Face to Face / Rise Against Split 7 inch

Release Date: May 10, 2011

Rise Against and Face to Face cover one another's songs with Rise Against performing "Blind" and Face to Face performing "The Good Left Undone."  

1st pressing limited edition of RANDOMLY selected colored vinyl.

500 white vinyl 
1000 oxblood vinyl 
1500 yellow vinyl 
2000 clear vinyl

Saying Farewell...

"...our purpose as spiritual beings is to follow our bliss, seek our passions, and live our lives as inspirations to each other. Everything else flows from that. When we find inspiration, we need to take action for ourselves and for our communities. Even if it means making a hard choice, or cutting out something and leaving it in your past.

Saying farewell is also a bold and powerful beginning."

-Aron Ralston

Rise Against - End Game - Limited First Press - Orange Vinyl /500

Today I'm going to be starting a new column of album/vinyl reviews. I figure I might as well make some use of all these records laying around rather than allowing them to collect dust between rotations on the turntable.

Rise Against recently released their new album "Endgame" on 500 copies of orange marble vinyl, 1,000 copies on clear vinyl and the rest on black vinyl. All 500 of the limited orange marble vinyl are SOLD OUT (but one copy is available here: (RISE AGAINST - ENDGAME - ORANGE MARBLE VINYL 1/500 - NEW/SEALED). 

I must admit, I was never a huge fan of Rise Against, but they continue to climb their way into my regular rotation more and more as the years go by. I remember hearing songs such as "Give It All" and "Join The Ranks" on various samplers such as Rock Against Bush, Vol. 1 and Fat Music, Vol. 6: Uncontrollable Fatulence [Vinyl] which drove me to purchase Siren Song of the Counter-Culture. A year or two down the line I found myself picking up Sufferer & The Witness (explicit) and Appeal To Reason both on vinyl. If only I had picked up Siren Songs on vinyl... I would kill for that one now.

Review:

Love them or hate them, Rise Against is making music with a powerful message. This isn't some mindless club music which serves as nothing more than something to "shake your booty" to. These guys want you to THINK critically for a moment about REAL WORLD issues. 

Of course many of you have probably heard the new single, "Help Is On The Way" which is definitely one of the top tracks on the album. Upon first listen, with the title line ("help is on the way") ringing in my ears, I had images conjured in my head of paramedics/firefighters etc... listening to the song on their radio's while responding to some noble call. As I heard the song more often and the lyrics became clearer to me, I realized this is a song about the New Orleans area ("crescent city") and the disasters such as Hurricane Katrina and the BP Oil Spill crisis that have affected them.

"five thousand feet below
as black smoke engulfs the sky
the ocean floor explodes
11 mothers cry"

The first three lines are self-explanatory. 11 mothers cry refers to the 11 people that died in the explosion. 

"choking on the black gold
upon which we here rely
we keep axes in the attics
to see cameras in the sky"

Black gold = oil aka "Texas Tea." The line about axes in the attic confused me at first, until I discovered this interesting tidbit from a poster on one of my favorite websites, SongMeanings.com:

"I'm a New Orleans native and I know a lot of people who keep an ax in their attic in case of rising water. People take refuge in the attic and then if the water keeps rising they get trapped. Folks are advised to keep an ax in the attic so they can break through the roof. Except when Katrina hit, those who broke through their roofs saw only the "cameras in the sky" on news helicopters and still had to wait for rescue."

The sad fact of the matter is, media does very little to actually help with disaster situations. Sure, they tell us that one happened and show us a LIMITED scope of the damages, but they tend to focus on areas that garner a monetary interest. A few people MIGHT care that some low income apartments got destroyed, but watch that mansion start to slide down a hill and suddenly we have a HUGE FUCKING STORY. This is a concept discussed thoroughly in Natural Hazards related courses in college. One thing people tend to forget is that media is a business and businesses operate off of a bottom line: profits. In order for a business to earn profits they need to SELL something. In the case of media, that "something" is a story.

