The Bouncing Souls + Hot Water Music - Split

If I had to pick my favourite Bouncing Souls song, I'd almost certainly say True Believers and, depending on the day, there's a good chance I'd pick Wayfarer as my favourite HWM song. Those two reasons make this split very exciting: the two bands covering my favourite song of each other's. I missed the first press when Banquet got it in (I didn't have £6 to spend on a 7" at the time), but picked up one of the second press soon after it came out. It really is quite awesome.

Hearing Wayfarer without the gruff vocals is a bit odd at first, but that song is all about the "woah-oh-ohs" and The Bouncing Souls nail it (the first time I saw HWM was when I really discovered how awesome this song was, having foolishly neglected my copy of Caution a bit). I nearly get out of breathe listening to Chuck sing the opening to True Believers but love it almost as much as the original. Everything sounds slightly heavier and it works.

I've since seen both bands play the covers live (Bouncing Souls instore at Banquet, and HWM at Reading) which was also pretty special. The great thing about this split is that I imagine almost all fans of one band are fans of the other, so it's a real treat. The colour is pretty nice too.


Format: 7"
Tracks: 2
Cost: £6 new
Bought: Banquet
When: 18/03/11
Colour: Black and red splatter
Etching: no
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

The Arteries + The Cut Ups - Split

I only got round to buying this one a few weeks ago when The Arteries played El Paso before heading off on another US tour. I'd meant to buy it for a while; I think the fact it was always a fiver put me off a bit, but then it is five songs so you're not exactly getting screwed. I wish I had bought it sooner to be honest.

The Arteries songs both made it onto their second album (another reason I should have bought it sooner), but Mutual Friends is one of my favourites from Dead Sea so I don't mind. They're from a different recording session to the album, but sound pretty similar.

The Cut Ups side is where this record really shines though in my opinion. I'm a big fan of The Cut Ups and this is the only bit of their music I have on vinyl. I became friends with Rez when I was living in Cardiff and the Cut Ups played a bunch of times whilst I was there. Both their albums are incredible and, needless to say, I'm pretty excited for the third. All three of their songs here are great. They often get compared to Billy Bragg, and that comes across on Torches and Sainte Tomass (my favourite of the lot, a really brilliant song). Billy Ocean Blue is a lot more punk-rock and works well too.

The Cut Ups are finally playing London again soon (it has been ages since I last saw them now), so whilst I should've bought this record a while back, it has now whet my appetite for their return even more.


Format: 7", insert
Tracks: 5
Cost: £5 new
Bought: Gig
When: 15/05/12
Colour: Green
Etching: no
mp3s: download

The Arteries + OK Pilot + Brothers + Bangers - Brits Abroad

Brits Abroad was a four-way split that Specialist Subject put out when the four bands went over to Gainesville for Fest in 2009. I'm a fan of all four bands, although I'm not sure Brothers put out much other than this. All I really know about them is that Reza from the Cut Ups plays drums and I saw them once supporting Fucked Up in the Peel.

I think the OK Pilot song is my favourite of the four. Their 10" Nerves is very good too. The Arteries song still sounds like them, but comes across a lot more wild than anything else they've done. Bangers get quite a hook going in their few minutes and close it with a catchy chorus.

I downloaded this at the time with the intention of buying it sooner, but ended up putting it off until a while later when I did a huge order with Specialist Subject (a lot more of those records will appear on here today).


Format: 7"
Tracks: 4
Cost: £3.80 new
Bought: Specialist Subject Records
When: 31/08/11
Colour: black
Etching: no
mp3s: no

The Amistad + Above Them - Split

Ok, today I'm going to try and work through all the 7"s that I have at my house (a lot of my older ones are in storage for the moment). They're probably going to be shorter posts than usual. First up is the split by The Amistad and Above Them.

I don't know an awful lot about The Amistad. I've seen them at least once (recently with Bangers and The Dauntless Elite in the Cocks) but possibly again before that. I like these two songs, especially No Hope Radio, chuggy guitars and gruff vocals are always a winner in my book.

