Bane - 11:58 PM Dublin 7"

SO THIS IS IT - The first of too many Bane 7"s to be released in the next few weeks. A total nightmare for collectors, there are 6 songs being released as two different 7"s… and different continents are putting out their own versions. So the two 7"s in the States are on two different labels, and the two 7"s in Europe are on another label. Each version of each record has about three versions (excluding tests), except for the first Euro 7" which has five versions. So, in total, there are going to be at least 14 different 7"s to pick up. Excluding tests. Oh yeah, then there's some other Bane 7" coming out with some zine, which also has two or maybe three versions. So basically, my Bane collection is going to double in size by the end of the year.

So what is this 7" like? Well, it sounds much more like "Give Blood" than "The Note" to me. Although, that said, perhaps it's just to do with the time of year it has come out. I remember back in 2002 when "Give Blood" came out that I was playing it whilst travelling on the bus to my night job at Milo's in Leeds. I remember it being dark and cold and Bane being the perfect soundtrack to life at that time. Well, these three songs give me the same feeling. Each night I drive the dark, wet roads to the gym and I play these three songs.

I'm into the songs, but I am not into the aesthetics of this record too much. I don't like the layouts much, and I sure as hell don't like that this is the first Bane record pressed on inferior euro vinyl. And I also don't like that two of the three colours are pretty much the same colour. But hey, I'm fussy.

Most limited version is orange with white speckles out of 200:

Next is plain orange out of 300:

And finally, black vinyl out of 380. These have different labels to the orange vinyl due to a pressing plant error. These labels are from the tour version, which I should have got over two months ago but still don't have.

And finally, the money shot: