TA/CL

It's funny that I'll be talking about a repress of this 7'' as I'm fairly sure I never covered the first two presses here. If anyone is that fussed about seeing what came before, let me know and I'll kick together a backdate post? 

It seems this thing has been on pre-order for an age, so it's nice to finally have it. Not that I don't know how it sounds back to front, but I have never said no to a piece of Touche Amore vinyl yet. Plus, that promise of updated art and centre labels has to be a bonus right? 

Touche Amore // The Casket Lottery Split - No Sleep Records - 3rd Press - Pink // White Starburst /500 

The updated art and labels really mean that they switched from black and white to colour. I'm more than cool with that; this record is cool on the art front but it's way more about the packaging. As a fun side note, this wasn't supposed to be this colour and was not advertised as this variant when I pre-ordered. The original plan was a black//clear split, as I guess it would go with the art. For some reason, that variant never surfaced and we were treated to this instead. I guess that thematically it's a little off, but I love the burst of bright colour in a colourless sleeve. Works for me anyway! 

Touche Amore // The Casket Lottery Split - No Sleep Records - 3rd Press - Black // White Starburst /500

This variant was definitely planned, and it looks mental. I love the random aspect of starburst and this is no exception. Both play great, but this copy is a little heavier and certainly bounces around the turntable at times. Even if it was totally unplayable, it's not like I don't have another 7 or so copies I could spin? 

The back cover opens up, almost like a flower blooming. It looks incredible and my piss poor photography will do it no justice. Art was once again handled by Nick from Touche. Since the early years of this band, their packaging on 7''s has been mad good, but this has to be my favourite past the La Dispute split. The 7'' fits neatly underneath these initial folds too.

Further into the unfolding and you start to see the text underneath. The font colour changed to differentiate between the two contributing bands. Each band offers up an original and a cover, and not one second of this split is anything short of great. The Casket Lottery offered a few releases on No Sleep in quite short succession, and if you didn't check them out you possibly should. 

Finally, the cover art fully unfurled. 

Cheers!

No Sleep Post Day

I know I haven't posted in a little while (sorry about that!), and as soon as this post is done I'm heading out on my bike to catch the tiny bit of semi decent weather we have going on here. On the upside though I'm going to run through a few records in one go. I recently made an order with No Sleep Records. I haven't bought directly from them in  a little while, but with the recent Shipping Innovation option they added to their webstore, I'm a little more inclined to give direct ordering another try. This bunch came in a couple weeks, which I thought was quite normal and they were packed great without any bumps or dings in the packaging. Great start! 

Have Mercy // Somos - Split - No Sleep Records - 1st Press - Grey & Red Marble /450 

First up is this great split, and the first release from Somos since moving over to No Sleep. Both bands follow a similar pattern of one full band song, one acoustic. I have a real soft spot for the Somos side of this record, but having never really listened to Have Mercy, I'm more inclined now to give their back catalogue a little more time too. 

Back Cover // B-Side 

With the colour way options available, I decided on this over the Clear w/ Green Haze as I recently picked up the Drug Church EP on a similar variant. It's a pretty neat variant and works with the art pretty well so I'm happy enough. 

Have Mercy Insert (Side 1) 

Kind of cut and dry here, so there's not too much to say. TJ Kelley did all the art on this split, and without quoting me, some of his work looks familiar to the Somos // Sorority Noise split that came out late last year. I could be totally wrong, but just a hunch... 

Somos Insert (Side 2)

Again, fairly cut and dry here so not an awful lot to say on the subject. I'm a big fan on how all the art seems to fit together well and how they've made the best of all the space available. Enough on this record though, on to the next! 

Touche Amore // La Dispute - Searching For A Pulse // The Worth Of The World - No Sleep Records - 5th press - Transparent Blue /1000 

If you want to know a bit more on this record, then divert your attention this way: 

http://23rotations.blogspot.co.uk/2014/12/searching-for-test-press.html

There's nothing to say on this record that I haven't said before. It's cool that it's on a different variant, and I'll always buy new presses but at this point if I said anything on the subject I would just be repeating myself. It was definitely this record going up for pre-order that led me to the No Sleep Store in the first place though. 

Various Artists - A Comp For Mom - No Sleep Records - 1st Press - Red /750 (924/1075) 

This is a benefit compilation released through No Sleep in memory of label owner Chris Hansen's late Mother. It's a great idea, and features some exclusive songs from some great bands either on the No Sleep roster, or affiliated with the label. 

