Great Cynics - Beach Access

This is a strange release. Specialist Subject sent it out free with orders a couple of years ago, and as a subscriber, I got a copy along with the Woahnows 7" they were putting out. I've been a fan of Great Cynics since I saw Giles play as Cynics supporting Walter Schreifels, so it was a nice addition. The song was a leftover from a recording session, and Specialist Subject decided to print it on clear green flexidisc, and not cut it - it's the only square record I have.

As you can imagine, it sounds like utter shit, but it's exactly the quality you'd expect from being pressed onto something not far from clingfilm or a carrier bag. That said, the shittiness adds a certain charm to the song - their best songs were always the slightly sloppy, beery, sing-along punk rock songs, and this is one of those. It's a fun song. Luckily, they also put it onto the end of year compilation, which is good because it's exactly the sort of record that gets lost in amongst records with actual sleeves, and I can't imagine the flexidisc standing up to many plays.

Format: 7", one-sided square flexidisc
Tracks: 1
Cost: Free new
Bought: Specialist Subject Records
When: 29/03/16
Colour: Transparent green
Etching: none
mp3s: None

Him - Buried Alive By Love

Him were always terrible; I knew that even when I bought this record, but when I was 16 I thought their logo was kinda cool, and so having it on a shaped picture disc was too good an opportunity to miss (plus, even the notion of a shaped picture disc seemed cool at the time). I think I also hoped that they'd end up being huge, and that a shaped picture disc of their logo would be worth something. That, obviously, didn't happen.

When I was 15 we went to see Alice Cooper for Hugh's 15th birthday. On the way in there was a person handing out promo cassettes (yes, cassettes) publicising Him's newest album, Razorblade Romance. It had snippets of four songs, including their cover of Chris Isaac's Wicked Game. I can't remember thinking much of the other songs, but I enjoyed the cover, having vague memories of the original. I'd also read a few bits about the band in Kerrang! Magazine and toyed with the idea of getting their album and becoming a fan. However, I never found a copy for a good price and quickly realised that they were probably shit, and that goth-rock wasn't a genre I wanted to be a part of. I dodged a bullet really.

However, in that short period of thinking they could be an interesting band, I did become quite fond of their logo, which adult-me knows to be thoroughly ridiculous. That, combined with the fact this record was only £1, made me decide to buy it. If, I reasoned, the music was terrible, it's not much to spend on an interesting shaped record purely the sake of looking at it. As it happened, the music was terrible, so I'm pleased it wasn't expensive. I've not spent that much time looking at it over the years, having filed it away it amongst my 10" records. The a-side has an objectionably catchy chorus, but the b-side is pure drivel.

Format: Shaped 7" picture disc

Tracks: 2

Cost: £1 new

Bought: HMV Winchester

When: 07/05/03

Colour: Picture disc

Etching: none

mp3s: no

Chuck Ragan - The Sawblade 7"

This is a nice looking record, so much so even Chuck himself agreed when he saw it. Last November Chuck Ragan played an in-store show at Banquet records in Kingston on a Tuesday lunchtime and, being a lazy student with nothing else to do, I jumped at the chance to see him play a tiny venue again. He played for 25 minutes and squeezed in some great songs (including an acoustic version of Drag My Body from the new Hot Water Music LP, which might be my favourite song on there). Banquet recorded the whole thing and you can watch it here. It was a very cool show indeed.

Afterwards, they explained that Chuck would be staying around for a bit to sign any records people wanted signed. I usually don't go for the whole autographed records things, but this is the man who wrote my second favourite album of all time so I decided I would get something signed and thank him for his great music. The problem however, was that I already had at home all of the Chuck/HWM albums Banquet had in stock and the only record I didn't already own was the slightly-more-expensive-than-I'd-have-liked-but-lovely-nonetheless Sawblade 7" which, as you can see, is in the shape of a circular sawblade with the outline of Florida and a hammer crossing it. It is a lovely looking record, and looks even nicer in white. I had been thinking about buying it for a while and figured today was as good a day as any. I'm always happy to spend my money at Banquet, especially when they put on incredible free live shows like that, and I figured I would have paid at least a fiver to see that, so maybe the cost of the record isn't that bad after all.

Anyway, Chuck signed the label (see the last picture) and was pretty impressed that Banquet had it in on white vinyl, we had a brief chat and I was off. He is a thoroughly lovely man. Musically it's very nice too, although Live by the Sword has already found its way into my record collection twice (here and here), so calling it "unreleased" is a bit of a stretch (although the recording is different here, and a nice one at that - the backing vocals give it a haunting feel). The other song Field Holler is another great Chuck song and would have sat on his last record perfectly.

All in all, a nice record with even nicer memories of a great gig.

Format: 7" shaped vinyl (12" across at its widest)

Tracks: 2

Cost: £11 new

Bought: Banquet Records

When: 13/11/12

Colour: White

Etching: none

mp3s: no

Billy Talent - Devil in the Midnight Mass

Billy Talent aren't the coolest band (unless you're German, they love 'em) but they had some catchy tunes and this record is quite fun. I found this in the massive Virgin Megastore in Paris whilst killing time and buying way more cds than I expected (their January sale was really quite incredible). It ended up being about £2, which is pretty good for a shaped vinyl. The main bit of this record is about 7"s across, hence why I'm including it today. Shaped records always seem like a throw-back from the 80's, which I guess is why no one does them anymore. I suppose they're expensive to make, but I reckon for the right bands kids will go mad for them (maybe they are still about, but I just don't see many of them these days).

The a-side is alright, their usual high-pitched shouty style. They had a handful of tunes and I bought their first album back in the day, but remember being disappointed by the non-singles. The b-side however, is much more enjoyable; they cover Ever Fallen in Love  by The Buzzcocks, and it works well. A straight-up cover, but his vocal goes quite well with it.

The hole in the center of the record is ever-so-slightly too small, making it a real hard effort to turn over. The moral might be to leave it on the second side and not bother, but then you might as well just listen to The Buzzcocks. A fun record, but rarely listened to and far from essential.


Format: 7" devil's-head-shaped vinyl
Tracks: 2
Cost: £2 new
Bought: Virgin, Paris
When: 10/01/07
Colour: Picture disc
Etching: no
mp3s: no