Crazier Than A Shithouse Rat

Endeavor were a hardcore band out of New Jersey that was around from the mid to late 90's. They were straight edge and angry about the crushing greed of Corporate America, so basically they were the perfect band for me at that time (fuck, that combo of those two things still makes the perfect band for me now!). As time ticked by and the years added up, I kind of forgot about Endeavor. It happens sometimes when you music library reaches a certain volume... you lose track of some bands for years. As I was digging into my playlist for 1996 earlier this year, the songs for the first Endeavor album caught my eye. I gave it a spin and was surprised with how much I loved rediscovering that album.

Some records I just expect that I'll be able to easily find them available on Discogs. I figured that no one really remembered Endeavor in 2022 and that I'd be able to quickly find a cheap copy with no problem. To my surprise that wasn't the case, and the sales history on Discogs shows that the colored vinyl pressing for Crazier Than A Shithouse Rat, while not expensive, it still only shows up there about once a year. I threw it on my wantlist and as soon as one was availble I jumped on it.

The original pressing for this album is where it is at for me. I think that I've become too accustomed to listening to the versions of the songs from the Don't Die With Your Eyes Closed CD, but hearing these songs here on the original vinyl with the unlicensed samples between each song... man, that took me straight back to 1996/1997. I'd forgotten all about those bits, and I loved hearing them again.

All In A Dream

As much as I've been excited about checking out new records from hardcore bands, there are still times when that old jaded monster comes to the surface. It has been six years since we had last heard from Praise with Leave It All Behind, and I'd assumed that the band was dead and gone... and for some reason, I was okay with that. As much as I'd really liked the past Praise records, when I heard that they had a new album being released on Revelation, it felt like a chore to have spend any time checking out their new stuff. Again, I can't explain why I was a bit put off at the thought of a new Praise record, but I was really prepared to hate on this thing.

I didn't want to like All In A Dream, and with that mindset it was easy to dismiss it after previewing a couple of songs. No thanks. I'll pass.

A couple of months later, I found myself in a more open minded attitude and wanting something fresh, so I queued up that new Praise record again. Oh damn. I've made a terrible mistake. This record is actually a good time, and once I was rolling with the vibes that this record was putting out, I was totally down with these songs. Shit. Now I needed the record, but the color vinyl appeared to be sold out everywhere.

I was checking Discogs every other day hoping to find someone that was listing a colored vinyl pressing at a reasonable price. I got lucky when I stumbled across a new listing for $23, and I didn't hesitate to grab it before someone else beat me to it. I'm not sure where I'll end up ranking this album at the end of the year, and it probably won't crack the Top 10, but it certainly has been a pleasant surprise... but I guess that's what you get when you go in with rock bottom expectations.

Open Your Eyes

A couple of months ago, I was feeling like I might need to reign in my record spending. I've bought a bunch of stuff this year with little consideration paid to my savings account, and felt like I needed to pump the brakes a bit (spoiler alert: I still haven't done that). Before I slowed things down though, I wanted to make a run at something that would make more of a substantial impact to my collection instead of some $5 record from a 90's band that no one remembered.

I've been terrible at keeping my focus on my Top Wants of 2022 list that I keep in the sidebar of this blog. I use this list to keep some major records at the forefront of my attention, with hopes that I'll pick them up over the year. This year, I just haven't cared to focus on that list and have just been going wherever my attention is at the moment. When I was thinking that I'd buy one more record before taking a spending break, I wanted to cross off at least one of those records from my Top 10 Wants list before I found myself in December and the list untouched.

Warzone is one of those classic hardcore bands, and settling for one of those recent Revelation reissues for their classic albums wasn't going to cut it. I needed the original Caroline pressing for Open Your Eyes. Reasonably priced records seem to be a rare thing on Discogs a lot of the time, so when I saw a seller listing this classic at a decent price, I grabbed it. Such a great hardcore record, even though The American Movement makes me cringe every time I hear it.

