Back To Back - narcissist

Now as the last post for today I chose a more recent release by a current band. And when I have the time to resume posting I will return with the same topic.
know your history but don't live in the past.

Back To Back - narcissist 7" - 2014 540 Records 540-044

Their first vinyl output was the flesh and bone 7". Released 3 years after the demo tape which I missed completely. That one was probably one of my favorite new releases in 2013. So good. It blew me away right upon first hearing it. Accordingly my expectations for this, their 2nd 7" were very high. Maybe too high because they weren't met. Still a great record better than a lot of other in the flock though. Definitely worth checking out. Raw and distorted oldschool hardcore punk. Just the way I like it.

Not quite sure but I bet this is the only existing version other than a test press.

Survival Jamz

from posting an old collectible record through the  reissue of an old collectible record i'll take you to this discography of sorts of a band not quite that old but already old enough that loads of hardcore hype kids these days probably don't know them anymore

Jaguarz - jungle jams / survival 7" - 2014 Climbin' Aboard CA-024

In 2003 they released their awesome demo which got the vinyl treatment last year and because there was still some space left on the wax Climbin' Aboard Records added their song from the 'Sweet Vision' comp. All their material is great and 'survival' (from the comp.) is their strongest track so it's great to have all their stuff in the same place to conveniently listen to at once. I believe there was also a rehearsal or a live tape released or at least passed around that might have had one or the other unreleased song which is why I wrote sort of a discography.

500 copies were made in total.
My version is out of 250.
150 were made on yellow and 100 on green.
Probably a one time only pressing and it seems to be sold out.

lockjaw dead friends

Lockjaw - dead friends 7" - 2014 Antitodo 003

This record was originally released in 1983 as the band's 2nd and last 7". To be honest before I got wind of the repress I had never even heard of the band. I gave it a quick listen online and decided to get a copy. So far though I have to say it doesn't do much for me. Maybe I have to listen to it a few times but with all the records I buy all the time I'm not sure if this will get the spins it needs to win me over. We'll see.

There were 500 copies pressed of the original on black vinyl but only 300 of this reissue. All on clear.

YOTCCME

back on the workforce. not much time lately.

Youth Of Today - can't close my eyes 7" - 1985 Positive Force Records 04

Youth Of Today was one of the first hardcore bands I came across. But somehow I never got as religiously into them as a lot of other folks. I always liked them and appreciated for their importance in the history of hardcore music but that's that. I never felt them like I did Uniform Choice, Wide Awake, Turning Point and others who except for UC maybe might not have been as crucial but for some reason spoke to me a lot more. Not that I could explain it. Just a feeling.

That being said as a collector I still had to have a first press of their first 7" and now I finally have one. If it wouldn't have been for a friend of mine selling his collection I would probably still not have picked it up. It just wasn't that high up on my priorities list. But I must say once I put the needle to this platter and heard the original recordings for the first time I can understand where all the worship is coming from better. This is a fucking killer. At the time of it's release it must have ripped the whole scene a new one. And of course even today it puts a lot of efforts to shame.

I never intended to collect this release but I definitely had to have at least one copy for my collection so what better to get than a first press. Yeah I know it's not the most impressive version to get but I don't mind. There are quite a few different pressings and variations out there but as I already mentioned I'm not too much into YOT which is why I'm perfectly satisfied with what I got. Somehow I feel that a first press trumps any other pressing no matter how rare. A rarer first press variation might have been better. If there is one. I don't even know because I never cared enough. Besides I'm a regular guy so a regular 1st press is best for me

i love that band tonight and forever

Sense Field - tonight and forever LP - 2014 Spartan Records SPAR019

Originally this album was released in 2001 on CD only. Lucky 13 years later someone finally decided to give it a proper treatment. I had never listened to the full album before the pre-order went up so I wasn't sure wether I would like it as much as their previous output or not. Now that I have it I have to say I do. 'Tonight and forever' is a great record. At this point in their history nothing reminds of their hardcore past anymore but who cares? The band progressed naturally and instead of ripping off their own older material and becoming boring they developed into a great indie/ pop / whatever band. No sell out, no commercial tactics or other bullshit. Just a bunch of guys doing what they love. How could you not respect that.

