Out Of Business

I recently bought a bunch of records from a friend who had decided that it was time to let his collection go. It's always sad to see people bow out of the game, but I always respect people's decisions on these things. And as much as I would like to see people keep their collections and keep going, if their decision is to quit then I'm happy to help them out by scooping up a few gems. So I picked up a nice haul of 24 records, and thought I'd post them up here in batches rather than in one or two posts.

Day 1, and I thought I'd start with a couple of Capital records. Capital is one of those bands that I don't listen to enough. Every time I listen to them I wonder why I don't listen to them more often, because every time I do listen to them I think 'this band is great'. The first record is a test press of the first full length, 'Signal Corps'. I actually had one of these in a parcel that went missing in the mail in 2016. So it's nice to finally get a replacement.

This one doesn't come with anything other than a white paper sleeve, so I pulled out the regular sleeve just for a more interesting photo.

The second Capital record is a copy of the 'Blind Faith' 7" with a release show sleeve. I've always been a fan of nice, simple designs, and this one looks great.

This one is numbered out of 50 copies in the bottom of the sleeve, although it's written pretty small, so not sure it shows up too well in this pic. In total there were 100 copies on white vinyl, so I assume 50 come in this sleeve and 50 in the regular sleeve.

So that's the first couple of records from the batch, and I have 22 more to get through. I'm hoping to cover the rest of the stuff I picked up in daily posts from now until they're all done. It will probably take about 10 posts to do it justice and I'm aiming to do one a day from now until then end.

Red With Black Swirl Death

Back in 2015 I picked up the debut LP from Red Death, 'Permanent Exile'. At that time I really enjoyed that LP, and even though I got lucky and had a friend help me out by getting me a copy of the record release version, I still wanted a colour vinyl copy. Well, 5 years later and it finally happened. I found a copy selling for a good price recently, so scooped it quicksmart.

This copy is the US pressing on Grave Mistake Records, and apparently there were 219 copies on red vinyl. This copy seems to be a quirky copy with some nice black swirls within the red vinyl, which looks pretty cool.

After picking this up and listening to it again, I've realised that there are two albums after this one that I haven't heard. The second one I avoided because it came out on Triple B, and it also appears that a thid one came out in 2019 on Century Media that I knew nothing about. Feels like I need to do some catching up on this band pretty soon.

Jealous Again Again

It seems that Black Flag records are like buses. You wait three years for one, then two come along at once. After picking up the final colour vinyl 7" that I needed (the clear blue 'Six Pack' 7"), I then managed to find the only other colour vinyl Black Flag record that I felt that I needed - the clear vinyl 'Jealous Again' 12".

I've known about this one for maybe a year or two. I lose track of time, so it's hard to say exactly, but the point is that it was only relatively recently that it came onto my radar. A fellow collector tipped me off and told me that it existed. Information on this record is pretty much non existent, but the other Black Flag collectors that I know are sure that this is a semi recent repress. I tried to contact SST Records via different channels to ask, but got no response.

I picked this up via a trade initiated via instagram. Someone I follow posted a pic of some Black Flag records, and this one was in the shot, so I sent a message asking if he would consider letting it go. I was expecting that the answer would be 'no', but the answer was more like 'i might be into trading'. A few days later a deal was agreed, and then a week or so later the record landed at my door.

As the photo shows, this is on clear vinyl. One of my pet hates in recent years is people insisting that clear vinyl is 'clear green' or 'coke bottle clear'. These terms never used to exist. Clear is clear. Sometimes it seems to have a slight green tint to it, but that doesn't make it green. It's clear, ok? [/Rant over]

To wrap this one up, a (non) interesting fact is that this is the first copy of this record that I have owned in probably 25 or 26 years. The first copy of this record I bought was the pink vinyl 10" pressing, which I bought in about 1992. I then sold it probably in around 1994/5, because I found out that the 10" pressings were just reissues of ealier 12"s or 7"s. I had 3 or 4 of the colour vinyl 10"s, but always hated 10"s, so finding out that they were not original pressings made getting rid of them an easy decision. After that I never bought another version, as a black vinyl 12" never really seemed high up the agenda. So it's great to finally pick up a copy of this record, because all things considered, I think this is probably my single favourite Black Flag record.