Completely unplanned, but when I found myself in this same predicament last year, I also used this "one last record" excuse when I picked up a copy of Warzone's Don't Forget The Struggle.

Destroy All Music

I typically add records to my Discogs wantlist on pure impulse. Something will catch my attention and I'll throw it on the list where it will sit for years. Sometimes I'll lose interest and move on like those U.D.O. and Gamma Ray records that I put on my wantlist 7 years ago, and others will sit there as I wait until the stars align and the record condition and price are just what I'm looking for.

Five or six years ago, I found myself obsessed with early punk and was uncovering a lot of classic bands and records that I'd never bothered with up until then. I discovered a lot of great stuff at that time, with one of those bands being The Weirdos. I was really digging their first two 7 inches, and I threw them on my Discogs wantlist. I picked up the single for We Got The Neutron Bomb a couple of years ago, but the band's first record, Destory All Music, continued to evade me as sellers generally ask stupid prices for records. When a seller finally posted one for sale with a reasonable pice, I jumped on it.

The Weirdos were a punk band out of Los Angeles, and you can hear how they influenced bands like Circle Jerks with their frantic energy. This first single from 1977 is Punk history. Outside of these two 7 inch records, I'm not sure that the band really keeps my interest, but that early stuff is fucking great.

Fixation Flexi

On the scale of terrible formats, the flexi may rank below the 10 inch. While the 10 inch is just awkward, the flexi feels like it is a throw-away format. Something that you'd find in your order from REVHQ as a promo for some band that you've never heard of and don't care about, so you just toss it in the trash.

I never throught that I'd buy the Into The Pain flexi from Fixation, and yet somehow here we are. I mean, I really like those first two Fixation records, and was happy to pick up the Marked EP last year, but the flexi from 2019... ugh... it was tough to convince me to actually buy it. Still, when I was in the WAR Records store buying the Abstain 12 inch, I figured that I could throw $6 at this thing. Plus, it was the alternate cover that was limited to 100 and numbered, and since they were still available I figured that I might as well do it.

Like the Marked 7 inch, these songs are fantastic. Fast and agressive hardcore. The band has a new singer, so we'll see if Fixation can make that transition successfully with their new album.

A Straight Edge Hymn

I'm a man of simple tastes. Tell me that a band plays straight edge hardcore, and there is a good chance that I'll eat that shit up.

Abstain are a straight edge hardcore band out of San Diego and play a style that definitely draws influence from those 90's bands like One King Down, Culture and Prison Of Hope era Chokehold. I mean check the singers baggy pants from this recent live show and tell me that they wouldn't fit in with that mid-90's metallic chugga chugga style from that period. Love it! I absolutely love this style, and with the "San Diego Straight Edge" and big X's on the back of the record cover, Abstain deliver exactly what I want here. I just hope there is more to come.

The record was listed as "army green" with each record being a "a slightly different color", and mine definitely has more of a blue tint to it than green. 200 pressed.

New Adventures In R.E.M. Reissues

I don't listen to R.E.M. a lot, but sometimes they hit a spot with me that can't be denied. As I was picking up the latest Dio single for Record Store Day, I was flipping through the record bins at Bull Moose... not really expecting to find anything, but it felt good to flip through the stacks of vinyl... and then I noticed a recent pressing for New Adventures In Hi-Fi.

There was a time when I never thought that I'd need to listen to R.E.M. again, but the last few years has found me digging out their records occasionally, and really having a good time with them. When I saw New Adventures In Hi-Fi in the racks, I felt the need to pick it up. I haven't listened to this R.E.M. record for probably 20 years, and looking at the track listing, not a single song stood out as one that I remembered. I did recall that I liked this album when I bought the CD back in 1996, so I took a chance and on a whim I bought the vinyl.

Wow. It was great revisiting this album, and a few of the songs came back to me as soon as I heard them (Bittersweet Me is so amazing... how did I forget about this song... and damn... E-Bow The Letter hits me hard as well.) I never bothered with any R.E.M. record after this one, so this may be as far as I go with the band, but now I'm curious.

