Dream World

Spirit Crusher is one of the best hardcore bands from Germany, if not the best hardcore band at the moment. Tastes differ obviously, but for me Spirit Crusher is THE band. I love everything they have released so far, but it's their live shows where it's really at. I saw them a couple of weeks ago, actually it was the very day it was announced that their new 7" and follow-up LP are going to be released on Triple B, and they have such a fantastic energy live, they even made me stage dive, which I hadn't done in a very long time. Whenever I seem them, I'm really hyped. 

For any European band to be released on a US label is always something special. There are so many great bands from Europe, but hardcore in the US seems to be very US-centric. I can only think of a handful of bands from Europe that were released on US labels in the last couple of years. Well, if there's one band from Germany that definitely deserves to be noticed on a global level, it's Spirit Crusher. I'm not saying others don't deserve to be seen more, but Spirit Crusher have definitely earned it. 

On Dream World they deliver two new songs. I don't know if those songs will be featured on their upcoming LP as well or if those will be exclusive to this 7", but any new material by Spirit Crusher is always more than welcome. There are some changes musically, but standing still is never good, and the changes are subtle enough for me - still clearly the Spirit Crusher sound, but different from the older material. Those two songs turned our really great and I can‘t wait for the LP to drop. 

White/Purple Haze on Triple B /250 (Merchpit Exclusive)

Surprise, Surprise

2023 is running out of time and I still haven't posted every record I picked up this year. I won't even be able to blog about every 2023 release I added to the collection. So I have to prioritize. 

A couple of weeks ago I was going to a show with a very good friend. On the way home we talked about hardcore in 2023 and which releases were going to make our best of lists. He asked me if I had heard the new Vantage Point LP yet, which I hadn't because I wasn't even aware that Vantage Point was still a band. For some reason I had it in my head that hey had split up. He played Against Myself in the car and while listening to the first song I was like "Whoa, this is a good song." By the third song I was at "really good" and by the end of the album I thought this was an awesome record. If I remember correctly, I ordered the record that very night even thought it was already kind of late. But I knew I needed to have this record on vinyl. And I was absolutely right. Ever since I got the album, it's seen a lot of spins on my record player. I really like surprises in general and this has been a very welcome one. 

Green / Yellow Swirl on Triple B Records /350

I was browsing the mailorder I bought the Vantage Point LP from, when my eyes caught this cover. Seeing bands like Inside Out, Swiz and Dag Nasty being mentioned in the description, I was more than intrigued, so I ordered a copy without thinking too much about it. And again, I didn't get disappointed. While some of the reference points might be a stretch, this is a very good record in its own right. Plus, for splatter vinyl it does look really, really good. So, a clear double win in my book. 

Green / White Splatter on Indecision Records /300

Of Days Renewed

Another record I‘d been eagerly awaiting. To Whatever Fateful End is a modern day masterpiece. Everything about records was perfect. A straight 10/10, A+ or whatever you want to call it. So obviously anticipation on my side was very high. I feel like it‘s always extremely difficult for a band to follow up on an incredibly good LP. When I first listened to Of Days Renewed… I was indeed a little bit disappointed. It just didn‘t hit me the same way Magnitude‘s first LP hit me. After listening to the record over the course of the last few months it has definitely grown on me, but I still don‘t think it‘s as good as their first LP. It‘s still really, really good, but I personally haven‘t heard a hit yet. Deliverance is a great opening track and it‘s the best song on the album in my opinion. I might not like it as much as my fellow blogger Mike, but I do like it a lot. 

For once I was glad to live in Europe because the exclusive version for one of the German mailorders I frequent is one of the better looking variants out there. 

1st Press on Clear Purple w/ Neon Orange Splatter (Evil Greed Exclusive) /250

Free At Last

I ordered from a bistro recently, so I went through its stock for a while. I came across this record by Free At Last, which was advertised as in the vein of Count Me Out, Turning Point and Fury. Since I was in the mood to check out something new, I decided to order a copy. Well, I can see the influences by the aforementioned bands and all in all it's an okay record, but so far it hasn't really clicked with me. 700 copies on blue/white marble.

