Kicked In, and how people amaze me

This release by Kansas City's Kicked In is pretty much what I've come to expect from good straight edge hardcore. They aren't doing anything to reshape the wheel, but damn that same old tried and true formula just works every time for me! This is a really solid 7 inch and deserves every bit as much credit as some of the "it" bands right now. Yeah, these guys can hang with anyone in this style of music right now.

Recently this band posted on facebook that they are now "75% straight edge", and the hatred and disappointment I read in some of the comments totally blew me away. I have never been straight edge, but I have been friends with alot of straight edge people and I'll drink right in front of them and they don't give a fuck or treat me any different. Come on people get a grip, it's not about what that person claims to be or what they do, it's how they treat you as a friend and person that counts. It goes without saying that you give respect to get respect, so of course if you treat someone with respect about their life choices and you are straight edge, you shouldn't expect to have some holding their drink or smoke right in your grill and trying to convince you to partake in their activities, they also need to respect your life choices. My best friend is straight edge and we go to shows together all the time, he is usually the designated driver and he comes with me to bars and hangs out all the time with no problems, so remove that stick from your behind and just have fun in life and respect people's choices. Even the way the band posted a facebook post with a decision in someones life like it was some TMZ segment was unbelievable to me. Either way, this "75% straight edge" band is really good, and I hope to check them out on tour sometime soon.

Keine Klasse has No Class

Here is another solid release by Deranged Records, featuring Kansas City's hardcore punk thrashers No Class, or Keine Klasse, I'm kinda confused really what their band name is. This has been out for a few years now, and I've read alot of mixed reviews on this release. Some people seem to think these dudes are the kings of midwest hardcore, others not so much. This release took me more than a few listens to get into, but I suppose it is finally starting to grow on me a little bit. The songs are short and sweet with gruff vocals and plenty of anger.

This release is out of /500 on white. Terrible cover art and lay out. I am not sure which cover art is worse, this or their cover art for Keine Klasse II. One of the things that initially turned me off from this group was this live video of them on youtube. Why, you ask? When I see a vocalist wearing extremely tight girl jeans and a Justin Bieber haircut, that is just not my get down. I just kind of have to pretend I never saw it to get into the music at all I guess. Over all a solid release, but it is not nearly as incredible as some bloggers have made it out to be.

NEON PISS and the Golden State Advantage

So it seems recently I have been posting more negative reviews than positive. Well, I'm not going to lie and make every record I buy seem like it's great. Also, since I haven't taken pictures in months, I've ran through most of the most liked records and now moving onto the second tier stuff. NEON PISS' latest LP on Deranged is by no means in that second tier category. This album has grown on me in a huge way, and Deranged never ceases to amaze me lately. If I may be so bold, this release may creep into my top 10 albums for the year! This is very similar to Bloody Gears, very dark and moody weird rock mixed with a little '77 UK punk flair. These guys are from the Bay Area (my stomping grounds) and I feel kind of embarrassed to say that I had never even seen these guys before or paid any attention to them before this came out. I hope they play some more shows soon because I am there. This copy is on plain old black vinyl and I don't know the pressing info. The artwork is pretty terrible on this, but the music is great so who cares. This release is definitely worth checking out!

Power Trippin'

Power Trip has definitely been one of those big "it" bands in 2012. It seems that everyone is on these guys dick right now, so a while ago I had to check these two seven inches out to see what the big hoopla was. 

This first one is on Lockin Out on purple vinyl or "mixed color" vinyl. The limited version of this was on black vinyl. Not sure of exact press numbers. Really awesome cover art!

Here is another one on "Withdrawal Records". No idea what the pressing info is on this one and I'm too lazy to look. This thing has really cool artwork as well. These are decent little seven inches, but I just don't know if they are good enough to warrant the extreme hype that this group is getting right now. Then again I don't really like metal, and maybe that's why I just don't "get it". There is one thing that I think everyone can agree on with this group though... They are heavy as all hell. 

Edge Day

It's 4:18 AM, and I'm tossing up a quick post as my coffee brews before I have to take my ass to work. I don't have much time and I'm tired so, yeah, here's an SS Decontrol bootleg for all you straight edgers. Happy day after edge day, and I hope you all ordered your Mindset "Leave No Doubt" LP's!

This appears to be a German bootleg from 1990, but who really knows. No label information. Any of you vinyl freaks have more info on this? Help me out! As for the music... if you don't know you better ask somebody.

Wolf Whistle - MA Glory

I pre ordered this Wolf Whistle 7" from Six Feet Under a while back not really knowing much about the band, but just seeing that they had shared members with a bunch of other good Boston hardcore bands. That' was good enough for me. I was pissed when I opened this up and saw it on black vinyl. I had to search around to find out that the black was the most limited color of all three colors. I haven't seen official pressing numbers on this release but I saw there are two different blue versions and one of them was out of /300, so I think it's safe to conclude that the black is most likely out of /100. If anyone knows the actual pressing info, please hit me on the head! Onto the music... I really don't know what to think about this release. Short, fast and aggressive hardcore directly to the point, but, I just need a little more than 50 second songs. It's like once the shit is really about to get good, the song ends. For what it is and considering the style of music, this is a good release. Just not really my style.

I'm not the first, I hope I'm not the last...

Nothing too special here, two of my copies of the Minor Threat S/T 12". I would like to someday have all the colors, but this will have to do for now. I am not really sure what years these came out, or what the pressing info was on these. The red and blue with the $4.00 PPD on the back were the first, and then came these copies with the $5.00 PPD on the back. There seems to be conflicting information all over on these, and discogs seems to believe these were pressed in 1987. I remember buying my blue copy at Streetlight Records in San Jose atleast 10 years ago, when I was just a young man getting into the vinyl game. I have never really gone after Minor Threat vinyl very aggressively, as I was more interested in Oi! and rap vinyl as a young man. However, Minor Threat has always been one of my favorite bands and one of the first hardcore bands I ever got into. I was always so blown away by how ahead of their time they sound on these recordings. If this was recorded in 2012, it would still be whooping that ass. This music is timeless. And in Mike's words; "This album could very well be the best piece of hardcore wax ever pressed, and I'm happy to finally own it on vinyl. But, hey, that just how I see it...in my eyes...so what the fuck have you done?" I could not have said it better myself, Sir!

The green copy has a slightly lighter colored label. I have owned the blue copy for years, but the Green copy I acquired off a multi auction bid for around five bucks, that's less than I payed for my copy a decade ago! What the hell?

The insert on the green copy is a bit darker, as well. Minor Threat vinyl is something I've always kind of stayed away from because there are so many different pressings of everything, the pressing amounts are usually very large, and it is all mostly on black. Someday I hope to remedy that, but considering how expensive the real deal OG shit goes for, I don't see myself getting my hands on the good stuff anytime soon.

Can America Survive?

Going through my old photos, I was surprised I hadn't posted this one yet. Kansas City's own Dark Ages come through in a big way on this LP. One of my more listened to LP's in the past few months, this thing is way too slept on. I have said it before and I have said it again, if Dark Ages were from Boston or New York, this thing would be super hyped. Since they are from the Midwest, they aren't getting any love. That's a damn shame because this thing rips. It's incredibly dark and depressing and has a very unique sound. With straight hardcore rippers like "More Aggression" to long drawn out 5 minute post punk depression fests like "Easier to Die", this album is a chameleon that just seems to blend perfectly with whatever it does.

Sorry State Records did a good job with the packaging on this. Simple, yet cool album art and layout and it comes with a huge poster. This apparently came on /150 on purple vinyl which I'd love to track down. If you get a chance pick this up!