85-86

Even though I have a lot of records, I don't feel that there are too many bands that I 'collect'. ALthough by this, I mean that there aren't many bands for which I try to collect every version of every release. But recently I realised that this is partly a state of mind. I mean, an example is Dag Nasty. I don't feel that I collect their records, but recently I realised that I do have quite a lot of rare versions of their records, to the point where my Dag records could probably respectfully stand next to the collection of someone who does collect their records. Well anyway, here's another one for the Dag Nasty non-collection. This one popped up for sale on discogs and was being sold by a UK seller, so I shot him a message to ask for photos, and within a couple of hours we'd done a deal.

This is a test press of the '85-86' 4x7" box set that was released by Selfless Records back in 1991. There were 3,500 box sets made, which seems quite a lot, and back in the early 90s it did seem pretty common and easy to get. But like most things, over time it has become a little harder to find. The test press comes on 4 black vinyl 7"s with blank labels. According to photos on discogs, there were 6 test press sets made, and some copies have stamped labels. I'm not sure I believe that only 6 were made because, if that were true, it would make far more sense to me if all the labels were stamped rather than just 'some'. But regardless of how many copes may or may not exist, it's still a nice little item to have I think.

The original box sets contained 4 different colour records, with one of each being on white, green, purple and pink. It looks quite nice, although obviously pressing an album on 4 different 7"s makes playing it all the way through a total pain in the backside.

This album is just a compilation of Dag Nasty songs from various points of their career and features all 3 different singers. Interestingly, the label also pressed this as a regular 12" for all those who wanted to listen to the songs with only two trips to the record player. Seems that a bunch of those came with blank and stamped labels, which I didn't know previously, so now I want one of those too.

Carrot Juice HA, HA, HA

I used to have a very limited and fixed definition of which Revelation Records releases I was collecting, which was basically one colour vinyl copy of each release. But then over time I flexed my rule time and time again, to the point where I now find myself buying multiple versions of black vinyl records.

For a couple of years now I have becmoe more and more intrigued by the 2nd and 3rd pressings of the Bold 'Speak Out' LP. This all started when I would see cheap copies of the LP for sale with the gatefold sleeve, and I started thinking about picking up extra copies if it was a different pressing to the first pressing copy that I have owned for many years. The 2nd and 3rd pressings are identical to the 1st press except for a minor changes to the matrix. So every copy that would come up for sale with a low price, I would ask the seller to tell me what the matrix was, and every single time without fail it would turn out to be a 1st press. Which is why I started to wonder whether the 2nd and 3rd pressings really existed at all. But fortunately I was able to grab both in one go from a reliable collector.

There is absolutely nothing noticeably different about these two records aside from the matrix. Oh, and the texture of the labels. One of them is glossy paper, and the other has a label that feels almost furry. Very weird. Anyway, I grabbed the pressing info from Rev so you could understand what I am going on about:

I have to say, this is probably one of my favourite record covers of all time. The band logo, the photos and the colour scheme all work so well together. Quite why they never pressed this on colour vinyl originally I don't know.

Be Here Now

Two years ago I went to the States for the first time, and enjoyed experiencing a few record stores, where I learnt that the 7" sections were where it's at. I managed to pick up a bundle of 7"s for cheaper than I could have ever bought them otherwise, mainly due to low prices and no postage. In a couple of different shops I picked up 3 different copies of the Peace 7" that was released by React! records back in 2012. I think I had gone off React! by the time that 7" was released as it felt that the quality of bands had taken a dip. But at some point someone sent me a black vinyl copy for free and I realised that I had been silly to ignore it. The band featured the singer from The First Step, which I think is one of the best straight edge bands of the 21st century, and sounded pretty similar too.

Anyway, the most limited colour vinyl that was pressed was the gold vinyl, of which there were 100 copies. I'm not exactly sure what happened with those, but last year a bunch of copies were 'discovered' and sold in the Praise big cartel store for new release price. So I grabbed a gold copy to complete my colour vinyl collection for this 7".

I got the other copies out for a group photo just because I was in the mood to take photos. I ended up with two white copies because one came in a limited cover which I bought after I'd already picked up the regular white version.

When I added this to my collection in discogs I got briefly excited by the fact that there was a promo CD listed on there for an unreleased album. But it was pretty obvious that this is actually a release for a different band that has been listed in the wrong place. Man, I hate discogs sometimes.

