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!"

It's the Lion's Law

When Sydney Town Records puts out a new Oi! record, I have learned my lesson that it's time to sit up and pay attention. Although a small label, they are not to be trifled with. They only put their stamp on top tier Oi! and nothing less. Lion's Law is a French Oi! band but they sing in English, and it sounds more like traditional American brickwall Oi! to me. Unfortunately not many American bands can pull off that sound anymore, so it seems you have to look across the pond from time to time to get the job done.

I was lucky enough to score one of the color copies of this, only /50 pressed on gold vinyl. I'm real excited about this band and they are definitely on my radar. Some limited research has shown that they are one of the bigger Oi! bands in Europe right now, but they haven't really caught on in the states yet.  All in all, this is a fantastic release and has really been in some heavy rotation for me.

Came with a nice poster. Listen to "Watch Em Die" below:

Colder Than Ever

Here is a purple pressing of Warhound's debut 7" on Dog Years Records - "Colder Than Ever Demonstrations". This pressing was surprisingly only out of /60, and I remember buying it along time after this was out. This is a nice little seven inch, surely alot of the "urban" style hardcore influence a la Madball and Trapped Under Ice. The song "Demons" is ridiculously hard and really pumps me the fuck up. I'll be on the lookout for more Warhound releases.

CREEM - Curator

New York's CREEM is certainly one of those "it" bands right now. They got the whole package going on. I loved their 12" LP and this is just as awesome. The cover of this is really incredible, and goes along with the song "Rat Race". This is probably going to be the best cover of the year. For those of you that may not know, there is a note to "Sammy the Bull" who was a John Gotti associate and underboss in the Gambino crime family. He ended up turning into a snitch (or a "rat") and testifying on the Gambino's, therefore it appears someone hung up a dead rat as a warning to him. What really makes the picture though is the "Pet Sitting" sign right next to the dead rat. I don't know where the band found this picture, but it's incredible for a hardcore 7" cover!

The back is equally awesome with some old school police kicking it under a tree, one grabbing his nuts and the other flipping off the camera. For those of you that aren't familiar with Creem, you should check this release out if you get a chance. Fast and ugly USHC, some real take no prisoners type stuff.

As far as I know all the first /620 copies pressed are on black vinyl. Check them out live below incase if you had any doubts about how much they rule.

Running Riot in '84

Here is a Pirates Press repress of Cock Sparrer's "Runnin Riot" LP. Looking REAL sharp on White/Black/Gray Tri color vinyl out of /500. Pirates Press is doing it Revelation style as of late, repressing another classic LP every week on different colors of vinyl. I'm not complaining (I guess). This probably isn't Sparrer's best work, but it's far from their worst. There are alot of good songs on this LP. I'm just glad to have this on vinyl, since the original pressings on Syndicate or even later repress on Link Records are nearly impossible to find.

Upper Hand - Chains of Shame

Recently Mind Rot put out Richmond VA's very own Upper Hand's new EP, "Chains of Shame".  Featuring members of Break Away and Friend or Foe, two other really sold bands, I pretty much knew what to expect. This is super solid NYHC style in a similar vein of Cro Mags and Madball. I love the cover art on this too, it appears whoever did the Losin' It LP cover art also did this. This probably won't be in heavy rotation for me, but it is still a very good release and solid as hell. I feel like maybe seeing this band live could change my opinion on that last statement. For a debut EP this band shows a ton of promise, so I will be all over their next release. 

Even though I had never heard this band, I figured with that kind of description there was very little chance of me not liking it. I went ahead and ordered the 4 pack which is still available. Red out of /100,  White out of /102, Blue out of /90 and Black out of /200. The blue copy definitely goes best with the cover art and is the most limited copy, so I would scoop that shit up first!

Clearsight

I don't know what happened but now I can't seem to find any info on this band. Maybe I'm not looking hard enough? I believe this is a European band of some kind, and this was the most limited pressing on green smoke out of either /200 or /300. This is pure unadulterated Youth of Today worship and that is fine with me. Don't expect anything new or remotely original with this release, but it sounds great and is very well executed. Really digging the vocals on this. This green smoke goes PERFECT with the color scheme, loving the yellow labels too. 

Violent Reaction

Violent Reaction is one of my favorite bands as of late, but I seem to have been caught dead asleep every time some important vinyl comes out. When I heard 6131 and Mind Rot were repressing the bands modern classic 7" for a US release, I was all over it in hopes of scoring some limited edition vinyl. This was the rarest of the pressing, white out of /100.

I think it looks great on red out of /300 though. This pressing is still available over at Mind Rot.

Last week the homey Jake from Screaming for Records sent me an awesome care package that I will be posting more about soon. This was included, an earlier pressing of the 7" on black vinyl released by Quality Control and Static Shock Records. As you can see, the layout for this is far superior to the American release. This comes on a huge fold out, that at first I thought was a cross. I'm so fuckin stupid, I had to flip it over to realize it was a giant X. Straight edge... X... Ok, I get it. Awesome lay out. I'll be posting more soon from Jake's package that he sent over. It is great having met awesome people all over the globe through this blog. That alone has made all this hard work worth it.