More Clarity

What makes a very good record store an outstanding record store? A great second hand section, and that’s exactly what Clarity has! Experienced crate diggers will tell you that heading straight is the only right move when going to a record store with a used punk / hardcore record section. 

First up is Delinquent Songs by local Adelaide band The Personalities. Music = ? Footy, the owner of Clarity Records, also happened to sing for this band. The music is very much punk. Going by the name of the band, the release, and the song titles, you might have already guesses that. It's not my go to kind of music these days, but I really enjoy this record. As an avid record collector himself, he put in extra effort to make the record unique. As you can see there’s a flap on the right hand side / at the bottom of the sleeve if you open it. This makes it slightly inconvenient to store, because the flap makes the sleeve a tad bigger than regular sleeves. But it is a cool feature and I appreciate the creativity. Marcus will frown at the next statement, but black vinyl is really the best choice of color for this release. It looks so classy with the artwork. 

1st Press (?) on Black (self-released)

In the 2000s, Youngblood Records was a safe bet for releases I liked. The Lights Out LP has always been a record that I really enjoyed, but their only 7” Get Out had always eluded me. Listening to this record, not picking up a copy sooner was clearly a poor decision on my part. Especially considering that his record is easy to find and doesn’t cost an arm and a leg. This kind of music will always grab me. 

1st Press on Black on Youngblood Records /???

Latest God is an Australian band, made up of scene veterans I’ve been told. I’m getting very strong Dag Nasty vibes on their s.t. debut on vinyl. Cool record. 

1st Press on Maroon on Life.Lair.Regret /???

Shook Ones is one of those bands I rarely listen to, but whenever I do, I tell myself that I need to listen to them more often. Too much music, too little time. Anyway, I didn’t have a copy of Merriweather Post Pavillion yet, so buying a copy sitting right in front of me wasn’t a particularly hard decision. 

This last record, a split between Adventures and Pity Sex, I picked up for two reasons: 1) the Adventures LP is awesome and I listen to this a lot when working at home and 2) they cover Behind This Wall by Turning Point. Which, as it turns out, is a phenomenal cover in my opinion. The other song by Adventures is also really good and I also enjoy the Pity Sex side a lot. Very poppy, but the good kind of poppy. This split may be my favorite of the whole lot. 

2nd Press on White and Orange on Run For Cover /1000

The B-Side looks pretty cool as well. Also, imagine doing a second press of 2000 copies in total for any record nowadays, let alone a split 7”! Crazy how the vinyl landscape has changed in the last 10 years.  

All in all, the trip to Clarity Records was as good as it could be. Makes me wish for a cool record store in my area too, though. 

Catching Up 08/2014

I picked up a couple current records and represses a couple of  weeks back but only get to post about them today.

First off I got a repress of No Warning's 2nd album Suffer Survive. I really liked their first record, which I only picked recently, so I thought I'd give their second LP a shot too. There are some really good songs on it, but overall I prefer the first LP. Six Feet Under repressed this record on four versions. This is the least rare one on black vinyl out of 800. 

I was quite astonished when I found out that Shook Ones had released a new LP since I though they'd broken up some time ago. Turns out I'd been living under a rock and The Unquotable A.M.H. already came out in 2009. Now I'm not sure if this variant was released back then or if this is a repress. The mailorder lists it as a 2014 release, discogs.com tells me that there is a grey version that came out in 2009, the label website tells me this variant doesn't exist. First world record collector's problems... Anyway, good jams by a good band. Now I only need the summer to come back.

UK hardcore seems to be thriving right now, with Violent Reaction and The Flex spearheading this revivial. Like Violent Reaction The Flex play hardcore in the vein of early Boston Hardcore mixing in a little NYHC. Et voilà, you have the formula for good records. Not new, but who needs new when it's just good music? Split release by Milk Run and Video Disease. There's also a variant on red vinyl out there, but personally I think black works better here, because it'd be too much red otherwise.

UK hardcore takeover #2. Violent Reaction released their 2nd EP. Two 7"s, one LP and a US tour within two years is not bad for a newcomer band from Europe. It might just be that they hit the nerve of time or are just that good. You decide. The music is a little more punk than hardcore, but just a tad. Dead End was recorded with Violent Reaction being a full band unlike the two previous releases. This is the Painkiller release on black vinyl out or 800. Quality control released this in the UK.

