"It's My Confession"

Some dude has been selling some Victory Records test pressings on eBay lately. He seems to have had multiple copies of some of them. I've bid on a couple and got outbid, but one that i did win (for only $15) was this one... Victory Records number 46, the Baby Gopal LP:

For anyone unfamiliar with this LP, please excuse me whilst I rabbit on about it for a bit...

This came out in late 1996 or maybe early 1997, at a time when hardcore labels were releasing bands with a wide variety of sounds. I guess labels would release bands with people in who had some kind of hardcore background regardless of what their current band sounded like. This prticular band featured Sri Kesava (who was at the time Ray Cappo's girlfriend) on vocals. They played kinda indie pop music. They also had Graham Land on guitar, who is some dude who (I think) used to be in Shelter, Battery and Worlds Collide. I guess without these people, this band would never had got on Victory or any other hardcore label of the day.

Anyway, back in 1996 Victory was still a decent label, and I trusted their output. "Krishna themed, girl fronted indie pop? Yeah, sure, sounds good, I'll buy that". What an idiot. Mind you, I'm not the only one. Plenty of people in 1996 would buy everything that Victory released without question. Ask anyone who was around back then. If they deny it, they're lying.

One thing I immediately liked about this record was that it came on pink vinyl. What more perfect colour could there be for this bubblegum pop band?

The crazy thing is, as well as buy any old rubbish that Victory put out, I would actually listen to it! I'd also try to convince myself that I liked it... although, in most cases, I didn't need much convincing, because the records were actually good. And that's exactly the case here. I completely fell in love with this record. In doing so, I even managed to annoy my girlfriend. It bothered her that I usually listened to and liked loud screamy bands, and then I started listening to sappy, girly, pink vinyl pop music just because it came out on a hardcore label. She had a point, of course, but then again, she could never understand that the main reason that it was ok to listen to this rubbish was because it was Ray Cappo's girlfriend... and because she was hot. There was absolutely no other excuse for singing things like "let me be your stone upon the road to vraja" and "please let me live by govardhan hill". Actually, that's not entirely true. It was acceptable because the songs are so damn catchy. And even today, years later, this still sounds good and I can't help but sing along.

Now, because I am a record nerd, here's some vinyl nerdery. Most people don't know that this LP was also released by an Italian label called Banda Bonnet Records. I am not 100%, but I THINK that this version came out before the Victory version. Anyway, there are a few differences to the Victory version. The front cover is slightly less colourful, and the logo is smaller:

The back cover is completely different:

This version comes on orange vinyl and has a gatefold sleeve:

In writing this, I checked Victory's site. They still sell the CD. The band bio also says something about the band No Doubt. Suddenly it makes sense. Victory probably put this out because No Doubt blew up back then and hoped they could grab some of their market share. Ha! Oh yeah, I also found this video on youtube for one of their catchiest songs which showcases the beautiful singer pretty well:

27 Tour 7" Test Press

Here's one that got me very excited recently... a test press of the 2003 tour 7" by the band 27:

This was the first 27 record I bought, in 2003. I didn't see them on tour. I missed them. They played with Isis. I saw Isis play at the Old Angel in Nottingham on that tour, but got there late and missed all other bands (a move I would later regret).

And even though I've been collecting Hydrahead Records since the label started, this is the first Hydrahead test press I have acquired.

The band come from Boston, MA. They are not hardcore. I spent the summer of 2004 listening to pretty much nothing else. I fell in love with this band so much that I put put their last album on vinyl (there are still some left if you are interested - see the website that i never update HERE.

Just for reference, here's what the regular record looks like:

I picked this test press up on eBay. It had a buy it now price of $20. As soon as I pressed "buy" I felt really lucky, but also a little guilty... because I felt like it would probably make Juan jealous. Sorry dude.

Consolidation Test Press

Ok, so this entry concerns a record that is very close to my heart... a 7" compilation of UK hardcore bands from the 92/93 era. This era and this record appeared at the time I was just starting to discover straight edge and the UK hardcore punk scene, and helped give me an insight into something that has both helped and shaped my life for many years now.

