Coolside

ANother Indecision Records release that I picked up a couple of months ago and am only just getting around to is the 'Exploration Of Self' 7" by Coolside. This was released in 2019, and at the time I remember reading a couple of reviews that made it sound interesting, but I never got around to grabbing a copy. The band hails from Southern California, and as far as I can tell probably are not still going... but who really knows that these days? Anyway, this 7" is a great little hardcore record. The vocal reminds me a little of Count Me Out, but musically it's different. I don't know, I can't describe this. But it's prety damn good.

All copies are on this cool clear blue vinyl. I was also lucky to be able to get a test press for a really great price, and nice to see it has the Rainbo labels, which are probably my favourite of all the pressing plant labels.

As mentioned at the start of this post, I'm not sure that this band is still going. If I had to bet I'd say no based on the lack of activity on their facebook page (which seems to be all they have). They also have a first 7" which in theory exists, although barely anyone on discogs has one and there are no pics I can find on instagram or anywhere else. I'd love to get one at some point, but it seems much rarer than it should be, which makes me want one more.

In The Bag

Back in 2020 one of my favourite UK bands of all time had their full length released on vinyl for the first time. I picked up the two different colours that were pressed and I was very happy. 'Burning Bushes And Burning Bridges' by Understand is such a great record and one that was pretty damn important for me, and it was nice to finally own it on vinyl twenty fiver years after it was first released. The vinyl was a pretty limited pressing of 300 copies total, but at some point in the last few months they pressed another 100 copies on clear vinyl, and I felt compelled to buy one.

Since my last post on this there was some terrible news from this band. Guitarist John Hannon sadly passed away last year unexpectedly. I used to see him every now and again at shows in London, and the last time I saw him was at Soulside a couple of years back. Very sad he has gone so soon. But my memories of him will live on through Understand's music, which I will probably continue to play for the rest of my days, as I have done the past 30 years or so.

Drain Is Your Friend

What a ride it's been for Drain. The band got signed to Revelation on the strength of a performance at Sound & Fury 2019, and with their debut LP 'California Cursed' coming out pretty much at the start of the Covid pandemic, they weren't able to tour for a long, long time. But once the world started moving again, Drain started playing again, and quickly got signed by Epitaph. Basically, they blew up, and I'm sure their story will run for a while yet. But given their success, Rev keep selling out of their LP and having to get more pressed. I finally got around to picking up the latest pressing, on clear purple vinyl .

There were over 2000 copies made of this one, which makes it the most common version there is. But at the same time, it's quite possibly the prettiest. If you're the kind of person who hasn't picked this record up yet, and isn't overly fussed about which copy you get, this could be a good one to grab whilst it's still available.

Anyway, I decided to get all my copies out for a group pic. I have a lot of time on my hands these days, so taking photos of records makes for a good afternoon's entertainment.

The top 3 colours in the photo are the first press, and the second row shows the 2nd, 3rd and 4th pressings.

The band's second LP is now recorded, so will be out at some point in the next few months. At least with it being on Epitaph I probably won't feel compelled to try to buy every version there is.

Question What You Collect For

When I look back on years passed, I think that the 2001-3 era of hardcore was actually pretty damn good. Some great new labels, a new era of bands, and a new phase of record collecting. Bridge Nine was without doubt leading the charge, and they quickly became a label that I religiously bought everything that they released because I completely trusted their judgement. Buying records by bands I had never heard of or heard was exciting and I was rarely let down, and without a doubt I got into some bands that I would never have heard if they hadn't been on B9. One such example is Holding On. Their 2nd LP, 'Question What You Live For' came out at the end of 2002 at roughly the exact time that I had just bought my first house. I don't think that's really relevant, but it both seems like yesterday and a hundred years ago both at the same time. Anyway, I always liked the record, and always kinda wanted to pick up a yellow vinyl copy of the record. Recently it happened and I was pretty stoked.

There were supoposed to be 300 orange vinyl, but 275 orange copies came back from the plant along with 42 yellow copies. As such this thing used to be pretty sought after, but I picked this up on discogs recently for only $12. I was pretty happy with that.

Inside I found this insert, which kinda suggests that someone paid quite a lot more. I'm going to guess this dates back to 2003, as it mentions Champion would soon be going into the studio to record their LP, which came out in 2004.

Finish What You Started

Catching up on some of the recent-ish Revelation represses that I bought last year and have only just received. Not much to say abuot these, but they were essential for me to keep the collection as complete as possible. And who can turn down the chance to buy more colour vinyl Gorilla Biscuits records?

