The Best of 2018 (Part One)

                This past year (2018) was a great year for full length LPs and 12” EPs. When putting together my list of favorite releases of the year I noticed it had only a single demo and only a few splits (that ended up getting trimmed down to just one). While I tried to balance out these releases it had me thinking, was this a year of stagnation or fortification. Meaning were bands just not coming out or were bands that were already established just doubling down and working harder on their releases pushing out demos that might have excited me. This question is still on my mind and honestly I’m going to try to compare it to the list I make at the end of 2019 to see if there are any correlations.

                Now onto my Best of 2018 list(s), the (s) is added on there because I’m trying to do something different. I’ve noticed I’m buying older records more than newer records but still paying a lot of attention to new releases and loving them. I don’t like not owning records I listen to (sometimes) daily. Something rubs me wrong about that idea. So this first post is a list is the top releases from 2018 that I own physical copies of and the second post will be a list of my top releases that I don’t have a physical copy of (yet).

Regional Justice Center - World of Inconvenience (Forever Never Ends Records)

                This is a band that has been on my radar since I first heard their demo last year and when I saw the art by Mark McCoy I knew it was going be something to take note of. I don’t just love this record because pissed off and fast hardcore (that I’m known to be a sucker for) I love it because it is not without purpose. The band and its message have a meaning beyond people wanting to tour or have a record out. It encourages people to think beyond their own experiences. To me, I needed this band and I need more bands like them, not sonically but emotionally, with a worldview and lyrics that explore issues rather than just say if they are wrong or right. For Regional Justice Center the microphone is a spotlight for those struggling, those locked up and those circumscribed to one narrative about a particular group of people. It seems obvious but when you live in your own echo chamber and don’t hear new ideas, new stories, new concepts and our minds don’t compare and contrast it with our own beliefs we will not grow. And if you make your life the same day in and day out it doesn’t matter if your cage is locked or not.

Self Defense Family - Have You Considered Punk Music (Run For Cover Records)

                Self Defense Family (and End of a Year) has been one of my favorite bands for almost 15 years now. A lot has changed, but not that much has changed. Their music has evolved, but isn’t so far from the original material that it isn’t recognizable anymore. As a puritan, this is my favorite of their LPs since Disappear Here. Rather than do an in-depth breakdown of this record (that I would love to do but don’t have the time for) I’m just going to pull out some of my favorite lyrics. 

“Wall of flowers between myself and dinner guests / Chain and stanchion between myself and all the rest.”

-From the song The Supremacy of Pure Artistic Feeling

“I don’t pray but sometimes I find something worthy of praise / Nature, God, I’m grateful for the problems I’ve got / Their scope and scale and what they are and what they are not.”

-From the song Watcher At The Well

“Explaining motherhood to a man / Cold observation but he’s not capable of understanding / Detailing math to a dog / Won’t retain a word but if you’re lucky he may be a good boy and nod.”

-From the song Have You Considered Anything Else 

Forewarned - Unforgiving Years (Contraband Goods)

                For most who stick around in movements it takes conviction. And with conviction strongest tests come from oneself rather than outside influence. Questions like “does what I do matter?” and uncertainty can spiral someone away from beliefs they may have head strong at one point. But if your question is “what else can I do?” your convictions can only grow stronger. Forewarned lyrics are not direct statements; they use allusion to make you think about the world beyond your gaze. A world we all live on and take from every day and at least for me the lyrics make me question if I can give more back. The more reasons, the more tenets, the more action you take, the more you put yourself into something; the more you can do in its name. The final track on this cassette is titled A Thousand Cuts and it begins with the lyrics “How dare I even raise my voice, against the ills of this world when they all live in me?” These lyrics are not unlike thoughts I have had about myself (and others) actions. I have a personal credo; I try to always have both my feet on my soapbox. Now, this song’s lyrics don’t only focus on this idea of feeling as if you shouldn’t speak out when you are part of the problem but it was something that hit me hard when I was listening, like something I hadn’t felt in a long time. I highly recommend checking Forewarned out and taking the time to read the lyrics while you listen to it, and then perhaps taking some time for yourself, outside (weather permitting).

