20 Years Disconnecting

Today is the 20th anniversary of this blog. I started this thing on a whim when a friend of mine said that he was starting a blog about his journey getting into stand up comedy, and I felt the urge to document something here as well. I'd just started getting into record collecting the year before and it had become an obsession. I was constantly scouring eBay, and I was creating checklists for things like my short lived plan to collect all of the Bridge Nine pressings (truly a sign of my 2006 mindset LOL), and starting a "record nerd" blog to write about the things I was buying just seemed to make sense. Who knew that 20 years and 2,644 post later I'd still be doing this thing?

To say that this blog has become my personality would be an understatement. I'm not sure who I'd be right now without it. I love writing about this shit and documenting my musical obsessions, and sometimes I question if I'm buying records because I need to own them or if I'm just using it as an excuse to talk about it here. Either way, I still get a kick out of this thing and don't see myself stopping anytime soon.

When I noticed that I was coming up on 20 years here, I started to put some thought into what I should do to commemorate the event. I wanted a record to post today that was going to fit the 20 year anniversary theme and it seemed that something released in the year that I started this blog would be a good way to go. I started checking my 2006 playlist and discovered a couple of records that I'd never picked up over the past 20 years and figured that now was the time.

It took me a long time to really get into Sinking Ships. I had a brief obsession with them a few years ago, but still I've never really paid much attention to their album from 2006, Disconnecting. After giving the songs a couple of spins last month, I knew that I needed the record for this 20 year anniversary post.

It might have taken me a while to get there, but I am loving this album right now. So happy that I was prompted to give it my attention.

99 pressed on blue vinyl.

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!

Blue Meridian

Earlier this year, I was spending a bit of time with hardcore bands from the 2000's. A lot of this stuff had fallen off my radar for a while and it was fun to go back and revisit this era. One of the bands that I never paid much attention to in those days was Sinking Ships. It seemed like they were a big deal at the time, but for one reason or another they never made much of an impression on me. When I picked up a copy of the REV comp Generations a few months ago, I found myself really enjoying the Sinking Ships song on there, and I thought that maybe I should revisit the band.

The Sinking Ships 7 inch for Meridian was released the same year as the Generations comp, so I figured that would be a good place for me to dive back into the band. Those songs hit me immediately with thier youthful hardcore energy played with passion. Happy to finally "discover" this band 15 years later.

Given their popularity in the past, I was kind of surprised to pick up this first press on blue for only $7. 200 pressed.