The first step is admiting you have a problem.

I have realized the title of this post, as I have been spending way too much time and money on records lately. I've had too much down time at work, and well I couldn't find anything else to do.

This is a copy of The Effort's Iconoclasm. This has the special Newsletter Edition Sleeve, hand numbered out of 50. I've been trying to expand my collection of Iconoclasm, in my opinion it's the best material the band has released. The LP flows from beginning to end and each song all could be considered some of their better stuff. The problem with this one is that there are so many versions of it. Not to mention now that Seasick Records put out a second press, it's out of hand. It was already over-whelming with just Words of War Records.

After I heard very late to the party that Blink's Enema of the State was put on vinyl by Mightier Than Sword Records, I knew I had to get a copy. So I went to the webstore and was able to pick up this copy on Yellow from the second press out of 500. I found out about this being pressed by chance, surfing up eBay. I was happy I did. These things are going for a good penny on eBay and there are several different versions, so that only adds to the collectors inability to hold back. No worries for me though, I don't see myself paying what other people are willing to for other copies of this one. This label also re-released Cro-Mags The Age of Quarrel, which caused a lot of attention. How this label is getting the rights to put these out is beyond me, but it's cool none-the-less.

This is the last copy of Juggernaut that I didn't have. This is on white out of 252. I've got a decent collection going now of this band. I'm missing pretty much only the really rare stuff, so for the most part I'd say it's done. This is another collection that happened by coincidence. I was originally only interested in the s/t 7", but I actually gave the other material another listen and gave my bias a break. I picked up copies of the latest 7", demo tape and this LP all for pretty easy and cheap, so that's what I mean by coincidence, I wasn't trying too hard to expand.

This was a big score for me. I've been wanting to get a copy of this for a few years, and they always go on eBay for like $40 or more. I was lucky to be able to snag this one for less. This was the first album that I can look back on and triggered me completely going after more alternative or unconventional I suppose you could say, music. I picked this up on CD like about seven years ago, when I thought the coolest thing was ordering CDs off of Amazon. I've come far.

Anyway for those that don't know, this is Underoath's They're Only Chasing Safety. This was what you could say was their biggest record as far as "breaking" them per se. To me this was the best this band was and ever will be, and I'm sure a lot of people agree with me, but there are bias fans of every album they've put out. This could be described as screamo or post-hardcore, more on what people would consider to be not hardcore related at all. This album just is monumental for me, I'm sure that most people can point back to one album that just kick started a lot of who they are today, this would be it for me.

So the white vinyl is out of 500. The whole pressing of this was pretty limited, like 1,000 or 2,000, thus why these go for a good penny. This album sold over 500,000 copies on CD, and their following album debuted at #2 on Billboard. So the fact that only like 1,500 of these were pressed, on like four different colors, it's all pretty rare.

Back to hardcore. This is a copy of Uniform Choice's Demo 2x7". This is what I think is the second press, split release with Cargo and Headhunter Records. No idea how many this is limited to. If you know, please help. The original press was put out by Nemesis Records I believe.

Here we have another copy of What's Done is Done. This is on clear out of 300. This is my second copy and my third, on red is in the mail currently.

I picked up these two copies of the Youth Crew 09 comp from Chris, bassist of Mindset. The top is on orange out of 100 and the bottom is a transition from the black to the orange out of 40 or 50. Now I know that I paid too much for these, but hey that's my own ignorance, not Chris' fault. Either way it went to a good cause, to get Chris a plane ticket to go on the Praise Cali tour a little bit ago.

I'm Moving

So I'm in the middle of a move right now, so I haven't had a whole lot of time to update this or really get pictures and records together. Presently I don't even have my records with me, they're still back home. As I'm typing this, I'm in a hotel because I'm off training for my new job and the wireless internet cuts in and out. This is an example of the reason for why I haven't updated this. Since I've been getting a lot of stuff recently I thought it would be a good idea to get a head start before it just get's out of hand.

Here we have the Summer Tour 2006 version of Bracewar's s/t 7". This is my seventh copy of this record. Other than the really rare ones, I'm only missing the red record release cover. Almost there. This summer tour version is numbered out of 100.


This is the '08 Euro Tour press of The First Step's Connection 7". This was the rarer color of the second press, with 270 copies. The first press also had a red so the labels on this one were changed to white to differentiate.

When Dave of Six Feet Under put out an distro update stating he got in copies of Bracewar's latest 7", I jumped at the opportunity, as I knew this may be the only time I'd be able to get both copies at once at a reasonable price. Clear is out of 300 and black is out of 700.

This is the Pulling Teeth and Frightener split. I believe this is the rarest color, white with splatter, 350 copies.

