Can't Have Nice Things

Another 2018 release that I picked up late was the debut LP by Shiners Club, 'Cant Have Nice Things'. If you're unfamiliar, this is Dan O'Mahoney's latest band. Shiners Club also features John Coyle (from Outspoken & Kill The Messenger) and some other dudes who have been in Speak 714 & Mean Season. So basically, some CA dudes with a pretty good resume. But I only really bought it for the Dan O factor if I'm honest, as I've always been a fan of his bands, and this latest one is no exception.

Shiners Club don't really sound like any of Dan's previous bands, although from the bands mentioned above I'd say that they probably sound closest to Kill The Messenger. The songs are kinda loud and messy, and at first I wasn't sure that I liked it. But after a couple of spins one of the songs got stuck in my head, and then the rest started to follow. Pretty soon it was my go to album of choice for my gym sessions.

I'm not so sure where I'd place this on my 2018 best of list if I had to make one, but it would definitely feature. If you haven't given it a chance then I'd recommend trying to check it out if possible. The band doesn't have a bandcamp page, but the album is up on the label's page HERE. You're welcome.

I have to say, it's nice to see Indecision Records putting out new records again, and as ever they're putting out some interesting stuff. This one comes on two colours of vinyl - the 'clear smoke' that I picked up, and also clear red. Both are out of 500 copies.

North Atlantic

When I picked up the Remission LP from React!, I also decided to pick up the other release that they put out at the same time, the For Pete's Sake 'North Atlantic' 12". I was into the first record, but had just assumed that the band had called it quits after the singer, Peter Amdam, passed away a couple of years ago. So it was a surprise to see a new record available to order.

I have enjoyed this 12". It's quite rare for hardcore bands to release 12" EPs rather than LPs, but I think in this case the format works well as the songs are a little longer than the average 2 minute hardcore banger.

I can't imagine how tough it must have been to have written and recorded songs after your bandmate and friend passes away. So as expected, this record is full of raw emotion. I'm looking forward to seeing if they continue, and what the next chapter holds...

Enemy Of Silence

Another of my favourite releases from 2018 was this:

Remission are a band from Chile in South America. React! Records put out their 'Winds Of Promise' 7" way back in 2010. I enjoyed it at the time, but until last Summer it had pretty much been completely forgotten. I guess I had assumed that they had broken up. But last year React! released their second album, 'Enemy Of Silence'. I wanted it, but it seemed to sell out super quick. Or rather, it became unavailable in the label's store. It was some months before it re-appeared, but when it did I made sure to grab one of the white vinyl copies (/150) quick smart.

I actually saw this band play in Summer 2018 in Washington, DC. They were playing the first night that we were in town, and in the absence of anything else to do, we went to see them play. It was a last minute show, and we were tired, and there weren't many people there, but Remission were REALLY good. It was one of those shows where it just made me want to listen to them more.

Also, while I'm on the subject of this record, the cover really does remind me of the old One Step Ahead 12" on Nemesis Records:

Not only does the cover art look very similar, but the names of the records are also very similar. So is this a coincidence, or is the band paying homage to this band & record? I'm not sure. But One Step Ahead also released a 7" called 'Remission', so it seems quite possible that this little known band from 1990 had a pretty big influence on these Chilean hardcore kids.

So I did think I'd be happy to buy just one copy of this one, until they put pictures up of a special version on their instagram. It would seem that Nemesis Records must have had a pretty influential on these kids, as they made up this a limited Reason To Believe rip off version. So of course I decided that I needed one of those too.

Little Acts Of Destruction

The next installment of my 2018 releases catch up is the Red Hare 'Little Acts Of Destruction' LP. This was released by Dischord records and, when it was first announced, there was talk of a limited clear vinyl pressing. Usually when Dischord press something on colour vinyl, they do the entire pressing on colour. But rumours suggested that there were only going to be 200 on clear, with the majority being on black vinyl. Well anyway, in typical fashion, I managed to miss out on the clear as it sold fast at pre-order stage. But several months later I managed to get one:

I remember ALMOST getting one of these on the first day I landed in the States last Summer. Checking the internet in the morning in Boston, someone had posted a link to some online shirt selling site that also had clear vinyl copies of this record if you bought a shirt. So I placed an order and felt relieved that I managed to grab a copy after Dischord had apparently sold out. Unfortunately, however, a couple of hours later my order got refunded as the item was out of stock. Disappointment set in and I once again kicked myself for not being quicker with the pre-order.