By the way this is the last record to arrive that I paid for in 2'14 and it only arrived in 2'15 so how do I treat this? I'd say I file this under 2'14 buy. And with this I have covered all 12" inch records I picked up last year. But as you might have realised there weren't too many 7"es I posted about lately. Well, brace yourself. There's a huge stack that need to be put on here. I still have to take pictures of all of those and there are some real bangers in there. At least for my collection.
Meanwhile my first purchase of 2'15 is in but I will only cover that once that heap of singles has been dealt with. Might be a while but I'm doing my best to catch up on all that.

Four different variants out of a 500 total press run is a bit excessive I have to say but that's how you bait suckers like me. Initially I wanted to get only one copy but couldn't make up my mind which one to pick so in a moment of madness I said what the hell and ordered all of them. A small part of me regrets this but only for the monetary damage it caused. Having all of them here now feels very good and totally makes me forget about the money. Hot pink on the left is out of 200 the others are out of 100 each. The 2nd record from the left is supposed to be a color in color in color, hot pink in dark purple in milky clear. Too bad the clear only appears in a some spots and doesn't even really come through. All of those can still be ordered here, where you can also check out how that tripple color inside color was supposed to look. I wonder if any of those records actually look like that. If so I think I need one because it looks so damn amazing. If your copy does look like that please send me a picture.

limited version of the silver medal holder for 2'14

Praise - lights went out LP - 2014 React! Records RXR040

And here they are. The pictures of the limited euro tour edition aka the last record I bought and received in 2'14.

I got #37/50. Perfect. I'm 37. Now I'll always remember the year it was released.

Why did they use red for the special covers  though?
I think they should have used blue to finally give at least those 50 copies out of the blue vinyl pressing a reason why they exist.

Only thing left to say is that Praise are a bunch of great guys. I hope they will continue what they are doing for a long time.

Everything else I already said in this post a few days ago.

12" Rhino 39

Rhino 39 - s/t LP - 1986 Triple X Records XXX1001

When I first saw this record for sale at Hitsville in Düsseldorf, Germany I wasn't sure if I needed it. Mostly because I already had picked a few other things from the bins but when I got home I couldn't stop thinking about it and kicked myself repeatedly for leaving it behind. Fast forward a few months and I'm back at the same store and what do I find? This Rhino 39 record. I thought it was long gone but no. There it still was. How could this be? Ralf, your customers need a lesson or two.
Or am I all wrong and this is a different copy than the one I saw the first time? Well, I doubt that but who knows... or cares. I'm stoked I was able to add it to my collection after all.

One time pressing on black vinyl only. Now I need that original Dangerhouse 7" even more but too many people have gone batshit crazy over the last two years or so. I hope it's just a fad that will fade again soon

sxe sells

V/A - sxe sells LP - 2014 Cobra Records CR-60

I bought this pretty late. It was out for I don't know how long already and I always meant to pick up a copy but for some reason I didn't want to spend postage on it. But then we did a show with Give, Minutes and Echoes. It was a great night. Unfortunately I didn't catch either Minutes' or Echoes' set because I had to take care of other things. The down side of organising shows. You book bands you like and more often than you'd like to you don't get to see them. But what I heard was great. Unfortunately two members of Echoes couldn't make it to the show but instead of cancelling they got Bigma (of Mainstrike and Birds Of A Feather fame) to fill in on vocals and decided to play a sweet cover set. Nice! Of course Give played a killer set as usual. I think it was at least the third time I saw them. If they would play around here every month I guess I'd be there every time if possible.

After the show I grabbed this LP  from Echoes who contributed to it and therefore had a few copies for sale. MDMA, Xwalk awayX and Echoes are really good. Constrict are even a little better if you like that 90s militant vegan sound. But Hangin' Tough and Last Warning are killing it. Definitely the best songs on this 12". As much as I like Hangin' Tough I have to say that the Last Warning track on here is more interesting. Each contribution to this this piece of wax was previously unreleased. Except for one of the two HT songs which was already on the 7" on Good Intentions HC and their other one is 'wound up' from REV 1 so this is why LW got them beat. Their song I didn't know before. The rest of the bands are not bad but somewhat don't hit home with me. All together it's a nice varied compilation but because I'm quite bored with 9 out of 15 bands I will probably not break this out again anytime soon. I guess it's the curse of the compilation.

