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.

What Fire Does

I'm kind of ambivalent towards Record Store Day. There are so many releases for that day that are just so overpriced, plus there are all those people who come crawling out of the woodwork and buy records just to flip them. And to put it simple: fuck those people. On the other hand it's a great opportunity to get some releases that have been out of print for a long time. I also read an interview with a record store owner once that RSD basically ensures his shop to stay afloat for a couple of months. The interview really somehow changed my outlook on this day because I used to be absolutely against this day. Goes to show you never should form a one-sided opinion. So if what this day accomplishes is keeping record stores alive, I guess then it's a good thing all in all.

I stumbled across this Up Front 7" during my recent trip to Bis Aufs Messer. This version on grey marble was released for RSD 2014, so I guess this record has been sitting there for a few months and no one bothered to pick it up. Kind of sad, since it's a really good record, but I'm not really complaining here. There are 300 of these and all of them are numbered.

Have Heart?

I love Have Heart. They're one of the bands from the first decade of the 21st century that will go down as a classic hardcore band. Not only are the music and the lyrics awesome, but they're also a fun band to collect. That means if your borderline OCD and/or have loads of money. There are like 50 versions of the demo alone. For detailed info check this awesome homepage. Done with true passion.
Now, I really like record collecting and I really like Have Heart, but there's no way I'd ever think of aiming for a complete collection. That's why I decided to just collect the different covers for the 7"s. Having said that, we're still talking about a shitload of records.
Recently I had the chance to buy a few special covers for the demo 7". The first one is the cover the band did for their summer tour 2005. There are 150 of these on black vinyl. The second one was done for Posi Numbers Fest the same year. There are 200 of these on coke bottle clear vinyl.































In case you're wondering about the missing pictures, the scumbag I bought the two records from ripped me off badly. I'm a very patient guy, but after three and a half months of waiting and no contact for three months I'm pretty sure I'll never get those records from the seller. It really bums me out that people who are apparently into hardcore would do this to fellow hardcore kids. It's not so much about the records really, but more about the whole behaviour. I've been lucky so far and haven't been ripped off that often, but whenever it happens, it really bums me out. So, if you happen to read this, Maxym Koval from Ukraine (aka onethruth on Deadformat), fuck yourself you piece of shit.

Catholic Guilt

I seem to have picked up a lot of records that were inspired by early 80s hardcore and I don't really know why. It's not my favourite style of hardcore, but a lot of current bands seem to play that style (again). Here's one more. Catholic Guilt are from Austria and play a more punkish version of early 80s hardcore. Nothing groundbreaking, but not bad either. No info on the pressing info.

Sex Drive

Holy crap, where do all these good records at the end of the year come from all of a sudden? If a band names itself after a Necros song, there's probably a good reason for them to do so. No frills, all thrills hardcore that could have easily been recorded in the early 80s. There are 98 copies on green vinyl, 110 were pressed on white vinyl and another 330 copies come on black vinyl. 

Protester

The scene in Washington, D.C., seems to be flourishing right now. A lot of really good bands from there have been delivering pretty good records as of late. Protester is definitely one of these bands. Don't expect any typical D.C. sound though. This is raw, brutal hardcore in the vein of early Boston bands. As you might have guessed from the cover, Protester is a straight edge band. I like the adaption of the classic D.C. cross logo here. This is the less fancy version on black vinyl. I'm sweating over that Best Of 2014 list at the moment and I just might have yet another contender for that list.

Unrestrained

You learn something new everyday, as the saying goes. I recently learned that there are two bands called Unrestrained, who both play the same style of hardcore. Who would have guessed? Well, not me, apparently. I saw Unrestrained from Vermont a few years ago live and I really liked them. I have a soft spot for this kind of 90's hardcore. That's why I was really happy to learn that Unrestrained recently, and by that I mean 2013, released a new LP. Turns out it was Unrestrained from Portland, who incidentally also play 90's style hardcore. What are the odds, right? I have to admit I had to get over the disappointment a little bit, but once I put that behind me, I started to dig this record. Having said that, I still like Unrestrained from Vermont a little better… There are 525 copies of this record on vinyl, of which 399 come on this purple/gray trash colour.

