Buncha 7"s

   My local shop recently got a bunch of old-school hardcore, punk, grind, powerviolence records. Some really good stuff for really good prices (all of these were payed with tip-money). Here's the recent score, starting with one of the best of the bunch; the Dropdead/Totalitar split, released on Prank records in 2002. 45 rpm, grey vinyl.

   The Dropdead side is awesome. 5 blazingly fast tracks of pure powerviolence. Recorded at Godcity studios too, which is never a bad thing! I could honestly give two shits and a fuck about Totalitar. It's crust, it's boring, give me 5 more Dropdead tracks!! Comes with a glossy 2-sided insert with lyrics. No dust sleeve for the record. Why...

   Next up is a rather silly split between Benumb and James Best, or Roscoe P. Coltrane from the Dukes of Hazard TV show singing about his dog. It's pretty ridiculous, but it's Benumb, so I had to pick it up. The Benumb side is 3 untitled track of heavy, heavy powerviolence. 33 1/3 RPM, black vinyl, released on the legendary Slap-a-Ham label (super happy to get some of their releases in my collection).

   Next up is a split between Capitalist Casualties and a german band called Stack released on Six Weeks records. This is my first CC purchase and I'm kicking myself for not getting wise them earlier. 3 tracks from each band, both sides are pretty equal in terms of quality. 45 RPM, black vinyl, nice fold out cover with an insert talking about something. Lyrics included. 

   I was super happy to find this, a split single between The Get Up Kids and the unfairly good Coalesce. Released on Second Nature Recordings, 45 RPM, black vinyl. This thing has apparently been repressed 14 times, so I'm not exactly sure which pressing I have. What we have here is each band covering one of the other bands songs. Not so big on that whole shtick, but I'm always glad to get more Coalesce. The Get Up Kids are sorta melodic emo/punk stuff. Pass.

   And last, we have Fugazi's legendary "3 Songs" EP. Released in 1990 on Dischord Records, 45 RPM, black vinyl, lyrics printed on the back. I love this record! "Song Number One" is so catchy and groovy, "Joe No. One" is this really laid back instrumental that exploded into "Break In", it's short and oh so sweet. There's a real ugly tear in the center of the sleeve, but no real biggy.

Lovegrinder

My band Hiroshima Vacation got to open for Fuck the Facts and Total Fucking Destruction in Binghamton, NY last Saturday. It ruled, both those bands are stupidly good. TFD will entertain the fuck out of you live. I also snagged this little beauty, the last one they had actually. The new TFD album, "Hater". Released this year on Bones Brigade Records, limited to 300 on transparent blue marble. Bought it from Rich Hoak for 10 bucks. He now owns a Hiroshima Vacation shirt. Boss.

   I haven't actually listened to this yet, so I can't say what the pressing sounds like. But anyone who knows TFD should know what they're getting into with this record. Batshit insane, tongue-in-cheek-yet-deadly-serious, hard-rocking grindcore. 27 songs in 27 minutes. Perfect.

   I absolutely LOVE the color of this vinyl. Definitely the best looking blue piece of wax I own. True beauty.

   3 "Attack of the Supervirus" songs on this one, plus "Human is the Bastard", one of my favorite TFD jams.

   Very colorful 2-sided insert with lyrics included.

   If you see this, pick it up. I know that Hells Headbangers and To Live a Lie have copies. Get wise to the grind!

"Peace is the Victory"

Grind-Fidelity

Two records today. Trying to even out my lack of productivity (btw, if you want to write for this blog, drop me a pm) with more shit. First up is the latest full length from death-grind weirdos Brutal Truth, "Evolution Through Revolution". I got this from Mr. Erik Burke when I saw Sulaco a little while ago for the staggeringly awesome price of $5.00. Sweetest deal. This is a 2010 repress on transparent green vinyl, limited to 500, released by the mighty Relapse Records.

   Admittedly, I'm not the biggest Brutal Truth fan. I like em, but I'm not in love with them. This record is pretty damn cool though. This is their first full length with Erik Burke (Lethargy, Kalibas, Sulaco) on guitar and he brings some very interesting technical grind riffing to the table. Kevin Sharp sounds crazy, Dan's bass is deliciously distorted, Rich Hoak is a maniac on the drums, (strangely synthetic sounding drums however) as always.

