STICK TOGETHER like glue

Here are my copies of "No More Games" by Stick Together. One is the West Coast Tour 2012 vinyl #3/125. I got both of these when I saw them in Santa Cruz in January with Rotting Out and Downpresser. It's a knock off the Walk Proud "One More Time" 7 (pictured above).  

The clear vinyl is a second pressing and I'm not sure how many were pressed. I wish I didn't sleep on this from the beginning. I remember seeing it but I never really took the time to listen to them, and before I knew it all the color vinyls were gone and I didn't feel interested enough to buy a first pressing on black. Needless to say, this is definitely one of the top releases of 2011. If I can get my hands on the winter tour press, and maybe one other 1st pressing color of white (/100) or orange (/300) I would be satisfied. I'll have to keep my eyes peeled.

SHOCK CITY!

Here is my copy of "City Shock" by Social Circkle on black, and I really like this album! So I downloaded it a while back and have been listening to it for a while. I had been hesitating to buy it since the color copies were long gone, but finally I said fuck it, I've listened to it enough times on mp3 that I owe the band a vinyl purchase. The layout is kind of cool.... I guess? 4 people with shirts, one says the bands name, one is wearing a button with the album name, and then two on the back with the song names. Also, If you like chicks with beer guts then you will love the back of this record.  Regardless of layout, this is a solid release for fans of '77 style punk.

You got a DEAD STOP in your life

It's not uncommon at all for me to pick up records without knowing anything about the band, and basing my purchase solely on band name or cover art. I picked this Dead Stop record up a few years back because of the name, which is also the name of my favorite Negative Approach song. I found it in the used bin for $7.99, and I figured that at that price it was worth the gamble that they would resemble N.A. enough to make the purchase worth my while. I'm real glad I picked this up because I love this record, and yes they definitely sound a shit load like N.A. I have been listening to it pretty heavily over the last couple years and it is no doubt one of my favorites to keep on a regular rotation on my decks. This band was from Belgium and put this release out in 2005. They have some other vinyl which I don't own yet and I'm not really sure why, but that is something that I hope to remedy someday. Check out this live video of them at their "last show": 

Undastand, Heltah Skeltah means WAR

So when "How the Gods Chill" with Sean Price and Cold World came out I can't even tell you guys how excited I was. Sean Price, one of my all time favorite rappers with one of my favorite hardcore bands? Fucking incredible. Alot of people have mixed feelings on that song, but to me I think that Sean Price absolutely killed it but Cold World dropped the ball on the vocals. That whole "You can't tell me nothin..." part is really annoying, they should have just had the main vocalist going back and forth with Sean P. For those of you that might not know much about rap are probably thinking "Why is he talking about Cold World and this other guy?" Well, Thats because 90's group Heltah Skeltah consists of Rock and Ruck (aka Sean Price), as seen above. Above is a $1.00 single I found in the bargain bin.

But this is the vinyl that is much more important to me. A still sealed copy of their 2nd release and their most well known album by far, "Magnum Force". I was thinking of taking the wrapping off but I figured why? I know it looks kind of bad on the vinyl after 10 plus years but I'd rather have it protected, and I don't see much point in even slicing the side to take the record out because 1) I've had it on CD and Mp3 forever and 2) This was only pressed on black vinyl. I pretty much listen to Heltah Skeltah only for Sean Price's parts, because Rock's voice really annoys me. I definitely prefer Sean Price's solo stuff but this is still some classic 90s NYC grimy hip hop stuff. If you haven't seen it yet, peep out Sean P's track with Cold World:

50th Post!!!

So I wanted to do something special for my 50th post. TKO Records just pressed a 20th anniversary edition of the "Dans Les Catacombs Du Studio de L'acre" LP by the Templars on limited clear/black/red/white splatter vinyl out of 200, still available if you act fast! If you like the Templars I would go ahead and grab a copy now for $15, because the merch flippers will show you no mercy. Also, since the Templars are so huge internationally you may end up having to pay $15 in shipping alone a few months from now to get it from Japan or wherever. Also, I decided to post my original copy on limited milky clear vinyl as well. This is some of my favorite Templars stuff and has some of their best songs.

I think TKO did a fantastic job on this release. Everything looks fantastic from the tin foil pressed cover to the beautiful splatter vinyl. The picture doesn't do this release justice because it's hard to see the white splatter parts. 

Here is one of my favorite records of my collection. I got this copy and my blue copy of Phase II (below) from an old buddy of mine named Jeff that lives in Fresno. He used to be in a band called Rockers CC and owned a label about 15 years ago called Abusive Records. In 2005 my band was playing a show in Fresno and stayed the night at his house after the show and he threw a little party for us. The next morning I was all hungover, about to drive back to the Bay Area and he asked if I bought records. I said hell yeah and he pulled out a big crate or vinyl from his bedroom of old leftover distro stuff he had. He let me pick through and buy whatever I wanted with the money I had on me. I bought these two Templars records for $10 each, an absolute steal! Needless to say, the next time we played in Fresno I brought about $200 bucks with me and went home with a nice haul of vinyl that I didn't have money for the first time around. 

And I posted this record before but the pictures didn't do it justice so I retook the pictures and figured this would be a perfect place to repost my blue copy of Phase II. Templars Rule OK!

