Hang On... 2023 Is Done Already?

So 2023 is done, and the main question I am left with is... where the hell did it go? I think 2023 passed by faster than any other year of my life. I know that time seems to pass quicker as you get older, but even so, 2023 came and went with unprecedented speed. I think it was mainly due to having started a new job right at the end of 2022, and having numerous projects and their associated deadlines all year long, which ultimately meant that I was busy with work constantly, working on one thing after another with seeminlgy not enough time to do anything properly. A lot of evenings and weekends were worked and I am hoping that next year will not be quite so busy due to some of the changes that I have put in place.

As a result of working so hard, it felt that outside of work I didn't achieve too much. I managed 4 trips that involved flying on planes, which were all fun in different ways. One of the highlights of the year was when Mike & Meesh came to stay for a few days, which gave me a good excuse to take a couple of days off of work, and also served as a great reminder as of some of the cool people that I have met through collecting recods. Other than that, however, the year was fairly quiet and uneventful. The only other things I can think to mention is that, partly because I was too busy to get to the gym very often, I started doing 100 push ups a day at some point in late April (exact date unknown) and I managed to continue that for the rest of the year, which means that I have done at least 24,500 push ups this year. Oh yeah, and I also managed to go the whole year without a hair cut, which did not start out as intentional and then at some point became a goal in itself.

Turning my attention to the year in music, my iTunes tells me that I added a total of 96 records to my library this year, which averages 1.8 per week, or one every 3.8 days. To me this seems like a crazy high number. How the hell did I have enough time to listen to that many new records multiple times? On reflection I think that the answewr is work. I worked the majority of the year at home, and for most of the day when I am at home I have music playing. I can easily listen to 5 albums in a day that way. But I sometimes wonder how these numbers would seem to the 18 year old me who, on average, probably got a new record every 3 weeks or so. Crazy I am sure.

MY FAVOURITE 2023 RELEASES

As per the last few years, in trying to figure out my favourite releases from the year I have split it into two sections - those that I have the vinyl for, and those for which the vinyl has not yet been received. The downside of this approach, however, is that I end up with two sections and two images, which upon reflection doesn't quite seem quite right, but it is what it is.

These are my favourite records that I picked up on vinyl. It was only after taking the photo that I realised how many UK releases made the list this year. Possibly more than any other year.

Pictured above (from top left, moving across then down) and in no particular order of how much I like them, the records are:

Brain Tourniquet 'An Expression In Pain' LP - Infest / Neanderthal / Crossed Out style hardcore from Washington, DC. This record contains 9 songs that are over in 10 minutes and then one more song that is ten minutes in itself. I got tihs relatively early in the year and imediately knew it would be on this list.

Wound Man 'Human Outline' LP - A Boston hardcore band featuring DFJ which is also firmly in the Infest / Crossed Out vein. I got this at the same time as the Brain Tourniquet LP and still struggle to decide which I prefer.

Unified Action 12" EP - great debut by a UK band with Lins87 on vocals, featuring an Infest cover and a rip off of the Citizens Arrest logo.

Low Coast 'Existing The Dream' LP - Jeff Caudill's latest band that plays some laid back indie rock with his distinct vocal over the top.

Rancid 'Tomorrow Never Comes' LP - I hadn't listened to Rancid since their self-titled LP from 2000, but I bought this as it was on sale and it proved to be a great reminder as to how much I used to love this band and how catchy their songs can be.

Eyeteeth 'Straight Edge Violence' 7" - the only 7" in the list, and this is another record from a new UK band. Ten songs in ten minutes on a 7" with Godzilla on the cover. What's not to love?

Parallel Worlds 'In The Comet's Path' LP - a new name and new sound for a decade old UK band, this record has a cool cover and is a perfect example of hardcore rock 'n' roll.

Prey 'Unsafe' LP - another new UK band, I picked this up on a whim as it was on sale, and immediately loved it. Sixteen vicious hardcore songs done and dusted in 17 minutes, this was the soundtrack for scraping the metal handrail outside my front door.

Not 'Stop The World' LP - a US band with a British singer, this is an blatant attempt at ripping off ALL, and they absolutely pull it off with top marks. Super catchy stuff and some great lyrics, the Summer singalong record of the year.

Metallica '72 Seasons' LP - their first album since 2016, and after one play I was immediately hooked. On balance this is probably my favourite record of the year, although ask me next week and I might give a different answer.

