Corrosion of Conformity - s/t lp

I swore I wouldn't buy this record. I saw the pre-order up on Candlelight's webstore and I was stunned by how much the record was retailing for and just how much international postage would cost. $65 to mailorder a record to Canada that I would be buying for purely nostalgic reasons. I wisely passed.

Well damn if the record didn't show up in one of my local record stores. Just staring at the cover, looking at the back and then opening the gatefold to see the trio of Woody Weatherman, Mike Dean and Reed Mullin was just too much to put it back on the shelf. I decided that if there was even a spark, a hint, of what I loved about the band in 1987 then it would be ok. I grabbed a sealed copy and didn't look back.
I wasn't too optimistic about what I was going to hear as the Your Tomorrow 7" was a little underwhelming in the vocals department. I just want Mike Dean to sing like he did on "Animosity" and "Six Songs With Mike Singing". Dude was fierce!

One thing that can't be argued is this album looks pretty damn good. Really well put together in both vinyl and artwork.

It seems all regular vinyl sent to stores and distros is on this milky clear color. It must be 180 gram vinyl as it is pretty heavy.

As I was saying earlier, it comes on a gatefold sleeve with lyrics, thank you's and notes.

One very cool part of this album is that it comes with a bonus 7" to capture all the songs from the cd. I'll be damned if those aren't the two best songs on the album. The 7" comes on black vinyl.


I was really worried that this was going to be like C.O.C. of the 90's and be another southern fried rock lp. Luckily, with Pepper Keenan out of the band to concentrate on Down, this has more of a Sabbath or even late-Black Flag feel than Lynyrd Skynyrd. Surprisingly, they play uptempo stuff on just about every song which makes it a lot better than I ever thought it would be.
It's not Animosity or Technocracy, those days are gone. But for what it is I am seriously digging it. No regrets.

Antidote - Thou Shalt Not Kill 7"

Well, I guess I get to cross another record off my bucket list. I have been wanting this record for years, if not decades. I just never thought it would ever happen. It wasn't about the cost or the rarity that made me feel like I would never own it; It was always about condition.

The original, self released Antidote Records pressing is near impossible to find in good condition, let alone great. Punks back in 1983 were a little rough on their shit.

In general with this record, the cover does not age well. Most copies available over the last five to ten years look a little beat. The cover is prone to yellowing, the paper stock is pretty thin and tends to curl, crease or tear very easily. Also the dimension of the cover is a lot taller than wider, and that can lead to damage just in regular storage!

I was really happy to find a near perfect copy of the record up on ebay with a decent "Buy It Now" price. There are a couple shallow creases on the cover, but really that is about it.
I have been offered this record many times in the past where the condition was way worse for roughly the same amount I got this one for.

I get a kick out of the $1.99 price tag. I guess I could try to remove it as the paper is glossy and it should come off easy enough, but I am just not willing to damage the cover. It took me long enough to find one in this shape, I'm not going to screw it up.

Another huge bonus of this record is the original, unmarked insert.

Most of the copies out there have three red X's at the bottom right that cross out the t-shirt offer. That point alone makes this an earlier, rarer copy.

Musically, this may be one of the top 10, if not top 5, hardcore records ever recorded. It transcends New York hardcore, even though it is one of the earliest examples of the sound. If you can't get your hands on an original (and really, not many would even want to) you can still do yourself a favor and get the Bridge Nine repress.

Ceremony - Adult 7"

This record came almost as an afterthought to the pre-order for Cermony's new full length album, "Zoo". "Adult" is the second of the singles available since the band's move to Matador. I'm not sure if I can call it the second single from the album though as there was a video made for the song "World Blue". Let's go with second record, third single. Or something. Whatever.

When the pre-order popped up for the album, there was an option to also buy the Adult single. It was treated no different than a t-shirt option with the different bundles available. I almost missed it.

