Needles//Pins / Epic Problem - Split 7" - Purple Vinyl

All In Vinyl (2018)

This split 7" finishes up the current All In Vinyl subscription series.  It took a little longer to get everything out than previous volumes, but I sure could make an argument that it was their best series yet.  To me it's been worth the wait, especially when closing out with a split this strong.  This last 7" features a band I already know and love and another that I'm not particularly familiar with.  To me, that's always the mark of a great split 7".

I've been listening to Needles//Pins since their first album 12:34.  Watching their progression over the years has been nothing short of astounding.  That first record sounds like a 33 1/3 LP played back at 45 in comparison to their more recent releases.  This 7" is more akin to the band's recent album Good Night, Tomorrow.  Both of the songs on this split feature gruff vocals over a mid tempo, but still very powerful base of melodic punk rock.  The band really excels at this and their songs are significantly more dynamic than that first record.

Epic Problem is a band I'm not as familiar with for some reason, though for the life of me, I can't figure out why.  Their name was super familiar and looking online I see that they put out records on Brassneck and Rad Girlfriend, so I really couldn't say how I don't have any of their other records.  Honestly it makes no sense to the point where I went digging around in my 7" boxes to make sure I didn't have something hiding that I forgot about.  No dice. Hopefully the songs on this 7" are as good a place to start as anywhere else.  Both are the sort of UK working class punk rock that I think ultimately always spawns from Leatherface.  Epic Problem are a bit more straightforward, perhaps owing more to the No Idea lineage of the sound.  Both songs are top notch and a nice companion to the two Needles//Pins songs on the flip side.

Needles//Pins / Epic Problem - Split 7"
https://allinvinyl.bandcamp.com/album/split-7-21

New Junk City / Hot Mass - Split 7" - Orange Vinyl

All In Vinyl (2018)

I have to admit, it's been so long since I got a new split 7" from the All In Vinyl singles club, I forgot it was still going on.  When I first started seeing pictures of this record online I thought that they had started up a new year that I hadn't signed up for yet.  Then I realized that this was part of the club I had already subscribed to.  And there's still one more 7" to go.  Good times.

New Junk City is a band that I was blown away by from a 7" randomly sent to me to review in 2016.  I was so into that record, but they completely fell off of my radar again.  This split is a nice reminder that they're still out there.  The songs are somewhat ramshackle in construction, with everything sounding kind of loose, but at the same time loud and exciting.  The guitars are perfectly blown out and fuzzy and the vocals are raw, but still maintain solid melodies.  Both of their songs on this 7" are crunchy and catchy and great.  I want to hear more by these guys and I really need to pick up their first EP that I see on their Bandcamp page.

Hot Mass is another band I wrote about in 2016 when their phenomenal album Nervous Tensions came out. It seems inconceivable to me that was nearly two years ago, but those are the trappings of growing old I guess.  In those two years, it appears that Hot Mass have gotten even better than they were.  The first song on this split is a short, catchy blast of punk rock, but it's the second song "Flatman" that is a real world beater.  It's probably the best song they've released so far and it's just a perfect mix of jagged UK punk pop, with dynamic transitions and a most excellent breakdown towards the end.  Hot Mass still remind me of Rumspringer, but with that extra little bit of aggression that make them stand out.

This really is a hell of a split 7".  Highly, highly recommended.

New Junk City / Hot Mass - Split 7":

https://allinvinyl.bandcamp.com/album/split-7-20

Zapiain - Giantnormous LP - Blue Vinyl

All In Vinyl / Bombed Out (2017)

From the very second album opener "My New Home" starts off, it's immediately apparent that Giantnormous is going to be my kind of album.  I could really use one too as 2017 has been stultifyingly mediocre over all for new records.  I'm not saying there hasn't been anything worthwhile, but as a whole we're way behind on the amount of good records that have been released at this point in the year than I can recall in a very long time.  Luckily Giantnormous shakes things up a bit.

Zapiain is plying the trade of my UK punk rock heroes.  A little Hooton 3 Car mixed in with some Leatherface and maybe just a bit of the Great St. Louis join together into a potent blast of melodic rock and roll.  Each of the albums first four songs blast forward with a scorched earth guitar blast tempered ever so slightly by the sheer amount of toe tapping hooks crammed into every chorus.  Once we get to "Shotgun," the band takes it down a notch showing a mastery of a slower tempo song similar to how Broccoli was able to do with one of their masterpieces "Defence."