Black Flag Colour 7" Collection

So the first thing to say is that I've been anticipating and looking forward to making this post for the past 8 years. Ever since December 2012 when I 'completed' my Black Flag colour vinyl LP collection, I have been trying to also complete the colour vinyl 7" collection. Back in 2012 I probably thought it would take a couple of years, yet somehow it has taken 8. But with the addition of the clear blue vinyl 'Six Pack' 7" in my last post, the time has finally come.

Anyway, I always planned to do what I did with the LPs, and put them all into one post, for no other reason than for this to be used as a reference guide for anyone else interested in this stuff. So I'm going to go through each of the 7"s in order.

First up is SST Records Number 1, the 'Nervous Breakdown' 7". This one comes on four colours. I'm pretty sure that the earliest colour pressing is the one in the red sleeve on gold vinyl. Then there are two different clear red vinyl pressings - one with a large hole, one with small hole. I have no idea if these were pressed at the same time or separately. I would guess that the gold vinyl and red vinyl copies were made in the early 90s, although this is pure speculation, based on the fact that this is when most colour vinyl SST records were pressed. And then the clear blue vinyl copy was the most recent and dates back to 2011.

Second is the 'Six Pack' 7" (SST Records number 5). Again, there are 4 different versions of this one. The three copies in the red sleeves probably date back to the early 90s, but again, I'm guessing. They may have been pressed at the same time, or they may be different pressings that were made in a relatively short period of time. The whiteish copy was pressed in 2011.

Third is the 'TV Party' 7" (SST Records number 12). There are only 3 colour versions of this one, but it follows the same pattern. The clear yellow and clear red probably date from the early 90s, whereas the solid orange copy is from 2011.

And finally, the 'Louie Louie' 7" (SST Records number 175). This one slightly bucks the previous trend, in that there are 5 versions of this one. The 'original' colour pressings are the white, turquoise and red vinyl copies, and just like the 'Nervous Breakdown' 7", there are two different red vinyl copies - one with large hole and one with a small hole. There is then a grey vinyl repress from 2011.

What is perfect about this collection is that there are 16 records. So once I had taken records out to take the photos above, all I had to do was slide all 16 together to make a nice 4x4 square.

Of course, the down side to 'finishing' a collection is that it means that there are no more records to chase, which is half the fun. But now that I have acquired all of the colour 7"s, I think I now may move on to collecting the first pressings of each of these as they are on different labels. That said, I'm probably not going to chase an first press 'Nervous Breakdown' as that one goes for a lot more than I'd like to pay. But at least I have an excuse to buy more 7"s and carry on completely ignoring the 10"s.

Clear Blue Six Pack

It's been 3.5 years since I last added a Black Flag record to my collection. It was a copy of a 7" that I already had, but with a different sized hole. Prior to that variant that I didn't know about, it the previous last FLag record I had picked up was a baby blue vinyl copy of the 'Six Pack' 7" back in October 2015. At the end of that post, I wrote this:

I'm now only one 7" away from a complete colour 7" collection. The last one I need, however, seems to be stupidly rare. I only know that it exists as a fellow collector emailed me a picture which he had grabbed from popsike. It's the 'Six Pack' 7" (again!) on clear blue.

Well, somehow it took 5 years, but a clear blue 'Six Pack' finally made it's way into my house yesterday. Here it is:

I have no idea how many of these exist, but it definitely feels like it is the rarest of all the colour vinyl Black Flag 7"s. In all of the time I have been collecting them, I have only seen this one for sale once (well, technically twice, although both times by the same person). I ended up paying about double what I would have been happy to pay, but sometimes you have to pay more to end the hunt and regain your sanity. Plus the seller is a fellow UK Black Flag collector, so it was good to help him out.

I was relatively late to collecting the colour Black FLag 7"s, with the first one I picked up being in 2008, and here I am in 2020 adding what I believe to be the last of them to the collection. It seems crazy to think that collecting all of the 12"s took me 6 years from start to finish, but the 7"s took double that time.

Anti Social Straight Edge

It seems like only a couple of years since Violent Reaction was the hot new band. In reality it was 7 years ago, in 2013, when I picked up their debut 7". After that the put out an LP on Painkiller Records, then got picked up Revelation and put out another LP two years later, and then a couple more years down the line they decided to call it quits. The last show took place on 21 January 2017 in London, and there was a 7" with a special cover made for the event.

