7 Seconds: Ourselves/Soulforce Revolution, 2CD Deluxe Digipack

• 22 track double CD package from massively influential hardcore punk act 7 Seconds.

• Featuring two cult albums from the more experimental part of their discography.

CD1 features their 1988 studio album ‘Ourselves’, which at the time featured a radical change of direction after the more conventional hardcore punk of earlier releases. CD2 features the cult follow up, the 1989 studio effort ‘Soulforce Revolution’.

Formed in Reno, Nevada in 1980, 7 Seconds are an iconic name in hardcore punk circles, a band that pioneered US hardcore alongside the likes of such luminaries as Minor Threat, Dead Kennedys, Circle Jerks, Black Flag and Bad Brains – however 7 Seconds promoted a straight edge lifestyle and by the late 80s had moved beyond hardcore’s musical limitations, embracing a more straightforward sound, albeit with the same underlying core values.

This pair of recordings are sometimes referred to as 7 Seconds ‘U2 era’, a slightly derogatory term which overlooks the band’s ambitious attempts to take hardcore in new directions, a path later embraced by the likes of Quicksand, At The Drive-In, Far, and in the modern era Turnstile and Angel Du$t. 7 Seconds frontman Kevin Seconds remains an inspirational figure in the hardcore scene, including carving out a formidable solo career, and as a somewhat reluctant figurehead for the straight edge scene and lifestyle.

This release features exclusive liner notes from respected journalist Mark Freebase, with contributions from 7 Seconds contemporaries Joe D Foster - (Unity/Ignite/No For An Answer), Israel Joseph I - (Bad Brains, Fireburn), Scoot Horton - (Awkward Thought / Shell Shock / The Kulprits) and journalist and superfan James Sherry.

Trouserpress sums up this divisive period in 7 Seconds’ history as follows: “‘Ourselves’, recorded as a quartet, and the three- man ‘Soulforce Revolution’ are both state of the art: intelligent

lyrics of personal and political consequence, moderately powerful singing, buzzing guitars and brisk tempos.”

TRACK LISTING

DISC ONE – Ourselves

1  Escape And Run

2  Far Away Friends

3  Save Ourselves

4  If I Abide

5  Wish I Could Help

6  Sleep (In Memory Of Robyn S. Schumacher)

7  Sister

8  Middleground

9  When One Falls

10  Some Sort Of Balance

11  Seven Years

DISC TWO – Soulforce Revolution

1  Satyagraha

2  Busy Little People

3  I Can Sympathise

4  It All Makes A Lot Less Sense Now

5  Mother’s Day

6  Tribute Freedom Landscape

7  Copper Ledge

8  Tickets To A Better Place

9  4 A.M. In Texas

10  Soul To Keep (For Phillis)

11  Swansong