bidhardcore.com
hardcore records on ebay — aggregated and examined
Cold Sweat, for me was the band more than any other in my era that could not catch the break they deserved. I first heard them when I bought a copy of their debut lp Severed Ties. For sale on ebay now is a sealed (???) test pressing of that lp.It came out of the gate scrappy and deranged, mixing up the noise attack of Rorschach’s best moments, with the straight forward anger of the first Infest lp, the misanthropy and bottled up anger exploding out of each track in a burst of chaos. I firmly believe that it’s still as potent today as it was then, whereas most lps I bought in 2002/2003 were a time and place, their potency waned by the passage of time. This wasn’t a time when we were all ass deep in “weird”/off-kilter HC and punk either. This music got played because it had to, which is obviously what makes it great.
Fuck The Flock opens the album with the kind of rabid, violent rush that I feel when I listen to Antidote or No Comment. Blazing, dangerous thrash. A vocalist in kill mode. Smashed up drums and random notes punctuate each measure when the breakdown comes, although they barely slow down for it. My Rights dishes out a staggering start stop end-piece, like an update on the classic Die Kreuzen sound. Kept In Chains lets the thrash assault start the proceedings but then starts dismantling it piece by piece. By the time the half way point comes, the song is reduced to swells of noise and cymbal crashes with ranting voice-in-your-head type vocals. Kicking and Screaming comes close to a Black Flag kind of tempo, but with less precision, teetering on the edge of collapse even as the band is trying to control itself. Still it manages to heighten the tension at the half way point effectively. Side B gets deeper and the thrashing continues to be pushed to the side for more heavy parts. Longer buildups, like Abortion Is Dinner, and lurching start stop action like Cross In A Bottle’s feedback blasts, finally ending with obligatory dirging outro.
Be sure to peep the seller’s other auctions too. A few good joints in there.
Here’s a nice double shot of late 80’s USHC rarity from the same seller.
1. Behind door number 1 we’ve got No For An Answer - You Laugh with the highly sought after I-Spy sleeve. This is definitely one of the most hard to find early Revelation rarities, with supposedly 200 made, I assume for either tour or mail order. You Laugh is probably the most preachy straight edge record to come out before the 90’s. Every song has a pushy message, and is very verbose, which is kind of funny because, the band can barely play them. The drumming in the fast parts takes a loose paddle style which doesn’t fit the sterile 80’s gated sound at all. At times the guitars hold it together enough so that you don’t notice how rickety the drumming is, but at others like say, the intro to About Face, things pretty much derail and the effect is pretty neutering to the music. There are definitely some minor edge classics on here though. The mosh riff to Just Say No, comes in at just the right time and seems designed to open the floor right up, and the sing along is a bit of a no brainer. The title track hits on the touchy “casual sex” topic, but probably has the best riffs on the record. The lyrics are clumsy and pretty ham-fisted which wouldn’t be so bad if it didn’t feel so smug and self assured. As I said before, probably the preachiest 7″ of the 80s. The muted cymbal hits in the beginning are laughably off, which is I guess appropriate for a song called You Laugh, because sometimes I do laugh when I hear it. When Will It End is the worst song, as juvenile and stupid as possible, by the end of side 1 it feels like they’re trying to touch on every category of positive message (recap: song 1 - anti drugs, song 2 - anti casual sex, song 3 - anti violence), it’s just a little much. Also this song has a HORRIBLE clean guitar intro. SKIP. Side B brings you back though - Without A Reason is a pretty good anti-drunk driving track, it kinda sounds like they mixed the drums lower so you wouldn’t hear them go off time during the chorus, but it still gets classic status. Track 5 is Liar which is about 6 seconds long, but pretty cool. It’s the only song without a pushy message on the record, so I guess like… 20 seconds would have been too much to not have a message for. The last track, About Face, is okay, but it’s a mediocre diss track on Uniform Choice for being “sellouts” and has a long talking part over the mosh. Also it’s the sloppiest of all the songs which gets distracting. I think this recording was actually a demo originally and had an instrumental intro, and a really bad Agnostic Front cover in the session too, confirm/deny anyone? Anyhow - a solid 7″, definitely the least good of the first 15 or Revelation Releases, but that’s pretty much every 1st tier late 80’s straight edge record so what can you do? Oh and of course… Dan O’ (the singer) now owns a bar. WHOOPS.
