No Regrets

The final post in my month long series documenting all of the records that I walked out of Wanna Hear It Records with in December last year. And what an anti climax this is...

I am a fan of bad records generally. I actively enjoy Uniform Choice's 'Staring Into The Sun' and I genuinely really like Metallica's 'St. Anger'. I think the reasons for both are simply that I was not eagerly anticipating their respective release dates when they came out, so I was not disappointed or heartbroken when they changed their sound. I listened to both records years later and assessed them as records in their own right. So I have a skill for tolerating bad records, or so it seems.

The third Warzone LP, however, I could never hang with. I have bought it twice in the past and sold it twice, finding it unbearably bad. Yet somehow when I came across tihs copy in the used section in the record shop, I instantly pulled it out and decided to buy it.

I think my decision was partly fuelled by how much harder to find this seems to be these days. Twenty years ago you'd struggle to give this away. But, like with every record these days, this appears to pop up for sale much less frequently than it used to, and when it does appear most liekly it is listed by some fool charging $100. So as ever, a reasonable price made me think that this could represent a good opportunity to grab this one... again.

The other reason I wanted this is that it just felt like I had a hole in my Warzone collection. And whatever your opinion on this, the front cover looks kinda cool, right?

This is indeed a slightly odd Warzone record. Raybeez isn't referred to as Raybeez, instead he is called Ray James. Also, he's stood at the back in the group photo on the back cover. Oh yeah, and he has hair. No doubt this was a strange time for NY hardcore, so in a way it's cool that this exists as a document of a weird blip in the timeline.

Well of course, after buying this I had to give it another chance. I think previously I found it impossible to make it through the first song without turning it off. Yet somehow this time it didn't seem anywhere near as bad as I had expected or remembered. And in the last month I have listened to it several times, and here I am now thinking that this isn't anywhere near as bad as I previously thought. Ok, so it's not a great record, but in 2024 this no longer sounds terrible. I guess I must be getting old.

Final thing to say on this one is that I also managed to download the demo that was recorded before this LP was recorded, and the same songs sound WAY better on there. Well worth seeking out if you like the band and have never heard it.

In Defiance Of Acoustic Times

The penultimate record in my series of things that I picked up from Wanna Hear It Records on my US trip last month.

Last year I spent a bit of time checking out some Strike Anywhere records online. I have one of their albums in my collection, and I always liked it, but I was never really blown away by it. But I'm always interested in hearing more from bands that I know have a big fanbase, because I assume there must be something there that I haven't fully grasped yet. So I checked out a couple of records and thought that they were ok, and that I definitely wanted to invest more time in them. So when I came across a Strike Anywhere record for $10, it was a no brainer.

Well, being slightly unfamiliar with the band, I wasn't quite aware what I had bought, but when I got home and listened to it I was immediately disappointed because this record is two types of bad record rolled into one... a live record, and an acoustic record. Yup, this is a live acoustic record, which with hindsight kinda explains why it was so cheap, and why it is still in stock and Bridge Nine some twelve years after it was released. Everyone else knows what this is and decided they didn't need it.

Triple B Bargain Bin

More stuff that I bought from Wanna Hear It Records last month, and this is a great example of finding it hard to say no to things that are right in front of me.

After I was done perusing the used LP section, I noticed a bin of records on the floor. Turned out is was a sale section, although nothing was priced. I asked for the price and was told that the records in the bin were $5 each. I'm not even sure that I managed to look through everything, but immediately I pulled out three records that I was happy to take away for a bargain price. All three were slightly older Triple B releases, from the days before the label changed direction (and pressing plant).

First up is this clear vinyl copy of a 12" EP by a band called Glory, which is imaginatively titled 'the twelve inch'. This came out in 2016 and the band featured Sam (who runs Triple B) and, as the cover kinda suggests, played straight up hardcore. The record contains 8 songs that are done in 9 minutes and is a one sided 12". It's not exactly going to change the world, but this is a solid hardcore record, and also looks pretty cool. AN absolute steal for five bucks.

The second record I found in the bargain bin was this green vinyl pressing of the Freedom 'USA Hardcore' LP. This was released in 2015 and somewhere around then I downloaded it and listened to it a few times, but never actually got around to buying a copy. Just like the Glory 12", this is a pretty solid hardcore record in the vein of Boston Strangler, and this second press green vinyl is a nice looking version to end up with.

