Consolation Prize

It wasn't long ago that Dischord started repressing some of their classic records on coloured wax. Or so I thought. It was actuaslly five years ago now. Even though most people are starting to get frustrated & bored by Revelation's endless represses, the Dischord color vinyl pressings somehow seem less offensive... probably because they are less frequent. Here's my latest one - a great looking purple vinyl pressing of Jawbox's 'Grippe' LP.

I really like this purple. It's seems to be both solid and clear at the same time. A really interesting colour. Although, having said that, it's not quite the right shade of purple to go with the cover. Seems a shame to try to match the colour to the artwork but then get it wrong. Ah well, it's the thought that counts I guess!

I'd Buy That For A Dollar

You can't buy much for a dollar these days. Unless you're interested in late 90s 7"s by The Hollomen... in which case you can buy white vinyl record in a white sleeve, which you think will sit nicely with your copy in a black sleeve and your test press. Yes, that's right, I bought this for one buck.

Ok, so this isn't the most well known or liked band in the world, but it's on Hydrahead and has Aaron Turner in it. Surely that must make it worth at least, oh... a buck twenty five... right? Ha! Apparently not. At least, not on the day I bought it.

PS I just realised that technically I didn't buy this for a buck as I had to about six times that for postage. Balls.

Another Integrity Catch Up

Sometimes I really feel like I have made a mistake in trying to collect Integrity records. I mean, up until about 2008 or so, there weren't too many Integrity records out there. The band had been quiet for a long time. For the past few years, there seems to be a new Integrity record every couple of months, or a new pressing of an old Integrity record. Or a new pressing of a not so new Integrity record. I've got over 100 Integrity records and, believe me, there are still a LOT that I am missing. Every now and again I try to make a dent in catching up (or keeping up) before 20 new records come out and I temporarily give up again. So here's my latest catch up batch...

The first record is the third pressing of the reissue of the 'In Contrast Of Sin' 7" on Organised Crime records. This has been updated since it was first reissued back in 2010. This new version does away with the inside of the sleeve artwork and lyrics and replaces them with some words written by founding member Aaron Melnick. There were two colours - a blue numbered version and a more common green version.

Next up is a third press reissue of the 'Those Who Fear Tomorrow' LP, which has similar liner notes from A2. Again, there were two colours of this one - a stamped and numbered clear blue, and a more common solid blue.

Next we move on to the reissue of the 'Systems Overload' LP. This one came out at some point last year, and was later followed by the superior remixed version. I never picked up the first reissue as I felt burnt out on Integrity reissues, but I guess it was inevitable that I would pick them up in the end. There were three colours for the first press - the clear with black smoke pressing in the limited sleeve, a white vinyl and a red vinyl. Obviously I picked up all three.

And next is the common pressing of the 'Systems Overload' remix. This was originally pressed in very limited form on red vinyl for Halloween 2012 and then on black for RSD 2013. Both came in a folded poster sleeve. But demand seemed high for this recording, so Organized Crime then made some more with regular covers for the masses. There were three colours. I think these all look great. I love the simplicity of the cover art.

Of course, since I bought these the regular version of 'Systems Overload' got repressed yet again on two more colours. Then A389 released a new pressing of the 'Black Heksen Rise' 7" and then a brand new 7" featuring the 'Systems Overload' line up on numerous colours. It seems I am destined to never be up to date with Integ vinyl.

Forget The Cars

I've had a blue/orange mix vinyl of the first Fastbreak LP since it came out. But recently I saw picture of the more common blue vinyl and decided I wanted one. Fast forward a few weeks and that vision has now become a reality. I got one for a pretty low price too which makes it even better.

I was sure that from memory this came out on three colours - blue, orange, and a blue/orange mix. Looks like I must have imagined the orange vinyl though as that doesn't seem to exist at all. I did get outbid on a test press of this one a while ago, which was disappointing, but I'm sure I'll get another shot at some point. Anyway, as much as I like this LP, I never liked the cover. There are a couple of things that annoy me. Firstly, the song titles and 'credits' are listed on the front. I mean, seriously, why would anyone put all that text on the front? And secondly, where are the so-called Fast Women? The album is called 'Fast Cars, Fast Women' yet I see only cars. Talk about false advertising!

