One Step

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. 

One Step Closer

When I picked up the last One Step Closer record last year I wrote that I was afraid of the their musical progression on their next output, meaning going even more pop. Yet they did just that and somehow I like All You Embrace more than Songs For The Willow. I'm not sure if my taste in music has changed or they are just really good at what they're doing, but it's funny how that goes sometimes. Be that as it may, I really enjoy the songs on this record. 

The artwork is kinda meh, but the packaging is excellent. Run For Cover always goes the extra mile. Big poster and a giant booklet, all printed I color. This kind of packaging actually justifies a slightly higher price. Good job by both label and band. 

1st Press on White on Run For Cover /1200

2024

I must confess that I‘m not that well versed in the current hardcore scene. Nowadays it feels like I‘m always at least two steps behind, which is fine because hardcore should always be primarily a young people‘s game. However, I don‘t want to become one of those old guys living only in the past, so I‘m trying my best to keep up to date, but with every passing year this seems to be getting harder. 
Having said that, there was a bunch of releases this year that I really enjoyed. The first row are probably my top 3 records of the year, the rest could follow in any given order, depending on the day you ask me. 

I‘m particularly happy that there are so many awesome bands from Germany right now. I‘ve been more excited about German hardcore these last two or three years than in a long time before. And there are so many bands for me to check out that I only know by name as of now. I feel like things are looking pretty good for 2025, music that is. 

Desire Line - Life‘s Between Us
Prim - Move Too Slow
Wonderful World - Universal Tension (+ Demo 2023)
Karate - Make It Fit
One Step Closer - All You Embrace
Force Of Denial - Times Of Strife
Echo Chamber - s.t. 
Spiral - You‘re Not In This Alone
Praise - Coming Up For Air
Face The Pain - Demo 2024

I didn‘t pick up a that many collectibles this year. The only real heavy hitter I managed to acquire was 7 Seconds’ The Crew on blue vinyl, but what a gem that one is. Probably one of my top 5 records to own. I‘m also really happy with the progress I made with my I Against I collection. Getting three colored versions was pretty cool. And the Punk Note edition on the band‘s own label made a nice addition as well. I’d been after this version of the second Blacklisted LP for a long time, so finally getting one - and in a trade with a friend nonetheless - was great. 

Yes, the flood of represses can be annoying, but if there‘s one band I‘ll make an exception for my own rules it is Bane. Not only did I get to see them a bunch of times again, they also had a special tour version of Don‘t Wait Up. More bands need to do this again. Special vinyl or a special cover, I don‘t care. Just do something for a tour. Of course, you need a test press for a repress and I was lucky enough to be able to add one of these to my collection. That was not the only repress Bane did this year. The remixed version of their debut LP, It All Comes Down To This, sounds so awesome and at least one version I have so far also looks great. 

The Underdog Demos LP, the Toots & The Maytals album, the Stop And Think tape and the Adventures / Pity Sex split may not be actual collectibles, but I was really happy to be able to get a copy of those and enjoyed the hell out of them in 2024. I could have included those in the next picture as well. 

Bad Brains - I Against I - Punk Note Edition (Coke Bottle Clear) + Various Colored Versions (ca. 1990)
Underdog - The Demos - Black 
7 Seconds - The Crew - Clear Blue
Blacklisted - Heavier Than Heaven, Lonelier Than God - Clear w/ Black Haze
Toots & Maytals - Funky Kingston - Black 
Bane - Don‘t Wait Up (2024 Repress) - Tour Version + Test Press on End Hits
Bane - It All Comes Down To This (2024 Repress) - Pink
Stop And Think - Demo Tape
Adventures / Pity Sex - Split - Orange / White Marble 

Last, but certainly not least, I listened to a bunch of older stuff as well in 2024 of course. Some of these bands/records are pretty old, some are relatively new, some I‘ve known for decades, some I only got to know this year. But (re)discovering old bands and records is part of the fun. The Wugazi record is one of the best things I‘ve ever heard and is the record I listened to the most this year. 

Spiritual Cramp - s.t.
A Tribe Called Quest - Midnight Merauders
Karate - In Place Of Real Insight
Sunstroke - Bloom At Night
Blondie - Parallel Lines
Wugazi - 13 Chambers
The Movielife - This Time Next Year
Adventures - Supersonic Home
One Last Wish - 1986
Bad Brains - I Against I
Planet On A Chain - Boxed In (plus their second LP)
The Beatles - Abbey Road (bunch of their LPs)

So, that’s another year wrapped up. Thanks everyone for checking out my blog and interacting in some way or the other. I‘ve really enjoyed my first full year of doing this blog again. 

