Out Of Outtakes

One of the bigger news last year was that Minor Threat were going to release a new record. It is not a reunion record (luckily), and the songs aren’t new either. The songs you get on this 7” were rediscovered a coupled of years ago and they were recorded around the time when Minor Threat recorded their one and only LP, as the name Out Of Step Outtakes suggest. You get an instrumental track called “The Addams Family” and re-recorded versions of In My Eyes and Filler as a five piece.

                                         

Back cover and the flip side of the insert because everything related to Minor Threat rules. 

Right around the same time as I received the record, I also got this photo book by Glen E. Friedman, a photographer who witnessed the birth of skateboarding, hardcore and hip hop through his camera. The man has seen it all and more importantly, he also documented what he saw. Some of the pictures in the book were already known, some hadn’t been published before. Perfect combo with the 7”. 

Am Piano

Rio Reiser is most likely unknown to most people reading this blog, but he was a key figure of the German left of the ‘68 generation - in an artistic sense. In the early 70s he was the co-founder and singer of Ton Steine Scherben, which was THE political band back then when it came to leftist politics. To say Ton  Steine Scherben lyrics were very political would be and understatement, at least on their first few reocrds. The lyrical focus changed on their later records, but even the more personal songs often had a political message lying underneath. The band also coined a lot of leftist catchphrases that are used at demos to this day. 

Musically the band had nothing to do with proto-punk or heavy music that was starting around back then, their music was very rock driven and they used a wide range of instruments. Some songs really test my personal tolerance for how long a song should be, but since the rest is so good, I usually make it through them. His vocal delivery could count towards pronto-punk on some songs, but that might also be a stretch for some people. 

Later on, he enjoyed a somewhat successful solo career and even had some hits in the German charts, even though he mainly wrote those songs because he was in trouble with the IRS and had to get money. Must be nice to write a hit song or tow when you need to, haha. 

On this album, Rio Reiser plays old Ton Steine Scherben songs and his own solo songs on the piano, hence the name ‘Am Piano’ (for the non-German speakers). He also covers songs form the 50s and 60s. There are better versions of him playing some of those tracks on the piano out there, but for the most part I enjoy the songs on here and they provide an interesting insight into what music influenced his as an artist. 

Satisfaction

Whenever someone played Hatebreed for me on trips to shows or at home, I tended to shift my attention to something else and play some other tunes in my head. I didn’t like a single thing about the band: stupid band name, stupid band logo, horrible artwork, they already only played big shows at the time and I didn’t care for the music at all. Fast forward a couple of decades. Some of the people of the band I play in performed a Hatebreed cover at one of our band practices with the help of a friend. I can’t put my finger on it, but for some reason I thought the song didn’t sound half bad and I decided to check out some of the Hatebreed material. I went further down that rabbit hole when I compiled a 90s hardcore playlist for a longer trip to a show and there I was, buying my first Hatebreed record 26 years after it came out. I’m not saying there’ll be more and it hasn’t be come a go-to record, but from time to time I can enjoy Satisfaction Is The Death Of Desire. 

2023 (?) Repress on Black on Victory Records 

Myself In The Way

A couple of years ago, some friends and I did a Mosh Madness for the 2010s, a period in hardcore whose first half was a dark age for me. I wasn’t a big fan of the change in sound back then and consequently didn‘t check out that many new bands back then. During the Mosh Madness I was exposed to a lot of bands I‘d never given a chance before and I actually discovered a lot of bands that I really liked. Hindsight is always 20/20 I guess. 

One of those bands was Turnover. Not a hardcore band at all, but I really fell for their indie / pop punk tunes. Very relaxing music I enjoy listening to while working at home. Myself In The Way is their 5th full length and while it‘s not their best material, I really like this record. 

First Press on Cream /unknown quantity according to the RFC website

As you can see, the record sleeve comes with a bunch of random holes, but once you insert the ‘dust sleeve‘, you get the actual cover. 

                                          

Kicker

Sometimes I have this weird thing with bands that I love. Something To Write Home About by The Get Up Kids is one of my all-time favourite emo records, probably one of my all-time favourite records - period. That record and the Red Letter Day 10“ are so incredibly good )Four Minute Mile is also really good, but not as good as those records I mentioned previously) - and yet I didn‘t really follow the band after that. I bought their There Are Rules album a couple of years ago, but I wasn’t impressed back then and I don‘t remember when I listened to it the last time. 

At some point last year I went through a phase where I mostly listened to current and 90s emo bands and I decided to check out records I wasn‘t familiar with by bands that I actually really like. Kicker is only a 12“ EP. I‘m saying only because I‘d have liked more songs in that vein. I don‘t know if this record marks a return to 90s form or if the band had taken this step previously, but Kicker is really good. 

You can expect some more emo content soon. 

European Pressing on Black Vinyl on Polyvinyl Records /300

Random

A few months ago I hit up a record store close to where I live together with a good friend of mine who came to visit with his family for a few days. I go to that record store every so often, but more often than not I walk out empty handed because the selection doesn‘t usually cater to my taste. But sometimes I do find something, as was the case when I went there with said friend. 

I‘d never heard of Surface before, but judging by the cover I guessed 90s hardcore and after giving it a spin in the record store I was proven right and just grabbed the thing. The music was decent enough, I really like the metallic ink used on the cover and, well, it was dirt cheap. 