I think there were 3 different vinyl colors pressed and all of them used the same colors as the layout. I like that. It's the best choice you can make when pressing color vinyl. The wax has to match the rest of the layout otherwise I don't see the point and prefer black. In this case there is no standard black vinyl pressing though and the choices available all looked ok so I didn't mind. Which is why I had  Marc (from Echoes) pull a random copy out of the box and that's the one I documented just now.

blues fix

The Cramps - blues fix 10" - 2014 Big Beat Records BLUE 1

Yet another Stockholm buy. That city is so beautiful and full of record stores. Definitely worth a trip. Next time maybe not in the fall when the weather is not too good. With some more sun it might be up there with Antwerp, Hamburg, London and Vienna.

But whatevers. This tenner is one of two records I picked up at what looked like a chainstore for all things music related. Vinyl, CDs, books, mugs, jigsaw puzzles of legendary album covers and I think even T-Shirts. Naturally I didn't expect too much from this one but of course checked it out anyway and boy was I in for a surprise. Both records I picked up I had no idea even existed. While it was pretty obvious that one was a new Leonard Cohen full length I had no idea what that Cramps record was. Even the guy from the store asked me if I knew anything about that release. He was just as clueless as I was at the time.

Now I know that what I scored is a new Re-Issue of a one time only CD single pressing (or is 'burned' the correct term here??) originally released in 1992 to accompany the 'Look mom no head' album. I didn't know about this one at all because I usually disregard CD releases. It's great they finally made this available on vinyl. All four songs are covers and if I remember correctly those songs have not been officially released anywhere else except for the first one which can also be found on the above mentioned record. 'It's mighty crazy' is a great mid tempo hit. Glad I found this.

not too much and not too soon

New York Dolls - too much, too soon LP - 1974 Mercury ‎– SRM-1-1001

Another one from Stockholm although bought at a different store. The same one I bought this Velvet Underground LP at. We strolled by this store that had all kinds of 'vintage' things for sale and on the street they had 2 boxes of records for about a euro each. So I started flipping through those not expecting anything when I came across this Donna Fargo LP and those by Jim Reeves. When I went inside to pay for those I saw they had more records right inside and in the basement. I felt bad for my wife because I actually didn't want to check out any more record stores at that point but once I was in there I couldn't resist.
So I came across this awesome album. I have to admit that at first I wasn't really into the New York Dolls because they first Dolls record I bought was the 'Lipstick Killers - The Mercer Street Sessions 1972' which was recorded prior to their first LP at a different studio and are probably demo recordings. With a lot of punk bands their earlier or demo recordings are rougher and thus sound way better to me but not those. It was definitely the worst possible introduction to this band. In 2'13 I picked up a sealed bootleg copy of their s/t LP for $10 in New York. I figured I'd give them another chance and when better to do than while being in NY. Back home I couldn't believe how great it was. Ever since I like them as much as their contemporaries MC5, Stooges, The Velvet Underground, The Heartbreakers, etc.

This copy definitely didn't look like a recent Re-Issue or a bootleg and the price didn't hurt too but what exactly it is I had no idea. And actually still don't. It's none of those pressings listed on discogs. I checked each one of those but there are differences to each one of those. It's pretty close to the original US pressing but the labels are a bit darker and the matrix etching is slightly different.
I'm pretty sure it's a legit release and not a bootleg. Who would boot a record down to the matrix and then get the etching wrong? It's probably a pretty small run repress from god knows what year. Not too recent though. It's nice to have a copy of this that not too many people know even exists.

