for a bit, I took a chance with the entire Disintegration album, and to my surprise, I love it so fucking much. Goddamnit. All I wanted was one single from The Cure, and now it's got me thinking of buying more.

Priest Revolution

When Sandwell was over from the UK, and I met him in Boston for the afternoon, he was kind enough to bring me a couple of gifts. The thing about me is that my personality is 50% records and 50% books, so Mark knows me well.

First up, Mark delivered me a book on the New Wave Of British Heavy Metal. I've got a few books covering the NWOBHM, and the series of them from Martin Popoff, I've read a couple of times, so I'm happy to add one more to the shelf. It has been a few years since I've spent any time reading non-fiction books on music, but the next time the NWOBHM obsession kicks in, I'll be reaching for this one.

A few years ago, I was really thinking about starting to collect Judas Priest singles. I mean, I have an incomplete collection of Iron Maiden singles, so I might as well start to fuck around with Priest, right? I didn't get too far with that idea, and soon set the plan aside to focus on other things, but I was still excited that Mark brought me a copy of the Revolution single. The Angel Of Retribution album was released in 2005, and Revolution was the first single released from it. This was Halford's return to Priest, and to hear that scream at the beginning of the song at that time, it sent a chill down your spine. It was so good to have him back in the band. This was back in the days when vinyl was struggling to make a comeback, so of course the only option was a picture disc.

Atlanta Vacation

One last record before I checked out of Wanna Hear It. I said that I wasn't going to spend a lot, and while I did walk out of there with six records, they were all relatively cheap, so I'm saying that I did an okay job with self restraint.

When I bought the Abuse Of Power 7 inch back in 2017, I only grabbed the black vinyl pressing, and I was okay with that. Black vinyl was the more limited pressing, and while there was a small itch to grab a colored vinyl option, I kept my cool and didn't do it. Now that I have this edition with the Atlanta Vacation cover, and it puts my total collection for this record at 2, I'm really feeling a pull to chase more for this one. I listened to this 7 inch today for the first time in a while, and it is still a really good record.

There are a series of Atlanta Vacation tour sleeves. This one is for the Northeast tour for Baltimore, Boston and Wallingford CT... but there is also a different cover for their California tour, plus two others for each of their European tours... and I want them all. This copy was only $15 from Wanna Hear It, so I'm trying to stay chill and not chase the $30 to $50 ones available on Discogs right now for the other covers. Patience.

Test Press Of Fire

I'm not a big fan of live recordings. Sure I'll break out Kiss Alive or Black Sabbath Live Evil every now and then, and I'll grab the occasional live bootleg for the historical documentation of what songs some of the big metal bands were playing at that point in their career, but for hardcore bands... kind of pointless. Is there a single live hardcore record that people listen to on a regular basis? Fuck. I was at the last Have Heart show, and still, I have no interest in listening to the live album from it.

So when I was obsessing over the early 2000's in recent years, and picked up a couple of Fields Of Fire records, I noticed that they also had a live 7 inch. Hard pass. Zero interest. But then when I was at Wanna Hear It with Sandwell, and I saw a test press of the live record in the rack... well, now you have my attention... and for $3, get in my collection.

Nice special cover as a tribute to Sounds Of Nature from Christ On Parade, and number 4 out of 20.

Broken Distance

When I listen to music, I usually pick a year and then stick around listening to the records from that year over and over, until I feel the need to move on to something else. A couple of years ago, I found myself stuck in a 2008 playlist. For me, that seems to be a time period that I rarely reach back to, and I attribute that lack of attention is due to the fact that my brain insists that 2008 was just a couple of years ago. I either listen to stuff that is brand new to me, or stuff that is really old... anything in the middle kind of gets lost, and 2008 kind of falls in that weird in-between place. Because of this, it was really fun to stick around in that year and dust off and rediscover some records.

One of the records that I found myself really getting into when revisiting 2008 was the Hourglass 7 inch from Broken Distance. I wasn't really familiar with the band at that time, but years later became good friends with the singer, David, when he was running Salad Days Records, and it was a lot of fun to finally spend some time with one of his early straight edge bands. I started digging into the pressing info for Hourglass because I was tempted to pick up some colored vinyl if the price was right, and in the process I discovered that there was a second 7 inch from the band. Sundown was released 9 years after Hourglass, so I'm assuming that the band just got back together to record the final songs that they had written... but I immediately loved what I heard and wanted to buy the record.

I reached out to David immediately and asked if he had any spare Broken Distance records laying around because I wanted to buy one of anything he still had available. He told me that he probably had some stuff at his parents house, and that he would check the next time he was there. Over a year later and I still haven't heard back from him on it, so when I saw a cheap copy of the white vinyl in the racks at Wanna Hear It, I quickly added it to the handful of records that I needed to buy.

158 pressed on white vinyl.

