DS Interview: Catching up with Pueblo, Colorado punk vet Matt “Pickle” Hamilton

Dying Scene sat down with Matt Hamilton (aka Pickle) to discuss his long involvement in the punk rock scene. Matt has been playing drums for many years and many bands, including Produkt, S.O.S., the Coffin Boys, the Worms, the Sex Pickles, Trash Idols, Blanket of M, and Slash City Daggers. He’s also been a roadie for […]

Dying Scene sat down with Matt Hamilton (aka Pickle) to discuss his long involvement in the punk rock scene. Matt has been playing drums for many years and many bands, including Produkt, S.O.S., the Coffin Boys, the Worms, the Sex Pickles, Trash Idols, Blanket of M, and Slash City Daggers. He’s also been a roadie for Eleventh Hour and Total Chaos and currently plays drums for Diskount Vodka and the Dead End.

Dying Scene: So Matt, tell me about yourself. Who are you? Where are you from? When did you get into punk rock? When did you decide to become a drummer and why? 

P: My name is Matt Hamilton. Everybody calls me Pickle. I play drums. I started playing…well, I got into punk rock when I was about 15 years old. I didn’t start playing drums ‘til I was 17 and I’ve been playing punk rock ever since, for 30 plus years. I’ve played in tons of different bands through the years but right now, I’m playing in Diskount Vodka and the Dead End in Pueblo, Colorado. But I’m originally from from East Texas.

DS: Why did you decide to become a drummer? 

P: Because I skateboarded from the summer of fifth grade all the way ‘til the beginning of 10th grade and I messed up my knee and I needed to do something so I didn’t lose my mind. So, I started playing drums and all my friends were musicians. So, I got a friend of mine named Kevin Fender (Eleventh Hour, Employer Employee, AUNTIE) to show me a little tempo and I built off of that. Here I am, to this day, it’s the only lesson than I ever had. I also played with tons of people through my lifetime but finally just got my life back together. So, now I’m actually making a dent in society, I think a little bit. So, that’s good.  

DS: So, what other bands were you in? 

P: Let’s see, way back in the day, I was in a band called The Coffin Boys. I was in band called Blanket of M, the Worms, and I was in a real big band in Arizona called The Slash City Daggers. We went worldwide with that. It was like a trashy, glammy, punk rock and roll band. It was fun. You could find that stuff online. I sat in and played drums with Jeff Dahl and Freddy Lynxx at a live show back in the mid or late 90s back in Arizona. That was pretty badass.

DS: That’s a lot to be proud of for sure. 

P: Yeah, definitely.

DS: So, what brought you to Pueblo, Colorado? 

P: I needed to get off of drugs and I had friends here and could smoke all the weed I wanted to. So, here I am and I got a little bit right-minded again and started craving drums. So, my old roommate used to talk about this guy at the plasma center who played guitar named Carlos. So, I went and found him and here I am playing music eight years later with him in the Dead End.

DS: You’re currently in Diskount Vodka and the Dead End. How would you describe your bands? And, how do you manage your time in both bands? 

P: Diskount Vodka is just straight up old school punk rock. Some of it kind of sounds like street punk, a little Oi-ish, kind of poppy…just a little bit all over the place. We have a split seven inch with Tv Tragedy coming out on January 13th on Split Personality Records out of Las Vegas. That’s a fun one and Diskount keeps releasing singles. February, we’ll release an album. Then as far as the Dead End goes, we are a psychobilly band with punk rock influences. I’m a punk rock drummer but I play a little bit of rock and roll in that band, too. So, a little bit all over the place also as well. Hopefully we have some new music coming out soon, too. 

Diskount Vodka (left to right) Cuauhtli, Pickle, and Ellie.

DS: Cool. So, what are you up to right now? 

P: Just getting ready to release more material with both bands, but Diskount Vodka for sure. We have new material coming. So, we also have a video that came out on December 1st, a little live video with a song that we’re about to release. 

DS: So, with your two bands, have you achieved what you sought out to do as a drummer? 

P: I’ve made goals and hit those goals but now I have new goals. So, I’m just going to keep moving up the ladder. Never stop. It takes forever to get anywhere being a musician, for some reason, but it’s worth it. 

The Dead End (left to right) Pickle, LJ, and Carlos.

DS: Who are your biggest influence and inspirations? Tell me about your patches on your jacket. 

P: As far as my biggest influences, of course the Ramones influenced me playing drums at a younger age. But here recently, Scott Churilla (Reverend Horton Heat, Supersuckers) who played with Three Bad Jacks, that dude was super inspiring to watch. So, I’d say that gave me a little bit of inspiration in my life to beef up my drums some. I like listening to a bunch of Oi bands. They’re pretty inspiring. Rancid always inspires me. I like all kinds of styles of music, so I listen to psychobilly music, too. I like The Meteors, The Peabrains, The Quaranteds, and Rezurex. There’s a bunch of good bands like that. I like everything from the New York Dolls to Johnny Thunders, all kinds of stuff. 

DS: So, you’ve been performing locally and touring regionally for years now. What is the biggest show you’ve played? And, what is the best show you’ve played? Tell me about the most memorable show you’ve played. 

P: The biggest show I’ve played is Hot Rod Rock & Rumble because there were hundreds of people in front of us and then thousands of people in the whole place that heard us. So, it was pretty wild. As far as memorable shows, I could go all the way back to when I lived in Arizona and played shows with David Gardner with the Trash Idols and those shows were very memorable. Playing with Jeff Dahl was something that was super crazy in my lifetime. Raymond Burton Estes (…And We All Die) told me to buy a Jeff Dahl tape at Camelot Music in the mall for a buck. So, I did and I fell in love with it. Years later, I got to play drums with him on stage and played his songs. I was super amazed. But he’s also recorded stuff for the Trash Idols and recorded stuff for Slash City Daggers also through the years for me. So that was pretty cool. I still keep in touch with the guy. He’s awesome. So, much inspiration comes from him, too. 

DS: So, what would you say your proudest moments are? 

P: My whole career. I like it all. It’s never been a dull moment, that’s for sure. Playing with the Fat Skins. They’re a really good Oi band and those guys are really good guys. So, I’ve played with a lot of good bands. 

