bidhardcore.com
hardcore records on ebay — aggregated and examined
Uniform Choice - Screaming For Change + green vinyl
I love Uniform Choice. Unabashedly. Some serious HC scholarly type may laugh, but in my world this is the finest of the 2nd wave of Straight Edge Hc. Use Your Head is the perfect post Minor Threat positive moshing song. It would be absolutely impossible to make improvements. The rush and speed of the main riff that comes in at the first guitar break. The build-up in the middle. The skank beat and tunefulness of those 4-muted power chords. Pat Dubar’s youthful off key shouting. People scoff at this record like it has some kind of cheese factor, but find me a band that doesn’t have a cheese factor - in any genre. In other words, if you’re too good for Uniform Choice: fuck off. Don’t tell me about the spoken poem tacked on the end. It’s real easy to hit the stop button on my turn table before that crap comes on. Don’t tell me about the lyrics stolen from a greeting card poem. It’s still a good song. Don’t tell me about the lyrical theft from Skewbald. They mined the Dischord sound pretty excessively, and I’m sure the “over-it already” crowd in our nations capitol had a good laugh at best, and an annoyed groan at worst when they heard this one, but seriously - Beefeater - shut it the hell down.
As much as this DOES sound like Minor Threat though (and it really, really does), it has its differences, and honestly, who else are you going to rip off in ‘85 if you’re Straight Edge? But back to the differences… for one: the raging solos, and let me tell you, early on this record was a big reason I wanted to play guitar solos. The way I saw it, all the greats had them: Bad Brains, Warzone, Cro Mags… UC. Pat Longrie tears up quick little 4-measure shred fests in a bunch of the song. The technique is simple, but it breaks up the sound of a lot of these songs and gives them something a little extra. The songs tend to be a bit longer than your average Minor Threat number too, and a few work slower and midpaced tempos which helps the overall pacing of the lp. The guitar sound is a lot thicker too. I’m guessing it’s a few layers of JCM-800 but really cranked the hell up. It sounds a lot more full and “huge” than Minor Threat, I actually think it’s one of the best straight edge guitar sounds ever, and while I’m at it, the drums are basically perfect. Every few seconds there’s a snare roll, and while it may not get them any awards from skill, the snare sounds awesome and snappy and it helps to inject a lot of the energy that the songs have. Top to bottom it’s just 12 perfect tuneful hardcore songs. I’ll put it up against whatever you got.
Green vinyl there’s probably 300-500 press. Get it while the getting is good.
I traded this for a Judge LP on green awhile back. At the time it sounded like a retardedly good deal (the Judge was going for ~$80 at the time and I go the UC on green for a copy of the Ill Repute “What Happens Next” LP), but I guess the prices have kinda skyrocketed and evened out at this point. I don’t necessarily regret it, but I wouldn’t mind having all 4 colors of the UC record at some point.
And yo, I don’t even give a fuck, the lyrics to “No Thanks” are just as applicable now as they were when I was in highschool, and I still get a legit charge out of “If drinking’s what it takes to be accepted, I’d rather stay sober* and feel rejected,” ’cause that’s pretty much been my edgeman mantra from the start.
*I pretend I’m listening to the demo version even if I’m listening to the LP.