Step Forward - 10 Song EP 7"

Late Passes Suck. Not only are you behind everyone when it comes to discovering new, exciting music, but it can be hard to catch up if you miss out on the wrong band. Case in point, Step Forward.

Ever since seeing an impromptu Step Forward set at Chaos In Tejas last summer, I have been obsessed with tracking down their record. It hasn't been easy. It is rare and in high demand, making it pretty pricey to boot.
I remember seeing the 7" available from Painkiller Records four years ago, but I was focused on other bands and labels at the time. Like I have said before, you can't have it all. You can't buy everything. I just wish this was one I had picked up when I first had the chance.

Step Forward are a full on, super fast, aggressive straight edge hardcore band from Boston made up of guys who are in, or were in, every 2000-era Boston hardcore band. They don't play often, and as of right now, they have only released one ep.
While there may be only one record, damn, is it ever awesome. Maybe it is just time and place with what I am into now, but I can't stop listening to it. The CC guitar solos are just so cool and fit in seamlessly with the rest of the music. Great vocals, bass playing and drums too. Love it!

On to the vinyl.

Record release pressing. "Crossword puzzle" cover out of 154.

Black vinyl with stamped labels dated for the record release show with Righteous Jams.

There is also a second "Loud and Clear - This Is Boston! (Not Belgium)" cover for the record release out of 30. I would love to have one, but they haven't been popping up much. Actually, not at all.

First press. Clear vinyl out of 220.

The first press was rounded out with black vinyl out of 418.

There is also a second press on black vinyl out of 350 that is identical to the black vinyl of the first press.
Lyrics and credits are printed on the inside of the cover.

I was really glad to hear that the band had finally finished their second 7" and are planning on releasing it soon. If it is anything like this one, it could be my record of the year.

Cursed - III : Architects Of Troubled Sleep

Ever since seeing Burning Love play at Chaos In Tejas this summer, I have been on a bit of a Chris Colohan bender. Some Burning Love, a bit of Left For Dead and The Swarm, and whole shit load of Cursed.
The album I have been digging a lot again lately is their last full length album, "III : Architects Of Troubled Sleep". Not their most popular album by any stretch, but to me it is their best.

Cursed has always had an issue with their recorded sound. To me, they have never been able to capture what I have heard when I saw them live. This album was at least the closest. Plus, this record has two of their best songs, "Antihero Resuscitator" and "Into The Hive". Hardcore.

As for the vinyl, there are two separate releases for the album, each with their own unique touches. The North American pressing was on the awesome Canadian label, Goodfellow Records.

The limited color was 300 on grey.

The rest of the first and only pressing was on black vinyl. 700 pressed.

Comes with the dreaded glossy two sided printed inner sleeve. I have fingerprint marks all over it that I can't get rid of. Fail.

There is a record release/Good Friday version with a alternative cover out of 85. I am still on the lookout for it, but it goes for some pretty big bucks. $100 these days, if you can find it at all.

One very strange thing with our independent Canadian music scene is that if you have the organizational skills and a willingness to tour and promote yourself in Canada, you can get a grant to help subsidize your band/label endeavors.
Yup, this Cursed album was partially paid for by my Federal government. O Canada!

I don't know, seems weird to me. There are some things you expect the government to get involved with, hardcore isn't one of them.
You can read up on the whole Factor program here. Checking the site out I just found out that Silverstein got $15,000 to make a video. Comeback Kid got $7184 to tour. I obviously pay too much in taxes.

There was also a European pressing of the album released on Reflections. This was a nice surprise as most of the licensed stuff Reflections releases is in the straight up hardcore like Blacklisted, Modern Life Is War and Terror. I know, that is a pretty big generalization, but hey, let's go with it.

Clear with black splatter out of 250.

Clear or milky white out of 250.

Black out of 500.

The European press also came in a gatefold cover made up of the printed insert of the North American version. You can see there are also a couple slight differences with the front cover as well with shading and stuff like that.


I miss Cursed.

Navio Forge - As We Quietly Burn A Hole Into...

