Pink Du$t

This Angel Dust "A.D." album has been the a hot topic on the internet this year. Some people love it and think it's the record of the year, and some people absolutely hate it. I have tried really hard to get into, but it is just not my thing. There are some songs on here I like (stepping stone, beat my brain, set me up), but over all it is way too poppy for me. It features the singer from Trapped Under Ice, but rarely sounds like TUI as they take a pop punk approach. If you know anything about this blog, you will see I have zero pop punk on it.

This was a split release between Reaper and React Records with /400 on white, /400 on clear, /1000 on black. This pink marble was limited to the band on tour and out of /150, being the hardest color to find. I was never interested in owning a copy of this album until I saw Reaper post a pink copy on their web store, so I figured why not.

United States of Mind

So I haven't taken any pictures since July and my pile of records has been stacking up. The more it stacks up, the less I want to take pictures. However, sometimes I want to be the first to post stuff. Usually if I am not one of the first to post it I quickly lose interest and put it off, and sometimes I just never post it. Yesterday I got the new Take Offense LP and wanted to be the first to get this bad boy up. 

Clear was the limited press out of /300, with /700 being on green. Sadly the green looks better. This release is ok but I am not feeling it like I felt Take Offense's last releases. They have definitely moved towards a more metal style and I feel like they are moving away from their signature sound a little bit. Maybe it just needs time to grow on me? I will say though, that this is the best album art of all their records in my humble opinion. I just love that cover!

I also ordered a copy of their "Live at the Socal Slam" 7" on red vinyl out of /500. It actually comes with a nice 8 page insert with a pretty cool collage on every page. Well done, Reaper.

So I was really surprised to find #19/500 on my copy. 19 has always been my favorite number. My Dad played one season for the Pittsburgh Pirates in the early 70's until he had a career ending injury and could never play baseball again (shoulder surgeries weren't as efficient in the 70's as they are today!), but when he did play he wore #19. Growing up playing all kinds of different sports I always wore #19 and it remains my favorite number to this day. Strange coincidence, I guess. 

Sai Nam - Crush

RWHAF not only tipped me off about the Cro-Mags "Alpha Omega" reissue, but they also tipped me off about the Sai Nam - Crush LP on limited vinyl. I pretty much ignored this release when it came out because of a silly band name, shitty cover, and the fact that Reaper never put it out on vinyl and only released it on CD. Kind of foolish of me, because after listening to this is actually a very good release. The band is fronted by the singer of Trapped Under Ice, so it is obviously going to sound very similar to TUI. Dare I say, I think I prefer this over any of the TUI stuff? The band also has members of Breakdown, Crown of Thornz, and All Out War. Demons RunAmok, the European label that also released the Alpha Omega LP recently, did a pretty limited pressing with /100 on white available to those of us in the states via RevHQ. Wouldn't you know, there are some still available? I recommend this release and if you are going to do any Rev orders, throw a copy of this in before it's too late!

Kinda Stepping 2 Rhythm

I really enjoyed Turnstile's "Pressure to Succeed", so I was all over the pre order for Step 2 Rhythm. Unfortunately the most limited version was the black out of /300. I am sick of Reaper pulling that bullshit. The most common pressing was on green, why not have the green be limited instead Reaper? 

The 2nd most limited was the "White" on /500, but it really is like a gray color. This has to  have one of the lamest covers and back sides I've seen recently. Mike said it best when he noted that the dude on the back is a little hairy vagina dancing guy. I am kind of torn on this release. I kind of like it, but I kind of don't. The band went for a bit of a softer more melodic approach compared to their first release. I understand that bands like to grow musically and make different stuff, but this is hardcore dudes. There are some weird singing parts on this that just sound like shit. Some bands can pull it off (think Take Offense), but Turnstile is just not that band. While playing it in the car, my girl even clowned on me and asked if I was listening to Linkin Park (ouch). This release is decent ("Pushing Me Away" may be my favorite Turnstile song), but the soft parts were a let down for me.

