No Strings Attached

Recently I've been checking out some SST Records releases by bands that I hadn't been interested in previously. So here's another one. Idecided to check out Meat Puppets and immediately found this pink vinyl copy of their 'No Strings Attached' double LP. It was pretty cheap, and I was sold on it when I saw that it still had the shrinwrap on with the original 'color vinyl' sticker attached.

Technically this isn't really a Meat Puppets LP. It's more of a compilation of songs from their first six full lengths and their first 12" EP. This was put out in 1990 after the band left SST, and it contains 24 songs. It does seem a slightly weird / pointless release in some ways, but I guess things were different in 1990. I imagine that it was probably designed to be a cheap introduction to the band in the hope that anyone who was into it would then buy seven more records. But I'm just guessing.

A bit like the Minutemen record I got into a few weeks ago, this isn't exactly a punk record. The band are described as being punk mixed with b2country and psychedelic rock, which I think is fair. Generally this is really interesting and definitely has me curious to check out more of their records, although I am slightly put off as they have about 20 albums out. We shall see.

The American Scream

As mentioned a few times recently, I've been spending time trawling through the discographies of some older or longstanding record labels, trying to find things to listen to that I had never heard (or heard of) previously. At some point recently, I ended up perusing the Nemesis Records discography. Back in the early 90s I picked up a lot of their catalogue, but quickly realised that some of it was a bit questionable, so it ceased to be a label that I tried to collect every release by. But still, it seems there are some bits that I overlooked altogether, and included in this category is the Final Conflict 'The American Scream' 7". I had never heard this before, but checked it out online and it was definitely worth my time, so then and out of curiosity I looked to see if I could find one for sale. Immedistely I found a green vinyl copy for sale in the UK. Done. Easy.

The green vinyl is very pale. It's a nice colour, although I'm not sure that I captured it too well in this pic.

So when I went to add this to my collection on discogs, I noticed another copy for sale in the UK, and the description said that the vinyl was more yellow than green. So I couldn't help but grab that too. I mean, the brief bit of online research that I did on this seemed to suggest that all colour copies were on green, and all the photos I could find looked like the same pale green. So I took a chance on the yellowish copy.

Apparently this band formed in 1983, and in some form or other are still going. They don't appear to have released any new music for twenty years, but still play out from time to time. I wonder if they still play any of these songs? Anyone know?

Rock For Live

So I never really wanted to get into collecting Bad Brains records. Until recently, all I had was some 90s repress of the first record (originally a cassette). I remember like twenty or so years ago someone had a Bad Brains collection listed on HYE, and it just went on and on and on. At this point I realised that there were a lot of Bad Brains records, and my overriding thought was 'do not go there'. I have most of their records digitally, and figured that this would be ok, especially as there are so many different pressings of their records. Heck, a lot of them were pressed on different labels to, so it always felt like just too much to get into, and even twenty years ago I felt like I was too late to the game. But all it took recently was Dave Byrd posting a copy of 'Rock For Light' for sale on instagram for my brain to immediately think 'I want that!'... and here we are.

So this is a Caroline Records pressing of 'Rock For Light' on gold vinyl. One of the reasons that I wanted this one is that it has two differnt hype stckers on the intact shrinkwrap. I figured I would be highly unlikely to see another one of these is such pristine condition, so if I was ever going to consider wanting this, it had to be this copy.

To the left is a white 'Limited Edition Colored Vinyl' sticker, and to the right is a sticker which proudly announces 'Remixed & digitally remastered by Ric Ocasek, contains 3 bonus tracks'. Probably if I had seen this for sale back in 1991 when it came out I would avoid this like the plague for being a dirty reissue (actually, that's not quite true, as in 1991 I had never even heard of Bad Brains, but you get the point). But in 2026, this feels like a cool version to own.

Only a few days after receiving this, I did a search on eBay for 'SST colour vinyl' and chanced across this green vinyl copy of the 'Bad Brains Live' LP. It was for sale in the UK and it felt like it would sell for a good price. In the end I won it for a little less than a new release costs these days, so I definitely got a good deal. This was put out by SST Records 1988, although this colour pressing is more likely from the early 90s, when SST rerpessed a lot of their records on colour vinyl.

To me this is a more typical live record. It's ok, but doesn't add enough for me to be likely to revisit it very often.

Interestingly, this live LP was reissued a couple of weeks ago for Record Store Day 2026 on a different label and on a yellow/red swirl vinyl, which actually looks ok. If I wanted one of those (which I don't) then I couldn't get it for less than I paid for this green copy, so this helps reinforce that I got a good deal, which is satisfying.

I'm not sure where to go from here. I think I'll try to get other Bad Brains records, but one copy of each will probably suffice.

Cry For Happy

These past few months I have been really interested in going back in time and exploring lesser known bands and releases on some of the bigger and more successful labels. I spent a bit of time going through the SST discography, and recently got interested in Minutemen, Buffalo Tom and Screaming Trees. Those were all bands that I had heard of but never really listened to, so their names stood out. But I also made a shortlist of other bands who sounded interesting, and figured that I would get around to checking them at some point.

One of these bands was Angst. They were a band from Colorado who formed in 1979 (!) and who then played through to the end of the 1980s. I checked them out and was really into it, so I had a look around and managed to find one of their LPs for cheap. 'Cry For Happy' was their fourth LP from 1988. I started here simply because it was available for sale in the UK at a really low price.

Unlike a lot of SST releases, this one comes with a lyric sheet insert.

Oh yeah, and I also found a test press of this LP too for cheap. You know I can't resist those classic Rainbo test press labels.

