More Lockin' Out Exclusives

At some point last year I ordered something from Lockin' Out Records. As ever, whilst in the store I checked out what else was available and decided to pick up some colour vinyl 7"s to somehow 'make the order worthwhile'. Yeah, that familiar excuse. I didn't really know anything about these bands and records, but just decided to grab them because they were on colour vinyl and still available... which definitely isn't the case anymore.

First up is a 7" titled 'Monkey's Paw' by a band called Big Contest. I don't know much about this band at all, but it has Ned Russin (Title Fight, Gliterrer) playing bass. This I would definitely refer to as 'no frills' hardcore.

Next is the 'Magic With A Smile' 7" by Illusion. All I know about this band is that it has the drummer from Fury on vocals and the first song on here features Riley Gale (RIP) and sounds huge. It turns out that this was released back in 2018, which is an age ago now, and given that nothing else has been released since I am assuming this band is now done. Shame. This is great.

And finally, the 'Condemned' 7" by Skourge who hail from Houston, Texas. This is probably my favourite of the three. This one was released in 2019 and absolutely slays. I think the band played London this summer but obviously I didn't go because I am lazy and most venues are too far for me to get to. Still, the fact that they played suggests that they still exist, which makes me optimistically think that maybe they will release more music at some point.

I will admit that when Lockin' Out was a newish label back in the early 00's, putting out Mental and Righteous Jams, there is no way that I would have ever guessed that it would still be going all these years later. It's kinda cool that it still pops out a record or two every year, and they're pretty much always well worth checking out.