Final Transmission

A few weeks ago I went to see Cave In play a show in London with Old Man Gloom. It was a benefit show for the family of bassist Caleb Scofield who sadly passed away last year. I hadn't seen Cave In play for probably about 13 years or so, and it was an interesting night for sure. One nice treat was that the new Cave In album, 'Final Transmission', was available to buy, a full two months before it would be sent out to those who had pre-ordered. Fortunately I hadn't pre-ordered (due mainly to the postage cost), so I was able to pick up both of the two coloured versions that were available fresh off the merch table.

The first colour is grey marble, out of 400 copies. It goes pretty well with the glossy grey front cover.

This is a pretty unique looking sleeve. The front is high gloss, whilst the back is a matte finish. I don't think I've ever seen one like this before as it's usually one or the other.

This also comes with an insert which has a really simple design. I love this image of a satellite blasting through the surface of a planet. There's something utterly fascinating about the infinite size of outer space that makes everything in human life seem to small and insignificant. And somehow this image of of the lonely satellite evokes similar feelings.

The second copy that I picked up is clear with white mix, also out of 400 copies, which also goes pretty well with the artwork.

I thought I'd put the two side by side to show the difference:

There is also a yellow vinyl version, which is the most limited colour, and which I don't have. I hope at some point to pick one up from somewhere or other.

So what is this like? Well, on first listen I found it pretty dull. But after a couple of goes it started to sink its hooks into me, and pretty soon I was feeling the addiction. It really does remind me of 'Jupiter' a lot, and in a similar way to when 'Jupiter' came out, I have been devoting a part of my day to this for the past three weeks or so. I could go on, but I won't. I'll simply say that this is my favourite record since 'Tides of Tomorrow', which came out in way back in 2002.

Minority Of 8

It's not too often the opportunity arises to pick up a Revelation Records test press. Despite test pressings becoming 'cool' over the past ten to fifteen years, Rev carried on making small quantities of tests (4-8) for most of their releases. Which makes them hard to get. So when a chance arises to pick one up, it's tough to say no.

So yeah... I was lucky enough to get this Dag Nasty 'Minority Of One' LP test press a few weeks ago. The cool thing about this particular test press is that Rev actually made up a sleeve for it. OK, so it's just a plain white jacket with a sticker on the front and a sticker on the back, but it's more than they usually do. Most of their tests just come in plain paper sleeves. But this looks pretty rad. Simple but effective, as they say.

The next thing I noticed was that the labels are plain white. Pretty much all Rev tests come with the standard Rainbo labels, so seeing this one with plain white labels left me slightly confused. I mean, was this record actually pressed somewhere else? Or did the plant run out of their standard labels? These are the kind of issues that can keep a nerd awake at night.

Well, after picking up the test press, I felt obliged to pick up the latest repress on 'clear and white marble' vinyl (which looks a lot like grey marble). I'm not sure how many of these exist but would guess at 500.

I remember being disappointed when this record came out back in 2002, but in the years since I have accepted this as a fully fledged Dag Nasty LP. Although I still think I prefer the other reunion record, 'Four On The Floor'.

Anyway, forget my opinion and enjoy this collection shot of my 8 copies of this record...

Mindforce

I'm always late to the party but generally I get there in the end. The latest example is this here Mindforce 'Demo' 7" that got released in 2017. I decided to add it to the order when I picked up the Sunstroke LP on a whim. It was pretty cheap and I'd seen a lot of Mindforce records get posted on instagram, so figured I would grab one while I had the chance.

There are about a million different versions of this record out there. I grabbed this second press gold vinyl copy. Apparently there are only 33 of this colour.

I have to admit, after listening to this a bit, it is very good for what it is... which is that Leeway type thing. I don't really know what the term crossover refers to, and I've always hated it, but that term gets attached to this band. All I know is that these songs have been creeping into my regular playlist recently and the more I listen, the more that I feel I need MORE songs. It's a good one for the gym, but barely long enough to get me through three sets of shoulder press.

Cave In Pre-Release

I remember buying Cave In's first release on Hydrahead Records when it came out. It was 1997 and the label was young and exciting, and I was into what they were putting out. I'd never heard of anything they were putting out, but I bought it all and lapped it up. A few years later, so did everyone else. But even though I bought multiple copies of some of their releases, especially Cave In, it was only a couple of years ago that I discovered that there was a pre-release cover made for a few copies of the first 7". So I did what I always do and waited it out until one came along.