Back Cover // B-Side 

Much like the Have Mercy split, this record comes with the printed dust sleeves which I'm a complete sucker for. I'm a big fan of this variant too, it's been a little while since I got a nice solid red LP. There was a Red w/ Cream Splatter too /250 and a friends press on Red W/ Clear Splatter /75. Aside from the test presses, this makes up the full pressing numbers. This wasn't included in the No Sleep Subscription series and is strictly limited to a one time pressing. 

A note about the record. 

Also, track 16 is a digital only cover from Touche Amore taking on Available by The National. But when you take into account the amount of great bands on this comp (Jon from Balance & Composure, Into It. Over It., Moose Blood, The Swellers just to name a few) there was no way I wasn't adding this to my cart on the way through. This record also came in a screened style cardboard jacket and these photos don't do it even a little justice. 

Finally, hand numbering.

Sorry it's been a while, hopefully this lengthy post will semi make up for it. 

Cheers!

Life is Swell

Taking a little break from the No Idea thing I've got going (and trust me, it's a super little break) to talk about a cool release from a cool band on a pretty cool label. 

Drug Church - Swell - No Sleep Records - First Press - Clear W/ Green Haze /550 

This has seen an initial press of 1000 across three variants including the No Sleep Sub Colour, and the pressing info breaks this one down as the most common variant. 

Before we get into colour talks, I want to have a quick talk about the cover photography, handled by Mitchell Wojcik. The art is a little distorted but I believe it's a person walking by a car. The photograph is tied to the reputation of the photographer though, and Wojcik has captured some of the best moments in punk and hardcore. Maybe you've seen the before and after photos of Pat Flynn from the final Have Heart show? That's the importance of this cover art, don't let the fancy screened B-Side and high grade dust cover make you lose sight of what's really going on here. 

Back Cover // B-Side 

Fairly minimal on the design front here, just the things that need to be seen. The dust covers are the same that No Sleep have been using for a quick minute. No Sleep logo on the A-Side and 'Death to False Music' on the back. 

A quick close up of the B-Side. This was drawn up by Cory Galusha and was used as a shirt design that you can still grab from No Sleep. It kind of carries on the creepy, slightly off centre and weird art that has ran through all of the Drug Church releases. Galusha also plays guitar in the band, and I wouldn't be surprised if he's been handling the art from day one. 

Maybe the black variant of this would've allowed a clearer image on the B-Side; but the way the colours bleed in and out of the design are kind of fitting too I guess. Also, this variant goes with the art really well. 

Insert. 

Single sided, single sheet deal. Lyrics, personnel, recording/mixing/mastering/art credits and thanks. The only thing to note is that this was recorded by J. Robbins, and sounds so good. As far as the music is concerned, it feels like the sound is really focused and hits the way that best compliments the structure of the songs. It's strange to say, but you know how Please Remain Calm by Hostage Calm had these weird moments that seemed a little removed from how they really should've been? Maybe a drum sound wasn't quite thick enough, or a vocal harmony fell a little weird? This has none of that. 

Finally 

Stickered shrinkwrap. This is pretty neat I guess, especially for shop buyers who want a rough idea of what you're getting. This is a great example, looking at a sealed copy of this in a shop, you know what colour you're getting if you're in to variants and know ahead of time that it's either black or an online sub colour exclusive up for grabs on this record? You know what you're getting before you really get it. Me personally, shop buying kinds of adds a little surprise to things, so this could bug me a little at times. I'm sure the infrequency of it makes life bearable though... 

Cheers!

S/T 2008 Demo

This release gets called a lot of things. Sometimes it's S/T, sometimes it's Demo, sometimes it's 2008. To me, it's just about as complete as it is going to get and I love this release pretty hard. Probably the most aggressive of Touche Amore's material, and has a great capacity to get weird with collectors. We'll start from the 1st Press and work our way up I guess? Some have some stories to tell, some others probably do not. But that's okay. Let's begin.

Oh, and before you get any funny ideas; it's another long one. 

Touche Amore - S/T - No Sleep Records - 1st Press - Clear /100

First things first. You can tell a 1st Press aside from any further pressings by one thing: the T and A labels. The labels change after this pressing, so there's a big giveaway. Another thing is the sleeve, but this gets a bit more complicated and we'll get to that later. 

Back Cover // B-Side 

I'm not sure who the face is on the back cover. Some people assume it is Fred Phelps, but I'm not too sure. I do like the large T and A labels here though. This copy has some light black streaks running through it (just about the A in this photo). I picked this up on eBay and was probably the most I have paid for a copy of this particular release. I have only bought one other variant since this, and we'll get on that a little later. 

