Once In A While

Every once in a while I will hit up the local record store. Their focus is definitely not on what I usually listen to, but they do have a second hand punk/hardcore section that consists mainly of rather obscure stuff. But sometimes there‘s a record in there that tickles my interest. When I saw this Downcast LP I was very intrigued and since it was priced at 10€, there was really no good reason to not buy the record. Leaving behind an LP at this price in 2024 would be a crime, punishable under rule 23B of the Hardcore and Punk Collectors’ Code. 

Not only is the music really good, the cover and the booklet are so well done too. I wish more bands/labels would put that much effort into those things. 

In Place Of Real Insight

There seems to be kind of a Karate resurgence be going on, at least in this little record blogger bubble. In his blog entry about the latest LP by Karate which was just released a couple of weeks ago, Marcus’ was kind enough to mention my posts about all the band’s records I picked up this year. Reading the entry, I noticed that one record I knew I already had was missing. Marcus hadn’t made a mistake, I simply hadn’t posted about the record yet for whatever reason. In Place of Real Insight is the band’s second LP, released back in 1997. I really enjoy this record. For me, it’s the whole package: Music’s cool, the minimalist artwork in combination with the haptic aspect aspect of the sleeve is awesome and the blue chosen for this repress works really well for me. This feels like a group effort to finally get me posting about this record. 

Also, this serves as a reminder that I need to pick up a copy of the new Karate LP after Marcus’ very positive review. 

Bad Greens

Not only was I Against I rereleased with those awesome Punk Note covers, the band also pressed the record on a ton of different colors. I wanted a colored copy to keep the collection of colored versions going, but I also wanted to stay clear of those awful splatter versions. Green marble sounded like a solid choice by comparison. This is not the 'plutonium' color, which I've seen advertised everywhere, but the Newbury exclusive on 'Green Bay'. I have no idea if that is an actual name for a color or just something someone came up with.  After ordering this record, I found out that there’s also an orange marble version and a solid red version, which in hindsight would have maybe been the better choices. Then again, what’s one or two more records in the collection, right?

2024 Repress on 'Green Bay' on Bad Brains Records (Newbury Comes Exclusive /300)

Jets To Australia

Among the other bands I put on my holiday playlist to finally check them out was Jets To Brazil. I was well aware of the Jawbreaker connection, but for some reason I just always put on Jawbreaker and never listened to Jets To Brazil. Well, flying to the other end of the world and having plenty of time on the plane, I really had no excuse to put off listening to new bands any more. As you can see, I really liked what I heard and eventually ordered a copy of Orange Rhyming Dictionary. Since original pressings sell for quite a bit of money these days, I decided to go with a good looking repress. 

2023 Repress on Tangerine Dream on Jade Tree /500

Spiritual Cramp

Before I went on holiday I decided to make a playlist on Spotify with some all-time classics and with songs by bands I meant to check out for a while but never got around to do so. One of those bands was Spiritual Cramp, which I got tipped off to after Mike posted about their LP from last year. Seeing that Marcus co-signed on the record, this band seemed worth checking out. Mike mentioned the song ‘Talking on the Internet’, so that was the song I picked. And what can I say, I was hooked from the first listen. After listening to the playlist a few times, I ordered a copy of the band’s s.t. debut LP right away. 

‘Talking on the Internet’ is a such goddamn hit. So catchy. It even made the very elusive list of songs I could see myself using if I ever was going to film a skateboard part. Don't get your hopes up though, I haven't really skated in 15+ years and even at the best of times I was extremely bad and in now way, shape or form could I have filmed a 3 minute or so part that other people would have liked to watch too. BUT if I were good enough to do that, that song would make such a great choice. In my head I already know how I'd edit that part, as in where would the single tricks go, where would be a good place for a line and which effects could be used. Not that I could do that either from a technical stand point, but it's nice to have dreams, isn't it? 

It’s not just the one song though, the whole album is incredible from start to finish. So much fun to listen to. 

2nd Press on Milky Clear on Blue Grape /

I Against I Against I

If you’ve been following this blog for the past months, you probably noticed that I’m really into Bad Brains’ I Against I LP. As with their other full lengths releases, the band re-released special versions that have been a nod to legendary label Blue Note. Those previously released Punk Note versions all came out so great, it took me about two seconds to decide to get a copy when it was announced I Against I was going to receive the same treatment. 

Since I started collecting colored versions of I Against I, getting the colored version of this repress was kind of a given. Plus, the color chose for this repress looks so damn cool, especially in combination with this artwork. 

2024 Repress ‘Punk Note’ Edition Coke Bottle Clear on Bad Brains Records /1000

It’s funny how record collectors come up with a thousand different reasons why they need to pick up a certain record or version of a record or why they need to pick up more than one copy of a record. With all the other Punk Note versions I only managed to get black copies, because the colored versions had already sold out. So to keep the collection of black Punk Note editions complete, obviously I need to buy a second copy. Makes total sense. 

I also got a copy of the Bad Brains fanzine and put it in the picture just for fun. 

2024 Repress ‘Punk Note’ Edition on Black on Bad Brains Records /1000

Give More

So after caving on the Don’t Wait Up represses, I decided to go full in and started looking for copies of the Give Blood represses Equal Vision did last year. Now I’ll be slowly chipping away at those missing copies, probably just in time for the newly announced repress of It All Comes Down To This. I think Poison Idea got it wrong. Record collectors aren’t pretentious assholes, they are gigantic idiots. 

2023 Repress on Opaque Cream (“Newbury Exclusive”) on Equal Vision /300