I'm really, really interested in this band. They originally hail from Colorado, but apparently moved to the UK for a little while, before then going back home to the States and settling in San Francisco. From what I read, they never made much of an impact, but did enough to get signed by SST, and managed to keep going long enough to crank out 4 LPs. They sound at times like a British indie band, and other times a bit like Bob Dylan. Yeah, I know, sounds weird, but it really works. I also read that apparently Frank Black said that Angst would be the band that he would most like to reform and play, and that they were a big influence on the Pixies. A great record for me to have found just before Summer gets going (if Summer gets going this year that is!), and I'm really keen to find the other three LPs at some point.

Another Breakdown

Last year (2025) some colour vinyl copies of Black Flag 7"s started popping up. Quite early on I managed to work out that these were not labelled as colour vinyl, and a lot of the sellers didn't realise that they had them. It was a bit chaotic, but thankfully I had some help and advice from a couple of fellow Black Flag collectors, and I ended up with a few different colours of each. Near the start of the year I picked up four different colour copies of the 'TV Party' 7", and then towards the end of the year I managed to find four colour copies of the 'Nervous Breakdown' 7".

Nobody really knows how many different colours exist, but I figured that if I came across any different colours then I'd probably grab them. Recently I spotted a copy on eBay on a nice orange colour. Turns out it was being sold by one of the fellow collectors who helped me previously, so I was more than happy to take this spare copy off his hands.

This now takes me to five copies of this 2025 repress. I mean, two of them are pretty similar really, but it still counts.

I'm pretty sure that these were all just one pressing, and there are definitely other colours out there. Another collector I know has amassed a much bigger collection of these, including a couple of much lighter browns, a couple of light greys and also a pinkish copy. So plenty more to keep a nerd busy for a long time to come.

Void Live

Back in 2021 I picked up a copy of the newly released Faith Live LP. It was released by Outer Battery Records, and the same label has recently put out a Void Live LP too. And even though I am not a big fan of live records in general, when the email dropped into my inbox at the start of the year announcing this was comnig out, I figured that I couldn't really own the Faith Live LP and not the Void one too, so I headed right on over to the store to buy a copy.

The LP is titled 'Void Live 1982', and each side of the record contains a different live set from (in theory) 1982. Side A has a set from The Wilson Centre in Washington DC on 30th April 1982, from a show that The Faith and Minor Threat also played. Side B contains a set from a show with Negative Approach at the 9:30 Club in DC from 5th December 1982. That said... after this got made and copies got sent out, the label found out that the show at The Wilson Centre was actually from 1983, not 1982. They've said that they will correct this on future pressings, but does this mean that they will change the title of the record too? I guess at some point we wil find out...

I picked up the glow in the dark vinyl, which was only available direct from the label. There were 400 copies made, and they sold out pretty fast, so I'm glad I grabbed one.

I also wanted to take a pic of the glow in the dark mode activated and, even if I say so myself, I think that this photo came out really well:

When the email dropped it said (quote) 'and for you Void super fans we have a limited edition of just 10 test pressings with a unique cover'. Well, I'm not exactly sure that I would qualify as a Void superfan exactly, but when I was in the store to pick up the glow in the dark record, I couldn't help notice that the test pressing was still available, and the price seemed very reasonable. So even though I didn't really want to spend more money, I ended up doing the sensible thing and buying one.

ALso, both of these records came with a copy of the zine. Turns out that the zine is more limited than the records, with not all copies sold coming with one. The label are selling the zine separately for $5. It's worth the money as it's quite thick, printed on quality paper and really well put together.

I couldn't fnid a digital version of this so actually put it on the record player. I have to admit that even though I don't like Live records, this one absoltely smokes. Side A especially is really, really good. The sound quality is great and the energy that comes through is fantastic. Definitely one of the best live records I have ever heard, and I'm really glad I let myself get sucked in.

The Clear Traversal of Route 7

My Dischord Records collection is all over the place. Some bands I still have never heard, and some of the records I do have I only have represses of rather than original pressings. I have no real focus or plan, although this year I have definitely been focused on triyng to check out more of the early catalogue that has passed me by.But one record I have had in my life for over thirty years now (!) is the Hoover LP. 'The Lurid Traversal Of Route 7' was released in 1994, and I bought it when it came out based on a friend's recommendation. I always liked it, and this is a great example of a record where the artwork really adds to my appreciation. I love the black and dark green colourscheme and the weird photo of a old sign. The whole thing is very early 90s emo.

I was recently surprised that Dischord professional collector Nico didn't have this LP, and reminded him that he should grab one. Around the same time, I realised that the record got repressed on clear vinyl in 2013. I'm not sure if I knew this and had forgotten, or whether I never actually knew. But when I saw it, I knew that I wanted one, so I added it to my discogs want list... and then, pretty damn quickly, one popped up for sale. The price was very reasonable, so I quickly paid up.

Given that this is my third copy of this record, I figured I would pull the other two out for a group photo. As a set of three, they do look pretty good together I think.

The black vinyl is a first pressing from 1994, the green is a repress from 2010, and the clear was apparently from 2013. It looks like there have been a couple of black vinyl pressings since, but no other colour pressings. I'm actually surprised by this. But it wouldn't surprise me if another pressing appears at some point in the next year or two.

I'd almost forgotten, but I once saw this band play live. According to my spreadsheet, it was on the 11th of December 2004 at Josephs Well in Leeds. I remember going, standing on my own and not saying a word to anyone all night, then going home. Pretty cool though to have actually seen them play live, right?