"Consolidation - a UK Hardcore Compilation EP" was released by Armed With Anger Records in either late 1992 or early 1993. I picked it up in late 1993. I then saw a couple of the bands play at a festival at the legendary 1in12 Club. And that was it. I was hooked.

This new addition to my collection is a test press. I just won it on eBay from the guy who owned the label that released it. There are apparently only two of these in existence. I own one and Lecky owns the other... which means that if anyone else out there wants one, they have approximately no chance whatsoever.

I also picked up a variation of the Dead Wrong 7" that the same label put out. This is the "found pressing"... which I think means that the label ran out of covers and then had to make some more. The regular sleeve was white, but this version has a red sleeve with picture glued on the front, and his hand-numbered on the inside:

I ripped both of these 7"s to mp3. I figured I would upload them in case anyone is interested. They're both 320kbps and good quality. Here ya go:

Consolidation 7"

Dead Wrong 7"

Iron Boots Crew

Here's another Iron Boots 7" for the collection - the demo 7" release show version from Feb 2005:

I never set out to collect Iron Boots records. I just seem to stumble across them from time to time. I wonder where the next one will come from?

World In Shreds Box Set

I have mentioned previously that I used to listen to a lot of East Bay punk type stuff years ago. And recently I have been revisiting some of that stuff. Shredder Records put out a series of 7" compilations called "The World In Shreds" between 1988-1991. There were five 7"s released. I have had a couple of these on my want list for YEARS. I have never been overly bothered about picking them up, and never really chased them. But recently knew the time had come to finally pick them up when I spotted a box set on eBay.

The seller is slowly selling off the entire collection of the owner of Shredder Records. So he's sold a few of these things now. Given that there are only 36 copies in existence, I'm guessing that not many of these actually got out there originally.

Inside are all five 7"s on colour vinyl:

Volume 2 is probably the most sought-after of these records because it features the two most popular bands of the series - Crimpshrine and Jawbreaker. In fact, this records was the first ever vinyl release for Jawbreaker.

Volume 3 is one of the harder ones to find. Apparently this one was not originally pressed on colour, but they repressed it especially for this box set. However, the original plan was to make 100 box sets rather than 36. Doesn't really explain why they made 300 on colour though.

Volume 4 comes on a special colour vinyl - Obnoxio - and is hand-numbered.

Finally, the box also contains a piece written by the owner of Shredder Records about how the label, these compilations and the box set came to exist. I took a pic (in big size) so anyone interested could read it (click the pics to see them in large, readable format):

Pretty cool item I'm sure you will agree, even if you are not into this kinda stuff.

Brotherhood Swirled LP

This is one of my favourite ever straight edge records, and one of the most under-rated too - the Brotherhood 'Words Run... As Thick As Blood' 12".

Me and this record go way back. It's a story of records bought, traded, three UK scenesters and a seemingly fixed price.

I first picked this record up on on black when I was discovering straight edge hardcore in about 1993/4. Then, a couple of years later I picked up two different colour versions in a short space of time. The first was a pink vinyl copy from Tony, vocalist for ABOVE ALL. I'd been to his place and flicked through his records and known that he had it for some time, and every time I saw him I would badger him about it. But he was never interested in letting it go. I remember offering him twenty five quid for it once, which was a LOT of money for a record back then, but he always said no. But then, in the end, he sold it to me when he sold most of his straight edge records in order to finance the purchase of some Techniks turntables. The price? A tenner. Somewhere around about the same time, I remember getting a letter from Lecky telling me he had a green vinyl Brotherhood LP in his shop (the first incarnation of Wisdom Skates in Bradford). It was a Saturday morning, so I got straight on the phone to tell him I wanted it. He told me he would hold it for me. I then went into town and caught the train to Bradford to pick it up. The price? Ten quid. Sold.

