Fire On The Hill

When I purchased a bunch of Relapse Records recently, the seller was kind enough to throw in a couple of extra records that I didn't pay for. This is one of them.

The band is called New Idea Society, and this is their new album titled 'Fire On The Hill', released in May this year by Relapse Records. I had no plans to buy this at all, so it's kinda cool to be given one of the clear vinyl ('not available to the public - Friends of band and label only') copies. I mean, imagine if I had been given a different version and then liked it and had to go out of my way to find a clear copy. What a pain in the ass that would have been.

This band is actually a project / side band for Steve Brodsky (of Cave In fame). He plays with some guy called Mike Law. It looks like they mainly play together in a field in the middle of nowhere with plastic animals from a carousel for an audience.

I actually own their first album which came out in 2005 on some obscure German label. I'm pretty sure that I found it for sale in a record shop in London (Selectadisc, I think) for about £3, brand new and sealed. I also think I played it once and it was so awful that I decided to never play it again. To this day, I have never played it again.

Well anyway, I thought I would give this a go, and unlike their first album, I was very pleasantly surprised. Right off the bat this was an interesting and absorbing listen. It's very much a laid back indie rock record, but really varied and interesting. Well worth checking out if you're a fan of Steve Brodsky's voice generally. Heck, I'm even tempted to go back and check out that first album again after this. I mean, it can't be that bad, can it?

Live At The Hollywood Paladium

The last couple of years have seen me elevate my appreciation of Ceremony to a new level. A few years back I wrote them off and gave up on them, and now here I am confidently saying that they are one of my favourite current bands. Every record sounds different but they're all great. There really isn't much else to say.

That said, however, it's always a test of loyalty when a band you love comes out with a live LP. Do I love Ceremony? Yes. Do I want to buy a Ceremoney live double LP? Well, not really. But would I be more interested if I had a chance to get one of the copies on clear vinyl limited to 100 copies ('not available to the public - Friends of band and label only')? Oh, go on then...

This was recorded live at the Hollywood Palladium on February 24th 2024, and was released this year two years to the day from the show taking place. The show was a celebration of the 2010 LP 'Rohnert Park' (which incidentally I decided was my record of the year in 2010) There's a photo on the insert of the venue on the day of the show, which I think is a nice touch.

This is a double LP (or, more accurately, a 'one and a half' LP as the second disc is one sided). The first record is basically just the 'Rohnert Park' album played live in its entirety, in order. Apparently the capacity of the Hollywood Paladium is 3,700 to 4,000 people, and you can kinda tell when you hear the crowd singalongs at various points.

The second record contains a random selection of other songs from other records, including 'Kersed' (the first song from their first 7") which is a top notch hardcore song in my book.

The flipside of the second record is a screen printed picture of the bass drum. It's not overly exciting.

This is a well put together live record, and I would think that this is a perfect souvenir of a great night out for anyone who actually went to this show. I listened to it once, and it was ok, but the reality is that I probably won't need to listen to this again. Pretty standard for a live LP of a show you weren't at I suppose.

Tell Me Your Dream

My last two posts (Deadguy & Staticlone) were 2025 releases from Relapse Records. I was insistent on owning these on clear vinyl, which is always the most limited and nicest looking colour of anything they press, especially given that they press everything at my least favourite pressing plant. All clear vinyl copies are limited to 100 copies which are (quote) 'not available to the public - Friends of band and label only'. So when I picked those up, I decided to make a play for a few other Relapse releases on clear vinyl because, as all self-respecting record nerds know, there's no point in buying one record from someone when you could buy several. It's just not an efficient use of the postal system. So I made a list of Relapse releases that I wanted, which turned out to be quite a long list and added up to a decent wedge of cash. I tried to reduec the list down a bit, but in the end I just ended up pulling the trigger on the whole lot.

At the top of my list of wants was the new album by Ceremony. In early 2025 I fell in love with their 2019 LP 'In the Spirit World Now', so I was excited to hear their latest offering as soon as possible, rather than sit back and wait for six years or so to pass.

This one is titled 'Tell Me Your Dream' and was released on 7th August this year. It's their 7th album in twenty (!) years.

Back in April one of the songs from this LP ('Other Hells') was put up online. It sounded like (and was being touted as) a return to their more hardcore sound. Given every Ceremony record sounds like a different band, I was expecting something very different with this record, and possibly a bit of a step backwards to a 'Rohnert Park' type sound. But no, that's not really the case. Aside from that one song, this sounds just like the last album to me, and it has taken hold of me in a similar way. I cannot stop listening to this at the moment and it's definitely going to be a strong contender for record of the year for me.

There Near

A few weeks ago the latest Dinosaur Jr LP dropped. Given I have been a fan of this band for longer than I have been buying records, I was always going to buy one. Of course, this being 2026, there were quite a few different versions up for sale from various different sources. To date, there are ten different versions listed on discogs, but several weeks ago it was really hard to figure out as the discogs listings hadn't been created. I was struggling to figure out not only what existed, but also which was the rarest or nicest looking. In the end I got bored and went for one that the 'deluxe' version that came with a bonus 7".

This 7" only seems to come with this particular colour, and contains two songs that are not part of the album, but are previously unreleased.