Not sure how I managed to neve see one of these in 20 years, but hey, never mind. The cover is literally just a piece of paper to cover the record. It's not even folded. DIY or die.

I would have paid a decent amount to get this into my collection, but this was only $5 because the record has a small chip in it near the edge. I wasn't buying it for the record so didn't really care, so it was cool to grab a big want for next to nothing.

Still Hiding From Reality

One of my favourite records from last year (even though it actually came out the year before) was the Protester 'Hide From Reality' LP. I was lucky enough to pick up a gold vinyl copy last year on my travels, but part of me still wanted a blue one too. Well, all things come to those who wait, and I scooped one for a pretty damn good price on a site called 'discogs' (some of you may even have heard of it).

There's not much more to say on this one really, other than this is one of the best current straight edge bands around and this record rips.

Given that I'm always behind, it's no surprise that I missed out on the gold vinyl edition of their latest record, but hey, you can't have everything I guess.

1990

I picked up a couple of records from someone on eBay. They had some pretty cool stuff for sale. But I honed in on a couple of items, both of which were released in 1990.

The first one has been on my wants list pretty much forever. It's one of those records that isn't even that great, but I always wanted a colour copy, and it ended up taking longer to get one than I could have imagined.

The 'Generation Of Hope' comp is kind of classic by nature of who is on it. Chain Of Strength and Brotherhood are the big hitters, and then Confront, Against The Wall and Pushed Aside (who I always regarded as kind of 'tier 2' bands), and then finally a band called Full On Straight (no idea who they are/were). But when I first got a copy of this I was super excited, only to be slightly disappointed that half of the songs were on other releases anyway.

Also, it almost goes without saying that this is a serious contender for the worst cover of all time. I mean, look at it - not only is is plain and boring, but you can't even read what it says easily. The leading 'A' is in a different font to the rest of it, and the word 'Of' takes up more space than the rest of the title put together. Oh, and the 'G's look like 'C's. If only someone would have had the sense to just put the photo from the back cover on the front instead, all would have been ok.

Well, that aside, and this really is a tough find on colour vinyl. It comes on purple and also gold. I've never really known the pressing info, nor which colour is rarest, but the gold does seem to pop up less, so I'm assuming that's rarer than the purple. But right now I'm pretty stoked on the purple. It looks rad.

Oh, and inside the sleeve was this extra insert:

I'm assuming that this is the original receipt for when this was purchased in 1990 for $4.19. Looks like it was $3.99 with the $0.20 US 'mystery tax' that only appears when you get to the checkout, haha! Normally I don't keep these things, but I think I'll keep this. If it's survived 29 years to date then I don't want to be the person who bins it.

Moving on, the second record was this copy of the Billingsgate 'Reach Out' 7" with promo sleeve. Just like the Integrity 7" that was put out around the same time by the same label, there were 100 of these sleeves made. I love the simplicity of this.

The inside of the sleeve was also stamped with the Victory logo.

It's also numbered on the back. I got number 78/100.

The craziest thing about the Billingsgate 7" is that the second press was on blue vinyl, and somehow you can still buy this from the label today! Check it out. Even funnier is that I don't have one, and am now considering buying one.

Green At Last

Anyone who is a long time reader of this thing (and has a great memory) may well remember that I picked up a 'New York Hardcore The Way It Is' green vinyl test press back in February 2013. At the time, it was pretty much a fantasy record for me, i.e. one that I never thought I would ever own. But after getting hold of one, it instantly became my favourite record in my entire collection.

Well, forward 6 years and I have added another similar item to the collection, which I am equally as stoked about.

This is another green vinyl test press on Revelation Records, being for Youth Of Today's 'Break Down The Walls' LP. I'm not sure exactly when this was made, but it was somewhere in between 1988 and 1992. I don't know for sure, but I think that this was made at the same time as the other two green test pressings (the 'NYHC The Way It Is' LP, and the Bold 'Speak Out' test press). There were only 10 copies of each made, and all three are on the exact same colour of vinyl. Here's the info from the Rev discography:

It's funny, but even though I've known about this thing existing for many years, I honestly don't think that I realised until today that this particular test press was actually rejected. So now I'm curious as to why.

Just like the other two tests, this one is pressed on a pretty unique green vinyl. It's slightly transparent, and has slight whisps of white running through it. Aside from these green vinyl test pressings, there is only one other record I have ever seen on this same colour (the last repress of the Up Front 'Spirit' LP).