DS: What advice do you have for young musicians who want to start a band? 

P: You don’t want to play music. Don’t ever play an instrument! No, I’m just kidding. I don’t know…just learn that instrument and feel it. If you don’t feel it, definitely don’t play it. Just keep moving forward. You’ve got to put in the work. You can’t just sit there and expect somebody to come give it to you. You’ve got to go do it. 

DS: So, what’s next for you? What are some of the goals you have for 2024? 

P: Just put out as much music as I possibly can and maybe tour some and who knows, shoot some videos for both bands. So, just do as much as I possibly can. I only live once. 

DS: What bands are you listening to this week? 

P: Rancid, Descendents, Conservative Military Image, and a little bit of the Hellbound Hitmen, too.

DS: So, do you have anything else you wanted say to Dying Scene’s readers? 

P: Check out all the bands. Check out Dying Scene and just keep this going. Keep an eye out for the latest releases. Thank you for doing this for us. 

DS: Thank you. Thanks for taking the time to sit with us.

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DS Show Review + Gallery: Lollygagger, Sweetie & The Neighborhood Threat (Cobra Lounge, Chicago, 1/18/24)

Three local Chicago punk rock favorites played on a cold, wintery night at The Cobra Lounge but in true Chicago fashion that did not stop an eager crowd from showing up on a weeknight. Dying Scene note: I am excited to share this collaborative piece by myself (Mary) and Dean. All photography is done by […]

Three local Chicago punk rock favorites played on a cold, wintery night at The Cobra Lounge but in true Chicago fashion that did not stop an eager crowd from showing up on a weeknight.


Dying Scene note: I am excited to share this collaborative piece by myself (Mary) and Dean. All photography is done by Mary and words are by Dean. Enjoy!


Starting it off with The Neighborhood Threat, a 5-piece punk band. They have a nice, classic sort of first-wave sound, a la The Ramones or The Kinks. On stage leading the charge is Kevin Murphy on vocals, screaming his heart out and throwing himself around. Supporting him are Quinn Pokora on lead guitar, Tim Casey on rhythm, Alec Montoya on bass and Dave Catanese on drums. First up is a song called “Escape” and Murphy seems intent on doing just that, falling to his knees and writhing during the breakdown, Casey politely headbanging along, before transitioning into “Nightmares”. “Pretty good for a Thursday night” quips Murphy. Next is “Rose Gallery”, declared favorite of the band. Starting off with a languid bass intro from Montoya, we are soon launched into a wall of rock. Montoya starts bopping around a bit now too, making jokes with Catanese.


The music cuts to just bass and drums, slowly folding in guitar and vocals, before wrapping up with a gnarly breakdown. After is “237”, “The room from The Shining you’re not supposed to go into, there’s like a creepy lady in the bathtub.” Another bass intro, adding in some nice full sounding guitars, layering chords and riffs. Again, we are thrown into a wall of sound, with Montoya lunging forward through the chorus, with Murphy screeching like a stuck cat, Pokora accentuates the vocals with a high lick. It peters out into a false ending, before slamming back with even more chaotic sounding guitars, Murphy leaving us with a refrain of “Don’t go in room 237.”

Now we are shown “Another heavy number, about the nuclear apocalypse.” Pokora gives us some delicious harmonics, backed by ripping chords from Casey. Montoya gives backing vocals through the chorus. The bridge is stripped away to just drums, with Pokora soloing. We come crashing back out for the ending with Murphy clutching the microphone like it is the last clean water he will drink in his life. 


After is “Midnight”, during which Murphy stepped on his mic chord, but they manage it well. Then comes “Razorblade”, a song about “Toxic love.” Someone in the crowd yells “I love that song!” to which Murphy replies “Yo me too, cut me baby,” diving in headfirst with a yowl. This number is fast, needy and anxious, that has the rest of the band dancing along like tin men, compelled to move their rusty joints by their trusty magician.

They close out with a high riff from Pokora, with a tight, tapping arpeggio. This next one is a bit different from the rest of the set, called “Violet Marie”, about “Falling in love with a stripper.” Catanese plays with just sticks, cymbals, and rimshots, while Pokora and Casey fill in with some sweet, jazzy, broken chords. Montoya cuts in with a bass riff, which devolves into a more familiar punk sound.


They close out with “Death March”, Casey using an almost country style intro, supporting Pokora as he riffs high up the neck of his guitar, accenting Murphy’s vocals. Everything cuts out and we are left with just Murphy, dancing with his mic stand. With a death scream, he falls to the floor, and we are thrown into the music again, winding up faster and faster, before Murphy sits up again and gives us one final yell. 


Next up is Sweetie! Three extremely sweet people, who let me buzz anxiously around them and Mary before the show. Fronted by Birdy V on guitar and vocals, she is supported by Joe Soldati on upright bass and Ryan G on drums. Even just from soundcheck, you can tell all three are just some goofy people, having fun and doing what they love on stage, messing around and joking with each other. Set up and ready to go, Birdy yells to a near empty room “Hey everybody at the bar! If you don’t hurry up and come in here, none of you are invited to my birthday party!” (“Or subsequent orgy!” supplies Joe). Ultimatum set, we run right ahead into “Catholic Boy”, an almost ‘Planet Claire’ style drawling, cheeky, serenade. “We are Sweetie, thank you for the encouragement, it’s a weeknight,” quips Birdy. “Cold beer is good for your voice, right?”


Next up is “Devil Girl”. Digging deep into her chest for her voice, we’re rolled into the next number, something with a jumping, jiving, rockabilly sort of sound, which has Joe grinning like a mad man and taking to his bass like a lover. Now addressing a filled room, (or, as filled as can be for a Thursday night), Birdy chirps “Since you’re all invited to my birthday and surprise orgy, we are selling nipple tassels, and Lollygagger is selling ball gags.”

Faster, almost sleazy, we are brought through “Teeth”, sometimes feeling a bit like something from Heart. Simple but succinct and to the point, Birdy rips through power chords on her sick, two-pronged guitar, while Ryan accentuates his drumming with some nice use of cymbals. Birdy’s eyes are opened wide through the chorus, flashing the whites like a cat. 


