Guilty - Tunes for an Apocalyptic Winter

Here is Sweden's very own GUILTY. A brutal 7" on Six Feet Under on both Tri Color (/100) and Black and Blue swirl (/300). I guess they were going for a apocalyptic winter theme with the vinyl colors, pretty cool. Both of these colors go fantastic with the cover. Truth be told, this has some of my favorite cover art that I've seen in a long time. It's like a modern "Age of Quarrel" rendition, and the music definitely reminds me of Age of Quarrel. This pretty much sounds like most of the NYHC metal influenced bands, nothing new or original but it is executed to perfection with great vocals, and that can't be said for 90% of the bands out there right now. This is an excellent 7" and definitely worth the pick up if you see it hanging around on one of your next orders. They also pressed different colors on Green Menace Records (Sweden) and Carry the Weight (UK). I actually bought this months ago and took these pictures in April, so I'm trying to go through some old pictures. I remember not writing about this at the time because I liked it so much I wanted to have a nice, long post dedicated to it and didn't have the time. Well it's ending up getting a quick post anyways. Listen to "Hollow Path" below:

Labels behaving badly! (Pt. 1)

Months ago I ordered a package from Hellfish that had all kinds of records, and one of them was a copy of Focused Minds' "Stay Focused" 7". When the package came to my house, the FM record was not included. I notified Hellfish and some guy named "Agi" told me that he would throw a copy in with my next order, and just to email him before I ordered again to remind him. Ok, no sweat. A few months go buy, a place another order and remind him that they owed me the FM 7". Order comes, again no 7". I sent atleast 10 emails with no response. Ok, fuck you then Hellfish! How does it make sense to screw someone for a $5 record when they have placed multiple orders that were almost $100 each? Good job.

Luckily, I was able to email Joey at 6131 Records and explain the situation to him. Wouldn't you know he not only sent me a white copy but also the clear "subscription" version out of /200. Hellfish lost a customer, and 6131 Records gained another loyal customer. Just a little bit of respect goes along way, Thanks Joey. This is a solid record from a Midwest youth crew band. However, I don't feel this record fully captures just how good Focused Minds is live. I hope they can capture some of that magic on their next release. Is this a good 7"? Yes, it is. However, after seeing this band live it left me expecting more. I'll be anxious for their next release and see this bands full potential!

So where I got the name for this post was from a local news station segment with Stanley Roberts called "People Behaving Badly", one of the most popular news segments in the Bay Area. Some of them are just so hilarious and unbelievable. So yeah, from now on I'll be going all Stanley Roberts on these record labels and distros that are fucking people over. Watch out shady labels, a post could be coming your way!

25 Ta Life - Friendship, Loyalty, and Crazy Vocals

Here is my copy of 25 Ta Life's Friendship, Loyalty and Commitment. There of course is a ton of controversy surrounding 25 Ta Life and their vocalist Rick Ta Life. All I can say is from my personal dealings with Rick through playing a few shows with them is that he is a cool guy. But I only met him twice. I have heard all kinds of horror stories, and I am also guilty of buying some of his bootlegged shit from him. Either way, 25 Ta Life is definitely an acquired taste and his vocals can be quite extreme, or annoying depending on who you ask. Regardless they are an influential band. They are one of the bands that helped establish that "urban" hardcore that is so popular today.

Get the Most of the Post

So I've been making a real effort lately to jam out as many posts as I can. A few weeks ago I noticed I only had a couple posts for the whole month and I was basically at an all time low for the blog, so I realized I needed to step it up. Going through my back log photos there are a ton of records I never posted, so I'll start with these two Get the Most LP's.

Here is their self titled LP on a very nice purple marble out of /200.

Following suit with all the other React! releases, a whole bunch of stickers included.

And their "Together" LP on Blue vinyl out of /400. I don't have too much time to elaborate on this post because the Raiders and Steelers game just started and it's much more important that I watch that, since my Raiders are so good and everything (sarcasm). These are two quality releases of some good 'ol youth crew straight edge hardcore that is worth checking out.

Bloody Gears - We Trippy Mane!