As you can see from the pictures, one label is hand written, whilst the one on the reverse is blank. I'm not sure which I like the most. But I can have hours of fun flipping it around trying to decide.

What seems interesting about this one is that, of the three green vinyl test pressings, the Youth Of Today one used to be the one that seemed the most elusive. I'd seen a few people with one of the other two over the years, but only a couple of people seemed to have the Youth Of Today one. Last year, between instagram and a visit to RevHQ, I managed to figure out where every single copy of the ten was. So when there seemed a slight chance that one may be available, I made a move, knowing that if I didn't then I would most likely never get a chance to own it as everyone else who owns one has no plan to ever let it go. Fortunately it worked out ok in the end, and I became the first owner of one of these who resides outside of the US.

And whilst once I could only dream of owning one of these things, I now have two.

I remember one time saying that if I ever picked up the set of three then I would give up collecting. All of a sudden that doesn't seem quite so impossible as it once did. I know it's unlikely, but IT'S MY POSITIVE OUTLOOK!.

Haven't We Seen You Somewhere Before?

So last Summer New Age Records held a show to mark 30 years as a label. When I had first heard about the show I wanted to go, but in the end it didn't happen. There were a lot of great bands from the label's history playing, but one thing that surprised me was that there were not really any special records pressed for the occasion. Kind of weird when you think that the label is still going and still pressing several different colours of vinyl for each release. The only band that did make something special for the show was Mouthpiece, who turned up with 60 copies of their discography LP (which isn't even on New Age!) housed in a limited sleeve:

I was lucky enough to be able to find someone going to the show who picked a copy up for me. And then somehow it took months for me to get it. Not that it was urgent or anything. But I did notice that despite there being 60 of these made, not many seemed to get posted on instagram in the meantime. And I just checked discogs, and the entry for this shows that 6 people have it, and 8 want it. All in all it just feels like this particular version of this record has been overlooked or forgotten about.

Maybe it's something to do with this not being the most original cover idea. It's the same limited cover made for This Is Hardcore about 8 years ago, but in a different colour. Remember?

It's funny that I made a rule a few years ago to not purchase any more discographies, yet when one is on Rev I'll happily buy copy after copy as long as it comes in a slightly different cover.

Still Walking Alone

One of the most anticipated releases of 2015 was the full length by No Tolerance, 'You Walk Alone'. Back then the band were one of the biggest bands in hardcore, and as such I was pretty keen to get the limited colour vinyl pressings. Both went up for preorder at the exact same time - a blue vinyl copy, put out by Quality Control HQ in the UK, and a red vinyl copy released by Painkiller in the US. I managed to get both, and was prety pleased with myself, handling the pre-order process with ruthless efficiency. But then disaster struck and my red vinyl copy got lost in the post. Three years later and I have finally gotten around to buying another copy, for a really good price.

I wasn't overly impressed with this one when it came out. It just felt like a disappointment after my ridiculously high expectations. After not really listening to it much since, it does seem better than I remember it. I guess expectations are everything huh? Moral of the story - make sure your expectations are always low. That way they will always be exceeded and life will seem generally better.

Trigger / Bass • 103

At some point last year I was looking for something new to listen to and I decided to check out Soulside for the second time. The first time I listened to them was back in about 1994 when I was selling some dude's record collection. Back then I wasn't into it, and my opinion ever since has been 'I'm not into Soulside'. But something made me want to give them another chance last year, so I downloaded the 'Trigger' LP and gave it a chance.

Well, I guess sometimes a change of mindset can lead to a change of heart, and I quickly found myself enjoying the record. I was finally starting to get Soulside, and I knew that eventually I would want to buy some records. The first one I picked up was this reissue of the 'Trigger' LP that also has the 'Bass / 103' 7" tagged on the end. This reissue was released in 2014 on bright yellow vinyl.

I would have preferred to have picked up the original LP and 7" pressings, rather than this compilation reissue. But truth is that I found this in a shop, and you know how it is when you find something in real life - it's far harder to resist something that you are half interested in when it is in your hands. And the fact that it was on colour vinyl kinda helped too. So here I am breaking all of my own rules, and now I'm telling you about it. I know, I know, I suck at this right?

