Are We All Angels?

I'm moving on from posting about records that I picked up on holiday to talking about other things that I spent time listening to whilst there. The trip saw us drive from San Diego to San Francisco via several towns and cities along the way, which meant we had a lot of hours in the car. Before the trip I loaded a bunch of new records onto my phone and ended up playing each of them several times throughout the trip.

Scowl released a new album at the beginning of April this year titled 'Are We All Angels'. Initially I wasn't really that interested. Back when they first appeared on the scene in 2021 it felt that they were new and exciting and it seemed that everyone I knew thought that Scowl was the future of hardcore. But then as time has marched on, I feel that I have suffered from Scowl overload, and every time they pop up in my instagram feed (which seems to be practically every day), my first thought is 'oh for fucks sake, not Scowl again'. Well anyway, one day curiosity got the better of me, and I thought I'd check out the new record. Halfway through and I was instantly hooked and knew I wanted to buy a copy.

Of course, being 2025, there seemed to be a bunch of different colour vinyl options out there, none of whic seemed particularly well suited to the cover art. I went to discogs and found the colour that I thought looked best (clear pink), but the only problem was that it was available as part of some subscription club, so you couldn't just go and buy a copy from a store or label. I had to wait for one of the subscribers to punt their copy online, but thankfully that didn't take too long.

The evolution of this band has been interesting to watch. They started out as a basic hardcore band, and have now morphed into a kind of alt rock grunge band... which is absolutely fine by me. It felt that things were going this way on the last record, and I can well imagine that a lot of people will be turned off by this, but it's their loss. Without doubt this will be one of my top 3 records of the year.

Another Year

Another record that I picked up on my recent trip to California, and I had paid for this a few weeks prior, so it was just sat there waiting for me to collect it from a friend when I arrived in town.

This is a test press for the In Control 'Another Year' LP. The band were from Oxnard, and I bought this from the king of Oxnard himself, Fred Hammer.

This record was released by Indecision Records back in 2001, in the days of the yellow Erika Records standard test press labels seen on many (now classic) hardcore records that are now considered classics.

I bought this from Indecision Records when it came out back in 2001. Back then Indecision was absolutely on fire, putting out stuff by bands like Count Me Out, The Suicide File, Over My Dead Body, The Promise, etc and as a result this album got kinda lost in the mix a little for me. Seeing this test press for sale made me go back and revisit this record recently, and I think it holds up really well. I also still love the artwork and vinyl colour of the regular pressing of this LP, which I took down from the shelf for the first time in probably twenty years.

And The Sadness Prevails...

On my trip to California in 2022 I picked up a great compilation called 'Nardcore For Life'. It was a comp of bands from Oxnard, and my stand out favourite was a song by a band called No Motiv, who at the time I knew absolutely nothing about.

Well, on my last trip to California last month, I visited Oxnard for a very short amount of time one day, and briefly stopped in a record shop called Salzer's Records (which the internet tells me is actually in Ventura, not Oxnard). I found one record that I wanted, which was a No Motiv LP. I had previously looked for this on the internet and knew that the price they had it for was good, so I grabbed it quicksmart.

This is the band's second album, and it originally came out in 1998 on Vagrant Records, a label most known for blowing up at the end of the 90s due to bands like The Get Up Kids and Saves The Day. Musically, No Motiv are in a similar ballpark I would say, and listening to this over 25 years later, it's strange to ponder how this record didn't blow up in quite the same way.

This version here is a 20 year anniversary pressing of this record from 2019. There were only 300 made, so I feel pretty stoked to have found a sealed copy for new record price. The only slight niggle is that this is self released. It isn't actually on Vagrant Records. So I kinda still want to get an original first pressing copy, even thought they are all just on black vinyl.

When Words Are Not Enough...

When the Berthold City 'When Words Are Not Enough' LP was released in early 2022, it felt like it sold like hot cakes. I remember being in Programme Skate & Sound in California and talking to the guy who played bass on it. Three years later and I got around to picking up a copy whilst on my California trip last month.

When this came out I remember all the colours looked pretty ugly, and it was enough to put me off completely from buying a copy. But fast forward two years, and the label made a limited sleeve which was sold at the Rev market on 14th April 2024. A friend of mine went and picked one of these up for me and a little over a year later I was able to collect it in person from the exact place that it was sold (RevHQ). There were only 25 copies made, and this is number 10.