Touche Amore - S/T - No Sleep Records - 1st Press - Red /300

This copy I picked up from a UK seller, and after a little bit of negotiation this turned out to be my first 1st press copy of this 7''. In retrospect I got a pretty good deal on this one. 

Back Cover // B-Side 

On all vinyl versions of this release, 'Huckleberry' and 'Hipsterectomy' are only available as a digital bonus. Due to the time constraints of a 7'' (at a guess), these two tracks were omitted. Six songs on a 7'' is plenty though, and these extra songs still get a lot of play for me digitally too. 

Touche Amore - S/T - No Sleep Records - 1st Press - White /600 

This copy was sold to me by a mate when grabbing a few TA things in one go.

Back Cover // B-Side

This particular copy is really clean for a White record, normally there is a bunch of bleed of other colours. Particularly when you think that this was done back in the day when No Sleep were a smaller label than they are today. 

Touche Amore - S/T - No Sleep Records - 1st Press - White /600 (West Coast Tour Variant - 3/24 Seattle - /5) 

Long story short. These were from the first Touche Amore tour, and these covers were made up by Nick Steinhardt. The covers together form a silk-screened map of the West Coast, covering the tour route. There were 5 on sale each night, 4 on White and 1 on Red vinyl. One date was cancelled and the band kept those. The old guitarist sold a copy of this date, and so only one copy of that date is in circulation. I have only one copy of this variant, and I'm happy with that but I would definitely nab another if it came up at the right price. This particular date just falls into a solid part of the map. Nick provided me with a bunch of information on this release, and I'm incredibly thankful for that. 

Back Cover // B-Side

This particular copy has a bunch of bleed in it, up close it's a black/ brown swirl that's quite noticeable on this side. If you needed a reason to keep both White variants, there you go (well, I'd keep them anyway...) 

As the cover changes up a little after this press (well, nearly. You'll get it) I thought I'd go through the 1st press cover. 

Designed by Nick Steinhardt. I'd like to see the full cover image, and I tried getting some mock ups of this and the TA/LD covers (there are hand made constructed prototypes of both covers I think, I offered up money for unused prototypes, but I think they're staying where they belong for now). Another thing about this particular sleeve is the paper sleeve as opposed to card. I'm sure it's paper as it's so thin. Not a bad thing, it gives it a more DIY feel to it which is what every demo should have I reckon! 

Back cover

I think the gaps in the track-listing are to represent where the other tracks fall into the original running order. The barcode stays the same throughout all the pressings. At the bottom of the sleeve are various No Sleep identifiers (web address, logo etc.). 

The sleeve opens up with a left spine, and as opposed to an insert all information is printed along the inside of the sleeve. The 1st panel is taken up by lyrics. 

This panel contains the lyrics to Honest Sleep. After that is thanks, band personnel, recording credits, layout and photography credits. 

The band has changed up a little from here. Jeremy Zsupnik was originally on drums, and was replaced by Elliot Babin who is still in the band today. Tyson White also used to play guitar (I am assuming it's this dude who sold the West Coast demo), and Nick Steinhardt originally played bass. Since then Tyler Kirby moved in on bass, Nick now plays guitar alongside Clayton. Jeremy has been on vocals the whole time. No swoop fringe from Thriller followed though. Ryan Aylsworth handled all band photos here, and I think he also worked on the Is Survived By photography. It goes to show how far this band carries a friendship right? 

The 1st Press also came in an oversized poly-sleeve with a little information sticker attached. 

The download code also changes between pressings. It's going to be a long haul either way, so why not add an extra photo or two? 

Touche Amore - S/T - No Sleep Records - 2010 Box Set Press - Clear - 175/200 

This is a bit of a funny one. This press uses 1st press jackets, yet has A/B labels that indicate a 2nd pressing. Therefore, it seems perfect to pop it here between the two. This variant, much like the 1st press clear has a black streak kicking through it too. 

Front Cover // B-Side

Would you look at that, I've been an idiot and not turned the cover over before photographing it. It's not too big a deal I guess, giving that it's been photographed a few times already. 

Touche Amore - S/T - No Sleep Records - 2nd Press - Coke Bottle Blue /245 

This kicks off the 2nd press. There's always a little bit of confusion between this variant and the 2nd press clear. On to that a bit later though. 

Back Cover // B-Side 

I bought this and another 2nd press copy of the demo from a buddy named Dan along with two copies of TTBOADH. Those were the first TA items I bought from him, and from there I bought a bunch more, funny how things work out I guess.

