Condition Oakland

I grabbed this copy of the almighty Jawbreaker release, '24 Hour Revenge Therapy' on eBay the other week. This is my all time favourite record, by my favourite band. I love this record more than I love most things. They started recording this with Steve Albini the day I was born. Anyway, as far as I know there was only ever one pressing, and after this release they signed to Geffen records and released 'Dear You' which has a few variations. I think there might be a bootleg, but this is the first pressing. On black, not sure of the limitations.

I don't think much really needs to be said. It's an 11/10 release easily. This is in amazing condition, it was sealed when I got it.

You're Out Of My Top Eight

A little blast from the past here. This is Pro Team's EP entitled 'Our Wasteland'. This came out in 2007 as a CD on Washed Up! records, following their demo. This was one of my favourite Australian Hardcore releases of that era, and something I never really stopped listening to. The band never really broke up, either, but after playing a tour and some shows on the back of the CD version of this release they stopped playing shows and stopped being a band, essentially. A little while ago they announced they were writing more songs, playing more shows, and Midnight Funeral announced the release of this beauty on vinyl for the first time.

This came out last month. 300 copies and each is randomly coloured, so there are essentially 300 different variations. I ended up buying two because of this very reason. One is a bunch of browns/dark oranges, and one is a pink/purple swirl with black. Both are really cool, and I think there are more pictures of other ones up on the Midnight Funeral site.

A Turn For The Worst

I got this record when it came out a few years ago (maybe late 2010/early 2011?). I missed the preorders and then I saw Craig from Midnight Funeral post about having a few left when my friend Sean posted about the release on his blog. When Craig sent this to me a few days later he had forgot to send the insert, anyway, after a little chasing and Craig being overseas and a bunch of other stuff, he finally sent me the insert.

This is another record where the art is a major focus for me. The illustration work is something else, the front and back covers are exceptional, and the insert features zombie-like illustrations of the members. This band has put out another full length or two since this, and they've kind of blown up. Aside from the 'Three Nails and a Book of Flaws' 7inch this is my favourite release, and one of the only ones which has really grabbed my interest. I think the release was 300 on black.

Lucky 7

I'm sure you have guessed by now that I am kind of into Tigers Jaw, right? Well, I got an email from a friend of mine about this tape that was coming out by a little side project featuring members of TJ and some other similar bands and I jumped on it. This has been sitting on my desk in my "to blog" pile for too long, so I'm finally dedicating some time to clearing that pile.



I'd like to introduce you to Three Man Cannon, and their release 'Nelson'. If you're into Tigers Jaw et al, you will probably like this. It's kind of the same vibe, maybe with a bit of an older, or more vintage, or whatever the cool word would be, kind of feeling/sound... Anyway, check out the songs.

This tape came out via Derek at Working Man Records. There are 100 tapes in total, and three variations, there is the red tape which I have (limited to 50) and a solid white on white tape (limited to 20) available through the label. The band had clear tapes (limited to 30).



I was lucky enough to be offered the test/master cassette tape. It's a one of a kind, and it's a cool little thing to have. Anyway, if you're interested you can give the guys a couple of bucks (or take it for free) from BandCamp, or you can grab one of the remaining tapes from Working Man Records.

Birthday Purchases

I ended up emailing Summersteps Records a while ago about some information on this. Before Tigers Jaw were a band, they were a duo, and they released this. It is the first TJ release and it is called Belongs to the Dead.



This was only ever made as a handmade/limited CD-R. When I sent them an email they told me that they would make me my own copy. I don't usually post about CDs, but this is too cool to ignore. The songs on this have mostly been re-released/recorded as a full band, with some of the name changed. It comes in a paper sleeve, and it has a really cool insert that I am going to scan in which has some funny explainations about the songs and some things to cut out to make a tiger hat/mask.



On Friday I saw Greg from Arrest Records post about selling some copies of the test pressing from the Beartrap and Battletruk split 7inch and I jumped on it. This is out of 10 copies, of which I think about 3 or 4 were sold. These are the ONLY 10 copies of the record as the pressing never went ahead. This also means that it is the only thing Battletruk have ever released on vinyl.

There isn't a cover. There isn't anything. This was given to me in a clear inner sleeve and the only marking is the SIDE A label which you can see in the photo. There isn't even a SIDE B label.

I haven't listened to the songs yet, but both bands are fucking sick and you should check them out!

Some eBay Picks

Every now and then I buy from eBay. I kind of avoid it now because I have been fucked over by a few shitty sellers. Anyway, I chucked a few small bids on some records that took my fancy and I won. I've actually gotten a few great buys this way, it's always good to get something at a steal. I paid about $17AU for these two records, including postage.



First up is a nifty little seven inch from a few years ago by Sinking Ships. It's called "Ten". This copy is on red vinyl, and it is a second pressing (I believe) on Revelation Records. I have no idea about the release info or whatever. I'm still yet to own a copy of Disconnecting which is my favourite release by this band. I've had this record in digital format for years, it's kind of nice to have it in tangible form.



The second record I ended up winning is a copy of the famous Brainwashed seven inch by Miles Away on white. I already own a copy of this on yellow, and you don't see too many floating around any more, it was good to get one at a good price. I love this band so fucking much. This is on Resist records, there is only one pressing. White /200.

Hell Split Wide Open

This came in the mail the other day, and I was super excited. This is Iron Mind's new record, and their first full-length. It's the first release since their EP and I assume a lot of other people were also super excited about it, with good reason, it delivers big time. Aggressive, heavy hardcore with great song writing and structure, topped off with great lyrical work. I'm sure this will reap one of my top ten spots this year, especially for Australian Hardcore.