Photocopied Paper

Are you the kind of person who would buy a record you already own for a second time just because it has a piece of paper slapped on the front? If so, you've come to the right place. Here's my third copy of the first GIVE 12", and the second copy on grey vinyl. The difference between this one and the first grey vinyl copy that I bought is simply that this one comes with a photocopied piece of paper craftily slipped in front of the record cover.

Ok, so this particular piece of photocopied paper does look particularly awesome compared to most, but still... do I need to own two grey vinyl copies because of it? Apparently yes, I do.

Vital Times

I've talked about having patience many times before. If you want something and the price is high, you have two options - you can either pay now and potentially save money if you expect the price to carry on rising, or you can play the long game and settle down and wait for the price to come down. History has shown that most bands will break up and get almost forgotten about, and the prices of their records will drop significantly. Today's post is an example of this. Back when ON were about and creating a bit of a buzz, their 7"s would sell for a decent wedge, but I bought these two 'Vital Times' 7"s for less than $20 for the two.

Firstly, the white vinyl. This was the pre-order version out of 250 copies.

The second copy was this green vinyl 2008 west coast tour version. As you can see, this one is numbered out of only 75 copies. This used to regularly sell for $30-60 when the band were about, so to get it for $10 feels quite satisfying. And it's a cool low number too.

There's something to be said for the 'sit back and wait four years' approach. I might see if I can pick up a couple more ON 7"s I'm missing too. I could do with a release version of this, and the red vinyl version of the other 7" too. Maybe they'll come around by 2016...

Crossbearer

Another Cave In 7" for the collection. This is a third press copy of the first 7" they did on Hydrahead on solid green vinyl. It has blank labels which somehow make it look better than the copies with proper printed labels.

I dug out my other two copies of this one for a family photo - the clear green vinyl first press, and the yellow vinyl second press - both of which I have had since they came out many moons ago.

Interesting how all three have different labels. Early Hydrahead was a really exciting label at the time, with numerous different vinyl colours and covers... enough to keep a dude collecting for, what... fifteen years and counting...

Handsome

Somewhere in the late 90s someone told me about a band called Handsome. I don't know how they heard of the band, although to be fair I can't remember how we found out about anything pre-internet. Anyway, the main attraction to the band seemed to be that Tom Capone was in it and it sounded vaguely like Quicksand. What I remember most though was a local record shop had a huge pile of the band's full length CD on sale dirt cheap pretty much as soon as it came out. I think I bought one for about £3 brand new... and this was in an era when CDs were £10-12 as standard. The album was pretty good, although not as good as Quicksand. But it always felt weird that this band had seemingly come out of nowhere, put out an album on a major label which probably didn't do very well, and then disappeared. At least, that's what it felt like happened from where I was sitting... which was a few thousand miles away.

Fast forward to 2013 (a full 16 years after the album was first released) and 6131 Records decided to release it for the first time properly, i.e. on vinyl. There were 100 on clear vinyl (which sold out fast and I missed) and 400 on 'silver' vinyl.

So the thing I don't understand is why, after sixteen years of no vinyl existing for this thing, two labels both put this out within a few weeks of each other. Like I said, I got mine from 6131 Records. Only a few weeks later, Shop Radio Cast (a weird label that only seems to put out vinyl releases of older CD only albums) also put it out as an LP with a bonus 7" included. I have never heard of two labels both simultaneously re-releasing an old record before. Did these two labels both know the other was putting out the same record? Are the labels somehow connected? Was it planned? Is it a coincidence? Does anyone know? Does anyone else care?

Fucking weird.

Liveage!