Double Dose Of Donington

Back in 2018, the Dio camp got involved with Record Store Day releases, and started dropping special picture disc singles for each RSD event. With the 2022 Record Store Day, Dio released their 7th single in this series.

Look, I'm a Dio fanboy, so there is no way that I can say no to these RSD releases... no matter how pointless they are. I mean, they are picture discs, so that's gross, and they don't contain anything new outside of the artwork, but I still need them all.

The two songs here were taken from the Dio At Donington double live LP from 2010. I dig the picture disc art, but now I'll stick it on a shelf and not think about it ever again.

Be Cool

For the past 4 years or so, I've really been on my game when it comes to checking out newer hardcore records. That shit gets me fired up and it's where a lot of my focus has been. If a band gets even the slightest bit of hype, I'm there checking them out. Yet, sometimes there are bands that never enter my periphery. Marcus really delivered earlier this year when he posted about Power Alone, and he managed to surprise me again with Coolside. Both bands had records from Indecision a couple years ago, and somehow I managed to miss out on both of them at the time.

I'm not sure what I was expecting when I opened Spotify to give this Coolside 7 inch a quick listen, but I certainly didn't think it was going to hit me as hard as it did. I absolutely love this record. I'm not really sure who to compare them to, but they just play hardcore the way I like it. It didn't take long before I was hitting up the Indecision store to buy a copy. Thanks for the tip, Marcus, now lets see who can track down that elusive first 7 inch.

500 pressed on this great looking cool blue vinyl.

End On End On End

It feels like new hardcore records have been poppin' off left and right this year. There have been a number of really solid records lately, and I've been excited to check out any new band that makes the slightest ripple. Give me that new shit.

The only thing that I knew New Morality Zine for was Sunstroke and the first Rule Them All record. Both of those bands have a strong DC Revolution Summer vibe, and so when I heard that the label was releasing a record for a band named End On End, and given that there is a Rites Of Spring song with the same name, I kind of expected they would be borrowing heavily from that style. Nope. Not even close. End On End play some straight forward hardcore. Man, this was surprising and I'm totally digging it.

100 pressed on coke bottle clear vinyl.

Metallica Vinyl Club #6

The Metallica Vinyl Club seems to have worked out those kinks from the inaugural year, and everything has been running smooth with the subscription in 2022. No delays, and this thing continues to pay off with some cool shit.

Everyone likes to bag on Metallica, especially when it comes to St. Anger. I fully understand the criticism, but I also really like that album. When I opened the box to reveal the latest Metallica Vinyl Club selection, I was very excited to see that it contained four live tracks from their most hated album. Lars even includes a short bit of writing about the album and as expected, makes no apologies... even cracking a joke to "turn on the snare and enjoy."

Holy shit. As soon as I dropped the needle and the guitar riff for Sweet Amber kicks in...fucking hell...I'm hooked. It starts off with such a Kyuss-inspired riff before the song fucking explodes. Man, don't tell me that St. Anger doesn't have any good songs. The sound on these live recordings elevates the songs to another level. Man, I would be down for a full album of this.

Like each Vinyl Club release, the packaging is top quality. A nice poster is included along with a nice looking inner sleeve design with the Pushead designed St. Anger fist in four different color patterns, which look great together. Fantastic and exactly what I want from this subscription.

Tear It Up 2000 Demo

I've liked Tear It Up since I first heard them in the early 2000's, but I hadn't really bothered to pick up any records for the band until recently. I grabbed three TIU records earlier this year, and so it seemed like perfect timing when the band finally had their 2000 demo pressed to wax recently.

As a demo, of course it was originally released as a cassette, and then included on the The First Four Months compilation CD, but this is the first time it has been released on vinyl. Chronic Death did a great job with this release with the screen printed cover and thick cardboard sleeves. The more limited pressing was a splatter colored vinyl, so I avoided it and went with the purple and black option. Shame because that splatter pattern ended up looking really good.