Walking On Eggshells

Am I the only person who finds it difficult to buy just one record? Whenever something pops up for sale on discogs or eBay, I always check to see what else the seller has on offer. The seller of the Seaweed 7" that I posted yesterday was also selling a record that I think had been listed for sale for at least two years. At one point in the past I had been thinking about buying it, but decided that I'd just wait and see if the price got reduced. In the end it didn't, but I decided to buy it anyway.

This is a test press of a 7" by a band called Dempsey. It was released by Indecision Records way back in 1995, and was the 4th release by the young label. I bought a copy when it came out just because it was on Indecision, which a young me had identified was a pretty cool up and coming label. And I can only but imagine what I would have thought if I had been made aware that I would be buying a test press of it 25 years later.

Original test pressings on Indecision are pretty scarce, with very low numbers made. They generally don't pop up for sale too often, although some of them are bands that nobody really cares about, like this. I always liked this 7". It has a very typical mid 90s sound, very chugga chugga with a kind of half sung vocal. Definitely a band that was on a Quicksand vibe, but sounded a bit less polished. But these three songs were always really catchy to me, and it's one that I do still play from time to time.

Here's a pic of the test with the other copy of this 7" that I have, on a nice purple vinyl.

I know absolutely zero about this band. I have no idea where they were from (I assume California, but I could be wrong), nor whether any of the members were in any other bands, either before or after Dampsey. The only other thing I do know is that they also put out a split 7" with Kill Holiday, which was also released by Indecision. I have a test press of that one too that someone gave me a few years ago.

It's funny, no matter how much time passes, I always seem to find myself being drawn back to obscure 7"s from the 90s that nobody else remembers (or even really cared about at the time). Sometimes I get to find information about bands that I never knew anything about, although on this occassion the internet yielded no results. If anyone can tell me anything at all about this band then please comment. Thanks!

Are You Happy, Or Is That Just A Smirk?

I don't know if everyone else is the same as me when it comes to discogs, but I have way too much on my want list on there. I took the time to add my collection to the site a couple of years ago, and in the process of doing so I added loads to the want list, a lot of which were test pressings. I get emails every day of things for sale from my want list, most of which are full of 'lesser' wants and I delete. But a few weeks back I opened one of the emails and nearly fell off of my chair with surprise, because someone was selling a test press of the second Seaweed 7"! This was one of those records that I had added to my want list mainly because there was a listing on there for it, so it was easy to click 'add to want list', but I never really expected that anyone would actually list one for sale. Even more surprising was the fact that when I clicked on the link, it was still for sale and nobody else had bought it. Well, I added it to my cart, and then checked what else the seller had for sale, added another couple of items (more on those later), then hit the 'Place order' button. Done.

As with most older test pressings, this is just a black vinyl record in a plain paper sleeve, although it does have some nice hand written labels.

This 7" was the band's second 7" and second ever vinyl release. It was put out by a label called Leopard Gecko, which I just learnt was a label run by the bass player of Seaweed. Which pretty much means that this was self-released by the band. But this thing is numbered out of 1500 copies, so I guess they were pretty popular right off the bat.

I thought it was worth getting the other copies I own out for a group shot. As far as I am aware, there was only one pressing of this, numbered out of 1500, with 500 copies on clear green vinyl and 1000 on black. Except there are a small number of copies (amount unknown) on clear yellow vinyl too, which is super hard to find. I'm so happy to have these three records it's hard to put it into words.

I've spent the last 20 minutes or so before writing this post looking at other Seaweed records on discogs. I have so much love for this band it's crazy. I really hope that I get a chance to pick up more Seaweed tests in the future. Every single record is flawless.

Short Songs For End Times

One of my favourite releases of last year was a new album by The Casket Lottery, aptly titled 'Short Songs For End Times'. But even though it was technically released at the back end of 2020, there was some problem that delayed the vinyl copies, and mine finally turned up a week or so ago. This thing was jointly released by a couple of different labels (Second Nature and Big Scary Monsters), the latter of which is based in the UK. I checked the various versions available, and the colour that was exclusive to the UK label looked like the most acceptable of those available, being a blue and purple split. The mock up picture looked ok, so that was the one I ordered.

So here's the half blue and half purple copy that I finally received:

OK, so it's not quite as intended, and it doesn't look particularly nice at all, but at least I got myself a copy at all. And it's probably the least offensive of the different versions available.

It's crazy to think that the last Casket Lottery LP was back in 2012. At the time, it had been 8 years since their last release, and it felt like an eternity. But here we are again with another 8 year gap, and this one doesn't feel like it's that long since the last one. I guess it really is true that the older you get, the faster time flies. Damn.