Next up is my shortlist of other records that came out this year that I listened to via the medium of digital magic and that I don't have the vinyl for... yet. I like to document these here as they came out this year and I did spend a lot of time listening to them. These were my favourites:

Shown above are these suckas:

Calling Hours 'Say Less' EP - Popeye from Farside's new band. I saw them live and thought they were pretty dull, but before I had heard this record and knew the songs. After several plays I can safely say that the songs on here are brilliant. The soundtrack for my Florida drives this year.

Drain 'Living Proof' LP - the second album by Drain with some fun cover art, and it's a great follow up to 'California Cursed'. This band is absolutely on fire at this point. Shame about the pointless Descendents cover though and not putting it as the last song.

Liars Academy 'Ghosts' LP - a fantastic comeback record by this Baltimore band (their first since 2004). There is one absolutely incredible song on here, but also (like the Drain LP) this also features a pointless Black Sabbath cover ('Changes') also positioned as the second to last song.

Mean Season 'Go To Hell' 12" - another comeback record (their first since 1994!), and I feel that the new songs on here are absolutely fantastic. Sadly, however, this record is let down because they filled it out with 3 cover songs and a couple of re-recorded old songs, meaning I turn it off halfway through when I play it. But damn, those new songs are good.

Planet On A Chain 'Boxed In' LP - a really impressive fast hardcore album on Revelation which both looks and sounds the part. It took a few goes, but when it clicked it clicked in a big way.

Power Alone 'Nothingness' EP - a new four song EP by Power Alone, but sadly this was released only on digital and cassette formats. Hopefully at some point a vinyl version will appear, because these songs deserve it.

LATE TO THE PARTY

I started adding this section to this summary a few years ago to document the stuff that I listened to a lot this year but that was not released this year. Most of the stuff here I listened to online or downloaded and then got addicted to. Some of it I subsequently tracked down vinyl copies of, and some I didn't, which means I'm also breaking this section into two parts, as above.

First up are the things for which I ended up buying vinyl copies:

Shown in the photo are:

Soul Blind 'Feel It All Around' LP - this came out right at the end of 2022, and I think I listened to it on 01 Jan this year, and loved it immediately. It sounds like a lot Sub Pop grunge release from 1991, which 30 years later sounds really quite fresh.

Scream 'Fumble' LP - I had never heard this record before and decided to buy the latest colour vinyl repress, and I have to say, this record is incredible. My favourite Scream record. Such a different sound to their earlier records.

Hammered Hulls 'Careening' LP - another 2022 release that I didn't get around to until this year. I was waiting for a colour vinyl pressing, and when it came I played the shit out of it.

Iron Monkey '9-13' LP - I was reminded of Iron Monkey this year having not listeend to them in years, and picked up this 2017 record featuring a different singer, which is surprisingly good. I loved this band in 1997/8 and this was a good reminder as to why. Sludgecore.

The Living Memories 'Home Truths' - I read about this one on Mike's blog and thought it sounded interesting. He didn't seem to like it, but I did, and this worked in my favour when he hand deliverd it to my house. This sounds similar to The Smiths but is played by two guys from The First Step.

Rhythm Collision 'Now' & 'Clobberer' LPs - I ended up hearing Rhythm Collision when a song came on youtube after something else that I listened to, and immediately knew it was up my street. I was then lucky enough to find someone in the UK looking to offload a bunch of their records. This band took up a fair amount of my time this summer across these two records.

End Of A Tear 'Sincerely' LP - a Revelation release that I had never heard before as it was a CD only release, but I checked it out digitally and liked what I heard, and then found a vinyl copy (put out by a different label) for sale in the UK. No doubt this is an overlooked / unknown gem in the Rev catalogue.

Samiam 'You Are Freaking Me Out' 7" box set - I ended up reconnecting with Samiam this year after a a few years absence, and heard this 1997 record this year for the first time, which ended up with me buying a stupid 4x7" box set version of it.

I also enjoyed 4 other records a lot that I downloaded and (as yet) do not own vinyl copies of. These are:

New Found Glory 'Sticks And Stones' LP - I had never listened to this band at all because I thought their name was stupid, but I checked them out this year after Rev released a record by them, and I ended up getting slightly addicted to this record. Sadly I couldn't buy a vinyl copy as they all cost hundreds of dollars in 2023.

