Continuing with my non-existent Youth Of Today collection, here's a copy of Can't Close My Eyes on We Bite Records from Germany. Apparently I'm working on both, a YOT and a We Bite collection. Cool.
If anyone has a spare copy of the 7" on Positive Force (whatever pressing goes for the lowest rate currently), hit me up!
 |
| Reissue on We Bite Records /unknown number |
The second record store I hit up didn't really have a used records section, but I still manage to pick up two records. When I'm on holiday, I love to read. I mean I love reading no matter when and where, but I often don't have the time, so holidays are always a great time to catch up on reading some of the books that have been sitting on a pile for a few months.
One of those books in one of my piles was the Bad Religion biography Do What You Want, which I really enjoyed and can only recommend. I have the majority of Bad Religion LPs, but there are still some gaps. Which I'm not too bothered about because I don't like their later material all that much to be honest. But if get the chance to pick up one of their records in an actual record store, I'm not saying no. Plus, I was hyped on them because of the book that I'd just finished. The Process of Belief is a good record, but it's nowhere near their late 80s / early 90s records.
 |
| 20th Anniversary Pressing on Orange/Black Galaxy Vinyl /5180 |
 |
| 25th Anniversary Pressing on Startracks Records /1000 |
Last summer we spent our family holiday in Sweden, which was a wise decision because Sweden is just outright gorgeous. We spent some time in the country but also spent time in Gothenburg and Malmö. Of the two, Malmö definitely wins by a mile and not only because I got to hit up cool record stores and scored some records. This haul is all from one record store, but unfortunately I don’t remember the name.
First up is a split between Seein‘ Red and Stack. Good European hardcore from the 90s. Not in great shape, but it was cheap and it’s perfectly playable.
I have come to the realization, that I will never own all of the original pressings of Minor Threat records. Even owning most of them is kind of like a pipe dream because prices have skyrocketed these last few years. Especially the 7" prices are crazy. But every once in a while I manage to pick up an OG copy for a good price and that always make me happy. I was always more of a Minor Threat 7" guy, but as I grow older, I got to like Out Of Step much more. Not that I ever thought this was a bad record by any means or that I didn't like it, but the 7"s were so intense and ferocious. Nowadays I can enjoy the journey a band takes much more and Out of Step is on the same level as the first two 7"s. Well, maybe a tad below. Anyway, I was really happy to cross this variant off my want list and add it to the collection.
 |
| Minor Threat - Out Of Step UK Press |
Two bands I like decide to team up and release a split 7“. Great concept, but the execution leaves a little to be desired. I‘m not talking about the quality of the music or lyrics, both bands deliver on that level, but one original song per band plus a cover for 13 bucks is a little steep to be honest.
 |
| Blue translucent /150 |
The main reason why I hit up Marcus in the first place was that I‘d found a copy of a Dangers LP I didn‘t have yet. There was a seller in the UK that sold the clear/purple version of Danger‘s The Bend In The Break for a reasonable price. What‘s more important, there was a copy for sale to begin with because for some reason that particular variant doesn‘t pop up very often. I bought the black and green copies when the record was released back in 2016 and a couple of years ago I also managed to acquire a test press, but for some reason that clear-purple split eluded me for the longest time. Anyway, I finally got one and for a brief moment I thought that this collection was complete, but then I learned that there is a record release variant out of 30. It never ends.
 |
| Test Press #6/20 Clear/Purple Halves /101 Green /415 Black /1518 |
As I wrote recently, I got pretty hooked on High Vis about a year or so ago. It took me a while to find their first record because it was sold out at most of my go to mailorders. I was really happy to finally find one, the only kink was that the mailorder was located in the UK. Luckily, us record collectors like to help each other out in times of need. Marcus from Endless Quest was kind enough to help me out with this one and a some other stuff. I‘m very grateful to know so many genuinely great and helpful people. This might be my favourite part about being involved in music and record collecting. Thanks again.
I listened to Blending first and I have a tendency to like the record I listened to first by a band the best, but this record is just as good.
 |
| 3rd press on Venn Records /1000 |
Last year my family and I got to ring in the new year with some very good friends of ours. People very close to our hearts, whom we sadly don't see enough because we don't live in the same country, or in some cases not even on the same continent. It was a great time with tons of food, watching sports, hanging out and nerding out about records and music in general.
A Venn diagram of our musical taste would show a lot of overlap and one of the bands we can all agree on are The Beatles. Me personally, I've loved that band since I was a teenager. My parents had some best of CDs of The Beatles and I listened to those countless times. No matter which different phases I went through as a teenager, musically speaking, I always listened to The Beatles. But for some reason I never bothered to pick up any records by them.
