Your Choiche

A couple of weeks ago my wife and I got to spend a weekend in Berlin without the kiddo. The reason we travelled there was a festival. I really enjoyed the bands I already knew and I got to know a bunch of new bands that had been blanks to me before. One of the perks of the festival was a second hand band shirt and record market. There were a bunch of records that I usually would have bought, but since I’d spent quite a bit on test presses that month, I had to make some hard cuts. 

The one record I did end up buying was the second Uniform Choice LP, Staring Into The Sun, which I got for a really, really good price. The first Uniform Choice LP, Screaming For Change, is one of the all-time great (straight edge) hardcore records. I love that record. Over the years, I‘d hear people talk about the second Uniform Choice LP a bunch and usually it wasn‘t in a positive way. I never really checked it out, just because I didn‘t have a copy and didn‘t feel the urge to actively pursue buying a copy. But when this copy more or less fell into my lap, I thought that now would be a good time to finally give it a chance. After listening to the album a bunch of times, I will say that Staring Into The Sun is nowhere near Screaming For Change, but it‘s not nearly as bad as people always made it sound either. Will I end up listening to Staring Into The Sun as much as I listen to to Screaming For Change? Most definitely not, but I can thoroughly enjoy the songs on here and I‘m glad I picked up a copy. 

1st Press on Black on Giant

I-Scream-For-Pink

A long time want for me was an original copy of Screaming For Change. I only have a repress on Wishingwell (have there ever been any bootlegs?) and one of the represses Southern Lord did some time ago. Coloured copies show up rarely and they usually go for a pretty penny. So when a good friend of mine sent me a list with records he was considering selling and there was this beautiful copy on pink vinyl listed, I didn't hesitate. I was okay with paying a little more, because a) it's just a beautiful record, b) it was from a seller in the same country, so shipping was cheap and customs a non-issue, and c) said friend had made me some really good prices in the past. I haven't been that excited about finally holding a record in my hands for a long time, but this was definitely different. Not sure if I want to go down the rabbit hole of collecting all colour variants. Right now I'm very happy with this pink copy.

Screaming For Repress

Well, not really, seeing that Screaming For Change was repressed only a few years ago. But then again Southern Lord did such a great job with this repress, the repress is definitely justified.

What makes this repress really special are the pictures you get as a glued-in booklet in the gatefold sleeve.

Southern Lord repressed this on six colours I believe and there's a special colour for Rev as well. Not really something I can get behind, which is why I bought only one colour. You can't really make out the colour in the first picture, but I got purple vinyl, which is limited to 100 copies. I kind of had hoped it was marbled purple like the one from the original coloured pressings, but it turns out it's translucent with some swirls. Still looks good though.