If you clicked on my link thinking you would find something having to do with Power Trip merch then I apologize. That "We Trippy Mane" shirt just reminds me of this band, because they are very trippy, mane. Bloody Gears "Landscapes of Disease" has been getting a ton of plays from me lately. This album is so weird and out there, I can't really even compare it to anything. I've heard comparisons to Husker Du, Articles of Faith and Leatherface before which sounds closer than anything else I can think of. It's not really punk or hardcore, it's just weird and awesome. It's really dark and depressing, which is right up my alley. Life isn't all peaches and cream, you know what I'm saying? This Deranged Records release is on black vinyl, and I'm not really sure if they pressed any on color. Very good album though and it's worth checking out.

Here is the "Frozen Rain" 7" on Grave Mistake. This is the limited version on gray vinyl out of /200. These are probably 3 of my favorite songs by the band on this 7", my favorite being "Tragic Mistake". I ordered this months ago when it came out, and surprisingly this is still available on colored vinyl in the GM store. I would suggest picking one up before it's gone. Two solid releases by a great band, I am going to get their self titled 7" next and I can't wait to hear more stuff from them.

Heavenly Divine... Steadily Shine in '99

Here is one I had to go diggin' in the crates for. When I bought this almost 10 years ago and I had the choice of getting it on CD or LP, I am glad I opted for the LP. As a 15 year old kid, I am glad I had the insight of downloading the shit for free off the internet and owning a copy of it on vinyl. In my room I had a little shitty CD boom box, but for my record player I had my dads old stereo set up with two big ass Technic speakers and an old Technic record player. So basically I was faced with either A) listening to CD's on a shitty boom box or in my car, or B) listening to vinyl on some big ass speakers and rocking the fuck out. Needless to say, this very record got the neighbors coming pounding on my door telling me to keep that shit down on more than one occasion. 

Some say that Jedi Mind Tricks "Violent by Design" is their classic album. I believe it's Legacy of Blood, then Violent by Design, but to each its own. This is not the original 1999 pressing on Superegular Recordings, but the 2003 repress on Babygrande. Either way, you can't really find this release for under $50 dollars anymore. For a while these were going on ebay for upwards of $100 dollars!

 Here is my copy of the "Heavenly Divine" single on Superegular Recordings. Heavenly Divine is definitely the most well known song on the album, and probably still Jedi Mind Tricks most famous song. When this LP was recorded JMT consisted of Vinnie Paz, Jus Allah and Stoupe the Enemy of Mankind on production. After this release Jus Allah had a falling out from the group, and rejoined years later in 2008 on "A History of Violence". But its like when he came back his voice sounded all weird and way too gruff, so to me this release and his one solo album are the only releases where he actually sounds good. Check out Heavenly Divine below:

And check out one of Vinnie Paz's most recent solo tracks. For those of you that don't know Vinnie Paz is all about that hardcore shit, check him out repping that Trapped Under Ice and Terror merch:

Catching Up on School Jerks

At this stage in the blogging game, it gets hard to keep up with what I have and haven't already posted. For example on my last Night Birds post, as I was writing it I searched for my post that I thought I did on "Other Side of Darkness" so I could put a link to it, and to my surprise it was all a dream. I had taken the pictures, and it was backlogged with hundreds of other records.

As I was getting ready to post the other new Grave Mistake release by School Jerks, again I went to post a link to some previous School Jerks records that I thought I had posted that were all imaginary. Ok, well I'll get to Other Side of Darkness some other time, but for now all also include the other School Jerks 7"s!

Here is Toronto's School Jerks' latest release on a gorgeous sea green marble vinyl, or as GM coined it "Green Slime". Great release of raw, fast, snotty old school punk rock. I feel like I'm drinking a 40 and hanging out a Shady Acres when I put this one on (my SJ folks know what I mean). Fantastic artwork on this, in a way it almost reminds me of the old Age of Quarrel demo cover with all the twisted shit going on. I love how the vinyl perfectly matches the ink color on the poster. The green vinyl is out of /200 and still available from Grave Mistake, so don't get caught slipping. 