2. Door number 2 contains: Outburst - Miles To Go on RED vinyl. Not the repress folks this is the OG on Blackout, one of the crappiest labels ever to release good records. Anywho, there’s supposed to be like 200 of these as well. It turns up WAY less than the blue vinyl variation. Alright, in the past I’ve made some noise about this record not being that good, despite the fact that I was in a band that stole from practically every song on it. I’m ready to apologize and say I was wrong. This is a pretty good slab of NYHC. I still like Breakdown, Altercation, and Raw Deal better, but there’s some real TNT on this one too. The cover still sucks though. I’m not taking that back. As others have said - looks like the year book page for the A/V Club. Big standout with Outburst are the vocals which spit growl and seethe with teenage anger, which helps to gloss over the genericish “angry guy” lyrics. He has a good delivery too and knows when to stretch certain words out and when to cram others together. The music is pretty rhythmic, like a more precise take on Breakdown’s style, the riffs are a little more complex and noodly, the back beat is a little heavier, the stops and starts are a little cleaner. It’s cool, and the best songs like No Choice, When Things Go Wrong, and Thin Ice (which are front-loaded as the first 3 tracks), pull out all the stops. If you ever liked head smashing heavy NYHC you can appriciate how those songs deliver with each change up. The B-Side holds up well but can’t match the 1-2-3 punch you get in the first half. The production… well it definitely has a certain charm and I know some people love it, it’s probably the most extreme example I can think of of late 80s NY style production. Every instrument has a cheap digital effect added. The echo you hear on the bass drum at the beginning of Misunderstood sounds something like a basketball being dribbled, the snare to toms roll that kicks off No Choice sounds like the echo knob can’t go any higher on each hit. The guitars are very 80’s metal, probably run direct through a metal zone pedal and then a chorus pedal (to make them sound “fuller”). Each one has a buzzy crunch and absolutely no bottom end or heaviness. There’s more echo heaped on top, so at the end of everything they kind of sound like shimmering static. The bass sounds about the same, and the vocals of course, are all echo. It’s very artificial sounding, and an odd choice for songs this ferocious, but it was ‘89, and at the time this was state of the art. I’m sure it cost a lot but I don’t blame them, this record was made to be a hit, and it was recorded to sound pro. It just took about 15 years for very many folks to notice.
It was the best of times…it was the blurst of times. It was 2002, or actually it was 2001, which soon became 2002 when I first heard this weird dude Greg from Cape Cod had a new band with Justin from Down But Not Out, and 2 other guys I didn’t know. I could have never guessed the number of times I would end up seeing this band over the next 3 years, but I thought their name, Mental, was really cool.
I got the first tape they did from Greg at a show and when I took it home I was pretty sure it was recorded on a boombox. “I think they’d be good if they recorded in a studio, but I can’t hear any of the songs on this“. The titles were stuff like “Fuck Responsibility” and “High School Sucks” which seemed cool considering how over-serious most hardcore bands were at the time. So in the spring of 2002 when I heard they were going to the local Dead Air Studios, I was eager to see how things would turn out.
