CROSSCHECK

I'm going to let all of you in on a little secret. Philly's Crosscheck fucking rules. There it is. A little while back Dog Years posted that they were selling some test presses for one of their new releases, so I headed over to investigated. I found a combo deal of two records and a test press for $20, and then I gave the band a listen and was impressed enough 30 seconds in to pull the trigger. Luckily, because I got the last one! How sick is the cover of this release? They actually had to go out and spray paint some shit up and it looks sick. This is the only color press on blue out of /100, and still available. 

The black copy is out of /200. These guys really remind me of Backtrack, except a little heavier. You can download this record for free so there is no reason not to check it out.

The test press was only out of /15 and I think they only put up 5 of the package deals if I remember correctly. They sold pretty fast. 

"Suck Off!"

THE BONUS ARMY, and how to run your label pt. 3

As I briefly discussed in my Plead the Fifth post, I put together a order with Arrest Records on 4th of July while they were having a sweet 25% off sale and was quite shocked at all the stuff that was included when I opened up the package. I felt lucky enough to get 25% off, but Arrest Records went above and beyond on this one!

I ordered Bonus Army's "Burn Your World" 7" which just came out. It comes on Black /100, Clear /100 and Orange /100. I decided to order just the two color versions and pass on the black, but to my surprise not only did they throw in a free copy on black, but also a free test press! I mean, how cool is that? Just for no damn reason at all, even when I already got 25% off my order!

Here's the front and back.

And the test press, hand numbered on the sleeve and record itself #8/30. 

And Bonus Army's "Negative Outlooks" 7" on yellow /150. I downloaded this recently and have been totally hooked on Bonus Army. I fucking love this release. I don't know why I avoided them for so long, I just really think they have a terrible band name and the corny cover art turned me off, but once I finally gave these guys a chance and really saw what they were about, I was blown away. It amazes me that these guys aren't as big or even bigger than a band like Rival Mob. I say this because Bonus Army sounds very similar to Rival Mob but with even harder vocals. This is without a doubt an excellent release, and I'm surprised it is even still in its first press!

Next up was the Rude Awakening 2011 Demo. I ordered the "Gray" /56 (not really sure which one that is...) and he threw in the "Mauve" /189 as well for free! He also threw in a free poster for their Awakening 7" which is out on Triple B for the vinyl version and Arrest Records for the CD version.

Also a free copy of "Late Nite Wars" 7" on red /289. I have yet to give this a spin so I can't speak to much on it.

Also a free copy of Hammer Bros 12" on Black Vinyl /370. I also haven't given this one a spin yet so I can't say a whole lot on it. Either way that is (4) free 7"s, one of which was a test press and (1) free LP!  Arrest Records has pretty much ensured a loyal life long customer after this order and with amazing bands like Factory Minds, Plead the Fifth and Bonus Army on their roster there is no reason that you shouldn't check them out too! 

Provider - Wasteland

I don't know how it happened, but I've become something of a Life to Live Collector lately. The first test press I got was this one for Provider's "Wasteland" EP. They put up 5 test presses when they put up the pre orders so I decided to scoop one. Then Dan sent me the Step Aside test press because there was some issues with the order, and then I decided I should just go ahead and get the Losin' It test press off ebay while I was at it, so I could get all of Life to Live's "Big 3" Test presses. Unfortunately, The Life to Live site with the pressing info on it is down for the summer so I couldn't verify the pressing amounts. But I know the test press is /27, Pre Order /75, and I think the purple was /125, red /150, and black /225... But I can't verify those numbers anywhere. The only thing left is the Black copy which I wasn't really planning on getting, but now that I see all these next to each other I'll probably have to scoop one just to feel complete.

Let's get down to the nitty gritty. I absolutely love this 7", and it is by far my favorite of all the Life to Live stuff. If Losin' It and Step Aside are more similar to the Youth of Today style, Provider would be more similar to that Judge style. They definitely have that harder feel to their sound, and are very similar to other newer bands like Backtrack and Tough Luck. This is an excellent seven inch though and I highly recommend it. The artwork is fantastic on this thing as well. I really hope these guys come out to Cali soon, and this is such an impressive first release that I'm sure their next stuff will be blowing people away. 