Anyway, this is such a great record. Ot's maybe a little more downbeat than previous efforts, but every bit as addictive. I used to love this band so much in the early 00s, and as the years rolled on they kinda drifted out of my life. The 2012 was ok, but didn't quite seem the same as the earlier efforts. But this one landed at the right time. I even played it to the point that Anna banned me from playing it anymore, haha! But yes, if you ever liked this band in the past then you'll probably enjoy this one. If you've never heard this band, then I figured I'd link to a weird video for a song from this record. You can press play and then you'll know if this is for you within probably 15 seconds or so. Enjoy...

Always Bet On Black

For a while now I have been thinking about picking up some black vinyl Revelation 7"s. Some of the classic releases have now been pressed on several colours of vinyl, and I started to feel that I should also have a first press black vinyl copy too of the early 7"s. I was intent on only picking up the first press copies though, which might not be too easy to identify without pictures, especially on discogs where there are a lot of idiots. Anyway, I got the opportunity to pick up some in one go from a trusted collector. It seemed like the right time to grab these. Nothing too exciting going on here, but somehow I think they look kinda cool together.

Bold 's/t' 7" (Rev 11). 3900 on black vinyl.

Slipknot 's/t' 7" (Rev 13). 3500 black vinyl. This one had a bright orange price sticker on the front, which I chose to remove. Sadly it caused a little damage, although it still looks better than it did before with the sticker.

Judge 'New York Crew' 7" (Rev 14). 4000 on black vinyl.

Quicksand 's/t' 7" (Rev 18). 5000 black vinyl. This copy is definitely a first press, whihc is good as I wanted to make sure I avoided want one of the later black pressings with a glossy sleeve, or a flimsy thin sleeve.

There are a few more of these that I'm looking for. Inside Out, Burn, Burn 'Last Great Sea', Youth of Today and Judge 'The Storm'. I'm sure I'll get them at some point. And then that will be the end of that. If anyone wants to help then that would be cool. Let me know.

Needle In Your Neck

Back in about 2004 I had fallen a little out of touch with hardcore. I spent a couple of years studying and everything else in life took a bit of a backseat for a while. I kept up with whatever Rev and B9 were doing, but other new labels and bands were springing up and I was out of touch. But when I started to get back into it, one crucial release that got me on the right path was a CD compilation / sampler called 'Locked & Loaded 2'. It featured songs by bands from a few labels that were up and coming at the time, namely Youngblood, Martyr, Perfect Victim, Old Guard and Walk All Night. Some of the better known bands on there were Cold World, Internal Affairs, Modern Life Is War, Over My Dead Body, Lights Out, Desperate Measures, and more. In total there were 25 songs, and I ended up playing this thing every day for about 3 weeks, mainly because I had a hire car with a CD player whilst my car was being repaired after some fool crashed into it.

Anyway, I collected records by lots of the bands on the comp, and one band whose 7" I enjoyed a lot back then was Drug Test. Their song was about throwing some fool down the stairs and it sounded hard. They had a 7" on Walk All Night records, and as was typical of that period, there were loads of different versions. I collected 4 different colours back then really quickly and cheaply, but I never really saw any other versions for sale until I was sent a list of stuff for sale with two more I didn't have.

First up, the record release show edition on black vinyl and numbered out of 100 copies.

The other copy is another limited sleeve version. I really like this simple cover that looks like it was done by a 4 year old. This was made for a show called 'USA for DTA' that took place on the 11th September 2004. I'm sure this would have been a great show, featuring Outbreak, The Wrong Side, Drug Test, Iron Boots and Tarpit.

Notice how the labels on this version are different colours to the release show version above. This is a giveaway that this colour is a second press copy.

Whilst I'm on the subject of this sleeve version, does anyone know what the 'DTA' is? I'm just curious. 'USA for DTA' sounds like a great cause, but maybe it wasn't? Let me know if you know.

Taking these photos was a good excuse to revisit this record. I think it's held up pretty good. A lot of the hardcore records from that period have I think. But adding two more copies was a good excuse to crack the others out and take a collection photo:

If you haven't heard this 7" before than I think it's worth your time. Especially the song 'Down The Stairs'. It still sounds great all these years later.

