Miracle of 86 - Every Famous Last Word

There's a joke in Parks & Recreation that I always really liked - Ann makes a passing comment about Diddy being on Instagram and Mona-Lisa replies "How did I not know Diddy was on Instragram, you jagweeds?" - "Who are you yelling at?" - "The jagweeds"; the intonation on the last line is what really makes it (and doesn't remotely work in written form). A few months ago I found this reissue of Miracle of 86's incredible album Every Famous Last Word and I felt what Mona-Lisa was feeling - how did I not know this had been reissued? Why did no one tell me? Surely I follow all the right Twitter accounts to know about such things? Clearly not.

My introduction to Kevin Devine's music came about from two potentially related events - we saw Kevin supporting Lucero in Le Pub in Newport and at some point, a copy of this album appeared in our kitchen. I don't know which happened first - the Lucero gig was the same night as my work Christmas party and being sober felt like a distant memory at that point; similarly, the four of us were routinely adding cds to the collection in the kitchen - but I'm pretty sure it was a while before I made a connection between Miracle of 86 and Kevin Devine (we also had a copy of Circle Gets the Square, seemingly unrelated and equally vaguely-owned). Damaged Records in town always had copies of this and Circle amongst a collection of very cheap cds that often found their way in raffle prizes at charity gigs so that might be how we ended up with them.

What I do know is that on March 28th 2009 I bought a copy of this album on cd for £2 in Damaged (along with Milloy's excellent More Than a Machine), and already knew I was a big fan of the album; I was pleased to have my own copy. Nearly ten years have now passed and I still play it often; the title track has made it onto countless mixtapes and I play it to anyone who'll listen. In those years, I saw copies of the LP appear on eBay every now and again, but never bought one - they were often in the US (expensive postage) and in poor condition. The prices weren't horrifying though.

Fast-forward to ArcTanGent festival this year and my "jagweeds" moment. We were browsing the records in the Big Scary Monsters distro (a local label who have put out a lot of Kevin's albums over here and been very supportive of his music) and as I got to the back of the second box I saw this record and got very excited. I've browsed their online distro many times and never seen this on there, and had zero idea that it had been reissued. Part of me wondered if it was an original that had somehow been found stored away, but Sarah pointed out the Devinyl logo on the back, Kevin's new label, so I concluded it was a reissue. Either way, I was very happy with my purchase and rushed back to the car to store it away safely for the rest of the weekend.

A few years ago I saw Kevin Devine play an incredible acoustic solo set in Kingston's lovely All Saints' Church. Banquet had started putting on shows there around the time I left London but I was lucky to see a few shows there (the Survival Tour just before I left, the La Dispute show that ended up on the Tiny Dots LP and Kevin Devine). It's an incredible venue and shows there work really well. I travelled from Oxford for the Kevin Devine show because I knew it would be a special show. Anyway, at some point during the show he asked if there were any requests and the words "Every Famous Last Words" came out of my mouth before I even realised. He obliged and it was incredible. I'd seen him play it once before (in Birmingham supporting Cursive) but this time was perfect - the echo of the church adding so much as he screamed out the chorus. Between that and Brother's Blood I could have left happy.

There are other great moments throughout the album too - Southern States is a highlight, Knife has a great lead-up to the chorus and the duo of Nice Shirt, Salvador Dali and Keep on Charging the Enemy provide some great late-album energy. I love this album. I think in the right circles there are plenty of other people who love it too, but I also think that there are huge swathes of people who have never heard of the band, let alone heard the album and it's been a mission of the last ten years - and many years to come - to educate people otherwise. Progress is slow, but I'll get there.

Format: 12", picture sleeve 
Tracks: 12
Cost: £15 new
Bought: ArcTanGent festival
When: 17/08/18
Colour: Black
Etching: none
mp3s: Download code

Chillerton - Chillerton

Chillerton were one of the many bands that played a lot during the time I was living in Cardiff. I definitely saw them a number of times, but have few distinct memories of what they sounded like exactly. That's no slight on them - we saw a lot of hardcore/punk bands and they were one that I never spent the time to get into at the time; in hindsight, this was a mistake.

A few years later, they were playing the Deadpunk All-dayer in Bristol and lots of people were very excited about this. Their set was great and I struggled to remember why it was that I hadn't become a fan all those years beforehand; I probably had a bit of hardcore-fatigue around that time.

