Demmamussabebonk

Snuff was one of the first bands that I got into, back in about 1990. I don't really know why or how, but one of my friends bought their album back when we were 15. At some point he left it at my house for a few days, and I played it a lot. I even remember my mum laughing at it once because she thought it was ridiculous and not proper music, haha. Anyway, i was into them for a couple of years, but same as a lot of the bands I used to listen to, my tastes changed and I kinda lost interest in them. I think around the same time they reformed and started to get bigger and they got picked up by Fat Wreck. So I just had them chalked up as one of those bands that I used to like.

'Demmamussabebonk' is the band's 3rd full length and was released in 1996 on Deceptive Records in the UK and by Fat Wreck in the States.

This copy that I have acquired is in mint condition, which is partly what drew me to it. I had never heard it until this month, and I have loved playing it. I think sometimes musical taste is a bit like the tide, in that sometimes things are in and sometimes out. But when they are out they are able to come back in again. I'm now definitely interested in catching up on some of the Snuff records that I have missed over the past 25 years or so.

Earwig & More

I've been on a bit of a musical nostalgia trip this last month, brought on by being given an old friend's record collection to sell (see the 'Records For Sale' page at the top of this blog). I spend a couple of formative years at the start of the 90s discovering a lot of music with this guy when I was a student. We used to spend time sitting around listening to records and drinking tea in his house all day. At the time we were really into a lot of the stuff going on in the Bay Area punk scene, and then I started to get more into 'hardcore' and we went in different directions. But inheriting this collection to sell for him has sent me back in time 30 years or so, and I've been really enjoying listening to stuff that I haven't spent much time with for a long time. I've put a lot of time and effort into selling these records, and we agreed that I would take some as my fee for all of the work. So my next batch of posts are going to be records that I have inherited from my friend's collection.

I thought I'd start with two Pegboy albums. My friends and I were all into Pegboy in the early 90s. I think a song of theirs cropped up on a skateboard video and then we managed to find their 'Strong Reaction' LP and it went from there. Anyway, the band's second LP 'Earwig' came out in 1994.

I originally bought this one when it came out, but ended up selling it not long after. This was because I was getting really into straight edge hardcore around that time, and Pegboy didn't fit with what I was into. But also because I hated the artwork on this record. The font especially looks truly terrible, and like it was drawn feehand by someone using Microsoft Paint.

Well all these years later and this record sounds great. The cover still looks terrible, but musically it sounds just like Pegboy, and I have been really enjoying this one throughout January. I'm glad to have it back in my collection 25 years after getting rid of it.

I also decided to keep the band's third and final album, 'Cha Cha Da More'. This one came out in 1997, at which point I had given up on this band due to the cover art of the previous one, and my new infatuation with Revelation Records. And whilst the cover art on this one also isn't great, it does at least look like a record cover.

Interestingly, the dude on the front cover is the father of the band's vocalist. And with me being picky, there is one thing here that kinda bugs me, which is that the bottom of back cover features an advert for their previous releases. It just seems weird to me that part of the back cover art for this record is 4 of their previous releases. I mean, by all means, add this in as an insert, but building it into the back cover... it just irritates me.

Again, I have been enjoying this record a lot the past month, and was feeling pretty happy about now having a complete set of Pegboy records. Well, until I checked discogs and found that they also released a split 7" in 1996 that I didn't know existed until today.

Small Labels

Not the most exciting post of all time, but here are three more Revelation represses on new colours of vinyl. By total coincidence, I visited RevHQ the day that these got delivered, so I was the first person to get a copy of these. I walked out of there with these in my hands a week or two before they went up for sale. I'm sure that in the future this will be a pretty forgettable anecdote. I mean, not as cool as being there the when the first pressings of either of these got delivered back in 1990.

Dealing with these in alphabetical order, first is an orange vinyl pressing of the Inside Out 7". No idea how many were made, but it's probably in the region of 500. Interestingly, this one has a regular sized label.

Next is the Quicksand 7" on clear vinyl. Again, no idea on number pressed, but this one has the weirdly small label. It's not as noticeable on this clear vinyl as it was on the turquiose vinyl last year. But it's noticeable when you lay it next to any of the earlier pressings.

And last but not least, the Youth Of Today 7" on orange vinyl. Again the quantity pressed is unknown, but this one also has the weird small label, and it really stands out to me here.

I visited a pressing plant last week where these were pressed, and I specifically asked about the small labels. I was told that the files sent over with the artwork were a smaller than standard size, and the plant does not correct customer's art. I then also mentioned this to Rev, and I'm not sure that they had realised. So it will be interesting to see if the label size is increased for the next pressing of these, whenever that may be.