Downer 'S/T' LP - an old record (from the year 2000) that for some reason got pressed onto vinyl this year on an interesting label (Black Claw Records). I have a 7" by this band in my collection that I got in about 1995 that I had no memory of, so I checked this record online and within about ten seconds knew I needed this record in my life.

Bush 'Razorblade Suitcase' LP - a big surprise for me, I gave this record a chance when someone sent me a test press of it for free, and I ended up loving it. It sounds more like Nirvana than Nirvana, which is odd for a band that were from the UK. Still, at this point in my life, I am really into this sound again.

Deftones 'White Pony' LP - I saw this band play once and walked out after 2 songs, as I was only there to see the support band, Will Haven. I've been meaning to check this band out the last couple of years, thinking that I might be into them these days, and I finally got around to it at the back end of this year. This record seems to be regarded as their best, and I have to admit, it's pretty good.

MY FAVOURITE PICKUPS

It didn't feel like I picked up anything mindblowing this year, but scrolling back through my posts and I did add some really nice items to my collection. Nearly all of my favourites are test pressings, and I did manage to pick up a few nice ones. It was cool dragging them out again to take this photo.

Shown above are:

Chain Of Strength 'The One Thing That Still Holds True' 12" Test press
Kiss It Goodbye 'She Loves Me, She Loves Me Not' LP Test press
Civ 'Set Your Goals' LP Test press
One King Down 'Bloodlust Revenge' 12" Test press

All of the above (along with a couple of others) came from the collection of an ex Revelation Records employee, and this was without doubt the best deal of the year. And nicely hand delivered by my partner in crime to reduce postage risks.

Farside 'The Monroe Doctrine' LP Test press - a very welcome addition to my Farside collection, although this is probably my least favourite Farside record.

No Escape / Turning Point 7" Test press - I got this direct from Tim Singer (of No Escape) and was stoked that it came with some proofs of the cover art, making this particular copy unique.

Nirvana 'Sliver / Dive' 7" - I had wanted a copy of this for a few years now, and finally got around to getting a copy in 2023. And then I picked up 3 more copies of it. I think it's fair to say that collecting this 7" has now become a mild obsession.

ALMOST DONE

Every year my target for this blog is 120 posts (an average of 10 per month) and despite being super busy with work, I managed to beat the target this year. I actually managed to pick up a lot of records this year from within the UK, whilst simultaneously buying stuff from the States which is still sat in the States. Hopefully I can obtain those records in 2024. There are some cool records waiting to come in and I'm excited for them.

As ever, thanks to the people who continue to read this. I'm not entirely sure why I keep doing this, but it's like a lot of things in my life... I just keep doing the same things week in, week out and time carries on passing. In two month's time I will have been writing this thing for sixteen years, which seems absolutely insane as it represents a third of my life. Sometimes I think about stopping, but I then just carry on. And I have a batch of records sat around upstairs from my recent trip to the States, so no doubt I will continue this into 2024, and hopefully you'll all be there to listen to me waffle on.

Happy new year!

Lost Angeles

One last post for 2023 before the inevitable end of year post, and this is a post that has been a long time in the making...

Two weeks ago I was in Boston for half a day at the end of a two week trip to the States, and I popped back to a record store that I went to last year briefly - Wanna Hear It Records, which is in Watertown (about ten miles out of Boston). However, this time around I had prearranged a visit and I was there to pick something up from the owner of the shop.

There's a long story behind this photo, but I'll try to and get through it quickly...

In 2012 I won a Bane 7" test press on eBay. It was the test press I needed to complete the set of 4 that were released around 2009. Well, I paid immediately but the record never arrived. I emailed the seller and he told me that he sent it, but given it hadn't arrived he would send another. A few weeks later and that one didn't arrive either. So I messaged him and asked if he sent it but I got no response. I may have messaged one more time, but cannot be sure of this. But no record ever came and I assumed I had been ripped off.

Last year I had lunch with a couple of friends and the subject came up, and one of the dudes in attendance just so happened to be good friends with the person who had sold the 7". He sent a message to the guy, and mentioned the issue, and the seller somehow checked his old emails and confirmed that I had won a record from him back in 2012. He then promised that he would make it right.

So a year after this conversation, and eleven years after I first paid for the record, I was fginally handed it by the seller... who turned out to be Joey, who owns Wanna Hear It Records, and runs the label that released the record, 6131 Records.

