Monday 3 July 2023

Fever Dream



High Vis are one of the best bands in the UK right now, to my ears at least. I was lucky enough to catch them at this years Outbreak Fest, and it really cemented my love for the band after missing a couple of chances at seeing them over the last year. 

However excited I was to catch them live - there was a secondary motive to be excited for attending Outbreak. There was a new 12” put out by Farewell (who released the first two High Vis 7”s) that sold out online in a matter of minutes, with the majority being held back for live shows. I say majority like there was a bunch of them - this pressing is /200 total which seems unreal for a band with as much hype around them at the minute. I assume these were gone before most fans even knew about it. 


The inner sleeve is stamped and numbered by Graham, the singer of High Vis. The back of the outer sleeve is also numbered, I assume they were done by him too. 

This 12” compromises a compilation of sorts - Society Exists was a digital only single released during the pandemic without the full lineup being present on the recording. The Station house Demos were two songs initially to be released as a 7”, but it was kept back to make room for Blending to be written. Fever Dream made its way on to Blending, but The Loss finally sees the light of day thanks to this release. As a whole, these recordings pair up nicely together, and bridge the gap sonically between No Sense No Feeling and Blending. Plus it’s cool to hear Fever Dream in a more rough and ready capacity, it’s one of my favourite tracks from Blending. 

I love the design of this thing, super minimal and stark, one colour one pressing type things are always fun - especially for a band that definitely don’t have to make /200 releases anymore.

This wasn’t the only record I bought from Outbreak, and I walked away with a cool amount of stuff (although I really wish I’d bought the High Vis Outbreak exclusive shirt) but more on that later.




Saturday 18 March 2023

Mindforce on tape

Unless you’ve been under a rock for the last 5 or so years I guess you’ll be at least vaguely familiar with Mindforce. A few years back they released a comp tape of Excalibur and Swingin’ Swords and I picked it up as soon as it came up in the UK. 


Mindforce - Excalibur / Swingin’ Swords, Choppin’ Lords - First Run /200 White - Triple B / Streets Of Hate 

The cover art for this is a rip of the Warzone comp that Another Planet released in the mid 90’s and that’s the kind of shit we live for. 


Mindforce - New Lords - ? Pressing - /? - Clear Shell - Triple B // Streets of Hate

With already having Mindforce stuff on cassette I was reluctant to buy this on vinyl, so I waited like a patient boy and this finally came up for sale in the UK. However, this one is a bit of a mystery for me. I’ve only seen a clear red shell of this cassette, and Streets of Hate have no pressing info regarding a clear shell (neither does Discogs). If anyone knows, pass on that info or add it to Discogs because the thought of trying that makes me want to break edge. 


 The Excalibur cassette also has a printed shell where as this one is blank - New Lords is also a little rough sounding which was a surprise because the actual recording rips. 

It’s Mother’s Day tomorrow and the reason I’m delving into the cassettes is because I’m making my Mother a mixtape for her car (it still has a tape deck). It’s a little tradition/ running bit that one of her gifts is a carefully curated compilation of some hits she’d be in to, with a few mosh parts sprinkled in there for fun. 







Monday 2 January 2023

NO PRESSURE PT. 2


 The No Pressure LP definitely ended up on my top 10 AOTY list for 2022, but before all of that this band had only a couple of promo releases and a debut EP that was pressed on cassette and 7” (and even on CD in Japan if memory serves. This release also came out through a bunch of labels, including being self released, Triple B, Life. Lair. Regret in Australia and Ratel Recs in Poland. 


No Pressure - No Pressure - Ratel Records - 1st Press - Solid Light Pink /300


This record comes printed in a fold over sleeve with all the lyrics and thanks printed on the inside. I’m a fan of the stark black and white inside compared to the full colour artwork on the cover. Sadly I didn’t grab this from the label, but bought it from a guy on Instagram who I’ve been following for years. It went super smooth and arrived in great condition. 


The record comes with a few extras - I didn’t hold my breath on them all being in there when I was buying it, but the seller assured me they were and here they are. On the left is an insert/ thank you not and to the right is a postcard and a sticker of the art. Of course the note encourages the postcard to be used, but come the fuck on? 

This record rips, and it has some of the best that No Pressure have to offer. The one time they hit the UK I missed them and that was no good for anyone but hopefully I’ll catch them in 2023 at Outbreak. 



Monday 19 December 2022

Blue Train

 Kicking into the end of the year and I’m trying to get some posts in before things get too crazy over the Christmas period. 