Hounds Of Hate

While at Bis Aufs Messer record store, I also bought a copy of the Hounds Of Hate's No Redemption 7". I don't know if this is a first press or second press copy since both pressings are on black. I really liked their first LP, but this 7", which had come out before the LP doesn't do a whole lot for me, and I don't really know why. Maybe it'll have to grow on me. 

I also picked up Hounds Of Hate's 2nd LP Hate Springs Eternal. Not at Bis Aufs Messer, but I ordered from XSentientX around the same time, so I thought I'd put the two records together. For such a short lived band, they sure have a lot of (full length) releases under their belt. I was kind of disappointed by the 7", but this LP definitely makes up for it. 

XSentientX is run by the same guy who also runs Assault Records, which is the label that released the European version of this LP. This is the more limited variant. 120 of these were pressed on clear vinyl. . 

Great Reversals

Great Reversals from Detroit play great modern hardcore. A little bit on the slow, more moshy (is that a word?) side of modern hardcore, but still with enough melody for me. The voice reminds of Count me Out, which is never a bad thing. To The End Of The Earth was released in 2012 and features four songs. A bit of a waste of vinyl if you ask me seeing that it was released as a 10". Be that as it may, this is really good music. I've been listening to this a lot these last few days. I'm definitely going to pick up their other releases at some point.

More Dischord

I made a weekend trip to Berlin last weekend to visit one of my best friends. Whenever I do this, a short stop over at premium record store Bis Aufs Messer is a must. Picked up some nice records that I'll post over the next few days.

I love Dischord for many different reasons. That's why it's all the more sad I have so few of their records. I guess my excuse for this is my reasoning that Dischord always keep their releases in print, so I could pick up Dischord records practically at any time, and for a fair price, too. That's why I probably kept focusing on other records all the time since a lot of records by other labels are 'sold out' at one point sooner or later. So speed is the key if you want to have them. However, if I'd stuck with this reasoning, I'd have never bought any Dischord records at all. I'm not a big fan of New Year's resolutions, because if you really want to change something you can always start today, but I'm planning on buying a lot more Dischord stuff in the next twelve months and beyond.

Dischord recently released the first demo recordings by Fugazi on vinyl. Seeing that I don't own any Fugazi records (see above), I thought that their demo recordings would make for a good start. It's not like I've never listened to them, I just didn't own physical copies of their releases. No need to talk about the importance or awesomeness of this band.

The second Dischord release I got is Gray Matter's mini LP Take It Back. This repress also features the four songs that were originally released on their s.t. 7". Whenever I think of Gray Matter I see Ali Boulala skate to Burn No Bridges in the original Flip skateboard video. Perfect fit. Maybe it's because this was the way I was introduced to this band, but I like this song the best. The record came out in 1986, when the whole DC summer thing was about to happen. That probably explains this seemingly strange mix of traditional hardcore-punk songs and more calm, emo-core songs. Although I have to agree with Guy Picciotto, singer for Rites Of Spring, that 'emo-core' is a pretty stupid genre name, seeing that hardcore itself is already pure emotion.

We're Just A Minor Threat

A few weeks ago I posted that I needed to step up my Minor Threat game. So that's what I did. I had the chance to pick up this beautiful 4th press copy of Minor Threat's first 7" for a fair price via eBay. The seller was from France, so I didn't have to worry about long shipping or the customs office. I guess X-mas came a little early this year.

The record looks almost mint to me and the insert is in great condition, too. The only 'flaw' is that the glue of the cover has dried out and the cover is now kind of a fold out (again). It isn't really a flaw though since this is pretty common with these records. On the upside, you get to read the 'Flex Your Head' slogan on one of the flaps, which I think is pretty awesome. Just imagine writing that slogan on all of these covers before glueing them together yourself. Pure dedication. I love it.

Of Kanji And Wrestlers

I managed to pick up another Black SS record recently. This is probably the last missing variant of their s.t. 7", minus test pressing that is. This record had been on my want list for ages, but for some reason I never really bothered to look for it seriously. A few weeks back I had some spare time, started browsing Discogs and found the record rather quickly. All in all this one went down easier than I'd thought. I have no idea about the pressing info on this record. It's basically the same sleeve as the one the band had for This Is For You Fest. The only difference is it doesn't say "This Is For You Fest" in the bottom left corner.

