Saturday 5 June 2010

CHAIN OF STRENGTH - THE ONE THING THAT STILL HOLDS TRUE



Ok here's the full collection of Chain material on one big fat plastic disc. Bonus is obviously the previously unreleased track "Impact". Anyway as Rev Recs decided to do a bit of a cash grabbing exercise back in 2001 and me being a huge Chain fan I quickly ordered this. I was hoping to get the more ltd clear green but hey Grey is better than black!!! This one is limited to 440 pieces.

A HIT SQUAD FOR GOD





If you're a fan of early 7 Seconds material then this ep is a definite nod in that direction. The other cool thing about this 83 released disc is that Moby (yes that Moby) played guitar on it.
I managed to score this on Ebay after a very long search led me to a seller based in the UK. Luckily the price was incredibly low for such a great and rare record and to make matters even more interesting the vinyl is on closer inspection clear (ish) purple. The copies that appear on Ebay for the past 8 or so years have all been black, so not only did I luck out with the price but also the rarity of the actual variation. I'm not even sure how many were pressed on this purple coloured wax and I'm interested to find out. Actually I'm beginning to think that this might be a second pressing collaboration between the original label (Pregnant Nun Records) and another. Also on all 1st pressings Moby is listed as MH but on this sleeve his name is actually listed as Moby! Anyone with more info please feel free to comment.

*update

Light Blue cover, different back cover design than first press. There's a mention of the second 7" Just A Frisbee on the back and in very tiny letters "Pregnant Nun Records #1 second pressing. -Taken from www.albarkley.com

Thursday 3 June 2010

GOATSNAKE






Goatsnake, yes not a hardcore punk band in the slightest I hear you say but their history is steeped in hardcore punk history. Vocalist Pete Stahl was a mainstay in the DC punk scene in the early 80s and was the voice for Scream and provides the excellent voice for Goatsnake. Alongside him on guitar in the snake is Southern Lord's supremo, and current member of the infamous SUNN0)) Greg Anderson who forged his early musical career in the NW hardcore scene and in particular with the bands False Liberty and straight edge youth crew stalwarts Brotherhood. I still find it amazing that a man who ( I presume still has) has true till death xxx tattooed on his arm would turn into the biggest long haired stoner going but boy does he do it well!!! Goatsnake mix the intricate heaviness of Black Sabbath and the doom of Saint Vitus to absolute perfection.This Lp on show is the European reissue of the snakes 3rd Lp and has been beautifully packaged in a heavy duty card gatefold sleeve and complimented by thick 180g clear purple vinyl. Limited to only 760 pieces worldwide this will be a big hitter in Ebay sometime in the future. I guarantee that Goatsnake will damage your car stereo beyond repair and in fact I can vouch for it!

Here's a funny Greg Anderson story.... so me and a couple of friends went to see SUNN0)), now if you know anything about this band you now that a) its not very kind to your ears and b) they dress like monks in long brown robes. So just before they went on stage we were hanging around the back of the venue and lo and behold the whole band appeared from another door walked past us solemnly to the door that would take them onto the stage dressed in their monk robes, now the thing is onstage because of the dry ice and darkness you don't really get the chance to see their feet, anyway as they walked past us in single file all very serious I clocked the biggest whitest pair of nike trainers at the bottom of GA's outfit, It looked absolutely ridiculous.I mean a monk wearing brand new nikes is not something you'd see on a regular basis, so with that in mind next time you see SUNN0)) be sure to check their footwear out! I then shouted "Gregg judging by your footwear will we be getting any Brotherhood tunes tonight", to which he turned round and glared!!! If looks could kill I wouldn't be writing this!!