Clear Clear

As I'm pretty out of touch, I seem to be late to the party with most new bands. I miss the early buzz most of the time, and when I catch on the records are sold out. Such was the case with Clear. I still know nothing about them other than they are a straight edge band fronted by ex Have Heart vocalist Pat Flynn. Anyhow, I found a clear vinyl (most limited version out of 100) copy on eBay uk recently, and won it for probably a lot cheaper than it would have cost to buy one from the States. So here it is - Clear on clear.

This 7" is pretty much the text book hardcore record. Six songs in about five minutes. No frills straight edge hardcore. It doesn't even bother with artwork for god's sake.

The same seller also had the second Stick Together 7" on (dirty) clear too. I missed ordering this 7" when it came out for some dumbass reason, even though I had the first 7" at the time and liked it. I decided to bid and got it for pretty cheap.

This second 7" is kinda different to the first. The band have slowed down a little, and sound less aggressive. The first couple of times I played this I thought it sounded dull. But then I started to get hooked on the title track, and now I'm really digging this. I also love the layouts on this 7". Ok, so it's hardly going to win any prizes for originality, but sometimes a generic straight edge 7" (or two!) is exactly what you need.

Greyish Green

I haven't picked up any Black Flag records since December when I 'finished' collecting the colour vinyl LPs. But despite now having almost every colour LP variant out there, I have next to no 7"s. For the six years or so that I was collecting the LPs (and religiously searching eBay every week) I probably saw every colour 7" for sale, and I pretty much ignored the lot of them. For some reason that I can't even explain, I just wasn't interested. But now that there are no more LPs to collect, I've consciously decided to move on to the 7"s. Here's one I have just picked up - a seldom seen greyish green pressing of 'Louie Louie'.

For some reason it's really hard to photograph this colour. It looks greener in real life, but the camera just won't pick it up accurately. This final pic is the closest of the three.

In case anyone has any coloured Black Flag 7"s that they aren't overly attached to, here are the ones I'm looking for:

Black Flag 'Nervous Breakdown' (SST) - Red vinyl w/ large hole in blue sleeve
Black Flag 'Nervous Breakdown' (SST) - Yellow vinyl in red sleeve
Black Flag 'Six Pack' (SST) - Blue vinyl in red sleeve
Black Flag 'Six Pack' (SST) - Yellow vinyl in red sleeve
Black Flag 'Louie Louie' (SST) - White vinyl
Black Flag 'TV Party' (SST) - Yellow vinyl

Hopefully these 7"s will take less than the six years that it took to collect the LPs.

Screaming For Trades

After having not done a trade for ages, I've done two within a month! This one started months ago, back in January. Someone posted a pic of a Uniform Choice LP on the Rev Collectors Board asking for pressing info. Somehow I then ended up in a discussion to obtain it, which in the end I did, along with a couple of other bits.

When the Uniform Choice 'Screaming For Change' reissue came out in late 2011, on green vinyl, it wasn't long before a couple of pictures surfaced of a weird, different colour variant. Most were on clear green, but a couple of people seemed to end up with a solid, dirty yellowish brown type colour. Nobody really knew whether it was an intended colour, a mispress or transition, but it didn't really matter to me. I needed it either way. And now, finally, I have one.

It was only about three years ago that I didn't own a single copy of this LP other than a second press on black. Now, including the recent reissues, I somehow have six colour copies. Still need a grey copy and a first press black with poster though.

So I also picked up an orange vinyl copy of the Internal Affairs LP. I really rate this LP. I don't think it got the attention it deserved when it came out though. This copy is my fourth copy of this LP, and I think I have a complete collection of this one. I couldn't be bothered to get them out to take a photo though. Sorry kids!

So the above two records were what I traded for, but when I opened the package I found an extra item thrown in. I could tell there was something else from the weight of the package. It turned out to be the 'At Both Ends' zine final issue which comes with a double 7".

What's interesting is that one of the bands on the 7"s is Bane. Now, you may or may not know that I collect Bane records, and until this package turned up I didn't own a single copy of this thing. When it came out I wrote to the label asking if I could buy a test press, and the dude told me he would sell me one if I bought a copy of each vinyl colour... and there were seriously about 25 different colours. Needless to say no. Even I have my limits. So that kinda put me off even buying one copy, and I never got around to it. So I was very grateful to be sent this copy.