We'll see if Turnstile comes correct and sticks to the core next time around. 

Chosen Ones - They Called Your Number

I also recently picked up a copy of "They Called Your Number" by the Chosen Ones from Reaper. First and foremost, I was absolutely shocked when I gave this thing a listen that Reaper would touch this record with a 10 foot pole. They must be good friends with some of the band members. That's not necessarily a knock on the Chosen Ones, it's simply because this is pure melodic punk rock (with the emphasis on "rock"), that at times flirts with "sugar Oi!", a term that was coined by Vanilla Muffins.

That being said, I do like this release. I compare it most to bands like Ducky Boys, One Man Army, the Sore Thumbs and Vanilla Muffins. This release would have been more appropriate on a label like Pirates Press, TKO, Longshot, GMM or Oi! the Boat, and it probably would have hit more of it's actual target audience on one of those instead of Reaper. I wonder how many hardcore kids got all butt hurt blindly ordering this from Reaper, haha! 

Being from the Bay Area, I am very familiar with this style of music. That melodic punk flirting with Oi! has been popular for the last decade plus with the rise of all the TKO Record bands in the late 90's/early 00's out here and all the way to today with all the Pirates Press bands. That being said, I do like this release, but there are other bands that are similar to Chosen Ones and are just doing it better right now. Immediately bands like Hounds and Harlots, Downtown Struts and Harrington Saints come to mind. Like I said, I do like this release and I will probably give it more listens than most of the hardcore shit I buy, but for this genre it is still not quite in the top tier. 

This was the limited version of /300 on "milky clear", it also had /700 on blue vinyl. Now I'm kicking myself for not ordering both. Check out their music video for "Fallen Generation" from this release below and decide for yourself:

Malfunction - Finding My Peace

When I pre ordered the recent Turnstile and Terror releases from Reaper, I added a few more releases to my collection that I didn't have yet. Malfunction's "Finding My Peace" was one of them, and it was my favorite pick up of everything that Reaper has put out recently. This is a fantastic release that seems to be getting slept on for the most part. Malfunction plays bare bones NYHC similar to Cro-Mags (you don't say, with a name like "Malfunction"?). Their vocalist even reminds me a little bit of John Joseph. This record was out of /203 on clear. It's either /542 or /800 on red vinyl, Reapers website gives both of those numbers so I'm not to sure which one it is. It would make more sense for it to be out of /800 for a clean 1,000 pressed. Malfunction definitely has it going on and is a bright new up and coming band. I am excited for any future stuff these guys put out. 

Just (Born) Annoying

So recently I picked up the combo pack for the Born Annoying "Living How You're Not" EP from Reaper. It came on blue out of /762 and clear out of /212. When I received my package I noticed I just had 2 copies of blue vinyl. I emailed Reaper, and they said they are out of clear. Well, that pretty much sucks. I only ordered the blue because it was only a couple dollars more in the combo, but I was really just interested in the clear vinyl. 

As far as the release itself, I'm not really too impressed by it. The music is tight and crisp, and truly is on point. However, I'll say it over and over again; my opinion of releases live and die with the vocals. The vocals on this just annoyed me right from the first listen. They have an angry, screachy, pre pubescent sound to it that reminds me of nails on a chalk board. 

On a side note, the cover art is really strange on this, but for whatever reason I think it's really cool. I cannot put my finger on it. Would have loved to seen this come on a pink vinyl to match the Born Annoying text. 

Friend or Foe, One Year Later

Looking through some old back logged photos I came across some that were taken exactly 1 year ago today. A whole bunch that I have yet to post. A solid hardcore release that is available for a free download on their bandcamp. I believe this was pressed specifically for a festival but I can't recall exactly. It has been a year after all. This is some good shit though, I forgot how tight this was. This probably didn't make any top 10 lists last year, but still a solid easy listen that I'm sure will stand the test of time.