I rode out with some friends on night in May ‘02 to do the crew backup vocals on Mental’s first studio recorded demo (affectionately known as demo 2). When we got there, they were finishing up guitar tracks. I recall thinking it would be a late night because they hadn’t even started the vocals yet, one of the many times in my life I’ve been so very wrong. Greg laid the vocals down for 9 songs in probably 40 minutes. Mostly first takes as I remember it, and he sounded great. Brash, angry, youthful and confident. The tunes sounded great too. I was shocked actually, at how awesome it sounded for such a young band. I knew this would be a new favorite. It sounded a lot like old New York hardcore bands, maybe with some other stuff thrown in, or perhaps just the hindsight the 90’s provided. I’ve never quite put my finger on it, but it sort of always reminded me of the first Sick Of It All 7″. Maybe with some Straight Ahead and Token Entry too. It didn’t really sound like one thing or a particular band to me, I just thought it was good, and at the time it pretty much stood alone. Logos for straight edge hardcore bands had got really scratchy and lyrics quite serious and wordy. When Mental came along they had big cartoon letters and seemed like they were having fun on their recordings (even moreso live). It kind of just took an unnecessary chip off the shoulder of Hardcore for a little while, without ever being too jokey or goofy. It’s not really easy to walk that line, and it was sort of how I knew they were something special. A breath of fresh (”fresh”) air.
I went to the recording for their 7″ later that year, again at Dead Air and I remember being at least a little surprised how much more they had their shit together already. They did 11 songs in a day I think. There might have been an extra half day to finish up vocals and do the mix, but I still remember being in awe at how fast the band had moved, even though they were releasing a 7″ they had enough material laid down to make a 12″. All of my bands up to that point had struggled just to get demos together. After demanding that someone yell “bust!” prior to a breakdown in one song, it was put on me to be the one to do it, although I think someone from the band could have done it better.
Once their 7″ came out it seemed like things never stopped for Mental. The record came out in the winter of 2003, but by summer 2003 they’d recorded a demo of the absurd side project Dumptruck, and another E.P. to be out by the year’s end. Tours and endlessly colorful t-shirts followed, as well as a couple more records. The first time I saw the whole USA from the window of a van was with Mental, lifting guitar cabinets and drums on a nightly basis. I guess it’s weird to write about stuff that is so recent, but it was good times, even when it wasn’t good times, and I still play these tapes (and 7″) pretty often.
Alright here’s a wacky Wednesday entry for you. I’m pretty amped on seeing the new Indiana Jones tonight, and I’ll be sure to post a complete list of spoilers here tomorrow. When I saw Star Wars: Episode I on opening night in 1999, I deemed it “pretty good”, so you can definitely trust my opinion. Also I applauded, as did the majority of the audience.
Anyway, there’s a guy from Prema (ha!)selling his late 80’s/early 90’s recs on good ‘ol ebay. If you don’t know Prema is one of the funniest bands of all time associated with hardcore. When they were 13 they had some band that was like fast dumb hardcore… I forget the name but they obviously get compared to Crippled Youth all the time. I’m sure they didn’t sound like them. Then they became Hare Krishna (ah the early 90’s), and got more serious, playing melodic-Hardcore. When they produced their follow up lp it was something like 60 minutes long, 2xlp, and “grungy”. First of all: Fucked Up eat your heart out. Second of all, I think they were barely out of high school. I’ve been waiting for the day I can score a copy of this thing outta the dollar bin or someone’s trash pile.
So one thing you might want is a test pressing of the No Escape/Turning Point split. I’ve mentioned before how godawful the Turning Point stuff is on here, but let me just say it again - WORST! I think I’d rather listen to an hour of Jay Leno stand-up. The No Escape side is pretty tight, heavy early 90’s HC. Not too tough guy, not too introspective, just lays in the cut. Tim Singer is the vocalist… I like Boiling Point Fanzine better than No Escape but it’s still alright.
There’s a Chain Of Strength Confusion sleevealready pushing $300. One of about 10 variations of the less good Chain 7″. I think this is some of the rejected vinyl from the Foundation press with a different sleeve. It looks crappy that’s the main thing. Early 90’s color Xerox, but if you are a Chain completest you’ve gotta have this. Hope you didn’t spend that stimulus check.