The 7" on blue with regular labels. Let's not forget there was a blue vinyl pressing that came in the 30th anniversay box set, but it had a large hole and different labels and kinda felt like a weird imitation. This one looks like an actual record so gets a pass. Plus it was pressed in the UK about 20 miles from my house.

Next I managed to get my hands on another copy of the Conne Island pressing of the 7". The pressing info for this record mentioned that some copies had an extra insert, so I was happy to find one. It's shown in the bottom left of the following photo, and is a CD sized booklet.

I also got both of the last pressings of 'Start Today' both from last year. First upis the red vinyl pressing, which caused a bit of a commotion when it was first announced last year because a lot of us are old enough to remember the 'final press' on red vinyl from 2001, and it seemed crazy that Rev would press it again on the same colour.

This time around, however, the red vinyl was opaque red rather than clear, so it is still possible to differentiate between the two pressings. As well as the vinyl itself, the labels kinda give it away. The 2001 pressing has much darker green and red on the labels, whereas the colours are much lighter shades on this more recent pressing.

And finally, the yellow vinyl pressing. There were about 3000 of these made, which feels like loads, but you just know it will sell out and then be impossible to find. And then no doubt a green vinyl version will follow not long after.

The Joker

Most years there is some kind of Integrity release made for Halloween, none of which I think have ever been actually ready or available on Halloween itself. Last year's pre-order was possibly the best one yet, and quite a smart choice, and I finally got hold of my copy last week. It pays homage to the first Integrity release and makes it available to the masses for the first time.

For as long as I can remember I was aware of the Integrity 7" with the Joker sleeve. It became a somewhat legendary record amongst collectors, with everybody knowing that it existed, but nobody really knew what it looked like. Even with the arrival of the internet, information is scarce and photos of it even more rare. There were 5 copies made, and I believe that they are stamped on the back with the Victory logo and numbered. But I don't know enough about it to recognise an original from a bootleg, and the odd bootleg does exist. I know someone who bought one for a large amount of money and got ripped off with a fake.

This limited replica features the same artwork on the front, and is stamped and numbered on the inner paper sleeve out of 225 copies. It also comes on baby blue vinyl, which in my mind is a slightly odd choice because this repress 7" was pressed on baby blue vinyl previously (and numbered out of 116 copies). I believe that the original five 7"s in the Joker sleeves were on red vinyl, so I kinda feel that this should have been pressed on red too. But these are just small details. Either way, this pressing is all about the cover, which looks pretty rad. The sleeve is also a 'hard' cover (i.e. folded & glued, as opposed to being just a folded piece of paper) which feels like a quality job.

This one also comes with a little insert written by guitarist Aaron Melnick where he talks about his memory of making the original Joker sleeve, which is a nice little extra.

Blue Change

Looking back, 2020 was a pretty shitty year for a lot of reasons, but looking back at this blog and it seems that there were some good records that came out. One of my favourites of the year was the debut LP from Change, 'Closer Still'. A great straight edge hardcore record which looks every bit as great as it sounds. Back when it came out I only intended to buy one copy, but then picked up a second copy just because I wanted a purple one. But I never planned on trying to collect more copies. Well, sometimes the universe conspires against my plans, and I have now ended up with a third copy.

At some point over a year ago, I got a message from Mike asking if I wanted a blue vinyl second press copy. It's been so long that I can't remember exactly what happened, but somehow he ended up with a second copy and asked me if I wanted it, and even though I wasn't really wanting to collect this record, I found it impossible to say no.

I'm convinced that they were trying to recreate the Youth Of Today 'Break Down The Walls' blue vinyl with this one, but that's such a unique shade of blue that pretty much no other record on earth looks close. This one is on a really interesting colour though, and I'm glad to have one. Damnit Mike, always tempting me to add more records to my shelf.

Now, who's holding a pink one that they no longer need?

Mutate Me

I'm sure I've said this a hundred times before, but I have always been a huge fan of Into Another. Yet despite listening to them since about 1993, it was in 2015 that I found out abotu the existence of one of their records for the first time. After their 'Omens' record came out in 2015, someone on instagram posted a pic of their Into Another collection, and in there was a record I had never seen before - a promo 12". I quickly found one for cheap on discogs, but then it got lost in the post. So here we are, seven years later, and I finally found another one for a reasonable price.

