Future Fortune

Time certainly moves fast in the world of hardcore. Back in late 2019 and early 2020 I was all over Restraining Order, a young band from western Massachussets. They had a brilliant 7" on New Age Records and their debut LP 'The World Is Too Much' blew me away. Musically and aestheitically, this was a band I could really get behind. Well, then in 2023 they put out a second LP and my interest level literally dropped to zero. The record was put out by Triple B and features possibly the worst cover art I have ever seen, the vinyl colours were ugly as hell, and I had absolutely no interest in it whatsoever. But here we are at the end of 2025, and when I saw their third LP 'Future Fortune' sitting in the racks in a record shop, I was interested enough to examine it, and seeing that it wasn't on Triple B I figured it was worth a punt.

When I opened the shrinkwrap I was pleasantly surprised by the colour of the vinyl. It looks very pretty, and compliments the cover art really well. This colour is for some reason officially called 'Sweetart', and I am guessing that it is probably the most common colour as it is the 'retail exclusive'. But after seeing what the other colours look like, I think I have ended up with the best one.

Musically this is very similar to what they were doing five years ago, and after taking a break from them for a couple of years, I am suddenly brought back to why I was so interested initially. This band plays hardcore with a strong nod to the more punk end of the spectrum, which seems really refreshing against the current hardcore landscape. I now feel bad for ignoring that last record, although I'm only interested in forking out for a physical copy if I can get one cheap, given how ugly it is. But for right now, this will do nicely.

Zozobra Test II

Another record that I picked up from my recent trip to the States is one that I had been watching for about three months. Every week I get an email from Wanna Hear It Records listing their latest batch of used records for sale. Three months or so ago they got a text press of a Zozobra 2xLP which I was immediately interested in. However, what often happens is that I see something for sale, don't buy it, wait a few weeks, and then when I am thinking about actually buying it, I go back to find it has sold and gone. In this case, however, the record sat in the shop for several weeks.

Roughly a month or so after the record first appeared for sale, back at the start of October, Mike went to the shop and I asked him to send me a pic of the record. The pic he sent confirmed that I wanted it. However, I didn't want to ask him to buy it for me. Instead, I planned to order it. However, a few weeks later and I still hadn't gotten around to it, and somehow it had still not sold. So I decided that I would leave it down to fate. I knew I would be going to the shop at the end of my trip in mid December. So I just figured that I would buy it then. And if it sold in the interim then so be it.

Well, this time my luck was in and I was able to pick it up in person. A pretty satisfying way to close out the year.

Zozobra was a project band put together by Caleb Scofield (ex Cave In bass player who sadly passed away in 2018). They put out two full length LPs, 'Harmonic Tremors' (2007) and 'Bird Of Prey' (2008), both of which were released by Hydrahead Records. I actually picked up test presses of both records back in 2020. This double LP pack that combines both records in one sleeve was made specifically to raise money for Caleb's family following his passing in 2019. There were 600 copies of the set pressed on random colour vinyl, and they sold out uber fast when released, and I missed out. So picking up this test pressing all these years later makes me very happy.

Red Covers

I spent a lot of time with Ceremony this year. At the start of the year, I listened to their 2019 LP 'In The Spirit World Now' for the first time, and I was totally addicted to it. This made me want to improve my pathetic Ceremony collection, and in August I picked up a grey vinyl copy of the second LP 'Still Nothing Moves You' to replace my ugly green vinyl third press copy. So it seems fitting to close out the year with another Ceremony upgrade...

The band released a 12" containing six cover songs back in 2011, and at the time I picked up one of the common (but nice looking) clear vinyl copies, of which there were 1500 copies made. Well, a week or so ago in Boston I came across a copy of the rarer red vinyl pressing (500 copies) for sale for pretty damn cheap, so I added it to my pile.

When I bought this, my intention was to sell the more common clear vinyl copy that has been sat on my shelf for 14 years and keep the red one. But when I got home and pulled it out, I don't think I can do it. They're both very pretty things to look at, with their screen printed b-sides, so like a fool I have decided to hang onto both.

Siamese Dream

I gave up on Record Store Day years ago. I don't even look to see what's coming out anymore. But earlier this year MIke posted up some fancy colour vinyl repressing of the Smashing Pumpkins 'Siamese Dream' LP. I've actualy been trying to find an original pink vinyl pressing of this record for years, but it rarely comes up for sale, and if it does the price is always way more than I am comfortable with paying. So a relatively cheap and nice colour repress seemed like a good compromise. It was then just a matter of finding one. This was also available in Europe, but from what I can see on discogs, it looked like the Euro copies were pressed at the sucky plant, so I only wanted a US copy. I was fortunte to find a copy in a record store in Houston a couple of weeks ago.