A few months later I made an enquiry that resulted in being offered this for a really good price. The old advice of 'if you don't ask, you don't get' came in useful once again.

Interestingly, when I listened to this I was at first disappointed. It's definitely not as much of an instant attention grabber as the first LP. However, perseverance is key, and with each listen this has grown on me. At the end of 2018 I would have placed this near the bottom of the releases for the year, but at this point I'd put it much closer to the top spot. I think all of my favourite LPs over the years have taken time to grow, and this is the same. And, as you can see, it looks the part too. The artwork and the clear vinyl really do look great together.

Dirge Of Escapism

I thought I'd spend the next few posts effectively catching up on 2018. I didn't buy many new releases in 2018 for various reasons, although I did download and listen to a few. Now that I'm managing to actually acquire the vinyl, I figured I'd spread the posts out and deal with them in alphabetical order...

I'm starting withe the Primal Rite 'Dirge Of Escapism' LP. I listened to this online and was blown away by the opening riff. It sounds so damn hard. It became the soundtrack to my gym workouts for a few weeks.

As you can see, this one came out on Revelation. Just looking at the band logo, that seems like a slightly odd fit... although it's not as if Rev has a particular sound really if you think about it. Anyway, this is some heavy hardcore that's great for lifting weights to, or punching holes in walls. Whichever you're most into.

Blue vinyl is the limited colour from the first press and out of 167 copies. Even though it came out in January 2018, somehow there are still copies available from the label here.

Alone... Again

Almost two months ago Alone In A Crowd played a one off show. Everyone reading this is probably already aware. It was a benefit show for guitarist Howie, who has a tumour that has had a huge negative effect on his life. It's kinda difficult for me reading the story knowing how crazy the US healthcare system is. If anyone had the same condition in the UK they would get a free operation on the NHS (National Health Service), funded by the taxpayer. Don't get me wrong, I'm a big fan of the US, but the healthcare system seems like a bit of a fail.

Anyway, I don't want to get political, but due to the need to pay for Howie's healthcare, Alone In A Crowd decided to play for the first time in 30 years. And one way of making some money was to press a limited 7" for the show. I couldn't go to the show, but had a friend that did who kindly picked one up for me.

There were 200 copies on a dark red vinyl with stamped labels. I got number 106/200.

After the show some additional copies surfaced numbered out of 29 and 36 copies. These came in a sleeve with the wrong date. Kinda cool, but I'm happy with this one. I really like that it was bought at the show for me. And I didn't even ask for one.

As I stared making this post I decided to watch the show on youtube. I didn't intend to watch the whole thing, as it was over an hour long, but I ended up doing so. There was a lot of talking between songs, and the energy in the room when the songs were on was really good to see. Kinda made me wish I had made the effort to travel. Looked like a really great night, and I would guess that it probably won't happen again.

US East Coast Trip, Part 5 - Generation Records

When I was in NYC last year, I was very disappointed by Generation Records. But I was always going to go again, because looking in record shops is such a novelty for me.

As I learnt on my previous US trip, the 7" bins are where the interesting items are generally, so I went straight downstairs to the 7" section to have a browse. I had low expectations based on my previous visit, and I was pleasantly surprised as there were quite a few little gems for reasonable prices. I didn't have much space in my bag as I had already filled it with other stuff, so I limited myself based on scarcity and price.

It seemed to me that someone had dumped their collection in there at some point just before I arrived. There were lots of used 7" from the early 00s, and as was the case with that era, most hardcore 7"s got pressed on several different colours and also with several limited covers. So there were lots of 7"s in the bins with multipe copies. Lots of these things I already had, but there were some I didn't. My favourite find was a Damage II 'Broken Bloodlines' 7". There were 4 copies in the shop and after checking out all four copies, I found one I didn't have, which was this hand numbered transition copy.

