Wax

My mate Borg has started a new label Sniper Fucker, and the first release is this Shock Troop LP. Doomy/Jap thrash stuff from Austria. Green wax = Aussie press.

Trapped Under Ice demo 7". Haven't actually listened to it yet, but I like all the other stuff they've done, so I reckon i'll dig this record.

My good mate John Hobbs in Melbourne sent me these grindcore 7"s for free this week, along with a handful of grind/thrash CD's. I love John.

Eating Glass 'Feed Them To The Vultures' 7". Apparently they sound like Integrity. I know another band who sound like Integrity who use this exact same artist. I'm weary.

Surrogate/Willows split mini CD

I'm a sucker for different shit like this. 5" CD's always get me. Brisbane prog metal. Mine hand numbered 88/100.

Mind Eraser- 'Conscious, Unconscious'

Got it today. Black though, I missed the coloured press.

Cool artwork.

Extortion/Rupture split 5"

This bad boy deserves it's own post. Perth PV 5"s of bliss. Extortion do 'Pathetic' which has already seen the light of day on the American release of the Degenerate CD, 'Shit For Brains' and 'Fucked In The Head, both of which I don't think I've heard yet. I think all 3 songs actually come from recording sessions of the Degenrate LP, so it's older stuff. I'll tell you when I jam this suckah. Rupture do 'Vegetable Cunt Fun'. Charming name I know. Not sure if this song has been previously released or not... I thought I had most of the Rupture mp3's, but I don't seem to have this track on my computer. But I'm betting it has seen some kind of release in the past.

RSR (Regurgitated Semen Records) and Hate Ape Productions released this record. RSR have put out a tone of great PV/Grind/Thrash over the years. I think Hate Ape is actually the dudes from RSR little Rupture worship label thing. Though I'm not totally sure. Who better to be featured on a split with Rupture than Extortion though? Can't beat that.

I was told today by someone that the Extortion/AOA split 7" is due next week. Siked. All over that thing like a racoon on a can of beans.

Stash

New records today. Probably the last big stash that I'll be getting for a while, due to previously mentioned saving goals.

Infantcide 7". Haven't listened to it yet, but it's on 625 Thrash, and the bands fucken name is Infantcide. I already know how this ep will go. Trapped Under Ice/Dirty Money split. Dirty Money suck, but I don't mind Trapped Under Ice. And the tracks I've heard from this release were great.

Not sure what to expect with this Obliteration 7". Members of Mind Eraser and Knife Fight apparently, so I'm pretty excited to hear it. Will blast tonight for sure. Check the mad snake fold out insert. That better remain exclusive to the first press.

Finally received my Downpresser 12"ep. I've raved on about this band heaps recently. And rightfully so. Great heavy band. Massive poster insert. Clear wax.

This Comp Kills Fascists 2x LP. The artwork on this wax version is so much better than the cd version. Awesome grind violence comp featuring Magrudergrind, Weekend Nachos, Insect Warfare, Brutal Truth, Shitstorm among a tone more. Great release.

Records

Mother Speed- "Bizarre Reality" 7"

Pretty much only got this one for the sweet cover art. Apparently they sound like Black Flag. We'll see.

Entombed- "Serpent Saints- The Ten Amendments" LP.

I don't think I really need to explain this band. What? I do? Raging Euro metal. Get a clue mate.

Cruel Hand- Prying Eyes

Today's mail brought me this. 'Prying Eyes' by Cruel Hand.

Purple wax /500. I just missed out on the /100 press. That shit sold out really quick. 

After all the hype, I have been somewhat let down by this album. I mean it's great, and I'd still mosh to the band live, but it's nothing in comparison to the band's last long player. Oh well, you can't win 'em all I guess.

Hard Luck Interview

I haven't posted an interview in a while, so I thought this little Hard Luck piece would be good for a read. It's an old interview, but if you haven't already read it, I guess it's cool. It's a shame these guys are breaking up. One of the best bands that this country has produced in the last 5 years easily.

Members, roles etc?
tyrrell drums, josh plays the guitar, slick murph crisis is angry and i play bass.

