Life On The Moon

Modern Life Is War is one of my all-time favorite bands, as you may or may not know from reading this blog. However, this is mainly based on the first 7” and the first two LPs to be honest. Nothing can ever touch those records. With each release afterwards, the band lost me a little more. Still, I always checked out whatever the band did. Life On The Moon is the latest release and I was very weary of listening to it, even though I didn’t think twice about ordering a copy when I read that the band was about to release a new LP. I even ordered a copy directly from Lifeline Records because I think it’s incredibly awesome that band and label have kept that bond for more than two decades by now. So, in my mind the only sensible thing to do was to order a copy directly from Lifeline instead of another version. After getting the record though, it was sitting in my “new records to listen to pile” for a good month or so. 

I did finally listen to the album and to me this has only little to do with the band I originally fell in love with. There’s a wide range of musical influences to be found on here, more so than on any other of their previous releases, but I’m not sure if the mix works for me. There’s some dub, but you’ll also find post-hardcore on here. I do believe it’s any artists prerogative to grow and do other things than what’s expected of them, but I also believe not everyone has to be on board with said growth. There are some ok songs on the record, but as a whole the record hasn’t clicked with me. The artwork is pretty cool though, although I don’t get the connection between title and art. The 12” booklet with the lyrics and a ton of pictures, all in full colour, is done exceptionally well, too. Great job by band and label. 

This is one of those records I really want to like, but I’m not sure if I will. 

1st Press on Glitter Orange on Lifeline Records /100

Modern Life Is More

How many versions of a record of which you already have a lot of copies and which is about to get repressed do you actually need? The answer is: yes. Modern Life Is War released their s.t. 7“ back in 2002, which seems incredible to me. To commemorate the anniversary, Lifeline Records and the band decided to repress the record. Of course that meant there‘d be a lot of different versions, because that‘s part of the game these days. 

Since Modern Life Is War is one of my favourite bands of all-time, I knew I‘d get sucked into it. Here are the five different versions that were released last year. The copies on the left and on the right are the same colour, but they‘re still different (see picture below). The 7“ still rules. The repress is done really, really well. The booklet alone makes the repress worth getting. There‘s a ton of pictures, background information on the band, and for the nerds, there’s even a comprehensive pressing info is provided for this record. 

Gold (Wax Xtatic exclusive) /150
Clear /150
White/Yellow Swirl (Indie Record Store exclusive) /230
Blue /333
Gold /Coretex Exclusive) /100

Believe it or not, THIS is the really nerdy part of this already nerdy post. To make the different versions a little more special or at least distinguishable, there are stickers on some of the different versions. I ordered some of the records directly through Lifeline Records and Joe was kind enough to throw in some extra goodies, which I really appreciate. 

Blue Witness

One more part of the steadily growing Modern Life Is War collection. This is a first press on clear blue vinyl, which was used as tour press. 100 copies were made. I still need the friends press on gold, the record release edition and a test press. But I'm quite happy so far as it is.

Close up against the light. Some nice black and purpleish veins running through the vinyl.

Record Collecting Is War

So I thought I'd made another big step as far as my Modern Life Is War collection is concerned when I found a reasonably priced first press on transluscent blue vinyl aka tour press. Unfortunately it turned out to be a regular copy on purple with the single jacket, which is the latest press on Lifeline. I contacted the seller and he admitted he'd apparently made a mistake and he agreed to refund me a large part of the money. Since I didn't have a copy on purple with the single jacket, it was not a total loss. One more down, even if it wasn't the one I'd hoped for.

The colour is really hard to take a good picture of, so here's a close up.

On a nerd note, I was reading a post by someone on the Rev Collectors messageboard who said he'd received a record with two labels on one side. That got me thinking if I had something like this in my collection, but I couldn't think of any record that came with an extra label on any side. Funnily enough the next record I got in the mail shows exactly that anomaly. Probably doesn't get any nerdier than this.

My Love My Test

When I started rebuilding my Modern Life Is War collecting last year, I had certain records in mind that I definitely wanted to have (again). There were other records where I thought, well it'd be awesome to have them, but we'll see. Tests definitely fell into the latter category. When I scored the test for the 7" earlier this year, I was more than happy. Picking up another test was not on my agenda, but when an opportunity presents itself, sometimes you have to go for it. I found it for a really good price as well. Happy Festivus to me.

Modern Life Is War Kill Their Idols...

...or something along these lines. Tour press out of 300 copies of the split between Modern Life Is War and Kill Your Idols.

One More

One more variant down. This is the so called raffle press. You could only get a copy of these by buying tickets for a raffle when the reissue of My Love My Way was released. Winners were drawn randomly. 50 copies on white vinyl (with black swirls). Comes with alternative sleeve.

Sonic Poison

I bought all the Modern Life Is War records from the same person and he was kind enough to throw in another record for free. Thanks again, man. It's hard to see, but the record is actually on dark, blood red vinyl. This is the limited version out of 100. Sonic Poison play hardcore punk, with the stress on the latter word. Not bad, but it won't become a favourite of mine I guess.

Destination Test Or Better Days

This is one of those records I like to refer to as 'cherry on top of the whipped cream of the sundae'. Test press for Modern Life Is War's s.t. 7". There are only 13 copies in existence, which makes it sort of special you could say. But what's more - at least to me - is the fact that these are the first songs that Modern Life Is War ever recorded and these test presses encapsulate the first Modern Life Is War songs that anyone could ever listen to on vinyl. High ranking contender for Collectible Of The Year.

Modern Life Is War on Tour

This variant was made for the Spring Tour 2003, presumably the first tour Modern Life Is War ever did. 150 copies on red vinyl with blank labels. Well, one side is blank and the other one is stamped with 'Modern Life Is War Spring Tour 2003'. And yes, I fucked up, because I took the picture of the wrong side. Oh well.

Modern Life Is War / Kill Your Idols

Time to fill some more holes in the Modern Life Is War collection. This split between Modern Life Is War and Kill Your Idols was originally released in 2005 when both bands performed on WLUW. This particular variant was made for the Lifeline Records Showcase in 2013, as you can read on the cover. There are 150 copies and they're all on red vinyl. I don't know though if all of them come with a nice black splotch like the one you can see on the left side of the record.

(Not So) Young Man On A Spree

To be honest it feels a little bit like I'm binge collecting these last few weeks, but I can't help buying a whole bunch of records from one band if they all come from one seller. This is the last Modern Life Is War record for now though. 3rd press on purple vinyl out of 500 copies. The record looks pretty red in this picture, but purple is always a colour that is hard to take accurate pictures of. This copy is part of the original run on purple vinyl since it comes with a gatefold sleeve, whereas the still on-going pressing on purple only has a regular sleeve.

Hair Raising Accounts Of Nerdism

Both of the first two Modern Life Is War LPs have aged incredibly well for me and I've been listening a lot to both of them lately. 1st press on blue-white swirl out of 1000. I feel like I have reached a decent level again as far as the MLIW collection goes.

Modern Life Is Pink

Since I decided to rebuild my Modern Life Is War collection, I've been checking the Lifeline Record's website more regularly than I used to. The obvious reason is that I want to know when Joe Lifeline puts out new variants for any Modern Life Is War records, the other reason is that he also opens the Lifeline vault from time to time and sells some goodies.

The first record I picked up is a repress of Modern Life Is War's debut LP on red vinyl. There are 650 copies on red. Officially. Actually I think that this is a repress of the repress. I'm just guessing here, but I could imagine this record is not part of the original repress on red vinyl since that came out a few years ago. He did the same with the Witness LP, which as been repressed on purple vinyl, and then on purple vinyl again.

Here's another reason why I think this might be a repress. This pink variant you can see here was also offered a few weeks ago at the Lifeline store. It was labelled 'mispress', so either it was a mispress when the original red ones were pressed and Joe has been sitting on them for five years, or it was a mispress when he repressed the red vinyl more recently. But since I haven't seen any pink copies like this one these last few years, I'm leaning towards it being a recent mispress.
I love the little details that have been added, like the lyric sheet that is printed on pink paper and the pink hand coloured 'My Love My Way' writing on the front cover. Nice, subtle little touches that make this record look really awesome.
The fact that there are only 65 copies on pink vinyl makes this the third rarest variant of all Modern Life Is War LPs after the mispress of Witness on clear red (/12-15) and the record release edition for Witness (/62) and ties it with the final show box set, which is also out of 65 copies. Great job Lifeline Records.

My Love My Witness

Right around the time I saw Modern Life Is War earlier this year I decided to rebuild my collection, which I had foolishly sold off/traded away a few years ago. Why, I don't know. Joe Lifeline put up some rarities from the Lifeline vault for sale a few weeks back. I would have loved to get a test pressing for witness, but since I just had bought Start Today on purple, a test pressing of that calibre was beyond my budget. I picked a few other goodies instead. This clear variant of My Love My Way was released in 2011. This was the last variant I picked up before selling/trading most of my collection. This is the 2nd press on Lifeline Records, but technically it's the 3rd pressing overall. Only 150 exist and they're not that easy to come by. I'm pretty happy I was able to score this one for a more than fair price.