As I mentioned, the band has kind of been inactive since 2010. I think Sam went to Europe and a bunch of the other guys were in other bands and all generally busy, I don't really know the ins and out, but the future of the band was questioned. I think maybe that was all just rumours, because when you see this you can kind of understand why they haven't put anything out since 2009.

Sam Octigan sings for this band, and he is also an illustrator/designer. One of my favourite Australian illustrators/designers, actually. He did all the artwork for this record which is a fucking extensive masterpiece. The front cover, two middle sleeves of the gatefold jacket, and the back are all one giant flowing piece of art. He probably spent those 2+ years working on this. I would seriously just buy this record for his artwork... the songs are kind of a plus.





This came out on Deadsouls Records. My copy is on a colour known as 'Oxblood' and is limited to 100 copies. It also came out on Black/Purple Swirl (also limited to 100) and Black (limited to 300). There are 30 record release covers, and 10 test pressings.

You should go and pick this up. Every aspect of it is absolutely amazing. 10/10.

Gafas Del Rigor: Part 1

I came across this little DIY Cassette label by the name of Gafas Del Rigor when I saw they co-released the PLANKS discography tape with my friend Kurt's label Nerdcore. I believe it is a solo operation run out of Germany, I made an order for whatever they had when I looked at how amazing their work is. If you're into DIY tapes, this is like some kind of heaven.



After a few emails to see if they had any of the PLANKS tapes left (which there were unfortunately not) I ended up ordering a bit of a mystery package. I got the three above items as well as some bonus stuff, which included a German copy of a Beavis & Butthead comicbook, a bunch of stickers and two other tapes. I will post about these later.




The first of the three releases is this. A cheated 3inch record pressed on a CD. This is an Israel tour release from 2010 of the Dead Hand / Pissed Guts split, there were 50 copies made. I actually have no idea about this, I am not even sure how to play it or what it is. The packaging and whole presentation is amazing as always.



The next item is a discography tape entitled Epitaph by MANS from the USA. It is limited to 50 copies. This is the one band from this order I had heard. They're a cool post/hardcore band with a lot of higher vocals. I suck at describing bands.





This tape is quite elaborate, it comes in a brown outer cover, with a paper box inside, which holds the tape and a covering band which holds the insert. Everything is really intricate and super cool. I feel like a massive nerd here, however this is stuff you just don't see anymore.



Finally we have another discography tape by Germany's TELEKOLLEG. I'm actually really glad I stumbled across this band. Dark hardcore from Germany. I really like this release as a whole. Again, the tape is super cool and all hand made. This release is limited to 100 copies and it is made up of a yellow tape with a half paper cover. Under this you find a band which holds a fold out insert which contains all the information/lyrics etc.

Dry Ice

Since starting this blog a few fellow vinylnerd friends have said some nice things, as well as some random people and some regular friends. The other night my handsome friend Owen told me that he liked my blog and that he had lurked my tradelist and was wondering if I would part with my Deafheaven 7inch. To be honest, that record was collecting dust, I don't like that band and I got that record for free from a friend who got two copies free in a Deathwish order. He said he had a copy of Green Day's 1000 Hours laying around he didn't want and that he would trade me for it.



I don't really like anything this band did after Dookie, however Dookie was one of my favourite albums growing up and I am quite fond of the way this band sounded in the early years. This is the original pressing on Lookout! Records, release #17.



From what I have found out there are two variations of the Lookout! pressings, due to the label moving to Berkley from Laytonville in the early '90s (around 1991). This has the Berkley address on the back and from what I have found out these were pressed from the time they moved up until late 1992. I have no clue about the number of records pressed, but I assume there would be a decent amount.

Jimmy Piersall

I was super excited when I came home to find this waiting for me today. Anyone who knows me will know I love Tigers Jaw, so when I heard about this split I jumped on it as soon as humanly possible. This is a 7inch split with a band called The Sidekicks, whom I don't know a lot about, apart from they do a really great cover on this record. Each side is a new song from each band and a cover.



The new Tigers Jaw song is spectacular, although I am probably extremely bias. The cover they do is by a band called Okay Paddy who are an older band from their home town, Scranton PA. The other side of the split also contains a little nugget of gold, the cover is of Evlis Costello's (Angels Wanna Wear My) Red Shoes and they nailed it. The vocals are great and this is a really cool cover for me, being a huge Costello fan.

The layout and packaging are quite simple. Black vinyl, which is the only colour and I believe is limited to a release of 300. The cover art is really simple, a few little outline drawings of Fish and some kind of electronic/scientific looking example picture. The insert is just the reverse side of the cover, which is flat black with white lyrics/information.

The Wolf Gang

Today was a good day. I did a lot in class, a lot of which was for a certain something I am working on for this blog. I also picked up my new camera, so I can take photos again which is a godsend. To keep with the greatness of my day, when I arrived home there was a package on my door step. MellowHype's new record BlackenedWhite.



Odd Future has a hell of a lot of hype right now, which is well deserved but maybe not in the right place. Everyone seems to focus on Tyler and Tyler alone, which might mean you could miss out on this great piece of work.





BlackenedWhite is the second album from the duo that is MellowHype. It had a few production set backs as far as the physical record is concerned due to some problems over at Fat Possum Records. But finally, a few months late it is here, and it is a solid record.

You get a single LP in a nice sturdy gatefold jacket, along with a printed record sleeve to replace an insert. All the layout is quite nice. Nothing special but there isn't a thing wrong. There are also some picture prints on the labels of the record which are nice, apart from there are no labels to indicate the side. I am not sure of the pressing info but my copy is Ultra Clear and I believe it was limited to a pre order of 300. Enjoy.