Black Vinyl on March Through Records 

Like I said, sometimes there are some good and/or interesting hardcore and punk records available at that store. Together with the Surface 7“ I also picked up this Struggle 7“ that just sat in one of the racks. I‘d meant to buy this record anyway, so not having to pay shipping for once was a welcome pace of change. 

Black Vinyl on Ebullition Records

Buds

One of my favourite discoveries of an older band was Ovlov, curtesy of the Spotify algorithm. Buds is their the band’s third album. Wikipedia tells me they’re a rock band. To me they don’t sound like a typical rock band though. There’s some emo, some indie, some post-hardcore. Maybe that mix will get you a rock  band these days. There is a saxophone in one of the songs, so maybe that tips the scale towards rock. Whatever category they might fall in, I really like the songs on this album. Great music to listen to while getting some work done. 

2022 Repress on Orange on Epxlosions in Sounds

Punk Note

A couple of years ago, the Bad Brains started re-releasing their own catalogue. Of course there are many different colored pressings, but the really cool thing - to me - was that they re-released their records with a special cover and label art work paying hommage to legendary jazz label Blue Note Records. The band and label have done an excellent job with these re-issues and I really dig the aesthetic. 

Another thing that the band has changed is that the song Don’t Blow Bubbles comes as an instrumental song. When Quickness was released originally, Bad Brains faced criticism for homophobic language. This sort of tracked because there had been a well-documented incident with The Big Boys in the early 80s. I read a bunch of statements by band members expressing their views on things back then and what might have changed in their way of thinking in more recent years, so changing the lyrics makes sense. 

1st Press Punk Note Edition on Bad Brains Records

Walk The Wheel

The first Truth Cult record, which was released in 2020, took me by complete surprise then and ended up on my top 10 list for that year. Their 2023 records Walk The Wheel almost made my list for this year if it hadn‘t been for some really hard competition. That doesn‘t take away anything from how good of a record this is. Part post-hardcore, part indie, part emo, part weird. Just a very interesting mix to my ears. 

1st Press on Black w/ White and Red Splatter on Pop Wig Records /250

One Day

Over the last few years I listened to a lot of Fucked Up. I have to admit there was a time I felt out of touch with the band, mainly because I was a little overwhelmed since they such a productive band and I felt it was hard to keep with everything they put out. But, like I said, in recent years I listened to them a lot, especially their David Comes To Life LP. To be honest, nowadays I focus mainly on their albums, because they are still a prolific band churning out several releases a year. 

I hadn’t been aware that they were going to release something new, but upon seeing their new album being advertised by a mailorder I frequent, I ordered it right away. And what can I say, Fucked Up don‘t disappoint. One Day is a great listen. It‘s crazy how long that band has existed by now (23 years) and how they still deliver great releases despite having this incredible discography already. 

First Press on Blue Jay in Milky Clear on Fucked Up Records /3500

Drink Deep

2023 is over, but I still have some cleaning up to do. As I wrote in my last post, there some excellent releases last year that didn‘t make my top 10. This is one of them. Drink Deep is a hardcore band from Berlin, but they‘re also sort of an international band when you take a look at the members. Drink Deep had released a really good demo in 2022 that I really enjoyed and after seeing them play a show last year, I knew I was going to buy whatever they‘d release next. It came as a pleasant surprise when the band announced a 7“ not that long afterwards. And the band didn‘t disappoint. Somewhere between early later Minor Threat and Revolution Summer, the DC hardcore influences are undeniable. The singer‘s voice also remind me of Ian Mackaye. So what’s not to like? 

Clear Vinyl on Refuse Records /110

2023

2023 was a very eventful year in every aspect of my life. One of the better decision I made this year was to restart this blog. I‘ve really enjoyed writing blog entries again and since I was able to decrease the effort to take pictures (thanks Marcus!), doing the blog has been a lot less time-consuming than I expected. 

This year was another really good year music-wise. So many great records that were released in 2023. It was really hard to pick my top 10 and I had to leave out some really, really good records. Honorable mentions go to Mil-Spec, Truth Cult, One Step Closer and Drink Deep. These releases are in no particular order and my favorite record of the year might be a different one tomorrow. So let‘s just say, this is the top of the pops 2023. You can also see that 7“s are an endangered species. I only picked up 3 7“s released in 2023. It was 7 in 2022 and 8 in 2021. 

In the next picture you can see my favourite collectibles and records that weren‘t released in 2023 I picked up in the last 12 months. The Minor Threat 7“s is a special case, because technically it is a 2023 release, but Minor Threat is definitely not a current band, so I decided to put the record with these records. Some of these records I haven‘t blogged about, but I‘m going to soon. 

Overall I‘m really happy with the collectibles I picked up because many of them came rather unexpected. I‘m also stoked on some older bands that I only discovered in 2023. No matter if if it‘s old or new music, findig something that you didn‘t know before will always be a joy to me. There‘s just so much music out there that needs to be explored. 

Thanks everyone for checking out my blog. Feel free to comment or get in touch some other way. I always love talking about records and music in general. 

I hope everyone will have a great year 2024!

XXX

Ralf