The regular colour of this record was clear yellow (gold), but this numbered copy is a kind of dirty yellow colour. I can't actually remember as the DB23 site vanised years ago, but I'm pretty sure that the numbered copies are transition colours. I thought this was a pretty cool find for $1.99.

Another band that had their fair share of different versions was Internal Affairs, and I never owned a copy of their 'Casualty Of The Core' 7" with this tour cover before.

The tour cover comes wrapped around a regular cover, allowing me to line everything up in a nice instagram friendly square.

The 00s collection also had a couple of Over My Dead Body split 7"s I didn't own, which were also pretty cheap. First up, the split with Swindle on brown vinyl:

And the split with Time X on orange vinyl:

There were a few more 7"s I found, but the prices weren't quite so attractive. So these 4 were all I took from the 7" section. But after going back upstairs, I then found a section of used LPs that I'm assuming the same person's collection went into, as there were a few versions of LPs from the early 00s. Most I already owned, or didn't want to carry, but I did come across this American Nightmare (Give Up The Ghost) LP that I couldn't resist. This is the original Equal Vision pressing on clear vinyl.

Funny story about when this LP came out - I heard it was coming out so phoned up EVR to place an order. Dude on the phone told me that they weren't taking orders for another week. He also told me there were 4 colours of vinyl. Somehow I managed to talk him into taking my order there and then, but for some reason I ordered only 3 of the 4 colours. Maybe I just thought that clear was the common colour and not rare enough to waste my time with. I don't remember. But the way it went down with my premature phone call and my jedi mind trick on the dude on the phone meant that I was actually the first person to place order for this record when it came out. A few months later I heard from other people that there was some kind of drama with this release. Apparently lots of kids didn't get the limited colours and were not happy. This was back when AN were like THE band of the moment. Apparently lots of people thought that there was some kind of conspiracy to only give the limited colours to scene kids or something. I don't know. All I know is that I got the 3 limited colours without a problem and I was the least 'scene' kid ever.

Anyway, years later and I finally have all 4 EVR colours, so I pulled them together for a pic:

After buying these records I left the shop and went on with my business. But the story doesn't quite end there. There was actually one 7" on the wall that I was going to ask to have a look at, but somehow forgot after I got stuck into flicking through the records. Two or three days later we were in the area, and happened to end up back on the same street that Generation is on. So I decided to pop back in to ask about the record on the wall. Well, funnily enough, when I walked in I recognised the dude on the counter. I'm not sure if he was more surprised to see me than I was him, but it was a pretty cool and funny moment. Miles used to work in All Ages Records in London, and sold me a few nice items a few years ago. I haven't been in All Ages for a long time, as I generally never leave the house anymore, so I had no idea he'd left and moved to NYC. But after each of us explaining why we were there to each other, it was nice chat briefly with a friendly and familiar face.

Miles also works one day a week in Limited To One too. So if you ever go record shopping in NYC then there's a reasonable chance you might bump into him in one shop or the other. If you then please say hello from me.

Anyway, after having been to Generation Records twice, with one time being disappointing and the other being quite good, I can only conclude that it totally depends on when you go. If you're lucky then you'll get lucky, and if not then you'll miss out. I guess the sheer numbers of people moving through NYC mean that stuff comes and goes quickly.

This post marks the end of the US trip in terms of records. Normal service will now resume...

US East Coast Trip, Part 4 - Brooklyn

So on the day after the show in New Jersey, we went to see Into Another again at the Brooklyn Bazaar. It was a pretty cool venue. Apparently Youth Of Today had played there the week before.

So even though I was going to see Into Another, Beyond were also on the bill. Beyond also played, and even though I wasn't too fussed about seeing them, they really impressed me. I've never been a huge fan of the Beyond 'No Longer At Ease' LP, but I really enjoyed them live, and the songs sounded so good that I left wanting to go home and listen to the LP again.

I filmed a couple of songs so I'm putting them up here as a record.

When Into Another hit the stage, I filmed the first two songs, then put the phone away and enjoyed it. Here ya go...

Into Another were every bit as good as I had hoped. I stood at the front and sang along like it was 1995 all over again. I was so into it that I even got sucked into buying another version of 'Ignaurus', this time on red vinyl.