The record is a regular copy of the Australian pressing of the 'Dead End' 7" that was put out on Rain On The Parade Records, with an additional cover wrapped around it. The dust sleeve is stamped and numbered (although not actually numbered) out of 50 copies.

It's kinda funny how I have now picked up two more Violent Reaction records this year. I was checking out discogs and it kinda blows my mind how many different pressings there are of their records. Collecting everything this band put out could take a lot of time. I don't think I have the energy for it, although I'd like tests of the two full lengths if anyone has any leads.

Hard To Swallow

Hard To Swallow were a UK band that existed in the mid to late 90s. I only ever saw them play twice, and both times they blew me away. Back then I was young and relatively new to the world of hardcore punk, and some bands both thrilled and scared me at the same time. Hard To Swallow were one. But whilst they were really powerful live, their recorded material didn't have quite the same impact. I think it was mainly the vocals that just didn't sound anywhere near as chaotic on record as they did live, although on the positive side, the riffs sounded heavier. Deep in my collection I have a split 7" and a song on a compilation LP, but I was disappointed by them and as a result never bought anything else. Well, until a couple of weeks ago when I decided on a whim to pick up the recently pressed LP that compiles a bunch of odds and ends onto one handy platter, which I mainly bought as it helped justify the postage costs on something else I was picking up at the time.

Interestingly, this LP was released by an American label (Armageddon Label). I have no idea how far Hard To Swallow may have travelled in their day as they generaly moved in slightly different circles to me, but I never got the sense that they were hugely popular, or very well known overseas. So I'm kinda intrigued as to how this has ende dup coming out on a US label. Also, I believe that the CD version of this came out in 2015, but it was only last year that this finally got pressed onto vinyl. I think I read that there are 300 copies on this 'random' colour vinyl (which looks slightly more orange in real life), although I may have imagined that as I can't find anything now to confirm.

To end this post I figured I'd put up the only video I could find online. It still doesn't quite do their live show justice, but you get the idea.

Regular Size Surprise

In May this year I picked up a couple of Gameface LPs, and the label threw in a 7" that I didn't previously own, namely the 'Regular Size' 7", which was originally released in 2014. Then in June I picked up another version from a UK label that jointly released it. The hunt was then on for the other two versions that would allow me to have a complete collection.

Well, last week another one just rolled at my house completely out of the blue. My good friend Nico sent it to me just because he thinks it would sit better in my collection. What a great gift and surprise!

There were (if Discogs is correct) 100 of these on blue vinyl, with the first 50 copies coming in a cloth outer bag, and it's a really nice little item.

This now marks the 3rd version of this 7" that I have managed to acquire this year. Another nice touch is that the covers are all slightly different covers. So it's a nice colourful little collection of 7"s.

There's still a US pressing that I am missing, on Equal Vision, although it has a completely different cover so won't look quite as cool with these copies. And I'm assuming that the two different pressings mean that there are 2 different test pressings too. So this little collection could run for a few more years yet.

Time Is 3 Years Late

Late to the party as ever, I picked up this Ecostrike 'Time Is Now' 7". It's a first press copy on Carry The Weight Records (a UK label that is now defunct) that I spotted on eBay UK going for a bit less than it would ususally sell for.

Back when this came out, in 2017, I heard the buzz but decided I wasn't interested as it was advertised as 'vegan straight edge like Earth Crisis', which I didn't feel I needed in my life in 2017. But about a year later I decided to give the band a chance when I started seeing photos of the LP being posted and it was apparent that they were becoming a pretty big deal.

This 7" got reissued by Triple B Records a few months after it came out, so I was happy to pick up a copy from the first pressing. I actually prefer the first LP to this 7", as the LP sounds more like the first Strife LP (which is a lot more palatable to me than Earth Crisis these days) but I can't actually bring myself to buy anything on Triple B anymore as their records are always pressed on the most vile colours, and on the vinyl from the european plant that I hate. So I doubt I'll be adding any more Ecostrike records to the collection anytime soon, unless they repress them at a proper plant.

Another Fade

Another great pickup from eBay UK is this copy of the Fade 'One With Serenity' 7" with a limited sleeve.