So this is a test press for the Bane 'Los Angeles 3:58 PM' 7", which was one of a series of four 7"s released in 2009. There were actually 6 songs put out across four 7"s, with 3 songs each being pressed on two 7"s, with one of each being pressed by both a US and a European label. So 6 songs stretched across 4 different 7"s, with at least 3 different colours of viny of each. At the time it was a nightmare trying to collect these... although I have to say, records and shipping costs were a LOT lower back then, so it was far easier than it would be today. Here's a pic of the test next to the regular cover for no real reason:

It's funny, because these 7"s have been out for thirteen years or so, and I have collected (I think) every version of every one, and in total I have 28 different 7"s in this series. Yet I always forget that these 7"s exist. The songs are the least well known to me of all of Bane's output.

Still, it was nice to finally obtain this record, which means that I finally got to take this photo of all 4 test press records from this set together:

At some point it would be nice to take a photo of ALL the 7"s from this series. All 28 of the bloody things. But this isn't really the time of year to attempt that, due mainly to the lack of daylight. So maybe some other time.

It's also nice to get this record also because I had totally written it off, and I kinda figured that it was just one of those records that I was destined never to own. It was also nice that Joey was really apologetic about the whole thing, and even went so far as to give me a few extra records too, which was very nice of him... and which gives me some nice material to get this blog off to a good start in 2024.

(To be continued)

Out Of Step Outtakes

Possibly the biggest surprise in the world of hardcore punk this year was a new Minor Threat 7". This thing was announced by Dischord Records on 14 November, and the blurb said that it would be out on the 1st of December, and there were pictures, so clearly it had been pressed and was ready to go before anyone knew a thing. The world was unaware at the start of the day and excited at the end of the day. It was a great surprise for sure.

I didn't bother pre-ordering from Dischord as I figured the record would have been pressed in large numbers, and wouldn't be tough to get hold of. From what I can tell, that's the case, as a lot of people have already posted pictures of it. I managed to pick one up from Wanna Hear It Records on my last day in the States. They had a pretty big stack of them that had just arrived that morning, so it felt like destiny.

SO the story with this 7" is that when the band were in the studio recording some new songs that would end up becoming 'Out Of Step', they ended up re-recording a coupe of older songs to fill up some black tape. These songs then sat around and were pretty much forgotten about until 2021 when the tapes were being digitised.

As you'd expect from a record being released 40 years after it was recorded, this thing is a great little time capsule. As the photos show, the cover and insert features photos from the time, and there's a nicely written piece on the insert by Ian.

Not sure if it's just me, but I kinda feel a mix of excitement and disappointment for this one. Excitement at new Minor Threat recordings being unearthed, and at the same time a little disappointed that there aren't really any 'new' songs. It's not gonna make my 'best of 2023' lists, but it's defintiely a cool record and well worth picking up. To me the songs do actually sound better then the original versions that we're all familiar with, but no doubt t others will disagree. Still, it's cool to have the choice at all, right?

Nevermind Target, Here's Blue

A couple of posts ago I wrote about my adventures in Walmart. The store was an enormous warehouse full of anything and everything that a person might need. Well, a few days later and we were in Miami and one evening, after dinner, we popped into a Target just down the street.

For anyone reading this who is unaware of Target, it's a 'discount department store' with around 2,000 outlets across the States. We nipped in to buy something small, and (like Walmart) ended up walking around checking out the scene. And again, just like Walmart, I stumbled upon a record setion. So of course I had to have a quick look through the racks.

I think this is a great example of getting a little bit carried away. It's so easy to buy records in the States as they are everywhere, and way cheaper than they would be over here. When I am at home I pretty much never go to record stores, and when I do they are always disappointing. So when I'm in the States it's hard to avoid the temptation. And sometimes I end up buying stuff that I otherwise wouldn't have because it's there.

So I walked out of Target that evening with a couple of classic LPs because they were there and they were cheap. First up, Nirvana's 'Nevermind'.

After my recent obsession with Nirvana's 'Sliver / Dive' 7", I kinda felt that I needed this LP in my life. According to discogs, there are 190 different vinyl versions of this record, and some of the older or rarer ones are super expensive. I can't be bothered to get into that level of detail, so this Target exclusive on silver vinyl will do just fine.