Space To Breathe

I bought some records from a dude this week that was selling his 7" collection. Nothing totally mind blowing, but some cool items, and the prices were ok too. I figured I'd break the lot into a few posts to spread it out, so I'm starting today with the debut vinyl release by Higher Power. I first heard of this band when they played with Burn in London in 2015, and a couple of months later I picked up their 7". And then in the years since, they have gone on to do pretty well for themselves.

Anyway, I decided to pick up some extra copies of the 7", just because I could. I mean, wouldn't you if you had the chance? This wasn't exactly pressed in huge quantities. The purple vinyl was part of the first press, and was out of 125 copies.

The next two copies were both part of the second pressing, and both out of only 50 copies:

And this here is exactly why I am so bad at collecting records. I didn't set out to collect this 7", but I saw these copies for sale and thought 'yeah, it'd be cool to own those' and then I realise that there are another couple of colours that I don't have, and I start thinking that I should go after those too... and all just because a couple of copies popped up on a list of shit for sale. That said, it is a pretty nice looking little 7". There are worse things I could spend money on.

Also, talk about crazy coincidences, but I searched back in time to find my first post about this record, and it turns out that I originally posted about this record 5 years ago TO THE DAY, on 17 January 2016. Not only that, but in 2015 the 17 January was a Sunday, and today it's also a Sunday. Amazing!

Testcapades

Early last year, Youngblood had a 50% off sale in their webstore. I can't remember what the occassion was, but as soon as I saw the sale was on I headed to the store as I figured that there would be some test pressings for sale. I knew that Youngblood often put test pressings up for sale, although I've never really wanted to pay the prices that they are listed at. But with a potential 50% off, I figured that there could probably be a bargain to be had. So I went straight to the vinyl section to see what was available, and immediately a test press for the second Justice LP 'Escapades' jumped out at me. I couldn't resist it. And given that there was nothing else that I wanted, I checked out fast... although a couple of months later I found out that there was also a Worn Thin LP test press that I somehow missed. Damnit.

Originally released in 2007, 'Escapades' was a big change of sound for Justice. Their early records were straight up hardcore, but this LP just sounded like they had decided that they wanted to be Supertouch. For me, this was a good move. The record sounded great and I was really into it, although I'm not so sure that the rest of the world agreed. With hindsight it was probably the beginning of the end of the band, but for me it's their best record.

Palm Sunday 2020

Another Integrity repress came about at the back end of last year. 'Palm Sunday' is a live LP of a show that took place in Cleveland in 1992. It was originally put out on vinyl on a UK label (Aurora Borealis) in 2006. It was then reissued on Organized Crime Records in 2012 with new artwork, and on 3 different colours of vinyl. And after being out of print for 8 years or so, Organized Crime have pressed some more copies, so I had to pick them up, because that's how the game is played.

There were two colours pressed. The most limited colour is clear vinyl with some splatters in it. It comes in a limited sleeve numbered out of 111 copies.

The more common colour is a bright green vinyl, although it's not exactly that common. There were only 250 copies made of this one.

So this is where the story then gets interesting, or possibly annoying. As usual, I managed to get a test press that Dwid sold in a hand made sleeve. I was prety happy with it, and I think the cover is pretty cool looking:

But then one night, as I was about to go to bed, Organized Crime posted up that they had just put up some ultra limited test press in their online store. Apparently the pressing plant also sent a few test presses on a clear vinyl, which the label had not ordered, so Clint made up a sleeve for them and put them up for sale. There were only 9 copies made, so I was super lucky to get one. Right time, right place.

This one comes in a black paper sleeve which has an orange skull logo in the corner. It looks great.

The only slight catch was that the only way that you could buy this rare test press was to buy it in a bundle with the green vinyl test press... which I already had. So I bought it, thinking I could just sell the spare green one to recover some of the money, but then when it came it was in a different sleeve to the one I got from Dwid, which kinda makes it a different record altogether.

It also features the skull logo on the black paper sleeve, but this time in green, which to me looks even cooler than the orange one.

So that's the story of how I ended up getting suckered into buying 3 different tests of the same record.

Cut. Heal. Scar.

One record that came out last year that I didn't really get around to listening to until the last couple of weeks is the second LP by Californian veteran band Winds Of Promise. 'Cut. Heal. Scar.' is a 10 song LP put out by Unity Worldwide Records, which is a label jointly owned and run by a dude from this band and a dude in Germany, and which appears to be the only record label in the world that doesn't have a website ir sell its releases directly.

I picked this record up from RevHQ, and as a result I got a yellow vinyl copy (out of 150).