My photo of this one isn't great. The colour is actually a nice solid, darkish red. But here it just looks like a regular red. Sorry.

US East Coast Trip, Part 3 - Hold Fast Records

So after the first Into Another show, we had half a day in Asbury Park. It was a really interesting place. I'm told it is swarming with people in the Summer, but in March it was completely dead. Nobody on the streets and very few cars on the road. Almost a ghost town. But even in ghost towns in America, there are record shops. Approximately 15 minutes walk from our hotel was a shop called Hold Fast Records. So obviously we took the time to check it out.

Note the Rev logo inside the window to my left.

As was the case with most of the other shops I visited last summer, it seemed that the LP section wasn't great, but there were a few gems lurking in the 7" section. There was also a box of 7"s on the counter which were marked as 50% off, and inside I managed to find three 7" I thought I'd take away, for which I paid a total of $10.66. Bargain. In alphabetical order...

The first was an Atlas Shrugged 7" which I mainly picked for the cover. A fine Beyond rip off made for Japan. Presumably for a Japanese tour rather than the general Japanese populous, although who knows?

And I love how Snoop Dogg appears on the back for no discernable reason.

Next up, a true gem - a rare version of the Killing Flame 'The Dream Dies' 7" on Livewire Records. I've never seen this one before. This is a limited cover numbered out of 25 copies. The insert refers to it as the 'Jennifer Love Hewitt eBay special'.

I got this for $5, but it seems one copy sold on discogs last year for €40 (circa $50). So I guess I was pretty lucky.

And finally, an Integrity 7" I don't own. A standard issue black vinyl copy of the 'VVe Are The End' 7". It's not overly exciting to look at, but it was only $2 so worth grabbing.

So that was it. And with another successful trip to a US record shop complete, it was time to head back to NYC...

US East Coast Trip, Part 2 - New Jersey Trade

Day 2 and I met with a good friend before the Into Another show in Asbury Park, New Jersey. We had two things to do - get some food, and exchange records. And even though it didn't really hit me at the time, with hindsight it occurs to me that New Jersey was the perfect location for this trade.

So I ended up with this record:

And whilst the writing on the label looks like it reads 'Euro54' or possibly 'Euros4', I can reveal that it actually reads 'EVR54'. In other words, Equal Vision 54.

If you're still confused then this picture will probably help:

I should say straight away that the cover shown above was made by the person who traded this to me. It isn't an official cover, but I'm keeping it as I really like it.

'Through Being Cool' will be 20 years old in November of this year (2019). That seems absolutely insane. I remember this coming out, because it came out on the same day as the first Bane LP, and I got both in the mail in a package direct from Equal Vision. I also remember that the moment the needle dropped on the Bane record, no other record mattered for a couple of months. And then something else must have come out that grabbed my attention in early 2000, because I distinctly remember not getting around to listening to 'Through Being Cool' properly for about a year after its release. I remember this because I remember playing it after an exam I had on a bus on the way to a breakdance lesson (which is probably one of the most fucked up sentences I have ever written). And I didn't start those exams until November 2000. So somehow I put this Saves The Day album to one side for a year. Hardly surprising for me to do that kind of thing these days (although these days being only a year behind would definitely count as being 'up to date' for me). But that was definitely a strange thing for me to do back then. Anyway, when I finally got around to playing it, I loved it... like pretty much everyone under the age of 25 who heard it back then. The rest is history I guess. The band blew up, got signed to a major (albeit a pretend indy subsidiary), blew up more, got dropped, and then somehow carried on going for a further 20 years in one form or another. And even though I've loved every Saves The Day record (except maybe that grapefruit one from a couple of years back), I would still say that this is probably their best moment, so I am stoked as hell to add this to my collection.

Thanks!

US East Coast Trip, Part 1 - Limited To One

So I went back to the States last week for a few days. The trip came about as an excuse to see Into Another play for the second time in my life, but that was only going to take a few hours, leaving us 6 days to mess about in New York. And obviously a little bit of that time was going to be spent flicking through some records...