From there Giantnormous just keeps rolling along and building momentum.  It's absolutely my kind of punk rock and I couldn't be more thrilled that it was sent over to me to check out.  The best part is that it's the band's second album, so now I have an older album to go hunt down.  It's worth your time to listen.

Zapiain - Giantnormous:

https://bombedout.bandcamp.com/album/giantnormous

Boilerman - Doing Great 7"

86'd / All In Vinyl (2015)

This 7" sort got lost in the shuffle with some other records sent to me for review.  It may sound silly, but my record piles still feel pretty disheveled since my Japan trip.  It sort of feels like I'll never be able to catch up.  I will try however, so today let's talk about this Boilerman 7".

I've reviewed two other Boilerman releases, though this 7" seems to be older than the other two.  I've said a few times that Boilerman is a band that's trying to mask their catchy hooks in some fuzzy yelling.  The three songs on this 7" are much more straightforward and I may actually like them the most of anything I've heard from the band.

Sure, things get a little crazy about halfway through "Doing Great," but that's only after the band has established a nice little guitar riff into palm mute verse with vocals that reming me a bit of middle era Plow United.  "We're The Worst" is a crunchy blast of guitars and even their Warren Zevon cover of "The Factory" hits all the right notes.  Boilerman are a consistently good band to check out, especially if you're in the mood for something a little louder.

Boilerman - Doing Great 7":

https://86drec.bandcamp.com/album/doing-great

The Creeps / The No Marks - Split 7" - Green Vinyl (/300)

All In Vinyl (2016)

Even if I had never heard of any band in the All In Vinyl singles series this year, I would have bought the entire series based purely off of this one 7".  Sure, you could also just buy it separately, but in my mind, anyone smart enough to release a split like this probably has their act together and is going to provide more gems than just this.

We'll start off with The Creeps; another in a long line of great Canadian bands.  They've taken a slightly darker view of popped out punk.  Not as goofy haunted house as say The Hex Dispensers, but The Creeps have a gloomy vibe that comes through again on these two songs.  I find it impossible to write about this band without saying how much I think the singer reminds me of the guy from that old UK band Reverse, but I say it as a complement. Reverse were great and so are The Creeps.

On the flip side are two new songs by The No Marks.  Along with Chestnut Road, The No Marks are just about my favorite band playing the sort of melodic punk rock that was so tied to the mid nineties UK scene.  If you want to try to describe a certain sound that I'm most drawn to as a music fan, this is pretty much it.  Their side of the split offers two more outstanding songs.  Catchy in all the right places with the sort of hooky choruses that I always go crazy for.  Think the poppier side of Leatherface, Hooton 3 Car or the slower moments of Chopper.  The No Marks are simply one of the best.

The Creeps / The No Marks - Split 7":

https://allinvinyl.bandcamp.com/album/split-7-18

Dead Bars / The Kimberly Steaks - Split 7" Cream Vinyl (/300)

<

All In Vinyl (2013)

More singles club action from All In Vinyl, the last label standing with a good singles club worth subscribing to.  Step it up, other labels.  This 7" is a prime example of why I like singles clubs so much, it's giving me the chance to listen to two bands that I've never even heard of before, chosen by a label whose taste in music I trust.  Even though I'll admit that I don't love either of these bands, they're still both pretty good and I might not have ever listened to them if not for the club.

I'll start off with Dead Bars.  They're from Seattle and as soon as I heard them I though that they sounded like the kind of band that would fit in on No Idea records.  Then I found out they already have a 7" on No Idea so I guess I was right about that.  They have something of a Dear Landlord vibe to them with lots of fast guitar rhythms and some catchy choruses.  The vocals are a little too crackly and shouty for my person taste, but it's pretty alright.

On the other side we have The Kimberly Steaks.  They hail from Glasgow and are playing a much different kind of punk rock than Dead Bars.  They are also rooted in fast guitars and hooks, but they remind me much more of bands like Fear Of Lipstick, a little more Ramones and a little less gruffness in the vocals.  Both songs just go whizzing by pretty fast, but they're catchy and a fun listen.  Neither band is the reason I signed up for the singles club, but both remind me why I like to sign up for clubs like this.

Dead Bars / The Kimberly Steaks - Split 7":

https://allinvinyl.bandcamp.com/album/split-7-19

Hot Mass - Nervous Tensions LP - Coke Bottle Clear Vinyl

Brassneck / Waterslide / All In Vinyl (2016)

There was a time where I felt that every single band coming out of the UK was untouchable.  So many great bands for so many years.  Then things seemed to start quieting down over there.  At least to me, it seemed like there weren't anywhere near the amount of killer bands as there once was.  Over the recent years the pendulum is starting to swing back in the other direction and a new band that I like is popping up all of the time. The most recent of these bands is Hot Mass.