When my friends and I got to talking about music and The Beatles in particular last year, I made the resolution to change that as soon as I was home. I'm not a big fan of New Year's resolutions because if you want to do something, why pin it to a specific date instead of just do it right away? You know, start today...
I don't remember exactly, but I might have searched for a Beatles collection or this box set specifically on eBay local listings (best source for things like that) that very night or maybe the next day. When I found one for a fair price, I didn't hesitate and pulled the trigger. I might have been at home again already, but I remember having the records when there was still Christmas break. Good way to start the new year. Maybe I should make this a tradition.
I‘m usually not the guy who watches a ton of live concerts on YouTube or on Hate5Six, but the High Vis set from Outbreak Fest 2022 got me hooked. I watched a bunch of sets, at least partly, because some friends of mine were there and raved on and on about how great it was. I didn‘t finish most of the sets I started watching, but High Vis stood out from the rest. After that I went down a rabbit hole because they had opened with a Dirty Money cover, the singer‘s previous band. I do remember the band, but only by name, because I didn‘t really listen to them back when they were around.
Well, I kind of fucked up because I never listened to them since they play very good hardcore. But hindsight is always 20/20 I guess. I even like the Dirty Money side better than the Trapped Under Ice side, which some people find sacrilegious.
 |
| 1st press on Dead&Gone Records /665 |
How many versions of a record of which you already have a lot of copies and which is about to get repressed do you actually need? The answer is: yes. Modern Life Is War released their s.t. 7“ back in 2002, which seems incredible to me. To commemorate the anniversary, Lifeline Records and the band decided to repress the record. Of course that meant there‘d be a lot of different versions, because that‘s part of the game these days.
Since Modern Life Is War is one of my favourite bands of all-time, I knew I‘d get sucked into it. Here are the five different versions that were released last year. The copies on the left and on the right are the same colour, but they‘re still different (see picture below). The 7“ still rules. The repress is done really, really well. The booklet alone makes the repress worth getting. There‘s a ton of pictures, background information on the band, and for the nerds, there’s even a comprehensive pressing info is provided for this record.
 |
| Gold (Wax Xtatic exclusive) /150 Clear /150 White/Yellow Swirl (Indie Record Store exclusive) /230 Blue /333 Gold /Coretex Exclusive) /100 |
Believe it or not, THIS is the really nerdy part of this already nerdy post. To make the different versions a little more special or at least distinguishable, there are stickers on some of the different versions. I ordered some of the records directly through Lifeline Records and Joe was kind enough to throw in some extra goodies, which I really appreciate.
The great thing about many records from the 90s is that you can pick them up for rather cheap. Of course, there are many records that are more expensive, but once you dig a little deeper you can get a lot of good or even great music for little money.
I wasn't too familiar with Drift, but a good friend of mine kept telling me how good they were, so when I had the chance to pick up their only 7" for a good price, I didn't hesitate. My friend was right. I didn't expect the vocals to sound somewhat screamo, but it works for me.
Another Youth Of Today record. I don't have much to say about the music because everyone knows it's a classic and how influential this record was and still is. I really like the color scheme and you can't do much better than having matching labels, cover art and lyric sheet, apart from colored vinyl obviously. But I think the black works pretty well too.
 |
| 1st pressing on Revelation Records |
Earth Crisis is a very controversial band. They were one of the true game changers in hardcore, no matter if you like their music or lyrical content, but they had an impact on hardcore few other bands had. If you are a vegan straight edge kid or just vegan, this can be probably traced back to Earth Crisis. Yes, there were bands that promoted veganism before, but Earth Crisis took it to a new level. I always liked Firestorm as a song, because it is a hit. So simple, but so effective. Again, the lyrical message is very polarising, but not everything said in a two or three minute song should be taken at face value all the time. I mean, it is to be expected that you will receive pushback if you put out extreme lyrical content. This is something I do love about hardcore, because people actually read lyrics and debate them strongly if necessary. The same can be said about some of the content on All Out War, what with the whole pro life debate. Which, much to Earth Crisis' credit, they addressed in a leaflet that comes with the later presses. Musically, I dig the first two 7”s, but after that they lose me because they started leaning way too much into metal for me. But this is still good hardcore.
Doing all of these blog entries way after when I got most of these records can be a pain in the ass. I mean, no one could prove when I got which record, but I decided for myself that I want to be as chronological as possible. And now I’m kind of stuck with that decision.
Undertow is a band I’ve really come to appreciate over the last few years. I knew of the band, but didn’t own any of their records so I didn’t really listen to them. Then one of my favourite German hardcore bands covered one of their songs and I knew I wanted to find out more about that band. Luckily, Undertow records are rather cheap go get, so when I saw two of their 7”s sold by the same seller at good prices, I knew I just had to buy them.
Both of the 7"s are really good, but I like the songs on Control just a tad better.