Touche Amore - S/T - No Sleep Records - 2nd Press - Clear /310

See where the confusion lies? This could pass for Clear or Coke Bottle Blue on a good day. Thankfully this came with a sticker saying 'Clear' on the sleeve to save confusion. 

Back Cover // B-Side 

I believe this was the other copy bought from Dan actually.

Touche Amore - S/T - No Sleep Records - 2nd Press - Clear Gold /500 

This copy has very faint traces of black running through it, but they're barely noticeable. 

Back Cover // B-Side 

Cheap eBay dig if I remember rightly? I could be wrong, and I guess it's not too important either way at this point, it took a long time to pull all of this together so a few details are blurry by now. 

Touche Amore - S/T - No Sleep Records - Sound And Fury Press - Clear - 56/75 

These were put together for Sound and Fury, along with the Make Do and Mend // La Dispute splits in 2010. This and the La Dispute split came in this Arigato sleeve with a screened cover. I've already covered LD, so on to this one. The vinyl itself is from the Clear /310 2nd Press. I know I bought this from someone who had a double of the S+F press, who that person was escapes me though! As you've already seen the B-Side of this variant, and the back of the sleeve is just a fold I thought it best to not photograph it. This copy also came with a regular sleeve tucked in the poly-sleeve too. 

As the sleeve changed up a little again, let's have a quick look at that. 

The colour scheme is darkened a little, although the layout stays pretty identical. Another thing to notice is that the sleeve is a little thicker from this pressing onward.

Back cover. 

As you can see, aside from the colour scheme not much changes. The same goes for the inside of the sleeve. I'm not adding them in here for now, but if you want to see them just shoot comment and I'll pop them in. 

Stickered sleeve and added download card. 

The new sticker notes this copy as a second pressing, and acknowledges the bonus tracks available on the download. 

The download card is printed up especially for this press, and on the other side is the code. Both the sticker and download card were removed for the final press of this record. 

Touche Amore - S/T - No Sleep Records - 3rd Press - Black /1000

This copy was advertised as the 'Final Press' by No Sleep, and so far they have kept their word on that. All on black, and this went up for pre-order at the same time as the La Dispute split 2nd Press. If you look back through my posts there's a bit of a story on that. This copy was bought direct from the label, and was my first copy of this 7''. 

Back Cover // B-Side 

No stickered sleeve or download card. However, the centre labels and jackets remain the same as the 2nd press. 

Touche Amore - S/T - No Sleep Records - 3rd Press - Black - 3/35 (Subscription Cover) 

This was bought from Chris at No Sleep directly. You can see here on the sleeve that it was indicated as the final pressing. I have bought some stuff from Chris privately a few times, and he's always been a great guy about it. This cover is on a strange corrugated card and looks really cool. The vinyl was from the 3rd press /1000 and I kept both copies (despite the sub cover coming with a regular sleeve too). I can make an excuse as to why I kept both, but the simple fact of the matter is I just really wanted to. 

Touche Amore - S/T - No Sleep Records - Test Press (Re-Press) - Black /4 

Also bought privately from Chris at No Sleep. 

This is my final vinyl copy for now. I don't have a 1st Press test, and you can tell the difference by: 

• The test presses from the 1st press come with blank (hand-written) centre labels. The re-press test comes with Erika labels. 
• The 1st Press test comes with a regular sleeve and a photocopies 'test press' sleeve that is numbered out of 20. The re-press test only comes in a dust sleeve. 

I would LOVE a 1st press test, but one test is better than none. I assume this came at the 2nd press with the centre label change. I'm not sure why only 4 were made; but on a numbers game this is one of the rarest Touche Amore items out there. Sadly, this is my only Touche Amore test and I really hope I change that now I have all the standard variants and limited covers taken care of.

Finally 

The demo CD's and Cassette. 

For all the information on these, and the West Coast demo (it's also featured) please read an older entry here: 

http://23rotations.blogspot.co.uk/2014/09/missing-pieces.html

Here I go through pressing numbers, take you through the sleeves and all that fun stuff you love. Plus, there is the whole 'how complete is complete' argument in this post. I'm still having that argument, but I'll save the repetition. 

This is a pretty complete collection I'd say. A small piece of me will always long for those other West Coast Tour covers and 1st Press test though. I'll never quit this band.

Again, this has been a long read so thank you for sticking with me on this one. This will be my last post before Christmas so have a good one! I'll try and get a few more posts in before 2015 hits. 

Cheers!