The Title Fight You Forget

This is the last record that I picked up last year that was influenced from sharing songs with my friend Sarah. There are a few other bands that she turned me on to that I'd still like to pick up the record for... namely Life Of Agony's River Runs Red, and maybe the In Love There Is No Law album from Twitching Tongues. This record, however, is from a band that I never expected to like, Title Fight.

I was obviously familiar with Title Fight when Sarah sent me the song Loud And Clear to check out. The band had a lot of hype when they were around, and it seemed like everyone liked them, but they just never seemed interesting to me. I tried to get into both their Shed and Floral Green albums at the time because it seemed like they were everywhere... but no matter how much I tried, each time I just felt like they were kind of bland. Ten years later, I gave Title Fight another chance with the song that Sarah sent me... and surprise, I fucking loved what I heard. Looking back at 2012/2013, I was heavily into stuff like Mindset and those first two Turnstile records... stuff that had more of a HARDCORE sound... so I can understand why Title Fight didn't interest me at the time. Listening to the band in 2023/2024, after loving stuff that is more melodic like the first Anxious 7 inch, and heavily getting into bands like Seaweed, Title Fight made more sense to my ears these days and I could finally appreciate what they were doing.

I ended up listening to those songs from the early Title Fight EPs quite a bit the last six months, and when I saw the 7 inch for The Last Thing You Forget in the racks at Wanna Hear It, I was excited to grab it. I was hoping for a colored vinyl version, but after quickly checking Discogs, it looked like those records carry a price tag that I wasn't really ready to tackle at the time, so this inexpensive black vinyl third press from 2015 was good enough for me.

Can't Get There From Here

I listened to a lot of R.E.M. last year. There was just something about that band that struck the sad and melancholic nerve in me, and I returned to their records again and again. When I was flipping through the 7 inch racks at Wanna Hear It and I saw the single for Can't Get There From Here, and it was obvious that I needed to buy it even though I've never given much thought to collecting R.E.M. singles.

Can't Get There From Here is from the 1985 album, Fables Of The Reconstruction. I still don't have the vinyl for that album, and it seems to be one that you can still pick up for a reasonable price, so maybe I'll have to add that one to the collection soon.

R.E.M. singles are cool because they come with an exclusive track on the b-side. The flip side for this single features the song Bandwagon... and since I've never bothered with R.E.M. singles, this is the first time that I've heard the song, almost 40 years after it was released. Apparently the 12 inch single has two exclusive songs, so obviously that was the way that I should have gone, and I'll have to remember that if I want to keep collecting R.E.M. singles.

Wanna Hear Crumbsuckers

Sandwell was back in the US last October for his holiday in NYC (yes, I'm just posting about it four months later), and asked if I wanted to meet up with him in Boston for a day. I wasn't able to see him when he was here in 2022, so I was happy that I could make the trip to see him this time around. So he hopped on a bus, and I jumped in my car, and we both made the trip to Boston hang out, shop for some records, and get some good vegan food at Veggie Galaxy. Typically we just meet at the bus terminal in South Station and then jump on the subway to Harvard Square and visit the Armageddon Record Shop, but for this trip I really wanted to introduce him to Wanna Hear It Records... which is not on the subway line, so it meant that I was going to have to drive through Boston for the day. I'm not a big fan of driving through Boston these days, but for records I'll do it.

I had told myself that I needed to limit my spending and take it easy at the record store, but we are talking about Wanna Hear It, so that was going to be really fucking hard to stick to. I bought a lot more than I intended to, so obviously this is going to be spread out over a number of posts to cover this entire record haul. First up is the Life Of Dreams album from Crumbsuckers.

I've owned the Beast On My Back record from the Crumbsuckers for years, and while I do love that album, Life Of Dreams is really where it's at. Seeing it in the rack at the very start of our shopping trip, I knew that I was going to be in trouble with my self imposed spending limits for the day. The price was right, and I was not going to be able to pass up this classic. Doug Free, from Free Spirit and Rival Mob was working the counter at Wanna Hear It, and when I brought my stack of records up to pay, he told me that he had the original Sean Taggert artwork for this album cover framed on his wall. Very cool.

Great day hanging out in Boston with Mark, and a great excuse to get down for some record shopping. More posts to come.

Guided By Angels

Another band that my friend Sarah recommended last year, that I wouldn't have bothered to check out otherwise was Amyl and the Sniffers. I don't think that I'd even heard the band name before she sent me a song to check out, but there was something there that I would have avoided if it weren't for her recommendation. I'm not sure why that is, because the band name seems like it was lifted straight out of the 70's punk scene, but it kind of turned me off. Still, in my effort to approach new music with an open mind last year, I hit play on the song... and holy shit, it hooked me immediately.