Since the band had long since broken up and were playing a one-off (I think) reunion show, they had this 7" and the cd version on their merch table for free - there was a box of each that had presumably been sat in someone's garage for years, neglected. Eager to give the record a good home, I picked up a copy (of each, not realising that the cd contained the same songs as it had different cover). The 7", as you can see, is a very nice clear with blue and red splatter.

I was pleasantly surprised when I played the records - the songs were catchy but still very heavy, and the mixture of male and female vocals on The Way She Types and Torque was refreshing (especially the way they were layered on the former). The whole EP is a bit rough around the edges, but I like it for that. I eventually bought the album, which made me further wish I'd spent more time getting into the band back in the day. Better late than never I suppose.

Format: 7"
Tracks: 5
Cost: £0 new
Bought: gig
When: 28/08/13
Colour: Clear with blue and red splatter
Etching: none
mp3s: no

Manic Street Preachers - Forever Delayed - The Greatest Hits

The Manics released their first Best-Of album in 2002 and I rushed out to buy a copy - I, of course, had all the albums long before that point but there were two new songs - the single, There By the Grace of God, and Door to the River - so it was always going to be an essential purchase. Plus, the cd came with a bonus disc of remixes which were mostly unexciting, but an essential part of the collection. About a month later I picked up the DVD in HMV for an expensive £18 (£16.20 after my student discount), but it had all their videos, a bunch of singles that didn't make it onto the 20-track album (the DVD has 30 songs, including both You Love Us versions), as well as videos for all the remixes. It pleased me that the videos were presented in chronological order.

Just a few months later, I found this double-LP copy in HMV in Bristol and quickly added it to my collection. I was in town for a university open day, but made the most of the day by trying to find as many record shops as I could. It was lucky timing finding this early in the day, given that I found a great record shop at the end of the day and ended up emptying my bank account there. I was gutted at the time to not get all the records I'd selected in that shop, but in hindsight I'd have been annoyed to have not bought this - I've not seen it since, until the morally-dubious Music On Vinyl reissues appeared recently (as it was, I had to leave without buying some Nine Inch Nails 12" singles, which would have been quite nice too. I'd found a copy of a Cave In record for Hugh that I'd promised to pick up for him - had I not been so nice I could be sitting here writing about those NIN singles now, but I think he was pretty happy with his LP; it's still one of the gems of his collection).

It was very exciting to get this LP back then - there are many songs that I didn't have on vinyl at the time, and it was the only outing of the two new songs (I still don't have Gold Against the Soul on vinyl, but both the songs here also found their way onto the National Treasures LP that was included with a copy of Q magazine). The records are thick so the songs sound excellent.

It goes without saying that the compilation is superb. I mean, the band have written so many incredible songs that it's pretty easy to find 20 excellent ones to group together. In places I might have chosen a few different songs, but I enjoy this selection very much. There By the Grace of God has aged much better than I expected - at the time I wasn't that fussed on it (but still bought both cd singles and the DVD single - there was a limited edition box sent out to fans that mine live in, although only two of the three really fit). Door to the River is a little weaker and saved by the high production quality (those strings) - it's the only flaw in the collection.

Can you imagine being able to start an album with two songs as strong as A Design For Life and Motorcycle Emptiness and still have enough huge songs to finish on The Everlasting and Motown Junk? I think for most bands such a strong set of songs would be unfathomable. I love that it starts with A Design For Life - I have so much time for that song - but I do find the transition from that into Motorcycle Emptiness a bit off. They almost feel too different, but on the other hand, that's one of the things that makes the Manics so special. Little Baby Nothing and Suicide is Painless are nice side 4 treats. It says something about the era this was released in that Gold Against the Soul has more songs here than The Holy Bible does - I don't think they'd snub that record in such a way these days.

The record is very nicely presented - as was the cd - as each record is in a picture sleeve with a quote for each song (as ever). On the back they list the UK chart position that each single reached. I doubt the singles charts mean what they did when I was a teenager anymore, but it says a lot that in 2002 it was worth printing those for all to see. You forget quite how many high-charting songs they had. As much as I remember A Design For Life being their break-through single, it only made it to number 2 - they didn't have a number 1 until If You Tolerate This Your Children Will Be Next, although I do remember that being huge at the time (a quick bit of research shows that A Design For Life was kept off the number 1 position by Mark Morrison's Return of the Mac, a song I remember vividly but had not thought about for over 20 years now).