Slowly but surely. That's the way I've been collecting coloured vinyl Descendents records. I've been slowly adding them since 2009. So here's the latest - a blue vinyl copy of their first live LP 'Liveage!':

I've never really understood why there SST Records released two different live Descendents LPs. I just searched the internet, and found something about this record on wikipedia which, if correct, explains what happened. It tells me that this LP was recorded during their 'FinALL' tour (the tour in support of 'ALL', which at the time they thought would be their final tour as Milo was leaving to pursue a career in biochemistry. Two years later they then later released a different group of live songs from the same tour as the 'Hallraker Live' LP. I guess there was just demand for Descendents records, despite there not being any new material. These days we'd probably call it a 'cash grab'. Ha!

There's only a couple of colour Descendents LPs I am now missing. I need one of the purple/brown represses of 'ALL' that came out a year or two. I can't believe I actually missed those. Surely someone out there must have one of these they can part with? The other one I need is a blue vinyl copy of 'Cool To Be You', which (unfortunately for me) seems to be the rarest and most expensive Descendents record out there. Still, the end is in sight, and I'm really hoping that I can finish this collection off in 2014.

Business As Usual

At some point towards the end of last year I had my ipod on shuffle, a Righteous Jams song came on, and it jogged my memory that the band had a second album. After reading an interesting article about how bad Metallica's 'St Anger' was, and then downloading it and really liking it, I decided that I should give more chances to bad records. So I downloaded the second Righteous Jams LP 'Business As Usual'. And wouldn't you know it, I ended up liking that too. So then I obviously had to buy the record. And obviously I didn't want just any copy. No, I had to get one of the blue vinyl copies.

I was surprised, but this one isn't that easy to get. It doesn't seem to come up for sale too often. Not sure why this would be. I mean, I can't imagine this is in many people's list of favourite records. I can only assume that the first pressing was a relatively small run. Perhaps also people who own it think there's no point in selling it as it wouldn't fetch more than the price of a sandwich. Whatever the reason though, I thought this would be an easy pick up, but it took a while. Anyway, as you can see, I managed to find one in the end.

The blue vinyl does seem like a good choice as it goes nicely with the cover. I also like the simplicity of the cover. Kind of like the first LP. No need for pictures. Words will do the job nicely.

Seems like only a couple of years back that Righteous Jams were THE band of the moment. I remember going to see them play in Sheffield and they absolutely killed it. An amazing show which even the band said was one of their best. Despite it seeming like a recent-ish show, it was either 8 or 9 years ago now. Insane. Anyway, the 'Rage Of Discipline' LP was undoubtedly one of the best records of the noughties and I think it's fair to say that this follow up was highly anticipated, but unfortunately the world was left massively disappointed. It received a universal panning, and it seemed that not long after it dropped the band was done. Shame though. I mean, it's actually a good record. I guess it's just too different to the first record. The main change is that the songs are a lot longer. But it's not bad by any means.

If anyone has any other tips for universally bad records for me to check out, please comment. I like a challenge.

Resurrection Of The Wolf

This one came right at the end of last year and I didn't get around to posting it unfortunately. I also didn't really find the time to play it until this week either. But after playing it three times a day all week, I figured I should get it up on here.

So No Warning broke up a few years ago (not sure when exactly - 2005-6?), but all of a sudden in early December news hit the internet that they had recorded a new 7". News dropped of a release show (which the band were not actually playing at), but then within a day or two the 7" was up for sale at Revelation and Bridge Nine. Figuring this would sell out in a matter of minutes, I placed an order as quick as I could. I'm not sure exactly how quick it did sell out, but I'm pretty sure it was within a day.

Don't get too excited though. The band aren't back together full time. They just met up in order to record this thing and sell it as a way of helping one of bassist Zach Amster, who it seems is currently in jail in California. The money from this release is intended to help his wife and daughter. If you want to read a little more then check out the band's current website HERE.

