Amazing Ebay related record sales:
I remember coming across this girl's auctions a while back and thinking WTF? at these insane write ups in her listings that were full of name drops, bragging and other random back story stuff about the records she was selling there. I thought it was weird but forgot about it (it was a bit ago) and then I saw it come up again so I began reading some of her listings for records and I'm putting ones with the biggest LOL worthy content here:
This item descriptions is gonna be rough for me. For one reason or another, I‘ve got a ton of negative vibes surrounding these records. They’re not bad, it’s just that they bring back too many bad memories of bad times with bad people. The reason I lumped ‘em all together like this is because they’re all sort of related. What we have here is this: one 12 inch record by a California band called NAVIO FORGE, one 7 inch from College Park’s HOONAH, the first self-released 7 inch by THE CROWNHATE RUIN, a split 7 inch released on Art Monk Construction featuring THE CROWNHATE RUIN and KARATE, and finally, the ADMIRAL 7 inch released by Ebullition Records. The short version of the incestuous link between these records goes like this: Admiral was a band from Pennsylvania. They loved DC and two of the band members, Joe and Mike, eventually moved to DC. Meanwhile, 25 minutes away from Washington at the University of Maryland, a college band called HOONAH was busy wrapping it up, so Fred Erskine of Hoonah (later of June of 44) and Joe from Admiral got together and started HOOVER. After Hoover, Joe and Fred started THE CROWNHATE RUIN. They did a split with KARATE, featuring Geoff Farina who, like Joe, was from Pennsylvania (and happens to also be brother to Amy Farina of the WARMERS [and Amy’s currently the other half of the EVENS]). Geoff and Joe played in a band together for a hot minute (before Hoover), but they never played more than two shows, so they’re hardly worth mentioning (although there is a PA tape floating around out there somewhere). So… that brings us full circle to Navio Forge. Like Joe and Geoff’s unmentioned/short-lived band, Navio Forge played all of two shows before they self-destructed. Since they were from California, I don’t know much about them, but what I do know, I’ll share. The singer from Admiral (can’t remember his name), and Mike Kirsch (who’s been in 13 other bands from San Francisco) got together and started this Navio Forge thing-a-ma-pop. The gal who released their record is one of the better people on the planet right now. No kidding. She’s for real on my list of top 5 people on mud-ball-earth. I love her dearly. So why, oh why am I selling this here??? Because I used to live with this unbelievable liar, whose name I won’t mention, (I'll invent a name... how 'bout Bairiq Bahseenose), and that guy used to worship this Navio Forge record. Frankly, he ruined it for me. That said, for those of you who’ve never heard it, it’s seriously heavy. When you listen, listen loud. The first 30 seconds is gonna blow you away. The vocals come in and it’s a bit on the Swiz side of things. It’s cool though. I just gotta get rid of it because it brings back bad memories and I just can’t enjoy it anymore. These days, I’m tryin’ to kick the positivitude. Just like I can’t listen to The Crownhate Ruin without being overcome with bad memories. And I can’t listen to Karate because… well, I like Geoff, but I just don’t like Karate. Once, while at a Warmers/Crownhate/Karate show in Philadelphia, I actually fell asleep standing up during Karate's set. That may not surprise many of you because, let's face it, people sometimes get sleepy at shows. But I WAS RIGHT UP FRONT during their set. I seriously nodded off for about 3 to 5 seconds. Sure did love Secret Stars though; now they were killer. What I’ll miss about this batch of records: the cover illustration on the Crownhate/Karate split. It’s a drawing by Soung Wiser, and it’s completely badass (so is she I might add, she rules). I’ll also miss the first 30 seconds from that Navio Forge 12 inch. In fact, I’ll probably crank it up as loud as I can just one more time before I mail it to the winner of this here auction.
Completed auction for Navio Forge (great record by the way)
I liked Start Today when it came out. Out of all the crap that was surfacing back in 1989, Gorilla Biscuits managed to squeak out some dynamite tunes. And their shows were pretty fun too. I always enjoyed seeing them live. The first time they played in DC, they arrived seriously like 5 hours late. And the amazing thing was… we all waited for them. That’s something I would never do today for any band (alright… I might stand around and wait 5 hours for Prince, but that’s different). Bands that show up late should get kicked off the bill. Showing up whenever you feel like it is the equivalent of arriving with a middle finger up at the audience. It’s beyond lame. And while I’m up on my soapbox, so is jumping on a bill at the last minute. If you’re in a band, don’t call and beg to get to be added to the show. Four band bills are too long as it is, so when your awful indie-rock coattail-ridin’ band jumps on at the last minute and turns the show into a FIVE BAND BILL, you just ruined an already bad night. Remember: anything more than 3 bands is a fest. And fests are always bad. But back to Gorilla Biscuits… we waited for them, and when they finally showed up, we had a blast. It was pretty amazing actually. As for this poster… well… It’s not gonna win any awards for graphic design. The black & white live photo is an uninteresting blur, and I have no idea what motivated the GB boys into gravitating toward the text of rainbow circus colors. Maybe they were trying to shake things up a bit. It’s rough though. Still, it’s mostly blue, and I suppose that’s kinda nice.
rant above based on a poster sale and by the way wtf? on paying $40 for a beat to shit poster?!!!