ON - Double Vision

Possibly the most boring band name ever ("On"?), here is a 2009 split release from Reaper and React on white vinyl out of /250. This thing has pretty interesting pressing info, and I have the first press that was available only through React! This is about what you would expect from two top tier labels, very good straight ahead hardcore. Excellent artwork and layout, excluding the Justin Bieber haircut on the front... C'MON MAN!!!

Peep out the track "Generations" below:

Whoa Oh! Just Another (out) Crowd!

Here is another recent pick up from Reaper. The record and layout on this looks fantastic, as with most Reaper releases. This is another one of those releases that I really like at times and at times it's "Meh". It is a solid release, but at times the vocals annoy me (like on "Clockwork"). However, the music itself is so good that I power through it and still rock out. It's definitely not a "regular listen" for me, I have to use it sparingly. However, I'll be looking forward to their next release to see how this band grows. There is definitely a great deal of potential on these 8 tracks. This comes on red vinyl /400 or Green vinyl /1600.

Turnstile Green Cover

Jake gave me a heads up a while back about this Turnstile with the alternative green cover that reaper put up out of /132. Apparently they had extra vinyls so they had to make more covers. I also have it with the regular blue cover on black vinyl that I thought I had taken pictures of, but I can't seem to find. Oh well maybe I'll update it later. I really love this 7", it's grown on me in a huge way. It has a similar feel to Madball and Cold World, with that kind of thug HC, hip hop influenced feel which is right up my alley. I'm glad I jumped on this when I did, because this alternative cover is already OOP.

For your listening pleasure, check out this Vinnie Paz video with him wearing a Turnstile hoodie. Sick!

I got No Values

This is a record I had put off buying or checking out for a while, until I seen it on the Nerd X Alert blog and I decided I would give it a listen. I was pleasantly surprised at how good this record was. It has more of an old school punk sound and it rips. So why did I hesitate on checking out this record for so long? Well it's quite simple really... I thought the singer was wearing eye make up when I initially saw the cover! I know, silly right? Of course after a closer look I saw he wasn't, he just has kind of dark eyes, but I didn't really look that close and I figured it was an emo band or something so I was cool off it. But yeah, give these guys a chance. There is no mascara involved, I promise!

Way too much BACKTRACK

Since I'll be seeing Cold World and Backtrack tonight in Oakland, I wanted to post my copies of Backtrack's "Darker Half". I bought the black and white copy when I saw them with Trapped Under Ice last year. At the time I had never listened to them, but I was so blown away that I had to pick up the record and some merch. At the table I remember they had all four vinyl pressings, but I opted for the most common one on black and white vinyl (out of 1000) because I thought it looked so great and the fact that the album is called "Darker half". Then a few months ago I saw that Reaper had posted the pre-order green (out of 300) which was the most limited color and I had to scoop that one up as well. I'll probably pick up the clear and yellow copies if I can get them on the cheap on ebay or something, but I don't really feel the need to pay full price for them.

The artwork and layout is incredible. Another prime example of why Spoiler art is just untouchable. It seems pretty obvious that this is inspired by the Agnostic Front "Cause for Alarm" album art, not just because of the obvious devil connection and other similarities, but there's a dude getting choked out for christs sake!

Now onto the record itself... This thing is an absolute banger. I sincerely think this thing may be remembered as a classic from this era in another ten or fifteen years. This is one of those albums that I loved from the first listen and I can listen to every track. If you haven't picked one of these up, I would definitely do so immediately!

