Without a doubt “Folk-Punk” is one of punk’s fastest growing sub-genres. As popularity climbs, however, its defining lines have inevitably blurred sometimes making it hard to find the punk amongst all the folk. “Too Punk To Folk” is a compilation that focuses on the “punkier” side of folk-punk, highlighting bands that still convey the speed or angst that originally helped define our beloved genre. Through accordions, fiddles, acoustic guitars and banjos the mode of “folky” delivery varies by band but the musical aesthetic of this group of artists is undeniably “punk rock.”
We’re releasing this digital compilation simply because we think the bands it features are badass and deserve a little more attention in the punk scene at large. It features quality tunes from 12 amazing folk-punk acts, including previously unreleased material from Mischief Brew, The Roughneck Riot, The Shell Corporation, The Slaughterhouse Chorus and RMS Olympic.
DOWNLOAD IT FOR FREE HERE.
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Track Listing:
1. “Some Kind Of Disaster Relief” – The Taxpayers
2. “Buried In Rubble” – Top Soil
3. “Built For BBQ” – The Slaughterhouse Chorus *
4. “Excelsior” – The Fucking Buckaroos
5. “Alas That These Evil Days Should Be Mine” – RMS Olympic *
6. “On The Sly” – Mischief Brew
7. “From Town To Town” – Crash Nomada
8. “A Song For Orwell” – Not Half Bad
9. “Ignorance Is Easy” – The Roughneck Riot *
10. “Come To Naught” – Feudalism
11.”Nation States” – The Shell Corporation *
12. “Yuppie Dracula” – Smokey Bastard
Bonus Track:
13. “Catch Fire” – Mischief Brew *
* Previously Unreleased
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ABOUT THE BANDS:
THE TAXPAYERS:
www.facebook.com/pages/The-Taxpayers
http://thetaxpayers.net/
“Some Kind Of Disaster Relief” appears on The Taxpayers‘ 2011 album “To Risk So Much For One Damn Meal” which is available as a donation based download from Quote Unquote Records. The Northwest band has big plans for 2012 with an East Coast tour in the works and a new release titled “God, Forgive These Bastards” due out this Summer on Asian Man Records/Plan-It-X Records/Really Records. The album will be co-released with a book of the same name, written by the band’s very own Rob Taxpayer.
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TOP SOIL:
www.facebook.com/topsoilpunks
“Buried in Rubble” was taken from the album ‘Way Out” by Top Soil originally released January 2011. Currently, Top Soil can be found destroying stages and basements across the land as A riverpunk duo. Squidd sings and plays Acoustic. Rich plays drums and sings too. They are having a great time throwing down, sharing thoughts and making friends while waiting for the world to wake back up. This year Top Soil will be releasing two 7″ eps and a digital only release through their website. They will be touring throughout the year. TS has two previous cd releases, 2011’s ‘Way Out by Top Soil’ and a 2009 self titled album. Visit their official website for random goodness and all the latest!
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THE SLAUGHTERHOUSE CHORUS:
www.facebook.com/theslaughterhousechorus
The release of “Too Punk To Folk” coincided nicely with the release of The Slaughter House Chorus‘s debut, self-titled full-length. “Built For BBQ” is just one of the many great tracks that appear on the release and you can purchase the album now on the band’s website where you’ll also find a free download of their demo EP (definitely worth checking out as well).
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THE FUCKING BUCKAROOS: SENT
www.facebook.com/pages/The-Fucking-Buckaroos-Official
“Excelsior” appears on The Fucking Buckaroos latest release “II”. The album will be officially out on cassette by the end of April and is up for free download now on their official website. The band recently recorded a live acoustic show to a packed audience in their own living room. The show will likely be released as a live album soon and video footage of the show should be surfacing shortly.
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RMS OLYMPIC:
www.facebook.com/rmsolympic
Nathanael Felon makes up the one man folk-punk outfit known as RMS Olympic, emerging on the scene last summer with the release of his debut EP (you can snag yourself a free download of it here). Presently, RMS Olympic is on tour and Felon has been steadily releasing live videos of new tracks while he works his way across the States. One of those videos was for a song called “Alas That These Evil Days Should Be Mine” and as soon as I heard it I knew I wanted to share it with the masses. I reached out to Felon to see if he could scramble together a proper recorded version of it for inclusion in this comp and I’m quite grateful he obliged.
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MISCHIEF BREW:
www.facebook.com/mischiefbrew
I don’t think this comp would be complete without a contribution from Philadelphia’s Mischief Brew. “On The Sly” appears on their last album, “The Stone Operation” and was the original inspiration for doing “Too Punk To Folk”. After the band agreed to contribute the song for our comp they also offered up a completely new song. I was stoked, and when I heard “Catch Fire” I knew that it was too good to pass up. Only wanting to use one song per band, I was torn for weeks on which track to use. Ultimately I decided the easiest thing to do would be to make an exception and include both, with “Catch Fire” being the comp’s one and only “bonus track.” I think the fans will be pleased. Keep an eye out for a couple new Mischief Brew 7-inches coming out this year.
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CRASH NOMADA:
www.facebook.com/pages/Crash-Nomada/172344406149640
www.crashnomada.com/
“From Town To Town” was the first song I ever heard from Crash Nomada and when I decided to do “Too Punk To Folk” there was no question the song had to be on the comp “From Town To Town” can be found on Crash Nomada’s brand new album “Atlas Pogo” available everywhere digitally and physically from interpunk.com.
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NOT HALF BAD:
www.facebook.com/nothalfbadmusic
“A Song For Orwell” comes off Not Half Bad‘s “No Thanks” EP released last September. You can stream that bad boy, along with the band’s demo and recently released single for “Punk Rock Is A Full Time Job” on their bandcamp. In about a month the group will be heading into the studio to record new material so expect new jams from them soon.
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THE ROUGHNECK RIOT:
www.facebook.com/theroughneckriot
“Ignorance Is Easy” is a brand spanking new track from the UK’s The Roughneck Riot and likely to appear on their forthcoming album due out later this year on Bomber Music. The song had been recorded just days before we finalized the track list for “Too Punk To Folk” and the folks at Bomber sent it over as a last minute consideration for inclusion on the comp. The tune kicks serious folk-punk ass and the decision was unanimous on our end.
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FEUDALISM:
www.facebook.com/FeudalsimNJ
Feudalism is a folk-punk band from Clifton, NJ. The song “Come To Naught” is selected from their newly released, debut EP “Consonance/Dissonance”, which is an absolutely solid release through and through. I recommend you pick it up either on iTunes, and for free on their bandcamp.
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THE SHELL CORPORATION:
www.fucktheshellcorporation.com
www.facebook.com/theshellcorporation
Although The Shell Corporation aren’t typically a “folk”-punk band, their follky cover of Propagandhi’s “Nation States” was too damn good to pass up for this comp. The song will be released with another acoustic Propagandhi cover or two on 7″ vinyl sometime this year on Solidarity Recordings. The Shell Corporation will be releasing their newest EP “Time and Pressure” (also on Solidarity) in early June, just before heading out with No Use For A Name for a couple of weeks in the US and Canada.
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SMOKEY BASTARD:
www.facebook.com/smokeybastard
Smokey Bastard put out one of the best folk-punk albums of the year last year with their sophomore release “Tales From The Wasteland.” Their contribution on “Too Punk To Folk” is “Yuppie Dracula,” my personal favorite from the album and one I’m really excited to share with our readers.
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