Another test press up: Ink and Dagger’s “Love Is Dead”. The number of times I heard this band compared to Swiz is obscene. It’s more just early 90’s “chaotic hc”, like Swing Kids lite, on a vampire gimmick. Can’t believe anyone would still want this, but from time to time I still hear this crap discussed. This is definitely the least bad entry in their catalog, I dug it for sure when I was 16/17 (”SOUNDS LIKE A CRAZY FUGAZI!”). WHOOPS! Later on these guys read an issue of, probably some British magazine they found at Tower Records, and started name-checking Square-Pusher and Aphex Twin, like electronic music had just landed from outer space and they were the first to discover it. How embarrassing.
Oh, a Child Abuse 7″ on Muthathat somehow slipped in here. That just seems weird to me because there’s no other records from a similar time period, although I guess it’s regionally from the same part of the USA. To me it’s just funny to think this guy was, by all odds, hanging out at Flagman shows, probably in a sweater vest or some Stussy shirt, with a Child Abuse 7″ sitting in the same box of 7″s that probably had multiple Falling Forward and Metroshifter records in it. This would be the point where some overly sensitive type, whose “salad days” were in this time period, and went to 164 different Lifetime/Resurrection gigs at the Middlesex where everyone played drums poorly and there were no fast songs, or pants that fit anyone, is going to pipe up and complain that I don’t understand, AND I’m a dick, AND Outspoken is still good, AND if you weren’t there you can’t make a qualitative assessment of the music, AND they’re much older than me and that means I don’t know anything………. Same old complaints I’ve heard every time I bring these things up, but face it — all of those bands are no good. I blame grunge, alt-metal, and shoegaze. You will never convince me otherwise. With maybe 5 exceptions, there are no hardcore bands from the USA in ‘92-’94 I wanna listen to. Hey it’s fine… I sang in a band that had a 3″ CDR demo. That alone is goddamn laughable.
Ok full disclosure: I just can’t take anything seriously that has stuff like these stupid flame graphics that are in each auction. Why does ebay even still have this stuff? Am I making my homepage at geocities infocommons?
Whoa sorry for the hate fest yesterday. See what happens when I don’t get enough sleep folks? In the end, it probably did more good than bad for yesterday’s seller. But that was yesterday. What have I got today? More like, what haven’t I got? The answer to that question, is most of the records this dude is selling. SHAMEFUL on my part.
These listings are not ace, and it makes you wonder about the validity of a few items like the NA 7″, Urban Waste 7″, 7 Seconds “Skins” 7″, especially because the labels are not visible in the photos. On the other hand the seller obviously knows the value of these items, and they seem to be in the company of many obviously legitimate pressings (you can’t fake a Floorpunch on gold people).
How about a top 5 ?
1) I gotta take the Urban Waste 7″here. Presuming that everything is legit about it, this is a hell of a clean copy. Contains an instert, the cover looks nice, unfortunately you have to speculate on the vinyl due to the photo which at the least may keep the price down. It’s kinda strange you know, Urban Waste is at this point just shy of a $500 record. If this one actually had a classy listing I think it could break it, but it’s not hard finding an Urban Waste E.P. It hits ebay seemingly weekly. With only 1000-ish pressed it seems like a large number have survived so it’s kind of surprising the price has been able to climb steadily over the past few years.
2) Even if it’s 2nd press, a clean copy of the Negative Approach 7″is a good investment and I really doubt the price is ever coming down (barring global economic disaster). You’d have a tough time arguing this isn’t the best hardcore E.P. ever, even people outside hardcore can appreciate this one. Best vocals in a punk/hardcore band ever maybe? Contender for greatest lead off track - without a doubt. NA is a band that I would argue outshines their influences (S.O.A., Blitz, 4Skins) on this record. Been listening to it for 9 years of my life now and it hasn’t worn out its welcome in the least. Too bad I’ve been listening on a dumb CD. Gotta change that this year…
3) Either Minor Threat7″ here could, in my book give the NA 7″ a run for its money. They’re both later pressings, but I guess could fetch maybe 2 bills each. There’s been a LOT of Fillers popping up lately, although it shouldn’t surprise anyone. Even blue covers are going for 150-200 now, and there’s plenty to go around. I think pretty much only the red sleeved ones go for more than 250-300 though. Btw, anyone that wants to trade a Red Sleeved copy, I hereby offer my Dogs - Slash Your Face (stock copy) in exchange for one. Maybe we could workout the difference after that, but the thing has been played twice ever so consider that. I love some Detroit Rock n Roll, but I grew up w/ the White House in my backyard, and I’m straight edge, so Ian and the boys will always be my first love.
