A World View on Hardcore

Ordering from Speedowax Records is very much like a box of chocolates - you never know what you're gonna get. Rich always hooks me up with a upgrade here and a rarer colour of vinyl there which always makes the Speedowax mail a nice surprise to look forward to.

World View - Face It

This was the record I was most interested in and the initial reason for my order. The blurb stated that this Aussie band sounded like Gorilla Biscuits, Down To Nothing and Have Heart so I knew I'd like this. The Gorilla Biscuits influence is very prominent but you won't hear me complaining about that and this is a superb record. I really wanna hear more from World View. Speedowax seem to have uncovered a load of great bands over the last few years and this is yet another.

When I came to order this I believe there were only the standard cover versions left but low and behold a record release cover version came through with a note from Rich saying he'd found one. Out of 50 on black.

Point Blank - Life Crisis

Point Blank sound like the kind of angry young men you wouldn't want to meet in a dark alley. Heavy, thrashy stuff with harsh vocals, musically in the vein of say Terror but with a pitbull singing for them. When they get it all to click like on the track Cold Embers it's pretty good.

This is the gold vinyl version out of 150 copies.

Spirits / Tomar Control - Split

You might remember i'd been keen to hear Spirits on their last Speedowax outing but they hadn't quite hit the mark with me on that release. This, on the other hand is much better and alot more focused and I really enjoyed the tracks on offer here. The band even throw in a cheeky Cranberries cover which I liked.

Tomar Control are an all female band from Peru. It's fairly mental but worth a listen. This was the slush puppy blue vinyl version of the release of 165 copies.

Mind Control/Hardout -From The Alleys To The Valleys

UKHC split from two bands I hadn't heard before. Both bands are pretty good and whilst both in the same Youth Crew genre they sound quite different. Mind Control in particular I found myself really liking.

Love those centre labels. This is the Violet colour version.

Unforce - Keep On Struggling

I'd been meaning to check this out for a while and I'm glad I waited as whilst I'd ordered a normal version of the record it was this test press numbered 19/20 that came through. Nice!

Unforce are from the Phillipines and play good if not fairly bog standard straight-edge hardcore. One label and in just a few records we've been to Australia via Peru to the UK over to the Phillipines and then to the States. Brilliant!!

Get A Spirit

This dropped through the mailbox the other day and once again I scratch my head as to why Speedowax Records aren't the biggest record label in the hardcore and heavy music world.

Get A Grip/Spirits - S/T

So as they are billed first let's start with the Get A Grip side of this 7" release. Yes, yes and yes!!! That's all I can say really, fast frantic short blasts of hardcore just how I like it. One of the bands listed in their description on the Speedowax site was Outbreak and I can definately hear that. This whizzed by in what seemed like seconds and I was absolutely left wanting more.

I'd been wanting to hear Spirits for a while as they have been creating a bit of a buzz and have featured on a few blogs I read with strong praise. When the first track hits I can definately see why, melodic hardcore with the right mix of singing and shouting, very good indeed. The following tracks I'm not quite as enamored with though, the second track was fairly bog standard stuff and the third track a moody sung affair just doesn't do it for me. I have a sneaky feeling these tracks might have come from when the band were finding their sound and the later stuff is more in keeping with the first track or maybe the tracks make more sense in context of a LP or live show but for me it kinda sounded like three different bands. If the rest of their stuff is like the first track though then I'm definately in.

This record is on 'Skittles' vinyl out of 125. There's also another 125 on 'honey' vinyl.