I figured I'd end the week off with the most polarizing emo record out there. Those who love it regard it as the high water mark for the genre, the emo-est of the emo. Those who hate it basically believe it killed the whole thing for just going too far.

Navio Forge - As We Quietly Burn A Hole Into...

Navio Forge were a very short lived emo band out the Berkeley/bay area scene in California. They played a total of two shows, both at Gilman St., and released this album in 1993 after they had already broken up.
Really, the band was just a blip on the radar at the time. However their reputation has grown because of this record, and really just one song in particular.

Musically, the band were pretty straight forward all things considered. Very few jangly guitar parts or whispered vocals. The guitarist Mike Kirsch (who was also in just about every Ebullition band including Fuel, Torches To Rome and Bread and Circuits to name a few) had a very straight forward driving sound, almost heavy. Vocally, well that's another story.

It all comes down to the last song on the record, "Haloed Eyes". In a nutshell - the singer cries. At the end of the song, he's wailing away, moved to tears from singing about not making eye contact - or something.

Some called it brilliant, the final natural step for emotional music. Others checked out. Late teen, early 20's suburban hardcore kids had a tougher time hanging with it. One thing is for sure, it left an impression!

As far as the vinyl goes, the record was self released on Shadow Catcher Records. All on black vinyl. No idea how many pressed but the internet consensus is well under 1000.
It can't be many, as very few show up on ebay and those that do end up going for some pretty serious bucks. The last one sold this year went for over $70.
There was also a "limited cover" version that took other hardcore record jackets, turned them inside out and screened them. Sounds like they ran out of covers. Those go for $100 - $150. I couldn't be bothered.


It would be interesting to know what others thought of this record. I know my friends had definite opinions on both sides of the fence!

Inkwell - Shine So Bright 7"

Today it is raining and 10 degrees Celsius. It is dark and miserable outside. Perfect weather for number 2 in my emo series!

Inkwell were not the biggest of names when it comes to the mid 90's emo scene. They weren't around for more than a couple of years, releasing just two 7"s and a split 7" with Hal al Shedad. Actually for the time, that was pretty close to wearing out your welcome. Any more releases and you would be labeled wannabe rock stars and probably get ostracized anyway.

Inkwell in my opinion hit the mother load with their second 7". The two songs, "Shine So Bright" and "Portrait" are pretty much the perfect representation of the sound and style of 90's emo/screamo. All the elements are here. Soft/loud dynamics, throat shredding screams, lyrics that read like poetry, etc. It literally doesn't get better than this.

Shine So Bright was released on Heliotrope / Orion Quest Records, the second release from same label that released the original Converge Unloved and Weeded Out 7". In other words, Tre McCarthy put it out.
It's interesting that a small Atlanta, Georgia band stuck outside of the popular California, midwest and DC/Jersey/Philly scenes, that played 80% of their gigs at home, caught the eye and ear of a Massachusetts hardcore kid. I'm sure there is a story there.

I don't know how many were pressed, but they were numbered.

The packaging for this record is really awesome. A screened clear plastic foldover on top of the sleeve which has the lyrics. Looks great in person.
You can easily find this on ebay for $5. Well worth it. Truly one of the forgotten and under appreciated gems of the scene.

Indian Summer - s/t 7"

Yesterday I saw my first yellow leaf on the trees in the park. Fall is coming, summer is almost over. Here in Calgary this means snow and cold is about six weeks away. I am bummed out.

So what do I do when fall comes and I feel down? Why, it's time for some emo.

As a young man in the mid 1990's, I witnessed hardcore making a turn. Some would say it went right off the road. All I know is that shit changed. A lot. I'm not talking Revolution Summer and the seeds of the new sound. I am talking about the Mac truck that hit you square in the face that said we weren't in Kansas anymore Toto.

Youth of Today ended and Shelter began. Rev was releasing records by Gameface and Into Another and Farside. Everyone was "growing" and expanding their sound and at the same time also getting in touch with their feelings. Political correctness took on a life of its own. Anyone still playing straight up hardcore were considered sub-human, knuckle dragging neanderthals.

I bought right in. I ditched NYHC and crossover, rejected "punk" as juvenile and dove headfirst into a world of cardigan sweaters, fake black rimmed glasses and emoting. Musically, leading the way for me was Indian Summer.