I've never been a huge Smashing Pumpkins fan, and am happy to admit that I have only ever heard this record and the first LP, 'Gish'. I can't really explain why I never got around to listening to anything else. But even though I have been familiar with the first two albums for a few years, the only piece of vinyl I own is the Sub Pop 7".

Given the price of the original pressings of this record, as much as I hate to say it, this is a much needed repress. I'm happy to have an official colour vinyl pressing, although I'll still keep my eyes open and fingers crossed for the original bubblegum pink copy.

Instrument

Despite Fugazi not being active in over twenty years, you'd be excused for thinking that they were a current band given the number of times they've appeared on record blogs this year. Between me, Mike, and Ralf there was a bit of love for Fugazi this year, thanks in part to colour vinyl represses.

I thought that I had all of the Fugazi records that I needed, until a couple of weeks ago when I stumbled across a burgundy vinyl copy of the 'Instrument Soundtrack' in a Texas record store. For $11, I couldn't pass it up.

The burgundy pressing is from last year (2024) and is sold out by the label, but there are still copies out there in stores if you look.

The record is the soundtrack to the film 'Instrument', which is a 1999 documentary about Fugazi. I watched it once and thought it was ok, although I would have preferred a different format with more of an interview type format. The soundtrack contains 18 songs which are very different to their previous records, with most songs being laid back instrumental affairs. I'd never listened to this before, and whilst it isn't going to make it into the top 5 Fugazi records, it does tick the box for 'good background music while you work'.

The World Is Yours

Back in Summer I spent some time driving around California, and the record that that I listened to the most was the first LP by a melodic UK punk band called Diaz Brothers. I was late to the record as it came out back in 2020, but given how much I enjoyed it in summer this year, it was inevitable that I would eventually pick up the second LP, 'The World Is Yours', which was released this year.

I just got back from another trip to the States, and this was probably the record that I spent the most time playing whilst driving around Texas. There's something about melodic punk and american roads that makes for a good mix.

This was pressed on 4 different colours of vinyl (red, blue, green, white) and there is no pressing info. I assumed that there were similar quantities of each, and ordered the white thinking it went better with the cover than the others.

Spoiler alert, but given it's almost the end of 2025, I'm pretty sure that this will be in my list of top releases for the year.

Complete Services

As I said a couple of posts ago when I posted about the After Words LP, I seem to be increasingly drawn toward DC hardcore as time passes. The guy who sold that LP also had some Ignition 12"s for sale at a very fair price, so I decided to scoop up all three at the same time. Rarely have I been so excited to pick up a pile of black vinyl records. Anyway, let's get down to it in chronological order...

The first 12" compiles the band's two 7"s which were self released (although the second was also part released by Dischord). This 12" was released by the band, which I don't think I ever knew until this arrived. I always thoguht it was on Dischord.

'Machination' is the band's debut 12 song LP. This was released as Dischord Recprds 31 and Ignition Records 4 back in 1988.

And finally, 'The Orafying Mysticle Of...' from 1989. Whilst this is described as an LP, it only contains 6 songs, so in my mind it's more of an EP. But Dischord definitely refer to it as a full length LP.

I tried to get into Ignition many years ago and it didn't really click with me for whatever reason. But as I have thought and said before, sometimes a record will only grab you at a specific time. Just because you've checked something out and it didn't grab you doesn't mean you shouldn't try again at some point. As we reach the end of 2025, Ignition is everything I want.

Better Off Red

About three and a half years ago someone asked me what my most wanted record was, and I replied 'the first 97A 7" on red vinyl'. The person who asked me then asked 'Why? It's shit' which made me laugh. Ok, so it's not exactly my favourite record of all time, but this was one of those records that had reached mythical status because it was so impossible to find. The record was released in 1996/7 and I got a copy on black vinyl not too long after. At some point I found out that there were 25 copies pressed on red vinyl with a limited sleeve. I added it to my want list and waited. Then 25 or so years went by.

I know someone in London who got one of these from the label when it came out. Other than that, I saw one for sale on eBay ONCE (back in 2010) which I remember clearly as I bid on it and didn't win. There hasn't been another sell on eBay since, and neither has one ever sold on discogs. Basically, it's nigh on impossible to find.

The inside of the sleeve is stamped with a number. Mine is stamped 25. In theory, this is the last copy. Twenty five of twenty five.

The front and back cover feature pictures of ex-professional skateboarder Mark 'Gator' Rogowski. He was featured in the first skateboard video that I ever saw, but is best known for raping and murdering his girlfriend back in 1991... a crime for which he is still in jail to this day. This record features a small written explanation of why he did it, in which he appears to blame drink, drugs and pornography and also express remorse. Sadly, the parole board aren't buying it even all of these years later.