4) Antidote without an insert is still an Antidote 7″, so eff it. I give this my number 4. Probably will still go for more than the Minor Threat recs, and the sleeve looks better than some I’ve seen. Why are these things always trashed? At least there’s no handwriting or water stains on this. Please lord someone put together a better Antidote release than the junk currently available.
5) Last Rights 7″w/ a mic-stand-throwing cover. A riff like Chunks really only comes once a career, and a record this legendary probably not much more than that. No matter how much embarrassing shit Choke has pulled over the years with Slapshot, it can never diminish this single. HARD HARD HARD skinhead HARDcore. If there were oi bands that actually sounded like this I’d get a pair of boots and a razor shave on my dome.
See you folks on Marathon Metal Monday…
Holy F’n Schnikes. I don’t know where to start with this. Obviously the “buy-it-now or best offer” links are set high so that people will just make their best offer, but $2200 for some Uniform Choice lps. Good lord. Nevermind that this dude claims he owns 3 complete sets. I know I’ll sound like a hater saying this, but I feel like this is one of those people who isn’t even into music and just fetishizes the same 2 or 3 dozen bands. Proof’s in the pudding that they’re looking to buy a copy of Nirvana - Love Buzz, I mean Aneurysm is a jam, but anyone willing to shell out a few grand for one of their records, probably has kinda bad taste. Yeah I said it. Total hater over here. I dunno, Big Cheese is 3th tier Nirvana, and 4th tier Melvins worship. I love Screaming For Change though. Realistically that lot is probably worth $1,000-$1500 maybe as low as $800 actually, although money is certainly no object to this person (which makes them better than the rest of us btw). What a great album though. I wouldn’t mind owning 4 copies. Tell you what, I’d probably trade in half the Nirvana song catalog for another EP of Uniform Choice songs in the vein of Screaming For Change.
Let’s see… then there’s this Fear Of God 7″ on clear, on Temple Of Love records, an In My Eyes test press of their best lp, Demise - Furnace of Tension test… you know this is stupid, all of these are good items and I could talk at length in a normal post about them, but I’m just dumbstruck by the spectacle and absurdity of this listing. I might as well mention the Youth Of Today “Can’t Close My Eyes” 7″ on orange vinyl with the Batman stamp… priced at $700.
It truly never ends with this stuff. Every time you think you’ve seen it all on ebay something pops up that just fries all the logic-circuits in your brain, and you’re sort of left wondering, “What am I doing with myself? Is this what I’m into? Where is this going to end? Who owns at least a dozen copies of Screaming For Change? How can I steal them?”
Do you think the seller even feels fulfillment with any of their vinyl acquisitions? “Yea I have these 2 complete sets of Uniform Choice lps… but it’s just not enough, something’s keeping me up at night. I need to do it again. It’s the only way I can truly live.” Hey don’t forget about his multiple Chung Kings, he’ll be listing one soon.
I hereby promise to be more coherent tomorrow.