The songs here all ended up on the Just Can't Stand It record, so there isn't really anything exclusive here... unless you count the earlier recording with the raw demo quality. I dig it.

When I bought this copy from Chronic Death, they were including a 45 adapter with orders. Kind of funny that this record has a small hole and doesn't need an adapter. Oh well... still a cool addition.

Sledgehammer

Sledgehammer were a band on the classic New Wave Of British Heavy Metal comp, Metal For Muthas. They had the second song on the album, following up Iron Maiden's Sanctuary, and that one-two punch was a great way to kick off the record. I'd never heard anything else from the band, so when I saw the first Sledgehammer 7 inch for cheap, I figured that I'd pick it up and see what else the band had to offer.

Originally released in '79 on Slammer Records, the Sledgehammer 7 inch was reissued in 1980 on Valiant and packaged with a picture sleeve. No doubt, the band's Sledgehammer song is the best song they have done. The song is classic early NWOBHM that gallops with its infectious headbanging beat... so good. The b-side however, doesn't hit as hard and is more of a 70's rocker. Not bad, but it doesn't have the same power as the title song.

The Sledgehammer 7 inch was an early entry to the NWOBHM scene, so I'm happy to add it to the collection.

Name, Rank & Serial Number

Earlier this year I picked up the Fist album, Back With A Vengeance, as a part of my attempt to fill a lot of holes in my New Wave Of British Heavy Metal collection. As we close in on the last part of the year, the NWOBHM Chase of 2022 hasn't been as successful as I imagined when I started this quest back in January. Sure, I've picked up a couple of big records here and there, but overall once we got passed the initial surge, I've just been too interested in hardcore records and I lost focus on the original goal. Well, if there is anything this blog succeeds at, it is it's unfocused and manic obsessions.

So as I was posting about Back With A Vengeance back in June, it triggered me to finally pick up the first Fist record, the Name, Rank & Serial Number 7 inch. This was the Fist record that introduced me to the band, and while they were a NWOBHM band in the early 80's, I didn't check them out until 2018. Always late to the party, but I was hooked immediately with these two songs. The 7 inch was originally released on Neat, but the band was quickly picked up by MCA, and they reissued the record. The Neat pressing of this 7 inch is really the only way to go.

Catalog number NEAT04, but really the second NWOBHM single that Neat released, and I'm super happy to have it in my collection. It also makes me want to chase those other early Neat singles that I'm missing.

Blangk

One of my favourite aspects of record collecting is finding a band you have never heard of before, especially if it is something from a long time ago. I've been listening to hardcore since 1990, and I've been obsessed with discovering new bands since that time when I placed my first order with Ebullition. I would religiously scour mailorder catalogs from Very, Lumberjack and Ebullition, reading record descriptions for everything that was available. I'd use a highlighter and mark which records I wanted and check off those that I owned. I was a fanatic, and spent more time with those catalogs than I did with my college textbooks. I'm not looking for some badge of honor for my nerd level of knowledge for hardcore bands through the 90s, but I feel pretty confident that I know my shit when it comes to that era of hardcore. I'm sure that there are plenty of obscure bands from that time that I've never heard of, but it still took me by surprise when Marcus mentioned the band Blangk on his blog last year. Blangk? Who the fuck is that?

Blangk were a band out of Louisville in the mid-90's. They released a 7 inch, a split 7 inch, and a CD... and coming from the home of Endpoint and Falling Forward, you would have thought that the band would have popped onto my radar at some point. Maybe it was the odd fucking name of "Blangk" that kept them out of my circle of interest, but either way, when some nerd from the UK knows about the band, and I've never even heard their name, I sit up and pay attention. I quickly found a download on Soulseek... because if you are relying on Spotify to feed you all of your music, you are missing out... and I checked out the songs for their 7 inch.

