All On Black

After crossing off a couple of old records on my want list, it was time to focus on the current hardcore scene again and so I ordered a couple of records that either sounded interesting or I had heard people I know talk about. By some weird coincidence I managed to pick up only records on black vinyl, which in this day and age is somewhat of a marvel. I don't really care about that, but it's kind of astonishing nonetheless.

Let's start with Caught In A Crowd's second 7" 'The Fight', released by React! Records. Caught In A Crowd play youth crew SXE hardcore, as you have probably already figured out from the band's name and the label. It's good music for what it is, but from the couple of times I listened to the songs, this 7" is nothing that got me overly excited. They're often compared to the likes of Carry On and Count Me Out, which is why I bought the record in the first place, but 'like' does unfortunately not mean 'as good as' in this case. Maybe it'll grow on me though. First press out of 400.

I got to know Kids Insane via a message board I frequently use when someone posted a link to their bandcamp page. The songs got me hooked immediately and I bought their LP soon afterwards. I really liked said first LP and listened to it on a regular basis for a couple of weeks. So when I heard that they were going to put out a new 7", I had to get it. And what can I say, I wasn't disappointed when I listened to it the first time and the many times after that. I'm pretty sure this 7" will rank highly on my 2014 list. I really like the cover, too.
Most common version comes on black vinyl again. There are 317 other 7"s on black, but if you're looking to add some colour to your life, 'Frustrated' also comes on silver and blue vinyl. You can even pick up a test press for cheap as far as I know.

Next up is Sea Of Shit's s.t. 7". Decent power violence, but nothing that really got stuck in my head. Might have to give it a couple more spins, but for now it's 'just OK'.

Many people seem to be fed up with the seemingly endless flow of reissued records, but I'm rather stoked about most of them. I can see the perspective of collector's here, but for me, and many others I guess, it's a good and cheap way to pick up records that wouldn't be affordable otherwise. A good example is this Deep Wound 7", which usually goes for $400+ on eBay. Now I really wanted to have that record - and and still want many other classics as a matter of fact -, but not at that price. Since bootlegs are out of the question, I always have to hope for a reissue of a classic record. Armageddon Records seem to have heard my prayers and even more importantly answered them. The first legitimate reissue of this classic 80's record, at least as far as I know. And again, this is a classic for good reasons. Great guitar, awesome drumming and the pissed off voice of the singer make this 7" really stand out. If you're into early 80's hardcore at all, you need this. On a sidenote, the drummer and the guitarist went on to form this band you might have heard of called Dinosaur Jr. Must have.