I'm a big fan of Above Them on the other hand and couldn't tell you how many times I've seen them now. They're always a good laugh and put on a good show. I'll rant more about them when I come to write about their albums. Nice guys with great songs, and these two are great examples.

I bought this record on my first ever trip to Banquet along with a whole bunch of other vinyl. It's always nice seeing records in there by bands who I consider friends alongside record by huge, famous bands. The blue vinyl is nice and the insert is covered in pictures from a drunken night in Swansea after Above Them played. All in all, everything you want from a 7": four cracking songs by two great bands and a nice attention to detail.


Format: 7", a4 insert
Tracks: 4
Cost: £4 new
Bought: Banquet
When: 18/01/10
Colour: Blue
Etching: no
mp3s: no

Milloy - More Than a Machine

When Milloy recently announced they were splitting up nearly every UK punk band tweeted about how upset they were, furthering my belief that Milloy were one of the most respected bands in the country. I was pretty late in finding out about them, and only saw them once. It was in Le Pub in Newport and everyone I knew was very excited about it (clue no.1 that they were well-loved). The show was really good, and I later picked up More Than a Machine in Damaged (coincidently, on the same trip as the afore mentioned Miracle of 86 cd). If you went into Damaged you pretty much had to buy something because Welly was such a friendly guy, and it felt awkward going in, browsing, chatting to him and then leaving. The internet tells me that this is one of 210 copies on red splatter vinyl.

The album basically justifies why everyone thought so highly of them - catchy songs, great riffs, everything you want from a punk-rock record. I'm worried tend to gush praise when I write about records on here, but this really is a very good album. Evil Knievel sets the scene for what's about to come nicely and 11 more awesome songs follow. My highlights are Blackjack (has a great little breakdown in the middle) and Mirror Signal Manoeuvre. The last two songs are  around the wrong way from the track-listing, which I assume isn't intentional.

Anyway, I guess all good things come to an end, and that goes for Milloy too. I'm pretty gutted that I'm missing their last London show soon, but it just increases the temptation to head up to Leeds for Out Of Spite for their last ever show. It's safe to say that everyone will be going mad for it.


Format: 12", picture sleeve
Tracks: 12
Cost: £8.50
Bought: Damaged, Cardiff
When: 28/03/09
Colour: Red splatter
Etching: none
mp3s: no

Cursive - Burst and Bloom

Despite already owning this on cd (a bargain in Fopp years ago), I bought the 12" on Saturday too. I'm increasingly unimpressed by cds and now that my record player is on my desk I no longer have to get up to turn records over. If I had the cash I would have all my music on vinyl.

Similarly to the Kevin Devine EP below this is an EP where the first song is up there amongst the best songs the artist has ever written. Sink to the Beat is definitely one of my favourite Cursive songs, but all five here are really strong. Burst and Bloom originally came out between, what are in my opinion, Cursive's best two albums, which might explain why it's so good. It's got the balls and riffs of Domestica but also the artiness and cynicism of The Ugly Organ (Sink to the Beat seems like a lyrical precursor to Art is Hard). Mothership... is an incredible song too.

I was slightly put off by the fact it was £12, but I'm sure it would've been even more in shops on Record Store Day itself. I think it might have even been a US only RSD release. Still, it's a great EP and pretty nice to have on vinyl. The colour is lovely, even if my colour-blind eyes can't quite make it out perfectly. The other thing that nearly put me off buying it was the prospect of keeping it safe for the rest of the night whilst I was out with my sister and her boyfriend. Luckily it survived and made it home without any damage, even with the odds of drunken Birmingham being stacked so high against it. Also, Cursive had been great that night and I wanted something to remind me of the gig.

Unlike the Kevin Devine EP, I would put this one pretty high up my list of Cursive recommendations - it's a really great record.


Format: 12", insert
Tracks: 5
Cost: £12 new
Bought: Gig
When: 09/06/12
Colour: Yellow marble
Etching: none
mp3s: download