2025, let’s go!

XXX

Ralf

It All Ain't Gold That Glitters

On my seemlingy never-ending quest of collecting Bane records I thought I was one step closer to completion when I came across a Holding This Moment 7" on green vinyl - the last version I needed for my collection. Minus test pressing that is. Oh well, one can dream I guess. Anyway, I contacted the seller and we quickly agreed on a fair price. Fast forward, the record finally arrived on my doorstep some time ago and I eagerly opened the parcel, but only to be disappointed. As it turned out, the dude selling the record "got confused" and mixed up the records he had. I contacted him and he told me that he also had Free To Think, Free To Be on green vinyl, but unfortunately not Holding This Moment and that he had put the wrong colour in the description. To add insult to injury, it even says "Gold" on the plastic sleeve, but since I hadn't asked for pictures, I hadn't seen that before buying it. Stupid, really, but that's how it goes sometimes. So instead of finally getting the last puzzle piece to this particular record, I ended up with another copy on gold. It would have been too much of a hassle to send it back to the States, so I decided to keep it. It's not that bad though since a buddy of mine is still looking for this particular record and we've already worked out a trade.

I don't know if I'm alone with that tick, but whenever I want to buy only one record from a seller or online distro, I can't shake the feeling that buying only one record doesn't justify the shipping cost. I'm aware that this is rather stupid and there's no real logic behind it, but that's just the way it is. So I usually end up scouring lists for (at least) one more record I could buy in addition to the one I originally wanted. Sometimes that's hard, sometimes it's rather easy to find more records. This one was an easy choice. Grade's Triumph & Tragedy holds a special place in my heart. I had heard of this band before, but never really gave it a listen. That changed when I got a mix-tape by my then girlfriend-to-be and now current girlfriend and there was this one song on it that just floored me. Turns out it was Triumph and Tragedy by Grade. So when I finally had the chance to pick up this record on vinyl, I had to get it. 543 copies on gold vinyl exist of this record. 

2023

2023 was a very eventful year in every aspect of my life. One of the better decision I made this year was to restart this blog. I‘ve really enjoyed writing blog entries again and since I was able to decrease the effort to take pictures (thanks Marcus!), doing the blog has been a lot less time-consuming than I expected. 

This year was another really good year music-wise. So many great records that were released in 2023. It was really hard to pick my top 10 and I had to leave out some really, really good records. Honorable mentions go to Mil-Spec, Truth Cult, One Step Closer and Drink Deep. These releases are in no particular order and my favorite record of the year might be a different one tomorrow. So let‘s just say, this is the top of the pops 2023. You can also see that 7“s are an endangered species. I only picked up 3 7“s released in 2023. It was 7 in 2022 and 8 in 2021. 

In the next picture you can see my favourite collectibles and records that weren‘t released in 2023 I picked up in the last 12 months. The Minor Threat 7“s is a special case, because technically it is a 2023 release, but Minor Threat is definitely not a current band, so I decided to put the record with these records. Some of these records I haven‘t blogged about, but I‘m going to soon. 

Overall I‘m really happy with the collectibles I picked up because many of them came rather unexpected. I‘m also stoked on some older bands that I only discovered in 2023. No matter if if it‘s old or new music, findig something that you didn‘t know before will always be a joy to me. There‘s just so much music out there that needs to be explored. 

Thanks everyone for checking out my blog. Feel free to comment or get in touch some other way. I always love talking about records and music in general. 

I hope everyone will have a great year 2024!

XXX

Ralf

Pure Gold

Getting one step closer to having a colored repress of each Fugazi album. I know that some people don‘t like the later material in the band‘s discography, but I‘m among for the whole ride. There are really good songs on every Fugazi record, including End Hits. This repress comes on what is actually gold vinyl and as always with Fugazi, the color works really well with the album art. 

2024 Repress on Gold on Dischord /???

Integrity Blues

A few weeks ago my wife and I went to see Jimmy Eat World. I'd never seen them live before and it was one of the best shows I've seen in years. The band played all the hits from the early albums plus a bunch of new songs. Great set. A few weeks prior to the show I'd ordered Jimmy Eat World's latest LP Integrity Blues. It's the first Jimmy Eat World LP I seeked out since Futures. I'd been out of step with Jimmy Eat World for quite some time. I still listened to the songs I liked from way back when on a semi-regular basis, but somehow I never felt the urge to check out their new material. With the show coming closer and closer this changed, however. Integrity Blues is a little quieter than the early albums, but the songs on this record are really good. I've been spinning the LP quite a lot lately and it might end up quite highly on my 2016 list.