Here is a copy of Pulling Teeth's Vicious Skin on green with haze. This is from the first press, no idea the pressing info on this release.

When I made the order from SFU for the Bracewar 7"s I also decided to pick up another copy of Common Cause's The Power to Change on what I thought was going to be clear, that's what the listing in the webstore said. This arrived, apparently there is a second press out of 300 on blue. So I got a copy of the record, which is cool, it just means there's another one I still need to get.

So that covers everything I got right before I moved up to PA about 2.5 weeks ago. Hopefully I'll get time to post about the massive amount of stuff I had waiting for me when I went home for Thanksgiving.

This is some friends of mine's band, Troops of Tomorrow. This is the pre-release tape for their upcoming 7", The World Won't Listen. Good up-in-coming D.C. band. They play a mix of street punk and hardcore. It's a pretty good recording I have to say and though street punk isn't really my thing, it's a solid release. I believe the 7" release show is on Wednesday in Baltimore with Rotting Out and Soul Search. Give 'em a listen here.

So I had to open an eBay case to get this record. Didn't get it in the mail for like 3 weeks, opened a case and it was at my door in two days. Funny. This is the record release of the latest Down to Nothing 7" All My Sons. I was unable to go to the show in Richmond, which was a bummer because I'm sure it was a banger.


This was done pretty well, one of the better special cover releases I've seen. Clean design, simple, stamped, numbered and it even has different labels on the 7" than the regular release.

In yet another installment of Down to Nothing, this is the On Thin Ice split from Grave Mistake Records. This is one of the rarer red ones, which apparently is out of 50 or so. The 1st press was supposed to be pink, which it is, but some came out darker than others, and completely red in this case. Here's a comparison of some of them for you.

Alex as usual completely hooked me up, got me some added goodies for the collection. I also asked Alex to put two zines in the package for me.

I'm starting to get in to zines. I feel like they need to come back in popularity. The left one is put out from a guy in Toronto I believe, or somewhere in Canada. Apparently all of these interviews are from like over two years ago and he just didn't get around to putting this out until more recently. Pretty solid material, nothing amazing with presentation, pretty standard. Worth checking out. The one on the right is great, Just Say Yo!. Pulling Teeth, Trapped Under Ice, Not Sorry and Police and Thieves are all in this one. Great artwork, quality print and good content. This and The Effort are the two best zines I've seen. If anyone knows of any good zines I should check out please comment on here.

This is I think is two copies of the Fireworks 7" from the second press, not totally sure. I saw this band a little over a week ago for the first time and they were pretty good. Dudes seem in it for the right reasons. Oh yea, there's a Kid Dynamite cover on here and they have some Misfits cover demos on the internet somewhere. These guys sound a lot like New Found Glory, to the point to where people think it actually is them.

I picked this up at a yard sale a few weeks back. The cover is a little beat up as the picture shows, and when I bought it I looked at the vinyl and it looked pretty good. Now that I've looked at it in better light, not so much. O well, I probably should've haggled the guy. I'll try and clean this one. I haven't cleaned a record in a while, so let's see if I remember how.

I won these both on eBay for pretty cheap for what I think they would go for. Both are second presses and out of 250. Apparently these came out when Bridge 9 also put out the Time Slips Away CD, thus the reason for the labels. The copy of Count Our Numbers is supposed to be purple, but apparently some came out blue, and this looks like one of them. Supposedly this may mean its more like out of 60 or 70. I would need one on purple to compare.

In another eBay pick up I got Juggernaut on red, the most rare of the regular pressing.

I made an order from Heart in Hand records to get the two Mass vs Cali compilations. I also picked up two copies of Control's A Step Apart, Life to Live Records' first release. Control was a D.C. youth crew band a few years ago. The band is still together and I think still has all the same members but is now Broken Bodies, which is a harder band, similar to Carry On I'd say. I'm glad I was able to get this.

After a long wait, I finally got this one in the mail. I honestly just didn't believe it was here. This is the UK Tour copy of Splitting Headache, out of 30. I think Rick from Speedowax still has a copy of this somewhere between Europe and the states, that's just chilling somewhere. The first time he sent this to me It took like almost two months I think to come back to his house. So he sent me a different copy, and that I think is the one that's lost now. He then sent me a third copy, I think his own copy? Odd, it got to my house in like a few days. All the waiting for it to take only like 6 days to get here the third time around. Either way thanks to Rich, and when I get the other one I'll send it back to you Rick.

This is an Australian pressing of All My Sons from Dead Souls Records. I think this is the preorder color out of 100, but when I ordered this it was the only copy available. Seemed strange to me to do just a pressing of 100 only, but whatever I made the order, and not for cheap I might add. So after I got this I checked back to their store for the pressing info. There are two more colors available now, great. So now I have to pay like $50 after shipping to get the two of them. Is Australia currency that much stronger than the dollar or am I just getting ripped off?