A Triumphant Return to Keelhaul

One good thing about this blog is that it acts as a good reference to the past. For example, it tells me that I bought the last Keelhaul LP in November 2010. I know that time moves faster these days, but the fact that this was 8.5 years ago blows my mind. I would have guessed that it was 2012 or 2013, but the blog doesn't lie.

Well anyway, regardless of when I first bought this record, it was recently that I picked up a test press. I didn't exactly go out looking for it, but it fell in front of me and didn't appear to cost much, so I figured I'd offer it a good home.

As you can see, this comes in a 'standard' Hydrahead test press sleeve, and is numbered 28 of 30.

Keelhaul is one of those bands that I easily forget about for a few years at a time, and then somehow I remember the records and play them all non-stop for a couple of weeks again. Man, I wish they would reappear and make more tunes... although after ten years, it feels highly unlikely.

Departed Souls

It's always a nice surprise when a band you're into announces a new record without any notice. Such was the case when a new Magic Circle LP was put up for pre-order back in mid March. I'm don't exactly have my finger on the pulse of new releases anyway, but it was still a big surprise to find out that a new LP was about to drop.

I was really into the first LP back in 2013 and loved the 2nd LP in 2016, so I was keen to get the new one. So when the pre-order went up I made sure to order right away so I didn't miss out.

At the point I got sent the link, a friend told me that the most limited colour (white) was already sold out. But when I clicked it was still there. Whether I was lucky or maybe he didn't figure out how the store works, I'm not sure, but I was still relieved when it turned up.

There was also a green with gold vinyl copy available. At the point of order I wasn't sure whether to buy one or not, but in the end decided it would be 'safer' to pick one up. There are 440 copies of this colour, compared with only 110 of the white, but this seems a much more fitting colour as it matches the cover better.

I think this is probably the first new release of 2019 that I have picked up, and it's a pretty good one. It's only been out for just over a month, but I've played it pretty much every day so far. This is very reminiscent of the first LP, which I played a lot when it came out, and which I still return to now and again. The second LP, 'Journey Blind' grabbed me at first, but didn't quite have the staying power. So far this one reminds me more of the first than the second. The songs are a little slower and it took longer to get into, but once it started to take hold the addiction grew, and now it's all I can do to not listen to it. Ultimately time will tell where this one will rank, but right now this is all I am interested in listening to.

A Blank Bill

One of the cool things about record collecting is finding weird anomalies. The seller of the Mudhoney 7"s also told me that they had a Seaweed 'Bill' 7" with a blank label. I'd never heard of it, so it got me interested. I asked for a photo and was intrigued by what I got back, and instantly decided that I needed to buy it.

I was expecting the blank label to be plain white. But as you can see, the label is not technically blank. It's a standard Sub Pop label, complete with the pressing plant info, but without the text relating to the release itself. The word 'Bill' has then been stamped roughly where the word shold have appeared in the first place, although in text that is ten times bigger. It's kinda crappy but very cool at the same time. This pic shows a comparison with my regular copy:

Interestingly, John Pette's Seaweed discography makes no mention of this record, so it could be a pretty rare variant. Makes me wonder how many copies of this thing exist, although like so many records we will most likely never know.

And mainly because I'm getting back into the swing of this blog and taking photos, I cracked out the other two copies for an updated family photo. Always a good way to end a post.

Touch Me I'm Sick

If you've read this blog previously you'll probably know that I have a bit of a thing for some of the earlier Sub Pop releases. Sub Pop is (or at least, was) pretty much THE most collectible label ever, with multiple colours pressed of a lot of releases, and a bunch of transitions and weird variations, many of which are still unconfirmed or rumoured to this day. It's fun, but if you were to get seriously involved then it could become a full time job... although you'd probably need three full time jobs to pay for it all.

Anyway, I recently connected with a Sub Pop collector in the UK who was selling some stuff. So I picked up a few bits. I'm not a full blown Sub Pop collector, but I dabble now and again. This time around I picked up some Mudhoney 7"s. Or rather, several versions of one particular Mudhoney 7"...

The band's first official release, way back in 1988, was the 'Touch Me I'm Sick / Sweet Young Thing Ain't Sweet No More' 7". I used to own a second press copy on a dirty clear blue vinyl way back in 1992, which I sold about 4 or 5 years later. Over the years I had decided that I wanted to own a brown vinyl first press copy, but I've not managed to find one for a price I wanted to pay. So when I got the chance to re-buy the dirty clear blue pressing, I got a bit nostalgic and decided that it would be kinda cool to own it again.