Format: Double 12", picture sleeves
Tracks: 20
Cost: £11.70 new
Bought: HMV Bristol
When: 05/02/03
Colour: Black
Etching: none
mp3s: no

Poison the Well - Tear From the Red

There was a time, particularly around the summer of 2003, when Poison the Well were the coolest band you could like. They came out of nowhere (for me, at least) and by that summer, I remember nearly every hardcore kid at Reading Festival was wearing a PTW t-shirt. Their set was very early in the day and dangerously mental from start. I've never seen more people leaving a pit bloodied and beaten as I did that day.

I was introduced to Poison the Well, rather unexpectedly, by the singer of shitty nu-metal/punk band Amen; he'd curated a mixtape for Kerrang! Magazine to give away as a free cd - it had some surprisingly strong moments, including Turbonegro, Refused and The Birthday Party. He'd chosen the song Botchla, which opens up the band’s second album Tear From the Red. That song was huge - the gentle intro quickly gives way a brutal assault that dominates for the rest of the record. You could see why the band was so popular - songs like that were written for messy mosh pits.

I always felt little else on the album lived up to Botchla. When you only really have very heavy hardcore and the ability to occasionally put in a bit of singing/spoken word, there's not a great deal you can do. My main memories of the album are Botchla and that the song title Parks and What You Meant to Me was the most emo song title I could imagine. Moments Over Exaggerate is quite strong, and the following song, Horns and Tails, opens up Side 2 in a similar way to Side 1 - acoustic guitar and singing. It's strange though, without the hardcore parts, songs like that are just generic, acoustic emo, of which there was plenty at the time (and I imagine not what most fans were after - it's fine in the context of Botchla because it juxtaposes the hardcore). Karsey Street is differently out-of-place, sounding like a filler from an industrial album.

I found this LP in a record shop in Bristol, a few months after it came out. I was in town for an open day at the university and made the most of the time there by checking out the local record shops. I found the shop because they were playing some fairly heavy metal on speakers outside - it was basically beneath a roundabout, so I'd never have found it if not for that music. It's since closed (of course), but I got a good haul in there that day, including Lookinglasself by Snapcase, and a Cave In record for Hugh. I paid £9 for Tear From the Red, which I'm still happy with - a quick scan on Discogs shows that it still sells for more than twice that (although that is basically the price of a new LP these days, so maybe it's just inflation).

Format: 12", insert

Tracks: 10

Cost: £9 new

Bought: Bristol

When: 05/02/03

Colour: Transparent red

Etching: none

mp3s: no

Manic Street Preachers - Lifeblood

For years when I thought about the Manics discography I didn't really think about Lifeblood. It came out three years after the perfectly-fine-but-not-a-classic Know Your Enemy and three years before the attempt-at-a-return-to-form Send Away the Tigers; it makes for a fairly forgettable period in their past. Every band has to have a "worst" album and, for me, Lifeblood is that for the Manics. I suspect I'm not the only one - the cd version came with a flyer about the ten year anniversary release of The Holy Bible and here we are, ten years later again with a 20 year anniversary release of The Holy Bible due out soon and no mention of Lifeblood. The ten years have not been as favourable to it as they had to The Holy Bible.

But recently I have been thinking about Lifeblood more - the reason being that Futurology, the Manics' latest album and the one hailed as one of their recent finest, came out this year and it reminds me of Lifeblood in many ways. When I first heard Futurology my initial thought was that they'd finally done Lifeblood right - those Euro-pop moments were back ten years after they last tried but this time it worked. They proved that they could be different (in a Manics way) but not sound watered down. They sound more comfortable in doing what they want to do and less over-produced than they did on Lifeblood, and it works wonders. Personally, I still think Rewind the Film is by far their greatest recent album and Futurology doesn't quite compare, but I wonder how I'll feel in another ten years.

But back to Lifeblood. It's not a terrible album (despite all I've said) but is just too smooth and bland to be memorable or to be the sort of album the Manics should have made. On the other hand, it has some incredible pop moments and 1985, Empty Souls, and A Song for Departure are all very enjoyable songs. I'd love to hear those songs as 2014 Manics songs rather than 2004 Manics songs. But the lows are pretty low - I remember during the "Singles" show at the O2 Arena James commenting after The Love of Richard Nixon "You still don't like that one then?" (or something to that extent). The other highlight was always the closer, Cardiff Afterlife, which I guess is the only Lifeblood song I ever really thought much about afterwards, mostly because I ended up moving to Cardiff and getting to know the city well.