Great Reversals – Stalactite (Dropping Bombs Records)

                The day before my birthday last year (March 4^th 2017) I got to see Great Reversals for the first time and I knew from the end of the first song that I would want Head2wall Records to work with them. Fast forward to May of this year and their drummer Eric sent me a message with a link to the record. It didn’t end up working out where we would be able to be a part of bringing it to the world. That really sucked, every year I feel like this happens where I hear a record where I want to do it and we just can’t weather that is because another label is already attached or things just don’t line up and it always seems that those records are some of my favorites of those years. 2013: The Sanity Universal by Seizures, 2015: Return to the Valley by Putrid Brew, 2016: Never by Withdrawal and 2017: False Walls by Unfair Fight immediately jump to my mind. They are all incredible records that might be closer to wounds that I have to pour salt into because I lot them so.

Protester – Watch Them Fall (New Absolute Records)

                The Best Straight Edge Record of 2018. I don’t have anything else to say about this record that you can’t learn from listening to it. So go listen to it!

Fixation ‎– Marked (War Records)

                If someone asked me what I want hardcore to sound like in 2018 this is the record I would play them. Obviously this isn’t what most hardcore sounds like right now and there are a lot of other great new hardcore bands currently killing it. But this is my shit. This is what I needed to energize my love of hardcore. Just go listen to this fucking record.

Blacklisted ‎– Slow Moments b/w I Should Have Been AMurderer (Six Feet Under Records)

                Blacklisted is and will always be one of my favorite hardcore bands and though the volume of their output isn’t what it used to be the few songs that trickle out still blow me away. These two songs are ones I’ve needed to hear from them for a long time. The A-side Slow Moments seems to be about how George processes parts of his own life and the flipside of the record I Should Have Been a Murderer is about how the world sees him. This contrast is perfect and both these songs are incredible not just lyrically but musically. Blacklisted is not your average hardcore band, they are still evolving, growing and creating art that stays with you beyond just when it’s hitting your ears.

La Armada ‎– Anti-Colonial Vol. 1 (Epidemic Records & Creep Records)

                I picked up this LP when I went to see La Armada on December 14^th at the Seward Café in Minneapolis, Minnesota. I’ve wanted to see them live for years but have always been out of town or worked when they have played in an area I was living (I need to stop moving around so much).  Well, when I finally did get to see them, they blew me away. Sometimes you can see the best band of the year, month, week, hell even just the best live video of a band you may see in a day and only one or two of the members is moving around or drawing any attention to them. You can tell the energy of the performance comes from them, they radiate it. Well La Armada is not one of those bands; they all were exploding with energy from the first note to the last cymbal crash. And this wasn’t their first night of tour, it was the last show of a three week run and they still where incredibly energized.

Moonkisser – Moonkisser (Self Released)

                Big thanks to Carlos over at No Echo for his write up about Moonkisser, it helped me find one of my new favorite bands. Obviously any comparison to Quicksand will grab my attention and though I hear it, the sound isn’t what reminds me quicksand the most. It is the energy and attention you can hear in the music. I love music but these songs pulled me in like no band has since Renee Heartfelt and Memorial. My best words for this band couldn’t do it justice; it’s another record you HAVE to hear.

Ekulu – Ekulu (Triple B Records)

                It has been a long time since I listened to a record and wished there were more songs. Usually records are too long or just right. This is Ekulu’s demo as a 7”. Their next release is my most anticipated release of the future.

A few runner up records I've picked up would be...

