Besides the 7”s I picked up at my friends’ place, I also got one LP. I’d known follow Through only by name up until I bought the record, but I’m really glad I got it! This may be my favourite record of the whole bunch I picked up from my friends. Just one glance at the cover made me want to get the record. It’s not a great cover artistically speaking, but you know exactly what you get and I’m more than fine with that.
This is round two of the 7"s I managed to pick up when we stayed at some friends' of mine place on our way to Paris. More good stuff from the 90s and there is at least one record shown here that is not just plain black! I didn't want to peel off the price tag off the Start Today 7", so you get an idea of the price range. I don't know why someone decided to glue the cover of the Start Today 7" together at one point, because it is clearly a fold over cover. I decided to cut the scotch tape open because I wanted to read the lyrics and see the pictures inside. I was kind of hoping the band name was a reference to Gorilla Biscuits, and it might be, but the sound is nothing like it. The cover of that 7" hints much more at what the band sounds like than the name. But I'm fine with that.
Last April, I was lucky enough to play a show in Paris with my band. Since Paris is quite a trip from where we're from, we decided to split the way and crash at some friends of mine who happen to live close to the French border. During dinner we got to talking about records - we're all collectors / nerds - and my friends pointed to two boxes of 7"s and LPs they were selling for a friend.
They'd already taken what they wanted and they told me the rest was up for grabs. I didn't expect to be record shopping on that trip, but hey, what are you going to do when opportunity comes knocking? I picked some 7"s that I'd been looking for anyway and some that just looked interesting. None of these records are high end collector's items, so I didn't have to spend a ton of money either. Plus, it was a deal among friends. All of the records come on black vinyl, which probably makes most of them the most common variant. I didn't bother to check for all of them to be honest. My apologies to Marcus in advance, because this is an all black vinyl post.
I love when friends tell me not to pick up certain records because a) that means they know my taste b) I might be getting a record for free and c) I have good taste in friends. I was talking to a good friend of mine and during the conversation he dropped the not very subtle hint to not pick up the new One Step Closer record, which had just been announced then. Fine by me. I am a very patient person, so I didn't mind waiting to get a copy. Best of all, the record was delivered in person by said friend. Thanks again.
One Step Closer has been of the better bands of the current wave of melodic hardcore bands. From Me To You, their 2019 release, is still a record I reach for fairly often. Songs For The Willow is also a really good record, but that's as far as they can take the pop sensibilities for my taste. The record sounds a little too polished to my ears. I really liked their style of being a little rough around the edges while also being very melodic. I can still enjoy this record, but I'm a little afraid of the next step they might take sound-wise.
First press out of 300 copies on this colorway.
This is another record I picked up from the same local seller as the two Spit Boy 7"s. I also got a Growing Stronger comp, but that was intended as a present for a friend from the beginning, so I'm not going to post it here. Anyway, I picked up this Burn / Prison split because early Burn rules and it was pretty cheap. I own both songs on different records, but I still kind of wanted the record. The sound quality is not as good as on the comp and the 7", on which both songs appeared originally respectively. No idea when and why or even if they re-recorded this. Might be this is just due to the level of technology back then. I have no idea how Lost And Found would have got the audio to release this split, and I probably don't want to know, haha. The Prison side is alright. It's not Burn, that's for sure, but it's good 90s hardcore.
I really like browsing eBay local listings. I feel like this is the last place where you can actually still find a bargain every once in a while, so I spend much more time browsing there than on regular eBay. A few months ago I was doing exactly that and came across a seller selling a bunch of interesting 7“s from the 90s. Apparently the seller was getting rid of the remains of his record collection and a lot of things were already gone, but I also found a couple of things I thought were interesting. He didn’t want a ton of money either, which is always fine by me. Best of all, the seller lives only 10 minutes away from where I live, so I was able to pick up the records on my way to picking up our son from daycare.
I wasn‘t familiar with Spitboy before I was browsing the records of said seller, but the covers triggered my interest and I did some research, which made me interested even more. All-female hardcore bands are sadly still a rarity, and were even rarer back then. Musically this is not 100% my taste, but the lyrics are very interesting and provide an interesting look into feminist politics in hardcore in the early 90s.
I was tipped off to Feels Like Heaven by a friend. I remember us driving someplace and he wouldn’t stop talking about this new band from Sweden. We listened to it right there and then, modern technology be praised. I liked what I heard and liked even more that they were about to release a demo. I was even more excited when I learned that the demo was going to receive a vinyl treatment. I like tapes, but between vinyl and tapes it’s not really a close contest. This reminds me a lot of Praise, which is always a good thing in my book. I hope there’ll be more material soon.
100 copies on coloured vinyl with a screen-printed cover.
