Drink Deep

Drink Deep from Berlin are back with a new 7” after a demo and a 7” on Refuse Records, released in 2022 and 2023 respectively. I’ve been a big fan of their DC influenced sound since I first heard them and the don’t disappoint on this release either. The only disappointment is that there aren’t more songs on Burning House, but the four songs are so good.

1st Press on Black on Control /170

Supernova

Okay, so technically this is a 2022 release. BUT I received my pre-order copy only in January 2023. Plus this record deserves to be talked about more. Spark plays a modern version of youth crew. It‘s basically everything you love about youth crew but with more melodies. Think The First Step meets Mindset. I really dig the simple cover. Sometimes less is more. Also, the vinyl color is absolutely stunning. Such a great shade of blue. 100 copies  came on this color. 

I also went to the record release show at one of my favourite DIY spots in Germany. The line up was stacked and basically the crème de la crème of German hardcore bands played that bill, plus Chain Reaction from Belgium, who had released a split 7“ with Spark a few years ago. That was such a fantastic evening. I got to hang out with a ton of friends, every band delivered and it was just a great vibe all around. 

Sidenote: As you can see there was a special aftershow guest announced on the flyer. There’s also a hand holding a rose, which was a hint at who was going to perform. There‘s this guy called Edwin Rosen, who is a hardcore kid, but performs music that can be best described as a mix of new wave/post-punk/synthiepop. Not my kind of music, but he’s a nice guy and I respect him doing his own thing. He often reps band merch on stage and even xes up because he‘s straight edge. Now, some of his fan base, probably locals, must have caught wind of him performing at that particular venue that day, because there were a bunch of teenagers who were clearly not hardcore kids accompanied by there parents at the show. They had to see/endure six hardcore bands, which for any outsider must be weird as hell, before Edwin Rosen took the stage at some point after midnight. I admire their dedication and I hope they had a great evening. 

 

There was also a limited sleeve for the record release version of the record, cleverly numbered out of 30. 

Identity

I really loved the demo 7" by Fade. Not usually what I listen to, but somehow I really dug the songs. So obviously I wanted to get the rest of their releases. Here's their 3rd 7" (if you count the demo) and the songs are just as good as the ones on the demo. Maybe I'll upgrade these to colour one day. I also included the pretty cool sticker that came with the 7", since I feel that's kind of a lost art nowadays.

When People Grow, People Go To Europe

I really liked the two previous Blacklisted LPs, but for some reason I never bothered to check out their latest LP. Or their first LP for that matter. Sometimes I do weird things for no apparent reason. But who doesn't? Blacklisted also played Fluff Fest this year and since they had a tour edition with them, I gladly picked up a copy. I have listened to the LP a few times so far and I like it, but as with the other LPs, this one will have to grow a little bit on me.