And finally, the second album by Red Death, 'Formidable Darkness'. This is also from the same period as the two records above, having been released in 2016. Given how much I enjoyed the first record, I'm not exactly sure how I never ended up getting a copy of this one previously. This copy was sealed, and I was slightly disappointed that it as black vinyl. But still, for five dollars I can't be too upset.

Past, Present, Future

The next in my series of records I picked up from Wanna Hear It Records last month, and this is a record that I always figured I would add to my collection at some point.

'Who The Hell Is Wild Side?' is the debut album by Wild Side, and I was pretty into this when it came out back in 2019. It was in my list of top releases for the year, and it has taken me over 4 years to get around to picking up a copy of the record. This 'platinum' vinyl copy is the rarest colour from the first press, and it cost pretty much nothing from the used section.

It turns out that the answer to the question posed by the title of this record is that Wild Side is a hardcore band from Niagara Falls in Canada. Triple B touted this as what the third Warzone album should have sounded like, and to me it kinda sounds like stuff that was Lockin' Out in 2004.

I was really happy with this one until I got home and realised that it had a huge seam split in the top of the sleeve. I can only assume it was like this in the shop and I missed it, which is slightly annoying.

This was absolutely one of the best records from 2019, and it still sounds great today. I wasn't sure if this band was still going, as they haven't put out anything since this record, but as far as I can tell the answer is yes. If that's the case I hope they have something new on the way pretty soon. Although given that they're on Triple B, I probably wouldn't end up buying it anyway as no doubt it would be pressed on vinyl that looked like a dog ate several pots of neon paint and then threw up.

Words To Die For

>Another 7" that I got from Wanna Hear It Records last month, and this one is one of the cntenders for 'greatest 90s hardcore compilation'... although admittedly, there is a fair bit of competition. The 'Words To Live By, Words To Die For' 7" was released by New Age Records in 1991, and it reads like a who's who of early 90s straight edge bands, with songs by Mouthpiece, Turning Point, Outspoken, Undertow, Drift Again and Counter Punch. To me, the Drift Again song steals the show. Always has.

The original pressing of this record came in a photocopied sleeve. At some point it was repressed in a glued, card sleeve with revised artwork. Discogs says that the repress was from 1994, and the labels of the record have 1994 printed on them, but I don't remember seeing this version until many years later. Anyway, there were two different coloured vinyl pressings of the repress, and the one I just picked up is this clear vinyl version.

There are also copies of this on red vinyl, which has always felt more common to me than this clear pressing.

Interestingly, the original release of this record was also pressed on clear vinyl, although there is no danger of the two being confused as both pressings also have different labels on the records as well as the different sleeve. This is shown in the photo below, which shows all four copies that I now own.

Best Of Times

Another 7" that I got from Wanna Hear It Records last month, this is a classic release on Bridge Nine Records when the label was truly at the forefront of modern hardcore.

Released in 2002, the Death Threat / Over My Dead Body 7" was one of three split 7"s that Bridge Nine put out which were great records and with multiple versions for nerds to collect (the other two being the Right Brigade / A Poor Excuse 7" and the Good Riddance / Kill Your Idols 7"). At the time when this came out, Death Threat already had a full length out on B9, and Over My Dead Body had a full length out on Indecision Records. Both bands were very much at the top of their game, I would say.

This pressing is one of two slightly different tour versions, with a photocopied sleeve showing a group shot of all of the band members together. There were 100 of this sleeve made printed on white paper, which were sold by Over My Dead Body. There is also another version of the tour sleeve which is printed on red paper instead of white, which was sold by Death Threat. Both copies are limited to 100 and each contains a green vinyl record (with green being the more common colour of the 1st press).

This 7" contains three songs by each band. Two original songs each, and then the third song by each band is a cover. Death Threat cover 'Best of Times' (Chain Of Strength) whilst Over My Dead Body do 'No Class' (Reagan Youth). Overall the split feels like a genuine, well planned split rather than a few songs from two random bands cobbled together. I love buying records from this era, and with at least three more versions out there that I don't have, I'll probably be collecting this one for a few more years yet.

Last Great Prison

Another 7" that I got from Wanna Hear It Records last month, and this one was inspired by fellow blogger in a post just before my US trip.