Everybody cuts out, and Ryan counts us off into “Love Lucy”, a languid, gentle, almost mocking piece. A main refrain of “La la la las,” with Ryan opening his mouth like a snake, in rapture from his bass. They lean towards each other, playing for each other and laughing like a shared secret. Following is “Chum”, with Ryan using mostly cymbals as an intro, softening out into overdriven guitar, before coming back around again with an almost bouncing gait on the toms. With a sarcasm essential to put-upon misfits, Sweetie ambles ahead with the song, like a self-depreciating joke you just-so-happen to be allowed to get in on. Guitar and drums almost having a conversation, before breaking with a phaser-heavy solo. Joe picks up his hands like a dinosaur, before picking up his bass as easy as a briefcase, waddling over to Ryan, and headbanging at him through the outro. Birdy is back, chatting on the mic, saying “Once again! We are Lollygagger, also Birdy is my favorite person in the world and I love her.”


With vocals only in French, Birdy serenades us through “La Vie”, backed by wistful rimshots. With syllables murmuring like the ocean, Birdy rolls her eyes for the octave change in the verse, a lonely thing with just her, pausing, then the rest of the band rushing in to help. Joe solos the intro for “Howl”, the next song, with Birdy winding up with some sick feedback on guitar. With a yowl, we are thrown into the song, Joe leading the charge with his bass. And for a massive instrument, he throws it around like dancing a foxtrot, laying it across his lap and leaning back, lunging towards Birdy, and finally almost sawing it in half through the finish. 


Birdy’s on the mic again, asking us to “Go around, and have everybody say one nice thing about yourselves, Mary you go first.” She laughs, apologizes and says, “We lied, we’re not Lollygagger, we’re actually The Neighborhood Threat” (Murphy yelling “Wait!” from the crowd). With that we are lead through “Mama”, with some dirty, slow, sexy guitar, and a drumroll from Ryan shoving us towards something faster. Joe is electrified by his bass again, yelling “Get it!” before leaning forward with backing vocals. Everything cuts out to just guitar, Birdy almost monologuing with it, before jumping into the full song again, ending on a refrain of “Let me be.” Closing out with “Cha Cha Heels”, Joe gives us a quick intro, before launching into the song. Anxious and fast, this one finishes with a call and response chorus. 

You can catch Sweetie at their music video release show on March 15th at Gman Tavern in Chicago!


Finally, Lollygagger! A veteran, Chicago, 3-piece punk band. Before I found Mary and Sweetie, I was anxiously huddled at the bar (and getting carded for ordering a ginger ale). A particularly awful Nic Cage movie was playing on the TV, and I managed to calm down a little listening to these three dudes rip poor Nic apart. Lo and behold, they ended up being the headliners! Go figure. On vocals and guitar, we have Matthew Muffin, wearing a mechanics jumpsuit. On bass is Kinsey Ring and drumming is Michael Sunnycide, wearing a vest with patches, gelled hair in a mohawk, and one of the aforementioned ball gags around his neck. Starting off with a song “About a bar, not this bar, but essential to the Liars Club Lollygagger experience” is “Liars Club”. Mr. Muffin, putting most of his effort into screaming, is supported by a sick riff from Ring.


With a held screech followed by a cute solo, we transition to “Bombs Away”, with bass and drums coming back in to transition. Even though the drums are (relatively) calmer in this song, Sunnycide is still bouncing out of his seat. Ring leads, with a nasty riff on bass, while Matthew basically plays rhythm, howling away on the mic. This next song has a name that “Basically means no more tyranny. If you’ve checked the news lately, or talked to anyone, you’ll find it everywhere. Anyways, we’re a band called Sweetie” (with woops from actual Sweetie in the crowd.)

Orating like a politician in the verses, and punctuating the pre-chorus with aggressive eyebrow maneuvering, the Muffin man is in perfect caricature like a sketch artist. Sunnycide looks to Matthew through the pre-chorus with a face like a dog waiting on the word to attack. And attack he does, beating the drums like they owe him money, with Matthew calling for a circle pit to open up (it tragically didn’t happen, but most of the people dancing started dancing harder for him at least). 


Birdy chirps “Makeup’s for girls!” to which Muffin replies “Ya bitch, anybody can sparkle. This next one goes out to Sweetie!” This song is “About how controlling religion is while also being so interesting. Like going into church and being like what the fuck, are you tithing me?” With a pick slide, we are thrown into “Found In The Dirt”, Matthew narrating like a children’s author, but with a heavy dose of sardonic chastising. The music swarms together and then falls apart, cutting to just Sunnycide leaning on his toms. Ring builds tension with the bass, before Muffin cuts back in, summoning a holy ghost through his solo. “This song is about rocking through your 20’s, with no regards to your back health.” “Schmorgishbord” opens with a solo from Ring, who looks at his hand with the awe and wonder one would hold over a familiar summoned to shred. With a mild “One two three four!” we’re gently pushed into the song, Sunnycide and Muffin hammering away. Matthew leads us into “Dopamine Cops” with a chant, “When I say, ‘Fuck you’, you say dad! Fuck you, dad! Fuck you, dad!” With a sound markedly toned down compared to the rest of the set, Muffin almost drunkenly slurred his words in the verse, backed by melancholy sound from Ring and Sunnycide. Matthew lunges forward screaming again through the chorus, before cutting to just him again, voice echoing back and forth through some sort of delay effect, backed by a simple guitar riff. Sunnycide tumbles in behind him on the drums, Ring following close behind, Muffin finally calling screeching feedback with his guitar with vocals caught between it like memories. 


“So, despite the name, my boss is actually a really nice guy, but I want you to imagine YOUR boss, and punching him right in the face!”, we’re dragged screaming into “My Boss Is a Dick”, with simple chords and just cymbals. Muffin rages through the chorus, laughing maniacally as if at an ironic joke, Sunnycide and Ring nodding along in collusion. Ring solos out of there, hand crawling over his bass like a spider, while Muffin looks on both delighted and impressed. Matthew takes this moment to introduce the band, calling himself “Dingus Khan, with drums from Michael Sunnycide, and Mr. Wizard Fingers himself on bass… Everybody say, ‘I love you Sweetie’ (“I don’t love no man” from Birdy), I love you Neighborhood Threat! This next song is about sausages, cause that’s what my drunk drummer is yelling at me. It’s called ‘Might Methuselah’s Salami’.”

