Another Year

Another record that I picked up on my recent trip to California, and I had paid for this a few weeks prior, so it was just sat there waiting for me to collect it from a friend when I arrived in town.

This is a test press for the In Control 'Another Year' LP. The band were from Oxnard, and I bought this from the king of Oxnard himself, Fred Hammer.

This record was released by Indecision Records back in 2001, in the days of the yellow Erika Records standard test press labels seen on many (now classic) hardcore records that are now considered classics.

I bought this from Indecision Records when it came out back in 2001. Back then Indecision was absolutely on fire, putting out stuff by bands like Count Me Out, The Suicide File, Over My Dead Body, The Promise, etc and as a result this album got kinda lost in the mix a little for me. Seeing this test press for sale made me go back and revisit this record recently, and I think it holds up really well. I also still love the artwork and vinyl colour of the regular pressing of this LP, which I took down from the shelf for the first time in probably twenty years.

And The Sadness Prevails...

On my trip to California in 2022 I picked up a great compilation called 'Nardcore For Life'. It was a comp of bands from Oxnard, and my stand out favourite was a song by a band called No Motiv, who at the time I knew absolutely nothing about.

Well, on my last trip to California last month, I visited Oxnard for a very short amount of time one day, and briefly stopped in a record shop called Salzer's Records (which the internet tells me is actually in Ventura, not Oxnard). I found one record that I wanted, which was a No Motiv LP. I had previously looked for this on the internet and knew that the price they had it for was good, so I grabbed it quicksmart.

This is the band's second album, and it originally came out in 1998 on Vagrant Records, a label most known for blowing up at the end of the 90s due to bands like The Get Up Kids and Saves The Day. Musically, No Motiv are in a similar ballpark I would say, and listening to this over 25 years later, it's strange to ponder how this record didn't blow up in quite the same way.

This version here is a 20 year anniversary pressing of this record from 2019. There were only 300 made, so I feel pretty stoked to have found a sealed copy for new record price. The only slight niggle is that this is self released. It isn't actually on Vagrant Records. So I kinda still want to get an original first pressing copy, even thought they are all just on black vinyl.

When Words Are Not Enough...

When the Berthold City 'When Words Are Not Enough' LP was released in early 2022, it felt like it sold like hot cakes. I remember being in Programme Skate & Sound in California and talking to the guy who played bass on it. Three years later and I got around to picking up a copy whilst on my California trip last month.

When this came out I remember all the colours looked pretty ugly, and it was enough to put me off completely from buying a copy. But fast forward two years, and the label made a limited sleeve which was sold at the Rev market on 14th April 2024. A friend of mine went and picked one of these up for me and a little over a year later I was able to collect it in person from the exact place that it was sold (RevHQ). There were only 25 copies made, and this is number 10.

Truth is that I was never overly excited by this band when they appeared out of nowhere back in 2018 or so. At the time I thought the name was kinda stupid, and it just felt like they were trying to be as generic a straight edge band as possible. But finally getting around to listening to them, and I can see why their records seem to sell lightning fast. They do straight edge hardcore, but they do it well, and I guess there really aren't too many bands doing this style these days. So if you enjoy drawing fat X's on your hands with black marker pens, this could well be the band for you.

So Much Seething

Towards the back end of last year, Mike posted about the new Bent Blue LP, and his words got me interested. I feel that Bent Blue is a band that I have been wanting to spend some time with for a long time, and I have never really gotten around to it. I saw them play live once a little over three years ago, which was before they had any records out, and at the time I wasn't exactly blown away... although, to be fair I didn't actually pay them too much attention. Still, Mike made it sound like the LP was a bit of step up from the previous 12"s, so I made a mental note to check them out, and then I eventually got around to it about seven months later.

The record is titled 'So Much Seething' and was released by Indecision Records in October last year. There are two colours of vinyl available - the purple I picked up (150 made) and also green vinyl (350 made). I just went with the more limited one.

Picking this up at Indecision HQ, I was also able to walk away with a test press, which comes in a nice handmade sleeve.

I only started listening to this one a few days ago, but right now this is possibly my favourite record. It does strike a good balance between 'hardcore' and the more typical DC Revolution Summer type sound. Mike talked about the song 'The Other Half', which really reminds me of Have Heart, and the song 'Your remains' really reminds me of Fiddlehead. If I were to say that this record stands halfway between both of those bands then that at least gives you an indication of whether it may be of interest or not. But right now this is ticking the boxes and is exactly what I want.

Vendetta

I picked up a few releases from Indecision Records about three months ago and had been working my way through them before my California trip last month. One record that I was enjoyng was 'Death Grip', a full length from a band called Vendetta. I'd never heard of the band before, and picked this up purely because it was on Indecision, and the bio told me that the band come from Oxnard, which has a rich history of great hardcore bands.

The title of the record and the cover art gives you a clue that this isn't some kind of melodic punk or emo record. This is a hardcore record by a band that it turns out has been going for over twenty years. Their last release was in 2007, so I guess this must be some kind of comeback record. It's mosh hardcore and it's good. It really reminds me of another Oxnard band (Retaliate) who I also really like when I want something that makes me want to feel like punhcing a wall.