Ill Repute Repress on Gold

I'll do a quick one before I leave for work... Heres my 2008 Ill Repute "What Happens Next" repress on Gold out of 500. Classic So Cal hardcore record and one of my favorite hardcore album covers ever. I don't know how fast these went OOP on color vinyl but I see they still are available on black vinyl online. I was just happy enough to get one of the color vinyl versions. Stay tuned for my 50th post coming soon...

It's an Old School Slobber Knocker!

So recently TKO Records released a new Templars record which of course I had to buy right away, but on my order something else caught my eye. An Antiseen record that I originally saw on The Oldschool Slobber Knocker blog. I figured it would be worth the extra $5 dollars to add it to my collection and for the pictures. I don't own any other Antiseen vinyl so why the hell not? So this ones for you, J!

I was pleasantly surprised to find it on a nice baby blue vinyl. I'm not sure of the pressing info on this thing but usually TKO Records makes a majority on black vinyl with a limited run on color. It also comes with a weird flyer for a restaurant in Atlanta, GA, owned by Abdullah the Butcher. I guess if I'm ever in the ATL I will have to stop by the House of Ribs & Chinese Food. At first I thought this was a joke flyer but J had to correct me on that. It is a real restaurant after all, but I hope I don't get this kind of treatment if I ever stop by:

Cutest Band in Hardcore on Baby Blue

Here is Chronic Sick's "Cutest Band in Hardcore" that No Way Records reissued a few years back. Recently Grave Mistake posted a bunch of rare out of press shit in limited quantities that they dug up or whatever, and this was one of them. I have seen this for a while but missed out on the Blue vinyl when it came out. This was pressed with 1850 on Black and only 150 on Blue so they must have ran out pretty fast. I never pulled the trigger on buying a copy because I didn't really want it on the generic black vinyl as it wasn't that important to me, but when I saw it out on blue I had to snap this thing up QUICK! Either way this is a solid record. Some people argue that this is up there with other 80's classics, but I definitely wouldn't go that far. This is a very solid record though and now after listening to it I may just have to pick up a copy on black anyways. Here is my favorite track from this release; "Public Suicide": 

Cold Stare Fucking RULES

I am so excited about this Take Offense side project band right now. I have been bumping this pretty hard lately, and trust me this band rules. This really reminds me of the shit I grew up listening to and old Bay Area bands that were a mix of Oi! and Hardcore, which is right up my fucking alley. This band reminds me of two of my all time favorites; Life's Blood and 86 Mentality, and then throw in a little Oxblood. This is definitely one of the best releases I've picked up in the last year or so, and considering that I've picked up hundreds of releases that is saying alot. I really wish I didn't sleep on this band so long. This is their second seven inch and their first one is OOP, so I'll have to keep an eye out for it on ebay or if it pops up on a distro.

The 7" jacket opens up into this nice little mini poster. This was a well done layout with cool, simple artwork and screen printed on nice thick paper. Just to make it easier for you guys to hear this band, I tracked down a song from this ep on Youtube for you guys:

Rootbeer Hardcore at the Fed Ex store!

Here is one of my favorite 7"s that I own. San Jose's own (RIP) Hostile Takeover - "Youth Grenade" EP. This band was with members of In Disgust before In Disgust. I think this was one of their only seven inches that had Jon AND Trouble on Vocals, as most of their recordings after just had Trouble. I think I may be wrong, but I believe this was their first seven inch? I love the layout, just plain cardboard with a nice thick screen press coming off of it that you can actually feel with your fingers. Plus a great design with the hands throwing blood up on the wall. But this seven inch has more to it than just the great design, lets have a look...

Ok so it looks kind of plane so far, a Xeroxed lyric sheet, plain red labels with no writing, what the hell is so special about that?? Stay with me here, it gets better...

Voila! What the hell, a seven inch made out of a FedEx envelope?! Now THAT is fuckin' DIY and punk as fuck! I have seen handmade stickers out of the USPS mailing stickers, but this really takes the cake. If I remember at the time I think Rich worked at FedEx in downtown San Jose. After so many years the memory fade and it's hard to tell who is who and what is what. It says this came out in 2004, but I seem to remember actually getting my hands on this in 2003 at a show. I may be wrong. Anyways, I have no idea about how many of these were pressed or if there was color vinyl, but there is a copy just like mine on sale at discogs right now for five bucks, I would definitely head over and swoop that one up before its gone forever! Plus they also had an hour long documentary made on them, check out the trailer below, or click here for the link to the entire documentary:

V.M.Live presents... a 90's Flashback!

 If you are a nineties punk rock kid or from Chicago then you already know what time it is with this. Basically these dudes just recorded all the big mid 90's punk bands that came through and played in Chicago and released a whole bunch of these live 7"s. All the 7"s looked the same with a simple black and white xerox cover. For a while in the early 2000's street punk revival these things were pretty sought after but like everything else street punk and Oi! it's value hasn't held up over the years. You can now find these pretty cheap. This is my favorite of the series because it's of Swingin' Utters, one of my favorite bands as a kid and they still play locally in the Bay Area on a regular basis. Check out the "97 Winter Catalog" below!

It's Time to Escape

I also found a first pressing of Time to Escape's S/T Ep in the bargain bin. Here it is next to a more recent mail order copy. I know they've done color copies too, maybe I'll try and track one down eventually. This is a very good release, just like pretty much anything that Grave Mistake touches. So I have a 1st and 4th pressing and they're both hand numbered, I wonder if all the pressings are? Definitely scoop one of these up on your next mail order, you won't be disappointed.