“You know, 8-year-old me would be stoked, yelling about sausages to a room full of people. I’ve always been a fan of tubular meat.” Somewhere within that sausage story, Sunnycide donned a ball gag. They blast through this song, with Sunnycide opening his eyes wide during the chorus, and (trying) to scream along.


Closing out the evening is “Stone”, Muffin dramatically reciting the interludes like a Greek chorus, while Sunnycide stands up and conspiratorially raps on his cymbals. Sitting down again, he damn nearly bites a chunk out that gag while he beats the life out of his drum set. Ring nods his head like a maestro conducting his orchestra, before looking endearingly at Muffin as he beats the life out of his guitar. They leave the stage while tracing a heart in the air, saying “We love you, go home, tip your bartenders, we’re Lollygagger…I mean Sweetie.”


Check out the full gallery below!


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From The Dying Scene Vault # 6: Phil Marcade (The Senders) on The Ramones, Nancy Spungen and the cast of characters on “Punk Avenue”

Thanks to everyone who has checked out all of the new content we’ve been cranking out since the relaunch of Dying Scene! We’re stoked to be back, and we’re even more stoked that you’ve been checking in! Because we have an awful lot of material from the old site in the Archive, we thought it […]

Thanks to everyone who has checked out all of the new content we’ve been cranking out since the relaunch of Dying Scene! We’re stoked to be back, and we’re even more stoked that you’ve been checking in! Because we have an awful lot of material from the old site in the Archive, we thought it would be cool to take a look back at some of the posts from our past.

It’s a bit of a bittersweet installment of From The DS Vault this time out. Word broke this afternoon that Philippe “Phil” Marcade passed away earlier this week after a relatively brief battle with pancreatic cancer. Here’s the news as relayed on his social media:

With great sadness we share the news that our friend Philippe Marcade has left us.

Phil, who thrilled audiences as the lead singer of The Senders and authored the memoir Punk Avenue, succumbed peacefully among loved ones in Paris on June 5, 2023, following a brief struggle with pancreatic cancer. He was 68 years old.

From 1976 through his final performances in 2017, Philippe remained true to the music and scene he loved, delivering a frenzied mix of rock and roll / R&B intensity and deft, inventive songwriting to audiences of both The Senders and The Backbones.

Those fortunate enough to see him perform know that Philippe Marcade was a rare individual who had true business being a LEAD SINGER. From the late- ‘70s NYC Punk scene onward, Phil would take the stage without the protection of a guitar, grab the microphone, and for an hour or so he’d croon, scream, dance, joke, blow harp and take audiences on a wild ride with easy assurance. No matter where or when, Phil always turned it on.

Phil and I chatted over the phone a few years ago when he was doing press for his dynamite book Punk Avenue: Inside The New York City Underground 1972 – 1982. He was living in Italy so it was very much a long-distance call (remember those!?!) and it was super fun. Phil was funny and engaging and still seemed to display a sense of awe and wonderment about some of the obviously chaotic but certainly legendary times that he was privy to in and around New York’s Lower East Side half a century ago. We stayed in contact via Facebook a few times, and he was always inspiring and interested in what was going on. When I was reading the book and doing research for our talk, I found out that a friend of mine ran in the same circle as Phil in NYC back in the 1970s, and they shared a bunch of mutual acquaintances. In a weird twist of fate, cancer has claimed both of them this calendar year. I miss them both. So without further ado, here’s my chat with Phil from May 2017.

If we were running down a list of the most famous, and infamous, figures from the epicenter of the fledgling punk rock scene in New York City’s Lower East Side in the mid-1970’s, we’d have to scroll pretty deep into the annals to find the name Phillipe Marcade. Marcade fronted the high-energy blues punk band The Senders that were staples at such legendary venues as CBGBs and Max’s Kansas City for the bulk of the late 1970s and early 1980s, and yet neither the man nor the band really got the credit that they deserved outside a twelve-block radius.

Yet Marcade was every bit as entrenched in the 1970s Lower East Side as any of the Ramones or Debbie Harry or Johnny Thunders or Legs McNeil or any of the others whose names come more easily to mind. In fact, to hear one-and-only McNeil tell it in the Foreward to Marcade’s brand-new book, Punk Avenue: Inside The New York City Underground 1972 – 1982, Marcade, “while not a household name, was friends with everyone at CBGB and Max’s Kansas City, and a bona fide member, in good-standing of the New York Punk Rock Scene.”

We caught up with Marcade over the phone from his home in Italy to discuss Punk Avenue and the early NYC punk scene in more detail. Still the purveyor of a heavy Parisian accent, Marcade is equal parts humble and engaging. That he ended up with this particular story to tell is the result of a series of profoundly fascinating circumstances. A native of France, Marcade took a trip to Amsterdam as a teenager that led to a chance encounter with a American traveler named Bruce, which, in turn, eventually resulted in Marcade spending several decades in the Lower East Side, but not before stopovers in Boston, a longer stay in Amsterdam, a hog farm in New Mexico, and…his eighteenth birthday “party” in a Federal Penitentiary in Florence, Arizona. It seems that even in the 1970s, the feds frowned on shipping large quantities of straight hash across state lines…

Marcade might have ended up in the gritty, tough-as-nails Lower East Side in the early 1970s by happy accident, and yet that’s not an entirely bad way to describe the foundation of the scene itself. Given the transient, underground nature of the close-knit, artistic community that found itself magnetically pulled to that neighborhood at that time, it’s not a stretch to say that punk music as we came to know and love it would not — could not — have started anywhere else and come out the same. The thing about living and thriving in the geographical center of a once-in-a-generation social and cultural and artistic movement is that you don’t realize you’re there until you’re gone and the moment has passed. That’s especially true when you’re viewing said geographic center from the wide eyes of an outsider. “I thought it was so magical and exciting,” says Marcade, quickly adding on that he “thought that was probably because I was new in New York, and to everybody else I thought it had always been like that. Only years later did I realize that no, that was a true revolution going on at the time!

