7 Seconds-Old School 12"

from one of my favourite new bands to one of my favourite old bands. 7 Seconds were/are a fantastic band formed in 1980 in Reno. i posted other releases by them which include their 2 first 7"s. everything they did up until 1984 is golden. there is a great LP going around that includes their three early tape releases, which have some great songs on it. the really early stuff is much slower but i've grown to like it, but it's still not close to the fast stuff they do. the last good thing they did was an LP called The Crew. that album is pretty good, but after hearing some of the much rawer versions of the songs in the demo session, i can't really like it as much as i should. everything after that LP is pretty much garbage, with the exception of a few tracks here and there. this 12" posted here was released in 1991 on Headhunter records, but the tracks are from a 1983 demo session. if they had released this in 1983 it would have killed. instead they chose to re-record and these tracks sat for almost ten years. but they did finally get the vinyl release they deserved. these tracks are all fantastic and the production on this is great, really dirty. fantastic vocals by Kevin, one of, if not my favourite vocalists.

a-side

1. you lose 5/5 (crazy.)

2. what if there's a war in america 5/5 (flows.)

3. here's your warning 5/5 (fast.)

4. heavy metal jocks 5/5 (BEST SONG by the band, ever.)

5. these boots are made for walking 5/5 (great cover.)

6. boss 5/5 (i don't know.)

7. young 'til i die 5/5 (love the sound of the drums.)

8. war in the head 5/5 (same as above.)

b-side

1. no class, no way! 5/5 (great!)

2. definite choice 5/5 (way better than the LP version.)

3. i have a dream 5/5 (yeah!)

4. wasted life (ain't no crime) 5/5 (fantastic song, great bass.)

5. #1 rule 5/5 (nice.)

6. out of touch 5/5 (here is a great slower song, love the wa-ohs.)

7. red and black 5/5 (spray-paint.)

8. diehard 5/5 (great singing on this track.)

9. clenched fists, black eyes 5/5 (sadly the last track, but i love the end of the song where everyone's singing.)

overall: 10/10 strongly recommended

one the best recordings of all time, get it from lots of places. i'm sure you are sick of my praising by now.

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School Jerks-3rd EP 7"

since i posted the other School Jerks 7"s, i thought i'd post this then too. if you don't know already School Jerks are one of my favourite bands out there and the best out of the great city of Toronto. i'm wearing one of the shirts i got from them right now. just great punk music. this was recorded in 2010 and released this year by Cowabunga records. 100 on clear vinyl, which is the one scanned here, i've also got the black vinyl (i'd like to get this clear black swirl version which there was only like 8 that came out like that, from Nick's store). they are in the works on a 12" which you know is gonna be great after their demo, three 7"s and a split tape they have already released which were all great. nothing will ever beat their first 7" for me, but this 7" is right behind it. Ivan the drummer has a different band called Kremlin which are really quite good as well. you can read more about them and the School Jerks at the site linked here (their blog). nothing else to say, 6 great songs with only one song over a minute long, now listen and buy it.

a-side

1. screamer 5/5 (great opener.)

2. control 5/5 (flying by.)

3. ready to die 5/5 (yeah.)

b-side

1. ugly minds, ugly faces 4/5 (good song.)

2. moral addiction 5/5 (this is the winner. best song on here!)

3. 4-F 4/5 (longest song.)

overall: 9/10 strongly recommended

as you can see it's more great artwork by Tara Bursey. she has done the artwork for all the 7"s and stuff. wondering if she is working on the 12" design. on the inside of the 7" sleeve is the lyrics to Ugly Minds, Ugly Faces, but only that song. check it out in the scans.

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Strike-Radio Songs/Teenage Rebel EP 7"

well what we have here is a classic punk 7". this Belfast band released this 7" in 1980 by Shock Rock and was sadly their sole release. it was limited to 500 back then. too bad they never did anything else but this cause these two powerpop songs are some of the catchiest ever. the band did recreate once but with a female singer and they didn't go much original material. there is a great write up of the band on the Sing Sing blog. in fact this was re-issued by the label Sing Sing records in 2010. that whole label is just amazing. every release they do is a killer. however, this 7" is one of the few that is out of print from there site. just by looking at this cover you know it's gonna be great. i like the little symbol in the cover that they changed from Shock Rock to Sing Sing seamlessly. so if you haven't heard of this, get it now, it's a must. it's hard to chose which song is better, but i think i like the flip side the best.

a-side

1. radio songs 5/5 (so great! love the vocalist.)

b-side

1. teenage rebel 5/5 (sooooo catchy.)

overall: 10/10 strongly recommended

as i said before, it is out of print. so get it from Sorry State or something. and look i got the scans back up and running. check out the great artwork below. i am even going to add the artwork on the actual tracks ala Killed By Death Records (if you haven't noticed by now, this site is heavily influenced by that site).

(((DOWNLOAD: MUSIC---SCANS)))

Scanner

hey i got my scanner back up and running so i'll go back and fix the other two posts tomorrow. i got some great posts coming up.

Retainers-Teenage Regrets 7"

now for some more of the Retainers. before i praised them with their Waste of Time 7" (which by the way does have one of my favourite tracks of all time on it). and like that 7", this record was released on Fashionable Idiots out of Minnesota. this one being 3 years previous to the other in 2006. the Retainers play really distorted garage punk stuff. this 7" is really distorted opposed to there others, (i feel). this has been pressed twice and i have the second press. they have released a few 7"s and a 12". if anyone knows where to get that 12", let me know, cause it's sold out everywhere i look. the first track is a real good one. the last track has a real surf vibe to me, must be the guitar.

a-side

1. teenage regrets 5/5 (yell! catchy.)

2. zombie caliente 2.5/5 (not my favourite.)

b-side

1. kill my boss 3/5 (pretty good.)

2. blue jean attack 5/5 (surf!)

overall: 6/10 recommended

i get these guys and the Sinks mixed up so much. anyway you can buy from the link above. the cover actually is more of a reddish colour but came out pink for some reason.

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U.X. Vileheads-Catch 22 EP 7"

now for some new punk from Sweden. the band plays some great hardcore punk and just keep getting better and better. the UX Vileheads have released another 7" (which was good too) along with this one. this one was released in 2010 on both Sorry State (USA) and Adult Crash (i think Denmark). they just released a 12" and i've heard a few tracks from it, they sound great. i'll have to buy that new 12" sometime. i just found a great blog about there band that the singer updates. THIS is the link. you can buy stuff from them including some sweet looking shirts.

a-side

1. catch 22 5/5 (great song, come out flying.)

2. kill for peace 3/5 (a bit slower.)

b-side

1. down again 5/5 (builds, then goes nuts.)

2. no salvation 5/5 (great vocals.)

overall: 8/10 strongly recommended

buy it from Sorry State (link above).

(((DOWNLOAD: MUSIC---SCANS)))