Amyl and the Sniffers was so fucking infectious and catchy, that I ripped through the song Sarah sent me three times and then I moved on to check out the entire album. I was floored. There was so much energy here that it captured my full attention. I stopped what I was doing at work and could not turn away from what was coming out of my speakers. 15 minutes after Sarah had sent me the link to the song I was on Discogs and buying the record. I could have taken the 10 minute drive up the road to the record store and grabbed a deluxe vinyl version that included a second LP containing their live at Williamstown set, but I figured that this US press on "Romer red" would be good enough.

After hearing Amyl and the Sniffers, I obsessed over them for a solid week, checking youtube for any live performance from the band that I could find. I was fascinated with the energy and intensity of the singer and I could not stop watching. After a while, and listening to the record multiple times a day, I had to force myself to put it away for a bit so that I didn't burn myself out on it... but this album and the Gulch record were probably two of my favorite finds last year.

Moonkisser

When I first heard of of Moonkisser back in 2018, I was disappointed to discover that their 12 inch EP that was released earlier that year was already sold out. Only 100 were pressed on vinyl, and it was difficult to find one for sale at the time. A couple have popped up on Discogs over the years, and at decent price, but I never made a move for one. When I saw that Head2Wall Records was doing a limited reissue, with new cover art, I figured that it was time to finally grab one.

Moonkisser features a couple of guys from Over My Dead Body and Desperate Measures, but here they play a style that is more influenced by that 90's post hardcore sound. I've been reaching for stuff like Shift and Lincoln a lot recently, and Moonkisser fit right in there with that sound, so I'm glad to get this band back on my radar and in the rotation. I believe that the band have been working on a new record, so hopefully we see that soon because I'm ready for more.

I love the look of this record. Limited to 100 on this pink with clear and green splatter.

Black Radical Love

A couple of years ago, Triple B released a 7 inch from a band out of Boston by the name of Move... or Move BHC. That record come out in the fallout of dirty Trump politics and the height of the Black Lives Matter message. The songs were pissed off and in your face, and I was there for that level of anger and frustration. I don't think that I ever heard anyone else talk about this band, and I was starting to wonder if that 7 inch was going to be all that we saw from Move... so I was happy to see that Triple B was releasing an LP from them last year.

Move BHC very much identifies with BIPOC politics, and with Black Radical Love that is even more evident. The message is important and cannot be said often enough or loud enough, so I'm glad that bands like this exist and ask us to look at ourselves and challenge the powers that be... and musically this is good and hard as well.

Normally, I would be put of by another Triple B colored vinyl abomination, but with this record I think it works. It was supposed to be some kind pink A side with a white B side and a neon green splatter, but maybe it tried to do too much because the neon green appears to have been lost in the mix compared to the mock up in the Triple B store. Whatever. 350 pressed.

Locked Inside Record Collecting

There was a time when I wanted every single variant for every single record that I bought. It was fun for a while, but I got burned out on that game as labels were pressing so many different versions and records were getting more an more expensive. I said "fuck it" and walked away. These days, it is rare for me to buy more than one copy of a record, but occasionally I'll get that collector itch and I'll do something dumb. That was the case with the Locked Inside 7 inch, because if I'm going to do something stupid, I might as well chase a record that has 12 different variants.

Last year I picked up three more copies of the Locked Inside record, bringing my total to seven. I posted a picture of the collection to Instagram because I was so happy with it, and someone brought it to the attention of the guy that runs Not Like You Records, and he mentioned that he had extras of a few that I was missing. We exchanged a few messages and struck a deal for me to buy three more versions.

First up is the purple vinyl version, limited to 54. I don't know if the photo really does this color justice, but man, this thing looks so good.

Another one that I was very happy to grab was the smoke colored vinyl. This one looks really nice as well, and apparently comes with different degrees of smoke... but yeah, this one is good and smokey. Limited to 47, and came with the word "smoke" written on the dust sleeve.

The last one that Mike from Not Like You offered me was a black vinyl version with the center labels getting hit with a blue stamp. He made sure to let me know that this was not a record release version, but I remember Marcus picking up a couple records like this from the label a few years ago.

Mosher dude on one side, and Locked Inside stamped on the other.

For someone that doesn't chase different record versions anymore, I somehow now have 10 copies of this.

Like Sand...

I picked up the Almighty Watching 7 inch back in 2022, and that thing ended up being one of my favorite hardcore records that year. I'm not sure that they caught the attention of anyone else, but they definitely made an impression on me. They really nail a 90's hardcore style that never fails to hook me.

I don't typically pay attention to discography or band compilation records these days, but I did get sucked into picking up the Like Sand... record for Almighty Watching. The a-side has the songs from the Doubtless 7 inch, but I was just happy to have the collection of comp songs on the b-side... with a Breakdown cover thrown in for good measure. I don't own any of the comps that those songs originally appeared on, so it was cool to have them all in one place.

Shit. Now that I own this, it has kind of created a collector itch, and I want to scratch it by picking up the green vinyl press of the 7 inch. Clear vinyl for the comp LP is limited to 100.