Pursuance & Virulence

I mentioned in my last post that I picked up two items from the Rise Records for $21 each. The first was the War Generation test, and the second is the one I'm featuring today, which is an LP from Only Crime LP titled 'Pursuance'.

Only Crime was / is (not sure if they ever technically broke up) a hardcore 'supergroup' of sorts, featuring Russ Rankin (Good Riddance) on vocals, Aaron Dalbec (Bane) on guitar, Bill Stevenson (Descendents, Black Flag) on drums, and some other dudes I don't know. 'Pursuance' came out in 2014 and is the band's third full length.

Just like the War Generation test, this comes with a piece of paper as a front cover, and is numbered on the labels via stamps

Around the same time that I won this one, a test press of the second Only Crime LP 'Virulence' went up for sale on eBay, which was being sold by the label that released it, Fat Wreck. I placed a bid and didn't win, but then a couple of days later I was sent a second chance offer. Not sure if this was because the winner flaked, or because they just decided to sell an extra copy. Either way, it doesn't matter.

I'm not really a big fan of much on Fat Wreck, but I have to hand it to them, they have a pretty cool standard sleeve for their test presses.

Inside the standard cover is a plain white LP jacket with the date and catalog number stamped in the top right corner.

Fun fact - this was pressed at a Californian plant called Record Technology Incorporated, which now presses for Revelation after Rainbo closed its doors a few months ago.

The back of the Fat sleeve is also pretty cool and entertaining:

Not sure if you can read the text in the photo, so this is what it says:

Hey, this test press is real. We got it back in 2006 and it's been sitting in our offices until now, when you, Only Crime super fan, paid way too much for it.

It's then signed by both Fat Mike and Erin Burkett (the label owners). I have to say, it's clearly partly a joke, but it's also pretty cool at the same time.

I was pretty happy to pick up tests for 2 of the 3 Only Crime LPs, but the downside is that it just makes me want the test for the 1st one now so I can have the full set. However, that seems unlikely unless Fat auction one, in which case there will likely be a thousand bidders, because Fat Wreck collectors are almost as insane as Revelation collectors don't ya know.