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Shit I am not ready for this week’s staff pick. There’s this new record out on Iron Lung that I am pretty into, but I will wait to bust that out until we have our copies in stock. There is also this killer reissue Mäkitie 8 is distributing in USA, but I will also wait to write about that til we have it in stock. We do have this pretty cool reissue from this ‘70s band named BLAST from Belgium in stock now. This has been reissued once before in 2015 and it was getting some high dollar amounts on Discogs in the recent years. I am not sure how I heard this record originally, but it was not from that reissue. I only heard the band recently, and it certainly stuck out in my head cos of what year it was. I don’t listen to like any 70s music. What I typically look for in music did not translate into what I like until the 80s. Haha. Don’t get me wrong, I am exaggerating, and I do listen to more than just hardcore. Here is a great example of some 70s music I really enjoy. The love of my life got me into this. Anyway, what makes this BLAST record special is that they are playing d-beat! Of course, it’s not like a straight up DISCHARGE song or these guys would have been legends, but the drummer is playing a proper d-beat. Everyone used to say BUZZCOCKS used it first in 1978; well we were wrong. I’m guessing everyone has heard this BLAST reissue by now, as I’ve seen it online a ton. If you haven’t though, you can hear their d-beat it here. I think this record is quite expensive for being a 7”, but I will say it has pretty nice packaging. I really like the silver and red center labels, and the full color booklet is nice. If it wasn’t for the A side with the DISCHARGE beat, I probably would not give a shit about this record. The B side sounds like some hippy shit.
Moving on but keeping the DISCHARGE beat, this week I am going to write about VERDICT. I’m writing about this record as I’m listening to it for the first time(s). I remember buying their first LP, or at least spinning it a few times. I also know it’s a member or two of bands I really enjoy, but I’m not gunna take the time to look that far into it as I just want to write a bit more candidly. I am not sure why I ended up listening to a copy of this LP, but I’m glad I did. I knew about it cos I saw the release details online, but I didn’t think much of it. I think the artwork and color scheme is not that great. The artwork has this cool cut-n-paste vibe, but it comes off as totally digital. I’m sorry for hurting anyone’s feelings, but that’s just my take and I am not an artist or graphic designer by any means. The album title is also kind of funny, it reminds me of that movie with Mr. Bean. But whatever, this is coming from a guy whose band is named after a John Mellencamp song. Anyway, I think this record rips! It has an excellent blend of fast and slower songs. I’m really enjoying the pulled back songs especially; the drummer has an excellent groove, and the riffs are especially catchy when they slow it down just a bit. I don’t remember liking the first LP as much as this one, but I am definitely gunna visit it again tonight. I just realized this LP is 14 tracks and it blew right by. That is pretty sick if you ask me. It’s hard to make an LP with a good number of tracks AND not get too boring. Or alternatively, bands these days make 12”s with eight to ten songs. I guess ten songs is fair, and they cut it at 45rpm, blah blah. My band had to talk me down from making like a twenty song LP. (I think we settled on fourteen.) To me, there is nothing like a fuckin hardcore record that just gooooes. Here are three excellent examples; one, two, and three.
Alright I should get going, Thanks to everyone for reading and thanks for your support! Oh yeah, you can check that banger VERDICT LP out here. See ya next week.