Musically we are back with another of Ceremony's "new" 80's Cali-punk direction. I swear sometimes when I listen to them now, I think I am listening to the Repo Man soundtrack. That is a good thing. The b side contains a non-album song called "Start Over". It sounds like Ceremony.

200 were pressed on clear vinyl just like the Hysteria 7". I am glad to have got one as they are long sold out.

I can only assume there is a black vinyl version out there. There will no doubt be thousands available. This is Matador after all. I haven't run across one in town yet, but I am sure it will be coming.

SSS - Burton 7"

I am literally ashamed of myself for missing out on SSS for all these years. I mean hell, I love hardcore, skate rock, metal, crossover and thrash. This UK band has all of those elements nailed down tight, yet for years - I missed the boat.

SSS, or Short Sharp Shock, play super catchy, mosh and groove orientated thrash, yet on this record I would still call them a hardcore band. Most of their songs don't last over a minute or two and the singer sounds just like Billy Milano from S.O.D or the dude from Wargasm. I literally can't tell where the metal ends or hardcore begins so I am just going to go with calling them crossover.

I mean, what other band can start out on the hardcore label Dead & Gone and by the next record be on Earache?

Once I finally tracked down some of their music online, it didn't take long for me to figure out that their self titled first 7" is their best. Generally just called "Burton" for really obvious reasons, this record is perfect.

The Burton 7" was a split release on Thrashgig and Dead & Gone Records. The first press was 100 on clear vinyl and 400 on black. There was also a record release package out of 50 that used the clear vinyl.

A second press of 500 on black was also pressed and that is the one I got here.

The big selling point of the record is their masterpiece, seven minute opus called "Black Night, White Light" which recounts the night Metallica's bassist Cliff Burton lost his life in a tour bus accident in Sweden. The song itself pays homage to the Metallica song, "To Live Is To Die" with a lot of guitar solos, soft instrumental passages, and even a spoken interlude like in the Metallica song. It really is cool and funny too.

The record also comes with a huge two sided lyric sheet/insert. The one side shows our bass god Cliff Burton again with lyrics, credits and thank yous.

The flip side has the lyrics for their amazing song, "Thrash With A Small Mustache" and plenty of mustachioed men like Charles Manson, Adolf Hitler, Charlie Chaplin and Burt Reynolds. Sweet.

There is also a second insert that has a comic strip starring the band called Adventures In Thrash With SSS. These guys have a sense of humor, that's for sure.

I am now on a mission to track down the rest of the versions of this record, I have some catching up to do.

React! Showcase 2011 Boxed Set

Man, this one is a long time coming. As you may know, with my age and responsibilities, going to showcases or festivals is pretty much a luxury I can't afford anymore. That fact just kills me as I love hitting them up and especially love the special vinyl that most bands or labels bring with them.

Case in point, the React! Records Showcase held in Berkeley, California. This last one was in September and I had already gone to Chaos In Tejas earlier in the year. So the next best thing to going is to get a friend who basically runs the thing to grab what he can for you.

So for the second year in a row, Aram was able to get me the limited Showcase boxed set React put out. This year was an lp set of their most recent releases at the time.

Of course there was the usual add-ons such as the essays, stickers and download cards.

The coolest part of the set was the special React! edition of the Effort Fanzine, made just for this fest. It was a really nice touch. Profiles of the bands involved and the people who make React! happen. The zine had been wrapped up for a while and it was cool that they resurrected it for this set.

The vinyl is all wrapped up nice in a bow with a knot/wrapping system that would make the boy scouts proud. Since I already have all the albums, I think I will just leave it as is. There is no way I could figure out how to redo the bow anyways.

The box states that it is limited to a total of 100. I'm not sure if that includes the small color version out there, or if there are 100 black total. Really, who cares?


My only issue with the set is that the screened outer box won't fit in my record storage shelves. I guess the Swedes from Ikea need to get together with the folks at Bags Unlimited or wherever and hammer this shit out. Damn!