This 12" contains one song only, with the same song being pressed once on each side. The song is the first one their 3rd LP, 'Seemless'. It was pressed by Hollywood Records, the major label that released that album, in 1995.

This is kind of a cool little item to have, and interestingly it was manufactured in the UK. But also, I find it kinda strange that this even exists at all. I say that because Hollywood Records did not press the album 'Seemless' on vinyl. The vinyl was put out by Revelation. Hollywood only pressed it on CD. So essentially they pressed a one song 12" vinyl record to promote a CD. Weird right?

Rod Of Correction

Another Indecision Records release from a few years ago that I have only just picked up and got around to listening to, 'Lies' is the debut release of San Diego band Rod Of Correction. This was released in 2018 at a time when I had no idea or much interest in what Indecision was putting out, so I missed it. But it feels like probably a lot of other people did too, as there are still some of the green vinyl copies (100 made) available to order in the Indecision store. Crazy.

I figured I'd take a chance on this mainly based on the cover. But also because it has Colin Tappe on vocals. He runs a record store near to San Diego called Standards Records, and he released a couple of records a few years ago, one of which was a band that he was in called Crime Desire. I bought it and quite enjoyed it at the time.

I imagine that this is the kind of thing that people often refer to as 'crossover'. It's quite metal, although with these vocals I'm not exactly sure what kind of metal this would be. Not that it matters really. Hardcore, metal, thrash, crossover... this thing has riffs for days. Even though there are only 7 songs here that clock in at 16 minutes.

Beyond The Ruins

Following on from yesterdays's post about No Plan, I figured that today I would rabbit on about a related older band.

Gather was not a band that I was into or even really knew about when they were active, which was 2004-07. Probably part of the reason that I wasn't really aware of them at the time is that they were an anarchist vegan straight edge band, and back then I was definitely not interested in anything like that. I think around that time I was mainly listening to Isis and 80s hardcore. Anyway, Gather was a band fronted by Eva (Power Alone, No Plan) and I decided to pick up one of their records and give it a go.

'Beyond The Ruins' was Gather's full length LP, released in 2006 by Catalyst Records, and recently repressed by Indecision Records in a very limited quantity. Indecision pressed 200 copies on vinyl, with three different colours of vinyl in a brand new cover, which I think looks great. They also somehow got hold of 50 copies of the original pressing on clear vinyl, hand stamped the labels and popped them into these new sleeves. I picked up one of the clear copies just because I think it looked the nicest. Clear vinyl is the best.

This band contains 3 of the 5 members of Power Alone, but it sounds very different. This record definitely sounds like a more typical 'vegan straight edge' band with lots of sounding way (if that makes sense). Musically this reminds me of Harvest, even down to the vocals. Eva's vocals sound very different on here to the style she has adopted in Power Alone, and whilst I think the newer vocal style works better, the vocals on here definitely suit this style of hardcore. This is a pretty heavy and dark record, and I'm happy to have finally discovered it, even if it is 16 years after it first came out.

No Plan

No Plan is a new band from Orange County that features Eva (vocalist from Power Alone). I picked this up from Indecision HQ a few weeks ago just before it was officially released, but I needed some time to play it before I posted it on here.

Unlike Eva's previous bands, No Plan play music that is more towards the melodic punk end of the scale. The band started during lockdown, with Eva and some other dude writing and eventually recording five songs that Indecision have pressed as a limited 12". There are 200 of these things made, all on dark grey vinyl.

I know that Eva is into a lot of older Bay Area punk bands, and the layout of this record definitely takes inspiration from some of the old Lookout! Records releases, especially the back cover:

So it turns out that other members have now been recruited so that No Plan can become a proper band. That said, all the members are actually in other bands anyway, so I'm not sure how much time they will be able to devote to No Plan. Time will tell I guess.

Anyway, this record is a real grower. Like so many records, I wasn't overly excited by it on the first couple of plays, but because it is pretty short I ended up playing it pretty regularly, to the point where I can now sing along with most of it... which is in my mind the measure of a good record. Hopefully things will carry on and we will get a full length at some point.

Along Came A Test Press

Back in 202o when the world got turned upside down, Tim Singer re-emerged onto the scene with a band called Bitter Branches. I picked up their debut 12" EP and really enjoyed it at the time, but not too long after it was announced that one of Tim Singer's older bands, No Escape, were going to release new material, so I wasn't sure that Bitter Branches would stay the course.