Candy – Candy Says (Triple B Records)

Battle Ruins - Glorious Dead (Rock 'N' Roll Disgrace Records)

Mindforce – Excalibur (Triple B Records)

Waste Management - Tried and True (Painkiller Records)

Today In The Mail: The Last Week + My Last Week

So in the last week I've been to a few shows in a few states and celebrated my 24th birthday. I saw Cro-Mags, Killing Time, Inmates, Set To Explode and Praise in Baltimore, Maryland and I saw Blacklisted, Gods And Queens, The Rival Mob, Give and Salvation in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Both of these were the first times I had seen shows in these cities and both seemed to have a large local draw though I'm sure a lot of people traveled to Cro-Mags. Also Both shows were really great and well worth the money that went into the trip. Honestly seeing Blacklisted play that set would have been worth the money. I could go on and on about the shows but I'll just shorten it to this... 1st show... Cro-Mags played a set full of all the hits and a cover of Minor Threat doing a cover of Wire, Killing Time played a great mix of Old and New songs that I really enjoyed, and Inmates didn't get the reaction they deserved. 2nd show... Blacklisted ended their set with my favorite song by them and all the new songs come off amazing live, Rival Mob was real real good and Give was the other stand out at that show and I would love to see them again. I HIGHLY recommend people checking them out.

And even after all this fun mosh and traveling thousands of miles (thanks to my flights having to go to Nashville and Chicago also) some of the best times I had all week were with my girlfriend she made me a wonderful dinner of ribs and potatoes, gave me a really cool Shook Ones shirt (Descendents rip off) and took me to see a real cool exhibit of one of my favorite living artists, Chihuly. So all in all I've been having a good time records aside.

Now onto my mail, as I was gone I got 4 packages 2.5 for me and 1.5 as presents for my girlfriend. I like how it was my birthday and almost half the stuff that came in the mail was for her. I got her a Panic Shirt (that I am super jealous of) and a copy of a zine that I had also received a copy of for myself. The zine is very cool, its full of poetry and photos and information on how it can be ordered can be found here. The other two packages were records. The first package was a order from a distro that has taken over distributing these records (that had come out a few years ago). It included a copy of Over My Dead Body's Lp Sink Or Swim and Piece By Piece 7" Written In Blood both are pretty rare and the latter was one of only 3/4 that were this darker grey that is more like a green/grey. Also I ordered a record that this label put out for a band I had seen in California last year that really surprised me, Mourningside. Now I guess they are called Mourningside AD I was very happy with my order they even through in 3 free CD's. You can pick up these records and more at Hard Press Records Bigcartel. The other package was a record from a b9er that I've been trying to get (off them and in general for years). Hollywood's 4/20 cover version of their record Brave Sounds. I am pretty sure this was the record release or something along those lines for this record but either way its out of 20 and now means I'm only missing tests and I'll have a complete collection for this band.




"Half Empty" Zine
Hollywood - Brave Sounds (4/20 Cover) (Out Of 20) (Keepitcore Records)
Over My Dead Body - Sink Or Swim (Blue) (Out Of 159) (Takeover Records)
(I forgot to take pictures of the other records so this is all you get)

Today In The Mail: With All The Stones I Throw

Today the other half of my Blacklisted - Eccentrichine order came from Six Feet Under Records, this was the record half. I've already listened to this 7" quite a few times through and I couldn't imagine a better complement to the new LP (No One Deserves To Be Here More Than Me). The record has two new songs and two that are from other records, these rerecordings are A full band version of P.I.G. from No One Deserves This More Then Me and an acoustic version of Wish from Heavier Than Heaven, Lonelier Than God. I really like the reversal on these songs, seeing as they both appear the opposite ways on their respective albums. Now onto the two new songs, Stones Throw is a great build up to start the record out. I am very into the duel vocals on this song, and on the new record I really think her voice goes very well with his. The other new song is the title track to the record, its a bit faster song with real repetitive feel to it but again its great. I never feel like they take it too far and I think a lot of people think Blacklisted has become some sort of copy of other bands, I personally think they have just grown into the band they have always been progressing into. Oh and this blog is mostly about what the shit looks like and what ones I got so I guess I should talk about that... the records themselves are all really awesome looking. I think the colors they chose really complement the art of the record perfectly. As you can see in the first picture I got another record today, It is the New Found Glory / Dashboard Confessional split 7" I was very excited for finally hear this the other day after waiting forever and having twitter confirmation forever ago that New Found Glory was to cover one of my favorite Dashboard Confessional songs, Saints And Sailors. The other cover they did, Swiss Army Romance is pretty good also. The only thing that surprised me were the Dashboard songs, they were rather slow I hadn't realized they sounded like that now. Either way I am really glad I got a copy and didn't have to pay 17.00 bucks with shipping. Ha.



