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.

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. 

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.