So you guys have just come off an east coast tour of the country with Queensland’s own Benchpress. How did that go?
it was fuckin great, we had a rad holiday and really didn't want it to end! plenty of messy shit, lots of time spent at casinos and other seedy shit.

How did the band hook up with Cade and Benchpress? How did you guys get along for the tour? And how did you get the idea?
josh went to school and grew up with most of the band and they've stayed friends since so that was easy. the idea came about cos we wanted to go on tour to launch our new 7" and josh said lets do it with benchpress. so we did. those guys are all crazy seedy dudes. don't talk to them. ha ha had a rad time, if you're in queensland you should check em out. AHC rep.

The tour was done in support of the release of the bands new 7”, ‘What Went Wrong’. Manage to sell many records on the tour? How has the 7” been doing?
yeah we sold a bunch of 7's and cds on tour, it went pretty well, thanks for asking.

Where did you guys manage to get to?
um, we hit cooma first for some snowy mountain hardcore mayhem. then canberra, melbs, a'town, melbs, sydney, newy, whatsupcastlehill, brisy and the sunny coast. we had to bail on a show in sydney and one in the gong so that sucked.

What were some of the highlights from the tour? Where were the best shows?
surprisingly, the canberra show at sound underground was the real highlight, it was fucking crazy, not a huge turnout but everyone went nuts. there was a soccer ball in the pit getting kicked around into everything then it smashed the only light in the venue so everyone was moshing in the dark on glass getting cut up and shit. then someone dragged a couch into the middle of the pit and kids went nuts jumping off it and shit. murph did a three quarter back flip off it (he landed on his back ha ha suck shit). good times.
castle hill show was pretty sick too. and sunny coast.

Now the two shows that I saw you play while up here in QLD, while you did get a positive response from a small crowd, not too many kids were going nuts if you know what I mean. I guess only because they weren’t too familiar with the stuff. Give it time. Did you guys get crazy shows anywhere else around the place?
i just answered that one. yeah it was our first time up there, so its sort of what we expected. good fun shows though. everywhere else we went we've been to before several times so they all went pretty well except for adelaide, adelaide was a bit poor, that was the third time we've been there this year as well! i don't think too many people like us in adelaide. cade broke a kids collar bone.

The new record has also been made available on CD. Also tacked onto the new material is the stuff from your earlier split 7” with Newcastles The Faux Hawks. Why not be elitist and keep the stuff in the analogue format? Why also did you throw the stuff from the split on?
fuck that elitist bullshit, 7"s are cool but some kids just can't be fucked or are too poor to go out and get a record player. everyone can play cds but. we also wanted to put out the faux hawks split tracks again cos we still play those songs and we couldn't be fucked sending away overseas to get another press done. so there.

The new material sounds quite a bit better quality than the older stuff. What was the big difference with recording this time round? Any big differences in the funding department? Where did you record?
um yeah i know what you mean. we didn't really pay that much more for this recording its probably just that we did it with the same guy who recorded our earlier stuff so maybe he got better at recording us or something and we recorded the instruments at a better studio than last time. we also recorded analog this time not digital so that makes a huge difference.

The EP was put out with the help of new label This Fate Records. How did you get into contact with Ken? Had you guys met prior? How did you hook up the deal?
ken used to live in canberra so we all knew each other from way back then. we kept in contact and when we made this band he said he'd love to put out a 7". that was 2 years ago that he said that so it took us ages to get it together.  

Do you find that writing the stuff you do alienates alot of the moshier kids? Or when you play do you get a good re-sponse from a mixed crowd?
it all depends. sometimes they might stand around nodding thier heads but other times you can see em going huh? and other times they mosh.

Definitely with the new stuff Murphy’s vocals are quiet a bit more frantic this time around. What happened there? Was it just a natural progression for him? Or did you guys make an intentional decision to try something a little different?
natural progression. all those vocals are 1 take from start to finish so you can actually hear his voice warming up through the first few tracks and then starting to crack in the last few. he hits his peak around song 3 to 8. ha ha what a deadshit. i rag on murph its what i do. get a life.

I know virtually nothing about the scene in Canberra where you guys are from. What’s going on down there these days? How is the scene?
it comes and goes with the opening and shutting of venues. a lot of kids into hardcore though just not enough venues. had some crazy shows here lately though. outbreak tonight was insane.

