Drug Test / R'N'R

Earlier this year I spent a short time obsessing over forgotten hardcore bands from the mid-2000's. At that time I felt compelled to pick up another copy of the Drug Test 7 inch for some reason, and in the process I realized that I'd never even heard their split with R'N'R. Time to fix that.

I probably skipped this record back in 2005 because the Drug Test side totals just over two minutes, and I've never been too excited over R'N'R. It seemed like I wouldn't be getting much in return at that time, so I passed on it. When I was picking up a few records from a Discogs seller recently, I saw that they had the split available for cheap, and 16 years later it seemed like a good time to finally pick it up...however, after checking the sales history for this record and seeing that it has sold for 75 cents a few years ago, I now feel like I may have overspent at $5.

This is a cool little record from a time in hardcore that it seems that most people overlook (I know that I tend to). The R'N'R songs are okay, and there are only two of them so they are finished before the vocals can start to get under my skin, and the Drug Test songs are a nice addition to the ones from their Needle In Your Neck 7 inch. 203 pressed on white vinyl.

Phenobarbital Mosh

Earlier this year, Marcus over at The Endless Quest posted about a couple of Drug Test records and it got me thinking about those records from the early 2000's that have been buried by time and dust. I mean, I rarely pull this stuff out for a spin... and it just seems that most people overlook this stuff. A lot of times it seems that people only care about the latest hyped band, or classics from the 80's, and a lot of stuff in between gets pushed aside and forgotten. I tend to get a charge out of collecting records that no one cares about, so when Marcus posted two great looking Drug Test records, it prompted me to hit Discogs and see what I could find for the band.

I was kind of out of touch with hardcore in the early 2000's, and I missed out on a lot of those bands at the time. Even with the great cover art for the Needle In Your Neck 7 inch, I somehow allowed the record to slip by me for years, until I picked up the green vinyl in 2010. 10 years later, I felt compelled to buy another pressing with this yellow copy.

This record was a blast to revisit. It is harsh and uncompromising from start to finish.