Ex Tenebris

When I first heard about Free I was really excited. Another Pat Flynn band that basically is 4/5th Have Heart sounded pretty damn good to me. And the demo didn't disappoint. I actually managed to pick up a copy on tape at one of the Bane 20th anniversary shows. Pat Flynn was folding the inlays at the merch table when I bought it. Cool story, bro, I know. Anyway, when it was announced that Free was going to release a 7", I was really excited, again. I even set up several notifications and alarms so I wouldn't miss out on the pre-order. Guess what happened? Yup, I missed out on the rarest colour. And paying shipping from the US to Europe for the other variants didn't seem like the smart thing to do.
So I decided to wait and pick up a copy as soon as distros over here had them in stock. The ones I could find that had copies sold them for 8,50€ upwards. I couldn't bring myself to pay that much for a new 7", be it a band I really like or not. Especially if I could end up with a copy that might just be black. So I waited and waited and waited. No rare copies popped up on Discogs or eBay, so I decided to wait some more. Then Free announced a European tour and some sort of tour press, comprising the demo and the Ex Tenebris 7". I knew I wasn't going to make it to any of the shows, so I asked friends to pick up a copy if they had the chance. I should have guessed that those were going to sell out pretty fast, but from what I've heard those sold out super fast. Then Control Records announced they were going to sell the remaining copies of the sold out record (right?) online. And again I missed out. So after waiting for about a year and missing out on the same record twice within a few days, I said fuck it and bought a copy after finding one for an okayish price. This 7" is pretty damn good. Not as good as early Have Heart stuff, but then again, that comparison in itself is kind of stupid. Really looking forward to hearing more from this band.

When Then Becomes Now

Along with the demo I also picked up the first proper 7" by Abuse Of Power. Equally as good as the demo. I really hope there'll be a full LP at some point. Standard press on pink vinyl out of 600 copies.

Paramount

I also bought Fury's debut LP Paramount recently. I feel like the LP is a huge step forwards compared with the 7". Some really good songs on there. The purple looks pretty good too. I also included the promo tape for the LP, which was given to me by a buddy trying to convince me that Fury are good. Well, it worked. 1200 copies on purple.

Kingdom Come

I remember listening to the Fury demo when it came out, but I also remember not being terribly impressed. Maybe I should revisit that demo. Fast forward to a few months ago. I'd heard about a Praise mini tour in Europe and Fury was going to tour with them. When a buddy of mine was visiting me last autumn we got to talking about the tour and he was kind of really excited about the tour, as was I, but to me surprise he was looking forward to seeing Fury rather than Praise. He played me Fury's debut LP and I kind of liked what I heard. Fast forward to the show we were both going to. Praise were really good but to my surprise Fury were the headliner. Clearly I'd been missing something here. They played a really good set and I was positively surprised all in all. I've been listening to the 7" and the LP a bunch of times now and both have steadily grown on me. 2nd press on white out of 550 copies.

Clear Blue

One of the last times I met up with my buddy Tom, we got to talking about - well, records. We were talking about come classics and some newer stuff that we both were into. One of the records we talked about was the Clear Demo 7", which we both agreed was pretty good and we were looking forward to more releases by this band. When I got home again I wanted to listen to it on vinyl again, because we had been talking about it so much. 'On vinyl again' is probably the wrong phrase though, because apparently I'd never owned a physical, or at least I couldn't find the copy I thought I had anymore. I searched high and low but either I really misplaced it and it is lost in the depths of my collection, or I traded it away and couldn't remember, or I indeed never had a copy of the demo 7" to begin with. I'm still not sure what happened here. The next time we talked on the phone I told about it and neither of us could make any sense of it.
Fast forward to my birthday and me getting an unexpected parcel with an unexpected present: a copy of the Clear Demo 7". Tom had remembered and made sure I finally got these songs on vinyl. It's moments like these when I'm really, really thankful for the people I've chosen to surround myself with in my life and who I can luckily call friends.

Protester

I really liked the first 7" that Protester released last year, so when I read that Triple B was about to release a new 7" by this Washington, D.C. band I was more than stoked. While I'm not disappointed with this record, it's not quite as good as the first one. Maybe it'll have to grow on me though. Again, I only got the common variant on black and not the fancy coloured one (on white vinyl), but I felt no urge to order this one directly in the States and pay a looooot of extra money for shipping.