So what does this sound like? Well, it sounds exactly like No Warning. More 'Ill Blood' than 'Suffer Survive'. The first song is a new song, lasts for just over three minutes, and hits hard. Good stuff. The second songs is a Violent Minds cover that lasts for 44 seconds, and I'm not convinced there is much point to it to be honest. They could have got away with a one sided, one song record. People would have still bought it. Anyway, this looks like a one time pressing of 500 copies which is now sold out, but if the point is to raise money to help someone, then it would seem sensible to make more copies given the demand is clearly there. SO perhaps there will be a second pressing. We shall see..

New York Hardcore Compilation #2

When people talk about classic 'Noo Yawk' hardcore compilations, there are two that come to mind - Revelation's 'New Yokr City Hardcore The Way It Is' and this one - 'New York Hardcore Where The Wild Things Are' on Blackout Records. Most people have and enjoy both, but opinion is divided as to which is best. It's probably pretty obvious by now, but I'm with the Rev comp. But that doesn't mean I can't hang with the wild things from time to time. And as from now, I'm hanging with it on red vinyl.

I've had a gold one of these for a longass time. I always wanted a red one too, and recently I saw one on eBay so thought I'd have a crack. I was pleasantly surprised when it sold for what I consider not too much. I was also stoked that it still has the shrink wrap and color vinyl sticker intact.

Outburst, Raw Deal, Life's Blood, Breakdown... side A really does hit hard. Side B, on the other hand... Sheer Terror, Maximum Penalty, Uppercut, Norman Bates And The Shower Heads... well, personally I never thought that they lived up to the bands on Side A. Which is why I never ranked this comp quite as highly as the Rev one.

That said, I always enjoyed the cheeky Gorilla Biscuits song that wraps things up. I have a vague memory of CIV playing this tune when I saw them play in '95/96 (whenever it was) and stage diving. At the same show I chatted to Sammy for a few minutes. I don't remember anything I spoke to him about other than asking if he had any spare copies of 'Bringin It Down' on green vinyl that he could let go. His response was (I think) 'I only have one of those and I want to hang on to it'. Ha!

2013 The Way It WAS

So 2013 is done and dusted, and what a weird year it was for me with music. The year started strong, and 3-4 of my top ten releases for the year came out in the first three months of the year. After that, as usual, my motivation to pick up new releases was lacking as I concentrated my efforts on picking up more copies of records I already owned, or just stuff that came out prior to 2013 (more on that stuff later). I also strangely found myself thinking a lot about what the best record of the year was going to be throughout the year, as from early on it was always going to be a three horse race. In the end it wasn't an easy choice, but my over-thinking means that I'm happy with my choices. So here goes...

TOP 10 NEW RELEASES IN 2013

1. The Rival Mob 'Mob Justice' LP (Revelation Records) - It was between this, the Violent Reaction LP and the Magic Circle LP. In the end I chose this based on two factors. Firstly, I saw 'em live back in October and it was one of the best shows I have ever seen. Secondly, when I looked at my itunes play count, I listened to this one the most. Great record, and great to see Rev releasing new bands again.

The best of the rest looks like this...

2. Violent Reaction 'City Streets' LP (Painkiller Records / Quality Control HQ) - A truly great LP and nice to see a UK band getting so much attention worldwide. Plus the diffrent pressings gave record collectors something to chase.

3. Magic Circle 'S/T' LP (Armageddon Shop) - this one came out of nowhere, and whilst not my usual bag, I could not stop playing this. Neither, it seems, could anyone else.

4. Turnstile 'Step 2 Rhythm' 7" (Reaper Records) - the only 7" in my list. The intro makes me want to put my fist through a wall.

5. War Generation LP (Rise Records) - sneaking in at the end of the year, this features Jon Bunch from Sense Field, and has been playing 2-3 times a day for the last couple of weeks in my house. So far it's having the same effect on me as Sense Field did in 1995. Well, nearly.

6. Red Hare 'Nites Of Midnite' LP (Dischord Records) - Jason Farrell & Shawn Brown from Swiz's new band that sounds a lot like Swiz... which is absolutely fine.

