SUPERTOUCH , A BRAND NEW SLAB OF WAX.....

Brand new Supertouch ep and their first release in 20 years!!! Not sure if I like this record the first time I heard it but it's grown on me. Maybe it's the vocal effect that put me off,but it has a different vibe to their last release. I was gutted recently as they played a one off London show but due to the effects of a two week bout of man flu I had to cry it off. I guess my memories of their previous UK tour in the 90's will have to suffice!

I pre ordered this from Reaper Records sometime in December and Finally got my record today (Feb 10th), a full week and a half after a friend got his but who also ordered about a month after me!!! Not quite sure how that one worked out! I still don't really know what to make of the cover, quite a random pic of a lady swimming, maybe she "lost her way", I dunno!
It always used to be a bit of a bug bear how peeps would diss Supertouch for their progressive sound but would then proclaim their love for some shit indie band that was hip at the time. Maybe it was the fact that they progressed from their classic WNYU sound to the Lp and it was too much to handle. Personally I always loved Supertouch and I'm definitely giving this record a chance. Pressing info to follow.

JUDGE - WHAT IT MEANT 2XLP, CLEAR RED/ORANGE & CLEAR/CLEAR YELLOW W/SPLATTERS

A complete discography of Judge material, released in 2006 by Revelation. This double Lp package includes the "New York Crew" 7", the "Bringin' It Down" LP, the "Storm" 7", the "Chung King Can Suck It" LP and previously unreleased demo tracks and as an added bonus liner notes by Porcell and never seen before photos. A really nice package for the Judge collector, however god only knows who came up with the colour schemes for the vinyl.

STRAIGHT AHEAD - BREAKAWAY 12" EP

Two fucking words Tommy Carroll. Carrot topped, Human dynamo, crazy ass front man, golden gloves boxer and the guy that once infamously spat at "rockstar" Kirk Hammett who was in the audience at a Crumbsuckers show!! The record I own is from the 3rd press and in my honest opinion one of the greatest pieces of NYHC that has been committed to plastic! On an interesting collectors note, the story from duane (Some Records) was that he had the 3rd batch pressed up (black labels w/ white print) and then couldn't afford to pay the bill, so the pressing plant repo'd them. presumably the plant sold them off to a distributor because they seem to be only slightly less abundant than the 2nd press. Pressing info is:-
Breakaway 12" EP (1987 I-Risk)
1st press = 1000 with plain white DJ sleeve
2nd press = 500 with lion sleeve and white labels w/ black print
3rd press = 500 with lion sleeve and black labels w/ white print
Anyway watch the video below and pray for a time machine to take you back to the greatness of Straight Ahead!

SICK OF IT ALL S/T EP, RSD, CLEAR

Well this one was a bit of surprise considering a) I hadn't realised that it was world record store day and b) that Rev had planned to reissue the first SOIA ep on clear vinyl. Anyways thinking I was gonna be too late to pick one up (as only 550 are in circulation world wide) I made a trip to one of 3 local record stores that I thought might have actually had a chance of ordering them in. Luckily for me the only one open on a Sunday in Newcastle had one copy left and I quickly bought it up. Now to the interesting facts....apparently there are 4 different covers one of which is a black and white version which was previously seen on the original 80's "Gilman Street" press and one like mine which is from the original pressing run and has the old New Haven Revelation Records address on it (see pics). Some inserts (like mine) seem to be old original 80's ones and some are from the last press with the "fake paper clipping included". Anyway for more pics see the related thread on the Livewire Records Board and happy hunting.

ARMED CITIZENS - MAKE SENSE EP

Great early NYHC here. The thing I love about record collecting is when you find a real bargain not only in price but also in quality. I got this locally about a year ago and only paid $6 for it which was a bargain. The ep and cover are in mint condition and looked like they'd hardly been touched, my gain for sure. I also love collecting small bits of US regional hardcore history and this record fits right into that mold. Although the cover is paper I like the use of the red ink on yellow, makes it stand out nicely plus the back cover drawing is immense, pure punk rock. Just imagine seeing them at the A7 or CB's in the early 80s.

