2022 Label Update

 "Silence is broken"... it's been a few years, but we're dipping our toes back in the murky core waters and looking to put out more records. Starting out strong with some positive news, our very own Search For Purpose played their first show in quite a while. It was only a couple songs at the From Within Records Showcase, however it was good to see Matt back on the mic.

The "Eternal Emotion" LP recently had guitars re-recorded, as well as a remix and remaster treatment, which is available in a limited second press through Scheme Records. We're big fans of everything Scheme has cooked up so far, so expect no less here. 

 

It's worth noting that first press copies on blue and purple of the LP are still available in the Exact Change Records store. If you buy a new copy from Scheme, send us an email, and we'll get you first press copies at distro price. Wherever you purchase it from, please don't buy a resell copy! Whoever bought a copy on blue from Discogs for $59.98, I'm looking at you...

In an effort to prevent that sort of collector's absurdity from happening, we are also now on Discogs for your purchasing pleasure. We just have the Search For Purpose record up for now, but may wind up listing more distro back stock and the like later on.

With a recent deep dive in to the warehouse goods, we found a single label shirt in Large remaining, so that's up for cheap in our flagship store. In the coming weeks, we hope to have new zines up, as well as some Nosferatu shirts we've had printed for quite some time that never made it online. Note: will trade records or zines for Mold-A-Rama figurines.

Send demos or records for consideration to our new submission contact, and we'll see you later:
exactchangerecords@protonmail.com

Outback Fanzine #5 and Exact Change 2019 Wrap-Up

With the Christmas holiday coming up, I can't help but wax nostalgic. A lot has happened this year to keep us busy. The Sound Of Commitment summer tour with Point Of Contact and Magnitude was a blast, the Diffuse demo was released, and the Exact Change adjacent Tampa-Core and Core Club produced more shows and releases than ever before.

Coming up in 2020 we have FYA Fest to start off the year, Point Of Contact tour plans more westward bound later on, and the highly-anticipated "Florida's Voice" compilation 7" record featuring Result Of Choice, Jackal, Final Say, Protocol and more. Details will be posted here once those records are available.

To gear up for the Florida hardcore to come in the future, I figured some might want to take some time to appreciate that from the past! Here we have Outback Fanzine #5 out of Melbourne, Florida. This was put out by Craig Chapman (găs'•o•lēne', Outback Records) and totals 44 pages, including the front and back cover. Interviews featured are with Anti-Racist Action, 7 Seconds, The Believers and Skin Shed.

Here is a full preview of The Believers interview, which is my personal favorite part of the zine!

These are super high quality .png scans, which is what I plan to work with moving forward for any other zines - so just make sure you have adequate space when downloading these! 

d/l here: images | .pdf

Dead Serious, Free Thought and Smorgasbord Zines

Here's hoping you all found love this Valentine's Day. Maybe for you, love is drooling over old, yellowed pieces of paper with outdated information and photos of sweaty young guys jumping around. Well, look no further, hardcore freaks! Here's not one, not two, but THREE hardcore fanzines scanned in .jpeg and .pdf format for your enjoyment.

These Dead Serious and Free Thought issues came from the collection of Jeff Terranova (Smorgasbord Records/Up Front). Ironically enough, the Smorgasbord Zine did not come from Jeff, but was a gift from my girlfriend Steph (you're the best!) - the Smorgasbord Zine is missing a few pieces of pages towards the end as they were cut out for use in flyers, ads etc. many moons ago.

So grab some Ben & Jerry's, kick back in your recliner, and take some time to read over these interviews with bands like The Believers & Powerhouse from FL, the underrated Inner Strength (Victory Records), straight edge legends like Youth Of Today and Unit Pride, and many, many more!

d/l here:
Dead Serious Issue #2 images | pdf
Free Thought Fanzine #1 images | pdf
Smorgasbord Zine #1 images | pdf

Search For Purpose - Eternal Emotion LP Out Now

It's been a whopping near-five months since our last update. Have ya missed us? Exact Change Records is back and strong for 2019 with the full length release of Search For Purpose's "Eternal Emotion" LP, a joint effort from North Carolina's best and brightest with Plead Your Case Records.

Search For Purpose has been playing shows around the north-east lately and just came down to Tampa for FYA Fest. You can pick up a copy of the record here through our online store. Thanks everyone for the patience on this, orders are now shipping as they are placed! Any pre-orders through the Plead Your Case store were shipped out last month.