after the lights go out

CH3 - after the lights go out LP - 1983 No Future Records PUNK 7

Early 80s Westcoast hardcore-punk is one of my favorite genres and this is a true highlight of it. Their 2nd full length and not even slightly worse than the first. To be honest I totally forgot about this pressing. I have the original Posh Boy release for some years already and was satisfied with it at first but when I saw this copy in front of me at a record shop in Stockholm on our holidays I couldn't resist. They are one of my all time favorite melodic hardcore-punk bands. How could I have lived without this record after I had held it in my own hands? Well, there was one scenario that would have made me leave this and everything else at the shop behind in order to pick up just one 7". That store put out photocopies of the covers of those singles that are a little more expensive and one of those was of a Minor Threat - in my eyes. Of course you cannot tell anything about the pressing just by a xerox of the cover so I asked to see it because if it would have been a first press it would have been the steal of my life so far at the price they asked. Unfortunately though they couldn't find it and didn't even seem to be to bothered about it. Can you imagine? Other records they also couldn't find were Wipers - romeo and Wide Awake - cthc 2nd press. What a let down. But I did get some great stuff there anyway so it's all good. Still I cannot forget about that Minor Threat.

Anyway. This euro pressing on No Future from the UK was the last out of the two only pressings I know of that I needed. There were Re-Issues on Get Back Records in 2003 and '05 but who needs that crap if you have the real deal. Or maybe at all. This record is not that expensive.

Cruisin' 1962

V/A - cruisin' 1967 LP - 1970 Increase Records INCM 2007

'Do you remember Rock'n'Roll Radio' did the Ramones ask. Well, with a record out of the Cruisin' series how could you forget about it. There were 15 LPs released covering the years from 1955 up to 1969. All of those have a live radio show cut into the grooves. Including commercials, jingles and the DJ talking. I love it.

My 4th one out of the series. 1955, 1957, 1959 and now 1962. It should have been the 1961 version to keep with the flow but what the heck. It seems '62 was a good year too. I even got me a first press. Increase Records Re-issued all of their original releases a few years later in revised editions with slightly different tracklists. Which means I'll probably end up with 30 of those LPs at some point.
This baby is 44 years old.

high voltage

AC/DC - high voltage LP - 1976 Atlantic ATL 50 257 (36142) (WE 341)

Actually I would love to own at least one of those early AC/DC albums as an original first Albert Productions pressing which is why I hadn't picked up this LP long ago already. But then I figured that I wasn't going to spend what it costs anyway so when this copy was offered to me I took it.

At least I got a french first pressing which is nothing to sneeze at too I'd say. Almost 40 years old and still looking, and sounding, great. Nice!

Master of puppets

Today I'll post the rest of the records I took of my friend's hand

Metallica - master of puppets LP - 1986 Music For Nations MFN 60

One of the great early Metallica albums and I'm glad I finally got a copy for a really good price. Even though I think it's the weakest one. Not counting the 'black album' and everything thereafter of course. Many of you might not agree with me but the first Metallica record I heard was '...and justice for all' so naturally I love that one. Then I got 'ride the lightning'. Killer. To this day it's my favorite. And if I remember it right 'kill em all' comes in third but I might revise that once I finally have my own vinyl copy. It's been a while since I threw out all those dubbed tapes I never listened to anyway so I don't have that album anywhere to listen to. I don't do last.fm, spotify or any other online crap.

What I got is a beautiful UK pressing from year of its original release. There were many pressings made that year in the UK. One on a different label. Picture vinyl. Color vinyl. I'm glad I got good old black on MFN. The same label my 'ride the lightning' is on although that one is a Re-Issue double LP released in 1987 that my parents bought for me a year later. My '...and justice for all' is a 1988 original on Vertigo/ Phonogram and was pressed in the Netherlands.

Unter Toten Hosen

And another old and dear one

Die Toten Hosen - unter falscher flagge LP - 1984 Totenkopf TOT 21, Virgin 206 845

This band was so good in their early days. I have fond memories of the tapes friends recorded for me back in the late eighties when I was still in school with no money. It's a shame what they turned into these days... and not just recently. Really embarrassing.
That aside this is still a great record.

The cover of this second press, released the same year as the first press, is censored because they used a rip off HMV logo on the flag of the ship they are depicted on. But for some reason they didn't have to censor they printed innersleeve which shows exactly the same image only way bigger. Strange how those major label politics work.
I'm not too concerned with owning a first press which is why I grabbed it from the same dude who sold me the Die Ärzte LP which you may remember from my previous post. I took three more records of his hands but more about that later...

Debile Ärzte

Today I'll take you back to my punk rock roots. I can't imagine anyone in Germany into Punk not having listened to this band at some point. Well, maybe the younger generation because lately they don't really release good records anymore.