Initially, I wasn't too interested in what they were doing. It was okay, but it didn't really excite me. Still, I'd go back to those four songs occasionally, and sometime over the past few weeks they really got their hooks into me... to the point where I was queuing them up a couple of times a day. Wow. I fucking love this. An absolute treasure to discover 27 years after it's release.

Speedway Paradise

I discovered Speedway at the end of 2020 when I picked up their 7 inch through Triple B Records. I really liked it, but to be honest, I quickly forgot about the band earlier this year until I heard that they were releasing something through Revelation. Even then, it still took me months to bother checking out the new songs on Spotify. After one listen of Paradise, I wondered why I'd let the band fall off my radar so quickly.

Paradise is a great hardcore 7 inch. The band seem to have such great youthful energy, and sound like they could have shared stages with Bane and In My Eyes in the late 90's. I've watched a couple of live videos for Speedway, and the band just seem to have a great time playing music together, and those good vibes are infectious which makes me appreciate them even more. Please give me more from this band.

Orange vinyl was exclusive to REVHQ and was limited to 219 copies.

Hate Uber Alles

Kreator is a classic thrash metal band. Man, that string of records from the Flag Of Hate EP in '86, straight through to Coma Of Souls in '90, is a hell of a run. Each one is a ripper, and I have no problem dipping into any of those records when I need something raw and angry. Outside of those six records (yeah, I'm including the Out Of The Dark EP in there) I don't spend any time with the rest of the Kreator catalog. The band pushed their boundaries through the 90's, and I'm not really compelled to revisit or even own those albums...and even though Kreator got back to some thrash roots in 2001 with Violent Revolution, and released some solid records since then, when I'm in the mood for Kreator I always hit that 80's output. Still when it was announced that Kreator had new album, Hate Uber Alles, on the way, I was sucked into the hype once again and I ordered a copy.

Like the past few Kreator albums, Hate Uber Alles is pretty good. There are times when I find myself really liking it, and then it kind of fades into background music and by the time the album is over, I don't remember much of what I've heard. Hell, with both Phantom Antichrist (2012) and Gods Of Violence (2017), I have barely given those albums any attention once we moved into a new year after it was released. Maybe I'll get a kick out of giving them a spin at some point down the road, but right now, I'm just kind of shrugging my shoulders. I don't see that Hate Uber Alles will be much different. It is nice to hear some new Kreator songs, but really, I think that all I need are those classic records.

The record may be decent, but the packaging is top notch. I love that front cover artwork, and I'm glad to have this in my collection for that alone. 400 pressed on a nice looking clear ink spot in red colored vinyl.

Have You Tried Jogging?

I was kind of surprised to see a new Bitter Branches record this year. When older dudes come out of hardcore retirement with a new band, I guess that I don't really expect them to stick around too long. Bitter Branches released a five song 12 inch in 2020, and then a two song 7 inch in 2021, and I expected that that might be it for the band. I was happily proven wrong.

While I enjoyed the first Bitter Branches EP, it wasn't something that I returned to very often. So while I was happy that the band was releasing a new record, I didn't feel the need to hunt down any special limited pressing, and I just grabbed a copy of Your Neighbors Are Failures from REVHQ when I was placing an order. Initially, I was put off by the color pattern used for the vinyl, but I'm starting to come around and now I'm kind of digging the orange and black version that I received, and think it flows nice with the cover art. As a side note, I didn't even think that the band name was on the front cover until I was looking at this photo that I'd taken.

As for the record... holy shit... this thing surprised the hell out of me. I really liked the Along Came A Bastard 7 inch, as those two songs hit hard, and with Your Neighbors Are Failures, Bitter Branches continue that trend of anger and agression. I'm surprised with how much I am loving this record.