This split between Burn and Prison came out in 1995 on Lost & Found Records. I've seen it a lot over the years and always considered it a boot, so was never interested in it. But when I saw Ralf's post, for the first time I thought that it looked kinda cool. And then, by chance, it was there in the used 7" section at a low price.

Both of the Burn songs on here have been released previously. The song 'Decay' is, I think, the same version from the 'Forever' 7" compilation, which sounds much rawer (and better) then the version that ended up being released on the 'Cleanse' 12".

The other band, Prison, I know nothing about. I can see from discogs that they were from California, and had 3 dudes from Visual Discrimnation and a drummer who was in Chorus Of Disapproval. Their two songs on here are actually pretty good. Seems that they also had a full length that was also released by Lost & Found, on CD only, in 1995. And that's it.

I also decided to pick up this black vinyl copy of the Burn 'Last Great Sea' 7". Again, it was pretty cheap. I wouldn't usually bother with regular black vinyl copies, but I kinda wanted this one as I have a test press and thought it would be cool to have a complete collection. Plus, this copy is actually rarer than the orange vinyl repress from 2016. When things are sat in front of me it is hard to say no.

One More One Up

Another record I rescued from the racks of Wanna Hear It Records on last month's trip to the States is one that I could have sworn I owned until Mike posted a copy last year. This is the final show version of their third 7" EP, titled 'The Single'.

There were 100 copies of this thing, and they are numbered on the back cover. Somehow my number doesn't show up in the photo (not that it matters really).

When Mike posted this last year I was convinced I had it, and given Mike was talking about how many One Up 7"s he had, I figured I would check what I had against what was made. So I checked discogs and checked my collection and then realised that I was missing this one. Not only that, but I then realised there were several other One UP 7"s that I also didn't have. In my mind I had more than I do, somehow. Or maybe I just never realised before exactly how many existed. But of course, when I then came across this record in the used 7" section in the store, I knew I didn't have it, so it was worth the few dollars price tag to take it home.

Third Truth

For my next bunxh of posts, I'll be posting up the records I bought at Wanna Hear It Records last month. I went there to pick up a Bane test press and ended up coming away with a bunch of 6131 Records releases and then a whole bunch of stuff that I found in the shop... and believe me, I didn't even gget to look through everything. I'm sure I could have found a whole load of other stuff if I'd have had another hour or so. Anyway, here we go...

Given that my last post was a Strife LP test press, I thought I would follow up with another Strife record that I simply could not resist buying. This is a repress of the best Strife record, 'One Truth', which was pressed on 'Blue, Black & Grey Starburst' vinyl.

I took a look at the record in the store and immediately knew I wanted it. I'd never seen this colour before, but think it looks amazing, and a pretty good colour match to the artwork. I think this record proves that swirl vinyl can look good, but what is interesting to me is that this record was clearly pressed at a US plant, and there are subtle differences to US pressed records and records pressed at the plant in Europe that everyone uses. As I have always said, the US pressed swirls look good whilst the Euro pressed swirls look cheap.

According to discogs, this was a Newbury Comics exclusive from 2020, limited to 150 copies.

I have owned both original colour vinyl pressings of this record pretty much since they came out, and they both come in the gatefold sleeve. This pressing right here does not come in a gatefold sleeve, but instead there's a huge fold out poster included which has most of the photos from the inside of the gatefold.

I listened to this record again today and I struggle to wrap my head around the fact that it is almost 30 years since this record came out. I remember buying it, and then seeing them live a few months later. How the hell is that almost three decades ago?

Witness A Rebirth

The final in my series of posts of records that I was given by Joey from 6131 Records on my recent trip to the States, and I was pretty stoked on this one.

This is a test press of Strife's 'Witness A Rebith' LP from 2012. I have to say, I have had a regular copy of this record in my collection for a few years but I have no memory of it. For me, there is only one Strife record ('One Truth') and everything else is inferior and almost sounds like a different band.

As is customary around these parts, I am duty bound to take a photo of the test next to the regular cover for the record to make things more interesting.

Listening to this in 2024, and I have to say that it isn't a bad record at all. Clearly I didn't give it much of a chance when I got it originally. But that's me all over I guess... a decade too late most of the time.

Dead Horse

Today is the penultimate post in my series on records that I was given by Joey from 6131 Records, and this one surprised me.

