It’s rare to find good and cheap hardcore records that you meant to pick up when they were released, but just never got around to it. This past weekend, I found three. Well, two, but a third came along for the ride.
In 1998ish (right?) everybody and their mom was into the Excursion Records comp. Half of it was sort of pop punk, while the other half was screamy hardcore. One of my favorite bands on it was State Route 522. Ryan and I were just talking about them (and the comp), so it was with great joy that I found their 7″ at this used record market run by Sonic Boom (kind of) in the otherwise wretched Capital Hill neighborhood.
Right after finding that (and doing a silent little dance), I found a handful of I Hate Myself records. I Hate Myself was a super screamy band from Florida or something. Their first 12″ blew everyone away. Everyone. It was impassioned and brutal. Over the years, I’ve acquired what I thought was the rest of their discography (except for the Strikeforce Diablo split!). That is, until I found their three song 12″ from 2005. I had no idea at all they were still around in 2005 – nine years after their first release.
This one is a bit more mellow. It’s less screamy, but every bit as inspirational. I kind of love it.
The last thing I saw was… well, it made my day. My weekend, probably. In the hardcore scene, there are only a few people who attain demigod status. We’ve had our Ray Cappos, Porcells and Kevin Doss’s, but in with all of those is Mike Kirsch. He was in more bands than you can shake a stick at. Fuel (the good one), Fifteen, Navio Forge, John Henry West, Torches to Rome, and slews more. In 2000ish, maybe 2001ish, he played in the band Please Inform the Captain this is a Hijack.
With PICTIH, they combined solid hardcore with samples and funk (well, funk samples). It was a perfect blend and it quickly became one of my favorite records. Except that I never had a chance to get it on vinyl. I gave up, honestly. Most copies I’ve seen go for $30ish. That’s way too much and it deserves to be repressed a billion times over. So when I saw the album, I didn’t really think much about it. It was so far off my “must have” list that I didn’t even recognize it.
Honestly, when I saw the title, my mind switched it to another band – Plot to Blow Up the Eiffel Tower. A similarly named and somewhat similar sounding band. I like them well enough, but possibly not enough to pick them up on my budget.
I carried it around for awhile figuring that I would just put it back. But then, after about ten minutes, it dawned on me. “Wait!” I thought. “Is this….?” Oh.. oh it was. And for $10! I was even more stoked than I thought I’d be! Huzzah!
So it was a great day full of three great finds. I’m rather thrilled! Cap Hill, you ARE good for something.
Those are some killer finds. I feel like good records are popping up now and again recently. Is it possible that we have reached an age where the good bands are getting sold back? Have we reached the Rolling Stones Point of our generation?