Lament/ Forget/ Reset/ Collect

Coming down from a weekend for this history books; Outbreak fest 2022 and a headline Touché Amoré show in Milton Keynes. Plenty of driving and plenty of terrible coffee on the road but damn it’s been a blast. I wasn’t ready to end my TA listening quite yet so I pulled out their latest full length ‘Lament’ for a quick spin. Whilst digging through my copies, deciding which one was hitting the turntable I grabbed the record release version and figured I’d do a quick post about it. 

Touché Amoré - Lament - Epitaph Records - 1st Press - Electric Blue /1000 - Record Release Livestream Cover /300

This record was made available during the release show for Lament, which was live-streamed with the merch store going live during the stream. Sadly I didn’t get it during the show, there was a little confusion with the UK store and the US store wasn’t shipping to the UK so initially I missed out on this one.

I reached out to the band who were sweet enough to put the feelers out on their social media and some kind soul reached out to me in a matter of minutes and sold their copy for not much over retail.

I ended up with number 127/300 in the end. The sleeve is a quarter fold type deal that fits over the regular sleeve. I love that there is a limited sleeve for each of their studio albums, and all of them have incredible art. 

The record arrived to me still sealed, so I got the extra joy of peeling the sticker off the shrink and putting it on a nice resealable sleeve because I clearly care about these things a little too much for my own good. 

I’m currently hunting down two variants of this damn record, both the US and Euro tour variants. The band didn’t have copies of the Euro tour variant with them at either date, so the chase is truly never ending. I also wanted to pick up the Scowl LP (who I also caught at Outbreak and at the TA show), but they cleared out of literally everything (that band fucking rip). Finally, the Lament record release is up on YouTube in full and it’s a great show to watch. If memory serves Hate5Six handled the filming so it looks incredible. The livestream was followed by Jeremy Bolm doing a DJ set with some gems from his record collection but I’m sure that’s been lost to the sands of digital time.

Voodoo Leather

 Another post night shift evening, another Doors LP on the Turntable (this time it’s the truly incredible Absolutely Live double LP) and another post. Moving from the 7” format into cassettes, mostly because it was pretty late in the evening and I couldn’t get enough decent light to photograph an LP. 

Give - Voodoo Leather - 1st Press Cassette - Yellow Shell /200 w/ Zine - Heartworm Press - 200 Copies

 

Voodoo Leather was released through Heartworm Press, a label and publication works run by Wes Eisold of American Nightmare and Cold Cave. Putting out a Give release seemed a little left field, but I’m a big fan of near enough anything Wes does so this was cool to grab. 

The J-Card folds out into a weird vibey Live Photo that works well with the cover art and the shell. As a quick aside, the tracks were mostly new efforts with a re-recording of ‘Godspeeding’ from the self titled 12” - I haven’t listened to that 12” EP in a minute, but I’ll likely do a post on it before long, I’m in a real Give mood when the sun comes around. 

This is the central page from the zine, which keeps the colour scheme of the release, and it ties in with the Heartworm connection well. The zine came a little dog eared but I’m more than okay with it, as most copies floating around nowadays are missing the zine completely. The seller also included a copy of a Wes Eisold poetry collection ‘Alternative Useless Irrational Magic’ which was super sweet of them. 

The zine contains a mix of band personnel info, Flowerheads stuff, lyrics, flyers and live photography. I love reading through this kinda shit. 

As something to end on; this was the only piece of correspondence I got as a Flowerhead. This was the newsletter from Fall 2018 saying the band were done and played their last show in DC. The reverse contained lyrics of the last 3 Give tracks (Build Your Own God / Love in This House / We Want New) and those songs came out on a promo cassette released through Advanced Perspective (I think?). There was a sticker with this newsletter too. 

The reason I added this at the end is Give posted from their Instagram account for the first time in a few years this last week. The photo is of the band timestamped in 2022; and who knows what that means for us? Personally I’d love more from this band, and the chance to see them once more. 

First Six Records

 So a little whilst back, Dischord announced they would be putting out a box set containing the first 6 Dischord releases - some of which had been out of print in the 7” format in quite some time. The records would be remastered, and come with an era correct insert. With a label like Dischord, you know you’re going to get a great physical release, and they’ll do the best by their customers. Was I interested in buying it? Of course. Was I aware that there was a time limit on the preorder and that they were only making numbers up to the closest round figure of the preorder? Of course. Did I preorder it? Of fucking course not! But, as is the way - sometimes life throws you another chance.

Long story short, the box sets were sent out - people started posting them on social media and I started feeling some terrible regret. I got wind that the label were setting up an email list for folks who missed out and would like another chance at getting a copy without dealing with flippers. I sent an email, waited like a patient boy. Handed over some money and a couple weeks later I got to crack this open. 

So what we have here is the contents. A booklet, the first six records and something else real fun. Let’s dive in. 

The Teen Idles - Minor Disturbance EP. Dischord No. 1 and a posthumous release to boot. This record was the birth of the label and an early indication of Ian’s love for documenting the world around him. This record rips - true starter pack harDCore. Out of print for decades in the 7” format, and still sounds so vital. 

S.O.A - No Policy - Henry Rollins enters the chat. Before Damaged, before End Of Silence and before Getting in the Van is this collection of damn fine hardcore. I recently watched an interview with Rollins where he briefly outlines being a fly on the wall for the formation of Dischord at Mackaye’s Mother’s house and the effect it had on him. The green vinyl is a cool touch here, and with the red labels I think this is visually the most pleasing release in the box. 

Minor Threat - Minor Threat. Maybe the most influential DC 7” ever? Some days I think Filler is my favourite Minor Threat track. Every song on this 7” makes me want to spin kick through a wall, which at my dusty age is nothing short of a miracle. 

Government Issue - Legless Bull EP. Honestly I didn’t know much about GI other than J. Robbins was a member of the band at some stage, pre Jawbox. I was surprised by how much I ended up enjoying this record, and how clear the recording is. Again, this has been out of print in this format since maybe 1981, so it’s a cool piece of history for sure. HOWEVER, nothing holds up to Dischord 5… 

Minor Threat - In My Eyes. What can be said about this record right? Lovingly restored to look like it did way back in 1981, and sounds INCREDIBLE. Another visual highlight of this box set, and some real starter pack hardcore. I’ve had the S/T 12” comp of the first two Minor Threat 7”s for years, and having them as separate entities feels weirdly more wholesome. Maybe it’s having the benefit of this box laying things out in timeline order, and the booklet providing just enough nostalgia to put you in the moment for just a brief second. 

Youth Brigade - Possible EP. I don’t have much to say on this one really. It’s the record I’ll return to the least in this box set. Apparent the 7” was called possible as a slight to Dischord about this release being a ‘Possible’ release. Kids being kids I guess, but nothing I’m fussed over either way. 

The Slinkees - Who Cares? 

The Slinkees existed for the duration of one show, and one recording made in Jeff Nelson’s basement. This band are really the genesis of Dischord, as they’re essentially a precursor to The Teen Idles. The history of this band, the show and the circumstances surrounding are all detailed in the insert. This record has never been made available before, and is rough and charming all the same. 

Here we are. First post in a while and what a fun ride it’s been. It’s currently around 01:30 AM and I’m listening to Waiting For The Sun by The Doors because apparently I handed in my punk rock card some time ago. I’m going to try and do one post a week for a while and see how I get on. Record collecting is fun, the stories surrounding these often imperfect pieces of plastic are fun and I’m still up for the ride. I kept the mailer for this thing too, it came in a custom screened mailer and I’m sure there’s some sense in keeping it. Maybe?