KRAUT - UNEMPLOYED EP

Ah Kraut made famous by CIV who covered their classic tune "All Twisted"! and featuring soon to be Cro - Magnon Doug Holland on guitar. Anyway I picked this bad boy up in a great trade a number of years ago. I love Kraut because they have that early NYHC attitude to a tee but they were very proficient musicians and could pen tunes that were so catchy your mum would prolly like them! I guess if the Clash had been a NYHC band then Kraut would be that band! This is my fave Kraut release and the lyrics to the unreleased song Matinee are so funny. 5000 pressed which I guess back in the day that was a massive pressing run.

AGNOSTIC FRONT - VICTIM IN PAIN LP

Agnostic Front one of the forefathers of NYHC and a band that has released a slew of records over the years, but none better than the United Blood ep and this their debut Lp. Fast short bursts of powerful yet simplistic hardcore punk. Kinda makes me think of that old saying "hardcore is a simple music form but complicated by fools"!!! I picked this up from a friend of mine who worked in a record store and had bought a collection off some older guy. He obviously didn't know the value of the record and I wasn't going to let on so after exchanging £8, I left his house with a grin the size of his garden path fixed to my face! The cover is thick heavy stock card with the lyrics, song titles and pictures on the inner part. The bottom picture shows that infact this variant is a 2nd press as it has the logo for Important distributors directly underneath the Ratcage records logo. I could tell you a great story about how I interviewed Vinny Stigma for a fanzine I was doing in 92 and him getting his pants belt loop stuck on the door handle of the room we were in and Roger Miret having to help him off...

BREAKDOWN - DEMO 87 EP, YELLOW

I love the 87 Breakdown demo and if it were not for a certain Raw Deal demo I'd say this was the best NYHC demo. Breakdown were one of the bands that made me want to start a band! Infact my first notable hc band was named after their song "Kickback". Pity that a bunch of French guys had exactly the same idea so much so that we had to change our name!!! For those unlucky enough not to have an original demo tape, Blackout Records did the honourable thing and released this on vinyl. 2000 copies in total, with a split of black and yellow copies. Nice thick card cover and thick yellow vinyl to match.

CRIPPLED YOUTH - JOIN THE FIGHT EP, CLEAR

Was this the best Bold release? I guess its what hardcore is all about, kids thrashing around on their instruments with the most basic of song writing and playing skills. I love the youthfulness of this release but I prefer "Speak Out" as the best release. Anyway saying that still a great record and I was so happy to score it on clear. So much so that I had to replicate the cover for a Break It Up "Ninja Fest" version of our demo ep!!!!

BOLD - ORANGE/PINK MIX

Here is Bolds third release (one as Crippled Youth) and boy what a change a guitarist makes! Much more erm techinical in the song writing capacity. I guess the words more mature spring to mind. I always preferred the earlier Bold material because it had a youthful energy, albeit a really crappy production. Now if only Speak Out had the recording that this ep had!! As far as this copy goes it is definately an orange and pink mix of the darker variety. Check the Revelation Records pressing info for comparison pics and you can see that the vinyl is way lighter than that of the pure orange press. This is from the Rev site - The colour vinyl was suppose to be maroon, to match the cover, but the pressing plant couldn't mix the colour properly and came up with pink. After pressing a number of the pink they stopped and tried remixing the color, this time coming up with orange. To make life easier Jordan just had them do the 1000 on orange so the mix was created when changing from pink to orange without cleaning the presses. The actual invoice states 60 on pink and makes no mention of the mix, so how many of the pure pink versus how many of the orange pink mix exist is not known, but it is safe to say that that there are more than 10 of the mix as was originally believed. What is more, did the mix of colours count as orange or pink on the invoice? So are there 60 pure pink and a number of the mix colour, or are there a even fewer pure pink and a large number of mixed? To add insult to injury, the mix as been referred to as swirl when actually the pure pink, mix, and orange are all technically swirls. The only way to tell is by comparing colours.

ABSOLUTION - SELF TITLED EP, CLEAR RED

Absolution are a strange one. Always remembered for two great songs that were on compilations and the rest are pretty much forgotten. Part of the problem was that the production on this record is quite possibly the worst I have ever heard. The songs aren't bad but are totally let down by a weak ass production. The cover and lyric sheet pretty much go hand in hand with the production...bland!