What good bands are coming out of our capital? Is there alot of more trad bands or alot of moshier stuff?
its a pretty big mix of shit coming out of hear at the moment. not too many trad bands but there is top gun who've just starts up, they're rad check em out if you can. we've got 4dead still tearing up shit every few weeks which is rad and a few excellent punk bands and some mosh bands. diverse. yup.

What do you guys think of the current trend in mosh bands at the moment? I guess if you were massive fans you’d be writing mosh stuff, but in general what do you guys think?
fuckin awesome man, keep up the good work yo, this shts rippin dawg, fuck yeah. i guess it depends hey, some moshy bands actually write some decent shit, some don't. we just play ragin.

So what’s up next for the band? With the 7” out now and a tour just completed, what are the next big plans for Hard Luck?
well i think we're gonna get over to perth before too long, maybe nz too. dunno. thinking about doing another 7 or maybe a 12. not too sure yet. wanna get this one out overseas, that'll take some time then probably do a world tour with benchpress! sup baby, sup sluts 1.5.18.

Any thanks etc?
thanks sean for the interview. check out mad rush demos out now. mind control zine 2, and the top gun demo. thanks to ric ta life and the back ta basics distro for accompanying us on tour. blek. punk rock motherfucker wow.

New Wax

So now that I'm on a saving mission for my Chicago trip next year, pretty much all vinyl purchasing has ground to a complete halt. I haven't used eBay in weeks, and I haven't spent cash on any other records from anywhere else in that time either. Though, there are still odd packages here and there trickling in to my PO Box from previous spending every now and then. I still expect a few more too over the coming fortnight. After that though, it's done. For the time being anyway (bar the new Mind Eraser, Extortion, and Suffer stuff).

Moving along... these came today...

Snake Run- "Lies" 7". Came with that sticker and a pin badge too.

Pathetic Human- s/t 7".

Cut Sick- "Fraudulent Little Fuckers" 7" with red cloth patch.

As you can see they're all Aussie releases. Nabbed 'em from Lewis aka lead singer of Snake Run (first 7" in post), aka Eat Shit And Die Distro. Cheers Lewis.

Downpresser/Creatures split 7"

So I just found these two bands this year on two separate occasions. And with both I've really started to develop a great fondness. Creatures play pretty much "Mongrel" era Think I Care worship. I'd flame them in any other instance, but they do it really bloody well. Great, no bullshit hardcore songs. They put out a 7" a few months ago. Downpresser are similar but with a more metal approach. Reminds me much of later era Cro Mags, and fellow San Diegoins Violation. Heavy, and amazing. They did a 12" ep last year that I had been meaning to get into, but out of pure laze, didn't. Got off my butt and grabbed it a few weeks back, and it's been on non stop ever since.

Anyway, both bands announced today that they're doing a split 7" called "Tracks To Nowhere" on Fineprint Records. Both bands have also released songs from the ep, and said songs own. I can't wait for this record.

Converge Collection

I feel like a parent. I love them all the same (no I don't, Jane Doe is my favourite).

I just realised that I forgot to get out my split LP with Agoraphobic Nosebleed. Whoops, I'm not getting them all out again for another photo, too much effort. Photo also lacks my multiples of No Heroes.

Converge are the reason I started collecting records. Yeah I had a few 7"s before any Converge stuff, but I started an eBay account specifically for that premium Converge wax. And I've never looked back (though I've drained thousands of dollars into my habit).

While my collection is complete in the sense that I have at least one copy of everything that the band have done, it'll never really be complete. I haven't bought a Converge record since the No Heroes pre orders. I think I should get back to paying more attention to the positive growth of this aspect of my wax library. I certainly want Jane Doe on red. Screw it, gimme the clear, and root beer/white presses too. And I'd love the white press of the Unloved And Weeded Out 4x7". And who couldn't do without a complete collection of the split with Coalesce? I'm nearly halfway there with that one. Eerrgghh, that's at least $700 already. Maybe I won't bother. Maybe I will... but maybe I won't. Maybe I will though?

What do you think?