Sub Society 7" Pink

I've had this 7" in my collection for a long ass time. Probably since before you were born. Well, maybe. But until a few short weeks ago I never knew it existed on colour vinyl. Then I saw it on eBay and knew I had to have it. Money was irrelevant... but fortunately it didn't take much.

The band is called SUB SOCIETY and this 7" is one of only two pieces of vinyl they released. This one was put out by Vinyl Communications, a label out of San Diego mainly active in the late 80s and early 90s. I have this on black, but I think this new copy I just picked up looks a bit more interesting:

This band gained attention from having some songs featured in a couple of skateboard videos in the early 90s. Well, that's how I picked up on them at least. I used to have a copy of this video and I must have watched it easily 100 times. Great soundtrack that also features several Operation Ivy songs (which was how I got into that band too). If you're in your 30s and used to skate then you probably love this video as much as I do:

I also did a bit of internerd research on this band. There's a website that a member of the band has put up that hosts most of their output as mp3s that you can download for free (including the songs on the 7" shown above). Check the link below if you are interested. Also, I read that the band's singer sadly passed away in 2010 from Heart disease at the age of 38. As well as Sub Society, he had been in a band called Inch, whose first LP I also have tucked away in my collection and which I am now going to revisit. RIP Stimy.

SUB SOCIETY WEBSITE & MP3s

Finally, if anyone wants my black vinyl 7" then get in touch.

R'N'R / Fit For Abuse Test

When Kyle was continuing his mission to make his life simpler by selling his records on eBay a few weeks ago, I (as usual) ended up watching about 20 items... and then, a day or so before they were due to end, I (as usual) decided not to bid because all of them passed prices that I wanted to pay. Well, all except one that is. There was one record that was still stupidly cheap, so I kept watching it. And then on the final day, just before I went to bed I noticed that there was only about three hours of the auction left to run, so I sat and thought about whether I could be bothered to bid or not. The reason I was not sure about bidding is that I was not even sure that I cared about the record. So in the end, because I was not hugely bothered by it, I put in what I thought was a low bid, thinking "if I won it for that then that would be cool, but if I got outbid then I wouldn't care". Well, wouldn't you know it, when I woke up the next morning I discovered that I had won it.

This is the item in question. A test press of the Fit For Abuse / R'N'R split 7" that was released by Bridge Nine Records back in 2005:

Now, I have this split 7" in my collection. I only have one copy of it, which is the most common version. I've never been motivated to buy more copies as I just don't really rate it too highly. What I found interesting about this record when I bought it 6 years ago was that, even though I bought it for the R'N'R side (because back then I was loving the R'N'R LP) it's the band on the flipside - Fit For Abuse - whose songs are WAY better.

Anyway, even though I'm not hugely into this record, the main reason I was watching this thing is that it is on red vinyl. So what? Well, checking the B9 discography for this release, there were 19 test pressings made in total, of which 15 were black and 4 were on red. Yup, that's right - there are only 4 of these things in the whole of the known universe (although I concede that there may be more out there in a parallel universe). So I figured that this was probably just about THE most limited record ever made on Bridge Nine (although, that said, I am also aware of a green vinyl Betrayed 7" of which there are also only 4 copies known to exist), so if I had a chance to get it for cheap then that would be cool... and in the end that's what happened.

Ok, so the reason it was cheap is that the majority of people don't care about it, but it's still a nice one to have.

Opening the Fire & Ice account

I don't know when it happened exactly, but at some point in the past couple of years or so I (like most people when they get older) started to become resistant to new music. I guess I just feel like I have heard it all before. When you have been around as long as I have, most new stuff sounds just like something older. I always used to be open to new bands and I never wanted to lose touch. But it just happens. You get old & you just don't have time to keep up. I mean, I want to listen to new music, but I find it harder & harder to sift out the good stuff from the eighteen million bands out there.

Well, fortunately, I have other people who advise me from time to time. Mike is one such dude. He kept telling me to listen to some band called Fire & Ice, telling me they were good and made up of dudes who were in Iron Boots & Down To Nothing. I dunno why though, but for a long time I just ignored him. But then he himself caved in & started listening to The Descendents & Rot In Hell because I shoved pictures of their records down his throat so often. By that point I figured I owed him, so downloaded some Fire & Ice.

Well, wouldn't you know it, I felt like an idiot for not taking his advice sooner. Fire & Ice crank out some great tunes. Once I realised this, it wasn't long before I started looking for their records on eBay. And recently I opened my account with one version of each of their two 7"s...

The first is the Winter 2009 tour press of the first 7" 'Gods & Devils'. It's not numbered, but I think there are 100 of these things.

I also got the record release version of the second 7", 'Grim'. This one has a folded paper cover slipped over the top of the regular cover and is numbered out of 50.

