It felt to me that pretty much everybody had the Change 'Closer Still' LP in their best of 2020 lists. And rightly so. It was (and still is!) a solid hardcore record, made more attractive by the cool artwork. What I also liked was that there was a real buzz about it, with copies selling out as fast as they appeared for sale. I don't know why I liked this, but it just felt like ages since a hardcore record that wasn't a repress had everyone excited. Well, sadly my own bad decision making meant that I missed the most limited colour (pink) when it went up for sale, but after realising my mistake I made sure to grab a copy of the release show LP.
The LP comes on black vinyl and in a limited sleeve. It's numbered out of 90 copies via a sticker on the poly cover. Which is great, unless of course your poly bag has a tear in the back.
The front cover features an illustration of some dude called Rich Jacobs. Rich who released the Brotherhood 'No Tolerance For Ignorance' 7" on his label Skate Edge Records way back in 1989. The cover shows him stood next to a skate ramp that has 'RIP Ron G' written on the side. The cover is a tribute to Ron Guardipee, the singer of Brotherhood who sadly passed away from cancer in 2019.
The 'release show' for this record was not exactly 'normal'. I think I misunderstood what was going on. I had assumed that the band were going to play an online show in an empty room, as other bands have done during the pandemic. But no. Instead, they held an online event to benefit a good cause. The money from the sale of the records went to the Coalition to Stop Violence Against Native Women, and the 'show' was a talk from the coalition on what they do and why the issue is so important. I'm guessing that there were initially supposed to be three actual shows played, given the back cover of the record:
The only thing I find weird about this version is that it contains one of the European pressed records on Refuse Records, rather than the US version. But whatever. I'm just being picky for the sake of it.
There have already been second pressing colours for both the US and Euro pressings, and I'm starting to lose count of how many there are now. But I'm not out to collect them all. I would like a clear pink vinyl copy, but other than that I'm done on this one I think.
3 comments:
The cool ting about this version having the European vinyl is that labels are blue which fits the cover with the blue lettering. Great acquisition, but since they weren't sold on a show it's kinda weird to mention the places.
I bet that within the next five years you'll have a solid collection of this LP way beyond just a 'clear pink vinyl copy', haha. The second press on React! on clear blue vinyl looks so awesome. Reminds me of the blue Break Down The Walls pressing on Wishingwell.
Great looking record...and even better without a slice through the plastic sleeve.
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