Here is the pre order version, and as noted by Mike this has a very strange cover. I don't really like it, at all, but whatever.

Here is the test press out of /27. As all Life to Live test presses go, it has the stamp halfway on the sleeve and record, and is also hand numbered on the record itself as well as the sleeve. I'm glad the test press cover looks better than the pre order though. Now quit playin' and go check out this record!!!

Welcome to the DANGERZONE

I was hesitant to put this post up yet but Mike at The One Thing That Still Holds True's post today inspired me. I was even going to name this post "Losin it in the Danger Zone", until I realized his post was the same exact name. Always one step ahead of me! Life to Live records really has it going on right now. They have three great new young bands in Losin' It, Step Aside and Provider and Losin' It is on a full US tour. The reason I was putting off posting this is because my collection is incomplete. I still need the pre order copy which I missed out on, but who knows when one will pop up on ebay and I could end up having to wait a year to find one,  so go check out Mike's pre order copy for now to get the full effect! Above is the Test Press /25, Clear /125, Violent /155, and Black /155. The violet copy I think is by far the best looking version.

What is there not to love about the cover art? 1) Floorpunch is awesome. 2) Aliens are awesome. So a  Floorpunch alien, hardcore dancing through space? Hell yes that's awesome! This is a really awesome record too, good fun youth crew straight edge. You just can't go wrong.

I was even more excited to get the test press. One of the band members from Truth Inside was selling it on Ebay before they took off for their US tour a few weeks ago, and I was able to snag it for $28. I think that may end up being a good price, depending on how well Losin' It catches on. It's kind of like getting a good players limited rookie card, but he's not quite on the all star team yet. As with all Life to Live test presses it is hand numbered on the sleeve and the record itself, and has the Life to Live stamp half on the record and half on the white sleeve. What's strange is the Sleeve says 17/25, but Dan wrote 17/26 on the record itself. I'll have to ask him when I see him when Losin' It comes to San Jose on their tour. Go check these guys out while they are on tour and snag one of these copies up before they are all gone! I think just before Dan shut down the Life to Live store for the tour, the clear and purple may have been all gone, so hopefully you can still scoop one somehow.

STEP ASIDE, and how to run your label pt. 1

I had originally ordered this Step Aside 7" knowing nothing about it or Life to Live Records. This is one of those releases I bought purely based on the artwork. I figured if it sucked, atleast I would be paying $5 for some sick ass art work, right? After hearing it and getting completely knocked off my chair by this Arizona straight edge power house, I did a quick search for Life to Live records and realized they had it on two other colors and a bunch of other cool stuff to boot. I watched their stock for a while and didn't see it moving too much, until one day I saw they posted Provider pre orders, including 5 test presses that they were selling to the public. I jumped on it quickly and got my Provider test press, these and one or two other items and waited for my Blue and Green copies to come in.

The pressing info is /125 on blue with the pre order cover (which as you can see is different because it is black and white), /150 on green and I think it was /250 black. So I wait a month or two for my order to come in (it got held up because of the Provider pre order) and over time I see that this thing goes OOP. Cool, glad I got my copies. Finally when my order comes in, I am shocked and horrified when I go to the mailbox and the package looked like it had been the ball in an all day soccer tournament. I open it and realize that all of my record sleeves were damaged with bent corners and creases. What the hell! So I take some pictures of the package and send over an email to Dan at Life to Live...

So Dan tells me don't even trip, I'll make it up to you. A few days later a package arrives with a bunch of free vinyl and this being the gem, a Step Aside test press! I damn near lost my shit when I seen this in there. Being a collector, customer service makes a huge difference to me. This gesture has just ensured a life long customer to LTL records as far as I am concerned. And for you people that own labels, keep this in mind: record collectors like myself and other bloggers on here are the kind to not only buy one copy, but buy every damn copy on every color and feel this insatiable need to own every vinyl that you ever press. So don't fuck us over, we are the ones paying your bills.  More on Life to Live, this is a record label that is clearly on the rise that you should be paying attention to. They got some great promising young bands right now, including Losin' It and Provider. Last night when I was at a show, I saw a handful of kids running around wearing Step Aside, Losin' It and Life to Live shirts. That's how I know this labels about to blow the fuck up!