Next, I grabbed this blue marble vinyl pressing of Weezer's first, self-titled LP (aka the blue album). Around 2001 I was really into this record and I have had five of the first six albums on vinyl for a lot of years, but thought I was missing this one. So again, this cheap but nice looking blue copy filled a gap.

Of course when I got home it turned out that I had this one after all, albeit on black vinyl. I think I had got confused because I have for a long time suspected that mine may be a bootleg, so I think in my mind I didn't have this record at all. I think that's only the second time in thirty years or so that I have ended up buying a record that I thought I needed that I already had. Whoops.

72 Seasons

My last post was the story my hunt for the Walmart exclusive pressings of the first 5 Metallica albums, which I managed to pick up across 3 different stores.

Well, the story didn't quite end there. As I was in the mood for buying Metallica records, I also decided I should pick up the latest one, '72 Seasons', which was released earlier this year. Prior to my USA trip, I had no plan to buy this record, as I wasn't fussed about owning Metallica records on vinyl. the second that changed, I figured that I should probably grab the latest one when it was right in front of me.

Checking discogs, this record has been pressed on a lot of different colours, but I think the one I picked up is potentially the most appropriate as it seems like a pretty good match to the cover. This 'Yellow and black swirl vinyl' is the Walmart exclusive.

As far as the record goes, this just might be my favourite record of the year. I've only been listending to it the past couple of weeks, but it's pretty much the only record I can think of in the last few months that I actually get excited to listen to. No doubt I will tire of it pretty soon, but right now this isbeing played at least once a day.

Walmartallica

At the start of this month I was on a holiday in Floria. I hate December in the UK and in recent years have gone on trips to escape it. Florida isn't too far and has good weather, so it ticks the boxes. Well anyway, one day we decided to go to Walmart to get some supplies, and that's where the adventure began...

For anyone reading this who hasn't been to a Walmart, at first it seems like an amazing thing. It's kind of like a supermarket that sells food and then also sells pretty much everything else you could need - clothes, sports equipment, electrical goods, home goods, etc. Basically they sell everything. So we walked into this huge aircraft hanger sized place and then spent some time walking around just checking out the store. And of course, with it being 2023 and every man and his dog now interested in buying records, it wasn't too long before we stumbled across had a music section with a rack of records.

I was intrigued as to what records were for sale in Walmart, so I decided to have a quick flick through the rack, and immediately it seemed kinda cool and kinda fun. What I found was:
- There was a mix of old 'classics' and new releases
- Circa half of the records were pressed as 'Walmart exclusives'
- There were dividers (e.g. A-E, G-L, etc), yet absolutely nothing was remotely in alphabetical order.
- The records were crammed in so tightly that it was impossible to flick through them. I had to take handfuls out of the racks and them look through what was in my hands.

We ended up going into a few Walmarts over the course of a couple of days (more on that later), but the record sections were all pretty much the same in each. The most shocking was the total lack of organisation. I couldn't help but wonder why they bothered with the alphabetical grouping dividers at all.

Anyway, the game started when I came across a couple of Metallica records that were Walmart exclusives. And then something weird happened. I decided to buy them. Holding the sealed records in my hands, the artwork looked cool, the little Walmart exclusive stickers looked cool, and they were pretty cheap. So basically I just got sucked in and decided to buy them. Whenever I am in America, I have zero control and just buy all kinds of stuff because prices are good and it's so unlike my life at home where I never really go in any shops that sell records.

So I picked up both 'Master of Puppets' on 'Battery brick vinyl' and 'Ride The Lightning' on 'Electric blue vinyl'.

Now, before I continue, I need to backtrack a little and explain my relationship with Metallica. I've been a fan of Metallica since the early 90s. However, over the years I have listened to some (but not all) of their records, and those that I have listened to represent an almost random selection from their catalouge. The first one I heard was the self-titled 'Black' album a few months after it came out (1992) and Literally only a couple of months later I ended up listening to 'And Justice For All' as one of my friends bought it and played it a lot. And that was as much as I knew until 20 years later when, in 2013, I decided to check out the first three records ('Kill Em All', 'Master Of Puppets' and 'Ride The Lightning') all at the same time through the magic of downloads. And then only a few months after that I also checked out 'St. Anger' purely because I read a blog post from someone about how it was the worst record ever made... except I ended up loving it. And then seven years later, in 2020, I got around to checking out 'Death Magnetic' and also loved it. And that brings us up to date. So here I am calling myself a Metallica fan, yet there are still at least three albums that I have never heard so much as one song from - 'Load' (1996), 'Reload' (1997) and 'Hardwired to Self Destruct' (2016). So I think its fair to say that my journey through the Metallica catalog is both slow and unorthodox.