While perhaps unaware of the importance of the movement that he was a direct witness to at the time, Marcade did, at least, recognize sheer talent when he saw it. “I think that the first very important band of the movement, without being in the movement really, was Dr. Feelgood in England. They really changed things around.” Once the music moved toward this side of the pond, the cream quickly rose to the top. Says Marcade: “The Ramones and the Heartbreakers and The Cramps were just amazing groups. I’m so glad I got to see them.” And see them, he did. Especially The Ramones, whom he estimates he saw roughly “a hundred times.” When asked of his insider’s perspective on whether or not Ramones were, indeed, worthy of what’s become iconic, almost mythological status, Marcade answers an emphatic yes. “They were just amazing! They were so good. I never went to a Ramones show and left thinking “eh, that wasn’t that great.” They never ceased to amaze me!”

On the other hand, perhaps not as worthy of her iconic, mythologized status was Nancy Spungen. Marcade knew knew Spungen prior to, and in fact had a hand in encouraging, her fateful 1976 move to London. “I always thought Nancy was kind of a sad soul, a lonely girl,” says Marcade with a hint of sadness present in his voice for the first time in our conversation. “Everybody was so fucking mean to her,” a fact that led to her leaving her heroin-addicted cat (“Oh, that fucking cat!”) with Marcade and heading to London, where she’d eventually, infamously, cross stars with the Sex Pistols’ Sid Vicious. “I think a lot of people misjudged her because of the way she carried herself, and because of the whole heroin thing. But knowing her before, she was a sweet girl. She was as much a victim as Sid. She was not that “evil woman” that turned poor Sid Vicious on to drugs… I don’t subscribe to that theory!”

There are no shortage of memorable characters and stories and moments peppered throughout Punk Avenue. Truth be told, the four-page glossary of supporting characters is almost overwhelming (and would probably better serve the reader if it appeared as a reference index to refer back to). That Marcade can recall such a large volume of names and faces and coincidences is no small feat in and of itself. “It’s funny,” says Marcade, “because I seem to have a very, very good visual memory, and when I think back to an anecdote like that, I can really remember it well.” As the project neared completion, he fact-checked and cross-referenced some of the stories and their corresponding dates with some of his surviving companions, though most stories required only little tweaks.

Yet the real noteworthy feat is not simply remembering stories, but weaving them together in a way that is fun and funny and sad and personal and gripping, whether you’re a fan of early the early NYC punk scene or not. Marcade not only does exactly that in expert fashion with Punk Avenue, but he does it in a language that’s not his first. It is perhaps that wide-eyed outsider’s perspective that keeps everything fresh and exciting and new and real to the reader, especially when the stories involve such Herculean figures. Aside, maybe, from Please Kill Me, it’s hands-down the best read about the Who, What, When, Where, Why and, especially, the How of the origins of the punk rock scene as we know it. Punk Avenue is out now, and you can pick it up at Amazon or Barnes & Noble or Target but hopefully at an independent bookseller near you!

Head below to read the text of our full half-hour conversation with Marcade. Aside from what’s touched on above, we cover a lot of ground, including the changes (read as: gentrification) in the Lower East Side in the forty years since the dawn of punk civilization, which bands from the scene got unfortunately overlooked, and which more recent bands have carried the torch most surprisingly. The results may surprise you!

Dying Scene (Jay Stone): Thank you very much for this – I consider it an honor to be able to talk to you. And congratulations on the book. I’ve read it cover-to-cover twice now and I’m now on my third time through because…

Phil Marcade (author, Punk Avenue): You’re joking!

No, I’m not joking at all. I got it in the mail shortly after the holidays and read through it pretty quickly, and then I wanted to read it again to get a little deeper knowing that we might be talking one day. I find it to be raw and uncomfortable sometimes, but you’ve got such a positive and humorous way of writing and talking about things that I find it to be a very fun and compelling read.

Well thank you very much. I’m very touched by that. Thank you!

You’ve obviously had these stories kicking around for a long time…what was the impetus for compiling everything and writing the book in 2017?

Well, what happened is that the idea was kind of turning around in my head for a few years that I wanted to do it. I started by taking a little notebook in my pocket everywhere I went, and I made little notes whenever a funny anecdote would come to mind so I could remember it. I wanted to see if I would have enough to fill up a book, so I just made a whole list of anecdotes, and then I just let time pass by. I wasn’t sure when to start (writing the book). And then, actually, I got motivated by my nephew. His name is Pierre, and he lives in France, and he was asking me questions over email about Max’s and CBGB’s and was very interested by that whole scene. So I started to write a few chapters and sent them to him. He loved them! So having an audience really helped me with getting the work done. I would write about thirty pages and send it to him, and the whole book went like this. It kept me going for about four months.

I was wondering how you were able to — I don’t even want to say recall all of those stories, but there is so much detail and there are so many people involved. The copy that I received has the glossary of who’s who, but I almost wish it had a proper index so I could go back and figure out where everybody overlapped. But I’m glad that you brought up that you started with the notebook, because I was curious how you could possibly recall all of those stories and the people that you came across. It was not just impressive but really staggering.

Thank you! It’s funny, because I seem to have a very, very good visual memory, and when I think back to an anecdote like that, I can really remember it well. The part that I find the most difficult is to put it in the exact time. It was a good job for me to verify all that on the internet afterward. For example, I say at one point that we stopped at the inauguration of Richard Nixon, so I’m checking the dates and yup! I was right. Sometimes I questioned my memory, but it seems that everything that I remembered was right. Little by little I made corrections, or I remembered something slightly wrong. It was really fun to do.

Did you reach out to any of the other people that were involved to verify some of your dates or some of your memories, or see if you got things correct?