This is what I have so far. If you have any variant I don't have, let me know.

Black Sheep Squadron - s.t. - Third Party - black (regular press)
Black Sheep Squadron - s.t. - Third Party - Kanji cover - /100 (record is shown right below the sleeve)
Black Sheep Squadron - s.t. - Third Party - gold - 2nd press - /300
Black Sheep Squadron - s.t. - Third Party - Wrestler cover
Black Sheep Squadron - s.t. - Third Party - This Is For You Fest cover - /100

Holding This Moment

Wow, I can't believe that a whole year has passed since I started this blog. Time  really does fly by. I picked up some records I'd wanted for a long time, got some cool new records from current bands, and I got to know a whole bunch of cool people I traded with/bought stuff from. This has been a lot of fun so far, so here's to what the future may hold.

To celebrate the anniversary, I thought it'd be fitting to post a record by the band that was also featured in the very first post. Incididentally, it was also the band that was on my mind the most this year, from collecting records and shirts, a lot of fun on instagram (check out #banemerch), to shows, travelling, and meeting cool people. Sadly, this band will come to an end a little later than the 2nd birthday of this blog here...

When I think about records I'd like to be buried with one day, Bane's Holding This Moment 7" ranks pretty highly on that list. I absolutely love everything about this record from music to lyrics, artwork and layout. I especially like the fold out lyric sheet that opens like a window. Also, Count Me Out will forever be my favourite Bane song.

Getting the last variant of this turned out to be quite a task. There are only 100 of these around and they don't pop up as often as I'd hoped they would. Finally I was able to sweet-talk someone into letting go off their copy and so I got this crucial piece of the Bane puzzle. If there's one record I'd kill to own, it'd be the test pressing for this release.

Finally, I'm able to take that group picture...

Bane - Holding This Moment - Equal Vision - green - record release version /100
Bane - Holding This Moment - Equal Vision - black - /800 (not 100% sure on that number)
Bane - Holding This Moment - Equal Vision - purple - tour version /100
Bane - Holding This Moment - Equal Vision - gold - /200

Start Today

So, 25 years ago one of the best hardcore albums ever was released. You might have heard of this band called Gorilla Biscuits and their debut LP Start Today, so I don't have to talk a whole lot about how good and influential this record was and still is. On a sidenote, I'm really looking forward to the book that Anthony Pappalardo is doing on this particular record.

Rev took the anniversary to re-release this classic LP. And what a re-release this is. Embossed cover (like the original first press), glow-in-the-dark vinyl and a sleeve that is printed on the inside. Great job, Rev. But really, if any LP (on Rev) deserves this kind of deluxe treatment, what other than Start Today? Probably none.

Printed inner sleeve. Nice touch.

There was also a black version of this available, so I grabbed this one too. Can't have too many Gorilla Biscuits records, right?

Minor Threat

This post is embarrassing for two reasons. One, it reminds me how embarrassing my Minor Threat collection is despite the fact that Minor Threat is one of my favourite bands (whose not, right?). I don't own any of the original 7"s, a situation that needs to be remedied very soon. Two, I haven't changed anything about the lack of Minor Threat records in at least a year, because this is the first post that features Minor Threat since I started doing this blog.
Obviously it was high time I did something about this situation. This record is far from a heavy hitter, but still, it's a Minor Threat record I didn't have yet. This is the s.t. LP, which features the first two 7"s Minor Threat released. What I really like about Dischord is the fact that their releases have always been available for cheap because they just kept pressing the records in one form or the other. Another reason why Dischord is the best label in hardcore/punk.
I decided to use a picture of the backside of the sleeve since that's where you can see the differences between different pressings the best. Unless Dischord changed the colour of the sleeve completely. This is the $5.00 version with blue sleeve. There's another $5.00 version out there, but the sleeve is green. There are so many different versions of this record floating around, so you can expect some more posts on this record and Minor Threat records in general in the nearby future.