Also, even though I love most of the Metallica records that I have heard, I own none of them on any format other than digital files. Believe it or not, there are some bands that I like for which I have never been interested in buying records. The main three that come to mind are Metallica, Black Sabbath and Foo Fighters. The theme here is more 'mainstream' bands who (until recent years at least) never really had any 'limited edition' or colour vinyl releases. Back when I first heard Metallica, their records were all just standard black vinyl pressings probably pressed in hundreds of thousands or millions of copies. There was no colour vinyl and nothing limited or cool to chase, so I didn't care. And here I am in 2023 and it's way too late to try to get into buying original, first press Metallica records. I just never intended to buy any of their records at all. Yet here I was making a conscious decision to buy two records.

Well, that was the start of the game. Having read online that practically all of the Metallica albums had been pressed on colour vinyl colours for Walmart, I figured this represented a 'set' that I could collect. So I decided I needed to collect the set whilst I had the chance.

So we left Walmart and then the next day, on our drive south to our next hotel, I decided to stop at another Walmart to see if there were others that I could pick up...

In the second store I found '...And Justice For All' on 'Dyer's Green vinyl' and the black album on 'Some blacker marbled vinyl'.

And here's a picture of one of the black LP records with some light behind it to show what it looks like in real life.

After picking up four records I was then on a role, but I knew I still needed 'Kill 'Em All'. So I programmed another Walmart into Google maps, and when we eventually arrived I did managed to fine it. This one is pressed on 'Jump in the fire engine red vinyl'.

In total I had stopped at 3 Walmarts over a distance of 84 miles. I decided to save the route here just for fun.

So that was that. Objective complete. I had set out to pick up the Walmart exclusive pressings of the first five albums and I had done it. The drive to different stores made it feel a bit like a mini quest and was a bit more fun than if I had just been able to buy all 5 in one shop. But this was not quite the end of the story...

(To be continued...)

Going For The Throat... Again

The year is rapidly drawing to a close, and one of my final posts for the year is pretty similar to my 4th post of the year, in that it is for an Impel 7".

So Impel was a Californian band from the late 90s. Back then I loved them. They released four 7" records in their time (two of which were splits with other bands) and a 12", and even though I got them all back when they came out, it was only this year when I picked up a test press of their first 7" that I subsequently discovered that there was a colour vinyl version of one of their 7"s that I had never previously known about.

This 7" is a split between Impel and a Swedish band, Division Of Laura Lee, which was released by a Sedish label. This was actually the last Impel release, coming out in 1999, and I am going to guess that it came about after Impel's european tour. Obviously I have no real idea if this is true, but I know the band toured europe at some point and I saw them live in the UK. So it makes sense that they played Sweden back then and then got approached by the Swedish label to do this record.

Anyway, I bought this when it came out. I don't remember where I got it, but after owning it for 24 years or so I discovered that there was a green vinyl copy listed on discogs. Better yet, there was one for sale. It was cheap and a prety easy decision to buy it.

I also discovered that there is also apparently a clear green vinyl version as well. Crazy how these things could have evaded my awareness for so long. But it's fun to pick up these cheap, forgotten records all these years later.

South By Southview

It was around about 2017 when I started collecting 7"s by The Damage Done, which was a band from 2011 - 2003. In my usual style, I was slightly late to the game. But in the years since, I have managed to pick up quite a few records by the band, mainly thanks to Kyle (who used to be in the band) who sent me 13 copies of one of the records in one go. Oh yeah, and I was also once given one of their 7"s by my friend Paulo when I met up with him in Rome.

Continuing the trend of adding to my collection via the kindness of friends, I recently got a message from Ralf with a picture of a 7" and asking if I needed it. Turned out to be a copy of the 2nd 7", 'Never Wash Away', with a limited pre cover. I told him I needed it and a few weeks later it showed up at my house in a nicely packed box.

I'm not sure how many of these were made, but probably not too many. This cover was made so that they could sell some 7"s after their release show and before the real covers arrived. I love the idea and enthusiasm here. Kids literally not being able to wait to get their record out in an era before digital music really took off in a big way.