There's more to come, sooner than later this time... but that's all for now! Feel free to send demo submissions or other mail to garrettxstrobel@gmail.com to be reviewed in the next issue of Exact Change Fanzine out next month.

United Front Issue Two (August 1988)

Here we have a true piece of Florida core history. United Front Issue Two is a slice of the scene going on in South Florida in the summer of '88, a time pivotal to all of the U.S. for hardcore music. Author "Dan" hand-writes most of this fanzine - not sure who Dan is but if anyone does know, hit me up as I would love to check out any other issues.

Reading this really put me in the shoes of what it might have been like being involved in the young Miami scene, going to house shows and obsessing over any New York hardcore one could get their hands on. Readers please keep in mind this was written at a time where being a punk often meant being shocking or offensive for the sake of turning heads, so there are some words and images you probably would not see in a similar fanzine today. Thanks to lifer Dennis Williams for hooking me up with this! Enjoy; preview images and download below.

United Front Issue Two Cover

Crossword Puzzle & Gig Review

CTHC & NYHC Reviews

d/l here:

United Front Issue Two

Winter 2018 News

Exact Change Records 7, T.N.T.'s "World Domination", is now available at Steelworker Records and on our online store. If you haven't checked it out yet, you can listen to the release in full on YouTube here. In case you were not yet aware, T.N.T. is an explosive force from Atlanta's underbelly. While you can get an idea of what to expect considering their live covers of I Hate You and Left For Dead, T.N.T. at their core is something else entirely. Wise up or be dominated!

In other news, Exact Change Fanzine 1 and the Final Say Demo are all sold out. Curbed and T.N.T. tapes are all that are in stock, and label tees have gone on sale if you want to grab one. That being said, there are a handful of each release from Exact Change Records 3 all the way to 7 laying around at Steelworker Records in Tampa.

Upcoming, we have the Search For Purpose LP to be released this summer as a joined effort between Exact Change Records and Plead Your Case Records. Two Search For Purpose tracks off of the record, Eternal Emotion and Journey, were posted by Search For Purpose here on their bandcamp. Above is the artwork for that promotional material, and below is a video of their most recent show.

Thanks for reading! Exact Change Fanzine 2 out soon.

Select Florida Demos 2001-2004: Face Up, Flame Still Burns, Team Effort and X Option Zero X

Big thanks to John McHale for hooking me up with copies of each of these, I owe you some tapes next time I'm in Miami. Here are a bunch of tapes from the early 2000's in FL that likely did not exist digitally prior to now. Corny to some, crucial to others, essential to any core scholar from Florida. Read a quick snippet and listen away below.

Face Up - Sweatpants and Hardstances

Members of Clean Cut, another Florida straight edge favorite, put out as an early release on Think Fast Records (which later released Outbreak, Have Heart, The Geeks etc.). 

Flame Still Burns - Edge 2001 Demo

Released on Think Fast Records right after the Face Up demo, Flame Still Burns sounds like a adrenaline charged flurry of straight edge hardcore. Taking their namesake from Youth Of Today, the drum and vocal production on this one has me feeling a little overstimulated. I'm thinking they maybe should have followed the advice of another track from the Youth Crew - "Slow Down"! However you slice it, here it is.

Team Effort - Demo

Some members from this band play in some currently active, not-so-much-hardcore bands of now that shall not be named. Doesn't matter! This demo is actually probably the tightest of the bunch. Such a crazy intro name... is the edgeman on the cover clutching some sort of  baguette? Not sure. Check these jams out, though!

X Option Zero X - Pure Core Pride Demo 2002

Yellow copies must have been cheaper to run off or something! This demo, musically and lyrically... leaves a bit to be desired. I do love the name Pure Core Pride though, which itself is anything but underwhelming. The oddly proportioned, accidentally manga-like edgeman on the cover is what sells it for me. File under: automatically like this because it's Florida, but don't expect anyone else to get it.

Stream here:

Face Up - Sweatpants and Hardstances

Flame Still Burns - Edge 2001 Demo

Team Effort - Demo

X Option Zero X - Pure Core Pride Demo 2002

d/l here: 

Face Up - Sweatpants and Hardstances

Flame Still Burns - Edge 2001 Demo

Team Effort - Demo

X Option Zero X - Pure Core Pride Demo 2002