Hopefully I'll get involved in some more trades in future. Trading is fun!

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.

Hydrahead Tests

It seems a long time ago that Hydrahead used to release emo records. Well technically it was. It was about 15 years ago. But seems funny that some of the early releases came out on Hydrahead at all given the kind of records they've been putting out since the clock reset at 00. I however still have a fondness for some of those early releases back when I would order and not have a clue what any of the bands would sound like. I recently scooped up these tests from early in the label's history.

Anyone remember The Boxer Rebellion? No, probably not. Sometimes I think I must have been the only person that bought their album and 7" as it is still possible to pick it up from the label's online store to this day. Name another Hydrahead release that remains available for fifteen days, let alone fifteen years. Unbelievable. Anyhow, I liked the 7" and the LP when I got them. I don't think they've aged very well, but there was a time and place for stuff like this. Ah, the 90s! Even if these ain't the greatest Hydrahead releases, at least the tests were cheap.

The 7" test comes in pretty much the most 90s emo looking sleeve you could possibly imagine.

The sleeve itself is made from an old Vent 'Long Lost Human' 7" sleeve, which was the label's very first release. I guess they had a few spares laying around.

I also picked up the Boxer Rebellion LP 'The Romance Of Aeronautics'. It's not much to look at, coming in a plain dust sleeve.

Here's a photo of the test next to the regular sleeve:

Next up is a test of The Hollomen 7". This band was an early band for the owner of Hydrahead, Aaron Turner. I know people who love most of the Hydrahead catalogue and think this 7" is crap. I always liked it. I mean, it's different. This one comes in a plain white dust sleeve. It also has a small slip of paper to help make clear what record this is. I'm assuming that this came from the label rather than the seller I picked this up from.

Again, I took a couple of photos of the test with the regular cover as it makes for a more interesting photo.

And finally, a test of a split 10" between The Huguenots and Sevenpercentsolution. I don't know much about the latter band, but I do know that The Huguenots was some band that featured someone from Converge and the singer of Piebald. They played kinda spazzy chaotic metal stuff. Again, back in the day when this came out I found it interesting, although again I'm not sure it has really aged too well. It's easy to tell that this is from the late 90s. Anyhow, this test comes in a regular sleeve. I guess that makes up for it being a ten inch.

Test press count for the year so far is now 30.

Red City Streets

The older I get, the less excited I seem to get about new releases. New releases are announced and, if I'm bothered at all, I don't mind paying and waiting. I'm always busy and time does seem to pass quickly, so waiting for a few weeks isn't a problem. It's not like years ago when I was climbing the walls waiting for new records to arrive in anticipation. And even when I am super excited, these days it's not too tough to find the songs to listen to before the record arrives. Basically, what I'm saying is that there's very little that gets me excited anymore. This, however, is an exception. The Violent Reaction 'City Streets' LP.

The 7" proved really difficult to get hold of for me, so I was determined not to experience the same difficulty with the LP. Add in the fact that it was coming out on Painkiller Records, which has a tendency to sell out of stuff lightning fast, and the youth were getting restless. To make matters even worse, just before the pre-order went up, the label announced that there weren't many colour copies left, adding yet another dimension to the game.

Well, when the day came for the orders to go live I actually remembered for once, set my alarm, and managed to check out within minutes of the orders going up. After that tt was just a case of sitting back and waiting, hoping that I'd acted quick enough to get one of the colour copies. Well as you can see, yes, I did. No idea how many were made, but I consider myself lucky to have bagged one of these... although I'm sure that actually being organised for once helped.

What's interesting to me is that back at the start of the year everyone was saying "record of the year" when the Rival Mob LP dropped. And now this has come out I've already read a couple of comments people describing this as the very same. I'm not even making a call yet, but it's an interesting one to think about whilst blasting tunes and punching stuff.

Insta-trade

I've been enjoying Instagram lately, and today's records are the result of a trade that started via a comment on there. Tru mentioned that he'd picked up the Mindset RSD LP and wasn't into it. So we arranged a trade and, as we chatted, the trade expanded and in the end I got sent four new records. Cool.

The Mindset LP is a copy of the 'Leave No Doubt' LP that was made for Record Store Day 2013. This copy is on purple vinyl and comes in a screen printed sleeve. It was sold at Celebrated Summer Records in Baltimore, and is numbered out of 100 copies. After RSD there were a few left over which the band put up in their online store, but they sold out in about two minutes. I honestly thought I would never get one of these, so I'm pretty stoked on this.

