The Trade That Keeps on Giving

One of the highlights of our trip to Australia was the opportunity to catch up with old friends, which was true especially for my wife because she live in Australia for more than a year. It was really cool to meet some of her old friends and see some other people we both know again. Two of our friends even invited us into their homes and we could stay with them for a week each. An incredible generous gesture and I will be forever thankful to them. Can‘t wait to see you guys again!

One of our friends, and fellow record / Bane collector, Daniel Hoskin of Bane Records Blog, and I have had an ongoing open trade for years now. Basically he gets me releases from Australia and I get releases from Europe for him, which otherwise we probably would never get or hear of in the first place. We also throw in some other stuff we know the other person likes. I‘m always excited when I get a parcel from Australia because it means I get to discover new music. 

When we arrived at this house, he had some records waiting for me and, of course, I had a bunch of records for him with me. Another reason why I didn‘t buy too many records during our trip prior to arriving at our final destination.

I don‘t think I ever listened to Blindside before, but the name rang a bell when I read it. Hard to believe this band was around about 10 years ago already. Some of the songs on Wave of Regrets sound like Wild Side to me, which is a good thing in my book. 

Pre-Order on Pink Vinyl on Straight and Alert /164

This is a weird one. When I put on Burn All White Flags by Found My Direction, the record player in my office skipped all the songs on the A-side. Same on the B-Side. Then I tried playing the record in the living room, but again to no avail. I headed to Discogs and the entry for this record says that all records, both on black and clear, are mis-presses and you can‘t really listen to them. So this is more of a collectible. I went and looked for the record on Spotify and it is actually on there. Not quite what I expected. Just judging by the cover I thought this my be some hardcore PUNK or even crusty record, but it reminds me of Floorpunch, especially the singer. Maybe a little bit less youth crew and bit more punk. I‘m still glad I got this record, because otherwise I would have never listened to this. And in defence of my friend, I‘m pretty sure he told me about this record and I just forgot. 

1st Press on Black on Resist Records

The Uglies are a punk band from Australia and Planet Uglies is their latest album, which was released in 2022. This is the kind of music I really enjoy in a live environment, but wouldn‘t necessarily buy on record. But it‘s cool to have this record for the moments when I feel the itch to listen to something punkier at home. 

1st Press on Black on UGL Records

My favorite of this batch is the s.t. LP by Colourblind. This came out right when we were in Australia, actually Dan picked it up at Clarity when went there together. And to actually go full circle, this record was also released by Clarity Records. Colourblind play hardcore adjacent music I‘d say, or maybe a modern version of 90s emo. This would totally make sense on Run For Cover Records. I dig the artwork, the splatter vinyl is actually done tastefully and works with the artwork really well. One of my favourites in 2024. 

1st Press on Clear with Blue Splatter on Clarity /50