They're boasting a pedigree of 'ex members of' when you read the descriptions of Nervous Tensions, but I have to admit that I never really was a huge fan of any of their other bands like The Arteries.  Hot Mass, on the other hand, is a band I have become an instant fan of.  They're capturing a whirlwind of noisy punk energy and forcing it into catchy pop nuggets.  I'm reminded a lot of the band Rumspringer, but with about 37% more chaos in each song.  Early Spraynard might be another touchstone, but Hot Mass exceeds anything and everything that Spraynard ever put out.

Do you like your punk rock catchy, but rough around the edges?  Do you want a vocalist that's shredding his vocal chords, but doing so in a melodic way that doesn't involve unnecessary screaming?  Do you want super dynamic guitar work and big anthemic choruses?  If you answered yes to any of these, you should probably check out this Hot Mass album.  It'll scratch all of those itches

Hot Mass - Nervous Tensions:

https://brassneckrecords.bandcamp.com/album/hot-mass-nervous-tensions

Boilerman - Feel Ways About Stuff LP

86'd / All In Vinyl / Sad Punk / Waterslide (2016)

I've been lucky enough to have some familiarity with Boilerman prior to this album, though that's 100% because of this website and kind folks providing me with their records.  I'm appreciative of it, because I don't really think I would have given Boilerman much attention if left to my own devices.

Here's the thing with Boilerman, they're a really catchy band masquerading as a hardcore band.  If you casually jump through the songs on this record, you're mostly just going to hear loud, fast guitars and a singer with strep throat shouting incoherently.  However, if you really spend some time listening to everything you'll see the way the riffs are laid out and how the hooks are packed in just below the chaos.  They always remind me a little bit of the sort of things you'd find on Lookout during their early, more adventurous days.

I always feel like Boilerman is right on the cusp of being the sort of band that's right up my alley.  If they could just put the hooks a little closer to the surface, we'd be in business.  Still, Feel Ways About Stuff is definitely worth checking out, particular if you're more into hardcore-ish stuff than I am.

Boilerman - Feel Ways About Stuff:

Future Virgins / Good Grief - Split 7" - Blue Vinyl (/300)

All In Vinyl (2015)

This is round two of the All In Vinyl subscription series.  This particular split pairs two bands that I see the names of quite often, but I've never really spent that much time with.  As a result I have to plead guilty to not really knowing very much about either, despite owning records by at least one of them.  I know that sounds kind of weird, but let's be honest.  With the amount of records I buy, there's going to be some 7"s that might not get played as often as I'd like.

I had a Future Virgins split 7" with Toys That Kill.  Toys That Kill were the band that drove that purchase, but I do remember thinking that Future Virgins were pretty good and worth diving further into their catalog.  I never really got around to that, so they are still pretty much a new band to me.  The two songs on this split are pretty good.  I enjoy the music side of their equation quite a bit.  It's straightforward and catchy with hooks in the right places.  I'm not digging the vocals as much.  We all know I like some raspy/gruff vocals, but it's taken a bit to far here.  The vocals sound strained and I kind of want to check to see if the singer needs a cough drop.  These songs are pretty good, but I'm not liking it as much as I would if the vocals were slightly more melodic.

Good Grief is another band that I've seen around when buying records.  I actually thought I had something else by them already, but I guess I never bought that split of theirs with BUZZorHOWL (or at least I can't find it right now).  Good Grief lean more towards the indie rock side of the punk rock spectrum.  The vocals are clean and there are some pretty stellar backing harmonies thrown in for good measure.  The vocals remind me of The Vacant Lot and that's never a bad thing.  There's a nice amount of fuzzy guitar and catchy riffs.   Honestly these two songs are great, I really should try to find more by these guys, but there seems to be another band called Good Grief that advertises themselves as classic rock...with an edge!  I'll figure it out eventually.

Future Virgins - "No Black Cars":

https://soundcloud.com/allinvinyl/no-black-cars-1

Good Grief - "I Don't Know What To Say":

https://soundcloud.com/allinvinyl/i-dont-know-what-to-say-1

Stay Clean Jolene / Does It Float - Split 7" - Red Vinyl (/300)

All In Vinyl (2015)

When done properly, I sure do love a good singles series.  While I've been a part of quite a few that fizzled out and disappeared into the night, All In Vinyl is still going strong with their singles club, which is entering its fourth year.  Once again, the quality of bands they've brought on board this year is pretty stellar.