Checking my spreadsheet and I Now have 24 The Damage Done 7"s. Ok, so its mainly because I was sent 13 copies of the sdame record, but still, that's quite some going. Yet there are still others I don't have. Not sure how many others I'm missing but it's mainly the rarer versions, including tests, so not sure I will be adding any more anytime soon. One day I will lay them all out for a photo though.

Shai Hulud

The next step in my mission to 'complete' my Revekation collection is some records by Florida metallic hardcore band, Shai Hulud. Back when this band first appeared in 1997, I was really into them. Heck, they were a new and exciting band right at a time when that's what I wanted. Their first couple of releases were on Crisis Records (which was a kind of subsidiary of Revelation) so I immediately assumed that they were huge. But like a lot of bands from that era that kept on going, I kinda lost interest at some point. So the only records of theirs that I ever heard are the ones on Crisis and Rev.

'A Profound Hatred Of Man' is a compilation of various releases on one handy disc. The title of the record is the same as their debut release, which was a 7" put out by Crisis Records back in 1997. The songs from that record are the first 3 songs on here and the next 3 songs were originally released as a split 10" with Indecision that was also put out by Crisis Records. The rest of the songs are covers by Bad Brains, Negative Approach, Bad Religion, NOFX, Metallica, all of which seem pretty unneccessary but never mind.

This version of the record was pressed last year (2022) and largely due to the pressing plant used, looks great

'Hearts Once Nourished With Hope And Compassion' was the band's first full length, also released by Crisis Records in 1997. Back when this came out I absolutely loved it. It sounded like a huge step forward in metallic hardcore, which is kinda funny with hindsight, because these days it sounds kinda dated to me.

This record was also pressed in 2022 and also looks even better than the other one.

Both records were pressed on purple vinyl back in 2015, and the above represses were a reminder that I had passed on them. I managed to find copies for not too much. There were roughly 550 copies of each of these purple records made.

I had also missed the 2014 grey vinyl pressing of the second album 'That Within Blood Ill-Tempered'. This one was originally released by Revelation (after Crisis Records was retired) in 2003, and including this grey version has been pressed on 5 different colours of vinyl as well as being pressed as a picture disc.

I got lucky and managed to find a German distro with a copy of this pressing still for sale for a 'new' price, but I needed some help to actually buy it. Big thanks to Ralf for the help with this one.

I now have an almost complete collection of Rev released Shai Hulud records. The exception, however, is that there are two 12" picture discs, which I have sworn that I will never buy as they are the ugliest things I have ever seen. At least, that's the plan.

U.S. Songs In A Transit Wind

Back in 2015 I was getting pretty sick of all of the represses that Revelation were cranking out. It felt that there was a new one every week, and it felt like they were almost relying on idiots like me to give them a stable monhtly income. It felt like it had crossed a line and I decided to just stop. And then three or four years later, I decided to start again for various reasons, and here I am at the end of 2023 still chasing some of the records from 2015-2017 that I missed. Even though most were pressed in generous amounts (usually 500 at least), a few of them just never seem to pop up for sale, which is kinda weird. But that's how modern collecting is I guess. The gane has changed.

Semi recently I found one of the records I was missing for sale at a distro, which I assume had been sat there for a few years. The red vinyl 2015 pressinf of the first ELliott LP 'U.S. Songs'. There were 550 made and it is without doubt one of the thickest and heaviest records that Rev have ever put out.

There's not much else ot dsay about this one really, but it's kinda funny how little enthisiasm I had for this when it came out, versus how happy I was to receive this recently and cross it off the list.

Interestngly, when I received this, there ewas also another Elliott record included that I did not order or pay for. But given I didn't already own it, I was happy to keep it. This is the 'Songs In A Transit Wind' 12" that was originally released by Simba Recordings in 2013. It compiles three of the band's 7"s onto a 12".

This grey vinyl version is from the second press of 500 copies. I assumed that there must be lots of leftover copies out there that nobody cared about which is why I got one thrown in for free. But a quick google suggests that this is not the case. So I'll just chalk this one up to good luck.

