In a recent newsletter Bridge Nine records announced the creation of a low-priced black ink/white t-shirt line to coexist with its growing high-quality empire. The label described their merch efforts, including their premium limited-edition shirts, as follows:

“We’re always trying to make our merch better – we’ve spent years putting all of the bells & whistles on our CD and vinyl releases, and our t-shirts were the same old, seen-this-before designs that we kept offering. I used to always prefer getting t-shirts from bands on the road and not labels, because the label band tees were sold everywhere and every kid had the same shirt as me. At least when you got a shirt on tour, a lot of times it was limited to that one tour and if you grabbed one, you were lucky. B9′s premium tees are our attempt to break the cycle of the same old same old. With these premium tees, you’re getting a super soft, high ring spun cotton athletic t-shirt. If you picked up one of the recent Bridge Nine “Since 1995″ tees, or the limited tee that came with the Have Heart final show poster pack, you know the quality that we’re talking about. We stitch a B9 woven label on the sleeve, & each shirt is hand numbered. Once the edition runs out, it’s gone & will not be available again.

We know that a lot of kids appreciate the higher quality tees – sometimes we need to up the punx, right? That’s why we decided to bring out a line of tees for only $6 each! This first batch has Strike Anywhere, Ruiner, Defeater & Dead Swans designs – black ink, white tee, only $6.”

All B9 t-shirts can be found here.

- Not really “news” per se, but another unique (and presumably, trend setting move) by a label that’s often ahead of the rest…

At Pastepunk HQ, we’re still enjoying the company of family, food, and the spoils of today’s shopping. We’ll be back to our regular posting schedule in a little bit.

Matador will be releasing a 25 song collection of odds and ends from prolific punk/hardcore band FUCKED UP. The band’s headache inducing discography has been a boon for vinyl collectors over the years, but for those still committed to the CD or digital download, Matador’s efforts are highly appreciated. You can stream the first song from the collection, “Neat Parts” here; the track listing and song origin information is posted there as well.

Reflections Records’ first release, “What We Share” is a six song youth-crew hardcore compilation 7″ featuring such bands as THUMBS DOWN, ATARI, LIFESIGN, MAINSTRIKE,  SPIRIT 84 and REACHING FORWARD. A friend of mine from college had a copy (which originated from the Reflections zine), and I’ve long had it burned onto CD [crappy analog ripping notwithstanding]. It appears to have finally been released digitally, with an inclusion on Lala.

In one of the stranger covers from a hardcore band in recent memory, Italy’s AWAKEN DEMONS have posted their own take of the 1994 song “Here Comes The Hot Stepper” by Ini Kamoze (if you’re at least in your 20s, you should remember it within the first few seconds of the song). The tune appears on the European addition of the band’s new full-length The Mirror, which saw its US release through Trustkill. Check out the cover on the band’s MySpace page.

Montreal’s mosh-core fellas DEADWALK have their debut full-length Scandalous streaming on the band’s MySpace page. The band features Greg Kepka, formerly of TOO PURE TO DIE (Trustkill) on vocals, and the full-length is out now via Year of the Sun Records.

- Get ya chug on…

Lotsa labels will be offering Black Friday sales, including a personal favorite of mine, California’s 6131 Records. Everything in their store will be 15-50% off. I’m not sure if that’s in addition to their currently low prices, but if you head over to 6131records.com/store, many of the label’s CDs are already priced at a mere $3, including full-lengths from hardcore bands MILES AWAY, SINKING SHIPS, SWAMP THING, DEFIANT HEARTS, and CRUEL HAND.

- Three full-featured DVDs is a lot of material… so much shreddery…