Hot Topic Isn't Really Aimed At Me

I nipped over to the States at the weekend to scour round a few of the dead malls with only a few stores still open, ghost towns which are a shadow of their former selves now that there is a Walmart superstore on the next block that has everything the average loser needs under one roof.  One of these flea bitten decrepit joints had a Hot Topic in them, I've never been inside one of these and only heard about it when bands put out exclusive vinyl colours only available at Hot Topic which means I'll never own.  For anyone who hasn't been in one, it's the place you buy those long gloves with the one finger hole on them and neon hot pants that you see tweens wearing in the summer, it's also a place where you can pick up the latest Bring Me The Horizon shirt complete with a design that looks like a gorilla ate a complete paint set and then threw it up on a shirt.  Apparently you can't work there unless you have a mullet/sweep fringe combo and ears stretched so big that you can fit your hand through them.

Anyway, my curiosity was sated enough for me to leave until I noticed a couple of boxes of LP's hidden away at the back, naturally I had a flick through and came across the first Head Automatica record, for anyone who doesn't know who these are it's Daryl from Glassjaw and Josh from American Nightmare (going under the britpop moniker of Jarvis) playing a kind of funk dance punk thing, sounds shite on paper but it's dead catchy.  This is the first time it's been pressed into vinyl after coming out in 2006 and  Hot Topic had 1500 on green/blue split, the rest of the press was only available on black.  I read about this reissue in a magazine last September and didn't think anything of it because of the Hot Topic thing so it's cool that I found one in a shitty old mall.

This next one I was debating purchasing, I didn't enjoy the record in the slightest on the first time round, haven't been able to get into it in the years since but for ten bucks I couldn't really leave it in that crummy store.  This is one of the clear pink records that come with a super big poster insert with the background music cover on the back, I'm assuming that reissue has the same poster inside too.  It's a shame they didn't have Bakcground Music in stock as I haven't picked up any of these reissues from Deathwish and I like that record much more than We're Down Til We're Underground.  Not bad for ten bucks eh?

 I don't own a copy of the original pressing of this record, did it come with a gatefold cover?  I know Background Music didn't on the first pressing, not sure on this though.

Integrity - The Blackest Curse [Deathwish]

I didn't post about this record straight away because I knew I'd be picking up the second press from the Deathwish store at some point and I didn't want to post three times in as many months about the same record. The record is numbered out of 30 copies from the first press records of the red vinyl (which are out of 300), they have stamped inserts which are wax sealed and Dwid sketched a photo which is included inside the sleeve.  I know Herr Hellion likes to make these special variations of his groups records and whilst it makes it that little bit cooler to own a rare variation it also adds a personal touch to an already great package that this LP is.

A closer look at the sketch:

Close up of the wax seal:

So that's the "special edition" of TBC, four copies of the first press so far, missing a test which I know for a fact I'll never own since there were 2 made and one went on eBay for about $400.  Onto the second press, this is out of 1000 so I didn't rush to order one since I'm pretty confident the real nerds were all over the first press.  They're all on grey, I saw Marcus posted about this one the other week and I agree they missed a trick by not pressing it on black, but word is the third press may be noir so I guess I've got another record to look forward to purchasing.

So that's 5 copies of the record I own now, I guess the red is technically a spare/double since I have the special version of it.  Looks pretty cool, also I have 4 digital downloads spare if anyone wants one, I suppose you could call it a gift, leave a comment if you want one.

Biter End - Guilty As Charged [Deathwish Inc]

Picked this up last night, all dayer in CT, bunch of good bands, bit of an unplanned break in the middle, Trial cover and hangouts.  Good shit.  I'd heard these guys before the show but hadn't paid a lot of attention to them, maybe they'd been on in the van or someone put them on during Monday night hangouts.  Live they have plenty of energy and the crowd were losing their shit.

The LP cover is reverse printed, I've got a few of these now and if my band ever gets something pressed on 12" then I'm going to make sure we get this.  Basically the shiny side which is normally on the outside is on the inside giving the outside a matt effect, it's the little details that make a record.

The vinyl colour (maroon) is out of 1000, the total first press was 2000 with the other half split 300/700, kinda cool I got to buy a Deathwish record direct from the band, most of the time it comes via my awful mailman.

Insert is thick card stock too, basically the kind of quality you expect from this label, no expense spared.  I've been spinning this all morning, recommended.

"Live In Sin, Fight To Win"

The riffs. My god this record brings the riffs. I loved Hellmouth when that dropped, listened to it constantly, while it's a solid release, I couldn't help thinking it was a little under-developed. It's no way a bad thing, I mean this is hardcore and nothing is new under the sun but when a song is literally note for note a rip off of Integrity's 'Vocal Test' it's noticeable.

Into Oblivion is a band in their prime, both writing/recording wise and live. R&F around this period smashed it so hard. Now I get to finally own the record on vinyl. I'm pleased Deathwish pressed this as my CD has been sitting in a cupboard since I ripped it for my ipod just after getting it so now I'll get a chance to give the artwork my full attention.

I'm not a big fan of Bannon's aartwork, he seems to just churns out the same covers with different main images. But Into Oblivion is just so striking, definitely a favourite of his, there are the trademark splatters but the idea of Jesus' skull with the crown of thorns is a good one, the insert on this record is literally a copy of the CD version but 12" size, opening out to be three wide, to be honest I'd like to frame this, there's only text on the bottom third of the last square, I'd get away with that.