Truth is that I was never overly excited by this band when they appeared out of nowhere back in 2018 or so. At the time I thought the name was kinda stupid, and it just felt like they were trying to be as generic a straight edge band as possible. But finally getting around to listening to them, and I can see why their records seem to sell lightning fast. They do straight edge hardcore, but they do it well, and I guess there really aren't too many bands doing this style these days. So if you enjoy drawing fat X's on your hands with black marker pens, this could well be the band for you.

So Much Seething

Towards the back end of last year, Mike posted about the new Bent Blue LP, and his words got me interested. I feel that Bent Blue is a band that I have been wanting to spend some time with for a long time, and I have never really gotten around to it. I saw them play live once a little over three years ago, which was before they had any records out, and at the time I wasn't exactly blown away... although, to be fair I didn't actually pay them too much attention. Still, Mike made it sound like the LP was a bit of step up from the previous 12"s, so I made a mental note to check them out, and then I eventually got around to it about seven months later.

The record is titled 'So Much Seething' and was released by Indecision Records in October last year. There are two colours of vinyl available - the purple I picked up (150 made) and also green vinyl (350 made). I just went with the more limited one.

Picking this up at Indecision HQ, I was also able to walk away with a test press, which comes in a nice handmade sleeve.

I only started listening to this one a few days ago, but right now this is possibly my favourite record. It does strike a good balance between 'hardcore' and the more typical DC Revolution Summer type sound. Mike talked about the song 'The Other Half', which really reminds me of Have Heart, and the song 'Your remains' really reminds me of Fiddlehead. If I were to say that this record stands halfway between both of those bands then that at least gives you an indication of whether it may be of interest or not. But right now this is ticking the boxes and is exactly what I want.

Vendetta

I picked up a few releases from Indecision Records about three months ago and had been working my way through them before my California trip last month. One record that I was enjoyng was 'Death Grip', a full length from a band called Vendetta. I'd never heard of the band before, and picked this up purely because it was on Indecision, and the bio told me that the band come from Oxnard, which has a rich history of great hardcore bands.

The title of the record and the cover art gives you a clue that this isn't some kind of melodic punk or emo record. This is a hardcore record by a band that it turns out has been going for over twenty years. Their last release was in 2007, so I guess this must be some kind of comeback record. It's mosh hardcore and it's good. It really reminds me of another Oxnard band (Retaliate) who I also really like when I want something that makes me want to feel like punhcing a wall.

The more common vinyl colour is red, which I think probably goes better with the artwork. I was sent this red with black splatter, which is the more limited colour and out of 150 copies.

So I'd been enjoying this record a few weeks before my trip, and then wHen I visited Dave at Indecision HQ and had a quick look in his record room, he dug out a test press of this record and gave it to me. I was very grateful.

I like how it comes in a simple sleeve, and how the sleeve is red to match the artwork of the record. Simple designs are always better.

Californian Ritual

On my recent trip to California, there was a day when I popped round to visit Eva and Dave at Indecision Records HQ. I needed to pick up the Power Alone test press that I wrote about in my last post, but after a short chat and a quick look around the house to see what had changed in the last three years, I also got a few minutes to grab a small handful of records.

A couple of years ago Indecision reissued the first Unbroken LP, 'Ritual'. This record was first released by New Age Records in 1993, and despite Unbroken moving their catalogue to Indecision a long time ago, this record hasn't been pressed with the original artwork since the 90s. I didn't pick one up as I am genuinely trying to reduce the number of represses / reissues that I buy, but I really liked the look of this test press in a custon sleeve and was keen to take it home with me.

I also have a test press of the original pressing of this record on New Age which I traded for nine years ago, and even though I am not the biggest Unbroken collector, it's kinda cool to have tests of both versions.

Self Fulfilling Prophecy

Somehow it was three years ago that I picked up a record by a California hardcore band called Power Alone from Indecision Records HQ and it single handedly pulled me out of a three month pop punk phase that I had been in. Man, I loved (and still love) that record so much. Heavy and political, it strongly ticks the boxes of what a hardcore punk record should be.

Well anyway, I got excited a couple of months ago when a test press appeared for sale on discogs, especially as the price was not ridiculous. The only problem was that the listing mentioned a couple of creases on the cover, so I messaged the seller to ask for photos. The front cover was fine, but the back cover had two creases which were slightly offputting. This is the photo I was sent:

Well, I was torn on what to do. I wanted the record, the price was ok, but the creases... I figured that they would irritate me for the rest of my life. But then I came up with an idea to turn the situation around. I got in touch with the vocalist of the band, Eva, and asked if I could have the record sent to her so that she could do some custom art to hide the creases. She was initially worried that she might make the cover look even uglier, but I assured her that having a personalised version that was different to the other copies would make mine superior... to me at least. So she agreed to do it, and it then tured out that the seller was someone she knew, so I didn't even have to pay for postage. And then a few weeks later, I ended up picking up the record from her when I was in California last month.

