Hardcore 1990: East Meets West

3rd and last record I got for free with the Verse LP. I already have a copy of this compilation, which is pretty good, so I'm giving one copy to a friend. Work on my karma a little bit.

American Violence

One of the two 7"s I got for free with the Verse LP is American Violence by Reign Supreme. I already have a copy of this record on clear red vinyl (/700), but this copy on red and black haze looks much better (and is rarer), so I'm keeping this one as a welcome upgrade. I'll give the other record to a friend most likely and work on my karma.

Retaliate

The purchase of the Verse LP was probably the most lucrative record purchase I ever made. Sometimes sellers toss in a little something extra. If you're lucky, the seller actually wants to be nice and throws in a good record, but often the seller uses this opportunity to get rid of a record that isn't really good to begin with. Which is fair enough, because it's still a nice gesture and tastes are different, but often you get stuck with a record you never would have bought and probably don't like. With this purchase the seller threw in three extra records. That's right, I bought one record and received four. I'd never heard of Retaliate, but this LP is actually quite good. Would make a fine playlist for the gym together with Terror or Reign Supreme, haha. 500 copies on gold/red swirl.

From Anger And Rage

Another case of "I'll trade that now, no problem. I can pick up another copy soon." Only took me a few years. Oh well. I love this record. And I love this specific colour scheme. The copy I used to have was a little prettier than this one, but I'm happy with this one. From Anger And Rage still holds up really well after all these years. Verse live when this record came out was always on point as well. I remember a great show in one of my favourite locations. Pre-order variant on red/yellow swirl out of 270 copies.

Turning Point

Of all the iconic record covers the hardcore scene has produced over all the years, this is definitely one of my favorites (whose not?). The only imagery I like better are the Minor Threat sheep. Other than that, I can't think of anything that looks better. Oh yeah, the music is pretty good as well. This is a 3rd press on black vinyl out of 900 copies. Record and sleeve are in amazing condition for a record that age, too.

On

Maybe not the most iconic band from that period of time, but Verbal Assault still are memorable because they helped to establish a slower, I want to say more emo kind of hardcore. European version of On on Konkurrel Records.

Busy

There are I don't know how many versions of this 7" floating around. I didn't really care about the variant here, just happy to add a copy to the collection. By the way, the paper jacket shows a pink tint, but that's just a reflection from the background I use. It's plain white.

Pilot

The other record I got for free from my buddy is Pilot, an LP by a band called Playlounge. I'd never heard of the band, but after listening to the record a few times, I kind of start to like it. Little bit emo, little bit indie rock, little bit pop punk, little bit whatever. Reminds me of Big Kids and Title Fight.
Blue/pink mix out of 350 copies. Thanks again for expanding my musical horizon, buddy.

The Killing Flame

My buddy who helped me out with the Trial LP also send me two more records that he had doubles of. The first one is The Killing Flame's Another Breath LP. It took me a few spins, but this record is growing on me. The singing voice needs a little getting used to, at least for me, but it's clicking more and more. Sounds like a mix between 7 Seconds and Ignite as far as the vocals go. If only the singer hit all the correct notes, I guess then I'd really like it. Because the music is pretty good.

Are These Our Lives?

I think I've never gone so quickly from putting out a want list on the Internet and getting all of my wants, not only virtually, but also in my hands. I've been listening to Trial's Are These Our Lives a lot these last few weeks and I needed to fill that gap in my collection. I posted my list on Instagram among other social media platforms and I think it took about two hours that a buddy messaged me and told me he had a spare copy. Fast forward two more days and I had the record in my hands. Sweet. As Marcus/Endless Quest has put it before, collectors are rivals, but collectors are also a pretty friendly bunch and try to help out each other as often as possible. At least that's my experience.
Since I'm a little particular about records I really like, I wanted to have a special colour. The price for a first press on white seemed a little steep, so I went with the next best colour, which is maroon. I'd expected it to be a little bit different, but I still thinks it looks pretty good. No need to talk about how fantastic this record is. Repress on maroon vinyl out of 250 copies.

Searching For You

Small DIY venue, rather unknown band(s), few people, sometimes that's all a good show needs. It was the 3rd time I was at a show where I Recover played, but the first time I actually saw them, and man, turns out it was a big mistake I'd missed out on them before. Hardcore in the vein of DC summer revolution bands or think newer bands like Give. There were maybe 30 people there and the band really played their hearts out. Not only was the set really good, but I Recover also put in a lot of effort with their records. This is the 2nd 7" they put out and what a beauty it is. OBI strip, fold out cover, lyrics printed on the cover, and beautiful artwork overall. The band and the labels involved really did a great job with this one. All copies come on black vinyl.

Close up of the cover: The flower opens up.

Fully folded out cover. How beautiful is that?

Here & Now

I saw Insist at the last Mindset show in Germany and I really liked them. So when a buddy of mine asked me if I wanted a copy of their first 7" I gladly said yes. Turns out he got a friend of his pick up a few 7"s at a festival in England, so I ended up with rather limited variant. 150 copies on clear vinyl. Now, I thought I'd picked up a copy of their demo some time back. Turns out I didn't, which is something I have to change soon.

Touch

Touch is a band from Budapest that I got to know via a buddy from there. He was kind enough to bring along a copy to Fluff Fest for me. Reminds me of the mid 2000s, which is always a plus with me. I'm really into the cover as well.

Time To Heal

One of the few bands whose set I caught at Fluff Fest this year was Time To Heal. Friends had told me before that this could be up my alley, and they sure were right about that. The band from Stockholm played a really good show on the tent stage. For a band playing an afternoon slot they got the tent going pretty good. What I saw convinced me to pick up a record in the merch tent and lo and behold they even had a special tour press. I really dig the colour of this record as well. It doesn't show that well in the picture, but it's a really nice dark blue with a touch of green. Time To Heal has the sticker game down pat as well.

Demo '08

Iron Chic has become one of my favourite bands these last years and slowly but steadily I've managed to pick up most of their records. One release that had eluded me for a long time though was their demo. It's highly sought after and usually goes for an amount of money I wasn't willing to shell out. Luckily YoYo Records decided to repress the demo for the last tour. I couldn't make it to any of the shows, but a buddy of mine was kind enough to pick up a copy for me.