Integrity Glow In The Dark Halloween records

Most of you probably either know about these records already. And if you don't then you're probably not interested. So I'm gonna keep this short...

In the run up to Halloween (which is a day I couldn't give a flying f*ck about), Organized Crime Records put up a pre-order for a special Integrity Halloween package. The contents were a secret. The idea was that if you liked Integrity then you just hand over some money to the label and you should theoretically receive something that you will like. Well, I thought about it for a few days, then paid the money... and then received an email telling me that the special package was all sold out. I then got a refund.

A couple of weeks later dudes started posting pictures of what they received and I was pretty gutted. The package contained some glow in the dark Integrity records. Damn it. There were only about 70 or 75 made, so I figured that I would have no intention but to turn to ebay at some point. But then, out of the blue, I got an email from a nice chap who I had met once before in real (non internet) life, telling me that he had got he package but wasn't actually too fussed about it, and telling me I could have it if I wanted. We tried to arrange a trade, but unfortunately I couldn't help him with anything he wanted, so in the end he just sold me the records for the same price he paid. Very generous indeed.

So here it is - the Integrity Halloween 2010 package. A mailer, t-shirt and two glow int he dark records:

And yes, they really do glow in the dark. It's not easy to get photos seeing as when you turn the lights off, the camera can't pick anything up. But after playing about I finally got a result. Here's the before, with the lights on:

And here's the after, with the lights off:

Cool huh?

Give 'Boots Of Faith' 7"

One of my favourite current bands right now is Give. They're one of those bands (everyone has their own) that, for some reason, you are instantly attracted to, and you find to be a bit different and a bit special. Sure, Give make good music (if you've never heard them, they sound a hella lot like Swiz), but there's something more to it than that. There's something about this band that I am really into that I can't necessarily describe. Something that made me like them before I had even heard any of their music. I thought about it a little, and it pretty much comes down to two things:

1. I like the artwork present on their records. Their first release was a 12" EP (which I still don't own), but when I first saw it I found the cover interesting and it made me want to hear the band. Here's the artwork from the 12":

Definitely interesting, isn't it?

2. Just like the artwork above, my initial impression of the band was (and still is) that they don't easily fit into any box that you may want to put them in. Again, this makes them interesting. It kinda suggests that they haven't gone about trying to sound like a particular band because it will make them popular. They're just doing what they're doing. Seems to me that this is pretty rare (and refreshing) these days.

Anyway, like I said, it's not easy to describe what I mean here. But suffice to say, this band has something a little different about them, and it excites me.

All of this guff is of course just a big pre-amble to me showing you a record that I acquired recently. The record in question is one of two 7"s that Give released towards the end of last year. The title of the record is 'Boots Of Faith', and it was released by Deranged Records. I decided that I wanted this record, but then I looked into placing an order from the label to get a colour copy, and realised that the shipping would cost me about two month's pay, so I subsequently decided that I didn't want it after all. What I did next was what I do best - I moaned about it. This time, I moaned to Doug about it in an email, and not long after he found a copy in a local record store and very kindly sent it to me in the mail. Perhaps I should moan more often (although I'm not sure that is technically possible, seeing as moan is pretty much all I do)?

I don't know how limited the purple vinyl is, but it's a nice colour as you can see. And if you want one, the label still has it listed in the store, although it'll cost you two bucks more than the black one, and you'll probably need to remortgage your house to pay the shipping (if you don't have a house then I suggest buying one, then remortgaging ASAP).

The other thing that I really like about this 7" is that it matches the 7" recently release by React! Records. Despite both records being released by different labels, it's as if they are part of a series - both have the same layouts, have big holes in the centre of the records, and contain two songs. Check these photos of the two side by side to see what I mean:

Nice huh?

Integrity / Creepout Test

What better way to start 2011 than with a good old (new) Integrity test press?

Towards the end of 2009, Integrity went to Japan to play 4 shows. A Japanese label called Jukebox Records made a tour only 7". It's a split with a band called Creepout. I picked up a copy of this record last year (see my post HERE), although there were actually 3 different versions made by the label and I don't have either of the other two (see HERE for a pic of the three - Note, this is not my picture). There were 3 versions, but only 340 copies made in total... which, compared to the number of people who buy Integrity records, is probably not enough. So our friends at A389 Records decided to repress it so that everyone can get one. It was launched via a pre-order back at the end of October. Mine didn't show up yet. But I did manage to snag a test press of it which turned up a week or so ago. Apparently the Japanese version didn't have a test press made at all, so that makes this a little more special. Integrity / Creepout split 7" test press, number 4 of 10.

What I like about this cover is that this is the exact same art as for the regular version of the record - except, what is blue here is red on the regular version. I like it when tests have sleeves which is a subtle variation of the regular artwork for the record. I'm not so much a fan of when tests are housed in sleeves with random cartoon characters or some other stuff that has nothing to do with the record itself.

If you want you can download the Integrity songs legally & for free by going to the Holy Terror website. Enjoy!