Another reissue of an early American hardcore classic: Verbal Abuse's debut Just An American Band. Raw, savage, primal hardcore. Nothing else to say here really. You need this. Beer City rereleased this on clear red vinyl. Maybe there are other variants out there, but I haven't found any pressing information on this one. 

Catching Up With Today

Richmond's very own Down To Nothing have released a new LP on Revelation. I really liked all the early stuff that DTN released and I still love the Splitting Headache 7". The LPs just never could live up to that in my opinion. Save It For The Birds is still the best of the lot. Not that the LPs are bad records by any means. It's just that they never were as good as the early releases. Life On The James follows that trend. There was also a first press clear green edition, but I believe this is one of the second press copies on clear green vinyl mainly because I bought it kind of late.

I also grabbed a copy of the The Fact Remains LP by Focused Minds. When I buy current records I mainly follow the descriptions of the distro (which are usually copied and pasted from the labels, I know), but I never listen to records online beforehand. I'm kind of old-fashioned that way. The main reason is that I really like being surprised. Positively that is of course. This is not always the case obviously the case but if it happens, it's such an awesome feeling. Well, this is one of those LPs where this is not the case.
The description said something about 'drawing influences' from the past but 'putting a contemporary spin on the youth crew sound'. I haven't checked out any current youth crew bands lately so I thought I'd give it a shot. It's a good enough record and I might listen to it a couple of more times, but so far it's not that special. Generic youth crew sound, which is always ok in my book, but it doesn't get me overly excited either. 1st press out of 600 on black vinyl.

Speaking of contemporary youth crew records, I picked up Test of Time's self-released first 7" as well. I had read some good things about this band and seeing that they were recently bumped up by joining the B9 roster I thought I ought to give them a listen. Sadly the record doesn't do anything for me. There's not one song that really got stuck in my head. Maybe I'll give them a second chance and buy the 7" released by B9. This copy could be on grey /70 or cranberry /180. Don't really know. If you do, let me know. Gotta keep things in order here. Record collecting is serious business after all.

I really like split 7"s because they're a sweet way of checking out new bands for cheap. However, there's no wrong in putting two well established bands on one slab of vinyl. Shook Ones and Death Is Not Glamorous hardly need an introduction. Or at least I hope they don't. If you're not familiar with their back catalogue, you should change that quickly. I'm a little prejudiced towards Death Is Not Glamorous as they're easily one of my favourite Euorpean bands in the last couple of years and I still listen to their records on a regular basis. Good to get a couple of new songs by both bands, but the DING side wins in my book. Clear red /750.

I know, I know, this is not really catching up with new records. Re-presses don't really count. One of too many versions of Have Heart's debut LP that I already own. 8th pressing on white vinyl. And there's already a new one version out there. I wonder when I'll decide to call it quits on this record before it becomes way too ridiculous.

When it comes to represses, there are basically two way of how you can do it in my opinion. One, you
stick to the original as closely as possible when it comes to format, cover, lyric sheet, inlays etc and change as little as you have to. Two, you put in a lot of effort and create something new that is just so over the top it'll make your head spin. Radio Raheem opted for the 2nd way when they decided to re-release The Abused's Loud and Clear 7" and they did a bang-up job. This should be the standard of how reissues of classic records should be done.

Originally released in 1983, this classic NYHC 7" has been made available again for the first time in 30 years. That is if you don't count the 90s Lost and Found release, and who really cares about them. You get the songs from the Loud and Clear 7" plus the 1982 demo and a couple of unreleased live tracks. 21 songs all in all. The sleeve is a pseudo-gatefold of sorts with a flap in which you can put the record and everything that comes with it. You get a really cool booklet with a few texts and loads of pictures and flyers from back in the day. 24 pages all in full colour. Radio Raheem did truly a great job here. You also get a sticker sheet with replicas of OG stickers from the 1980s. Stickers are always cool, so why not throw some in here? I don't know what to say about the music except it's a classic record for good reasons. The music still holds up well today. I don't know if the songs are remixed since I've never heard the original 7", but who really cares.

If you don't want to spend a small fortune on this record, this is the way to go. If you want to spend that much money on the original 7", you should pick up the re-release nonetheless because this is a nice looking record and quite honestly, you probably just spent at least $700 on a 7" so you should be able to splash out $18 more for this LP.