Give Me Pink

Seems like everyone it loving the band Give right now. I saw them live in Massachusetts about a year and a half ago with Mindset and Alert. They were just starting to make a little noise at that time, so I was excited to check them out. The first song they played sounded amazing with a strong Swiz influence...unfortunately they didn't hold my attention for very long and soon I was taking a seat and waiting for them to finish up so that I could see The Effort and Mindset play.

Fast forward to today and the band have released a well received 12 inch record, and are set to have a new 7 inch released on REACT! any day now. I've got my pre-order in for the 7 inch, but a month ago the band posted on the REACT! messageboard that they had a few copies of the new record left over from the Sound and Fury fest. It was limited to 125 on pink vinyl, came with a special cover since the regular covers weren't ready on time, and was available only from the band. In order to keep my REACT! collection up to date, I jumped on it and headed to the band's webstore to pick it up.

While I was buying the 7 inch, I figured that I'd give the 12 inch a chance. It was in it's second pressing and limited to 640 on pink vinyl. Damn, some of these songs sound so much like Swiz. Some of these songs grab me immediately, while others may take a little while to grow on me. Definitely worth checking out. The only downside is that it does not come with a download. Such a pain in the ass to have to rip my own mp3s from vinyl.


Okay, the back cover photo creeps me out. Gives me the heebie jeebies just looking at it.

It is always a nice touch when dudes from the band take the time to add a personal touch and include a little note with the record they are shipping out.

Fuck Your Old Time Rock and Roll

Okay, this may be the biggest surprise to regular readers of this blog. It was certainly a surprise to me. Seriously? Bob Seger? What the fuck is the matter with me? Old Time Rock and Roll makes me want to punch old people in the face. I hate that song and never need to hear it again, but my friend, and 70's rock connoisseur, Jeff mentioned that I may like the early Seger stuff...before he got the Silver Bullet Band, and was just a part of the System. I can't remember what finally pushed me to download and check it out, but I was sure surprised when I did. The debut album, Ramblin' Gamblin' Man, from 1969 is killer. If you dig early 70's rock, you need to check this out.

There isn't any polish on this album. The singing is a little off key during parts of Train Man, and the war protest song of 2+2=? is pretty raw. When I'm pulling old records off the shelf, this is the shit that I'll be reaching for. As a side note, Bob Seger has disowned these early recordings and therefore they will never be in print again. Bob Seger is obviously a douche.


I've wanted a copy of this album for a few months now, but I wasn't sure which pressing to get. I think that I had seen three different Capitol labels on eBay at one point...red, yellow and green, and I had no idea which one was the first pressing. I'd seen some early pressings list for $100, and while I really liked this record, it wasn't a record from The First Step, so I wasn't really going to pay a lot for it. In the end, I just wanted a good, clean copy, and when I had the chance to pick up this pressing for $10, I took it. Once I received it, it was pretty obvious that the green labels were from the Capitol Re-issue. The barcode on the back tells me that this must have been from the early 80's.

Effort With A Purpose

This release was a bit of a surprise from REACT! Records. Powered Records released the 7 inch version of Statement Of Purpose from Common Cause back in 2007, so I didn't expect that it would be getting re-issued so soon. In typical REACT! fashion, they released a total quality product...outstanding packaging, and adding on the songs from the Common Cause demo to make this an LP. When I pre-ordered this record, I also took the opportunity to buy the newest issue of Effort Fanzine. I was so impressed with issue 2, that I didn't hesitate to pick up issue 3. Such a great zine.

200 pressed on red vinyl.

300 pressed on blue vinyl.

400 pressed on black vinyl.

The colored vinyl for this record looks amazing.

Dealt A Cruel Hand

I can count the number of cool bands to come from my home state of Maine on one (cruel?) hand. Outbreak, Wake Up Call, and Cruel Hand. Are there any others? Some of the dudes from American Nightmare were from Maine, but they were more of a Boston band. I remember catching Cruel Hand 5 years ago at the Have Heart record release show for the End Of Summer Jam. I didn't think too much of them at the time, but they have sure worked themselves into a powerful hardcore force. Bridge Nine recently put up pre-orders for the band's third release, Lock & Key. I had heard mixed reviews on the album, but I still went ahead and ordered the package deal simply because I love the cover art on this LP. It took a few listens for this to grow on me, and while I don't think it is as good as Prying Eyes, this is still a solid record. White vinyl was limited to the package deal.

