Great Reversals Come In Waves

Another case of "Well, as long as I'm buying one record from this label, I might as well make it worth the shipping cost". Great Reversals is a band I've been into for some time now and while these are not their best songs, their still good. Can't wait for the new LP. I'd never heard of They Come In Waves, and although it is kind of stupid, just based on the band name I would have never bought any of their releases. The song is okay, but sometimes it's apparently okay to judge a band by its name.

Loosing It

I think I'm loosing it here. This is a limited cover for a promo (!) flexi (!). Not even a proper record, but a flexi. However, since it's by my new favourite band, I caved in quicker than you could say "That's stupid." Apparently the label ran out of covers, so they came up with a new one for the remaining 28 copies. This is #14.

Spirit Crusher

What happens when a bunch of people in their 30s, who also happen to have been in various other bands or have been involved in hardcore in some way or the other, decide to make music? Exactly, you get a great demo tape and an even better first 7". The artwork of this 7" is amazing as well. Band and label have gone all out for this release. I've known their frontman Dominik for a long time now and he's an all around great guy. He used to do shows around my area, he's helped to release a bunch of demo tapes, and he's put out a myriad of different zines. You can tell he has a way with words, not only because of the lyrics, but mainly because of the things he has to say in between songs. If you have the chance to see them live, make sure you go. Otherwise you'll miss out on a great new band, because as much as I like the recordings, Spirit Crusher's really quality lies in playing live.

This is the pre-order edition on black vinyl. #16/80.

Waste

Demo 7" from this new straight edge band from Göteborg, Sweden. Good one. Got the pre-order version on purple vinyl. I think there was a tape version of this one as well, but I'm not 100% sure.

Meant To Let You Down

While doing work stuff I sometimes listen to music on YouTube. Kill Holiday randomly came on as 'video playing next' and I thought, 'Well, I've never really listened to that band. Let's give them a chance.' And goddamn, Meant To Let You Down is an incredible song. I was listening to this song on repeat for two days straight and then headed over to Discogs and bought a copy for next to nothing. Luckily these don't go for a lot. The b-side is good as well, but the a-side is where it's at. I still haven't checked out their other releases, but I'll change that soon.

Left With Something

The seller of the three records I posted recently about was kind enough to throw in a little something extra. I hadn't heard of Left With Nothing before and I'm not overwhelmed by this 7", but it's okay. The songs don't really move me, but they aren't unlistenable either. I greatly appreciate the seller's gesture though. I even got a limited version. Blue vinyl out of 100 copies.

Reserve 34

The last record I picked up from this seller was a copy of Reserve 34's s.t. 7". Now, the band itself is only little known, but the members moved on to form Go It Alone and Blue Monday, two bands I really love. And this 7" didn't disappoint. On the contrary, it's a really good record that I've enjoyed greatly so far. Standard press on black vinyl out of 400 copies.

Making History

Of course I couldn't resist going through the other records the seller of the Danger's LP had up for sale on Discogs. And sure enough I found a record I'd had my eye on for a long time. The record release edition of Go It Alone's Histories LP. No special cover, no special vinyl colour. All you get is a stamp on the label. This is #67/70.

Sink With Dangers

I always thought I had a pretty good knowledge of what variants of Dangers records are out there, but I had no idea that there was a special cover made for Sink With Cali festival. The price was okay, so I didn't hesitate when I saw this one on Discogs. It's not a real sleeve, but I like the overall artwork a lot.

Back cover.

Record Collectors Unite

When I was visiting Marcus, he treated me to some records he'd released on his own label The Endless Quest. Hope Defeated are/were (I'm not 100% sure if they're still active) a band from Canada. Now, you might ask yourself, why does some dude from the UK release a rather - at least to my knowledge - unknown band from Canada? The answer is quite simple really: because the singer and the guy running the label knew each other through collecting records and blogging about it. Doug  hasn't been active for some time, but his blog We Will Bury You is still worth checking out. If you want to know more about the story, you should pick up a copy of this 7" and read all about it.
I really like the story behind this release. It's always cool to see how shared interests can bring people together no matter where they're from. The story isn't the only thing I thoroughly enjoyed here. The record itself is pretty good as well. Thanks again for hooking me up with an instant collection, Marucs.

Black vinyl out of 150.

White vinyl out of 100.

And finally, a very cool Chain Of Strength rip-off sleeve out of 60 aka the Blog Nerds Pressing. You can also see a flyer that tells the story of Marcus' label and how this 7" came about.

Printed To The X

Violent Reaction's s.t. 7" is such a ripper. I already had a regular copy, but I always wanted one of those fancy covers that fold out to this gigantic X. Looks so cool. 150 copies on red vinyl with the red X sleeve.

The Records, The People

Once a year I get to take a trip to London thanks to my job. I love this city and that trip is something I always look forward to. Last year the trip was even better than the years before because it coincided with the first ever European Burn show. Not only did I get to see an awesome band, I also got to meet some fellow collectors I'd only known from the Internet before. One of them was Marcus, which you probably know from his blog The Endless Quest. My wife and I got to meet him in person again a few weeks later when we travelled to London for a Bane show. We stayed in touch afterwards and when we got to talking about my next trip to London, he invited me to his home. An invitation I gladly said yes to. I was treated to a nice dinner, we talked about records, and I got to dig through his collection. If you think it's impressive based on his blog and his list on howsyouredge?, I can assure you it's way more impressive in real life. I got to see and hold some real gems. The highlight for me of course was his incredible Bane collection, but there were lots of other awesome records I'll never see again in person. I'm not even thinking about possibly owning some of them.

Prior to the trip we'd worked out a small trade and I got some nice extra goodies from him as well. I have a pretty good Dangers collection if I dare say so myself, and I always thought I was pretty knowledgeable on their discography, but when I was going through Marcus' records, sure enough I found a variant I didn't know existed. Dangers - s.t. on Old Guard - black vinyl with regular sleeve. Always cool to find variants you didn't know existed. Keeps collecting fun.

Thanks again to you and your girlfriend for having me, Marcus. Those were some fun few hours that went by much too quickly.

Cough/Uncool

The second record I bought in London that was supposedly a heavy hitter scored for cheap. Oh well. It would have been cool, but just having this bootleg is okay for me. Obviously I don't have an original to compare this with, so I don't know if this is a good copy or not, but I like the "the Unfits" pun on the label.

The Kids Will Have Their Say

On my most recent trip to London I hit up a few record stores there. I always find them a little disappointing, but I can't resist going to an actual store and flip through the bins. And there's always that tiny speck of hope that I might find something really good. I found two records that triggered my interest, but of course both of them turned out to be bootlegs, but since I'm not sure I want to shell out the big bucks for these records, these boots will have to do for now. SSD's debut LP is such an iconic record. The cover, the album name and so many of the song titles have been recycled again and again for 30+ years. The boot itself is done pretty well. The cover is of good quality and the songs sound pretty good to me. Granted, I don't have a frame of reference, but for me it does the trick.

Have Heart Goes To Posi Numbers

One more special Have Heart cover. This one was made for the Posi Numbers festival 2005. Red vinyl out of 125 copies. All sleeves were numbered on the back flap of the cover. My copy is #22/125. The pressing plant had made an error since the vinyl was supposed to be blue. The mistake was rectified later and the blue vinyl was used with regular sleeves. Again, the lighting is really bad. They yellow is much more vibrant in real life.