URBAN WASTE - URBAN WASTE 12"

One of the greatest NYHC bands. This is the reissue of the incredibly rare and expensive Urban Waste ep. Its a great reproduction on 12" which give the songs that slightly better sound than that of the og ep. Raw raging NYHC, which is commonly regarded as a classic in hardcore punk circles, comes in a 12" ep reproduction cover and nice clear red vinyl. The lyric sheet includes previously unseen photos and a good historical write up of the band.

NEW BREED COMPILATION TAPE

Stand out NYC compilation cassette that was released by Freddy Alva on his own small label. This pretty much features most of the good second tier NYC hardcore bands that were around at that time including the likes of Absolution, Our Gang, Outburst, True Colors, Abomination, Beyond, Uppercut Breakdown and Raw Deal, plus others. This cassette came with a fanzine style A4 lyric sheet and as far as the music goes most of it has stood the test of time. A very important piece of NYHC history.

THE MOB - STEP FORWARD EP

A very underated NYHC band. Speed is the key with this one, not to sure of pressing numbers but once I find out I shall spread the knowledge. Nice looking thin vinyl although the cover is a bit flimsy. Another £3 buy that filled a hole in my collection! Nice!!!

SHALL BE JUDGED!

The debut ep by New Yorks BURN. Compared to Absolution due to the technical nature of the music and add the fact that guitarist Gavin Van Vlack was a member of both bands. This was another record that quite literally blew me away with its uniqueness. At times fast paced at other times with a unique groove going on. Anyway this is the first press variant on opaque pink vinyl. Another nice looking Rev press with that trademark slight white swirl effect going on throughout the pink only 1000 pressed.

JUDGE - BRINGING IT DOWN

Ah the JUDGE Lp....what a landmark in the heavy metallic sound that many have imitated but very few have mastered as well as Judge. I was blown away when I heard the first Judge ep which is still one of my all time favourite hardcore eps. I eagerly anticpated getting hold of this record and reserved a copy which turned out to be on black from Volume Record store in Newcastle. If my memory serves me well then this actually came out a couple of weeks after the Gorilla Biscuits Lp which made it an exciting couple of weeks. After playing it through the first time I was again blown away by the ferocity of the band. This time around the band have taken the ep formula and upped the ante as far as production and song writting goes. In a nutshell they had lost the rawness and even hardcoreness of the debut record and replaced it with a more polished metallic sound that sat equally as well. The initial production of this record is well know for producing the incredibly rare Chung King Can Suck It Lp that has most collectors salivating over (Marcus, Brian and Lecky take a bow because you can be regarded as three of the luckiest collectors in the UK and yes I'm jealous!!!!), and since the band hated the initial effort decided to rerecord the whole Lp. As noted in the pictures the vinyl is of similar quality to the Gorilla Biscuits Lp and is an opaque green with white swirl. A really nice looking piece.

GORILLA BISCUITS - EP, WARZONE B SIDE

Another buy from the excellent but now defunct Volume record shop in Newcastle. At the time I hadn't realised how rare a record this would eventually turn out to be. Anyway if my memory serves me right I paid about £2.50 for this and now I'd be looking at recuperating about $500 which is a 100% profit. Of course I'm not looking to sell but it sure is handy to know that if I became desperate the hardcore scene would help bail me out! My copy has the purple logo cover and the vinyl is the banana yellow opaque vinyl. The big difference herein lies with the B side label. Due to Rev running out of regular labels which featured Lukey Luke the GB drummer they opted to use Todd Youth of Warzone ones. Its estimated that there are only 50 - 90 of these variants in existence of which one is mine. Great record, all the tunes are gold.

GORILLA BISCUITS , LETS START TODAY........

As far as the whole melodic hardcore thing goes I doubt you'll find any record as good as this. Combination of poppy hooks, great lyrics and a little sprinkling of NYHC. I have had the regular black vinyl pressing of this record for aeons but decided to shelve out the moola for a 1st press purple variant. I remember seeing a handwritten sign that the staff of Volume record shop in Newcastle had placed in the coming soon rack. It basically said "new Gorilla Biscuits lp out in two weeks". Honestly I was so excited to get this Lp that two weeks seemed like two years of waiting, but it was worth it! The pictures don't really do this justice, heavy vinyl obviously purple in colour with a nice white swirl effect mixed in there for good measure also the cover is the embossed logo one. One I had to have!