2 more top tens off the list!

The Icarus Line - Mono



It has been a good week so far for me record-wise. 2 of my top 10 wants have arrived in the mail, and this is the first of the 2.



This is not the rarest of records out there, but it has taken me a fair few years to get a copy back into my collection. I actually didn't realise that it came on this colourway, as I had only ever seen it on Red or Black. I had it on Red when I owned it many many moons ago. I guess the people who actually liked the band hung on to what I would say is their best material.



I remember seeing this band about 8 years ago. They played to next to no one, and while I paid to go to the first show, it went so bad that pretty much anyone who wanted to got on the door list for the second show, just so the band didn't play to an empty room. Still didn't help much. I did meet Aaron North (of Buddyhead fame) at that show, and yeah, he was an asshole, but I was stoked, as it was exactly what I expected. I miss the wit of Buddyhead sometimes. They did that schtick well.



My wife has described the show as 40 mintes of outro music, and I reckon to an extent that that is the perfect description for this band. On a side note, my wife and I were both at the show, although we had not yet met.Another part to all of that, my long term girlfriend of the time met the drummer after the show, and turns out she was supposed to move to the US to be with him after we broke up, but he was a total weirdo and decided to drive trucks, so she hooked up with the gremlin looking bass player from The (International) Noise Conspiracy. I tell ya, my life has been filled with weird stuff like that...



Now, I f*cking loved The Icarus Line, and "Feed a Cat to your Cobra" is still one of my favourite songs, so getting this in the mail was an awesome day for me. I danced a jig. Yep, I danced in the post office.

Next up we have an LP that I have never actually seen a physical copy of: No Fun At All's - No Straight Angles.



This is the first international punk band I ever went and saw. They played an All Ages show at a place called The Central Club in Richmond, Victoria, and I remember it as I had never been to a proper punk show, and it was all so exciting. I had only heard some of the songs from NFAA on a mix tape a skater dude had given me at school (I used to be an avid rap/hip hop fan), and this was the fastest thing I had ever heard. Ever.



Piled on the train, keen to get there early to make sure I got in (I think the show was $8 or something crazy like that), and I was keen to check out some live bands, up nice and close, and not behind a barrier like when I went to see Smashing Pumpkins. Lining up, I met some cool kids, only 1 of which I still see regularly, and then got into this dirty, dingy club, that let kids smoke. Me and my newly cut off camo shorts were stoked. I also remember I had a Frenzal Rhomb shirt, the biggest wallet chain I could find and a huge safety pin to make sure I didn't liose my wallet while stage diving.



The first band up was No Comply (I think), then One Inch Punch, then a very young Millencolin (yep, when Nikola was still tubby), and then No Fun At All.

Seriously, I don't think I have ever stage dived more than that day. Ohhh, maybe when I first saw Blink 182 play in a tiny little venue in Prahran.

This record brings me so many good memories, and it's still as fast as sh!t.

I got this cop through my sneaky little ways again (I haven't ever seen this on eBay to be honest), and it is so clean that I almost fell over when a dude at work picked it up and slipped the record out of the sleeve. Plays like a dream, and there is only 1 thing that bums me out on this one, no secret track of "What you say".

Can't win them all can we?

A New Rega P2 & Alkaline Trio...

It's been a long time between posts, and again I have no excuses. Living life the only way I can.

I spent the weekend away (Kinda on tour I guess you could say) playing some shows with my band in Queensland. It was a fucking awesome (albeit a very expensive weekend), and while the shows were ok, hanging with some awesome kids, and meeting some new ones, was the highlight. We ate great food, my guys drank a shitload and I drove them around trying to make sure we didn't get beaten up.

I was super glad to get home on Sunday to see my chick and the dogs. As I walked in the door, the Wife gave me a wrapped gift. It was an Ortofon 2M Blue Cartridge. I was stoked as I was going to order my Rega P2 online as I have been working overtime for a few weekends so that I could afford to buy a nice new record player, and a rad cartridge was an amazing present to be given.