I also picked up this 2nd press copy of Witness on green splatter vinyl. I always really liked that colourway.

Now, if you ask me which LP I like better, there's no way I could give you a straight answer. It's My Love My Way today and Witness tomorrow.

Witness

Wow, 10 years have gone by since Witness came out. 10 years, blink of an eye, same difference apparently. Deathwish have treated this LP to a deluxe reissue and they have done a great job. I only ordered the rarest colour, limited to 300, since shipping to Europe has become ridiculously expensive. I'm pretty sure I'll manage to pick up the other variants from distros over here at some point. I love the whole package, although I wish they had added more liner notes. I love liner notes, and anniversary reissues often offer the opportunity to shed some light on lyrics and provide background information in general.

Destination Japan Or Better Days

Modern Life Is War also had a special tour version for their tour in Japan back in 2006. This one comes on clear gold vinyl, matching the colour of the sleeve and the OBI strip very nicely. On the back of the OBI strip you can see the actual tour dates. I have no idea what the rest says since I don't speak Japanese. Pretty cool variant if you ask me. This is technically speaking the 5th press of this 7" and there are 150 copies in existence.

Destination Death Or Better Days

Probably my favourite MLIW song. They have so many good ones, but this one is probably #1 for me. I really like the story behind this 7" too. Hardcore kids from the middle of nowhere start a hardcore band, record a bunch of songs, release their own 7" and start touring on only this record. What part of this isn't great?

There are a lot of different variants of this 7" out there. I recently saw a picture on Instagram that included 17 variants. Welp. This is the European Tour version. It comes on clear green and you can see the stamp on the dust sleeve. This is #46/325.

Witness

A few weeks ago I wrote about a trip to a Modern Life Is War show and how the anticipation of seeing them again and the show itself had rekindled my love for this band, or to be precise my wish to start a collection again. So here goes. This blue/black marble record is part of the first press. There are 250 copies on this colour. There are a lot more different colours to be collected from the first press and the following presses, but it's a start.
On a different note, it's been ten years that Witness came out and Deathwish has decided to re-release this masterpiece of an LP. I'm really looking forward to seeing the whole re-issue package. It should turn out pretty awesome.

Fever Hunting

Last week I went to see Modern Life Is War. Now, I'm always a little skeptical when it comes to reunion shows. My emotions usually oscillate between sheer excitement and said skepticism. The show took place in a rather big venue, I guess about 800 fit into the room. Now, that is just a little bit too big for my taste. On the other hand, the show was sold out from the looks of it, so anything smaller would have robbed a lot of people from seeing a band they apparently really wanted to see. Worst case scenario: the show itself would be crappy, but I still get to hang out a lot of people I hadn't seen in a long time while eating great vegan food. Pretty good worst case scenario if you ask me. However, all my skepticism was blown away with the first chord. MLIW fucking killed it that night, and from what I heard all the other nights on that tour as well. Such a great live energy coming from that band. The audience went absolutely nuts from start to finish. Haven't seen that many (old) bodies in the air in a long time. Hands down one of the best shows I've ever been to.
While checking out the merch, I noticed that MLIW were selling records too. Taking a closer look, I saw that they had some first press copies of their last LP on olive vinyl with them. There are 3,500 (!) copies on olive green, but it was still a little bit surprising to see that variant since there is already a third pressing out there. Now, a few weeks ago I wouldn't really have thought about picking up this copy. I did have a pretty decent MLIW collection a few years ago. Then the price for the final show box skyrocketed up to the point where it reached four figure numbers. That kind of took the possibility away to have complete collection because I wasn't and am still not willing to pay that kind of money for the box. So I sold off or traded away a lot of records. I just kept the nicest looking copy of each release plus the Posi Numbers cover of Witness, since I really like that cover. With the show coming closer and closer, I listened to MLIW almost daily for a few weeks and my love for that band was rekindled and I thought collecting them again would be kind of fun. I also don't necessarily aim for complete collections anymore. Plus, the prices of the box have dropped considerably again…
On a sidenote: My wife got pretty excited about the idea of starting a MLIW collection, too, so I was pretty much sold on that idea. If you throw our MLIW records together, we actually have a pretty good starting point. Little advice for my fellow record collectors here: if your wife/girlfriend likes a band and doesn't think record collecting is a crazy pastime, don't tell her that you used to have a pretty decent collection of said band. Who would have thought our first quarrel as a married couple would be about an issue like that, haha...