This record is in the same vein as the first LP from a couple of years ago, which is a good thing I think. Sometimes you just want things to stay the same. The band features dudes from Unity, Uniform Choice, The Killing Flame, Ignite, and is in the same ballpark as all of those, but it mostly reminds me of Unity. I've always been a sucker for that sound and generally it's an easy listen. Easy to get into, easy to learn the songs and sing along after only a couple of listens. Overall a good melodic hardcore record if you like that kind of thing.

Unmix

A little over a year ago there was a new pressing of the debut Integrity full length, 'Those Who Fear Tomorrow', put out by German label Backbite Records. I wasn't sure why the world needed another pressing of this record, but it turns out there was a reason. Sort of. Apparently Dwid got the original analogue tapes and thought that they sounded great in their raw state, so sanctioned a limited pressing of it on vinyl. It is referred to as 'Those Who Fear Tomorrow: Unmixed'. I picked up a couple of copies of this one when it first came out, but it has taken me over a year to get the other two, but I had been waiting for all four before posting them.

First is the test press. There were actually 40 tests made, of which 20 were kept or sold by the label and come in a plain black sleeve. The other 20 were given to Dwid and sold in hand made covers to fools like me.

There were then 3 different colour vinyl versions made. One looks alright, whereas the other two look pretty awful. The acceptable one is the most limited version, which is clear vinyl (100 made):

The other two colours are not particularly nice to look at, and are both out of 200 copies. The first is known as 'splatter':

The second is know as 'tri color' and is also out of 200 copies:

I'm not usually a fan of remixes, as my ears generally can't tell any difference between different mixes. I think my brain is just wired to hear riffs and vocals and not appreciate the subtle differences in mixes. Usually I listen to a remix and all I notice is that the tune is the same and the words are the same, so I don't get the point. But I definitely hear a difference here. The main difference is that the vocals are quieter, and the guitar and drums sound louder. To me it sounds a little dirtier and I like it. Definitely an interesting new take on some old songs.

More Rev Classic Represses

Even though I kinda stopped with the Rev represses some time ago, there are some classic records I can't resist buying additional copies of. A couple of these aren't that new, but it took me a while to get around to picking them up.

Gorillw Biscuits 'Start Today' LP on blue vinyl. This was pressed in 2019 and there were 2,014 copies pressed. This is the fourth colour of this record on Rev (after purple, red and glow in the dark), but it seems it is probably the nicest looking. It matches the cover nicely.

Judge 'Bringin' It Down' LP on clear blue vinyl. This one was also pressed in 2019, and is out of 548 copies. This is the sixth colour of this LP on Rev, after green, orange, purple, gold and red. And again, I think that this clear blue seems aquite apt when laid next to the cover.

Youth Of Today 'We're Not In This Alone' LP on clear green vinyl. This was pressed last year (2020). I've lost count of how many colours of this LP Rev have pressed, although checking the pressing info it seems that this is the 8th colour. I'm pretty sure I am missing one of the colours of this one, although not sure which. I should probably figure that out at some point. Anyway, fun fact about this particular pressing - this clear green record was the last piece of vinyl pressed for Rev at the pressing plant that they had been using since about 1990, Rainbo. After this, things have been pressed at different pressing plants.

And finally, Youth Of Today 'Can't Close My Eyes' 12" on maroon vinyl. This is the eigth colour of this record (excluding all of the variations of the 'purple' vinyl pressing). This one was pressed in 2020 at whatever new plant Rev now use. I have no idea how many were made.

Suffrage

The calendar may have ticked over into a new year, but I still have a few things from last year I didn't get around to posting for various reasons. So 2021 begins with a few bits leftover from 2020.

A couple of months before the end of 2020, and around the time of the US election that Donald Trump won via a landslide, people started posting what I thought was a Descendents meme, with Milo in the guise of a ballot box. A few weeks later, it turned out to be the artwork for a new 2 song Descendents 7". 'Suffrage' contains two songs, both lyrically based around the theme of the 2020 US election.

There were two colours of this one pressed. This is the more common colour, out of 2000 copies, although I think it looks nicer than the rarer colour, which is some whack grey swirl thing.

I have mixed views on this record. The songs are pretty catchy, and also pretty angry. I get the distinct impression that the Descendents are not fans of Donald Trump. I think what puts me off though is simply that this is based on a theme that will date pretty quickly. In a couple of weeks the US will have a new President and it won't be long after that Trump will start to feel like a distant memory. So outside of the current time I think these songs just won't feel relevant anymore. But I'll enjoy them for now.