The songs on these two 7"s have provided the soundtrack to my bike rides to & from work these past few weeks. The perfect sound to get my legs pumping harder & faster. That's probably the best compliment I can give any band these days, and it's also about as close to moshing I get.

Ceremony Covers 12" EP

I always thought Ceremony were just alright... well, until their 'Rohnert Park' LP came out last year. Then I thought they were next level incredible. They shifted their style to reflect a more traditional (aka old) hardcore punk sound. I thought this was a brave move for a band to make, given their previous sound. I even recommended that fellow old fart Lins87 check the album out as I figured he would be well into it, but I'm willing to bet he never did, the fool. Anyway, Ceremony are back with a new 12" EP of cover songs. To be honest, there's only one song that I was familiar with, and I'll bet that's one more than your average Ceremony fan, so I guess for a lot of kids this may as well be a new release.

Well, I have to say, there are no real surprises here. It kinda sounds like anyone who heard the last album would probably expect it to sound. I mean, here's a band who sound like an 80s hardcore punk band playing mainly covers of other 80s hardcore punk bands. If you liked the last album, you'll like this I am sure. And even better, this is a real treat for vinyl nuts, as it has a cool rose design screen printed on one side of the vinyl. Looks very nice, as you can see:

I believe these dudes have now left Bridge Nine for Matador Records. Not sure what to make of this, but if nothing else I'm not sure Matador have a history of making limited colour records, so it's probably bad news for us nerds.

The Rule Of Nines 7"

A month or so ago, it was announced via the xStuck In The Pastx blog that the pre-order was up for the Rule Of Nines 7". For once, I was excited enough to order right away, rather than wait a few months in some stupid attempt to save money (which never works, seeing as buying later invariably means paying more).

The Rule Of Nines was a band fronted by Jon Roa in the 90s for a short period which also featured a dude who had been in Forced Down & Pitchfork. I had read Roa's piece on the band on Double Cross earlier in the year and remembered the song to be pretty good. So I ordered the record. It turned up last week and I have listened to it about three times a day since. In short - I'm loving it.

Getting in quick meant that I was able to order both versions that were available. So first, here's the rare version, with a 'badlands' sleeve numbered out of only 25 copies:

And here's the regular version, of which there are only 100 copies:

Yup, there are only 125 copies of this thing pressed in total. I would say that if you like the mid 90s, music and records in general then I think you'll have three reasons to pick one of these up. Head on over to the Irish Voodoo Records store to grab one before they vanish. And if you're quick, it looks like you may still be able to get one with the badlands cover.

Oh yeah... and because I'm a helpful person I thought I would post up the video for one of the songs for you to check out:

Blacklisted 7" Rocky Balboa Sleeve

Some records you just want to own for the cover alone. Here's a shining example. The first Blacklisted 7" with Rocky cover.

As you can see, there were apparently 100 of these things made, but I have no idea whether this sleeve was made for a tour or some other special occasion. Anyone?

Purple = Brown

I was in a local record store (remember them?) last weekend and found the recent Youth Of Today 'Can't Close My Eyes' 12" in the rack. Since it was pretty cheap, I figured I would ask what colour it was on. I mean, when I got my copies from Revelation a couple of months ago, I was slightly disappointed to find that my 'purple' copy was kinda grey and bland looking. So I figured that I wanted one that was properly purple. Anyway, dude in the store got the record out for me, and it looked brown. So I figured I would pick it up anyway.

And here it is next to the other copy I already had. Quite a difference in colour here, wouldn't you agree?

I still kinda want one that is actually purple, but I don't want to go the extremes of buying 6 copies like Dobek did... although you have to admit, this picture does look kinda cool, right?

Descendents 'ALL' Blue

I haven't been able to add anything to my Descendents collection for a long time, as it seems that there have been very few of the coloured SST records on eBay in the past few months. But a couple of weeks ago I spotted one that I was very keen on, the 'ALL' LP on blue. I've seen this go for $150 in the past, so I was stoked to bag it for $38, which seemed like a very good price to me. I can only assume that the rest of the world was asleep.

One thing I have noticed about Descendents coloured vinyl is that the SST dudes seem to have taken the trouble to match the vinyl colour it to the cover art pretty well. I mean, 'ALL' comes on blue and also grey. 'Enjoy' comes on white a pink. 'Milo Goes To College' comes on grey. I like it when vinyl colour matches artwork. It just seems like someone spent time thinking about things, which I am into.

I see that Tim McMahon voted this his favourite Descendents record in a recentish Double Cross poll. So if you're the kind of person who trusts Tim's judgement more than mine (you idiot) then I would advise you get onto this album ASAP... although you may be waiting a while to pick up a blue vinyl copy for such a great price.