As with every Manics album since This is My Truth..., I bought Lifeblood the day it came out. A month later I was in Bristol visiting a friend and found this vinyl copy in the HMV there. I think I already knew it wasn't going to be a classic Manics album, but the collector of me was still interested. It's quite a nice little package, especially since new LPs weren't that common at the time. I'm glad I bought it back then because, sadly, I'm not so sure I'd bother these days.

Format: 12", picture sleeve, 12x12" booklet
Tracks: 12
Cost: £12 new
Bought: HMV Bristol
When: 10/12/04
Colour: Black
Etching: none
mp3s: no

Minor Threat - Minor Threat

I think we all have a copy of this record. It almost reminds me of that scene in Wayne's World 2 when Cassandra shows Wayne a copy of Frampton Comes Alive - "Exqueese me? Have I seen this one before? Frampton Comes Alive? Everybody in the world has Frampton Comes Alive. If you lived in the suburbs you were issued it. It came in the mail with samples of Tide". Maybe not quite, but as hardcore records goes, it's pretty much standard-issue.

The first time I heard Minor Threat was in the form of Silverchair covering Minor Threat as the b-side to some Freak Show-era single. I knew the name somehow but I enjoyed what I heard. As a statement about the band, that minute and a half song summed everything up pretty well. Except people did pay "mind" to them, and 30 years later they still are doing so. I love how the song almost downplays their role, especially looking back on it now. A year and a bit later, I picked up the First Demo Tape cd in my local HMV and had the chance to properly listen to Minor Threat by the way of eight cheaply recorded songs. It was pretty exciting stuff back then. A year or so after that, I found this copy of Minor Threat for £5 in Replay Records in Bristol (along with this copy of Screaming Life by Soundgarden). Even though I had most of the songs, I wanted to have them on vinyl and I was keen to hear a few more. Plus, I knew it was a classic before I even played it.

What's to say about the songs? Well, almost certainly nothing that hasn't been said before. Straight Edge is probably the simplest answer to the question "what does straight edge mean?", I Don't Wanna Hear It and Small Man, Big Mouth are classics of the genre. Despite knowing full well the story behind Guilty of Being White and that Minor Threat aren't in the slightest bit racist, I still can't help but feel a little awkward listening to it. I love Steppin' Stone for it's beat and terrible recording. They're not easy-listening songs, and probably sound horrible to people who don't enjoy heavy music, but I wish everyone could appreciate them for at least the piece of history that they are.

To finish I should mention In My Eyes, which always struck me the hardest out of all the songs here. When Ian sings (or screams) "What the fuck have you done?" I can't help but feel that he's aiming that sentence directly at me and I'm left thinking "well, what the fuck have I done?". It's even more soul-destroying coming from a cornerstone of the DIY punk world. I can't be the only one either. I wonder how many people he's broken over the last 30 years with just that one line? I love that a record can have that effect.

Format: 12", 11x22" insert
Tracks: 12
Cost: £5 second hand
Bought: Replay Records, Bristol
When: 10/12/04
Colour: Black
Etching: Side A: "Down and out, up and over..." Side B: "Over and over, over and out"
mp3s: no

Skindred - Target / Brainkilla

When I started listening to Dub War, they'd long broken up. However, a short while later we heard news that the singer had started a new band called Skindred and were pretty keen to check them out. It was certainly the closest we'd get to new Dub War. These two songs appeared on the internet and we enjoyed them; Skindred were heavier than Dub War, but that worked for us. A bit later their debut album, Babylon, came out and I enjoyed it for a while.

A few months later, I was in Bristol for a university open day and found a very cool record shop in the alleyways of an underpass (I was in Bristol this Monday and I think found where it used to be - it was already closed the second time I visited Bristol). In there I found this copy of the first record Skindred put out, containing the two songs we'd listened to online. The 10" was limited to 300 copies, and they'd all gone by the time the news reached us, so I was pretty pleased to find it that day. Annoyingly, my fingerprints seem permanently smeared on the label. I must have had greasy hands that day.

Both Target and Brainkilla start with such a noise that I'm never sure I've got the record at the right speed. They're both catchy songs but, sadly, also the best Skindred songs I've heard (although they've released another three albums since Babylon, but I'm pretty sure I won't get much out of them now). If Dreams and Illusions was where Dub War was going, these two songs feel like a step back before Dub Warning.