Well anyway, at some point last year it became clear that they weren't going anywhere fast, when a new 7" EP was released by Equal Vision Records. When I saw it, I ordered one instantly, because it looked so damn cool.

This two song 7" was clearly made to look just like one of the classic Sub Pop 7"s. From the bar at the top of the sleeve with the band name and song titles, the EVR logo on the front cover, the layout of the labels and the big hole in the record, this is a really well designed rip off / homage to the classic Sub Pop 7" design. I listened to a podcast about this and they mentioned that apparently Kiss It Goodbye were supposed to released a 7" on Sub Pop back in the late 90s, but then it ended up not happening. So this layout pays tribute to that.

The first song on here, 'Along Came A Bastard', is also the first song on the band's debut album, which has recently been released and which I will no doubt get around to picking up at some point in the future, whereas the song on the flipside is exclusive to this 7". And there is also a pink vinyl pressing which also looks great and which I want.

Well anyway, at some point at the end of last year Atomic Action Records also sold off a couple of test pressings of the band's debut 12" EP, 'This May Hurt A Bit', via their webstore. The price was very reasonable, so I had to grab one. It's always mildly disappointing when the label doesn't bother to make or provide any kind of sleeve for the record, but it's still a great record to have.

I listened to both of these records today in advance of writing this post, and it's made me pretty excited for the full length. I may even break my own rule and download it before I get a physical copy.

Run For Cover

Many years ago I used to religiously buy everything that Equal Vision Records put out. Through the 90s and early 00s EVR was a solid label and put out some truly iconic records, but at some point it changed and became something else. But towards the latter part of the good era, there were some releases that didn't quite fit the label's hardcore past, but I bought them anyway because it was a label I trusted. So when I bought these things I gave the bands a chance, and one release I really liked was an LP by a band called Liar's Academy. They actually had two fill lengths on EVR, but I never heard the second one as it was CD only and my money always went into vinyl. But I do really like the first LP. Well anyway, I had no idea that they had a 7" released on a small label in 2007 until I saw a test press of it for sale, and for $3 I figured it was worth picking up.

'Run For Cover' is a two song 7" that was released by an Italian label called Goodwill Records. Turns out that there were a little over 500 copies of this 7" pressed, all of which were numbered on te inside of the cover. The test press isn't numbered, but is easily identifiable as it says 'test press' where the number is on the other copies.

So after I picked up the uber cheap test press, I figured I should see if there were any regular copies for sale, and I found a green copy for £2 plus postage. Fortunately it was in the UK so postage was pretty cheap.

Thw two songs on here are pretty good and very similar to the songs I am familiar with on the first LP, and I'm happy to have scored these for practically nothing. Makes a change to get a super cheap score in the current collecting climate.

Chewing Gum For The Ears

At the end of April I got an email from Static Shock Records telling me that a new LP by The Flex was available to order. For once, this was a new release that was immediately available with no long preorder wait. That said, the email made clear that nothing would ship for a couple of weeks. But still, this was an interesting and surprising announcement. The band's first full length was released back in 2014, and after a couple of 7"s in 2015, the band has been pretty quiet. So it's cool to see that they have come back with a new record pretty much out of the blue.

This second LP, 'Chewing Gum For The Ears' is a duel release by Static Shock Records in the UK and Lockin' Out Records in the States. The UK pressing was 1000 copies, with 300 on red and 700 on white, all of which now appear to be sold out in the label's store.

At first I wasn't overly into this. Not sure why. It just didn't sound as good as the first album. But that was the first couple of plays. After that I started to get into it, and right now this has made it's way onto my daily playlist. With ten songs over in 17 minutes it's the perfect length for a hardcore record lile this. If it were much longer my ears would probably struggle to keep up with the pummeling.

Pink Generation

I last posted a Krimewatch record about 7 months ago. At that point it seemed that the band had gone quiet, and I wasn't sure if they were still going or not. Since then time has passed and nothing has really changed. It's still unclear as to whether they are still a band or not. Given the amount of time that has passed since they last released anything, I highly doubt it. But regardless, I'm still slowly picking up their records, and I'm happy to finally scratch this one from my want list. I've been wanting a pink copy of the demo 7" pretty much since it came out, and eventually I found someone who was actually looking to sell a record rather than fund their retirement.

I have never actually seen a pink vinyl record that looks like this. It's flourescent and looks really great.