Die Ärzte - debil LP - 1984 CBS 26 237

Maybe for nostalgic reasons but maybe because this stuff is really good. But who cares? No matter what I really love this record. When I was young I didn't have the money to buy their records and then for a year or two I didn't mind much. Recently though I decided I have to have their early albums on vinyl. So here we go with their debut full length.
Die Ärzte are the biggest german band that was ever considered punk and to me still is. They never sold out or changed their attitude. Now I'm aware that some people would be well advised to change their attitude but not them. From what I know their heart and soul were always in the right place.

Good thing a friend of mine is thinning his collection and let go of this for cheap. It's an original 1984 pressing. Apparently there were two different ones made that year with different matrix numbers but pretty much identical otherwise. So who knows which one came first. At this point probably no one. I didn't even care about what pressing it is which is why I'm definitely perfectly happy with this copy.

The 411 you didn't see coming

411 - The Side You Cannot See: Complete Discography 1990-1992 - 2014 Workshed WSR-11

There have been a few discography releases the last few years that I never thought would happen. Ressurection is the earliest that comes to mind, then Headfirst and now this one.
The original 411 records don't demand a lot of dough which is probably due to not many people caring about that band. So why do a discography release? Because there ARE people who DO care.
I have two copies of the 7" and a version of the LP which is already most of what they recorded. The 4 compilations they contributed to I don't have and will probably never pick up which is why this release was necessary. It's great to have everything in one place now.

As far as I know there was only this one version pressed. It is out of 500 and was distributed by Revelation who don't seem to have copies anymore. Maybe that means there will be another pressing at some point but I doubt that.

25 years glow in the dark, start today

Gorilla Biscuits - start today LP - 2014 Revelation Records REV012A

Yes. I'm fed up with all the pointless repressings Revelation churns out every other week. But this finally is one that makes sense. For its silver anniversary a special Re-Issue of this crucial classic is something I can most definitely get behind. Especially because it's executed perfectly.

I haven't seen any numbers yet but this limited edition glow in the dark vinyl is still and only available from REV directly. Except for discogs of course. Don't give your money to those jerks. Go straight to the source and pay less.
The black vinyl version of this pressing (which I'm still not sure if I should pick it up) looks almost exactly like the first press. Except for the printed GB logos inside the cover of the 25th anniversary edition and its black on white text as opposed to the white on black text of the original. Maybe the matrix is different too but I didn't check that.
A great addition to my collection. Most of all because my wife won't give me her purple vinyl copy. Now I finally have my own color vinyl pressing.

20 years! life. love. no regret.

And on with more unpopular opinions of mine. Or maybe not. What do you think?

With the previous posts I went from covering the top 2 new full length records to posting about the worst record out of all those I picked up last year and now I want to take you back to the top.

The best Re-Issue of 2'14

Unbroken - life. love. regret. LP - 2014 Indecision Records IND093

As you'll know I am not too fond of all those Re-Issues but an anniversary pressing is something I can get behind. Especially if it's of my all time favorite hardcore band. I got into hardcore in the 90s which is probably why it's not a band from the 80s. Or maybe it would still be Unbroken. They took everything I love about 80s hardcore and did away with all the bullshit I don't like about 80s hardcore.
So this is my favorite Re-Issue from last year. Most people would probably put either the Brotherhood or Gorilla Biscuits LP up there but I don't. Thus losing what's left of my record collector credibility

This new pressing came out very, very good. I love the new color scheme of the cover and how the vinyl color is made to match. Also the new insert looks great and Todd Beattie's text hits home just like the lyrics still do. 20 years later and his opinions still reflect what made me fall in love with the band in the first place.
Pictured is the regular pressing out of either /800 or /1000. Where ever I see numbers pop up it says there were 1000 pressed but there is an extra ltd. pressing on a different color vinyl with a silkscreened cover out of 200 that was made for the Japan tour and I'm not sure if those are on top or out of the 1000 press run. If anyone knows please leave a comment.

Also please do get in touch if you have this promo poster:

I need it bad.

for real? + a little recap of 2'14

I guess I'll lose a lot of credit with this post.
... if I ever had any that is.