At that point I had both known colours. I was happy. But then, a couple of years later, I was involved in major trading games via the Revelation trade board, and I was letting lots of things go, most notably things that I had more than one copy of. And because I had two Brotherhood LPs, I decided to let one go, which was the second press pink vinyl. The thing is, somehow I ended up trading it away for the first Throwdown LP on green. I mean, fuck me, what was I thinking? As I recall, Indecision was a pretty hot label at that point in time and Throwdown seemed to be THE new band, and the colour copies of the LP sold out super fast. So I just figured that I needed to get the LP before it started going for big money. So I let somebody have a pink Brotherhood LP for it. This remains the worst and stupidest trade I ever did beyond a shadow of a doubt. Clearly, only a total spastic would do that. But bizarrely, at the time, I was happy. Insanity.

Probably about three years later, circa 2003, luck was on my side once again when I found a pink vinyl Brotherhood LP for sale on eBay uk. This was in the days when not everyone had a digital camera and not all auctions had pictures. And because there was no picture on the auction, and it was listed on eBay uk, I knew this record was destined to be mine. As it turns out, I was right, and I ended up being the only bidder. The price? Yes, that's right - standard Brotherhood LP price - ten quid! Once again I was happy. Even better, the seller turned out to be Ian Simpson (who used to do Subjugation Records), and he lived right near me, so rather than have it sent through the mail I took a stroll down the road one evening to pick it up. Once again, I was happy.

And that's pretty much it. My history with the Brotherhood LP. Well, until recently that is, when my eBay travels had me stumble upon a listing for one of the lesser-known swirl versions, of which only 52 exist. As soon as I saw it, I decided I wanted it. So I took it. And here it is:

Unfortunately for me though, the price of coloured Brotherhood 12"s seems to have gone up a bit since I last bought one. Although, to offset that, my income has gone up quite a bit. So in real terms, the price has probably stayed pretty stagnant.

I also took a pic of it with the regular pink vinyl to show the difference, which is more pronounced than I first thought:

Funnily enough, there was a white vinyl repress years later which I was never interested in when it came out, because at the time I thought it was only made to make some new money from an old release. Except now I want one! There's also a few copies on solid (rather than clear) green. And also one with a limited silk-screened sleeve. Clearly I need to find all of these now. I mean, come on, why have one (or three) when you can have six?

Face To Face Colour Reissue

Picked up the latest Fat Wreck colour vinyl reissue... the first Face To Face LP 'Don't Turn Away'. Turns out I was pretty lucky to get this as they only made 319 and they sold out in about one day.

I really should have bought two copies though, since they were selling on eBay for $50 right away.

Pretty cool that they reissued this on colour vinyl, since it was never on colour before... well, not on Fat Wreck anyway. This was, however, originally pressed on colour vinyl on Dr. Strange Records, and there were at least two different colours made back then. I got one in a good trade about 12 years ago. I think the original looks way better. Not just the colour of the sleeve, but also the labels on the record itself:

Such a good record. Funny how much I listened to this LP, yet I never heard so much as a single song that they did after this.

Barfight!

I've said it many times before, and I'll say it again... the only thing in life that I seem to have good luck with is records. Here's another recent example...

A few weeks ago I got home from some kind of evening out to find an email in my inbox from Six Feet Under Records. The email had been sent to everyone on their mailing list, and was announcing a super limited 12" re-press of the Barfight 7". SFU had pressed up 105 copies of this record as a one sided, clear vinyl 12" with silkscreened covers. The record was strictly for SFU mailing list customers, and you could only buy one. The email had arrived like an hour or more before I had got to it, so I figured I would have missed the chance to pick it up. But fortunately the record was still in the store. So I bought one. I then sent the link to a friend and advised him to buy one. Immediately he got back to tell me the link was to a blank page. So I clicked the link again myself to find that there was nothing there. Which of course meant that all 105 copies had been purchased. So I must have got one of the last few copies. If I had waited 5 minutes, I would have missed it. Which is, I'm sure you will agree, pretty damn lucky.

The only thing I wasn't into was how the cover is covered in some sticky brown shit. Then I read the SFU discography where it says "covers are silkscreened, stamped and sprayed with real blood". Nice.

For anyone who isn't familiar with this record, I thought I'd post up a pic of the original 7" on Malfunction Records for comparison purposes:

Whilst ordering, I did my usual trick of thinking that I should order some more records in order to justify the shipping charges. So I pre-ordered the latest SFU releases. In the past when I have pre-ordered from SFU, I have usually got the most common versions of things. But this time I did pretty well.