Blacklisted - Eccentrichine (Dark Red) (Out Of 606) (Six Feet Under Records)
Blacklisted - Eccentrichine (Beer With Red Splatter) (Out Of 305) (Six Feet Under Records)
New Found Glory/Dashboard Confessional (Pink) (Out Of 500) (Epitaph Records)


A. Side and...



B. Side of..

Blacklisted - Eccentrichine (Cream/Green With Red Splatter) (Out Of 103) (Six Feet Under Records)

Today In The Mail: Added Bliss

From the first time I heard the New Blacklisted album (No One Deserves To Be Here More Than Me on Deathwish Inc) I knew it was going to become one of my favorite records of last year. I was never that big on Blacklisted before this record, I liked them and dug a few songs a lot but never to this level. And I guess its one of those things, something makes you look at the whole collection under a different light. I find myself semi-obsessed with this band. Listening to the new album somewhere around 100 times since I first heard it in mid December. And the rest of the discography quite a bit. They have been my top artists for almost every week since mid December, achieving as high as 500+ plays in one week alone. Now me having no job, and nothing really to do I am sure is helping this but its something strange to think I can not get bored of this record even listening to it 20+ times in a row (as I have on more then one day). I guess I am just stuck on this record. The day it went up for order I wasn't too sure how it would be so I slacked on ordering it so I guess Ive payed the price (but not too bad I would think). Now onto todays package, I picked up this record (on the second rarest color) for only 26 bucks off ebay. Now I just have to find the other three versions, to satisfy my lust.



Blacklisted - No One Deserves To Be Here More Than Me (Orange And Green Mix) (Out Of 319) (Deathwish Inc Records)

The other package that came today was a Print, I've realized a lot as of late how much I like prints. I only have a few and would be very into getting more. This print that was designed and printed by Screenin 4 A Change and goes with an EP called Eccentrichine on Six Feet Under Records that goes along with the Blacklisted record I had come in the mail today. Perfect timing I guess, but timing off since as I said it goes with the EP and it didn't come today. I've been waiting for a month to hear these songs. And not so much as being impatient to have the records but really wanting to hear the songs. 2 of them are from the same sessions as the LP, one is a full band version of a song already on the LP (The P.I.G.(The Problem Is G.)) and lastly an acoustic version of Wish from their last LP, Heavier Than Heaven Lonelier Than God. We can only hope tomorrow brings this to me.



Blacklisted - Eccentrichine (Print) (Out Of 103)

Pictures From Cleveland 10/12/08

Just a few pictures from Have Heart, Ceremony, Blacklisted, Let Down And Convicted show from last year. Mad Minds also played, band rules. I just got the camera developed ha.

Convicted



Mad Minds



Mad Minds with Spyder jumping on everyone


Blacklisted

Life That's Already Passed Me By

At around 4 AM December 15th 2007, Reid (Driver), Anthony (Co-Pilot), Tucker and I (Weighing down the back) made the six hour drive to Chicago. Our goal was this:


We made it their early so we ate at a Quiznos for breakfast, found a mall (where tucker got an Orange Julius) and Reid and Anthony were too big to ride the carousel.