As the photo shows, the creases have been really well hidden, and I am stoked as hell to have a test press of this record, and one with such unique artwork.

Face The Nation

I've had a break from this thing for over a month because I went on holiday and then have been too tired or busy to do anything since i got home three weeks ago. It's been tough getting over the jet lag and having to jump back into real life. But I finally feel that I am pretty much back to normal, so it's time to get stuck into my huge backlog of records that I had bought before my holiday and those that I picked up whilst away.

So I went to California and the main reason for booking the trip was to go to the Big Frank Harrison memorial show in Orange County on 22 June. I wanted to see Farside play, but there were also lots of other cool bands on the bill too, some of which were really old and hadn't played together in decades. It promised to be, and was, a great show and a day I will always remember.

One of the older bands that I was very keen to see was Carry Nation, a band fronted by Dan O'Mahony and which was also composed of Big Frank Harrison, Gavin Oglesby (No For An Answer) amd Steve Larson (Insted). A true 80s California supergroup. Their total output was a four song 7" back in 1989. They broke up in 1990 and played a reunion show in 2009, and the show last month was their first since.

In order to try to generate some additional money, as the proceeds of the show were set to go to Frank's daughter, Carry Nation repressed their 7" with revised artwork and on orange vinyl. And of course, if a band is going to repress a 7" on a new vinyl colour and with new artwork I was going to be first in line to buy it.

I have to say, but this is a very fitting tribute to Big Frank, with pictures of the man himself on each label and on the back cover. I always liked this record, as I am a fan of everything that Dan O has done, so it's cool to pick up this revised version.

Well, as another nice surprise, Carry Nation also pressed a new 7" that was also sold at the show. Now, admittedly these are not new songs. This 7" features a five song live set from 1989 recorded at the Country CLub in Reseda, CA. One of these songs was released years ago on a compilation 7" ('No Control At The Country Club' which was released by Big Frank's label, Nemesis Records). Well, now you can hear the full 5 song set on one handy 7".

This was a rare occasion that I actually put a record on the record player, as I couldn't find any digital version of this online. I have to say, the sound quality is very good, and it very much does remind me of listening to old live compilations back in the early 90s. It's also cool because this record contains an extra song that was not on their 'Face The Nation' 7", 'Thinking Of You'.

Overall I think these two records are a nice tribute to Big Frank, and it was also nice to see how much the band seemed to enjoy playing again, and putting some new energy into an old project. It seems doubtful that they will play again, so I am glad to have been there to see it, and very happy to have these records as a momento of the show.

Home Truths 2

So in my last post I talked about how much I had been enjoying the band The Living Memories, who hail from Baltimore and count Stephen St. Germain (from The First Step) as one of their members. Mike turned me onto them a couple of years ago because it sounded like something that I would like, even though he hated it (although I think we all know that these days, he would love it).

Well anyway, when I got around to asking whetherit might be possible to buy a test press of the second record, I also asked about a test press of the first record too, and ended up doing a deal. Stephen also fished out a spare one of the regular covers to put it in, which was very much appreciated.

This test has hand written labels, which is a nice touch.

So, same as the other record, when I had agreed to buy a test I also figured that it would be kinda stupid to not then buy the other colour vinyl copy. I got a good deal, and I'm glad I picked it up as it looks great. This is one of the 200 copies on 'orange' vinyl (which is clearly yellow):

I pulled out the clear copy that I was donated a couple of years ago to take a pic of the complete collection:

This is so good, and I would advise you give it a minute to check it out. Especially now we're in the summer. If you are into it then it looks like there are still colour copies of this record available from the band / label, although the webstore doesn't allow you to choose which colour you want.

Days Of Morning Light

Are you the kind of person who enjoys listening to The Smiths, The Cure or perhaps Ceremony's 'The L Shaped Man' LP, then you would probably be into The Living Memories. I first stumbled across this band two years ago when Mike posted about their first record 'Home Truths' in such a way that got me interested. He hated it, but I figured it sounded well worth checking out, and true to his description, I loved it. So when they dropped a second record last yaer, I was all over it.

The 'Days of Morning Light EP' came out at the beginning of 2024 and was put out by Living Sounds, which as far as I can tell is the band's own label. It's a pretty limited pressing generally, with only 50 cpies pressed on red vinyl, so I grabbed it right away.