After chasing this record for half my life, I finally got this a couple of weeks ago from a friend / collector in Europe. He had owned this for a long time but reached a point where he was ready to let it go. I spotted it in a pile of stuff he put for sale on instagram, and immediately reached out. I was very, very happy to finally receive it and finally cross it off the want list.

In celebration, I pulled out my other copies for a group photo:

I'm not sure too many people are still listening to 97A in 2025, but this is possibly my favourite pick up of the year. It's just a shame that the website that used to list all of the owners no longer exists so I don't get to see my name added, haha.

There's Love In This World If You Want It

Ten years after I first herd of and saw Higher Power play (supporting Burn at their London Show), and they're still going strong and this year released their third LP, 'There's Love In This World If You Want It' on Nuclear Blast Records. I'd seen it was coming out, but as is often the case I figured I would get around to ordering one later. I'm not sure exactly whern this was announced, but when Mike posted about it at the back end of September it reminded me to chek it out.

I had a vague memory of seeing preorders go up and thinking that the limited colour looked really ugly. When I saw Mike's post I started scouring the internet for a copy to buy. What became apparent very quickly was that there was only one vinyl colour available... purple vinyl. And even though I thought it looked better than the rarer colour, I decided that I wanted to wait for one of the rarer ones. There must be thousands of purple copies out there, and I just figured that it would be coloer to get the other one.

A couple of weeks back the bands posted on instagram that they had put a bunch of merch up in their online store, so I had a quick look and they had some copies of the rarer 'light green sky blue splatter' vinyl. This version is limited to 300 copies. I have no idea how many copies were pressed on purple, but significantly more.

I only got around to listening to this once I'd bought the record, so I missed out on this being the soundtrack to Summer, which I think it very much would have been. But this has been on heavy rotation for the last few weeks, and will very much be in my best of 2025 list... if I make one. The band has clearly 'progressed' from their earlier sound, and I'm very much on board with it.

After Words

The more time that passes, the more I feel myself drawn towards older DC stuff, and in particular the slightly later Revolution Summer style bands. I remember back in 1993 or so I ended up selling some dude's collection for him, and he had a lot of this kind of stuff, and I sold it all. Heck, I was discovering stuff like Chain of Strength, Judge, Mean Season and Outspoken, and the DC bands sounded weak and dull by comparison. These days, however, and I'm actively trying to seek it out.

About three weeks ago I had never heard of this record or band. I saw it for sale in the UK from a trusted seller and I noticed it was released by Sammich Records, so I was immediately interested.

The band is called After Words and it turns out that they were from Atlanta, GA and existed between 1987 and 1989. This self titled LP came out in 1989, and musically this reminds me a bit of Rites of Spring and One Last Wish. The band also that they were influenced by Hüsker Dü and Squirrel Bait. It turns out that this LP was their only release, which is a bit of a shame as this is a really great record. But overall I'm happy that I found this all these years after it came out.

Everything Went Purple

With unannounced and unexpected colour vinyl pressings of the 'Nervous Breakdown' 7" and the 'TV Party' 7" appearing in 2025, it was only a mater of time until one of the Black FLag 12"s would also receive the colour repress treatment. So here we are, with a weird purple / black vinyl mix pressing of the 'Everything Went Black' 2x12".

This was a crazy one. A couple of weeks ago someone sent me a post by someone on instagram of a pinkish/purple/black mix copy of this record. It immediately felt like it would take forever to find one. But in a lucky and bizarre turn of events, by the end of the day I had placed an order for a copy, which arrived two days later.

The photo I saw on instagram was pretty cool looking, but this particular copy is slightly disappointing, as the amount of purple within the black is minimal. Ideally I will eventually find another copy of this for sale with more colour in it. But for now, I'm just glad I managed to get one of these at all.

Nervous Breakdown 2025

Earlier this year I posted 4 newly pressed different coloured copies of Black FLag's 'TV Party' 7". Despite these clearly being new records pressed in 2025, as I type this near the end of the year, these were never really widely available or publicised, which I think is due to them all being sold sealed and not being marked as colour vinyl in any way. Well anyway, the same thing also happened with the 'Nervous Breakdown' 7"... some colour vinyl copies were made, and have not been officially listed anywhere. I had a bit of help from other collectors and have (so far) ended up with 4 copies, although two of them are practically the same.

I bought two brown copies, and in real life they look a little different, although in photos it is difficult to tell.

Here are the four lined up next to each other:

Someone else I know also has a bright orange copy, which looks really cool. I'm assuming that they are all part fo the same pressing. I emailed SST Records to ask abot it but got no reply. They don't seem to bother replying to anyone on such matters so it seems. So we will probably never really know any detail about these. But take my word for it - these things are out there right now. They are all shipped sealed and so most stores or distros probably don't even now they have them. There may be other colours other than these (and the orange I mentioned), and if you know anything then please drop a comment.

