Gut Instinct - Disturbing The Peace (Cornerstone Productions)
No Escape / Turning Point split (Gold) (Out of 200) (Temperance Records)
Ringworm - Demo (Purple Shell) (Out of 25) (Eat The Worm Productions)
These three releases have been on my wantlist for years and in the past few weeks I've been able to score each for great prices. I hadn't noticed until it was pointed out to me last night that the Gut Instinct cover has their name spelled wrong on it. I wonder how many people that own it have noticed this themselves. I love the style of older "tougher" hardcore The Icemen, Breakdown, Outburst, Raw Deal/Killing Time and they play. It sounds urgent, but like in a "you better listen to what the fuck I have to say" kinda way. I wish more bands would take note of that and pace themselves better. Not to say I haven't heard bands that have had that affect on me over the years but though I'm sure it comes natural to a lot of people trying to get sincere messages across I am sure some people tone it down when recording and shouldn't. How would In My Eyes sound if Ian MacKaye dialed back his "At least I'm fuckin' trying. What the fuck have you done?"
Now as far as the No Escape / Turning Point split 7" its been a record I have wanted for well over a decade. The first time I found out about its existence was when I found a copy of the 12" version of the Rebuilding compilation at Magnolia Thunderpussy back in 2002 or 2003. I know that record was the first place I ever found out about No Escape but might also have been the first place I heard Burn. The original compilation was on a 7" and featured Turning Point, Burn, Gorilla Biscuits and No Escape. The 12" version had three times the number of songs as the 7" version. On its A side it includes the original 4 songs from the compilation with two additional songs by Turning Point and Burn. On its B side it includes The No Escape / Turning Point split with two more additional songs each being covers, with those songs being Turning Point covering Ignition's song Anxiety Asking and No Escape covering the Big Boys song No.
Lastly of these pick ups, the Ringworm - Demo. Five masterpieces of Cleveland Hardcore, as they would say "All killer, no filler." This is a version of the cassette that is more recent (pressed for a show they played in 2016 with 3/4 of the original members who played on the demo) but is limited to only 25 copies. Its not a version I thought I would ever get. And though I would LOVE to have an original copy, purple is one of my favorite colors so I had to scoop it up. Strangely enough after I received it in the mail I realized a friend of mine from back in Columbus (who now lives in Chicago) had been the seller. Small world.
KDC / Bleak split (Human Beard)
Throat Culture - The Nervous Episode (Sore Ear Collective)
Moutheater - No Ballet (Grey Shell) (Out of 20) (Swim Harder Cassettes)
These three cassettes feature a band who would either eventually or had previously been a band Head2wall Records had worked with. Both KDC and Moutheater will hold special places in my heart because they were the first two LPs we did and are both bands I had not just the opportunity to see but the privilege to book, with Moutheater being the first band I ever booked and KDC being the first band I booked when I moved to Las Vegas. Sadly I never had a chance to see Throat Culture but I am sure they were incredible live as the cassette and 7" we did for them are both fantastic.