The second day that we were in NYC we decided to take a trip to Limited To One. We were staying pretty close by, so it seemed like the perfect time to go. I'd been back in August, but disappointingly found nothing I 'needed' in there. But I liked the shop and the vibe, so I hoped a second trip would yield a better result.

The day started badly, as it was raining non-stop, and in my haste to get to the airport I had forgotten a warm coat. So by the time we arrived at the shop, I was cold and wet through. Not great. But after a few minutes chatting to the owner, Kristian, I managed to find a few bits hidden away...

By far my favourite item was a Standpoint 7" test press. Like a lot of tests, it's not much to look at:

But I was seriously stoked on this find. I LOVE the Standpoint 7". The band released a 7" and a full length (on CD only). It's a typical slice of mid 90s hardcore, with a female vocal. I always liked this record, and it took me many years to find a rare blue vinyl copy. So having a test press sat in front of me was a total 'WTF?' moment. Stoked. And I was told that it came from the person who released it back in 1995.

Just for fun, here's a pic of it next to my blue vinyl copy:

I also grabbed this 7 Seconds 'Blasts From The Past' 7". This is a reissue put out by Pazzafist Records in 1990. I never bothered with any of these Pazzafist reissues before, but these days I think they're kinda cool.

And I also picked up a test press of Rocky Votolato's 'Sawdust And Shavings' 12". I have a few Rocky tests, so it was a no brainer to pick up another one. Number 10 of 10.

Once I'd picked these records out, time was running short. We had to get back to our hotel and check out by 11am. So the only thing left to do was grab a photo with Kristian and then grab an uber out of there.

Who We Are

So Descendents released a new 7" for RSD 2018. It wasn't the most interesting looking record of all time. A pretty art-less cover and a black vinyl 7". It didn't particularly excite me and I wasn't going to chase it. A few months later and I noticed that it had been repressed on colour vinyl, so I decided to pick one up.

There are 3 different colours of vinyl (and black). Clear is the euro pressing out of 500. I bought this one because it was the cheapest copy I could find.

I found this quite disappointing aesthetically. I mean, first up, the cover art is pretty dull. Let's be honest, it's not even art. It's text. Then secondly, it's on bad vinyl. The 'clear' is a kind of misty clear that looks cheap. Kind of like the stuff the euro plant used to pump out in the early to mid 00s.

What irritated me most, however, was the lack of a poly bag. I know, I know, this sounds dumb, but bear with me. This 7" came sealed in shrinkwrap. I sliced one side of it open to take the record out. And then I noticed that the inside of the sleeve contained the lyrics. So I then had to take the shrinkwrap off completely to unfold the sleeve.

So basically this is a fold over sleeve that comes with no poly bag. I mean, seriously, why? Are Epitaph now so focussed on profit that they needed to save spending an extra $0.02 per record on something for the owner to store & protect it? Especially when they already saved the art budget by not having any.

Anyway, rant over. It's a Descendents 7" containing 3 new songs. It's good. It's just a shame that it doesn't LOOK better.

Desperate Times

First post of the year to cover the first (and only) record of the year so far. That's just how life is right now. Desperate times. And we know what desperate times call for...

'Desperate Measures' is the second album by Leeway. It was released in 1991 on Profile Records. Back then I had no idea who Leeway were. I was listening to Snuff, Dinosaur Jr and Mudhoney. It would take me many more years to even give Leeway a chance. I decided at some stage in the 90s that they were not for me. I think this was based on my perception that they were some tough guy crap. I finally got around to giving them a chance in about 2011 or 2012, and I've been casually looking for this record ever since.

Well, I got lucky. This appeared on eBay UK and I won it for less than the lowest ever sale price that is listed on discogs. And it's in great shape too. I like to think that the 2015 reissue helped reduce the demand (and price) for this one. Either way, this was a all round good score for sure.

I think one of the reasons I haven't picked up one of these in the past was that I wanted a US pressing, and every copy that would come up for sale was a UK pressing. But it would appear that, if discogs is correct (which it isn't always) then a US pressing does not exist. According to discogs, the only vinyl pressing was made here in the UK. So I don't feel too bad 'settling' for a UK pressing after all. Let me know if you know differently though and actually have a US made copy so I can put this back on the wants list.