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!

Now THAT'S more like it!!!

I have been in a bit of a slump lately with buying records. I realized today that I haven't bought a single record in over a month now. Wow. With gas prices reaching FIVE DOLLARS A GALLON in the Bay Area (Yes, $5 a Gallon), and me having to commute for work everyday almost an hour, it has been harder and harder to justify spending so much on records. Now I look at each potential 7" as a potential gallon of gas. That Sucks. The result of not buying any new records has led me to not take any new pictures in forever, so I've been going through old back logs looking for stuff to post. I forgot about this 7", but this thing is incredible. This type of Oi! inspired Hardcore is just what gets my blood pumping and brings the excitement back for me. If you get a chance to check this out, definitely do so. This is an amazing little 7". Also includes a 4-Skins cover of "Wonderful World". Featuring some pretty obscene art work, but fitting for how grimy and violent the recordings are. I just can't stop listening to this release and can't say anymore good things about it, so go get it.

Soul Swallower - Devoured LP

Heres another one that I got not only based on the incredible art work but also off of reviews on blog sites. Some bloggers had this in their top 10 for 2011. Soul Swallower's "Devoured" on Painkiller is more super heavy raw noize stuff. Some of it is very good when they play the slower parts which are brutal, but the fast parts have just too much, well, noise for my taste. All in all, it is a decent listen and maybe I just need to give it a few more time to grow on me, but the thing is I have already been trying really hard to get into it. I even downloaded it and put it on my phone so I could listen to it while running, and it's still just not sinking in. But what can ya do, right? If it's not really my style then it's just not my style. If you like thrash metal then check this out.

Nomad Raw Noize

Here is one I bought on a whim with my last Grave Mistake order just because of the sweet artwork. Another interesting release from Katorga Works. Apparently this band is from NYC, but they sing in Japanese. I don't really think it matters what language it is because you can't understand a word of it anyways. I gave it one listen and that is probably about it for me, I have never been too big on the powerviolence, d beat, whatever you want to call it style. It's cool for what it is, I guess. I love the artwork so much that I think it was worth the $5. Hand stamped labels, too. Pretty cool.

I mean look how awesome that is. Pouring glue in your ear? Raw Noize baby.

Natural Law - Find the Flock

It's been a whirlwind the past week, but it's time to get back on that horse! Here's Natural Law's "Find the Flock". I have been listening to this a ton lately, but it did take some time to grow on me. The first couple listens I wasn't all that impressed, but now I am loving it. I guess I'm glad I didn't post it months ago when I first got it. This is pressed on Deranged/Katorga Works on black out of /770. I am a fan of this record, but not that big a fan of the artwork and layout. I've never been a big fan of covers without the band name on them. I know, I know, "but it says Natural Law" in the top right corner. Yeah, let me get my microscope so I can find it. Pfft. When I saw this, I thought they should have added some of the "censored" bars over the eyes of the sheep, One saying "Natural" and one saying "Law", and then the tiny writing at the top could have said "Find the Flock". That would have been freaking awesome. 

Some weird artwork and layout. It seems most of the Deranged and Katorga Works stuff is a little bit too on the artsy side for me as far as artwork goes, call me a traditionalist I guess. But man, have they been pumping out some of the best hardcore right now. Another excellent release from these powerhouse labels. Go pick it up!