Unless my count is wrong, I think this is their 13th studio album. Somehow it's been five years since the last one ('Sweep It Into Space') came out which I'm really struggling to comprehend as I would have sworn it was about three. Anyway, I wasn't overly excited by this one the first couple of plays, but armed with the knowledge that there is no such thing as a bad Dinosaur Jr record, I have persevered, and I'm now at a point where I'm loving it. Hardly a surprise really.

Cannonball

Back on 17 October 2025 I placed an order for the latest Youngblood Records release. I think it was originally supposed to ship in March or April. But after almost forgetting about this record completely, it turned up at my door a couple of weeks ago on 20 August 2026. That's 307 days from order to delivery. Apparently there was a pressing plant delay. Whatever.

When the pre-order launched, most copies seemed to sell out in a couple of hours or so. At least, that's how I remember it. I ended up picking up one of the copies sold by the band directly on red with black splatter, which is apparently limited to 100 copies. I'm not a big fan of splatter, but this colour does kinda sit well with the artwork I think so I'm ok with it.

The band are from the UK and members hail from both Sheffield and Liverpool. I read a short article in which they say that their favourite era for hardcore is Lockin' Out bands from the early 00s like Righteous Jams, Mental, The Wrong Side, Rampage etc. I can hear that influence in this record for sure. The band is uncompromisingly straight edge, and this record hits like a whirlwind. There are eight songs which are done and dusted in just over 10 minutes, which does feel very short even by hardcore standards. Still, I'd rather it be over quick than too long and boring, and there's no chance of that here. Overall, a fun listen. The kids are doing alright.

Visions Beyond The Ape Cave

Last year I visited RevHQ and, amongst other things, saw a test press for a new release by a band named Birdlegs. It was just a test press so there was no cover art and no information, and despite searching for the band online I found nothing. After a few months I started to question whether I had imagined the whole thing, or misremembered the band name. And then, out of nowhere, the record was announced and up for order. If nothing else, it was confirmation that I wasn't going mad.

The band features Eric Ozenne on vocal duty. You may know him from The Nerve Agents, Redemption 87 or Unit Pride. It's been a while since he did anything, but his voice still sounds the same here. I guess the vocal sounds so familiar that this just instantly brings to mind those older bands. This isn't dissimilar to any of them.

The first pressing was relatively small, with 210 on 'jade marble' and 440 on 'burgundy marble' (which looks almost brown in this pic). The former was only available from Rev directly, whereas the burgundy one was for distros/stores and so has an extra sticker on the shrinkwrap so that people in record shops have a hope in hell of figuring out what the record is.

On the first couple of plays I wasn't overly excited by this. But after a couple of plays it started to sink its hooks into me, and right now it's on the daily playlist. It's only 16 minutes, and is pretty much a perfect hardcore record. Yes, I know that sounds like a big statement, but that's where I am at with this. Check it out and tell me I'm wrong... but not after only two listens.

Total Soul Ignition

It's great when my friends turn me onto cool bands. I mean, I can't listen to everything, and so people whose opinion I trust are really helpful in steering me to stuff that I might enjoy. Back in 2023 I picked up the 'Staring At Patterns' 12" by Method Of Doubt thanks to a glowing review from Mike at the time that I just couldn't ignore. And here we are in 2026, and after seeing both Mike and Ralf post about the new 7", 'Total Soul Ignition', I figured I would check it out. After a quick search, I then found a UK distro selling copies and placed an order.

The purple is a second pressing and is out of 300 copies. Seems funny to me that they only realised after selling out of the first pressing that purple might be a suitable colour to press these songs on.

I enjoyed the band's 12" a few years ago, and at the time I remember reading about how they had broken up, so this 7" was unexpected. I have no idea what changed and why they decided to come back, but it's good that they did. These four songs pick up where that last record left off, and I can immediately see why the first press sold out so quickly. This is really good stuff and reminds me of other modern bands who are hardcore without being too hard. There's a quote on the bandcamp page which made me chuckle:

Listeners also enjoyed: Four Walls Falling, Supertouch, the sound of their own voice.

Haha!

Feral Sorrow

I don't often bother with demos. I guess historically most were on cassettes, which is a format I have never really had any interest in, so any time anyone mentioned a demo my brain just said 'no thanks'. But at some point last year, I checked out a demo from a new band called Colossal Rains. There were only three songs, but I was really into it. So when a 12" went up for order earlier this year, I was all in.

The band features a couple of members of Blacklisted doing something a bit different. George Hirsch (vocals in Blacklisted) plays guitar and sings in this band, and Dan Sausages (bass in Blacklisted) plays guitar here. There are also a couple of other dudes, but I'm not really familiar with their work.

This record was released by a label called Memory Music (a label owned by Will Yip), and this colour is called 'Koi Pond' and is out of 100 copies.

This has been my daily go to for the past two weeks or so. It's very slow and brooding stuff, as the title alludes to. I'd say that this is ideal late night listen rather than Summer afternoons. A really interesting record with a lot going on, and well worth checking out. Probably my favourite release of 2026 so far (although it may also be the first one I have actually obtained come to think about it).