Somehow it has been almost 6 years since this Krimewatch 7" came out, so it seems nuts I have been casually trying to find one for that long. But this record brings me to the end of my Krimewatch journey as there are no more records of theirs that I need, unless anyone wants to sell me a test press of the album.

I Owe You Cupcakes

Gameface is one of those bands that I have always liked, and over time I amassed more and more of their records, to the point where I decided to start actively collecting them. I've done quite well over the years, and got lucky, and reached a point where I had picked up quite a few of their test pressings. It then started to niggle me that there were a couple of important ones that I was missing. So imagine how stoked I was to grab two of them within a few weeks of each other. Yup... prety stoked.

First up is the 'Cupcakes' 7". This one was released by Dr. Strange Records back in 1997. The test press has plain white labeks and simply comes in a white paper sleeve.

I was super happy to get this one. I had previously emailed the label to ask if they had any left, as I had test pressings of the other Gameface releases on Dr. Strange, both of which I bought on eBay somewhere around 2007. Anyway, here's a pic of it next to the regular cover just because that's what I do.

In addition to the 'Cupcakes' test press, I also managed to find a test press of the 'IOU1' 7" that came out on Revelation in 2019. This one is a little more visually interesting as it comes in a special sleeve.

The cartoon figure at the bottom iof the sleeve is Tom Petty, and he's there because the B-side contains a Tom Petty cover, 'Two Gunslingers'. The back of the sleeve is the same as back of the regular sleeve:

In addition to the test press, I also grabbed a yellow vinyl copy of the 'IOU1' 7" as I didn't previously have one. I did have the yellow vinyl copy in a limited sleeve, but I figured I also needed one in the regular cover as they are obviously 'different'.

So there I was thinking I had a complete Gameface collection, and then I realised that there were some releases that I had forgotten about. I think the biggest omission is a test press of the 'Four To Get Ready' LP, which I need to complete the set of full lengths. But there are also a couple of 7"s that came out on Equal Vision and a couple of 7"s put out by a UK label (Speedowax). So basically I'm nowhere near a complete collection. Back to the drawing board I guess...

Apology

Sometimes I read things and they just stick with me for years, but this one kinda surprised me with exactly how many years ago it was now. Turns out that it was back in August 2009 that Doug wrote a post about a Wishingwell Records release that, at the time, I had never heard of. And here I am, almost thirteen years later, picking one up for myself. I picked it up in the States on my last trip and when I got it my first thought was 'finally!'.

Wishingwell Records is probably most widely known for putting out records by Uniform Choice, Youth Of Today, Insted, Bl'ast And Unity. But it also released a few other records that have never really been anywhere near as iconic or wel known. The 'Pass You By' 12" by Apology is definiteky one of those records. But all things considered, it's not a bad record at all. Plus it features one of my favourite things on a record - a lot of dead wax.

As Doug pointed out in his post, this kinda sounds in the same ballpark as the second Uniform Choice LP, or the Unity LP, and the photos on the back of this record kinda give hints that that's what you are going to get. I mean, check out the flowing locks on the blond dude. But I like the sound here. It's melodic hardcore (which probably isn't really hardcore at all really), and it has a very 80s sound. I find myself partly enjoying this out of some kind of nostalgia. I just like this kind of sound I guess. It reminds me of growing up and watching skateboard videos and liking completely unknown bands and not knowing who any of them were. But yeah, I would guess that I am in the minority here by liking this one, which isn't surprising since I have a habit of liking the records that are generally considered to be garbage,

Defining The Purpose

Another week rolls around and I have another favourite record to ramble on about. Just like my previous two favourite hardcore records this year, this one was also released by Indecision Records and is not actually a new release. This one was released a couple of years ago, in 2020, which was probably a bad year for any band to release a record due to the lack of opportunity to play shows. Anyway, this record is titled 'Defining The Purpose' and is the first full length release from a band called Tuning, a melodic hardcore band from Oakland, California.

The band describe themselves as 'melodic hardcore from the bay area', but I'm not sure that's as helpful as it could be. To me, melodic hardcore conjures up different. This to me falls into a similar ballpark as One Step Closer, Mil-Spec or maybe even Modern Life Is War.

There were 100 copies of this one on white vinyl, and 400 on blue. The white is now sold out so I was pretty lucky to be able to get one.

I don't know much about this band at all. Discogs tells me that one of the dudes in the band was in Halfmast and No Reason, which is cool. But I was also surprised to find out that there are two other records by this band for me to try to acquire, one from before this record and one after. It literally never ends.