I'm not 100% on this, but I think it may have been made for a record release show.

I tried to find my older post on the other version of this 7" that I own and was shocked to see that it was almost 5 years ago, in November 2015. Seriously, where are the years going these days? But I have played this band's output quite regularly ever since, and am still happy to go on picking up more versions of the same records. I'm still on the lookout for a clear vinyl copy of this one, if anyone wants to give theirs up.

Build & Destroy II

Back in 2017 I picked up a couple of 7"s by a band called Build & Destroy on Lockin' Out Records. The main point of interest was that the band featured a dude who used to be in RZL DZL, which was one of my favourite bands of the 00s. The band had two 7"s released at the same time, both of which were pressed on purple vinyl. One of these was their 2010 demo, and my purple copy was basically clear with a little whisp of purple in it. At the time I said this:

I'm sorely tempted to also try to pick up a purple one too. I bet there are quite a range of colour variants of this one out there, and it would be cool to have a couple of them.

Well, keeping up with my recent drive to try to mainly buy stuff from within the UK, last week I grabbed a much more purple looking copy that showed up eBay in the UK.

As you can see, this one is very much a slightly dirty looking purple colour. But it's a lot more purple than my other 'purple' copy, as you can see here:

I do find it interesting how bands just tend to appaer and pretty much immediately vanish again these days. It feels to me that it happens more often nowadays than in years gone by. The demo was released in 2010, then a 'proper' 7" came out five years later in 2015, and here we are another five years later and there has been nothing since. I'm assuming the band is dead, but is that ever really the case these days? It would be cool to get a full length, although at this point it feels highly unlikely. Shame, as this band is (or was) damn good.

Hammered Hulls

When i was picking up a couple of Dischord releases a couple of weeks ago, I also decided to pick up the Hammered Hulls 7" that came out last year.

I downloaded these songs when this came out, and it is indeed a great record. But I didn't feel the need to buy it previously because, well, it LOOKS kinda boring. Black vinyl and a black and white cover and no insert is hardly a feast for the eyes.

I think the reason I changed my mind and picked one up is that I became aware that Dischord had sold out. Plus it was sat there in front of me for a pretty low price. So I just figured it would be best to grab one whilst I still could. I mean, who knows, maybe it'll never be repressed?

For anyone unaware, the band features Alec Mackaye (Faith, Ignition) on voice skills, and also some other people whose other bands I don't really know about playing musical instruments. And it rips. It's some good DC hardcore that for me sits nicely in the middle of the typical 80s & 90s DC sounds.

Coriky

When I ordered the Minor Threat 12" on blue vinyl a couple of weeks ago, I also debated ordering the debut full length from Ian Mackaye's new band, Coriky. I have to admit, I am not the biggest Fugazi fan and I didn't like The Evens, so it didn't feel like a necessary record to me. Plus it only comes on black vinyl. So it felt that there was little real appeal. However, at the last second I added it to the order, mainly because I generally feel that I should be investing in more new releases and fewer multiple copies of things that I already have eight copies of.

Even in the age of the internet, with all music being instantly accessible, there are times when I'm happy to just buy a record on a whim without checking the band out online first. I guess it just feels like fun, and makes me feel a little nostalgic to the days when I never heard anything before I bought it, and listening to a new band for the first time was kinda exciting.

I think that in a different time I possibly would not have enjoyed this as much as I have been, but this has proven to be a good one for me to play whilst working at home. I don't know about you, but I prefer listening to mellower stuff whilst I work. Playing the latest Rated X LP is likely to make me want to jump on to my desk and dive off it again, which isn't going to help me crank out the necessary spreadsheets and emails. No, I need something a little slower in the background that maybe makes me tap my fingers a little faster. So this record ticks that box, and as such has been getting a fair bit of play recently, especially the song 'Have A Cup Of Tea' which is quite possibly the most apt song ever for a Brit like me.