Death Injection

Man, time really does fly. I really liked the Death Injection demo, which I shockingly already picked up in July 2014. I honestly thought that I bought that 7" late in 2014 or even later. Damn. Anyway, Death Injection recently released a LP on Triple B. This is the black variant out of 400. There was also a variant on clear out of 100, but I rarely order from labels directly in the States these day cause shipping costs right now can suck it. I'm quite happy with black vinyl though, cause I think it goes really well with the cover. Musically not much has changed from the demo, so if you're into Boston style SXE hardcore, you'll probably like this LP.

On a different note, I'm really excited about a couple of upcoming BBB releases. According to the Triple B web shop, a new Clear LP and a new Protester 7" are going to come out soon. Stoked on these releases.

Sweet Jesus

Sweet Jesus released one of my personal highlights 2014 as far as new records are concerned. A few days ago Sam of Triple B Records posted a list of records he was looking to sell on Revcollectors. One of them was a test pressing for the Box 7". I jumped right at it, and while I was at it I also asked him if he had any copies of Box on white left. He did, so I have a nice little Sweet Jesus collection for the moment.


Sweet Jesus - Box - Triple B - test pressing - /15

Sweet Jesus - Box - Triple B - white - /330

It Was A Very Good Year

2014 was a really good year as far as records go. There were some really great records released this year and I also managed to pick up a lot of really cool records that had been on my want list for quite some time. I tried to come up with a Top 5 for 2014 releases and 2014 collectibles. It worked fine for the releases, but I couldn't slim down the collectibles to just five. Anyway, here goes.

2014 Releases

Dangers has been a favourite band of mine ever since I heard them for the first time. I haven't been floored by a band both lyrically and musically like that for a long time. They're also a great live band and all of the shows I've been to were great fun. 5 O'Clock Shadows At The Edge Of The Western World is not as good as their previous releases imho, which doesn't mean that much cause compared to most other bands it's still very, very good. The song of the same name however is so awesome. My #5.
Our Inner Wastelands is the first full length release by local band Zerre. Their singer is a good friend of mine, plus I know most of the other members as well, and I'm so stoked about what they accomplished with this LP. Plus it looks so good. The red variant is probably the best looking record I got this year. My #4.
I've been a fanboy of Barren ever since I heard their demo. It had been rather quiet around this band for quite some time, but this year they finally managed to release their first full length LP Anachronism. Great politically minded 90s hardcore. Awesome live band, too. Plus we share a craving for the same vegan baked good, which is definitely a big plus. XStreuseltalerYouthX. My #3.
Sweet Jesus are the surprise band of the year for me. I'd never heard of them before, despite the fact that Pat Flynn of Have Heart fame is the singer for this band. When I got their their first 7" Box, I put it on the record player and I was blown away. I had to flip this record over and over and over and over. So, so good. Their upcoming LP just might show up in my Top 5 2015. We'll see. My #2.
It's been a hard debate between me, myself and I, but in the end there could be only one release at the top of this list. Bane is my favourite band ever, just in case somebody wasn't aware of this fact (despite the 15 posts about this band in little more than a year). They decided to call it quits next year, which sucks, but they released a new LP this year, which rules. Don't Wait Up is such a good LP. I was a little afraid they might release a record that could leave a bad aftertaste, urging people to say "They should have quit a few years ago…", but this LP is so much better than I'd ever hoped for. Perfect record to end this amazing journey of this band. My #1 2014.

2014 Collectibles

I managed to pick up a lot of cool records this year, some of which had been on my want list for quite some time. Narrowing it down to just five records was impossible, so I stretched the list just a tad. There are still a few records that could have easily been in this picture, but you have to draw the line somewhere. Some of these records I got for cheap, some I had to pay a pretty penny for, some I got for free or as presents. For various reasons these records are my collectibles of the year. There's no ranking here since all these records give me joy for very different reasons. 

Greatest hardcore record of all time. Prove me otherwise.

Favourite release by my favourite band. Collection complete.

Out of the blue. Rarest release by my favourite band besides test pressings.