Here is the School Jerks' "PPDSCEMFOBBT" 7 inch on Cowabunga. What the hell that title means? Good question. More interesting art work. This is a 3rd press on gold vinyl. Cowabunga's "Discography" page states this is out of /107, yet the Cowabunga store states its out of /100. 

And their "Control" 7" on black vinyl out of /900, also on Cowabunga. This release had /100 on clear, which would be nice to eventually track down. I am really digging all this School Jerks art work. What makes this release interesting is apparently the red "School Jerks" logo is hand stamped on all 1000 sleeves, so basically every sleeve looks different. Man, that must have taken forever. 

What really irks me about this post is the fact that I have their "Nothing Else" EP and I never took pictures of it, but I am far too lazy to go dig it up and take pictures of it so you'll just have to take my word for it. 

Obi Strip Night Birds

Grave Mistake recently pressed the Night Birds' "Fresh Kills Vol. 1" on vinyl. I previously had this on CD so I was looking forward to it coming out on vinyl. I was honestly quite disappointed when I found out they went with a limited edition Obi strip in lieu of limited color vinyl. All the vinyl for this was pressed on black. It also seems that as soon as it was posted on the GM store (literally, that day) they were sold out of the Obi strip version. I can't imagine 210 copies of this selling out immediately. I know the Night Birds aren't that popular! What happened to all those other copies, Alex? 

As far as the record itself, it is quite good. I have been giving the Night Birds alot more listens lately and they have really grown on me. The obi strip itself looks really cool, silk screened maroon and baby blue colors. I got a very cool number #210/210. I did read on facebook that this will be the first (and last) Obi strip release for Grave Mistake, so it's cool having the last copy!

Whiskey Rebels Last Shows

A few weeks back I attended the Whiskey Rebels' last shows. A very sad weekend for sure, seeing one of my favorite bands of all time call it quits. Whiskey Rebels were a group that I grew up on and meant the world to me. I was able to pick up a few items celebrating their grand finale weekend.

First was a limited edition cover, which was basically just a single piece of card board. Honestly I'm rather disappointed in the design and the fact that it wasn't hand numbered. I don't even know how many were made, and essentially had to pay $10 to get a black copy of an LP I already owned. Whatever though, it's not like I wasn't going to buy it. (See my previous review for this LP here.)

Plead the Fifth also played and made a limited cover in what I believe to be one of the best hardcore 7"s of the year. I like what they did with the "I can hear the reaper calling" cover, giving a shout out to Whiskey Rebels. It's just a plain piece of xeroxed paper, but I think they did a good job considering that they were added to the show last minute. Grave Maker cancelled two days before the show so they put these together pretty fast! It comes on red vinyl, but I'm not sure if all 20 were on red vinyl. (See my previous review of this 7" here.)

My favorite item that I got was this poster drawn by Big Chuck of Whiskey Rebels. Nice big poster on thick card board, hand numbered #14/100. I felt this was 10 dollars well spent, and I'll definitely be framing this to go with the rest of my Big Chuck paintings. I had so much fun watching Whiskey Rebels for the last time, it truly saddens me that they called it quits. I only hope they will have a reunion show or two one day. Check out "Reaper Calling" below:

Face Reality, This Record RULES!

I was all over it recently when Back to Back announced pre orders for Face Reality's newest EP, "Strong Survive". I wasn't going to go out like a sucker (like I did with the last Face Reality release!), and pay big bucks! I'm really glad I did, because the "orange" copies (which are CLEARLY red) of /150 sold out in less than an hour. I am assuming that the label must have given atleast 100 to the band or something, because there is just no way they sold 150 that fast. What's strange is the color version was sold out for months, but I just looked at the Back to Back page and saw that some are available now? If you haven't picked one up yet, I would say now is a good time. The black version is out of /350.

This is without a doubt one of the best releases of the year. The band has stepped it up since their last release (which is no easy task), and you can see these guys are getting better with every release they put out. This is some brutal straight edge hardcore. The vocals are so gruff and awesome, you just cannot beat this release. 