I'm With Stu

Earlier this year it was announced that one of Bane's later era bass players, Brendan 'Stu' Mcguire, had been diagnosed with cancer. I saw Bane quite a lot of times over the years, and got to know most of them, although I never really got to know Stu. Before Bane, he played in another Boston band from the 90s/00s that I was into - Reach The Sky. After joining Bane, he played on the Dublin / Rome / Boston / Los Angeles series of 7"s & CDs that came out in 2009 (which I always seem to forget exist), so it seemed fitting that one of the labels that released a couple of those 7"s put together a limited version of one to help raise some money for his cause. Hurry Up Records had a box of the 'Dublin, 11:58 PM' 7"s left over, so they made up a different cover for them and sold them online to raise some cash and they sold out within a couple of hours.

Given there were two different versions available, I had to buy both in order to keep my Bane collection as complete as possible. I figured that the limited sleeve would just be a piece of paper made on a photocopier, but when it arrived I was pleasantly surprised as it was a printed and glued card sleeve of the highest quality. There were two different colours of vinyl, both leftovers from the 2nd press.

The red vinyl is slightly rarer than the other colour, being numbered out of 52 copies:

The green / black split vinyl is numbered out of 57:

Overall, this is exactly what it is - a good way to use up some leftover records and contribute to a good cause at the same time. It also served as a good reminder that these 7"s exist, which made me listen to them again for the first time in a long while. I seem to remember thinking at the time that they weren't that good, but listening again all these years later and clearly I was wrong. There are some great songs here, so it has been cool to rediscover them.

Rhinoceros

Another repress I couldn't say no to (partly because it's on Rev and partly because it holds a special place in my heart) is this Orange 9mm debut 12" on 'rhinoceros grey' vinyl.

Unlike some people who managed to somehow avoid hearing this record for about 25 years, I first bought this in an actual shop (remember those?) when it came out. I remember seeing it on the rack and seeing the Rev logo on the front cover (which still feels like a strange move to this day) and feeling curious, but being a student with a very limited budget I wasn't sure I wanted to spend the money without hearing the band. So I asked the dude in the shop to play it for me, and I think I probably decided I wanted to buy it within 5 seconds.

My only 'complaint' with this record is the colour choice for the vinyl. I mean, for some reason I'm stupid enough to buy another copy to add to my existing 4 regardless, but the grey vinyl is quite a dark shade and seems a bit boring. I think a nice blue would have matched the cover far better, although the way things work these days maybe we'll be in store for that one next.

Guilty Of Being Blue

It was only a couple of weeks ago that I typed these words - I have tried over the past few years to reduce the number of reissues and represses that I buy but, as with most things in life, there are always exceptions.. And again, here I am posting another repress that I didn't need but had to have that gets added to my list of exceptions.

Dischord Records have never really pressed much of their catalogue on colour vinyl, but have put out a few colour pressings over the past 13 years or so. This latest pressing of the Minor Threat 'First Two 7"s' 12" comes on a very pretty baby blue vinyl that I imagine would be difficult for anyone who is interested in either Minor Threat or cool looking records to resist. In fact, I would guess that it's likely that the vast majority of these will end up in the hands of people who already own the record in one format or another.

I believe that there are a whopping 3,000 copies pressed, meaning it is unlikely to ever become particularly hard to find. But who really cares about that? Despite being a repress and probably about the 25th version of this record, it's a really nice item. Way nicer than the crappy green vinyl copy from 2007 which had a really flimsy sleeve and was on crappy euro vinyl. I'm already intriogued to see what happens when this sells out. Could it be red vinyl in a red sleeve? Yellow vinyl in a yellow sleeve? Or maybe just back to black vinyl? The way things are going we'll probably find out in a few months.

Confusion Hill

A couple of years ago I got into an old band called Nuisance. I have a song or two on some old compilations, and one day I listened to one of those comps and then decided to check out more songs by some of the bands whose songs I was into. I found the debut full length by Nuisance on youtube and left it playing whilst I worked. A few songs in and I genuinely thought that the LP had finished and youtube had moved on to some obscure Nirvana song. But no, it was Nuisance. So I started paying a bit more attention, and I was into it. The songs are very reminiscent of that early Seattle sound. I imagine the band spending their time in a dirty basement wearing checked shirts and smoking Marlboro whilst trying to figure out where they can buy a van for $100 so that they can go on tour.

Anyway, two years later (and 29 years after it was first released) I finally found a copy of the debut LP in the UK for a good price.