Weekend Posts are a Must

Here is the new Hands Tied 7" from Livewire Records. The red is out of 300, gold out of 200. Apparently this is an active band again. Not sure how long that will last, but this 7" is pretty good.

This is a copy of the Bracewar Juggernaut LP on clear out of 650.

I got this in a trade. It's the Swamp Thing In Shame LP United Blood version.

Numbered out of 30, pretty limited I have to say. The cover is pretty cool, nice old school tattoo design.

I traded my copy of The Rival Mob HC4HC SFU showcase version for the Swamp Thing LP and this Mindset 7". This is the Winter 2009 Tour cover, limited to 110 copies. I was very happy about this trade. I think I got the better end of the deal, but that depends on who you are I suppose.

I've been meaning to get a copy of The First Step's Open Hearts and Clear Minds. This is one of the best records in the past 10 years I'd say. This thing is just so incredibly raw, fast and refreshing. This is clear out of 400.

This is another Down to Nothing record I probably didn't need to get. This is Grey/Red mix and Blue/Yellow split. I think it's out of 225. I'm kinda lost on the pressing on this record. Hopefully Rich of Speedowax will hook it up.

I finally got a copy of Focus on the Light, the Powered pressing. Hopefully more to come. This is out of 510.

I picked up a few Effort records on eBay. This is the record release version of Iconoclasm with the special screen printed sleeve.

Numbered on the back out of 50.

Here we have the pre-order version with a special screen printed sleeve as well. This one is numbered on the front out of 75. I've been meaning to get some more versions of this LP. This is the best output by the band without a doubt.

This is the pre-order version of From Our Mistakes, with a numbered cover out of 100. This I believe means I have all of the first press.

Here we have three copies of the first Fired Up 7" that I picked up from Kyle Whitlow of Rivalry Records. From top to bottom this is Purple on 300 from the 3rd press, Black out of 400 from the 1st and Blue out of 250 from the first. I think the only one I'm missing is the regular version, not tour version, on clear.

Well I'm almost caught up, a few more to go.

It's Been Awhile

So I went to this show almost two weeks ago. It was a good time and I picked up a record that I had planned on getting.

This is Backtrack's Deal with the Devil. Backtrack play a style of NYHC that I can get in to. Less hard and more roots hardcore. This band pulls off the aggressiveness of NYHC but still sounds like a band from the 80s.

With True Colors calling it quits there were tons of releases put out around the last show. This is the Consider it Done 7" put out in Europe by Control Records. The white is the mailorder version, and limited to 100. After all of the auctions that just happened on eBay to raise funds, I think Control will be having some cool things coming out.

I picked this up from Mike Riley at a Mindset/Praise/Rations show about a month ago. It's a copy of the Adult Crash with a stamp for A389's 5 year anniversary. Not really sure what the pressing is on this but I know when I was at Celebrated Summer in Towson, Tony was trying to get me to buy this.


So I got my pre-order in for Six Feet Under's release of the Consider It Done 7". I got all 4 colors and of course the bonus 7". The gatefold cover came out really well and this release is just awesome. The layout, insert/poster, vinyl colors the all are great.

I seem to have been getting my hands on a bunch of the copies of Double Vision from Powered. It's ironic because I didn't pre-order this record because at the time I couldn't afford this and the React! ones. It seems to have worked in my favor. This is the most common version that I picked up from the band.

Here we have just a great idea, Iron Man and AC/DC together on a double LP. This just seems like a perfect idea, and it came out really cool. Usually the bigger labels put out crap vinyl but this came out real well, heavy vinyl and awesome layout.



Here we have another True Colors 7". This is I Drink Milk's reissue of the original demo, but this time on vinyl instead of tape. This also came out really well, also a label on the rise.

This is the Floorpunch Discography. This came out kinda wierd. The vinyl colors just don't make sense really. The gatefold sleeve is awesome and the tri-fold insert is pretty good. It's got tons of writing from some people around for a while but it feels kinda long. It felt like reading a book instead of an album insert. I also got two copies on gold instead of all three colors. I'm driving up to Philly for the SFU showcase this Saturday, and I think Floorpunch is playing this entire release, should be nutz.

I picked up a few more records from Dave Brown, a very awesome dude. First is a copy of Adult Crash limited to four copies. This is the transition from the black to the light blue. Pretty awesome pick up I have to say.



Here is the record release version of Bracewar's s/t 7". Pretty awesome record and it came with a tarot card, cool touch.

This is the United Blood version of Adult Crash. Pretty straight forward. Now all I'm missing of this record is the other transition.