In addition to a Cruel Hand t-shirt, the package deal came with a screened print of the album art. Definitely frame worthy for my music room.

I'm not sure how many were made, but mine was numbered 76.

While I was ordering the LP, I figured that I'd pick up a copy of the Cruel Hand single as well. I would have still picked up the record release pressing of this 7 inch, but at the time I had completely forgotten that I'd ordered this. Clear vinyl, but I'm not sure if there were 500 pressed of this, plus 500 on green, for a total of 1,000, or if there were 1,000 pressed of each. Cool record with a bonus track that isn't on the LP.

HeWhoCannotBeAged

I had a birthday this month. Normally I don't give birthdays a second thought...they come and go, and often times I have to stop and calculate how old I really am. This one was a bit different though. There was no forgetting that I was turning 40. This was a big one, and there was no avoiding it. I have an idea of what 40 looks like, and I don't think that I fit the profile. Call it a mid-life crisis, or maybe a healthy bit of denial, but I was bound and determined that by the time my birthday rolled around I was going to be in the best shape of my adult life. I doubled my gym time, doing weights in the morning and then cardio in the afternoon, and adjusted my diet to cut out some of the sugar and carbs. The end result is that I dropped 20 pounds. Fuck you forty...I'm not going down like that.

In keeping with my theme of punching 40 in the face, Rob was awesome enough to pick me up a copy of Black Breath's Heavy Breathing LP for my birthday. I had never heard of this band until I read about them on Doug's blog. He made them sound interesting, so I checked them out. Holy fucking Metal! Thrashing guitars, growled vocals, and Satan...just the kind of thing to keep this 40 year old feeling like he is 18 again.

This was my first Southern Lord piece of vinyl, and I've got to say that the packaging is very well done.

Got 'Em

Back in 2005, True Colors recorded their demo. 5 years later and I'm hearing these songs for the first time, thanks to I Drink Milk Records. I can't believe that it took me this long to finally listen to these songs, but to be honest, I had no idea that they existed. I didn't really hear about True Colors until about a year after they had released their Focus On The Light LP on Six Feet Under Records. So yeah, it shouldn't be much of a surprise that I don't know much about the early recordings of this band. No surprises from this demo, just great straight ahead youth crew hardcore.

Just like the Control Records pre-order for Consider It Done, I found out about this one too late and missed the most limited pressing with the special cover. 104 were pressed on blue vinyl with plain white labels. The pressing info on this indicates that one of these has a fucked up I Drink Milk Records stamp on the B-side label. I'm not sure if it was intended for all the records to get the stamp, and then the label ditched the idea because it wasn't working. I hope that's the case, because these white labels really take away from the look of the vinyl.

394 were pressed on black vinyl with regular labels.

True Control

With all the problems that Powered Records had with the ON record, and shipping stuff in a timely manner, the label's reputation was seriously called into question. Well, it seems like Geert jumped the sinking ship and started his own label, Control Records. I had no idea, until I stumbled upon a post on the REACT! messageboard announcing pre-orders for the final True Colors 7 inch, Consider It Done. The problem was that I stumbled upon it too late, and by the time I saw it, the pre-order vinyl was sold out. I HATE it when I'm not in the loop and I miss out on a pre-order.

Thank you eBay. A couple of weeks later, I saw that Geert was selling a bunch of stuff on eBay to help fund his label. Tons of awesome True Colors pressings, but they were going at prices that I couldn't commit to at the time. The one record that I was able to win was the limited press that I had missed out on for the pre-orders.

Control Records didn't do the gatefold 7 inch sleeve like Six Feet Under did with the US pressing. Instead they went for the fold out lyric sheet. Still cool, but it doesn't touch the SFU packaging. Limited to 100 on white vinyl, with a hand numbered dust sleeve. Geert also threw in a ticket for True Colors final show that happened a couple of months prior. Very cool.

