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Dudes, ladies, doggs… I’ve been sick since Monday, with one of those ill February style cough/cold/rip-your-skull-apart type sicknesses. I feel disgusting. As such, blogging has been forgone in favor of sleeping, and medicinal regimens.

However: this is the Hardcore Torpedo Mega-Bonzer that simply cannot be passed on:

Fix “Vengence” and Necros “Sex Drive” together in one lot.

The buy it now price: “$8,000″.

Well say what you will here but even if that’s high now, eventually it won’t be. For the unaware, Sex Drive was pressed in a quantity of 100 copies as Touch and Go records #1, with Vengeance following in a quantity of 200 as Touch and Go records #2. Both are 2 of the earliest examples of hardcore bands cut to vinyl. These are probably the 2 most valuable and sought after USHC rarities at least insofar as regular releases go.

In the way of Sex Drive, a tradition of mediocrity was established early on for generic and unimaginative hardcore. While this record holds serious historical significance, the songs themselves are as undistinguished and interchangeable as those by the Violent Apathy’s and 5150’s of the world. The Necros did go on to complete some better recordings, and were a pretty big punk band in their heyday, but if not for this being the first touch and go release, and being pressed in such a minuscule quantity, it would not be a big deal. Police Brutality appeared on some later releases though, re-recorded and sounding pretty hard.

In the way of Vengeance (b/w In This Town) though, you have a stone cold classic. How classic? Arguably THE best hardcore  7″/45/single/EP  ever, or at the very least the best Hardcore song (I might give NA “best EP”), but you wouldn’t have a difficult argument to make either way. Legend has it that Tom “Pig Champion” Roberts of Poison Idea actually followed the Fix’s tour itinerary in the late 80’s stopping at all the record stores in each town hoping to find a copy of the single. The song Vengeance is one of the best songs ever to come out of the Hardcore era.  It buzzes with the electricity of The Stooges or Motorhead’s finest moments, but at about double speed, it has a ferocious and unhinged vocal, and the musicianship is on fire in the best way, perfectly walking the line between skill and recklessness. The recording is completely thuggish and brutal; shockingly thick for 1981. Such a bright start for a genre, even the Fix themselves never managed to top it. The b-side while not quite as immediate is still a real scorcher. The delivery and style are similar, muscular jockish proto punks going at warp speed, like if the Dictators took a toxic amount of speed on their best night. Here is a record that sells well into the quadruple digits on the 2nd hand market, but is worth EVERY PENNY the collector scum pay for it. There are not a lot of records I can honestly say that about. Here is a record that makes the most introverted humans burst into spontaneous air guitar solos, stage dive fantasies, and bedroom slam pits. If you really want to understand me and why I’m obsessed with the music I am, why I play in the bands I do, you can get it all here. When I hear Vengeance I’m Alex hearing the 9th by ol’ Ludwig van. My heart’s stopping and my soul is spinning. It’s probably the greatest song I’ve ever heard. I got a reissue though, I’m not dropping 8 grand on it.

I was going to make some mention of the panic that went up about Touch and Go, going out of business this week, but they’re actually just shutting down their distribution arm it looks like, so they’ll still be keeping their old shit in press, and releasing another Shellac lp in 4 or 5 years. Mr. Rusk, please, if you see this, we need to talk about the Negative Approach discography, some overhauling is needed, and if you don’t want to do it, I’ll do it free of charge. I would like to thank you though, for finally issuing the Fix Discography in 2007.