Yes, as a matter of fact, there’s a funny incident that happened. One of the main characters is Bruce, my friend that I met in Amsterdam. I wrote the whole thing without talking to him, and since he’s in the book so much and we talk about some stuff that’s…illegal…I wanted his permission. So I called him up on the phone and I told him I wrote this book and he said “that’s fabulous! Read me a little of it!” I didn’t know where to begin, so I just started with the very first page. I read to him that it was my eighteenth birthday and I was transferred from the jail to this other penitentiary in Tempe, Arizona. And he cut me off and said “is this going to be published?” So I thought “uh oh…” I said “yes, why?” And he said “are you out of your mind?” I said “oh, you don’t want me to talk about that we were busted?” And he said “oh no, that’s fine, but the jail was in the town of Florence!” (*both laugh*) I was very relieved that he was fine with the book, and very happy that he had corrected a terrible mistake I made in the third line of the book! (*both laugh*) I talked also to my ex-wife about it and I talked to a few other people who were in the book about it and they were all very happy. I was glad they could confirm some of my stories, so that was cool.

The ‘70s in Manhattan, specifically the Lower East Side, was obviously the epicenter of such a large social and cultural movement, and we really haven’t had a movement like that since then except for maybe Seattle. I’m always curious to hear people that were there, and when they exactly realized that they were in the middle of something that was really interesting and compelling and not like something going on anywhere else. Is that a thing that you were conscious of at the time, or was it not until months or years later…

Not at all! Not at all, and I’ll tell you why. I was not conscious of it because I had just arrived in the States, especially in New York. I thought it was so magical and exciting, but I thought that was probably because I was new in New York, and to everybody else I thought it had always been like that. Only years later did I realize that no, that was a true revolution going on at the time! But since I was brand new to the scene, I was brand new and I didn’t really realize it. But indeed, it was quite incredible, and thinking back on it, what made it so special is that it was such a small scene. Everybody knew each other’s name. There might have been two hundred people, at most, at Max’s and CB’s. It was a small scene of locals. So no, I didn’t realize there was anything revolutionary going on while it was going on…I thought it was just (revolutionary) for me!

One of the things that really comes across in the book is how small but I guess how diverse the scene was. I wasn’t born until the very end of the 1970s so I obviously wasn’t around, but I think we have this romanticized view of that scene and how it revolved around bands that sound like Ramones or like The Dead Boys, but it was really more diverse than just those “punk” punk bands.

Yes absolutely! I totally agree with you!

That is something that really comes across that I think gets overlooked otherwise. The Senders, for example, are not a traditional “punk rock band” by any stretch of the imagination, but you were right there in the middle of the whole scene.

It’s true. I think that at the time when I first heard the term “punk” was through Punk Magazine, so to me, it kinda meant underground, New York, maybe if there was a style it was short hair and not very professional, not very polished, not very skilled musicians. That’s all it meant. Nobody was in the same style as another band. Nobody really knew who was “punk.” I think that all became clearer after the punk wave in England. Then, it was like “yeah, that’s punk.” But the Ramones had Beatles haircuts. Nobody thought of them as being “punk”…or at least I didn’t.  And then you had stuff like Talking Heads, or Blondie…that wasn’t “punk” at all. So it was very mixed indeed. A lot of different styles at the same time. But now, when I hear the term punk, I think 70s or early 80s New York or London, but it took a lot of years to define that image. It didn’t feel like that back then to me at all. It’s funny, because when punk became more popular, in the ‘80s, I hated the term. It had become so overly commercial. Everybody had safety pins on! (*laughs*) As time has passed, I love the term again, but for a while it was just kinda lame! (*both laugh*)

Were there other bands at CB’s or at Max’s that, for whatever reason, never took off the way that Ramones or Talking Heads or Blondie did that you were always sort of curious about why they never got bigger than they were? I think that The Senders would certainly qualify as one of those bands, but are there others that while you were watching them, you were confused about why they never got big?

Oh yes, so many. There were so many bands that I admired so much that never got anywhere. The first thing that came to mind was Buzz And The Flyers. They were tremendous! They were an incredibly good rockabilly band and I thought they would be huge. Also, a lot of bands like The Victims. In the late 70s, there were so many that were great but that never got mentioned or that have been forgotten but were truly great.

Have you been back to the Lower East Side much in recent years? I know that obviously CB’s shut down and Max’s shut down, but what are your thoughts on the gentrification of that area? Even Alphabet City is not what Alphabet City used to be!

Yeah, to say the least! (*laughs*) It’s amazing. I never go to that neighborhood much anymore. Before I left, a friend from Europe came to visit me, and I took them to Avenue B and I couldn’t believe it! It was all yuppie restaurants and stuff. The last time I had been down there, it was very dangerous! There was nothing to do there but cop heroin. It was not a place to put a restaurant! (*laughs*) It’s amazing how much it’s changed, and I find it a bit sad. It seems to me that so many cool people got pushed out of the Lower East Side and moved to Brooklyn or Queens. Like myself, I lived in Queens for fifteen years because my rent became too much. I was living between Avenue A and Avenue B for twenty years or so, and I had to move out. All my friends too. It improved, maybe, the quality of life, but it lost a lot of the artistic life. All of the musicians and artists moved out, which is a shame, because there was such a cool community there before. Everybody was within three or four blocks of each other and that really made a cool scene, but I guess they all went to Brooklyn now! (*both laugh*) You’ve got to be very rich now to live in Manhattan. It’s crazy.

Right. And I’m calling from just outside Boston, and we’ve gone through the same thing. The Rat, which you reference early on in the book, got turned into a luxury hotel years ago…

…No…

Yeah. And whatever was left of that part of the Boston scene has long since gone away.

Oh man. I didn’t know that The Rat was gone.

Yeah, that building got sold to Boston University and they basically leveled the whole block and turned it into a luxury hotel.

I haven’t thought about that place in a while. I’m really sad to hear that. And you know, it’s the exact same thing on the Lower East Side. NYU bought most of the buildings and turned them into expensive rent for students that have rich parents! (*both laugh*) That’s nice for them, but not for us!

Yeah, and I honestly have mixed feelings about it. Like you said, the art and the community and the grit are gone, and yet, the city (Boston) itself is much safer. You can walk around at all hours of the day and night and not take your life into your hands in some of those old neighborhoods, so it’s a double-edged sword.

Exactly! It’s good and bad. It’s too bad it wasn’t safe like that when we were living there. But now, all my friends moved to Brooklyn — to Williamsburg — and that’s alright. It’s less dangerous than it was in 1980. But it’s a shame. It’s beautiful! It’s very nice, but it’s impossible to afford! Not when you’re a chick playing in a band or a painter or something!