7. Mindset 'Leave No Doubt' LP (React! Records) - the best straight edge album since The First Step 'What We Know'. Technically this 'came out' in 2012 although the vinyl didn't really get sent out until 2013, so this counts as a 2013 release if you ask me. Shame in a way. In 2012 this would have been even higher up the list.

8. Ancient VVisdom 'Deathlike' LP (Prosthetic Records) - not as good as their first album, but still a dark & haunting record which I played regularly throughout the year.

9. Integrity 'Suicide Black Snake' LP (A389 Records) - another Integrity album landed this year which fortunately sounds just like Integrity. Some people think everything after the Melnicks left sucks, but it's their loss. Just a shame there was an impossible number of vinyl colours to collect... although, that's probaby a good thing.

10. Down To Nothing 'life On The James' (Revelation Records) - this one didn't hit me right away, but it has grown and grown. I don't think it touches their previous two LPs, but it's still a great record and a current gym favourite.

TOP 10 PICKUPS IN 2013

I didn't pick up many new releases in 2013, but I sure as hell picked up a lot of great records, and crossed some long standing items from my wants list, including a couple that I never ever thought I would own. Here are my favourite items... (click to read the entries I wrote on each)

1. New York City Hardcore The Way It Is - Green vinyl second press test press

2. Cave In 'Jupiter' - Test Press

3. Supertouch 7" Test Press

4. Farside 'Keep My Soul Awake' 7" Test Press

5. No Warning 'Ill Blood' LP on PB&J vinyl

6. Freewill 'Sun Return' LP

7. Youth Of Today 'Break Down The Walls' LP w Posi Numbers cover

8. Reason To Believe 7" Purple vinyl

9. Undertow 'Edge Of Quarrel' 7"

10. No Tolerance 'Boston SXE' 7" - Test press, Gold vinyl & black vinyl

COMPLETE LIST OF TEST PRESSES I PICKED UP

As I mentioned in my last post, I narrowly missed my dumbass target of picking up 52 test presses in the year and 'only' got 50. Here's the complete list of those 50 tests, in the order I picked them up.