I got to pick this guy up on blue with my last Youngblood order too. Hell yes. Now I have it on blue, red and black (see my last post of this release for more info). I was stoked to get this on blue for only $5, and not have to pay a silly price like I did for my red copy. Anyone know the pressing info on this blue copy?

Check out the "Strong Survive" EP below in its totality:

No Remorse, No Merch Flipping

In that last Youngblood order, I also grabbed a black copy of the "No Remorse, No Tolerance" 7", which would have been my first No Tolerance vinyl. Considering that everyone is in full on No Tolerance worship mode right now and that even black vinyl has been going for silly prices on ebay, I was happy that I waited it out and could find myself a copy for only $5. Shortly after I saw on Facebook that they would be selling a limited Blue vinyl out of /200 for the This is Hardcore fest. Bummer, living in Northern California isn't always the shit. I knew I would have to miss out on that one, or pay $40 for it or some silly price on Ebay.

A few months go by and still no Youngblood order... What gives? So I send them an email to see what is going on, and I got a big apology and a "Don't trip I'll send you a few extras". I then kindly asked if there were any blue copies of NRNT left, and he said he would send me one. I even went as far as to ask for two and that I would gladly pay for them, and explained to him that I needed one for my boy Jake too, and that I'm not a merch flipper. He was kind enough to oblige.

The blue and black copies are on different sleeves. The blue copy has Silver screen printed writing on a matte black fold out with no insert. The black copy has White ink and is on more of a professional looking looking glued jacket with a double sided insert which is identical to the fold out. I prefer it with the silk screened silver cover. So there you have, I got lucky and scored this sweet record without going to pay for plane, hotel and all kinds of other fees to go to TIHC Fest or having to through my nose to a merch flipper on Ebay. Thanks Youngblood!

Police (and Thieves) bring Justice

I put together a nice Youngblood Records order recently and had to throw in a few extra items. I picked up the "final pressing" of Justice's 2007 LP, "Escapades". This is on a silk screened alternate sleeve. At the time I bought it, I think it says this was out of /50 but I can't remember. I wish I would have written it down because now that it is OOP the info is missing of the Youngblood page. The artwork looks great and the alternate sleeve is really nice with the silk screen.

I also got Police & Thieves "Fracturing" LP on white vinyl. I am a little confused about the pressing info. At the time I bought this, the Youngblood page stated that this was out of /100. But after checking Mike's page, I see he has it /195 on white. Oh, the confusion. I may have to send an email to Youngblood to get all the correct pressing info, if I get a response I'll update this post.

And Police & Thieves first seven inch. According to Mike also, only 300 pressed on black and "Gold". Unless I got a later pressing, this is a strange looking gold. Not as strange as the "Vegas Gold" on the Floorpunch 2LP though. Youngblood threw this in for free, thanks guys! 

In honor of the 9/11 Victims...

How about some good old NYC Oi? That's right the Templars have a new (which is actually old) release out on TKO Records. Wait, you're telling me the Templars are rereleasing old recordings? Surprise, surprise. This is a one sided 7" that is hand numbered out of /666 on black. I really messed up because I saw that Pirates Press had a limited edition white version up out of /50, and it sold out in like a half hour before I could get an order in. So I had to settle with the TKO limited version which came with a patch for the first /200 (boring!).

With the patch and etched B-Side, which looks pretty cool. Also hand numbered #87/666. 

Now moving on... 

Of course on 9/11 I always can't help but feel sorrow for all the innocent people that got killed. Of course this is not a political blog, and I don't want to say too much on here because I am really not out to offend anyone (unless if it's saying a record sucks!), but below is a great 9/11 documentary that I think everyone should watch if you haven't seen it. It discusses some of the interesting things that occurred that a majority of the American public have no idea about. I don't mean to sound stupid, but before I watched a similar documentary several years back, I never even knew a third building collapsed in NYC on 9/11! At the time the media covered it up pretty well and no one talked about it at all. Even to this day I ask people how many buildings fell on 9/11, and nearly everyone answers; "Two". Whatever you want to believe, I feel that this should at least be seen by every American so they can make their own opinion on the matter. My heart goes out to all the victims of 9/11 and their families.