The band released a video for the song not long ago and elected to keep the band members out of it because they felt that including themselves in the scenes would distract from the message of the song/video. Bravo to them for doing so. 

You can watch the video here:

"Help is on the Way" is followed by another amazing song with a loud and clear message, "Make It Stop (September's Children)." 

"the cold river, wash him away

but how could we forget
the cavalries of candles
but not their tongues
and too much blood has fallen from the wrist
of the children shamed for those they chose to kiss?"

Many of the lyrics reflect the (real life) tragedy of an 18 year old ("18 years pushed to the ledge") who commit suicide by jumping from a bridge ("cold river, wash him away") after being ridiculed for his (birth/god/nature given) sexual preference. (more info can be found here: link) The title "September's Children" comes from the fact that at least 4 other kids and teens, ages ranging from 13-19, also commit suicide due to sexual-preference based torment within the same month (September 2010). Some of the names are spoken in the background near the end of the song. Whether the song is about bullying homosexuals or bullying in general, the message is powerful and strong. Everything music SHOULD be.

I look forward to seeing Rise Against next week in Long Beach, with Bad Religion and The Descendents. Something tells me this will be a show to remember.

Purchase Rise Against vinyl here:

(Don't forget the RARE Limited Pressing of End Game on Orange Marble Vinyl available here: link)

A Day To Remember Vinyl

This is a listing of all the A Day to Remember vinyl that have been produced (list may or may not be complete):

What Separates Me From You - First Press - ??? - ???
What Separates Me From You - First Press - Tan - ???

Homesick - First Press - Green - 1,000
Homesick - 2nd Press - Red Putty - 222
Homesick - 2nd Press - Clear w/White Smoke - 439
Homesick - 2nd Press - Grey Putty - 816

Attack of the Killer B-Sides (7 inch) - 2nd Press - Clear/Black Smoke - 220
Attack of the Killer B-Sides (7 inch) - 2nd Press - Baby Blue - 440
Attack of the Killer B-Sides (7 inch) - 2nd Press - Clear/Green - 900
Attack of the Killer B-Sides (7 inch) - 2nd Press - White - 550 - HT Exclusive

For Those Who Have Heart - 2nd Press - Red - 210 - VR Exclusive
For Those Who Have Heart - 2nd Press - White - 450
For Those Who Have Heart - 2nd Press - Baby Blue - 796

Old Record - 1st Press - Grey Marble - ???

All I Want (7 inch) - 1st Press - Yellow - 500 - RSD
All I Want (7 inch) - 1st Press - Mint Green - 1,000 - RSD

Cheese/Where's My Slice?

Ok,

this happened a few years ago

but I thought about it today...

I was working retail

for a major corporation.

I won't mention any names,

but it rhymes with CockBuster.

It was quite possibly

the worst job known to humankind.

Fuck,

that's being much too generous...

I'll just refer to it as

the "Blue and Gold Devil."

I'm sure you're thinking,

"Hey, movies! Cool! Right?"

Yeah, movies! Cool!

that part was awesome.

Dealing with the

dipshit dumbasses

that somehow manage

to eek out enough brain power

to drive themselves there...

different story.

As anyone who has worked

with the general public understands

some people are true winners.

Like this guy:

So I'm working at the video store

and we had just recently

raised the prices on a video game rental.

A "customoron" approaches

and sets a game on the counter.

I scan it and tell him the price.

He jumps back in aghast

(yeah, I threw an "aghast" in there

like old timey folk.),

flails his stubby limbs

and cries "What!?

Did the price go up or something?"

I reply,

"Yeah, they raised it about 50 cents."

He says,

"Well shouldn't they send me a letter

or have it posted in the newspaper

or something?"

I tell him, "Not as far as I know, sir."

to which he responds,

"Well why not, it's a free country isn't it?"

...

I am dumbfounded for a moment.

More than a moment.

How do you respond to such idiocy

without getting fired?