I don't really collect multiple copies of new records anymore. I'm not interested in keeping up with the dozen different shitty looking color vinyl variants that the labels push out these days. Instead, I will usually just take whatever less offensive color vinyl option I can get and be okay with it. Cover variants, however, are my weakness. As soon as Marcus mentioned that Equal Vision was selling a version of Your Neighbors Are Failures with a special screen printed cover, I jumped into the store to see what was up. Like I said, I was really liking the album, and while I wasn't excited over the splatter vinyl, the special cover had me sold.

Number 100 of 150 made with the red and black splatter vinyl and the special cover. This is a really nice looking version.

After I originally picked up the ACAB 7 inch on clear with yellow splatter vinyl, I discovered that the record was also pressed on pink. I kind of wanted one since pink is the best vinyl color, but I had talked myself out of chasing one. As I was in the EVR store buying a second copy of the Bitter Branches album like a fool, I figured that I might was well go full idiot and pick up a second copy of the 7 inch as well.

Enact

War Records has released some solid records lately, so I've started to pay more attention to what that label is releasing. I didn't know anything about Enact, when the label announced that they were releasing a record by the band, but I've been loving a bunch of newer hardcore bands lately so I decided to see what they were about. Rather quickly, I discovered two things that really piqued my interest... one, they were a straight edge band... and two, Kyle Deville from Get The Most and Cutting Through was playing guitar. I checked out a couple of songs on Spotify, but I didn't pay too close attention to them, and quickly found myself preordering the album.

When the record arrived, I gave it a couple of spins, but it really wasn't catching my attention and it quickly became background noise to whatever else I was doing. I kind of gave it a shrug of my shoulders and put it in the pile of records that I have stacked up as my backlog to write about for the blog. I just didn't find it too exciting. As I was getting closer to pulling the record out to write about here, I gave it a couple more spins, and suddenly things clicked. Wow. It grew on me with each listen, and I found myself listening to it daily. I even get a kick out of watching their video for the song The True Balance, even though they do that goofy "walking down the street while singing the song" camera shot. This is a really good record, and even with the seven and a half minute final song, Still In Silence, that features an angry spoken word piece set to music, I love this record all the way through. I've heard some people say that they will probably only listen to this Still In Silence song a couple of times and then skip it, but Rikki's voice is so passionate and powerful, I don't see how you could ignore it. It is surprising just how much I've come to like this record.

170 pressed on "grape" colored vinyl... which seems like an odd choice... I mean why not go with yellow or red vinyl to match the cover?

Clutch Collector's Series #2

Last year, Clutch introduced their Collector's Series with a special pressing of their Blast Tyrant album. The plan with the Collector's Series is to reissue a number of Clutch albums, repackaging them with some reimagined art work. The one for Blast Tyrant was fantastic, and I was eager for the next one.

It has taken a year for the second release in the Collector's Series to drop, and this time they went with Robot Hive/Exodus. This album was originally released in 2005 on CD and didn't see a vinyl pressing until 2014. I grabbed that 2014 pressing when it was released, and I'm very happy with it, but it is cool to get a colored vinyl version here.

Once again, the packaging for this series is amazing. The new cover artwork looks great, and the colored vinyl is a nice match. You can tell that a lot of thought and hard work went into this pressing to make it special.

There is a bonus 7 inch included with the album, and features two songs from the Robot Hive session that were cut from the original release due to time constraints. Those songs ended up on the Pitchfork And Lost Needles comp from the band, but it is cool to have them packaged here.

Custom art print is included as well, and signed by the band. Pretty cool that I got a low number with 22 out of 7,500.

I was really hoping that Clutch was going to take the opportunity to reissue some of thier older records in this Collector's Series format... it would be nice to get some of those albums that I'm not very familiar with like Elephant Riders and the self-titled Clutch record with this special packaging... but I read recently that there are only four records in this series, so I can only assume that the next two will follow the chronological order set with Blast Tyrant and Robot Hive/Exodus, and the next two will be From Beale Street To Oblivion and Strange Cousins From The West. I already own the vinyl for those two, but it looks like I'll be buying them to complete the series.