Typically when I find myself in New York City, I’m concerned with one thing: getting out of it. Yes, for all my love of NYHC, all the long praises I’ve written about the bands, the city itself makes me sick. Sick with anxiety, and disgusted by the piss stench everywhere I turn. Excuse my misanthropy please. It’s all good though because there will always be a song that perfectly sums up how I feel. I’d even say it’s one of the best punk songs, no… one of the best rock songs ever written. I’m not talking about the well liked Fear classic “I Love Livin’ In The City” (”NY’s alright if you like saxophones”), I’m talking about The Randoms - “Let’s Get Rid Of NY”. I can play this song over and over and over again. I can listen to the two minutes and thirty seconds of pogoing perfection for hours with the only pause being the time it takes to push the needle back to the beginning. I’m like a teenage girl in 1964 with a copy of “I Wanna Hold Your Hand”, absolutely mesmerized. When this perfect tune plays, it’s the only song in the world. When the chorus kicks up with that scrappy Chuck Berry on 78rpm’s riff and I hear the declaration of “Let’s Get Rid Of New York”, I think it’s the way a devout church goer feels each time the congregation shouts “hallelujah!”
I want everyone to know, as I’m aware many readers of this blog are from the NY area, I have nothing really against the people of your city, I certainly love many of the associated musical traditions, but there is something about the city itself that I hate. It’s not because I live in Boston, it’s just the way I feel. Like the way you might feel about mayonnaise on your food. Please don’t take it personal New Yorkers (although I know you will).
So you see, when you combine the perfect punk music, with the perfect lyrical sentiment, it makes sense that you can only declare such a composition, one of the greatest rock songs ever written (beyond all criticism etc.). Why in the name of everything holy and unholy then, is this song on the B-Side? I can only imagine it’s a joke, because even though “ABCD” is a fine song in its own right, it’s the “Let’s Go Away For A While” of this package. Now let me just shock you and say, after all that praise… this is only my SECOND favorite single on Dangerhouse.
Number ONE: the untouchable “We’ve Got The Neutron Bomb” by The Weirdos. As a package it nudges out the Randoms just barely for having what I think is the stronger A-Side (the title track), the real treat though is inexplicably on Side-B again: “Solitary Confinement”. Maybe it’s the angry boy in me, but all the bouncy pop fun of “Let’s Get Rid Of NY” is easy to forget when you hear this proto-HC slash ‘n burn job. I know I’m drowning in my own hyperbole right now, but try to listen to Solitary Confinement without playing air-guitar — I guarantee you will fail without the aid of a handful of sleeping pills (and I don’t do that shit so I’m screwed). I’m sorry to 2-Time the Randoms like this, I really am, but this is also one of the greatest rock songs of all time. It’s one for the books folks. Take “Search and Destroy”, strip off the silver pants and make-up, and proceed to rip it up at full volume with a chorus roughly the size of one of Jupiter (the planet).
I don’t have all day, so I can’t even talk about the raging screams of Alice Bag, or 2 of the 4 good Dils songs. Likewise I’m gonna have to skip explaining why the Deadbeats suck, and I’d rather listen to Howard Werth. Another day, although since everyone in New York and surrounding areas has abandoned me, that day may never come.
It might be forgivable if you’re not familiar with New Jersey’s Chronic Sick. They were unpopular in their day, panned by most reviewers as reactionary, and their records were pressed in minuscule quantities on the hard-to-come-by Mutha Records. That said they’re one of the most consistently beloved “Killed By Death” type hardcore bands, or as it’s now okay to term bands like this, “Killed By Hardcore”. A perfect example of a band no one cared about when they were around, but now considered to outclass many of the more popular bands of the day from anywhere in the world.
Chronic Sick eschew the typical expectations for a cult/unknown hardcore band as they’re as tuneful, well rehearsed, and professionally recorded, as most of the big acts of the early 80’s in the United States. The sound of the music owes a heavy debt to DC bands like Scream, Marginal Man, Double O, and at least in some ways predicts some of the chorus drenched guitar work Dag Nasty delivered a couple years later. Before anyone protests (and I know you will), this is hardly the self-conscious emotive, good-time core that all of those bands are, at least in part known for, (no disrespect to the godly Scream). Rather the lyrics and vocals come at you with plenty of snot and bile, hardly sticking to safe topics (as the middle finger on the picture sleeve should let you know), and keeping things firmly hardcore even in during fairly poppy guitar lines. On this record, which there’s probably 500 or less of, (probably way less when you account for 20-some years of record collections thrown in the trash by New Jersey moms), they take the time to attack “Reagan Bands”, lament the transmission of venereal diseases (Crotch Rot), and I’m not sure what the third song (Blood Type-X) is about, but as the MRR review of the time noted, it might be better that way.