It's not easy to see in the photo, but in the top left corner of the back cover it says 'Second Edition'.

Well, after a couple of emails I had decided and agreed to buy a complete second pressing colour vinyl set in one go. The price seemed fair, and the colours looked pretty cool together. So I bought 8 copies all at one go.

And after all that I still don't own a first press copy. Maybe one day.

If you were remotely interested in the full pressing info for this record, a better place to look would be on John Pette's site.

Winds Of Promise

The final record in my series of 2018 LP releases that I'm finally catching up with is the debut release from Winds Of Promise. This is a new version of an old band featuring a bunch of legendary SoCal scenesters - Joe Nelson (from Ignite & The Killing Flame), Joe D. Foster (from Unity & Ignite) & Pat Longrie (from Uniform Choice & Unity).

Apparently the band initially formed back in the mid 80s, and wrote songs (that ended up being used by Uniform Choice & No For An Answer), but didn't really get going. Fast forward a few years, and they decided to get back together and release a record via Unity Worldwide Records.

Interestingly, this record also has the Wishingwell Records logo on the back, and on the b-side label. However, I did notice that it doesn't have a WW catalogue number.

I will admit that I didn't really want to like this record for various reasons. I downloaded it and took a while to give it a spin. The first listen I thought that some of the lyrics were kinda corny. But then for whatever reason I tried again and it caught me in a better mood, and I kinda liked it. And now that the weather is getting better it seems that I am reaching for it more frequently. It sounds like a typical west coast band to me, and for some reason that kinda thing always seems better when the sun in shining. If this makes any sense whatsoever then I'm guessing you would probably dig this.

Sunstroke

Still focussing on 2018 releases that I'm late to picking up physical copies of, this next record is one that I started to notice because it started popping up all over the place. And whilst I am generally late to new bands these days, if I see several people I know and respect posting a record, at some point I am going to take notice. Such was the case with the Sunstroke 'Second Floor / Seven' 12".

After seeing two or three copies of this gold vinyl pressing, I started to take notice. I quickly found out that there are a lot of versions of this record, but after seeing several gold copies, I had it in my head that gold was the one I wanted. So that's the one I picked up. 88 copies exist.

So when I went to buy this, the label were also selling some rarities in their store. I had a quick look and spotted the test press for the Sunstroke 12". And you know how it is with me and test presses - I can't NOT buy one if it's dangled in front of me.

I like the simplicity of this cover. Oh, and also that it even bothers to have a cover at all. Makes a nice change for a test press. I also like the hand written labels, which gives it a more personal / DIY touch.

If you're even slower than me and haven't heard (or heard of) Sunstroke, comparisons have been drawn to Revolution Summer type bands, and rightly so. In particular, it reminds me of the the band Rain. If you're into this style, then this really is the record for you. And I have to say, it's great to see a band playing this style in 2018, and it's cool that people are into it. I just hope that the band continues and gives us more at some point as it would be disappointing to stop here.

Wake The Sleeping Dragon

So I was saying in my last post about how it's easy to gain and lose interest over time with some bands that have been around for a few years. Here's a perfect example - Sick Of It All. Over the years the pattern seems to be that I get interested in every other record that they put out. The last one I bought was the 'Based On A True Story' LP back in 2010. The last album (2014's 'Last Act Of Defiance') I vaguely remember seeing come out and having zero interest in. But as soon as I saw the 2018 release 'Wake The Sleeping Dragon' I instantly wanted it. Weird huh?

Well, in all honesty I think it is to do with the (debateably) old fashioned concept of artwork. I saw the artwork and it grabbed me and made me interested in the record. And then I saw the Fat Wreck colour vinyl pressing and I thought that it looked like a cool colour. So then I had two reasons to want it, which inevitably led to me picking on up.

I have no idea how many of this colour version were made. I think I may have seen someone say there are 400 or 500, but I may be imagining that. But the Fat Wreck pressing is in theory for US customers only. Century Media handled the european market with at least 4 different vinyl colour options, none of which looked half as interesting as this one.

So once I had this thing I was obviously going to listen to it. And yup, I've enjoyed it. To keep up to date there's even a song about people posting pictures of themselves online ('self important shithead'), which quite possibly reminds me of some of the people that I stupidly follow on instagram. Ha! Anyway, overall it's cool to see this band are still going strong and can still grab my attention, even if it is only ever 8 years or so.