Birthday present by the greatest girlfriend on this planet.

There are always more variants out there than you think. Keep looking.

Record I probably listened to the most 2014. One of the wildest and hottest shows this year.

Out of the blue part II. There are still some great people involved in hardcore.

Sometimes you gotta give more. Sometimes you gotta give everything.

Not in this picture but in the one above, you can see a test pressing of Bane's final LP on End Hits Records. This one is definitely one of my pick-ups 2014 as well, but I didn't feel the need to picture it twice.

Thanks everyone for reading my blog and commenting. Keeps record collecting a lot of fun.

XXX

Sweet Jesus

The Christmas season is upon us, so I thought I'd post a record by an aptly named band. Sweet Jesus released their first 7" on Triple B records a few weeks ago. I'd missed out on the demo completely, which apparently was released something like three years ago. I ordered this 7" because of its description as a Swiz and Dag Nasty influenced band. Can't go wrong with either band. Throw in Pat Flynn on vocals, and picking up this record was a no brainer.
Buying records without listening to them beforehand on the internet is kind of a gamble and chances are high you might get disappointed. Not in this case though. I haven't been floored like that by a record of a current band in a long time. I can't stop listening to this. Seriously. This is without a doubt my favourite 7" of the year. Maybe it's even my favourite release of the year.
There are two colours for this record: 330 on white vinyl and 770 on red vinyl. As you can see I got the red one, which means I need the white vinyl version as soon as possible.

Sweet Jesus have also recorded an LP recently, which is supposed to drop in February 2015. Really looking forward to this one. In the meantime, do yourself a favour and pick up this record.

Ten Years After

Re-issues have the sad side-effect that you realize how much time has passed since the original release. I can't believe it's been ten years that Have Heart released the What Counts EP, and already five years that they broke up for that matter. Triple B Records honoured the ten year anniversary of this 7" with a rerelease on a one-sided 12". Seems a little bit like a waste of material to put six songs on a 12", but whatever. What I like most about this release is the little text that Pat Flynn wrote about the 'mistakes' they made with the original release and their rather naive outlook back then. I always liked the honesty and integrity aspect about Have Heart a lot. I wouldn't mind a reunion tour in this case though, haha.

There is a total of 4,000 (!) copies of this, which says a lot about the influence Have Heart still have today. There are 500 on yellow-white marble, which you can see here, 1,500 on white and 2,000 on clear orange. Triple B and Have Heart have put in a lot of effort to make this package look awesome and they truly did a great job. I also like what Sam Triple B wrote as a comment on (ebay) flippers on the Triple B webshop. Fuck those people.

Courtesy to Triple B's policy for all foreign orders to order at least two records, I also picked up Barge's No Gain 7". Quite different from what Have Heart do, but good different. If you like Infest and early Boston Hardcore, you should give this 7" a listen or two. 

Give More, Give Everything, Give Blood

So, here it is. The most expensive record I have ever purchased and probably will purchase in a long time: the test pressing of the reissue that Triple B did for Bane's Give Blood LP for the album's ten year anniversary. I'd been hunting down one of these for a long time, contacted a lot of people - to no avail -, missed out on one on a few occasions on eBay, but finally was able to score one. Didn't come cheap, but it was well worth it.

I didn't buy the whole set when Triple B released this re-issue a few years back because I was a little strapped for money then. I reasoned that with black being the least rare colour, chances would be good that I might pick up this particular version along the road for a reasonable price. And that's just the way it happened. I stumbled across this black vinyl copy at a distro at one of the shows Bane recently played in order to promote their upcoming LP. Nice coincidence, right? So ironically, the least rare version completes this set for me. Triple B truly did a great job with this re-issue. Embossed cover, new cover art and an awesome booklet with lots of pictures and some bonus texts by the band. Plus, the choice of colours for the vinyl is excellent. You can really see that the label wanted to honour this record and the band with this re-release.

Bane - Give Blood (reissue on Triple B)

Bane - Give Blood - test pressing - toothpaste green - /15
Bane - Give Blood - red/white splatter - /200
Bane - Give Blood - white - /400
Bane - Give Blood - clear red - /400 (Equal Vision exclusive colour)
Bane - Give Blood - black - /1000