Indian Summer and other bands of their ilk on Repercussion Records rewrote the book completely on record collecting. Black vinyl only. Variations were primarily by accident with second pressings. Screened paper bags for covers. No song titles. Recording quality similar to that of a boom box in the corner on a well used Maxell cassette tape.

Musically, it was the standard emo/screamo formula of the time. Low-fi, minimal melodic quiet parts, soft/loud/soft song structure, with a singer emoting a ton of anguish. Indian Summer distinguished themselves from the other 20 bands doing the same thing by having scratchy Bessie Smith blues records playing in the background.

I could try to tell you that my favorite emo song of all time is on this record, but I couldn't tell you what it is called. I read a while back that none of Indian Summer's songs had titles and that outsiders are the ones who titled them. All I know is that I like the one that says "I am the angry son." I thought it was called Angry Son but I was told later that it wasn't. Whatever.

This was a fun trip down memory lane. I think I will keep it for a couple weeks. Let me know if there are any records you want covered. Next up, Inkwell.

Hope Defeated - 2010 Demo 7"

I know you are probably asking yourself, "Who the hell is Hope Defeated?" Well, it is a band. More specifically, my band.
In addition to collecting records, going to shows and occasionally hitting up a fest, I have also been playing in bands for the last 20 years. Well I don't play shit, I'm what Bon Scott would call a "Rock and Roll Singer". Yeah.

Last year I got together with some friends I have played with in different bands or known in the scene over the years and we formed Hope Defeated. I guess I figured I wasn't quite done yet.

We hit the studio last September to get an idea of what we had. Everything sounds awesome in the basement. Eight songs in eight hours, live off the floor. I put vocals on five.

I was pretty happy with the results and let some close friends know what we were up to and passed around the raw mp3s we got from the studio. One of those guys was Marcus from Endless Quest. Surprisingly, he brought up the idea of releasing the songs we recorded on vinyl as a demo on his label.
I guess he liked them. We picked the four best songs, remixed and mastered them, and sent them off.

I have to say, Marcus has put a lot of time, effort and money into making this record as cool and good as it can be. One of the ideas he had was to press a special limited run of 50 on red that would only be available for readers of our blogs. Special labels and covers just for the loyal readers of The Endless Quest and We Will Bury You.
Look at that, always thinking of you.

You can read more about all the details and even hear a song if you like at Marcus's blog posting here:

The Endless Quest...

Or you can head right to the Endless Quest webstore here to pre-order:

Endless Quest Records Online Store

Ceremony - Rohnert Park EP: Sick 7"

Really, not much to say about the Sick 7" at all. My favorite song off one of my favorite albums of 2010. I would have posted about it a year ago, but that damn record release version was very elusive. It doesn't show up often on ebay and when it does it sells for mad cash. The last two before I got mine went for $77 and $81. That's pretty insane.
I finally got one last month and I didn't pay remotely close to that much, so maybe things are calming down a bit.

The Sick ep was one of those early preview 7"s released by Bridge Nine a month before the album. B9 have done this many times before with bands like Ambitions, Ruiner, Verse and Cruel Hand to name a few. I think they even did it with Ceremony on their last album too. One song off the album and one exclusive track. Works for me.

The last time I saw Ceremony at Chaos In Tejas, they opened with "Into The Wayside/Sick" and it set the tone for the rest of the show. They tore the roof off the place. Well, there was no roof to begin with, but you get the idea. There are some youtube videos out there. Go check them out. You are a resourceful bunch.

First press. Record release cover. Clear vinyl out of 99.

Hand numbered on the back fold.

First press. White vinyl out of 300.

First press. Clear vinyl out of 700. I have a feeling it's more like out of 601 as 99 of the clear were used for the record release.

Second press. Black vinyl out of 500. Not very often that a preview 7" gets a second pressing on Bridge Nine.

Two pressings over one year and Bridge Nine is totally sold out of the record in their webstore. You can find it on ebay and some distros easily and fairly inexpensive though. Well, except the record release. That one is still a bitch.