Eventually I said,

"Well it's your choice to rent the game or not."

He storms out the door saying

"Oh, I see, you're with THEM."

Apparently that extra 50 cents

was just too much for him.

I'm glad I no longer work retail.

Today's song is dedicated

to fucktards and assholes everywhere

who expect the world handed to them

on a shitty silver platter.

"It's been a long time
Now it's time to get your bubble burst
Things are bad enough in this world
Why do you have to make them worse?
Day after day, you just gotta get it

So sick and tired of your bitching and complaining
So long you've been oppressed while others lives are
gaining
Want reparations, you're needy and deserving
Can't understand why some are served while you're
doing the serving
Anything but responsibility

Where's my slice?
I want more than equal rights
I want everything for free!

You waste your time concerned with what others are
earning
You want a revolution to start the tables turning
A demonstration to make a better nation
We'll spend the day protesting all the problems that
we're facing
Anything but face reality
Where's my slice...

Your brilliant theory
how the world owes you a living
You'll take away from others
the things they should be giving
They own the pie and you want your share
Whoever told you life was fair?
You were dealt your hand - now play it

Where's my slice..."

-"Cheese/Where's My Slice?" from Ribbed

Hobophobic...

I was driving around

the other day

and I came across

a homeless guy.

At least, I assumed

that he was homeless...

He was standing

in the street

with a sign

asking for money.

Let's just call him

"guy on the street"

for the time being.

So I feel bad for

people on the street

but I have a rule

that I never

give them money.

However,

I tend to have

an abundance

of water bottles

in my car

at any given time.

(Perhaps I will explain

on another day.)

So this guy is standing

on the median

where I am sitting

at a red light

waiting to turn left.

He is right next

to my car

staring at me

doing his guilt trip thing

and it's working.

I lean over

and dig around

for a water bottle.

Except,

I can only find ones that

have been opened already.

Not wanting to tease

the poor guy,

I hand him

one of the bottles

with 3/4 of the water in it.

He reaches out for it,

but then he pauses

and says

"hey man,

I don't just take

anything.

I'm not homeless."

WHAT THE SHITTING FUCK?!

I guess I offended him.

Well, that's what he gets

for standing around

begging for money.

This song goes out

to all the

"people on the street."

Hobo,

I'm hobophobic, So what?
Scared of bums,
Not just because they stink bad
Not just because they're crackers
From drinking too much lysol

Let them be,
Just don't get fuckin' near me!
Scared of bums!

Infested

with microscopic bugs and
Endocrine systematic Doo Doo
Why don't they get a job?

Let them be,
Just don't get fuckin' near me!

-"Hobophobic" from Heavy Petting Zoo

Instant Crassic...

Abstinence makes the heart grow fonder.

Or something like that...

Well it's been about 10 months,

but I'm back!

I had expected to have

some 300 posts by now,

but shit happens.

I got caught up in some shenanigans

that prevented me from

reaching the blog-o-sphere.

Luckily I was able to escape...

I bet you didn't know

that I had such sick skills,

huh?

So let me catch you up

on everything that has happened

in the past 10 months-ish.

I graduated from college,

lost my job,

spent 3 weeks on unemployment,

got a new job w/o applying,

ok, that's a lie,

I applied back in February,

but they called me in September.

So technically,

I never had to search

for the 3 weeks

that I was unemployed.

Call it luck?

Call it karma?

(I put up with A LOT of bs

in my past 2 jobs.)

Either way,

for the first time

in a long time

I'm stoked.

I also know that

good things don't last.

So I'm going to enjoy this

while I can.

It's good to be back!

I'm swimming in a sea of pee
I'm hiking up a big mountain of poo
I feel like rolling in glass when I'm without you

I'm diving in a pool of puke
I'm fly fishing a stream of puss
That's how I feel when something separates us

I'm living in Bakersfield
I'm at a month long hip-hop festival

-"Instant Crassic" by NOFX