I played this a lot in a short space of time, and then one day decided to email the label to see if they had any spare test presses that they could possibly sell. After a few messages back and forth, we agreed a deal, and then eventually (monthy later), I got the record. I should add that the label sent it right away, but I only just recently got around to collecting it.

I asked if the test came in any kind of sleeve and was told no, so I asked if there were any spare 'regular' sleeves laying about. So it was cool that I got one. Tests with a sleeve are always cooler than those without.

Well, when I decided to buy the test I then decided that it would seem weird to not also by a copy of the other colour. There were 100 copies on yellow vinyl, and for a good price it felt like it would be rude to not grab one.

I'm not entirely convinced that many people have latched onto this band, but if you're into the idea of a US based version of The Smiths in the modern day then this is the band for you. I have played the hell out of this over the past year, and to date I haven't tired of it.

Despite there being only 150 copies of this pressed in total, there are copies still available HERE. If you trust my judgement then you should probably grab one.

Never Enough

A new Turnstile LP just dropped and I was determined to learn from my mistake when the last record came out. When 'Glow On' came out in 2021 I had no idea how big the band had become, and the colour vinyl copies sold out lightning fast. The black vinyl copies also went quickly, meaning that I wasn't able to pick up a copy until almost two years later. So when I heard that there was a new record dropping in 2025, I got my preorder in on the first day, assuming that the colour vinyl would be gone in a couple of hours.

When it came to placing an order, there were 6 colours available to choose from, with no pressing info published. I decided to buy based on what colour would look the least ugly. But that seemed difficult to tell from the mock ups. So in the end I decided to buy two while I had the chance, thinking that I would then sell whichever looked the least attractive and no doubt make a tidy profit in the process because all colours would be long sold out.

The records came in a week ago on the exact release date.

When I ordered, I thought that the green would look the best, but I actually think that the orange one looks far nicer in real life. However, my main dilemma is that according to the pressing info posted on discogs, the orange is the most common colour that there is, being out of 10,000 copies. So as ever, I'm not sure what to do here. Oh, and one thing that I have noticed about different colours of this record that I have seen posted on instagram, is that most colours appear to have some weird square pattern in the vinyl that is visible when held to the light. The green one has it. I'm curious as to what is causing this. Could it be something to do with the machines that this pressing plant are using?

So far I'm enjoying this record, although I'm not convinced it is as good as the last two. There seem to be a few too many slow, trippy tunes that keep the pace down. And even though I know that Turnstile have moved way beyond being just a 'hardcore' band, this could be a step too far away. I'm not sure though. It's probably too early to tell. But without a doubt this is going to be getting a lot of play over the next few weeks and will end up being a big part of my Summer 2025 soundtrack.

Ultramega OK

Last year my most played record was Soundgarden's 1994 'Superunknown' LP, which I finally got into 30 years after its initial release. This then pushed me into listening to more Soundgarden records, and pushing the ones that I don't own further up my wants list. When I saw a colour vinyl copy of their first LP, 'Ultramega OK' on ebay UK, I knew that I wanted to make a play for it. I watched it for a few days and then threw in a last second bid. Initially I thought I might get it for a bargain price, but at the climax I ended up paying more than I thought I would have to. But still, I got an almost perfect copy.

This LP came out back in 1988 on SST Records. Like a lot of the more popular SST releases, this one originally came on black vinyl but then got repressed on colour vinyl in the early 90s. There are three colour vinyl versions out there, and I would have been happy with any of them, as I have never owned a copy of this LP previously.

For a record that is 30+ years old, this copy is in great condition, still in the shrinkwrap and with the 'color vinyl' sticker still attached. I used to hate these stickers back in the 90s because I thought they looked tacky, but over time I have grown to love them, to the point where if a record comes on colour vinyl but does not have the sticker, I'm less interested.

What's also interesitng about this copy is that it has a small insert. It seems generally pretty rare for any SST releases to have come with any kind of insert other than an SST catalog.

I'd never really spent much time with this record previously as I'd always thought it was sub par. But having revisited it recently, I can safely say that I was wrong... just like I was with 'Superunknown'. Oh, what a fool I have been.

Sick Of It All 2000

It was in 2016 that I made it to 1,000 posts on here. Then in 2021 I hit post number 1,500. And then a couple of weeks ago I noticed that I was getting close to post number 2,000. I figured I needed something special to post to mark the occassion.

In the end I have decided to do exactly the same thing that I did when I hit post number 1,000 and just post the latest copies of the first Sick Of It All 7" that I received relatively recently. These are both the two latest pressings from last year.