Then we made our way to the venue (all of this in a semi-blizzard). Everyone else could go straight in but I had to wait for my ticket to get there. When I finally did I had missed almost all of Regret's set, bummer. Convicted played next. This was my first time seeing them but not hearing them. My dude Rob (of Reflect fame) had burned me a copy of their demo and I was almost as excited to see them as The Suicide File and The Hope Conspiracy. After these two the line-up gets a bit iffy in my memory. Ill just skip over Damnation A.D. and Turmoil I've never really been into those bands and I was busy looking at distros and catching up with friends. Blacklisted played one of the best sets I have ever seen them play, it changed my mind about this band. Bernies sound had ruined them for me for a long time. Next was The Killer, who I had never heard before played a pretty decent set. I beleive Ringworm was next and they played one of the best sets I have ever seen them play. People were losing their minds and crushing each other. Now The Suicide File and The Hope Conspiracy, both bands played amazing sets. It was a long long time ago so I don't really exact songs they played but I do remember both bands killing it.


After the show we drove for what seemed like forever (I kept dozing off so I have no idea how long we really drove), and we found a hotel to stay the night. We slept a good amount of time and then hurried into the city. I remember the drive in because It was also the first time I heard the Darvocets. Our targets in the city were all on or around the Chicago Ave. Of course records were on the list but Reid had his own goal, toys. But pizza was to be the catalyst of the day.




Then came the first record shop we hit up, it yielded a repress of the Alone In The Crowd - S/T 7" for me and a random Oi! record. Then we hit up this toy store. Its called Rotofugi and blew my mind. I had no idea anything like this was going on. Artists, independtent designers and toy companies making inventive and very design oriented toys for collectors and normies alike. And blind box toys, fuck my mind was blown. It to me was a throw back to collecting cards as a youth. You never know what you are going to get, weather its going to be some amazing and different new thing or just a double you can toss to the side and hope you can trade off one day. I only bought a few things that day, but toys ever since have become a big interest in my life. Reckless Records was our next stop, and we all found some gems here. Now mine might not seem as mind blowing to you but to me they were amazing. First was a Catch 22 - Washed Up 7" for two bucks. Then came a Bloodpact/Varsity split 12" out of 100 for 3 bucks. And on a whim I walked to the back section and I found a H2O - S/T cassette tape for one single dollar. After all this fun and walking (Reckless was about a 20 minute walk from the car). We drove tucker to the airport so he could fly to Alaska to see his family, and we made our way home. All and all it was one of the most fun trips I have had with my friends. I am very glad I finally got this disposable camera developed so I could relive these memories and get siked for Reid and I's trip to Chicago in May. Peter get siked.

It sucks that my recollection of events is a bit off but its been a week short of a year (And 11 months since I promised to make this post). Maybe some day I'll make a post about the stop we made on the way and were Tucker got a handjob from at a truck stop Asian massage parlor. Ha.

Watch Me Sink Like A Stone

For the second time this week I went out of town and saw Have Heart, Ceremony, Blacklisted, Let Down And Convicted. This Show was in Cleveland, Ohio. The local opener for this show was Mad Minds. Oh and two posts in one day, weird.


Now the write up for this show is going to be shorter than the one for Monday's. Convicted opened and this time I didn't miss any of it. Band only gets better every time I see them. Mad Minds played next and even though they're are dudes I never really got into them when I saw them. This time though they were awesome. This was to be their "Record Release Show." Sadly due to something or other they didn't have the records to be released. You can pre-order it HERE (along with the Triceratops LP). Let Down played next, they once again we're really good Kids were moshing hard having lots of fun myself included (durring them and Convicted I really bruised up my forearm). Blacklisted played next and as usual killed it. And now I take back what I said about Ceremony, at this show they were pretty tight and played an amazing set. At some point I allegedly elbowed some girl's face in. Have Heart closed out the Night again. They once again did a great job and played some decent tunes I wanted to hear. All and all the show was great.


This is the first Blacklisted shirt I have ever purchased (for myself). And it has a kitty on it, so I love it.