I didn't know it when I started Dub War Week last week that on Saturday I'd end up going to see Skindred. My friend and I made a last-minute trip to Leeds Festival, and I thought it would be rude to not see Skindred. To my surprise, the set still contained a bunch of early songs I knew, and it was funny to see Benji on such a big stage - the times we saw Skindred back in the day he was confined to The Joiners and The Nexus in Southampton (a conversation the other day reminded me that after the Joiners show, we met Benji and he gave us all beers from the tour bus. Nice guy. None of us had a bottle opener though, and I remember prying mine open on a metal fence. I kept the bottle for years before deciding it was a silly thing to keep!). I can't say Skindred were the best band I saw on Saturday, and I wonder what I would have thought of them if I hadn't spent those years listening to Dub War, but it was nice to see them.

Format: 10", diecut sleeve
Tracks: 2
Cost: £3 second hand
Bought: Bristol
When: 05/02/03
Colour: Black
Etching: none
mp3s: no

Hell is For Heroes - Kamichi

Unlike the last single, I remember distinctly buying this record. I'd just finished for Christmas in my second year of University and had gone home via Bristol to visit my friend Nick. He still had a day of term left, so during the afternoon I went into town to see what I could find in Bristol's many (at the time) record shops. I'd applied to Bristol myself the year before and spent most of the open day browsing records. I always get lost in Bristol (even now with a smartphone) but had found Replay Records and bought a Minor Threat record and Screaming Life by Soundgarden. I also found my way into a Virgin Megastore and saw a couple of copies of this on the shelf. I was entirely unaware that Hell is For Heroes had a new album coming, so very excitedly bought a copy (even more-so as it was hand-numbered) . Of course, my record player was in Lancaster so I had to wait until January to play it.

The a-side would become the opener for their second album, Transmit Disrupt, and was a pretty good tune, although not as instantly memorable as the singles that had come before it. Road to Xanadu on the b-side was much more scatty than other other song I've ever heard by them, but still a good listen.


Format: 7", numbered (681/750)
Tracks: 2
Cost: £2 new
Bought: Virgin Bristol
When: 10/12/04
Colour: Black
Etching: none
mp3s: no

Soundgarden - Screaming Life EP

Soundgarden's reunion has been a slow one. When they announced it on New Year's day a year and a half ago I was very excited. I'd long been a fan and figured I'd never get to see them (Chris Cornell playing a few Soundgarden songs during Audioslave's set at Roskilde didn't quite cut it). But nothing happened. For ages. Then they finally announced a UK show at Hard Rock Calling in Hyde Park in July. I wanted to go, but somehow not quite £55-wanted-to-go. However, it looks like sales have been poor and they're now going for £20, so I bought some and have been mostly listening to Soundgarden since. A week and a half to go!

(I realise how it sounds - not wanting to pay £55 after claiming to be a "big fan", but there are many other factors to play: I'd like to see them in a smaller venue than Hyde Park, the rest of the line up looked a bit rubbish (except The Mars Volta), and £55 is a lot of money.)

Anyway, the Screaming Life EP is a classic bit of Soundgarden. Their first few releases always sound much less grunge to me than the later stuff, but it's all good really. The very first time I heard Soundgarden was a 30-second clip of Nothing to Say on Encarta when my parents bought our second-ever PC. Encarta was Wikipedia on a dvd before Wikipedia made it redundant, and the Grunge article told me about all these great bands and played me one of my favourite Soundgarden songs. Someone working for them must have been a fan of Nothing to Say for it to be chosen over all the other possibilities. Thank you Encarta employee, Pearl Jam or Nirvana may not have led me to such great music. Sometime later I remember Mary Ann Hobbs playing Black Hole Sun and I gradually bought all their albums.

I had Screaming Life/Fopp on cd but found this in Replay Records in Bristol, a shop I probably wouldn't be able to find again (I always get lost in Bristol) and have no idea if it still exists. I'm guessing it's a reissue since it was cheap, in mint condition, but most of all because it has "subpop.com" printed on the back, which I'm pretty sure didn't exist in 1987.

It really is a great EP. Hunted Down, Entering and Nothing to Say are some of my favourite Soundgarden songs, especially of the early era. Chris Cornell's voice has always been one of the best in rock music (his solo career has been embarrassing at times, but that Bond theme was pretty good). I'm also a fan cool live photos for album sleeves and this one has a good one back and front. All in all, a record I'm very pleased to have in my collection.


Format: 12"
Tracks: 6
Cost: £8 new
Bought: Replay Records, Bristol
When: 10/12/04
Colour: Black
Etching: none
mp3s: no