I've said it before, but it is funny how I decide which bands to listen to. These days there are far too many bands and it is impossible to check out everything. So I do what I have always done. I make decisions about how interested I am in a band based on factors which include the band name, the people in the band, the label that the record is on, and sometimes the front cover art. All of these things will influence how interested I am in giving something my time.

When the band Touché Amoré surfaced years ago, I decided that they were not for me. To start with, the name didn't exactly draw me in. Secondly, I think I read something or saw something that described their sound in a way that made me think that I just wouldn't be into it. And that was it. Decision made.

Well, after I was given a copy of the band's debut LP '...To The Beat Of A Dead Horse', I figured that the least I could do was give it a chance. So I sat down and gave it some of my precious time.

The first thing I decided was that the cover art is pretty cool. The silhouette of a kid riding a bike into an oncoming storm. Almost a metaphore for life itself. And then when I took the record out, it comes in a printed inner paper sleeve, which I have rarely seen. It looks nice.

This is a first press copy on grey from 2009, which was an era when pressing records at decent quality pressing plants seemed more common. It looks nice.

So aesthetically this ticked a lot of boxes. In terms of how it sounds, I hear a mix of Modern Life Is War and American Nightmare. I'm not sure what I read years ago, but this is very much up my street. Eleven songs in a little under 20 minutes and it's also pretty much the perfect length for a hardcore record. Oh yeah, and add in a song title which is clearly a reference to The Smiths, and I'm all in on this. Clearly I made a bad decision a decade ago or whatever. But I will definitely check out more of this band's catalogue at some point.

And to close out this post, I was also given a test press of this record too. It's not a test press for the above first pressing, but appears to be a test for a repress from (I think) 2015, when the cover got 'upgraded' to a gatefold sleeve.

This test press doesn't seem to exist on discogs, so probably isn't overly common. And even though its a repress, it's still a nice one to have.

Renee Heartfelt

Another post in my series of 6131 releases that I was given by Joey who runs the label, and now we're onto the LPs...

Seemingly out of nowhere, in 2020 the label put out the Renee Heartfelt discography. For anyone unfamiliar with the band, they were active around 2004/5, came from Virginia and contained three former members of Count Me Out, but they were absolutely not a hardcore band. They played music that was in the ballpark of bands like Texas Is The Reason and Elliott. I remember picking up their 7" not too long after it came out and loving it instantly. I also ended up with a shirt from a friend, although I'm not entirely sure where it is right now. I must go looking and try to dig it out.

Anyway, Renee Heartfelt is one of those bands that seemed to go largely unknown for years. The 6131 website talks about how they were around at the wrong time, and struggled to find the right scene to play to / in, and how hardcore kids at that time weren't really into this sound. Having lived through that era, I can absolutely see that this would have been the case. But like a lot of other bands that didn't get their dues when they were around, time has been kind to this band, with more people picking up on them over the years, to the point where there was some excitement about this discography being released.

This version I was given is the rarest version of the record. There were 100 copies on this 'blue in clear' vinyl, which I think were initially only available at the 6131 Records store in Richmond, VA.

This discography contains their only album, 'Death Of The Ghost' (which came out on CD only back in 2005), the 'Magdalene' EP from 2004 (which was a 5 song CD and 3 song 7") as well as a couple of extra songs and a cover of a World's Fastest Car song. And whilst I try to actively avoid discography releases these days and sold most of the ones I had a couple of years back, I will definitely keep this one as the majority of the songs on here were never previously available on vinyl.

Down To Nothing / 50 Lions Split

The next record in my series of 6131 releases that I was gifted by Joey (who owns the label) is two different copies of the Down To Nothing / 50 Lions split 7" from 2008.

I think that this came out probably at the peak of Down To Nothing's popularity. This was one year after 'The Most' came out, which I think appears to be most people's favourite DTN record. Personally, I prefer their earlier stuff, but that's just me. 50 Lions was a band from Australia, but you'd never guess it by listening to this. They sound so similar to Down To Nothing that you'd be forgiven for thinking that this is not a split 7" after all.

This green vinyl copy is from the second press, and is out of 400 copies.

I was also given a test press too, which was greatly appreciated. It's always nice when a test press comes in some kind of cover other than just a white paper sleeve, and this one is housed in a regular cover that has been written on with a silver marker pen.

Down To Nothing is one of those bands that I have never really consciously 'collected', yet over the years I have accumulated a lot of their records. My spreadsheet tells me that I now own 60 DTN records, of which 10 are test presses. Kinda crazy for a band that I don't collect right?