   One thing I'll say is that the pressing of this sounds like complete shit. The high end is ridiculous, the high-hat and cymbals are so ahead in the mix, the guitars aren't as powerful as they should be, it's just a mess. I pretty sure this is due to how much music they tried to fit on each side. Not counting the two bonus tracks included on this release, this was already a 40+ minute album. That means that they would have had to fit about 20 minutes of music on a side. A 33 1/3 RPM record can only handle about 18 minutes before sound quality starts to suffer. Definitely the crappiest sounding Relapse vinyl I've heard. 

   I dig the packaging on this though. I love the gatefold, it's simple, but pleasing to the eye. Not so hot on the different cover art they chose to use for the repress. It also comes with a fully colored 2-sided insert with lyrics.

   Not the best, but that's mainly due to the shitty pressing. Oh well. Next up is the mighty Agathocles, the masters of Mince. This is the 2003 repress of their "Razor Sharp Daggers" full-length, originally released in 1995. Black vinyl, released by SOA records. 

   By my calculations, Agathocles have had about 1,000,345,678 releases during they're existence. Retardedly prolific. That being said, most of their out-put is pretty damn good. There's always a cool riff or several, the songs are well crafted, the production may be shit, but with this kind of output you can't expect them to hit a legit studio every time. This pressing sounds decently raw. The snare has a very loud pop, the guitars and bass have a great crunch, it's a good sounding album. 

   The original cover was a tiger getting it's throat cut. This release shows a bull being stabbed at a bull fighting game I believe. Pretty sad stuff. The quality of the images leaves a lot to be desired though. The picture is all grainy and pixilated, as well as the Agathocles logo. Piss poor job.

   Comes with a good, sturdy printed inner sleeve with lyrics. Hail the Mince.

   

Counting Seconds

Gah, no posts in a while. Completing high school is taking away all my fun-hobby-time. Anyway, here's my latest 7" purchase' the Inerds/Coworkers split released by the fine people at Feral Kid Records and Wrong Foot Recordings (Aaron from Coworkers label), 33 1/3 RPM on black vinyl. I purchased this from one of the classy ladies of Inerds at the last Big Day In show in Ithaca.

   On the A-side we have 2 songs from Coworkers. A relatively new band from Buffalo, NY with Aaron from Sonorous Gale on vocals. They play a weird style of punk that sort of mixes Fugazi post-hardcore with powerviolence. Really interesting stuff with excellent musicianship. The bass playing is especially note worthy. I dig it.

   On the B-side we have Inerds, also hailing from Buffalo, NY. Drum n' bass powerviolence/grind with 2 gnarly female vocalists. Think Magrudergrind mixed with Infest mixed with a more straightforward Man is the Bastard with way more distortion. Killer stuff. I've been digging on their "Stonewall" EP for a bit (which you can download for free on Grindcore Karaoke, along with the songs on this 7"), and this stays pretty true to the sound on that release, except there's a bit more groove. 

I really dig the label, simple but very pleasing to the eye.

Also comes with a 2-sided insert with lyric from both the bands.

   

Rich Get Richer

   I'm feeling like giving more praise to Agoraphobic Nosebleed today. So here's the newest addition to my growing ANb collection; an OG pressing of their split with Cattlepress on black vinyl (black limited to 2200). I got this from a righteous old dude at a local record fair on Record Store Day for $14.00. That's a deal if I ever heard one!

   This is real early, 90's era ANb. 17 short, groovy, powerviolence inspired songs, plus a Voivod cover. The drum machine isn't anything special, mostly blasts and some thrash beats. The snare does have this really nice metallic pop to it though. And it old-Scott Hull-production-fasion, there are some apparent changes in production quality through out. 

   One complaint i have with this pressing, is that the recording is really quite. You have to really crank the volume if you want this thing to blast. The guitars are especially quite, on both sides of this piece of wax.

   I haven't spent a lot of time with the Cattlepress side, but what I have heard is crushing! Heavy, sludgy, REALLY pissed off hardcore. Very awesome stuff.

   A quick word of advise to you aspiring vinyl collectors out there; really inspect your used records. Don't be blinded by the excitement of how rare the record is, actually take some time to look at it. The record might be warped, or there could be tears, dents, bends, all that bad stuff. I had no idea that one of the corners was seriously bent until after I left the record fair. It's no a big deal, but still a bummer to not have this in pristine condition.

  One thing that's cool about buying from serious collectors is that they keep EVERYTHING! This thing came with all the original inserts and booklets. Which I super happy about, it's a very good looking booklet. Digging the manga artwork.