'Confusion Hill' was released by Lookout! Records in 1991. It exists on black vinyl only. I like the early Lookout! release aesthetic. I love how big elements of the layout are hand written. It gives the records a more DIY feel and overall just harks back to simpler times.

There's a pic of the press release that accompanied this LP on discogs, and this what it says:

Humboldt County, California pot-punk. Here you have the smoked-out, guitar-drenched voice of the Emerald Triangle. Has a Dinosaur Jr. feel with a splash of the Northern California and Seattle influence.

I've been exploring a few early Lookout! bands recently. Some of the bands I wasn't into back in the day, partly because I was so into straight edge back then that I didn't check out stuff that I would have liked a couple of years before. But looking back there was some great stuff that Lookout! put out, and I'm hoping to pick up a few more of their releases in time.

The Blackest Test

Today's entry is a story ten years in the making. I think it's a pretty cool story, so have taken the time to write it out at length.

Back in 2010 Integrity released an album titled 'The Blackest Curse'. I ordered it at preorder stage as I was pretty excited for it, because Integrity had always been one of my favourite bands. Funnily enough, I read my original post on this record back before writing this and had completely forgotten the trouble I went through to get the record originally. That's one of the main benefits of this blog I guess - to jog my own memory. Also, fun fact - I am writing this post on 04 September 2020, and my original post about this LP was written on 04 September 2010.

Anyway, around the time that this LP was released, Dwid sold a test press on eBay, which ended up selling for $449.

I remember at the time being shocked that this record sold for so much, as it was a new release. But the reason for the price was that it was one of only 2 (TWO!) copies made. I knew that both test pressings ended up in the hands of big time Integrity collectors, and just accepted that this was one test press that I would never own.

Fast forward about 8 years, and I was chatting to a fellow Integrity collector one day, and he hit me with a rumour that apparently there were more than 2 test pressings for 'The Blackest Curse'. The rumour suggested that the pressing plant had originally sent the label 2 tests, and then several weeks later sent another box with a lot more copies inside. Apparently they had been put into a store room or cupboard at Deathwish Inc. This dude had emailed Deathwish about it, and been told that they didn't know where the box was and weren't about to go looking. It sounded like a great story, but it also sounded kinda made up.

Fast forward another two years, and in the flurry of auctions and raffles that cropped up a couple of months ago for various charities, Deathwish launched their own test press raffle. I got an email on 07 July from Deathwish telling me that they were running a raffle, with 22 different test pressings up for grabs. And in the list of test pressings was Integrity 'The Blackest Curse'. It suddenly felt like perhaps this rumour were true. But the raffle seemed to suggest that you bought a ticket and then if your number was drawn you would be allocated one of the 22 tests on offer. So I figured that my chance of winning the one record that I was interested in were slim, and I didn't want to take the gamble that would likely result in disappointment.

Well, a few days later and my luck turned. I got an email from Dwid himself, offering a 'Blackest Curse' test press. He confirmed that the rumour was indeed true, and that Deathwish had recently unearthed the box of additional tests. Apparently the box contained 32 more copies, which took this from being the rarest Integrity test press to the most common overnight. Dwid got sent a few and made up some hand drawn covers for them.

The final thing worthy of note is that only two of the copies Dwid got sent had the same green labels as the copies he originally received in 2010. The rest had white labels. I was lucky enough to get one of the green label copies. So I still ended up with a rarer variant of this test press. Although this of course means that there is another different variant out there to collect if I'm ever desperate to spend more money.

Tied Down Warwound

This one is a semi new release that came out earlier this year. A split 7" of two current UK hardcore bands, Tied Down and Warwound.

I mainly bought this for the Tied Down side. The band features some older dudes from pretty successful UK bands and play music that brings to mind Boston and New York bands from the 80s. This 7" features three new songs from Tied Down, and fortunately there's no change in style from their debut 7" from last year.

The flipside of this 7" features Warwound, a band that I'd never heard of before. I was surprised to find out that they're a really old band that have recently reformed. Or rather, one of the original members has reformed the band by recruiting 3 new members. Anyway, the songs on here are pretty good, although this side definitely comes a firm second in the 'best cover on the Tied Down / Warwound 7"' contest.

There were 300 copies of this record pressed and that's it. No colour vinyl or any form of limited edition pressing sadly. Just like some of those classic early hardcore records.