One of the characters that I find most compelling in the book — well, she’s not a character, she’s a real person — was Nancy Spungen. She and her relationship with Sid have obviously been mythologized over the last forty years, but you knew her at a very different time. I was really fascinated by the way that she wove in and out of the early third of the book. You knew her differently than the public does now, and you even took over her heroin-addicted cat! That’s fascinating!

(*laughs*) That fucking cat! (*both laugh*) It’s funny, because I always thought Nancy was kind of a sad soul, a lonely girl. She wasn’t that pretty. Everybody was so fucking mean to her. And then, I read an interview with Johnny Rotten saying “ah, she worked as a prostitute and she was ugly.” And I thought, ‘what’s the matter with him? He’s supposed to be the king of punk rockers and he’s putting her down for not being pretty?’ I mean, come on! (*laughs*) What, you have to be a top model to be a punk rocker? But yes, I think a lot of people misjudged her because of the way she carried herself, and because of the whole heroin thing. But knowing her before, she was a sweet girl. She was as much a victim. She was not that “evil woman” that turned poor Sid Vicious on to drugs… I don’t subscribe to that theory! (*laughs*) She was really, very nice.

And I think the thing that we lose sight of is that she was twenty years old when she died. So it’s not like she had this whole long history and legend…she was still in many ways a child.

Exactly. It all just went so quick.

The whole mythological thing that a lot of them — the Ramones, the Sex Pistols, bands like that — developed over the years, does some of that seem a little bizarre to you? Or were bands like that mythologized for good reason? Were they really just THAT compelling?

The Sex Pistols I couldn’t tell you so much because I never saw them. I did meet Sid, but the most I actually saw of the Sex Pistols was on TV. The Ramones however I saw a hundred times. With the years that have passed, I think that their notoriety is totally deserved. They were just amazing! They were so good! The only thing I thing that I think people kind of reproached the Ramones about in America after a while was that it was a bit too much repetition. It was always a bit the same. But what a trip! I never went to a Ramones show and left thinking “eh, that wasn’t that great.” They never ceased to amaze me. And so indeed, they deserve that notoriety. Joey Ramone deserves a street named after him, totally! And I saw things change. I think that the first very important band of the movement, without being in the movement really, was Dr. Feelgood in England. They really changed things around. Then the Ramones and the Heartbreakers and The Cramps were just amazing groups. I’m so glad I got to see them.

Are there bands or scenes that you’ve come across over the last, let’s say twenty years, that remind you of the old days? A new scene that you’ve noticed burgeoning somewhere else or bands that carried on the legacy of the Lower East Side in the 70s, or is that gone?

Well that depends. In a way, I feel that I’m a bit out of touch, but hey…I’m 62! I think it’s god that I’m out of touch! (*both laugh*) I’m sure that there are some kids, some teenagers now some place doing something that’s completely unknown that will be known and great. But in more recent years, bands that I’ve seen more recently, I really love Daddy Long Legs. They’re a great band. I also really liked about ten years ago — shit, I forgot their name — that band from Sweden. Shit…they really, really followed the spirit…they had that hit “Don’t Say I Told You So” or something like that?

Oh…damnit…is it The Hives?

Yes! Of course! The Hives! I thought they were fabulous, and I thought they were very much in the spirit of the old scene. They totally got it.

Wow…that was a great song and a great album and I think I forgot about them for about half a decade until right now.

Thanks for remembering! That would have driven me crazy all night!

They had a sort of mod, British look to them, so I think I forgot they were Swedish, but you’re exactly right. I don’t want to take up too much of your evening — my afternoon — but thank you so much for talking. I could probably pick your brain for hours. Have you gotten a lot of positive feedback about the book yet? I know it’s not out yet, and there are the obvious quotes on the back of the book, but have you heard other cool feedback from people about it yet?

Yes, so far it’s been all good. Which is good, because it’s pretty terrifying. You don’t know if you’re going to put something out and have people hate it and think it’s crap. It’s very encouraging, what I’ve heard from friends to far. But again, they’re friends, so you never know if they’re just saying it to be nice. But people that I don’t know have given it positive reviews as well, so I’m very enthusiastic about that. I hope it stays like that for a while! Probably not, but… (*laughs*)

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DS Record Radar: This Week in Punk Vinyl (Frenzal Rhomb, Codefendants, ALL “Mass Nerder”, Record Store Day 2023 & more)

Greetings, and welcome to the Dying Scene Record Radar. If it’s your first time here, thank you for joining us! This is a weekly column where we cover all things punk rock vinyl; new releases, reissues… you name it, we’ve probably got it. This week’s Record Radar is yuge, one of our biggest yet. Kick […]

Greetings, and welcome to the Dying Scene Record Radar. If it’s your first time here, thank you for joining us! This is a weekly column where we cover all things punk rock vinyl; new releases, reissues… you name it, we’ve probably got it. This week’s Record Radar is yuge, one of our biggest yet. Kick off your shoes, pull up a chair, crack open a cold one, and break out those wallets, because it’s go time. Let’s get into it!

A few weeks ago, we broke the news that ALL‘s Mass Nerder is getting a 25th Anniversary reissue. The first color variant revealed was a purple/green marble LP, which sold out within a few hours. If you missed out on that one, the good news is that more variants are starting to pop up. You can grab it on “galaxy green/purple” colored vinyl from Loud Pizza Records. Stay tuned for a lot more variants.

Frenzal Rhomb announced their new record The Cup of Pestilence, due out April 7th on Fat Wreck Chords. My fellow Americans can pre-order an unspecified color variant from the Fat webstore; European friends, Kings Road Merch has you covered. Aussies have a few options: Artist First has gold vinyl, JB Hi-Fi has a brown variant and an exclusive grey LP that comes with a bonus signed print of the cover art. Check out the lead single if you haven’t already:

In other Fat-related news, NOFX frontman Fat Mike and Get Dead singer Sam King’s punk/hip hop crossover project Codefendants will release their debut LP This is Crimewave on March 24th through Fat Wreck imprint Bottles To The Ground. Colored vinyl and bundles are available on the label’s webstore. If you just want black vinyl, Target‘s the way to go – they’ve got the record listed for $15.79 (and you save an extra 5% and get free shipping with a Red Card). Amazon‘s the second cheapest option if you have Prime.