01. Cave In 'Anomalies Vol. 1' (Hydrahead Records)
02. Cave In 'Planets Of Old'(Hydrahead Records)
03. America's Hardcore Volume 2 (Triple B Records)
04. Antidote 'No Peace In Our Time' LP (Bridge Nine Records)
05. V/A 'NYCHC The Way It Is' LP Green vinyl 2nd press(Revelation Records)
06. V/A 'The Rebirth Of Hardcore 1999' LP (Supersoul Records)
07. Times Together 7" (Anger Battery Records)
08. Iron Curtain 'Year Of The Wolf' 7" (Anger Battery Records)
09. Threadbare 'Escapist' 12" (Doghouse Records)
10. Omaha 'S/T' LP (Doghouse Records)
11. Get Up Kids 'Woodson' (Doghouse Records)
12. Cave In 'Tides Of Tomorrow' 12" (Hydrahead Records)
13. Cave In 'Jupiter' LP (Hydrahead Records)
14. Piebald 'When Life Hands You Lemons' LP (Hydrahead Records)
15. Cave In 'Lift Off / Lost In The Air' 7" (Hydrahead Records)
16. Cave In 'White Silence' LP (Hydrahead Records)
17. Self Destruct 'All My Friends Are Dead' 7" (Zandor / Rumour Control)
18. Joshua 'A Whole New Theory' LP (Doghouse Records)
19. Piebald 'We Are The Only Friends We Have' (Big Wheel Recreation)
20. True Head 'S/T' (Youngblood Records)
21. Cave In 'Creative Eclipses' 7" (Hydrahead Records)
22. Supertouch 'Lost My Way' 7" (Reaper Records)
23. No Tolerance 'Boston Straight Edge' 7" (540 Records)
24. Supertouch 'S/T' 7" (Combined Effort Records)
25. Unity 'Blood Days' 7" (It's Alive Records)
26. Dempsey / Kill Holiday Split 7" (Indecision Records)
27. Boxer Rebellion 'S/T' 7" (Hydrahead Records)
28. Boxer Rebellion 'The Romance Of Aeronautics' LP (Hydrahead Records)
29. The Hollomen 'S/T' 7" (Hydrahead Records)
30. Huguenots / Sevenpercentsolution 'Split' 10" (Hydrahead Records)
31. Ancient VVisdom 'A Godlike Inferno' LP (Magic Bullet Records)
32. Integrity / Gehenna Split 7" (Holy Terror Records)
33. Integrity 'Systems Overload - A2 / Orr Mix' Lp (Organized Crime Records)
34. Cave In 'Perfect Pitch Black' LP (Garden of Exile Records)
35. Times Together 1st 7" (Just Another Day Records)
36. Roses Never Fade 'The Man They Want To Hang' 7"
37. Farside 'Keep My Soul Awake' 7" (Crisis Records)
38. Rot In Hell / Vegas 'Split' 7" (Organized Crime Records)
39. Police & Thieves / Remission 'Split' 7" (Amendment Records)
40. Seaweed 'The Weight' 7" (No Idea Records)
41. 108 'Songs Of Separation' LP (Lost & Found Records)
42. Magic Circle 'S/T' LP (Armageddon Shop)
43. V/A 'Generations' LP (Revelation Recods)
44. Chinchilla '101 Italian Hits' LP (Crisis Records)
45. Citizens Arrest 'Soaked In Others Blood' 7" (Painkiller Records)
46. Freewill 'Sun Return' LP (Wishingwell / Giant Records)
47. Lights Out 'Get Out' 7" (Youngblood Records)
48. Casket Lottery @Real Fear' LP (No Sleep Records)
49. Seaweed 'Four' LP (Sub Pop Records)
50. V/A 'NYCHC The Way It Is' LP 1st press(Revelation Records)

STUFF I LISTENED TO A LOT

As I said at the start, despite not picking up too many new releases, I spent a lot of time listening to stuff that either came out prior to 2012, or stuff that I didn't even buy at all that was picked up through the black magic of the internet. The main stuff that I spent a lot of time listening to in 2013 (aside from the records listed above) was:

Black Sabbath '13'
Down By Law 'All Scratched Up'
Husker Du 'Metal Circus' and 'Flip Your Wig'
Leeway 'Born To Expire' and 'Desperate Measures'
Metallica 'St. Anger' (yes, seriously!)
Righteous Jams 'Business As Usual'
Title Fight 'Floral Green'

Sure, these weren't new releases, but they were new to me, so I think they're worth a mention.

THE FINAL WORD

Quite obviously, these lists are just a bit of fun and not to be taken remotely seriously. This one is mainly for me. Thanks primarily to anyone who reads this and also to those who comment. Thanks also to all the people who have emailed me offering records for sale, wanting to trade or buy, or to those who just want to chat the universal language of the nerd. See you all in 2014...

2013 The Way It Is

Ok, so right off the bat I'm gonna tell you that I didn't hit my target of 52 tests for the year. The whole stupid idea started when, back at the end of March, I got a Self Destruct test press and casually wrote at the end of the post 'This marks my 16th test press of 2013 so far, which averages more than one a week. I wonder if I'll keep it going and make 52 for the year?'. Well that was it. After that i kept count and kinda hoped I would make it, but unfortunately, I didn't. I ended the year with a count of 50. Sorry to disappoint you. But as a consolation, the 50th is a pretty big deal...

'Revelation Records Presents: New York City Hardcore The Way It Is'. One of the most important records of my life and in my collection. Earlier this year I picked up a green vinyl second press test, and right at the end of the year I have also added a first press test press (out of 8) to my collection.

