Man Hands / Toecutter - Split

Bit of a reunion this one, I'd not really paid much attention to any of the bands the other guys in Winter In June or Urotsukidoji did after they both split up, yeah they went on to be in bands like Gallows, The Beak In and November Coming fire but that was as far as my curiosity took me.  Man hands is Ross, James, Scott and Gareth, other than Gareth's antics in the mighty NCF the other lads haven't made big waves within the hardcore community.  So when I hear they'd got together and were practicing some new jams with plans to record a demo that was fast and pissed off I was interested.  I saw them play in Canterbury a few weeks ago not knowing they'd pulled together a split with a band called Toecutter, even better was that they had it available there and then.  Cheers then.  I suck at comparisons but it sounds to me like the Some Girls school of rock with the odd post hardcore nod mixed in there, I'll be picking up the next record for sure.

Didn't listen to the Toecutter side, I will do, but I have a bunch of new Integrity records to keep spinning before I stray out to new territory, I can't give another band my full attention until the holy terror is out of my system.

I think they did 300 copies of this record, black and white artwork, bit of a nerdy cover that is pure DIY, come on, they had Man Hands shirts that were spray stencilled on Primark shirts, you know the deal.

Go see this band, buy a record.  Always good to see a dude I was in a band with years ago still writing decent riffs, hopefully I can get a show or two with them in the future.

Unbroken - Re-issue Re-package Re-evaluate The Songs [Indecision]

I picked up this baby from the Unfbroken reunion show in London this weekend, I honestly never thought I'd get to see them play seeing as they originally split a few years before I even knew what hardcore was and I never had the money to front to get to one of the reunions they did in the states.  I'm not going to say anything more than it was truly mind blowing, an unforgettable set.

The record itself is essentially the two LP's and the comp of rarities packaged together on the same colour wax in an interesting triple LP gatefold.  I've not got any 3xLP's so it's all new to me this double fold out lark.  Pressing is out of 300, pressed for the show, when I picked up my copy it was just before they hit the stage and the dude doing merch said there was only a few left.  I could see from the pile of empty crushed boxes at the side of the table that they'd shifted a fair chunk of them.  The show was a hefty mix of british and euro dudes, so these will have a good spread across the continent from direct sales let alone the amount of people who'll be flipping it on ebay thinking they'll be in for a sure thing.  If I were to get rid of mine it'd be for xDisciplex records, or a Shockwave demo tape, just sayin'.  I was a click or two away from ordering this from the Indecision site a couple of months back on clear vinyl, definitely preferable to a raspberry ripple feel but this was less hassle to get.  I'm all for getting multiple colours but considering I missed the original press and add to that the fact it's a discography I'm happy to leave this as a one off.  My bank balance is grateful for this decision no doubt.

Check out this shot from the inside foldover, if you missed the London reunion then this is representative of what you missed out on.  

Listen to this band if you haven't already, I'd go so far as to say they are life changing.

Midnight Souls - Colder [Reflections]

These guys are from Belgium and play the style of hardcore you'd hear from the early '00 bands on Bridge 9 and Indecision.  Think Modern Life Is War, Count Me Out and American Nightmare.  Reflections picked them up a few months back and this is their debut 7", I've seen them live a few times when my band played with them in Belgique and they've always impressed.  Artwork courtesy of Linas Garsys for that authentic early 00's feel and lyrically you'd be forgiven for thinking they were brought up in Boston.  They were meant to have copies on white/black split too but a minor plant fuck up meant it was just black or white, one less record for me to buy I say, no big deal.  I haven't seen anything from Garsys artwork wise for a good while, minus the Hatewaves 7" on A389 but that was a kind of Unknown Pleasures rip so it doesn't count.  The guy has still got it, oh, these guys got Alan Douches at West West Side to master the record, he did a lot of mastering for hardcore bands in the states, still does actually.  Good choice on that, gives it a more authentic sounds, plus the guy mastered xDisciplex, word.

I think the white is out of 150:

With the black out of 350.  I could be wrong, correct me in the comments if I confused this a little.

The cover image goes round to the back, would probably have been better if it was a folded card cover rather than a glued down cover but it still looks boss when you put them next to each other.

Seriously check this band out, they're tight.  www.myspace.com/midnightsoulsneversleep

What's Eating Gilbert - Thinking 'Bout Her [Epitaph]

Earlier this year Chad Gilbert tweeted that he was putting some songs from his little solo jaunt up on his new site (www.whatseatinggilbert.com) for free download.  This made me happy.  I've been a long time fan of New Found Glory and I can honestly say I took no enjoyment in listening to Shai Hulud after he left, the 3 or 4 dudes they had since him just didn't have the passion, for that reason, I was out.  When he said he was doing some solo stuff I was curious as to how it would sound, would it be acoustic singer/songwriter stuff or would it be like NFG offshoots that didn't make the records of the past?  The answer was somewhere in between, more along the lines of a semi-acoustic New Found Glory writing songs in the 50's.  He put 3 tracks up on the site, 2 of which are on this 7".  I can honestly say I had these on repeat on my ipod for weeks, they're so catchy.  A month or so back Chad announced that he was putting out a 7" which would have a track that wasn't made for download, I instantly ordered one of each colour.  The new track My Old Town is a little slower than the ragers already released which is a good contrast.

The gold is out of 300:

The red is out of 700:

Artwork is reminiscent of the movie That Thing you Do, directed by Tom Hanks (brilliant film).  Pure 50's right down to the record labels and the 360 stereo sound icons.  The songs have a whiff of the aforementioned Hanks movie and seeing as New Found Glory covered the title track from it on their From The Screen To Your Stereo EP back in '00 I felt it fitted with his vibe.  Good work.

There was a deal where you get a shirt too, seeing as the missus is a big fan of the music and the man himself I thought I'd get her one.  Good to see that cheeky smile once in a while.

Really looking forward to the next release, he's always updating his blog with more free songs which will more than likely be released on vinyl/CD in the future, you could do worse than listen to the stuff he puts out.