War Generation

As mentioned in the last post, I really stuggle to stay up to date these days. But now and again I can still be ahead of the crowd. I'm assuming I am with this one as I haven't really seen anyone else mention this one. This is an LP by a band called War Generation called 'Start Something Never Surrender'. It was released in September this year by a label called Rise Records. I pre-ordered but have only just received it. All of these details are irrelevant to be honest. The main thing that drew me to this record with enough excitement and anticipation to place a pre-order, and the main thing that you need to know, is that Jon Bunch sings for this band. I imagine that some of you will probably now potentially be interested in this (or not) based on that name alone. Right?

For those unfamiliar with the name, Jon used to sing for Sense Field, and before that Reason To Believe. He has a very unique and beautiful voice. Both of those bands are big favourites of mine, so I was keen to hear this new band when I first heard about it, although I generally don't like listening to records before I have the vinyl in my possession. So this means that I have only had it and been listening to it for a week, but it has already firmly hooked into my brain and I am currently addicted to it.

Anyway, the vinyl pressing breaks down into two colours. The most limited is the orange vinyl, which is out of 200 copies.

It wasn't possible to order this on it's own at pre-order stage. The label rigged it so that you had to buy some bullshit package deal with a t-shirt and the less limited blue vinyl. I didn't mind too much because I wanted both colours, but I see that now you can buy the orange on its own.

So what does it sound like? Well, to me it sounds like later Sense Field - the stuff released after they moved on From Revelation. Just to make it easy for you, I thought I'd stick up this video for you to click and listen to.

Both colours are still available in the label's store in case you may be interested. If you're not interested, that's fine. Just never speak to me again!

Steppin' Up

I've bought so few new releases this year that it's almost embarrassing. It used to annoy me when people would stop listening to new bands or new music, and now I'm pretty much one of them. Pathetic. Anyway, late as ever, here's the best 7" of the year in my opinion. Turnstile's 'Step 2 Rhythm' 7" on Reaper Records. I was very late to this party and only managed to get hold of these two second press colours - the green and the pink.

As has already been pointed out by some young trendsetter, the sleeves on these things are different. The more limited green vinyl comes in a glossy sleeve with the words 'second pressing' added in the bottom right corner, whereas the pink vinyl comes in a matte sleeve which fails to mention that it is a second press. I would guess they had lots of sleeves left from the first press and wanted to use these up before moving on to new sleeves... although only making 200 extra sleeves for the second press would have been expensive... so maybe they made loads more, which will then get recycled later in the third press. But then they'd have to alter the word 'second'. Sounds like a lot of hassle doesn't it?

I missed the first press completely. Shame as the first press colours look nicer than the second press. But now there are three more colours up in the Reaper store for the third press. Go get 'em kids...

Yet Another Rev Catch Up

So I got another Revelation 'catch up' package this week. This one actually contains a couple of new releases, which makes a nice change, although most of the contents are just represses.

I'm not sure if I'm the only one, but I'm not overly stoked on the latest Down To Nothing LP, 'Life On The James'. I mean, it's ok, but it doesn't stand up to the band's previous LPs. Still, I probably haven't listened to it enough... although I'm not that motivated to listen to it. It's a vicious circle of disappointment right here. Still, could be worse - I could have been sent two copies on the same colour, rather the one of each of the blue and green.

Next up is the Title Fight 'Spring Songs' 7". When I heard this was coming out, I downloaded a couple of albums by this band, and I have to say, I quite like them. But again, emphasis on the word 'quite'. This band is interesting for sure, and has some catchy hooks, but I guess I was hoping for something that was gonna excite me like Farside, Into Another and Sense Field used to back when their records were released. Still, at least these dudes ended up with their records pressed on cool vinyl colours.

This next one nicely bridges the gap between the new releases and the represses. I got this one on eBay. It's the gold vinyl pressing of the The 'Rev 25 CA' comp. Gold was the rarer colour only available to people at the show. As there were 300 of these made, I thought there would be loads of these for sale after the show and they would be cheap to pick up, but that hasn't proved to be the case. They don't pop up too often, and when they do they still tend to go to nearly $40, which I figured too much. Well, my patience paid off and eventually I got one for a not too unreasonable $20.

I still need a copy of the 'Rev 25 NY' LP on green if anyone can help... although I don't plan on spending more than $20. Or trading for something equally as useless.

Ok, so now it's on to the next round of represses. Nothing to say about these really. They are what they are at this point.

And of course, the day after I ordered these, more colour represses went up for sale. I will definitely order them, I know that much, even though I don't really want them. I'm actually starting to question my own sanity at this point. I have reached a point where I seriously hate these represses, yet I can't say no for fear of breaking my 'complete' collection. I guess if you're reading this then perhaps you are in the same boat. I just wonder how far it could possibly go before I stopped buying. Perhaps 2014 will hold the answer...

True Miracle

Yes, it's a true miracle - I managed to finally get my last Youngblood order. The main item ordered was the 'regular' versions of the True Head 12", as I picked up the test and release show versions back in April this year.

I do love the packaging for this. The artwork is very suited to the music, which is a departure from the usual Youngblood hardcore sound. Overall this is a great release for Youngblood and is one of those records that gets more interesting with time.

I picked up all three versions available - black (200), pink (100) and clear (150). Good colour choices that go well with the artwork.

So of course, on receiving these and taking photos, I had to get the other two copies out to take a collection shot:

Test press is the one in the top left, with the record release version in the top right. I think I'm supposed to get a cover for the test at some point. If you want to see it, maybe come back here circa 2017.