I also have slowly amassed a silly amount of Backtrack merch. I have never been that big of a merch guy. Do I have a shit load of band shirts? Hell yeah, I mean I've been going to shows on a regular basis for well over a decade so it just happens, but I've come to the point where I have enough damn shirts and hoodies that I rarely feel the need to buy something unless I absolutely love the design. It all started at that first Backtrack show, I got a Darker Half crew neck and the white "face" shirt with the vinyl. A few months after that I was ordering some stuff from Reaper and decided I wanted the Darker Half logo on a T shirt and also threw in the Spoiler devil and barking dog shirts while I was at it. Then I seen them again recently in Santa Cruz and bought the black Ape shirt and the black Darker half alternate "green" shirt. Then a few weeks ago, I see an update saying they have left over tour stuff for sale, so I picked up the windbreaker and Darker half hoodie (both in the front). Does the insanity ever end?? I'm going to have to try really hard to not buy any more Backtrack stuff tonight. So far the tally is (1) crew neck sweatshirt (1) hoodie (1) windbreaker and (6) shirts. That is by far the most merch I have of any band, and I feel like a huge dork for having so much. It just kind of happened and built up on me slowly... What can I say, there artwork and designs are just too awesome to deny!

Fire & Ice - Not of This World Pre-Order

I just got in my pre ordered copy of Fire & Ice's new full length "Not of This World" on black /300. The black copies actually sold out before the pre orders even shipped, which was pretty surprising to me. Something tells me that they still have a bunch of black copies sitting around that they will put out later, but time will tell. Maybe I am just underestimating the popularity of this band. Anyways, I opted for the more limited pressing and passed on the blue (/700) and white (/1000) pressings. I truly hate it when Reaper does to most limited pressing on black, which is what they have been doing lately with most of their new releases. I miss the days when color vinyl was special.

I love the cover art for this and the whole space theme, simple and eye catching. The layout is pretty well done as well, keeping it simple just like the cover art. Now I kind of regret not buying all 3 colors, since this would look so great with blue and white, but I am just not into Fire & Ice enough to buy all three. I have listened to this release a few times now and it is a solid release, but it is a bit on the generic side for me. The music is great and they even have good lyrics, but I am just not that into the singers vocals. Sometimes though releases like this grow on me, so I may be going back to get the blue and white copies after a few more spins of this thing after all. 

The Tables Will Mysteriously Turn

Sorry for not posting anything in a while, I've been real busy at work and haven't had a chance to post after a nice 60 hour week... (More $$$ to blow on records!) Anyways I am posting my copy of "Tables will Turn" that I got for the cheap on ebay a while back. I assumed it was the 1st pressing of 700 on "black and purple marble", but it looks very different on the Reaper Discography and also on Flanders Fury's post, so I'm not so sure this is a first pressing after all. This is just purple and has no black in it at all. Either way this is a great release. This was one of those records that had to grow on me. First couple of listens I wasn't really feeling it with all the Suicidal style singing parts, but after a while I was loving it. Their singer is one of the rare vocalists that can pull the singing off without sounding lame. Definitely check this out!

Take Offense Pre-Order finally arrived

I really liked Take Offense's "Tables Will Turn" LP so I had to pre order their new EP on Black from Reaper. It's strange, but kind of cool I guess, that they essentially put a 7" on a 12" and one side has no songs on it. I really think they should have taken advantage of the naked side and put a nice screen pressed image on it. Otherwise, I am digging the album art, but it does come with no insert. I haven't had a chance to hear it yet since it just came in yesterday, but I'll be listening to it later. 

I always feel kind of dirty buying something that's the most limited edition press on black vinyl. I just think color vinyl is too overused these days. I miss the days when it was your regular 900 on black, 100 on color or something like that, you know, keeping it simple. Take Offense was supposed to play here in Oakland last week but cancelled the day before and moved the show to Sacramento. I was pissed but hopefully they come back soon, they are always fantastic live.

Update: After sneaking in a couple listens, I really love this Suicidal Tenden.... ahem, I mean Take Offense record. That Suicidal Tendencies reference is NOT a knock on T.O., because Suicidal Tendencies is fucking sick, and so is this EP! I'm about to find an old hat to flip the bill up and write "T.O.ZONE" under it for sure.