I got number 49, which is only 1 away from the magic Chung King number I own. What a coincidence that would have been eh?

I also got a copy of the new Red Hare LP. This was recently released by Dischord Records and I think they are all on red vinyl. The band is pretty much Swiz reformed under a new name. It's a great record, and I'm happy to have picked up a new release that actually gets me excited for once.

I love how this also has the Hellfire Records logo on the label. A very nice touch.

I also got a couple of 7" test pressings thrown in. You know I'm into tests. First up is a test press of the recent Unity 'Blood Days' 7" that Fred Hammer released on his label, It's Alive Records, towards the end of last year. This features the songs that were on the 'Blood Days' LP which were not on the original Unity 7" on Wishingwell.

And finally, a test of the Dempsey / Kill Holiday split 7" that was released by Indecision Records in 1996. Tru couldn't wait to get rid of this for some reason. If he didn't give it to me he was going to throw it in the bin.

So that's another two test pressings, which brings my tally for the year to 26. The target for the year is 52 (an average of one per week) so at the halfway point of the year I'm exactly halfway there.

Time for Lift Off

So I picked up a few Cave In test pressings earlier in the year, and if nothing else it made me want to revisit my Cave In collection and start filling in holes. Right up until about 2005 or so, I used to be happy to collect & own one version of each record. Things changes after that partly due to earning more money. But even in the earlier days of collecting, there were some bands whose records I always seemed to buy more than one copy of, and Cave In was one. I have two copies of most of their releases. The problem is, there are more than two of most of them, so I have still have a lot of holes in the collection.

Given that I picked up a test of the 'Lift Off' 7", I targeted trying to pick up the remaining colours I am missing. I already have two, but that meant I was missing about 4 more. I managed to cross two of those off recently. First up, I grabbed a clear light blue. This is part of the second press. It's a really nice colour.

The seller also threw in a photo of the band that was taken around the time that the 'Antenna' LP was recorded.

I also picked up an orange vinyl copy from a different seller around the same time. I think this is also from the second press.

Because I already had the first press colours, I now only need the white vinyl and the standard black vinyl to complete this one. Any help appreciated!

Secret Love

Here's one I forgot about. I managed to leave it on my desk after trying to download the mp3s, and then I put some papers on top of it, and that was it. It was as good as lost, until this weekend when I spent a few minutes tidying up. I've had this at least a month. It came in the same parcel as the Supertouch 7" test press a few weeks ago. I opened the parcel to find a second 7" included that I had not been expecting. A copy of the Sacred Love / Secret People split 7".

I really enjoyed the Sacred Love 12" and 7" that Youngblood released, so was looking forward to more jams. But I think when this originally came out I'd had an expensive month so decided to hold off. I then promptly forgot about it. So I was more than grateful to receive this 7".

Once again the Sacred Love tracks are solid, although a little short. The secret People side I'm not into as much, although I fully admit I haven't listened to as much.

Thanks Mike. Greatly appreciated!

War Zone

For someone who has collected Revelation records for nearly 20 years, my War Zone 7" collection borders on embarrassing. Seriously. Until two days ago I only had two copies - one on orange vinyl, and one third press in a black & white sleeve. No first press, no green vinyl, no clear vinyl. I guess this was partly because I never really thought the record was very good, so I never prioritised it. I mean, aesthetically it looks great, but musically it's far from the best Rev release. So I just never got around to picking up more than the two copies I have. Suddenly I'm starting to regret this move and I realise that I badly want the set. So I've got a lot of catching up to do.

Anyway, an old friend was offering to sell some records recently to raise some cash, so I picked up his War Zone 7". This is, I believe, a third press copy, as denoted by the black & silver labels and the blue text on the cover. You've probably seen it a thousand times before, and so had I. I'd just never owned one. Kinda funny seeing as I always thought this blue lettering sleeve looks way better than the others.

This one even comes with a Gorilla Biscuits b-side label:

Considering I used to own a clear vinyl copy of this, and that I no doubt could have easily picked up the other variants through the 90s, starting to aim for more copies of this one in 2013 seems like a bit of an idiotic move. But hey, a dude's gotta have goals.