Just like the green vinyl test press, this one also arrived in a sleeve, which is nice. And interestingly, the spine of the sleeve is blue rather than the usual green. Here's a photo that shows the blue spine next to several other green spine sleeves:

And given I'd pulled the other copies out of their respective hiding places to take the photo of the spines, I figured I may as well take them all out of their sleeves to take a family photo:

The downside to taking this photo is that it made me realise that I don't own a first press copy, and neither do I own a black vinyl copy with white labels... although, looking at it positively, at least it gives me an excuse to buy more copies of this record.

So finally, after I'd got all of the records out, I then decided to take my framed poster off the wall and put it with the records for yet another photo. I mean, why not? There's not much else to do this time of year.

So that's the end of the great 2013 test press chase. I honestly thought I was going to make it, but fate conspired against me. I had one 7" test that I was promised way back in March but which the dude still hasn't got around to sending. And in mid December I won a Seaweed LP test press on eBay UK that, when it arrived, turned out to be not a test press at all but just a regular LP. Still, picking up 50 (including two different 'NYCHCTWII') tests made for a pretty good year, and I'm definitely not unhappy. Thanks for reading!

Four

Believe it or not, I didn't used to like test presses. I used to only want them if there was no limited pressing of a record available. If I like a record then I naturally want to own a special version, and when there aren't any coloured copies or limited sleeves or anything, then the only possibility of a 'limited' version would be a test press. Somewhere along the way my philosophy changed to wanting to collect tests of my favourite records, or tests that are relatively cheap, but tests of records that have no limited version is still the most exciting to pick up.

Today's post is a great example. This is a test press of the second Seaweed LP 'Four'. This was released by Sub Pop Records waaaay back in 1993, and despite the label's history of making lot of crazy colour vinyl editions for most of their releases, this one only ever came on black vinyl. So this is a great test to own.

As you can see, this test comes in a plain white card sleeve which has the band name hand written on the top corner, with the date and label catalogue number stamped on both the cover and the record's labels. Insane to think this album is now twenty years old. Wow.

As I often do, I pulled out the regular version of the record for a more interesting photo.

I frickin' love Seaweed, and this album is, in my opinion, their finest moment. If I had to pick just one test press of theirs to own, this would be it. So it all worked out well.

For the two of you who are interested, the test press count for the year has now hit 49... and there's only one day of 2013 left. Tune in tomorrow to see how this story plays out...

War Generation

As mentioned in the last post, I really stuggle to stay up to date these days. But now and again I can still be ahead of the crowd. I'm assuming I am with this one as I haven't really seen anyone else mention this one. This is an LP by a band called War Generation called 'Start Something Never Surrender'. It was released in September this year by a label called Rise Records. I pre-ordered but have only just received it. All of these details are irrelevant to be honest. The main thing that drew me to this record with enough excitement and anticipation to place a pre-order, and the main thing that you need to know, is that Jon Bunch sings for this band. I imagine that some of you will probably now potentially be interested in this (or not) based on that name alone. Right?

For those unfamiliar with the name, Jon used to sing for Sense Field, and before that Reason To Believe. He has a very unique and beautiful voice. Both of those bands are big favourites of mine, so I was keen to hear this new band when I first heard about it, although I generally don't like listening to records before I have the vinyl in my possession. So this means that I have only had it and been listening to it for a week, but it has already firmly hooked into my brain and I am currently addicted to it.

Anyway, the vinyl pressing breaks down into two colours. The most limited is the orange vinyl, which is out of 200 copies.

It wasn't possible to order this on it's own at pre-order stage. The label rigged it so that you had to buy some bullshit package deal with a t-shirt and the less limited blue vinyl. I didn't mind too much because I wanted both colours, but I see that now you can buy the orange on its own.

So what does it sound like? Well, to me it sounds like later Sense Field - the stuff released after they moved on From Revelation. Just to make it easy for you, I thought I'd stick up this video for you to click and listen to.

Both colours are still available in the label's store in case you may be interested. If you're not interested, that's fine. Just never speak to me again!