This is the ABSOLUTION 4 song 7 inch released on COMBINED EFFORT Records back in 1988. Strange times for music for sure. Take a look at the photos on your hardcore records from that era. Chances are you’ll spot a bunch of Absolution shirts in the crowd. I remember going to see shows and seeing Absolution shirts all the time and wondering, who is this Absolution band? And have they ever played a show before? And how could their shirts be EVERYWHERE if they’re such a mystery? Then, one day, like magic, they actually played a show at the Safari Club. My friends and I went of course to witness the event. It sucked. Not only did it suck, but the guitarist, Gavin, palmed my head and shoved me back at the start of their set. I was just standing up front, I wasn’t gonna bum-rush the stage. Hell, they hadn’t even really started playing yet - just warming up with some lame intro. It was that uber macho loony crap I just can’t stand. Later, a friend of mine came over to my house with a copy of the 7 inch and we tried to listen to it, but couldn’t manage to make it all the way through. This 7 inch stinks. If you’re looking for good music, it ain’t here. Sometimes when a record sounds terrible at 45, I’ll slow it down to 33 and see if it sounds any better. (You may want to try this with Eartha Kitt’s C’est Si Bon - at 45 it sounds great, but at 33 it sounds KILLER.) Sadly, not even at a different speed did this Absolution record have charm enough for me to keep it in the ol’ collection. I said farewell to this record. Quickly. So… if any of you out there ever wondered what was up with the legions of kids in Absolution t-shirts, here’s a fan to the flame of that mystery. Mind you, this review won’t solve the mystery. You’re probably going to be more confused. Or, maybe I’m wrong. Maybe this band was like Eddie and the Cruisers - so far ahead of their time that even now, 19 years later, we still can’t get our brains around their sophisticated sound. Somehow… I doubt that’s the case.
I don't remember this period in Hardcore History! I think that I'd "turned into an emo faggario" at that point truth be told.
I saw this band play a bunch of times. I certainly saw them at Safari, and I think I may have even seen them at the BBQ Iguana (could be wrong about the BBQ show… all those shows are starting to blur together). I liked them, and remember them being good live. I seem to recall them having a particularly good drummer. Never liked their band name though. Not even back in the day. And I distinctly remember getting a little tired of them at some point too. They kept showing up in opening slots on certain bills, playing what I thought was the same set. Years later, probably around 1999, long after I thought they had broken up, I was traveling around Europe (with a band who shall remain nameless) and I kept running into flyers for Vision at various clubs. Like many other hardcore acts from the late 80s, looks like Vision couldn’t resist getting the old act together and touring over in Europe. Something about that always bothered me, and I wanted to tell the European audiences everywhere not to be fooled. I had a friend in a band called Battery, and I remember saying to him before they left for their very first tour: “Don’t you all want to tour the States first, I don’t know, maybe be a real band, instead of all this milk-the-kids stuff over in Europe?” He said the kids in the States didn’t care about StraightEdge HC anymore and the European crowds were into it. Well, just in case that was true, I started holding my tongue with the criticisms. Except when I was Europe… I definitely managed to scribble on a few flyers for American bands: THESE GUYS BROKE UP YEARS AGO IN THE STATES! Don’t know why I was so angry. Sort of regret doing that too. I mean, the guys in Vision were probably pretty nice guys, they were probably flattered that the Europeans wanted them over there, and they probably had a heck of a time reliving the glory days. I can’t knock what makes other people happy. Especially if it isn’t hurting anyone. So, yeah, there you have it.
I feel like I did see Vision in the states in the later 90s but maybe it was still 1996. Either way I found them to be kind of boring but the kids in Philly were into it so what do I know?
These days, it seems more and more bands tour for one week out of a year and act like they’re road worn dogs. Try touring for 6 weeks, taking 4 days off, then touring for 6 more weeks. That’s the way bands used to do it. And while I’m up on my soapbox, what ever happened to building lofts in vans? That was essential. I keep seeing all these stupid no-name bands dragging trailers around behind their extended vans. That’s insane! Do you know how much crap you can cram into one of those 15 passenger vans??!! For a 4 or 5 piece band, you should be able to fit all of your gear - and with a loft - you should still have enough room to have 2 people sleep during those long drives through that wasteland known as Texas. There’s no need for a trailer. Maybe if you’re in Journey, but not for a punk band (unless you’re rockin’ a mini-van, but that’s something else entirely)
Her rant on touring punks in a Jawbox shirt auction. No point in linking the auction since this almost stands alone and a big lol read to me.
I just had to save those because it's some of the most wtf? stuff I've read on ebay since the days when Rick Ta Life sold his bootlegs on the 'bay. Ha ha. Oh yeah and the original DF post that lead me back to her was I'd rather than to ABBA then ever hear these again which is massively full of hate. Also I think Moss Icon is weird and bad and overhyped. I had that LP with the strange like poem on it talking about aliens and crazy shit in a mumbled voice. I was like "man this shit is way too over the top wacked out emo for me" and that's saying a lot by my weak standards of music.