Aram was also able to get me vinyl from This Is Hardcore that came with this package. I might do something on that soon. Seriously, thanks a lot my man. The last thing you need to be doing is humping records around from shows you are organizing or playing in. It is greatly appreciated and anytime you are back downtown in Calgary, the veggie sushi rolls are on me. Avacado or cucumber. That's how I roll.
Get it? I'm hilarious.

Have Heart - Demo 2003 7" : 7th Pressing

Here we go again, adding on to the single craziest collection I own; the Have Heart Demo 7".

The last time I posted about this record, I had just cherry picked a dude's collection which brought me from 15 to 33 different versions. You can check it out here.

Well last year, another pressing was released courtesy of Jeff Lasich at Bottled Up Records. The old Bottled Up myspace page had always hinted that there would be another pressing due to the fact that there was still demand and that Jeff had a lot of left over covers just collecting dust.

The first two I was able to pick up from the new 7th press was from Revelation. They had two colors available, clear green out of 250 and white out of 500, which was a RevHq webstore exclusive. I immediately picked up one of each.

Clear green/250

White/500

Fast forward a few months and I am surfing the internet, checking out all the record labels I usually follow. I stumble on to the new Bottled Up store to see that there are an additional two colors of the 7" available, clear red out of 150 and Clear gold out of 100. That's two more I order asap.
Clear gold/100

Clear red/150

This gets me thinking, if there is one thing with this record it is the color transitions that get counted as separate pressings. These transitional records sometimes end up with a cool different cover or something to set them apart. That's usually enough to keep me interested.
I did a quick check at HYE? to see if other people maybe had some versions I didn't know about. Five seconds later, I'm staring at the 7th press motherload! I messaged Jeff through the React! board and was able to score an additional five copies.

Dirty green/17

Dark green/13

Dirty white/12

Gold/Red/12

Black with inverse black and white cover/10

As you can see, these small variants are all some kind of combination of the larger number pressings of white, green, red and gold. Well, except for the black vinyl with the inverse cover.

As luck would have it, or not have it, I'm still missing at least one. Red with black swirl out of 11. Jeff didn't have an extra to part with, so it is off to ebay to hopefully find it some day.

That brings my new total up to 42. 42 copies of the same record. I've said it before and I will say it again, what the fuck is wrong with me?

Oh yeah. I was also sent a full discography to check out as well. According to that list, I'm still 11 copies away from the complete collection, and that doesn't include tests. Kill me now...

Ceremony - Hysteria 7"

Ceremony continue down the growth and progression trail to develop into what I can only imagine is this decade's Wire. I for one, couldn't be more pleased.

As much as I dig the early stuff and will always love the fury of "Ruined" and "Violence, Violence", I feel something clicked when I heard "Sick" off Rohnert Park and especially the songs off the covers album. This clean, driving, post-punk/new wave/experimental sound they have going on is really working for me.

They seem one step ahead of everyone right now by standing out from the traditional hardcore pack. I can't wait to hear more off the full length album next month. First up though just to whet the appetite is the new "Hysteria" 7" released on their new big time indie label, Matador.

I really don't know how many were pressed in total, but word is that there were only 200 pressed on color with the rest on black. I was able to jump on the pre-orders through the Matador webstore pretty fast and put myself down for two. I wrote in the special instructions section that I was hoping to get one of each. One color, one black vinyl.

Well fast forward to when the mail came this week, I was surprised to see that I did end up with two copies - both on clear. Nice. Trade bait! I'm now accepting offers.

The b-side of the 7" is a Urinals cover, "I'm A Bug". I had to look them up to find out they were a early LA punk band. Alright then, good enough. This appropriately titled song about being a bug has the same vibe as the songs off Ceremony's Covers 12" from last year.
I think we can say that this new direction isn't changing anytime soon. Cool.

Now just waiting for Zoo...