Strong Gold

There are some bands that I have known of for thirty years or more and know absolutely nothing about. Back in the early 90s I used to buy records that were on the same record label as other records that I liked. So I bought a Stronghold 7" simply because it was on Doghouse Records. And even though I haven't listened to it for a long time, I semi recently found out that it existed on gold vinyl so felt compelled to buy it.

To me this is some pretty typical early 90s 7". Chugging heavy hardcore, sometimes slow and sometimes fast. Think ballpark Slugfest, but with a less powerful vocal. I always liked this when i was young and thought it was cool when I would find records like this that it felt like nobody in the world had ever heard of.

I have owned a red vinyl copy of this forever, but had no idea yellow existed. But judging from discogs, it feels like the red is rarer.

I'm not sure how many people would still care about this record in 2025. Not many I would guess. And sure, part of my love for this one is kinda based on nostalgia, but that said, I genuinely think this is a good record and a great example of low budget, rural early 90s hardcore.

'Coustic

A couple of years ago I picked up a couple of Samiam records, and this kinda reminded me that I used to like this band a lot in the early 90s. But you know how it goes sometimes with bands that go on forever... at some point you lose interest and lose touch. And then sometimes you might reconnect years later. So I decided to keep my eyes out for more Samiam records. And a few weeks back I stumbled on a 7" for sale in the UK.

The 'Coustic 7" was released by a UK label (Unleess You Try Records) in 2016. It is so titled because it contains two acoustic songs, both from the 2011 'Trips' LP (which I have never heard).

This colour is one of the 100 preorder copies that were all on random colours of vinyl, referred to as 'tie dye'. Having looked at some photos on discogs of other copies, this is one of the visually less interesting copies. But it's still a nice one to have. There are about seven other colours of this record, but zero copies for sale on discogs. So not an easy find in 2025.

This still makes me want to listen to more of the Samiam records I have missed, but getting records may well prove challenging.

More Rev Gaps Filled

In May this year I picked up two copies of the first Sick Of It All 7", and in celebration of my 2000th post on here, I pulled out all of my copies to take a group photo. I took the time to lay out 24 copies of the record, take some pics, and then put them all away again. And then, after I posted the pic on here, I looked at it and realised that I had missed out on one version at some point. After the initial sense of confusion and panic passed, I got on the internet and found a copy quite qucikly. So here we are, the 'bone' version (from 2021) with regular labels.

This one caused a bit of confusion when it came out. Back in 2021 there were 100 copies issued with the SOIA book and only available from Coretex Records. These copies had the Koller brothers picture labels and they were referred to as 'ivory'. There were then 500 copies announced right after on 'bone' vinyl. Basically, the two colours are the same, but the labels are what differentiate them.

Anyway, after getting this copy I simply cannot be bothered to lay out all of the other copies again. Maybe I'll do that again when I pick up another few copies. Probably for post number 2500.

Another Rev 7" that I was missing was the most recent pressing of the Quicksand 7". This version is 'transluscent orange vinyl' from 2024 (926 copies made). It was pressed at the UK plant, which is noticeable as it has small labels.

Back in 2002, Rev pressed 300 copies on 'yellow' vinyl which was supposed to be the 'final pressing' of this record. This new pressing looks slightly similar, although if you place the two copies side by side the difference is obvious - the labels. The latest version has the zeotrope label on the flipside.

And finally, I grabbed the latest pressing of the Crippled Youth 7". This is the 2024 pressing on 'neon pink' vinyl (550 copies). The last pressing of this one (on silver vinyl) was pressed at the UK plant, whereas this one was pressed in California at Erika. I have to say, this colour is really great in real life.

There was also a neon green version of this pressed back in 2018, and the two look pretty cool side by side:

A Beautiful Feeling

Another It's Alive Records release that I picked up recently, and this is a great example of buying a record because of the record label rather than the band. Everything that the label puts out is gold, and the quality of the packaging is second to none.

This is a reissue of the first RKL 7" 'It's A Beautiful Feeling'. This record was originally released by Superseven Records in 1984. Looking at discogs, there were lots of different versions of this thing pressed through the 1980s, several of which were on colour vinyl, and these days most sell for a reasonable amount.

Fred pressed up 500 of these on yellow vinyl in 2021, and then another 500 on purple a couple of years later. I missed the yellow, but am happy to have the purple looks great.

I actually have a spare of this if anyone is interested. Get in touch if you are.

I was never really into this band, although I did see them play once (in Leeds, UK) in about 1994. I wasn't that into them but just went along because they were touring their latest LP, which was on Epitaph, and I figured they were worth checking out. My only memory is seeing the singer projectile vomitting from the stage right at the end. Thank fuck I wasn't stood anywhere near him.