I was super stoked, and got ready to make a cuppa, when she said she had a card from the place that she got the cart from, because they said they would set it up for free when I got my turntable. Instead of the card, she grabbed a big box with REGA printed on the top, and my night went from awesome to awesomer!



Seriously, Wifer knows me so well, and sussed out what I was after with my best mate Shane, and they pulled it all together.

Could you really ask for more in a woman?

I spent the day with her today, setting up the media area we have. Here is a pic of my new set up.



So, what to listen to on my new record player (I know of at least people who will call me a hypocrite for it not being Converge's Jane Doe)?



This is what I rolled with, and it is a record I have kept sealed for just an occasion such as this one. I had this record years ago, and it was even signed by Matt and Dan (I still kick myself for letting it go). I got it back at a fucking good price, (BIN on ebay for $69.99, which is half of what I bought it for the first time) AND it was sealed. I actually don't know why I didn't bust it open and listen to it, but I had planned for it to be my 100th post, but this seemed like the perfect time for me to open it.



I love this EP. It reminds me of so many things, including my story about meeting Matt Skiba, so it always makes me feel good. I still sing along at the top of my lungs on this one.





It does sound like they paid $300 to record it, but I really don't give a flying fuck.







And straight after that, I put on the preceding EP, For Your Lungs Only, which came in the mail this week.











I defs paid less for this than I was prepared too. A good result all round.

It's good to be back...

Ten Foot Pole - REV

There is something fantastic about crossing a major want/10 ten want off of your list.



To be honest, this was my Holy Grail. The one record I wanted so badly, but never seemed to be able to attain. I looked everywhere, but alas, it eluded me...



This has sat so high up on my list for so long, that I actually thought I'd never get it. It isn't a super rare record, but I have never seen it on eBay myself, and Epitaph had a bunch of old/dead stock up on the Store when the new store went live, I didn't know about it and never managed to get one.



And to be honest again (wow, twice in one post...) this is the first time I have ever listened to it on vinyl. It was almost all I hoped it to be. The reason I say almost is, It's a Monday night at 930 and I can't listen to it as loud as I want to, and I don't have my P2 yet...



For those not in the know, this is one of the greatest pop punk records released in the mid 90's in my opinion (and also one of the most under rated releases from the mid 90's Punk Scene). Released in 1994 on Epitaph, I first found this band on "Punk a Rama volume 1" with the song "My Wall", and from then on, I needed to track down this band. I got onto my local record store and picked it up on CD, and I was so stoked. From the artwork, to the sound (Over driven guitars, not heaps of distortion), to the awesomely fast songs. In 2000 the drummer in the band I was in then wanted to cover something off of this, and I am spewing it never came about. Even though I would have ruined it, it still would have been uber cool!



This is the second full length that the band release with Scott Radinsky, and, again in my opinion, they're best work. Scott was kicked out of the band in 1995/1996 due to his commitments playing Major League Baseball (Whitesox/Dodgers/Indians).

I never got to see Ten Foot Pole, although they did tour Australia with Satanic Surfers, but they had Dennis Jagard on vocals. I was more upset by missing Satanic Surfers to be honest. Although, when Scott came out with Pulley, my mate Melder took the Rev skate deck I have (My wife tee'd it all up, in one of the most lovely things anyone has ever done for me), and got Scott to sign it. It says " Craigos, Like The Sk8, Scott" I still need to get that one on the wall...





I was lucky enough to snag this little piece of my past, not by using eBay, but getting it off of another site. I kinda don't want to give away my secrets on this one, but it wasn't deadformat or vinyl collective, I can tell you that now. The guy who sold it to me was from the UK, and as you can see, this thing almost looks new. I mean shit, it even has the fucking sticker that came with it in there. This this is 16 years old!



I haven't been so stoked in a long time, and When I busted it out of the PO Box, I wanted to bail home and put it on straight away...

This album makes me remember High School. Some good times, a bunch of bad times, skipping school to go skating and heaps of good tunes.

Bring on summer so I can crank Ten Foot Pole, No Fun at All, Pennywise and Millencolin non stop!

Woo!