So here I am posting yet another repress, all the while thinking and claiming I luckily didn't get sucked into the repress game. Well, maybe it's time to face the facts... There's always some sort of justification that I find to buy represses after all. In this case it was the booklet. Actually, it't not entirely my fault. Marcus of Endless Quest is the one to really blame (See what I'm doing here?). He ordered a copy from a mailorder in Germany and had it delivered to my place. Obviously I had to check if it was the right version and if everything was okay. While doing exactly that I realized how nice this version looks, especially with the oversized poster that comes with it. So I really had no other choice than get a copy for myself, did I?
Another puzzle piece to the LP collection of the greatest band on earth (in their own words). 13 finally received a repress and I was finally able to grab this record for a fair price. For some reason I don’t think about this album all that often and whenever I do, I tend to low-rate it. However, when I do listen to it, I‘m always reminded that there are so many songs on this album that I really like. They went for 2x10“ again, which was also the format of the original lease 25 years ago. I really wish there was an interview with the band explaining why they love the 10“ format for records so much.
Scowl has been one of the more interesting and better current bands. I really liked their debut LP, but I think Psychotic Dance Routine is even better. You still get some raging hardcore bangers, but the band really pushed their sound and I dig the indie/alternative vibes. As a matter of fact, I like those songs/parts more than the traditional hardcore songs/parts. The singer‘s vocals on those calmer parts is fantastic.
I‘m not sure about the artwork, both on the sleeve and on the B-side of the record. But at least the vinyl works with the cover. Evil Greed exclusive out of 950 copies.
Closed another gap in my 2000s collection. The first two Verse LPs are as good as it gets when it comes to mid-2000s melodic hardcore. Actually, this is often a point of mildly heated argument between my wife and I, since she believes Rebuild is the best Verse LP, while I think From Anger And Rage is superior. This debate has been going on for a decade now and hopefully we‘ll have this debate for many decades to come.
This 7", aptly called Four Songs because, well, there are four songs on it, was released prior to the first LP and there are two songs that ended up on the LP and two songs that didn't. So this was something like a demo I guess and the band decided to re-record two songs for Rebuild. At least that's my guess. I like
This is the third and final press, again as advertised on the cover, which is a pretty weird move. I also hate it when there are blank labels. If this happens by mistake, fair enough, but this looks like they just slapped on red labels - which clashes with the vinyl color - and nobody bothered to put any artwork or info on them. Which means you have to check the matrix if you want to start with side A. Very annoying. To be fully transparent, I was aware that this was the case with this press, so to complain about this fact while knowingly buying a copy is kind of a dick move, BUT this was the cheapest copy I could get my hands on and generally I have a weak spot for pink vinyl.
This press also comes with a different art work than the previous pressings and there are 300 copies on this particular color.
I‘m aware that I have blogged mainly about hardcore and punk, but of course there are other genres that I‘m into as well. I’ve been listening to reggae since I was a teenager and that has never gone away. There‘s a lot of nostalgia involved obviously, but I still like the music and I find the lyrics much more interesting these days because I know more about the history of Jamaica and reggae itself.
This is considered to be Bob Marley & The Wailers‘ magnus opus, and it‘s a really, really good record, but it‘s not my personal favourite in the band’s catalogue.
This may be my favourite Bob Marley & The Wailers albums because it has a bunch of songs that I really love. Can‘t really go wrong with Kaya, Is This Love or Sun Is Shining.
Touché Amoré is one of those bands whose name always kind of turned me off from giving them a chance. It wasn‘t until I listened to one of my wife‘s mixtape (Yes, those still exist! As a matter of fact, if you‘re into mixtape trading, let me know!) a few years ago. It was Home Away From Here on Parting The Sea Between Brightness And Me that made me want to listen to more of their output and some more years down the line here we are. Is Survived by is definitely a good listen. Touché Amoré didn‘t stray too much from their formula on their previous record, so if you like one, there‘s really no reason you shouldn‘t like the other one as well.
I like how the colored vinyl of this repress matches the artwork. That‘s how it should be done. It’s too bad my photography skills don’t do it the justice it deserves.
Is melodic hardcore making a comeback? Maybe. Hopefully. In recent years there have been more and more bands playing hardcore in the vein of 2000s hardcore bands. Bent Blue is one of them. I hear some Dag Nasty and revolution summer influences, too. So if those are ingredients you like, you should give Bent Blue‘s Where Do Ripples Go? a listen.
I feel like hardcore kids often have a hard time embracing fun, at least when it comes to their taste in music. Everything has to be serious all the time, which can be very exhausting. First wave ska is deemed kind of cool and The Specials from the 2 Tone era usually get a pass as well, but bands from the third wave ska revival in the 90s are often frowned upon. Then there‘s me. I like serious bands with a message, but I also like goofy and whacky stuff. Less Than Jake to me is the best skapunk band originating in the 90s and I can thoroughly enjoy their first five albums, but Hello Rockview is their masterpiece. So many hits and this album always puts a smile on my face whenever I listen to it. I really like the peach coloured vinyl and the comic book style booklet with lyrics and credits.