When I won the white vinyl press from Geert, I sent him an email and we worked it out so that I could get a copy of the black vinyl version as well. This one is limited to 300 copies.

True Colors Is Dead

True Colors are no more. For their last show, Six Feet Under records packaged up 75 copies of the Bonus 7 inch that came with the preorders for Consider It Done. Dave from SFU never made it over for the last show, so he put them up in the webstore instead.

Kind of a cool record, compiling True Colors songs from various compilations and demo recordings. Wish they had come up with a better name for the record other than "Bonus 7 inch" though. Number 58 out of 75.

While I was shopping in the Six Feet Under webstore, I figured that I'd check out Citizens Patrol. I downloaded the songs on both their Dead Children and Sick Routine records, but other than a casual listen once or twice over the past two years, I never really invested much time into them. Picking up the Dead Children EP, forced me to really sit down and give it a listen. Holy shit, this is so good. Fast and aggressive hardcore punk from Holland with a definite influence from the early 80's. I love this shit.

Can't Hold Back

The final piece of vinyl from my eBay spending spree with transcending_reality. Fitting that the last post is for Rancor's 7 inch, Never Hold Back. It should come as no surprise to anyone that reads this blog, but I have very little self control when buying records. I see something I want and I buy it. Sure I've got a little restraint, or else I'd have a copy of DYS's Brotherhood. Big ticket items obviously take a little more time from me to commit. When I won this group of records, it was all by chance. The dude was selling a lot of records that I wanted, but they all ended late at night. I threw on max bids on a bunch of items, went to bed, and left it all up to other bidders. I woke up in the morning winning seven records for $105.

I've been wanting to build up my Rancor collection for a while now, so I was very happy to win this pressing on clear vinyl. First press. Limited to 220.

Easy Choice

I don't know too much about this band, other than the fact that they were from Texas, and that Jason Tarpay from Iron Age was the singer. First of all, the record is on Third Party Records, which as also been pretty much a mystery to me...but the eBay listing said that the white vinyl pressing was limited to 300. Second, this record was released in 2002, when I was kind of disconnected from the Straight Edge scene. Not that I wasn't still down with the Edge, but I had lost all connection to what was going on with new bands, and therefore was spending my time with bands like Propagandhi and Anti-Flag. Anyway, this is a cool record...Straight Edge hardcore with an influence from bands like In My Eyes. Another piece of my eBay shopping spree from back in May...back when I picked up the Fired Up, Worn Thin, and Get The Most records. This is the first copy that I've owned for this record, and an easy choice to pick it up for $1.25.

Jello Hype

I've enjoyed most, if not all, of Jello Biafra's stuff. I wouldn't say that I'm a huge fan of anything outside of the Dead Kennedy's, but I have liked all of Jello's bands. The name of his new project is a mouthful...Jello Biafra and the Guantanamo School of Medicine...and it is everything that you would expect it to be. It's political, it's punk rock, but it may be the best thing he has done since his collaboration with No Means No back in 1991.

Apparently I'm supposed to care about who is in this band, but I don't. Never heard of them.

The Black Keys To My Escape

Sometimes I need to get away, and music is my gateway to escape. I don't want anyone around. I just want to be alone with my music collection. I can be a loner in that way. Sure I love it when the kids pop into my Music Room every once in a while and share the moment with me, but there are times when I just want to be alone. Tonight's date night was me and The Black Keys. I can't express how much this band means to me. Some of their songs just grab a hold of me...they work their way into my soul (whatever that may be). A couple of weeks ago I picked up the band's Chulahoma album while I was killing time in Portland, and tonight I took it for a spin. Locked myself in the Music Room, turned out the lights and dropped the needle into the grooves and let the songs wash over me, letting my mind wander, remembering good times and thinking of plans for the future...just trying to clear my mind of a hectic day.