John Coltrane - Blue Train • The Complete Masters - Blue Note 

A damn ass JAZZ record. And one of the best really. I’m still dipping my toe in to the whole jazz thing but I enjoy everything I hear from Coltrane. This record came out a couple months back and I cracked pretty early on adding it to the collection. 


Hype sticker on the sleeve - basically tells you what you’re getting. An incredible sounding record with some new to vinyl stuff, a nice essay on the record and some unseen photographs that capture the recording process. 


The records are house in a thick gatefold sleeve with the liner notes in a centre book. This is one of the highest quality records I’ve bought in years. From the jacket, to the liner notes to the quality of the pressing itself - this thing is so impressive to look at and listen to. If you’re even remotely curious about jazz, I’m sure any of the Tone Poet series will help you fall in love with the genre. 


The back cover is the standard layout of many Blue Note releases of the era. I love seeing this busy format and it definitely brings out a fun nostalgia of those early years of digging. 

I’m sure we’ll be back to regular stuff soon. Or maybe you’ll get a Charli XCX record next. Who knows?





Thursday 1 December 2022

God’s Country

 As we get into the end of the year, I’m starting to consider what albums are going to end up on my AOTY list. Without any doubt the latest LP from Chat Pile is ranking high in the running. 


Chat Pile - God’s Country - The Flenser - 1st Pressing - Transparent Orange /700 

This record is currently up for pre order for the 5th pressing which is likely just about sold out by now, with a new cassette only release on the way. All things considered I’m lucky to have found this when I did for retail. There was also a preorder limited cover with alternative ‘Pamela Voorhees’ artwork - the same image has also been used on a run of merch. I’d love that record too but at this rate I’m definitely considering the hoodie option. 


The photography was handled by the band from what I can gather, and all the scenes are local to home for them. The music matches the environment perfectly and so does the lyrical content. This release is pretty much perfect for The Flenser - it’s dark and weird with a habit of really sucking you in. I’m into it, but I remember a period of having to put it down because it was getting to me a little bit (listen to ‘I Don’t Care if I Burn’ I’d you don’t know what I’m getting at’). 


I scored this record from Wanna Hear It (via mailorder) which is run by Joey Cahill from 6131 records. It’s the 3rd of 4th time I’ve ordered from him and he’s always sound. 







Monday 14 November 2022

Koyo on Blue

A weird but fun little one for a gloomy Monday morning. Over the last couple of years, Koyo have been steadily building hype and releasing an incredible trio of EP’s. Their debut EP was released overseas as a 7” via Life and Death Brigade; but picked up by The Coming Strife in the UK as a 10”. There was a bunch of variants for this one (including a sick Taking Back Sunday rip PO cover) but this one is the rarest excluding the test press. 

Koyo - Painting Words Into Lines - The Coming Strife Records - 1st Press - Blue Suede Shoes with Misprint Labels /30

The labels are printed to state the record plays at 33RPM but it plays at 45RPM - so they were released in a limited quarter fold cover exclusive to this mispress. I’m not entirely sure how these were released as I picked it up after the fact from a buddy. 

Here you can see the quarter fold cover and the incorrect labels. Koyo are pretty notorious for weird limited run covers and tour exclusive stuff. The ‘Koyo Fucked Your Bitch’ and Brand New rip cover of Drives Out East are big wants for me - but all good things in time I guess. Anyway, if you like Long Island early 2000’s core then this band are for you. 




Saturday 5 November 2022

NO PRESSURE

 A band that has gained a whole lot of hype in the last couple of years is No Pressure. A 7”, a couple of promo tapes and they landed the release of their debut LP on Triple B Records. For those that don’t know, this is Parker from The Story So Far’s other band. 


This pressing however isn’t the Triple B run, and came out on a Polish label called Ratel records. In 2020, Ratel also put out the debut No Pressure 7”. This pressing is on Green Transparent and is limited to 300. It also plays at 45 RPM and sounds pretty unreal. It turned up just before the Triple B pressing too and is already fetching some predictably over the odds prices on resale. 

The release comes with a double sided insert containing all the lyrics and some fun Live Photos. Discogs states it came with a sticker too but mine doesn’t. 

I didn’t pick this up on its release, and nearly missed the boat entirely just like I did the 7”; but a quick message to the Ratel Instagram and a copy was safely on the way. Also, its been fun to do a post on something a little bigger than a cassette. A couple hours of good weather meant I got some photos that didn’t look like they were taken on a BT Cellnet.