Yesterday I posted about my two favorite new full lengths of 2'14 and today I'll take you all the way to the other end of the list because I already posted about the rest of the top 5 new LPs.
For those who are curious:
#1 Give - electric flower circus LP
#2 Praise - lights went out LP
#3 Cold World - how the gods chill LP,
#4 Sheer Terror - standing up for falling down
#5 Battle Ruins - s/t LP
That being said I'm still waiting to get my copies of the latest Boston Strangler and Hank Wood & The Hammerheads LPs but I don't think they'll make it into the top 5.
These will bring up the total count of newly released hardcore/punk full length records that I bought last year to 14. Once I have those I can finally make a top 10 although it will be hard to decide and therefore probably not done
Other contenders would be:
Fucked Up - glass boys 2LP which is quite a bit better than I had expected,
Said And Done - better days LP which is pretty good,
Bloodsuckers - crush to dust LP which is pretty good too,
Punch - they don't have to believe LP which is a lot better than anything they did before,
White Lung - deep fantasy LP which is a good one albeit a little weaker than their previous effort,
The Down & Outs - lifeline LP which is good but also not as good as their previous material and
Madball - hardcore still lives LP which I think is kinda weak.

Some might also throw Chain & The Gang's latest output "minimal rock'n'roll" into the mix but somehow I think they have transcended any genre and cannot be put on this list.

Last year's new albums that can definitely not be included on a list with hc bands:
Bohren & Der Club Of Gore - piano nights 2LP - awesome as always.
Leonard Cohen - popular problems LP - a tad better than the last one.
Morrissey - worldpeace is none of your business 2LP - one good song. bored by the rest.
Warpaint - s/t 2LP - one if not the best band I discovered for myself the last few years.

But now, finally, without anymore ado I present to you the worst record I bought last year.

NYC Mayhem - for real LP - 2014 Radio Raheem Records RADIO-005

So many people hold this band in such a high regard that I've given them more than a fair share of trials but I just cannot get into this. Both their demos suck and there are maybe 2 ok to good songs among those previously unreleased 7" recordings. Sorry folks but y'all are wrong. This was not a good band.

Next!

Lights went hair core

On with the record that holds the silver medal for best new full length released in 2'14

Praise - lights went out LP - 2014 React! Records RXR040

While most certainly having been my most anticipated 2'14 release back in 2'13 it only came in second at the end of the year. But it was a close one.
What more can I say about this band/ record? Maybe that it's beyond me why there are not more people in Germany stoked on Praise and Give for that matter. We did shows with both bands and while at first I thought that any of those would sell out because of how great those bands are and the attention they seem to get I had to learn that people around here seem to be living under a huge fuckin' rock when it comes to real hardcore that puts heart, MIND and soul over style and fun. Hopefully that will change again as this was what drew me towards hardcore in the 90s in the first place and because I think that's what it should be like.

I got my regular black copy out of 425 at one of the usual distros I order from. Apart from the test press there are 4 more variants out there. A release show version out of 75 which probably reduces the regular black vinyl variant to 350. The green vinyl out of 150 and most likely only 300 LPs on blue wax with a regular cover because they used 50 blue records for a ltd. euro tour version which sold out during the show we did which I believe was like the 3rd or 4th one on the tour. Sorry folks.

Electric Hair Core

Happy New Year fellow nerds

Let's start 2015 with what I regard to be the best new LP released in 2014

Give - electric flower circus LP - 2014 Adagio830 #121

It took me quite a while to really get into this band. At first I liked their approach but couldn't fully get behind what I heard. Then I saw them live and was blown away. What a great live band.
Repeated listening to the first full length and 'singles going confetti' had me feel them a lot more and then this one dropped. Damn is this a great record. Definitely my favorite of 2'14

What we have here is the regular euro pressing out of 400 on black which I bought straight from the band when we did a show with them. There's also a ltd. green vinyl pre-order edition out of 100 but that one is long gone but you can still pick up a black copy here. Or you can pick up the US pressing which the band put out on their own label Moonflower Records. And make sure you also pick up the True Head 12" you won't be disappointed. Listening to and loving it again right now.

I can't wait for that new 12" on Revelation to find its way over the pond.

GIVE is what hardcore 2'15 should feel like.