Magic Circle

Everyone's got the Magic Circle LP by now, or at least knows who's in it & what it is. I will openly admit that I was never a metal kid, but that doesn't mean I don't like anything from that range on the musical spectrum. I'm a big fan of the first six Black Sabbath LPs (never heard anything after that though), so when I read that Magic Circle was Sabbath styled doom from the current day Boston hardcore superstars, I was curious. I downloaded this back in about March this year and it was the soundtrack to painting my new kitchen... which took me about two weeks (doing section by section, rather than going insane by trying to do the whole thing in one go). The only problem was that (unsurprisingly) the record sold out stupidly fast & I missed out. Fortunately, the label decided to make some more. They announced it by saying 'Completely identical to the original pressing. There is no way to tell them apart, no colored vinyl, no limited editions. Just a killer record'. Even better. So I was finally able to grab one.

This is one of my favourite records of this year. I don't care about musical styles, but when I look back on 2013 this LP will be up there for sure. However, 'no limited editions' isn't what I wanted to hear, so when a test press appeared on eBay being sold by the singer, I figured I would make a play for it. And wouldn't you know it, I somehow won. So I did end up with a limited edition after all.

That's now 42 tests this year so far. I don't think I am going to make the 52 target to be honest, but it's going to be close as I already have a couple that are in the blog backlog.

Integrity Catch Up Volume 20

After missing a few variants of a few releases in the past couple of years, I'm constantly playing Integrity catch up. Just when I manage to grab a few and catch up, another release or two will appear with at least 4 versions of each, three of which I will miss. It's pretty much a constant cycle.

Well, 2013 brings us a new Integrity album and this one is called 'Suicide Black Snake'. There are about 9 versions of this one (unfortunately I'm not exxaggerating). I managed to pick up two. The silver one was an A389 pre-order. The white one came from the Holy Terror webstore. I have no idea how many there are of each. But there are at least 7 more versions I need.

It also comes with a massive poster of the cover art. Did I mention that it's massive?

Next, I picked up a grey vinyl copy of the 'Black Heksen Rise' 7". This record is basically the split with Rot In Hell, but without the Rot In Hell songs. This came on three colours, but this is the only version I have, meaning I still need two.

Next, yet another copy of the VValpurgisnacht 7", this time on glow in the dark vinyl with a green Charlie sleeve:

I also picked up a clear green copy. I think in the store it said clear, but I got sent a clear green one, which I already had, so I now have a spare. Bummer. I still need a clear one, and probably some other versions of this given thet there are hundreds of variants out there. It's a sad day when you have about 18 different versions of a 7" and there are still more that you need.

Next up, a test of the Integrity / Gehenna split 7". The test is probably the rarest, so I'm glad to have picked it up, but I still need three more versions of this one.

And finally, a test press of this year's Integrity release made for Record Store Day - the 'Systems Overload' A2 / Orr Remix LP. I have this test and the red vinyl, but I don't have the black vinyl.

Anyway, as this post shows, no matter how many Integrity records I pick up, there are at least the same number that I missed. I wonder if I'll ever be able to catch up... let alone make a dent in the older releases I'm missing.

Two more tests brings the total for the year to 33.

Blue City Streets

Today I watched Andy Murray win Wimbledon. I'm not really a tennis fan, but regardless, it was one of the best things I have ever seen. There hasn't been a British winner at Wimbledon for 77 years, but today history changed and it was awesome to watch.

So as well as tennis, it seems Britain is also ahead of the world when it comes to hardcore right now. Violent Reaction, the one man straight edge army from Liverpool, has pretty much taken the world by storm in the past twelve months, and with this album, 'City Streets', it's easy to understand why. It's the perfect mix of punk, hardcore and attitude and there is no doubt that this will be on everyone's best of 2013 lists.

I was lucky enough to get the US pressing on Painkiller on red a few weeks ago, and this week my blue vinyl UK copy turned up too. This was released by Quality Control HQ (who released the Violent Reaction 7", and also the No Tolerance 12" last year) and this blue vinyl version is limited to 100 copies. Just like the No Tolerance 12", this comes in a super glossy sleeve that you could put on your wall and use as a mirror.

This is undoubtedly one of the best UK hardcore records in years. The more I listen to it, the more I want to listen to it. That's pretty much all I can say. Record of the year? Probably, yes. The only problem is that there's a red vinyl UK tour press and I don't have one. If anyone has one, or can get one, and would be into trading, please get in touch.

Sectarian Violence

Geography and hardcore can be funny things sometimes. Take this Sectarian Violence 'Upward Hostility' LP, for example. This came out recently on a UK label, Carry The Weight Records, yet it took an American to let me know about it. Mike posted about this one a couple of weeks ago, and his write up peaked my interest. He was rabbiting on about the lack of good hardcore releases this year, and how this record was filled the gap. I zipped on over to some internet place and listened to a song, and that was enough to realise I wanted in. I then went straight to the label's store and ordered a copy. Somehow, even though I wasn't quick to the party, there were still white vinyl copies (the most limited colour, out of 100) available. Thank you very much!

What's interesting about this release is that the band is truly international. Three members are from the UK, one from Sweden and one from the USofA. God only knows how they write songs. Clearly though they do as they already have a 7" and now an LP. I don't think I can add much to what I've already said. This is just fast & brutal hardcore. Sometimes that's exactly what you need.