#assaultrecords

Punch- Push/Pull test press (Assault Records)

I acquired this test press from Jan Albin, who runs Assault Records in Germany. I had been trying to sell my Life Long Tragedy- Destined for Anything  test press on a Facebook merch swap group when he propositioned me. Jan had the most extensive and impressive tradelist I had ever seen, containing numerous records I had been wanting for a while. He then told me that the tradelist I had been looking at was composed entirely of things he had multiple copies of. Over the years, he had come to possess thousands of records. This had actually become a burden on him, seeing as it was seemingly impossible for him to ever relocate if he wished to. This goldmine of vinyl had acted as an anchor over the years. Funny how that works out. He agreed to trade for a test pressing of Push/Pull because he had numerous copies, seeing as he had put it out on his label in Germany. It came with a Judge rip-off cover sheet /14 and stamped center label. Dope.

Punch- Push/Pull (record release variant)

Back in August of 2011, I ventured out to Long Beach to see Griever play during their first tour in a cigar lounge called Cohiba. I took my buddy, Adam, along with me for the long ride from Highland. We arrived in Long Beach and visited Fingerprints to have ourselves a look. This had been my first visit since their relocation, I enjoyed it much more than the previous cramped site. Everything was still overpriced as hell and I walked out only with Bat For Lashes' Two Suns, which had become difficult to find. We then dined at some poorly decorated Italian restaurant close to the venue. The only good things they had were little dough balls that we quickly devoured before our pizza was even ready. Adam wanted to get some drinks in him before we went in, so we hit up a bar a block away. Inside we got to know a drunk who liked me a little too much. The guy just would not leave me alone and kept demanding fist bumps whilst Adam laughed his ass off at my expense.

It was nearing showtime, so we left the bar. We got to the venue and nobody was at the door to take our money, we went inside regardless. We had to wander around a bit to finally find some band setting up upstairs. I noticed there was somebody with a small distro box of records at the merch tables. Some guy ahead of me had been picking through the collection and kept asking his buddies if they were any good. He flicked past this record release/tour variant (the one with x-rays of Meghan's broken foot) of Push/Pull and came back to it. He asked about it again, and his friends told him it was "alright". The little bastard then bought it before I had a chance. I had been wanting this record for a while, let alone such a rare variant. My mood changed drastically from excitement to frustration and despair. Low Places opened for Griever, which only made things worse. The drunk from the bar even found his way into the show and made an appearance during Griever's set, harassing a few kids in attendance, but managed to skip over me.