Been Livin' In The Dark Since April

Last night myself, Jakob and Aaron (Plus two girls) took a trip down to Cincinnati (Covington, Ky) to see a show. The show was one of the biggest/strongest hardcore tours I've seen in a while, and with a added bonus This Is Hell and support (Gravemaker) was added.


We got there late And missed all but one Convicted song. I was very bummed. Its been over 5 months since I saw them last (with Blacklisted) and I was hoping to get my mosh on (ha). Im pretty sure Gravemaker played next they were alright, I just wasn't paying to much attention to them (I know Aaron was into them). Now its been 3 and a half years (+) since the last time I saw This Is Hell. They were awesome. I like the band a lot but don't know their catalog as well as I should but they still ended up playing 3-4 songs I knew pretty well. Oh and I was taller then the guitarist and bassist when they were on the stage (something I found to be very amusing). Let Down played next, this was my third time seeing this band this year. No show will ever compare to the insanity of the Tower show (And they were pretty decent when I saw them in Romeo Michigan with Swamp Thing). But they played a good set. Stage banter was pretty good at points and I love the way they just say their name with straight edge as it goes hand in hand. Also I picked up the Tour version of their LP We're In This Alone (Six Feet Under Records) out of 80. Blacklisted was up next which surprised me because I thought they were bigger then Ceremony but that's a mute point. They were fucking awesome. I think this band gets better every single time I see them. People were losing their minds, it was great. Ceremony played next and though I do enjoy this bands earlier offerings I'm not to impressed by their last 7" and LP. They play sloppy angry hardcore. And at this show it came off very sloppy. Have Heart ended the nights festivities. I like this band. I don't love this band. A lot of people at this show LOVED this band. They were going nuts. So many people on stage singing along. The new record is really good. The last record was really good. Its very understandable why this band is so big. This show as a whole was amazing. I got to see some of my friends for the first time since I moved back from Louisville. A lot of my Cincinnati dudes. And had the pleasure of meeting a few new people. Wednesday I will be seeing this show again, and if In not lazy Ill grab up a disposable camera and snap some pics for the blog.


Oh and I picked up this awesome shirt.

Self-indulgence is the rule (selfish motherfucker)

Two for one doller, 16 OZ. IBC Cream Soda from the dollar store. Amazing. Oh and the weather is changing already, well sorta. It was about 70 degrees in the bed room when I got home last night after the show (I'll get to that later). All the dirt patches around the house are filled with ant hills. And the birds are back (singing their hearts out).
Now the show. Yesterday at about 5:30 Keith, I and two other souls drove to Muncie, Indiana. It was a three hour drive. And the show started at eight so lets just say we were a little late. We got their right as Convicted started. I was one of 10 people there that got into this band. It was my second time seeing them and I was pretty excited. They played four songs and in my opinion were awesome. After that I picked up a copy of their 7" (on Organized Crime Records). It's out of 30 with a One Life Crew rip off cover (so I'm siked). After that Blacklisted played. Once again they were awesome. I think I thought they had become a crappy band because of me seeing them one time at Bernies, but that place makes a lot of good bands sound bad (And it had been 3 years since I had seen them before that). And after the show we stopped at Taco Bell, 3 gas stations and a Lions Den that had a it's on group of christians hating on it. We stopped on the way in and the way out and made fun of them. But I think the dude running the lions den was almost as funny.

Tomorrow is my first day working at Sams Club. I will be under the employment of Wal-Mart Inc. And will work nights. This will eventually lead to me having money again. But will also make the amount of shows I will be able to go to will be very slim. I will be a making appearance at Youngblood Fest. Possibly at Modern Life Is War and at Surroundings (both in Louisville).

Now A look to the future of this blog and what it holds. Many of the old standards and some new faves. Old - Some dailys, some semi show reviews and random pictures that I take or find. New - Reviews of records, tapes and even merch. And most likely even more stuff I haven't even thought of yet.