No Doubt

My record buying has never really been focused. I generally just buy stuff from bands or people that I like, and wil investigate some of the newer hype bands, but a lot of new stuff I'm just not interested in, mainly because of the look of the records. I mean, I absolutely loved the Restraining Order 1st LP, but I have zero enthusiasm to check out the second one because it looks so awful. It just feels like modern hardcore has gone down an aesthetic road that I don't get, and I feel that it is disconnecting me from modern hardcore.

That said, sometimes I listen to my friends and am happy to check out something new. So when Mike wrote so positively about the Method Of Doubt 'Staring At Patterns' 12", there was no way I could ignore it. I had to check out. And pretty quickly I kew I needed to buy a copy.

I actually listened to this quite a lot last year around September time, but only recently got around to getting a vinyl copy. I was more than happy to grab one of the clear copies which is out of 200.

When I googled the band to try to find out more information I discovered two things. Firstly, that they were from Florida, which surprised me as hardcore bands are rarely from the Sunshine State. And secondly that the band broke up about a year and a half ago. This is a great record, so it's a shame that we won't be hearing more from Method Of Doubt. And there was me thinking that I was up to date for a second there...

Food For Thought

>p?There are so many DIschord bands that I haven't listened to that it's ridiculous. In the current day and age where it is possible to listen to anything you want within seconds of thinking of it, there is no excuse. But I think I'm partly tinted by an experience when I was younger. Back when I was 19 I was given some dude's records to sell, and there were a few Dischord releases in there that I checked out but didn't get along with. At the time I was heavily into Chain of Strength and Earth Crisis 'Firestor', so bands like Nation of Ulysees, Circus Lupus and Gray Matter didn't sound like what I wanted at the time. And over the years I have just got those bands in my head as 'bands I don't like'.

Well, a couple of years ago I was looking for stuff to listen to and decided to give Gray Matter another chance and, wouldn't you know it, I immediately loved it. It sounds slightly dated these days, although I would say that a part of that is probably the recording itself rather than the songs. But once I started ilstening to them I started looking for records, and got two of them fairly recently...

The first one I got is a grey vinyl pressing (which dates back to 2009 I think) of the 'Take It Back' 12". The opening song on here is without doubt one of the strongest opening songs on any Dischord release, and if you have never heard it then you should rectify that right now. Back in 1994 when I had a copy of this record in my hands it was one of the original first press burgundy vinyl copies, which unsurprisingly now sell for a lot more than the one I let go nearly thirty years ago. So I'm happy enough with this grey vinyl repress. Plus, this colour seems more appropriate a colour anyway.

The second record I picked up is the band's first release from 1985, 'Food For Thought'. This one was originally released on a small DC label called R&B Records, with later pressings then put out by Dischord. Again, I picked up a grey(ish) vinyl repress which also dates back to 2009.

This record sounds a little rougher than 'Take It Back', but there's a lot of medlody here. The older I get, the more I love this 80s melodic hardcore sound. It's probably partly nostalgia, as this sound takes me back to old skateboard videos from the end of the 80s where most of the music was rough sounding melodic punk by bands nobody had ever heard of. But clearly I love this sound now a lot more than I did in 1994. And eventually I will get around to checking out more late 80s / early 90s Dischord bands I am sure.

Visitor

A few short weeks ago I was struggling to decide what to listen to, so I set iTunes to 'shuffle'. Quite often it will throw up some interesting stuff that I'm not too familiar with, or potentially something that I had forgotten about. And on that day it delivered something that I hadn't listened to in a long time - a song from the first Onelinedrawing LP 'Visitor'. This came out in 2002 on Jade Tree at a time when I bought pretty much everything that the label released. In 2001 I was really into the band Far and so I was lapping up everything that Jonah did. I loved the New End Original LP that came out in 2001, and so when this record came out I didn't hesitate to pick it up.

Well, when the song came on a few weeks ago I Immediately ended up playing the full record. And then the second record. And suddenly it was back on the daily playlist. So of course I went to discogs and found that the Jade Tree albums were both repressed in 2022 on new colours. But I also found that the original pressings sell for practically nothing. So I decided to pick up this original clear vinyl copy of 'Visitor' mainly because it was cheap.

As I mentioned in my semi recent posts for the Explosion and Trial By Fire LPs, Jade Tree used to commonly press two colours of each release, and here I am 20+ years later buying the second colours of some of these records for no good reason. So this record joins the ranks of Jade Tree releases that I now own two copies of, and I'm sure it won't be the last.