Life. Love. Reissue.

I've been doing my best to avoid reissues for the past couple of years. I bought a bunch over time and generally mostly kinda regret it later for various reasons. So when Indecision Records reissued Unbroken's 'Life. Love. Regret.' LP a few years ago, I wasn't interested. My lack of interest was partly due to the fact that it came on Euro vinyl and looked bad. So when it got repressed again last year I was not remotely interested. But then when I saw some pics of it posted online, I thought it looked quite nice. It came on a nice baby blue colour, and I could tell instantly that it was pressed on US vinyl.

Well anyway, at the end of last year I was in California and ended up randomly bumping into Dave Mandel, who runs Indecision Records. I used to write to him many years ago so he is someone I kinda know, despite not having much contact with him for a few years. We went to lunch and had a bit of a chat, and at some point I mentioned that the Unbroken reissue on blue looked nice. And even though it was technically sold out, he managed to magic one up for me, which was kinda cool.

Given that the original 1st press was also on blue vinyl, I figured I would take a photo of the two together... at which point I was reminded that the sleeve of my first press is not in particularly good shape.

I didn't get the original blue vinyl copy from the label when it came out. I traded this copy from someone probably around 1997 or 1998. I can't really remember, but I assume that the seam split happened in transit. Ideally I need a new sleeve for this one, although realise that this is unlikely in this day and age as it's an expensive record. I'm sure that Rev used to use these sleeves as packing material for orders at some point in the past. If by any chance anyone has a spare one please let me know.

I Wish It Was Still April

A good start to the year with a record arriving that I traded from someone. It was a year or so ago that I found out that this person owned this record and wasn't overly attached to it, and we talked about a possible trade. The onus was then on me to find this guy something he wanted, which I finally managed to do at the end of last year. As with all good trades, it took some time but worked out well in the end.

The record I received is a test press of the first Shift release, 'Pathos', which was released by Equal Vision Records in 1994.

As this test came in just a white paper sleeve, I took a photo of it next to the regular version.

This came out a few months after the first Quicksand LP, and it felt that Shift were the first of a bunch of bands that were playng a similar sound, but they were by far the best. I got this record not long after it came out. I usually have a good memory for this stuff, but I can't remember how I heard of this band nor why I decided to buy this record. But I still pay this at least once a year, usually around October time.

I used to seriously love Shift. Following this 12" EP, they had two full lengths released by EVR, 'Spacesuit' in 1995 and 'Get In' in 1997. They were so tight and so catchy, with vocals you could sing along to. I could (and still can) sing along to every word of every record. I was bummed that they never came to the UK and I never saw them play. If they ever reform, I'm there.

Anyway, this record completes the trilogy of tests that started with a 'Spacesuit' test back in 2010, and I am pretty stoked about it.

It's actually very rare that I 'complete' collections, but this is the second trilogy I have finished in the last couple of months. Hopefully this is a sign of things to come in 2022...

California Cake

Looking back a year, I had put Drain's 'California Cursed' LP in my top 10 records of 2020. Interestingly, only a year on and I have barely listened to any of the records in that list other than the Drain record. It wasn't my stand out favourite of the year at the time, but I go back to it regularly. It has a couple of key ingredients that ensure it pulls me back in. Firstly, it's hard as hell and secondly it's pretty short. These days I generally listen to music whilst doing stuff, being either working out in the gym or household tasks, but I hate turning something off before it has played all the way through. So if I'm doing a relatively short chore then I want a relatively short record. And if it's a boring task then i need a hard record to keep me awake and to push me to complete it. So this Drain LP ticks the boxes, whether I'm doing benchpress, raking up leaves or cleaning the shower. Haha.

Anyway, it seems I am not the only person who enjoys this record. The band got signed to Epitaph last year, so I am sure are heading for big things in the future. But I had missed out on a couple of versions of their LP due to just being slow, mainly due to not wanting to spend money. I really need to learn my lesson here. But I was keen to pick up the versions of this record that I had missed before the only remaining option was to pay $100 to the kind-hearted people on discogs.

First up is the clear green vinyl version. This was part of the first press, and was the color exclusively for independent record stores.

The second one was a third press from last year. I'm not sure how many were made, but it sold out very quickly. There were none at all at RevHQ when I visited in December. I managed to find this one at a distro in Singapore. It was their last copy and was not a bad price. Including postage, it worked out cheaper than it would have been to buy one from Rev directly. Crazy.

Anna saw this one and said that it looked like 'birthday cake', which made me chuckle and I think is surprisingly accurate (and hence the title of the post.