Live From Nowhere

Next up n my series of records that I was given of Joey from 6131 Records is this Blacklisted 'Live From Nowhere U.S.A.' 7".

This was released in 2006, and despite the fact that I've been a fan of Blacklisted since before this came out, this is my first copy of this record. I'm not sure why exactly. I guess it was just that I wasn't overly excited about a live 7", even though it's kinda collectible as there are at least 6 different versions of it.

I have to say, the sound quality of this live recording isn't particularly good. The vocals are very loud and the guitars are low. There's also a Life Of Agony cover on the end which I was pretty stoked on, until it started. Let's just say that it's not exactly one of the greatest covers I've ever heard.

File under 'looks nice but absolutely does not need to exist'.

War Hungry Bad Seed

ANother record I was given by Joey from 6131 Records, and this one was a surprise and totally caught me off guard.

Released in 2009, this is a split 7" between War Hungry and Bad Seed. This copy appears to be the most common version, out of 600 copies.

War Hungry I had previously heard. I picked up their album a long time ago, and I loved it from the word go. Back when this came out it would have been amazing, but hearing it all these eyars later and being very familiar with the LP, the War Hungry side is a slight letdown as it contains 2 songs from the album. Ah well.

The flipside of this is one song by Bad Seed, and it blew my mind. About 5 seconds in I was like 'Whoa! WHo the hell is this band?' and typing their name into discogs.

Turns out that Bad Seed were from Wilkes Berre, PA and existed from 2008-2010. In that time they put out a demo (which ended up being put out as a 7" by european label Control Records), a four song 7" on 6131, and this split 7". And that's it. They had 3 dudes in who were also in Title Fight, and someone else who was in Stick Together and Gypsy. To me this sounds like the hardcore Cold World stuff (i.e. without any of the hiphop influence) and I am desperate to hear more. How the hell did I miss out on this band for so many years? And why are their records seeminly relatively expensive to buy? I ghuess they few people who know about / remember this band realise how good they are. And even though I am late as fuck to the party here, I'm stoked to have heard this band now.

The Bond We Share

Next up in my series of 6131 releases that I was given by Joey at Wanna Hear It Records is this Force Of Change 'The Bond We Share' 7". Originally released back in 2005, this was the third release on 6131 Records, when the label was based in Los Angeles.

Force Of Change who, from what I can tell, were only around for a couple of years, and were a straight edge band from California. I actually have a full length by this band in my collection that I picked up around the time it came out, in 2006. Funnily enough, I also have a Force Of Change that I got from Dave Mandel when I stayed at his house a couple of years ago. It must have been sat in a crate in his garage for probably sixteen years.

I was given two copies of this 7" - the gold vinyl copy (which is apparently out of 200 copies) and the more common clear vinyl (out of 500).

I don't remember too much about the album that I have, but I guess it was one of those things that I bought and it got overshadowed by something else and then forgotten about. But this is a pretty good 7". It's heavy straight edge HARDcore, and brings to mind stuff like early Throwdown, Terror, and which sounds pretty damn good to me in 2024. Crazy how stuff like this dates (or doesn't) sometimes.

Peach

Picking up from my last post (not including the 2023 yearend summary), the next few posts will be to cover some records that I was given by Joey from Wanna Hear It Records to make up for the ten year wait I had experienced for a record I bought from him on eBay back in 2012. All of the records featured weer released by his label, 6131 Records.

The first record from the batch is this pink vinyl first press copy of the first Culture Abuse LP, 'Peach', that was released by 6131 Records in 2016.

Culture Abuse was a band that (for me at least) seemed to come out of nowhere in 2018 with their second LP, put out by Epitaph Records, 'Bay Dream'. Funnily enough, I actually ended up going to see this band live just after this came out in Brooklyn on my first trip to the States back in 2018. That record was huge in the Summer of 2018, and it felt like the band vanished after that. Well, I had no idea, but I just discovered that the broke up in 2020 after the singer admitted that he was guilty of some sexual misconduct allegations. Oh dear.

Anyway, feels kinda funny to have just heard their first record for the first time in the last couple of weeks, but it reminds me of what was enjoyable about this band a few years ago. Some great catchy songs that I have enjoyed the past couple of weeks, and I think I have definitely ended up with the nicest colour vinyl version out there.