As the handsome fellas over at Trust Records have reissued their BYO releases from the early- and mid-80s, I've been forced to revisit my opinions on 7 Seconds. Like any HC kid worth a damn, I've owned copies of "The Crew" and "Walk Together, Rock Together" since day one, basically. But Reno's finest didn't get a lot of spins over the past decade and a half. They were a bit too "starter punk", right? Super sincere, minimal style; why listen to 7 Seconds when you can either fall back to the original document (DCHC) or jump forward a couple years to the arguably-better Rev bands hailing from the Tri-State?
But Trust Records, about whom I really can't say enough nice things, did such a great job on their reissues that not only did I start spinning the first two full-lengths from 7 Seconds, but I also dove into their underrated 1986 LP "New Wind" for the first time in nearly 30 years. I'd always blown this one off as the record where they started slowing down their sound and started embracing college rock. Dear Reader: I have learned how truly wrong I was. "New Wind", along with the 2023 remaster/reimagination titled "Change In My Head", is no less than the West Coast correspondent of DC's Revolution Summer. This is emotive hardcore, which is NOT cool. Of course Flipside and MRR were going to shit on these dudes.
"Live! One Plus One" captures the classic trio of Kevin, Steve, and Troy augmented by Bobby on guitar, playing a pair of Sacramento shows in 1987. There are songs from all three 7 Seconds full-lengths released up to this point, and if you, like me, were suspect on how "New Wind" tracks fit thematically and sonically with those from "WTRT" and "Crew", this is a good place to dive into. While the document itself isn't an amazing production, it is a great look at a band that was getting ready to take the next step. They'd been playing some of these songs for six and seven years; the band is so tight here. I'd love to see this one polished up a bit, especially since it only got a single go-around with Positive Force and Giant Records.
Should I give the Dissonance two-fer of "Ourselves" & "Soulforce Revolution" a shot, since I'm open to revisiting their catalog? Is it time to buy a copy of the unfortunately-named "Out The Shizzy"? I'm not sure I'm there yet, but who the hell knows? It's turning out that 2026 is the year that I discovered everything I knew was wrong.
