Built To Last

So, another big want crossed off of my list. Coloured Sick Of It All vinyl is kind of hard to come by, especially the records that came out on Equal Vision and Fat Wreck. Probably because there are some crazy Fat Wreck collectors out there and also because the numbers pressed on coloured vinyl are usually somewhat low for a band of this caliber. Built To Last comes on this sweet looking blue marble. Only 300 were copies of this exist and they don't pop up too often. So when I recently saw that someone on a messageboard offered this for a fair price, I knew this was the time to finally get it. A lot of people don't like the 'later' SOIA albums, i.e. everything after Scratch The Surface or even after Blood, Sweat And No Tears already, but I can enjoy almost all of their records. Built To Last is no exception here. Good Lookin' Out, Built To Last and Us vs. Them are probably my favourite songs on this LP. Besides, they make great live songs. One more down, many to go.

Roll With The Punches

After passing up on this record for many, many times I pulled the trigger and was finally able to cross this off of my want list. Fun fact, my want list somehow never seems to get shorter, no matter how many records I buy. I wonder why that is... Anyway, Carry On's Roll With The Punches is a great 7". A couple of songs ended up on the LP they released a year later, which is even better than this 7", so you definitely need both of these records. One of my favourite bands from that time. 200 copies on stunningly looking baby blue marbled vinyl.

In addition to the Carry On 7" I bought, the seller threw in this Times Together 7" that came out on Just Another Day records a few years ago. If you read this, thanks again, man. I had never heard of the band, but I really like it. Sounds like a mix between Uniform Choice and H20. Since you can't go with neither of these two bands, you know you're getting something good here.

Gooooooooooooooooooooo!

A buddy of mine posted a picture of his Go! collection on instagram some time ago, which made me listen to the two Go! 7"s I already had. Something I hadn't done in a long time. Too long a time actually. I'd almost forgotten how good they were. Good, powerful hardcore with very outspoken political lyrics. All the 7"s originally came on black vinyl only as far as I know. Luckily, a lot of people seem to have forgotten or simply never cared about this band, so you can pick up their records for rather cheap. Buy them all! Okay, maybe you don't need the live 7" and the Root Canal flexi (!), but you should definitely check out the other ones. Really good NYHC band, which sadly flies under the radar of most people.

Go! - Your Power Means Nothing
Go! - Why Suffer?
Go! - Root Canal
Go! - And The Time Is Now…
Go! - Only Sheep Need A Leader (Live in Utrecht)

More Iron Chic

Another release by my latest new favourite band Iron Chic. This is a split 7" with a band called Pacer. Never heard of the latter and probably won't in the future either. Not really my cup of tea. The Iron Chic songs are good, but not awesome. But of course it'd be a little bit too much to ask to have outstanding hits on every single release. Nevertheless I'm glad I finally have a copy of this. First press on white vinyl out of 400.

All On Black II

Not only did I manage to pick up a whole bunch of 7"s on black vinyl, but with the same order I got three LPs that came all on black vinyl, too. What are the odds, right?

Some time ago I complained about the lack of compilations nowadays. So when I heard that Crucial Response was to release a compilation I knew I had to get it. Crucial Response had some quality releases in the past and from what I read the list of bands on this compilation sounded really promising. I do have mixed feelings about this LP though, now that I actually have it in my hands. There are some really good bands on it, both veteran and current. My favourite songs on here are probably by Snob Value, Sniffing Glue, Skaggs and Become. I'm really bummed that the latter already broke up. I had really enjoyed their demo and was looking forward to more to come. If you're into early, Boston-style hardcore at all, you should definitely check out Skaggs and get the two tapes they have put out so far.
However, my mixed feelings stem from including this band Dogends on the compilation. If anyone out there still thinks it's ok to use words like 'faggot' as an effort to insult someone, you can fuck off. I don't know if this was just 'meant as a joke' or that 'if I knew these guys, I'd know they weren't bad guys and didn't mean it like that' - these being the most common excuses around -, but that doesn't make it any less stupid. I also wish the label had taken more interest in the lyrics their bands have. Somewhat ruins this for me.

I've heard and read a lot of good things about this LP and it ended quite highly on many of the TOP 2013 lists that I saw, so I had to get it and see for myself. And I didn't get disappointed, that's for sure. Rough hardcore played in an early 80's style. X-Claim bands come to mind as a reference, but there's also some hint of early British hardcore in there. What makes this band really special is the fact that it consists of only one band member, Tom Pimlott, who plays all the instruments on the recordings. Talk about your DIY ethics. Will be listening to a lot in the future most likely.
This is the Painkiller version on black vinyl. 'City Streets' also comes on blue and red vinyl, and to make it more interesting for collectors, it was released on two different labels.

This is probably my favourite release of the lot 'All On Black' that I recently got. Left in Ruins' 'Ghost' LP, which is a split release by Per Koro, Epidemic and Ruins Records, is 10 songs of pure rage. One-sided LP, 10 songs in 14 minutes, no fancy gimmicks. Just pure raging hardcore. Plus one of the best covers I've ever heard. Classic rock song goes hardcore. So, so good.