Dealing with them in alphabetical order, the first record is a 7" by a band called AS WE LET GO. I got one of the rarest colour, which is out of 104 copies and is described as "Coke Bottle Blue"... although, come on, did you ever see a Coke bottle that looked anything like this?

Since the band is Japanese, more than half of the 104 copies on this colour went to Japan. The band sounds very similar to early Blacklisted to me. Interestingly, the band sings in English and the dude doesn't sound in any way Japanese. I would seriously NEVER have guessed that this band wasn't from the States. I even went to the their myspace to check that they were really Japanese... haha! I'm into this 7". Definitely worth checking out if you are into stuff like this.

The next record, which is my favourite of the lot, is a 7" from a band called GYPSY. This has people in it from Blacklisted, Cold World and Let Down, but Gypsy sounds nothing like any of those bands. The SFU site compares them to Jawbreaker, Seaweed, which isn't far wrong, but this really reminds me of a band and I can't think of who it is, but it's bugging me a lot.

There are 50 copies on black/white mixed vinyl, and 100 copies on Black/Grey mixed vinyl. I'm pretty sure mine is one of the white/black ones, although if I flip it over it kinda looks more like grey/black:

The final record is a 7" by STREETWALKERS. Dunno how to describe this band. Reminds me of Some Kind Of Hate. I guess for most people that's a bad thing, but I like it. 204 copies on white vinyl.

The best thing about these records is that they all came with a download code so I could put them straight on my ipod without having to mess about ripping them. There's nothing better than buying records and not actually having to waste time playing them!

Pelican - March Into The Purple Sea

This one has taken me AGES to pick up. It's now over 3 years since the Pelican 'March Into The Sea' 12" came out. There were 4 colours of vinyl put out by Hydrahead, and their strict "one copy per person" ordering rule made it hard for nerds like me to get more than one. Back then I was REALLY into this band, so had a friend and my brother also place orders on my behalf. Which bagged me three of the four colours right off the bat. But by the time I found out about the record, the rarest version was already gone - the purple vinyl, which was the only version to come with a vellum overlay cover. I have watched many copies of this sell on eBay over the last couple of years. And the price just seemed to come down and down. When it first came out it was going for about $70 I think. But I stumbled across one on eBay UK with a buy it now price of £9.99... which is cheaper than you can get new releases these days.

This now means I have four out of four:

Now, anyone who likes Pelican and knows about records will know that this 12" was also repressed by another label on at least two different colours, which means that, in theory, I still "need" at least two copies of this. However, I'm not really bothered about those. Funny though... it's not like me to be satisfied and not want more. Maybe I'm falling ill or something?

Rot In Hell 'Hallways' Ltd Versions

I've been sat on these for a couple of weeks (I'll explain why in a bit). This is the release show version of the Rot In Hell 'Hallways Of The Always' LP. There were two different colour covers, and I was stupid enough to buy both:

They also have the band name on the dust sleeve:

And are numbered out of only 21 copies:

And there's some kind of sealed envelope. It probably has lyrics inside, but I haven't opened any of mine.

Now, I'm not entirely sure exactly why, but they also made another special version for their webstore. This one came in a spray-painted record mailer:

But it was sealed with a 'Give Up' sticker:

And this is why I have sat on this for a while. Part of me wanted to leave it sealed, whereas another part of me wanted to open it. So I thought about it for a while. In the end I decided to open it, but I figured I would open it carefully in order to preserve it as far as possible. So that's what I did. First I sliced the sticker with a razor blade, then slowly (very slowly) prised open the mailer flap. It took the best part of an hour. But I ended up with it opened with minimal damage, which I am happy with:

Inside is the standard gatefold sleeve, but the dust sleeve is sprayed and numbered out of 29 copies:

As you can see, it looks pretty good. This now means I have 5 copies of this record. Which is, I think, a first. I don't think I have five copies of any LP aside from this one. Man, it's a slippery slope from here...