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.