Red Rise And Control

Often times, as I'm posting a record here on the blog, I'll stumble upon another version that I need and I'll immediately buy it as I'm caught up in the heat of the moment.

This is what happened after I picked up the white tour cover for the split 7 inch with I Rise/Soul Control at Wanna Hear It when I was there last year with Sandwell. Adding that to the collection made me want more, and when I saw that this red vinyl version was available on Discogs, I immediately bought it.

The discogs seller ended up being Kyle Whitlow, who used to run Rivalry Records and did his Seeking The Simple blog. He was delayed on shipping out this split 7 inch, and sent me a message apologizing for it, saying that he was going to throw in some extra records from his Rivalry days to make up for it. This ended up being a copy of both the Red Handed and Soul Control LPs (that I already own), plus two more copies of the Soul Control record on red vinyl (with no sleeve), and then about 15 posters from various Rivalry bands... so basically it was a bunch of stuff that I didn't need and now I need to store it or get rid of it myself.

Wanna Haul It: Part 5 - Soul Control

Five years ago, I met Sandwell in Boston and I picked up a bunch of different versions of the Soul Control / I Rise split 7 inch. So it felt right when I saw another version when we were at Wanna Hear It Records this year.

When this split was released in 2007, I felt that Soul Control and I Rise were a couple of my favorite bands at that moment. I don't listen to them much these days, but when I pick up a new version of this record and hear the songs again, it helps to reinforce those old feelings. These four songs are so good. Fuck... this makes me want to listen a bunch of shit from this era again.

This is my sixth version of this split (seven if you count the two versions of the blue vinyl pressing), and posting about this latest one makes me want to track down and buy the last two that I need to complete the collection. No one seems to care about this record... this was only $5 at Wanna Hear It... so technically it should be a cheap and easy goal. We will see.

I had picked up the blue tour cover for this record with Mark 5 years ago. Good to have the white cover now as well.

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.

Soul Control Pizza

Three years ago I picked up a blue vinyl pressing of the I Rise / Soul Control split 7 inch while Sandwell and I were hanging out in Boston at the Armageddon Shop (how the fuck was that three years ago already?!?!). The blue vinyl for this split was a friend pressing with unique hand drawn center labels for each one. I thought that the copy that I picked up was pretty cool, but I didn't think much beyond that one copy, until I saw Marcus post recently about the multiple versions that he had. Suddenly, I wanted to steal his idea and grab extras of this one too. I got lucky and found one available through Discogs for under $5, so of course I bought it.

The labels on this thing are great. Give me a slice of that really weird 'za.

I don't know how dumb I'll get collecting these things, but I hope that someday I'll exceed the level of stupidity that I set with the Reveal limited edition cover, and I imagine a world where Marcus and I are the only ones to own this and we split all 100 of them.

On that previously mentioned shopping trip with Sandwell, I had also picked up the Soul Control version of the Summer Tour cover for the split. Buying this latest blue vinyl pressing had me in the mood to hunt down the I Rise version of that tour cover as well.

The Soul Control version has a pink cover, while the I Rise version is this bright green. Numbered out of 150.

While I was picking up copies of this split, I also found a copy of the first Soul Control 7 inch for under $4.

When the Soul Control 7 inch was released, I only bought the colored vinyl for the first press. I didn't bother fucking around with the second pressing from Rivalry at the time, and figured that I never would. Yet, here I am, 15 years later buying a copy. Love that yellow and green split for the vinyl. Limited to 220 for the second press.

Armageddon Seven Inches Pt. 1 - Rise And Control

Back in October I met Sandwell in Boston for some record shopping at Newbury Comics and the Armageddon Shop. Armageddon is a great store if you are just looking to buy regular pressings for new releases, but as far as albums go, I find that they don't really have much of a used or rare selection. After flipping through the Metal and Punk sections for a while, and not finding anything exciting, I decided to follow the expert advice of Marcus and dive into the 7 inch selection to see if there were any gems buried in there.

I didn't really expect to find much in the 7 inch bin, but I think I made a pretty good score with three copies of the Soul Control split with I Rise. This record was a big deal for me back when it was released, and I listened to these four songs a ton. I only owned the regular black vinyl pressing, so it was cool to scoop these all at once. Good deal at $4 each.

Blue vinyl with the handmade labels was the "friends press".

Numbered dust sleeve out of 100 pressed.

Armageddon also had a couple of tour pressings of the split 7 inch.

Cali weekend tour sleeve. Numbered out of 108.

Soul Control and I Rise toured together over the summer when this split 7 inch was released. Each band had different tour covers, with Soul Control selling the pink ones.

It's been over ten years since this record was released, and I've never really hunted down any colored vinyl or special covers, but now that I have these three, I kind of want more. Too bad Armageddon didn't have the I Rise version with the green cover as well.

More records to come, but I did get a photo of Sandwell and I after our shopping trip, and refueling with some vegan food from the Clover Food Lab in Harvard Square. I was a bit jealous of the Iron Age 7 inch that he found.

Out of Control

My computer area is getting out of control, with stacks of vinyl building up all around me. The past few months have lent very little free time for me to just sit and enjoy new records. It has gotten to the point where my desk is cluttered with piles of records that need to be added to the database I use that catalogs all of my records and CD's. I'm going to have to get this stuff added to my blog so that I get get his mess cleaned up. So much music, so little time.

Man, Rivalry Records puts out some of the sweetest looking vinyl, and the new Soul Control and Red Handed records are no exception. Soul Control's album, Involution, was pressed on red (limited to 600) and red/yellow swirl (limited to 200). They also had limited pressings on orange/yellow swirl, plus the black vinyl record release pressing. I saw that the band had a few of those left over from their tour and were selling them through their myspace page, but I was too broke to spend more money on additional pressings. About half of the tracks on this album are from the 7 inch and the split with I Rise, but damn, this is a fine record...full of hardcore groove in the vein of Burn. Great stuff.

The new Red Handed record, Wounds Remain, was also pressed on some pretty tasty looking vinyl. The purple and yellow swirl was limited to 800, and looks good enough to eat. The pre-order color was limited to 200 and the color was called "Grape Citrus Explosion". Very creative. Much like the Soul Control album, Wounds Remain is about half full of previously released songs from their 7 inch. It took a little while for these songs to really grab me, but after a few listens I was suddenly hooked on their snotty, hardcore punk style. Love it.

Histories and Soul Control

I received the Go It Alone and Soul Control preorders a couple of weeks ago. Unlike some people that I know, I wasn't lucky enough to get the red pressing of the Go It Alone record. I got it on black, which is limited to 210, and on white, limited to 720. This band has really grown on me lately. I've bought all their records since the Vancouver Gold 7 inch, but nothing has really grabbed my attention, but a few months ago I really sat down with The Only Blood Between Us and I'm starting to appreciate this band more.

I don't know much about Soul Control other than they are from Rhode Island and someone from Verse is in the band. Their style is very similar to Lion of Judah, or for the old school reference, Burn. The first song really pulls you in with it's intensity and I can see kids going nuts, and singing along to this song live. This 7 inch is limited to 210 on green with yellow swirl and 720 on green.