First up is a clear purple vinyl pressing with a one off special cover. This is a benefit for Lou Koller who was diagnosed with cancer a couple of years back. Rev pressed an undisclosed number of 7"s with this limited cover as a fundraiser for Lou.

I'm not a big fan of the front cover art, but I absolutely love that they changed the bar across the bottom of the back to purple. It looks really cool I think.

At the same time that the purple copies got pressed, they also pressed up 550 copies on clear(ish) orange vinyl. OK, so the colour isn't particularly suited to the cover, but for some reason I think this colour looks great.

These two latest pressings mean that I now have 24 copies of this record. I figured that the only way that I could make this post in any way special to mark my 2000th post would be to lay out the whole lot for a photo. I generally don't like doing this as it takes a lot of time. But obviously I had to do it.

Ok, so some of these records look the same, but in theory each is different. Also, back when I made my 1000th post I had just acquired my 12th copy, and 2000 posts marks 24 copies. What this tells me is that, on average, one in every 83 posts is a copy of this record. Given my post rate, that's roughly one every 8 months, which means I'll be due copy number 25 in January 2026. Let's see if that happens...

Big Rusty Balls

I saw this Ill Repute record for sale on ebay UK and instantly thought 'yep, I'll gladly take that'. I went for most of my life without hearing Ill Repute at all, but back in 2022 I picked up a cool reissue of their first LP 'What Happens Next' and loved it. As soon as I saw this one I figured it looked cool, so I bought it.

Back when this came out, splatter vinyl was rare as hell and very rarely seen. To me, this record looks good, unlike modern splatter vinyl that is pressed by the Czech plant. I can't explain why exactly, but hopefully you agree.

'Big Rusty Balls' is Ill Repute's third LP and was released by Dr. Strange Records back in 1993. At that point in time the band had been going for 12 years.

I was slightly surprised by this record. I suppose a lot of bands change their sound over time, but this one is pretty much a pop punk album. It's quite good fun (which with hindsight is implied by the cover art and the name of the record) but sounds really different to the first LP. And in my view, pop punk is summer music, so for me right now this has come around at the right time, albeit thirty years late.

Jailcell Recipes

Towards the end of last year I started seeing lots of pics of a new Jailcell Recipes record. The band were around at the end of the 80s & start of the 90s and had a few records released by First Strike Records (a label most known for releasing the 2nd Chain Of Strength 7" on a number of colours of vinyl). Back in the early 90s I had a Jailcell Recipes record at some point and ended up letting it go, because it didn't fit with my tastes at the time. But seeing lots of pics of this new record on various different colours of vinyl got me interested, so I gave them a listen, and immediately loved what I heard. So I decided to throw some cash at it. Therer were 5 different colours of vinyl (including black) and I decided to go for the clear as this was exclusively for a store in Japan and so has a bonus obi-strip.

Ok, so technically 'Energy In An Empty Tank Record' is not a new release. It is a kind of 'greatest hits' record. There are 17 songs on here, which is made up of 8 songs from the first LP ('Energy In An Empty Tank World'), 3 songs from the 'Poulton Road' 7", 3 songs from the second LP ('Two Years Of Toothache') and 3 'new' songs that were recorded in 1992 but never previously released.

The packing around this is absolutely top notch, with a poster, lyric sheet and a huge thick booklet.

The booklet is so big and heavy that it barely fits inside the sleeve with the record. It probably also weighs more than the record. The booklet is a great read, with bits written by each member of the band about how and why this record has been made, the history of the band and some rumours which are confirmed or denied. It's really well put together and is a great read.

I also made the decision to buy a test press as the price wasn't too bad. It's not really a proper test press in my opinion as there are 50 copies, but it's still cool as it comes in a different sleeve and is hand numbered on both the sleeve and the record label. The tests also come in various different colour sleeves. Mine is orange but I have also seen green and I think yellow too.

The test also ccomes with aome bonus bits. As well as the giant square booklet, it also has a couple of extra zines - a vegan cookbook and one which is an old interview with the band.

As much as the 18 or 19 year old me didn't enjoy this band, the old me very much does. Somehow in 2025 this band is exactly what I want from a hardcore band, fast and raw. From reading the booklet, it seems that the main point of this record was to improve the sound as the original recording of the first LP was apparently not good. I can't comment as I don't have the original pressing of the first LP, but these songs sound great. Combine the sound quality with the top notch packaging and this is a highly recommended purchase. You can still pick up all versions direct from the label (hosted by Alan's BMX shop).