Like yesterday’s Death Wish entry, Chronic Sick aren’t just good for a “rare record band”, they’re just good. They may have been reactionary townie losers, but they were a good hardcore band first. It’s really kind of a shock no one has been able to negotiate a legitimate reissue of their output, and maybe even more shocking that it hasn’t been bootlegged (although let’s face it, it’s only a matter of time til some eastern European schmuck takes care of that, unfortunately it will probably made off shit MP3’s and pixelated JPG’s).
Worth noting, there’s a Send Help 7″, also on Mutha Records, for sale by the same person. One of the better and more hardcore releases on the label after Chronic Sick & The Worst.
Just a quick one today, found someone selling a very respectable Japanese HC collection with all the big names past and present. What caught my eye was 3 big time genre compilations:
Lots of cool sampler 12″s came out of Japan in the 80’s and 90’s, and I really think all three of these are cool looking on top of that. Have a look –
I’ve broken my streak. Due to some internet difficulties, yesterday this post didn’t go up, and so it’s going up today instead. Roky Erikson and Motorhead in one day (yesterday). Also J Masics came to the Fucked Up, Sex/Vid, Iron Age show, and was accosted by every Deep Wound and Dinosaur fan in the room.
I’ve hit Cooch up for an entry, we do Painkiller Records together of course, but he does the most, and we’ve played in rock bands too, so without further delay…
CC asked me to do a scab entry or two for him while he’s on vacation, suggesting for this one that I talk about some of the pre-hardcore era Modern Method Records releases. Before making their mark in the hardcore world with the monumental “This Is Boston, Not LA” comp LP, Modern Method put out just under a dozen releases as the in-house
label for Boston’s famous Newbury Comics music retail chain. Just about all of the early releases are “punk” in some sense, ranging from the pop punk stylings of the Gremies and the Future Dads (both featuring legendary Unnatural Axe frontman Rich Parsons) to the power poppy Outlets to the Mission Of Burma-esque Native Tongue. One interesting release is their second compilation LP, “A Wicked Good Time Vol 2″, which features a track by Leper, who many consider to be the first hardcore band in Boston. Most of these early releases can be found cheap, though both Outlets singles, which are excellent, command good money on eBay.
On to the auctions… eBay’s top purveyor of punk vinyl and ephemera, Ryan Richardson, aka ryebread, currently has the Bound & Gagged 12″ for sale (Modern Method #5, from 1980). It’s a four song ep featuring a six piece all-female lineup, doing some quirky post punk weirdness. It’s produced by Cleveland expatriate Robin Amos of The Girls, a pretty cool Boston area post punk band that had the distinction of releasing the only non-Cleveland area record on Hearthan Records (run by Dave Thomas of Pere Ubu). Robin still works at a local record shop in Boston and is a pretty friendly guy based on my interactions with him. Anyways, back to Bound & Gagged - I had a couple copies stashed away thinking it would have taken off in price over the past few years with the recent explosion of crappy hipster noise and synth punk, but it still sells for relatively cheap (typically $20 and under). This record would really appeal to fans of bands like the Raincoats or Kleenex, I suppose a good reissue of the 12″ and their two tracks from “A Wicked Good Time Vol. 1″ might generate some interest in the original product.
For those of you with more refined hardcore tastes, Mr. Ryebread has some other tasty platters up for bid - classic releases by Black Flag, Crucifix, FEAR, Minor Threat, DOA, test pressings of the first Freeze and Meatmen LPs, and more. One interesting record of note on his current auction list is the Human Sufferage self titled lp - a rare and under the radar release from Ohio, ca. 1983 - great midwest HC style.