The album itself doesn't match up to the greatness of Rubber Factory or Magic Potion, but it was recorded in 2005, so the band still has that great, dirty blues guitar sound. The thing is, The Black Keys didn't write this album. A man named Junior Kimbrough was such an influence on guitarist and vocalist, Dan Auerbach, that he dropped out of college to spend more time playing guitar. The Black Keys recorded 6 of his songs for this album. Good enough, but again it doesn't match the power of Midnight, Your Touch, or The Flame...but then again, maybe I just have more wrapped up in those songs.

Got To Get The Most

I've been slowly posting from a group of records that I won on eBay back in May...pulling one out every few weeks. Since my last couple of posts have been from REACT!, I figured that it was a good time to pull out the Get The Most tour sleeve that I won. Seriously, I was pretty happy to win this. With the limited number of these that were made, I didn't know when I might have the opportunity to pick one of these up...and for under $20, I consider this a bargain.

In the Fall of 2009, Get The Most hit the road, packaging up their two Crucial Response 7 inches with a special tour cover.


You know that I love low numbers, so I was happy to get number 8 out of 75.

I'm missing test presses, the transition press for Together, and the Common Goals record release, but I figured that it was a good time to pull out all the vinyl for a picture of my Get The Most collection.

Showcase Showoff

I love a good hardcore fest. Hanging out, watching bands kick it live, and checking the merch tables. Seriously one of the best times I've had was catching the last Posi-Numbers fest with my good friend Rob. I had really just started collecting records when I went to that show, and I went nuts buying records...spent so much money. I really don't get to travel much for these type of shows, and while I didn't travel to California for the REACT! Showcase in April, I did get the opportunity to buy the limited REACT! merch from a pretty awesome dude.

One of the hottest commodities at the Showcase had to have been the REACT! boxset. This was a collection of five 7 inches that the label has released. It is too bad that the Get The Most demo wasn't included...it feels a little incomplete without it. Either way, this is pretty fuckin' cool. Screened box with the now classic REACT! image on the front.

The boxset includes a little book that documents each 7 inch included. Lyrics, pictures, history, and even fun facts! Nicely done.

All the records were tied up nicely with a bow. I had to untie them for the picture and it was a total pain in the ass to tie them back together. I can't imagine how insane it was sitting around the REACT! HQ and tying up almost 100 of these things. It took me about 10 minutes to do just one. All of the inserts were included in the box along with a couple of posters. Especially nice is the poster that captures the moment when I almost caught the ass of Mike from Mindset with my face. Classic.

Cool silk screened back to the box. My number looks a little fucked up, but I think it is 84, and not 89, out of 94.

REACT! can hold their own next to my other boxsets.



The Showcase also had some cool special pressings that were limited to 100. Damages on orange vinyl, with the patch that reminds me of Struggle or Econochrist.

Praise was pressed on pink.

I haven't received my Common Cause pre-order yet, but the packaging, once again, is top notch. Showcase pressing is on the coolest color for colored vinyl...gold.

Get The Most decided to make the Showcase their record release show. Nice little fold over deal for the cover to indicate that it is the record release edition. Green colored vinyl.

While Doug was pretty happy with his number 88, as it was a great year for hardcore, I've got to say that 77 was a pretty good year for metal, with cool releases from Motorhead, AC/DC, and Judas Priest. Awww, fuck it, who am I kidding, 88 is still better than 77.

I had been under the impression that my Showcase order was going to be packaged and sent along with the GTM/Praise/Damages pre-order. That didn't happen, and I sent an email to ask what was up. Not sure what the miss was, but to make up for the extended delay in getting everything shipped out, the record release pressing of the new Betrayed record was included. Yeah, that more than makes up for the wait! Holy shit, the song Above The Influence is so fucking good.

Silk screened covers, and hand stamped labels. Limited to 100.

The final piece to my Showcase collection was the "TFS Crew" pressing of the Connection 7 inch from The First Step. Originally released on Rivalry Records, REACT! did a special pressing for the Showcase, and handed them out to the first 77 people at the show. I made an offer to get one, and once we agreed on a price, my collection of the Connection 7 inch went from 9 to 10.