The more common vinyl colour is red, which I think probably goes better with the artwork. I was sent this red with black splatter, which is the more limited colour and out of 150 copies.

So I'd been enjoying this record a few weeks before my trip, and then wHen I visited Dave at Indecision HQ and had a quick look in his record room, he dug out a test press of this record and gave it to me. I was very grateful.

I like how it comes in a simple sleeve, and how the sleeve is red to match the artwork of the record. Simple designs are always better.

Californian Ritual

On my recent trip to California, there was a day when I popped round to visit Eva and Dave at Indecision Records HQ. I needed to pick up the Power Alone test press that I wrote about in my last post, but after a short chat and a quick look around the house to see what had changed in the last three years, I also got a few minutes to grab a small handful of records.

A couple of years ago Indecision reissued the first Unbroken LP, 'Ritual'. This record was first released by New Age Records in 1993, and despite Unbroken moving their catalogue to Indecision a long time ago, this record hasn't been pressed with the original artwork since the 90s. I didn't pick one up as I am genuinely trying to reduce the number of represses / reissues that I buy, but I really liked the look of this test press in a custon sleeve and was keen to take it home with me.

I also have a test press of the original pressing of this record on New Age which I traded for nine years ago, and even though I am not the biggest Unbroken collector, it's kinda cool to have tests of both versions.

Self Fulfilling Prophecy

Somehow it was three years ago that I picked up a record by a California hardcore band called Power Alone from Indecision Records HQ and it single handedly pulled me out of a three month pop punk phase that I had been in. Man, I loved (and still love) that record so much. Heavy and political, it strongly ticks the boxes of what a hardcore punk record should be.

Well anyway, I got excited a couple of months ago when a test press appeared for sale on discogs, especially as the price was not ridiculous. The only problem was that the listing mentioned a couple of creases on the cover, so I messaged the seller to ask for photos. The front cover was fine, but the back cover had two creases which were slightly offputting. This is the photo I was sent:

Well, I was torn on what to do. I wanted the record, the price was ok, but the creases... I figured that they would irritate me for the rest of my life. But then I came up with an idea to turn the situation around. I got in touch with the vocalist of the band, Eva, and asked if I could have the record sent to her so that she could do some custom art to hide the creases. She was initially worried that she might make the cover look even uglier, but I assured her that having a personalised version that was different to the other copies would make mine superior... to me at least. So she agreed to do it, and it then tured out that the seller was someone she knew, so I didn't even have to pay for postage. And then a few weeks later, I ended up picking up the record from her when I was in California last month.

As the photo shows, the creases have been really well hidden, and I am stoked as hell to have a test press of this record, and one with such unique artwork.

Face The Nation

I've had a break from this thing for over a month because I went on holiday and then have been too tired or busy to do anything since i got home three weeks ago. It's been tough getting over the jet lag and having to jump back into real life. But I finally feel that I am pretty much back to normal, so it's time to get stuck into my huge backlog of records that I had bought before my holiday and those that I picked up whilst away.

So I went to California and the main reason for booking the trip was to go to the Big Frank Harrison memorial show in Orange County on 22 June. I wanted to see Farside play, but there were also lots of other cool bands on the bill too, some of which were really old and hadn't played together in decades. It promised to be, and was, a great show and a day I will always remember.

One of the older bands that I was very keen to see was Carry Nation, a band fronted by Dan O'Mahony and which was also composed of Big Frank Harrison, Gavin Oglesby (No For An Answer) amd Steve Larson (Insted). A true 80s California supergroup. Their total output was a four song 7" back in 1989. They broke up in 1990 and played a reunion show in 2009, and the show last month was their first since.

In order to try to generate some additional money, as the proceeds of the show were set to go to Frank's daughter, Carry Nation repressed their 7" with revised artwork and on orange vinyl. And of course, if a band is going to repress a 7" on a new vinyl colour and with new artwork I was going to be first in line to buy it.

I have to say, but this is a very fitting tribute to Big Frank, with pictures of the man himself on each label and on the back cover. I always liked this record, as I am a fan of everything that Dan O has done, so it's cool to pick up this revised version.

Well, as another nice surprise, Carry Nation also pressed a new 7" that was also sold at the show. Now, admittedly these are not new songs. This 7" features a five song live set from 1989 recorded at the Country CLub in Reseda, CA. One of these songs was released years ago on a compilation 7" ('No Control At The Country Club' which was released by Big Frank's label, Nemesis Records). Well, now you can hear the full 5 song set on one handy 7".

This was a rare occasion that I actually put a record on the record player, as I couldn't find any digital version of this online. I have to say, the sound quality is very good, and it very much does remind me of listening to old live compilations back in the early 90s. It's also cool because this record contains an extra song that was not on their 'Face The Nation' 7", 'Thinking Of You'.

Overall I think these two records are a nice tribute to Big Frank, and it was also nice to see how much the band seemed to enjoy playing again, and putting some new energy into an old project. It seems doubtful that they will play again, so I am glad to have been there to see it, and very happy to have these records as a momento of the show.