Volume 1 starts off with Stay Clean Jolene, one of my current favorite punk rock bands from the UK.  Everything you would want from these guys are featured on their two songs.  Raspy, impassioned vocals over loud and brash guitar riffs.  They manage to straddle the divide between heart on your sleeve punk like Iron Chic (with those big, big sing along choruses) and the full throttle, driving style you've come to expect from bands like Leatherface.  I've yet to hear a Stay Clean Jolene song I haven't liked, and these two are no exception.

On the other side is Does It Float from Japan.  These guys fully encapsulate what I love about a good singles series.  I'd never heard of this band previously, but man these two songs just knocked my socks off. They could so easily fit in with the very best bands on Snuffy Smiles.  In particular, they really remind me of the slightly slower, more thoughtful Japanese punk of bands like Three Minute Movie or Lovemen.  Two absolutely spectacular songs.  If anyone can point me towards any more of their records, please get in touch.

Stay Clean Jolene - "Red Salt":

https://soundcloud.com/allinvinyl/red-salt-1

Does It Float - "Speak For My Secret":

https://soundcloud.com/allinvinyl/speak-for-my-secret-1

Science Police / Zatopeks - Split 7" - Clear Vinyl (/100)

All In Vinyl (2014)

This 7" wraps up the 3rd volume of the All In Vinyl split 7" Singles Series.  Since Art Of The Underground vanished into the night (with some unfulfilled subscriptions floating around out there I would think), All In Vinyl stands tall as the kings of the 7" subscription package.  They put out records by bands I like and they don't take my money and not give me records unlike some other singles clubs (cough, cough...Cowabunga Records).  I hope they are already making plans for their 4th series.

From the US we've got Science Police.  They're playing Ramones friendly pop-punk that's short, catchy and sprinkled with some keyboards.  Though I wish they'd invest in some longer songs, the 3 on this 7" are a pretty solid introduction to the band.  I know some of these guys were involved in The Steinways, so I'm sure that'll make some additional people check these guys out.

For me, the highlight is definitely the Zatopeks.  These UK based punkers contribute two stellar songs.  Their first track "Hang Up My Hat"is pretty straight up pop punk, fast paced and like Science Police, quite catchy.  However, when you get to their second song, "All My Dreams Are Borrowed" this band shines.  It's a bit more bouncy and mid-tempo, giving the band a chance to catch their breath and focus on some melodies.  But what seals it for me are the absolutely killer backing vocals that really elevate this song to be something special.  They should do whatever it takes to make those backing vocals a permanent part of the band.  Just a great, great song.

Science Police / Zatopeks - Split 7":
http://allinvinyl.bandcamp.com/album/split-7-13

Canadian Rifle / Zapiain - Split 7" - Blue Vinyl (/100)

Canadian Rifle / Zapiain - Split 7" - Blue Vinyl (/100), a photo by Tim PopKid on Flickr.

All In Vinyl (2013)

I'm not only a huge fan of singles series, but in particular I love All In Vinyl's version. It's rivaled only by the Art Of The Underground series (which I can't even remember the last time I got a record from that) and I've been a subscriber to every year so far.

That being said, I'm a little perplexed by this record. Canadian Rifle was a band I've heard of, but am now hearing their music for the first time. Over a swampy, sludgy storm of feedback & guitar the band wails out some of the most intense vocals I've ever heard, to the point where it's almost silly. The singer reminds me of the noises that the Balrog makes in Lord Of The Rings. It's definitely not for me.

But then there's the Zapiain side, which features crystal clear pop music. This band has a very mid 90's rock feel to them and the songs here remind me of the album Betty Pickup by Muzzle. I realize that's likely only a reference old people that once trolled around the CD used bins in the 90's will get, but it's pretty darn accurate. I really like this side of the 7" and for the life of me, I can't think of a more bizarre pairing.

Regardless, this record has provided me two great new songs and another band to keep track of, so as far as I'm concerned it's another success for All In Vinyl and for singles series in general. Keep them coming.

Canadian Rifle - Fire & Born:
soundcloud.com/allinvinyl/fire-born

Zapiain - Tou Always Said It Was:
soundcloud.com/allinvinyl/you-always-said-it-was