One of my favorite albums of 2022 is getting the vinyl release it deserves thanks to Shield Recordings. I gave The Windowsill‘s latest LP Focus a much-deserved five star review and have been eagerly waiting for the day I could buy it on vinyl. This record is a must-have if you’re a pop-punk fan. Grab it here (US) or here (EU). 300 copies on transparent yellow / 200 on black vinyl.

Keeping the pop-punk theme going, our friends at Stardumb Records are celebrating their 100th release in style. They’re putting out a box set with The Apers‘ first three LPs and two records’ worth of bonus tracks. If you just want the LPs, those are available individually with unique color variants as well. They have links to all the places around the world you can get these from on their Linktree.

Asian Man Records just restocked a bunch of Alkaline Trio records on their webstore. Goddamnit, Maybe I’ll Catch Fire, and the self-titled LP are all back in stock on Asian Man’s patented random colored vinyl. The pressing info says these were meant to be distributed to record stores; they’ll probably be out of stock again soon enough so act fast.

The release list has been revealed for Record Store Day 2023, set to take place on April 22nd. This is a punk site so we’ll be highlighting the punk stuff, starting with the Ramones Pleasant Dreams (The New York Mixes). “Limited” to 7,500 copies, this release has the original mixes by producer Graham Gouldman, plus three bonus tracks from the album’s recording sessions, and alternate artwork (which I can’t help but notice omits Marky Ramone). Anyway, this shit looks cool and I’m gonna buy it because I’m a Ramones fiend.

Next up we’ve got OFF! with a 12″ EP featuring 8 B-Sides from their latest album Free LSD. It’s very creatively titled FLSD EP and it’s limited to 2,300 copies on purple(?) colored vinyl. The album was bad ass, this should be good, too. Tell your local record store to stock it!

New York Hardcore legends Agnostic Front are getting in on the Record Store Day action with an expanded 40th Anniversary reissue of their debut EP United Blood. It’s limited to 3,000 copies and features a bunch of previously unreleased recordings of the band’s early material.

Frank Turner‘s Tape Deck Heart is getting a 10th Anniversary reissue with an entire bonus LP of demos tacked on. This ‘RSD First’ release is limited to 1,500 copies on maroon colored vinyl with new art and a bunch of new liner notes from Franklin. Fawk yeah!

And our last sooper punk rawk RSD release is The AdictsFifth Overture, which is getting reissued for the very first time since its original release in 1986. No bonus tracks or anything like that on this one, but apparently it comes with a new “inner bag” (whatever the fuck that’s supposed to mean). It’s limited to 2,000 copies and your local record store is the only place you’re (potentially) gonna find it.

Holy shit, you got to the end! Well, that’s all, folks. Another Record Radar in the books. As always, thank you for tuning in. If there’s anything we missed (highly likely), or if you want to let everyone know about a new/upcoming vinyl release you’re excited about, leave us a comment below, or send us a message on Facebook or Instagram, and we’ll look into it. Enjoy your weekend, and don’t blow too much money on spinny discs (or do, I’m not your father). See ya next week!

Wanna catch up on all of our Record Radar posts? Click here and you’ll be taken to a page with all the past entries in the column. Magic!

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DS Record Radar: This Week in Punk Vinyl (Ramones, Mad Caddies, Pinhead Gunpowder & more)

Greetings, fellow degenerates! Welcome to the latest installment of the Dying Scene Record Radar. The holiday season is finally upon us and it’s almost time to put a bow on 2022. Hopefully you’ve gotten your gift shopping done, because there’s a lot of new records to blow your money on this week! Kick off your […]

Greetings, fellow degenerates! Welcome to the latest installment of the Dying Scene Record Radar. The holiday season is finally upon us and it’s almost time to put a bow on 2022. Hopefully you’ve gotten your gift shopping done, because there’s a lot of new records to blow your money on this week! Kick off your shoes, pull up a chair, crack open a cold one, and break out those wallets, because it’s go time.

R-A-M-O-N-E-S

We’re starting this week off with two nuggets of 80’s Ramones goodness. First up is a new 40th Anniversary reissue of 1983’s Subterranean Jungle on violet colored vinyl. This is due out on January 6th, 2023; not sure how many were pressed, but it does look like it’ll be readily available at independent record stores. Here is one of many places you can pre-order it online.

Remember that Ramones box set that was released on Record Store Day earlier this year? The one I spent $150 on? Well… it’s back, and it’s only $90 now! I’m kinda pissed honestly, but hey, if you don’t already have this, it’s a great fuckin’ deal. The Sire Albums 1981-1989 features all six of their 80’s LPs and a bonus rarities compilation (that’s $12.86 per record btw). If you’re a sucker like me and you bought this at full price on RSD, this would still make a great gift for the Ramones fan in your life (though it, too, is not due out til January 6th). Buy here.

Fat Wreck Chords has released another 25th Anniversary reissue, this time for the Mad Caddies‘ debut LP Quality Soft Core. This has been out of print since its original release in 1997. Head over to Fat’s webstore and get it before it’s gone!

The hard working folks at 1-2-3-4 Go! Records are wrapping up their long-running Pinhead Gunpowder reissues series. The final round includes the band’s 2003 LP Compulsive Disclosure and 2008’s West Side Highway 7″. Both are available here, along with all the previously reissued records.

Pennywise‘s 1995 classic About Time has a new European exclusive yellow color variant. Grab it here (and don’t worry, shipping to the US isn’t too bad if you really want this).

Continuing our theme of “old music on new colored plastic” is skate punk supergroup Implants (members of Strung Out, Pulley, Ten Foot Pole, etc.). El Hefe’s Cyber Tracks Records has reissued the band’s 2013 debut From Chaos to Order on gold colored vinyl. This is limited to 100 copies and will cost ya 40 fucking bucks!!! I’ll stick to my OG pressing… you guys can grab some lube and begrudgingly purchase your copy here.

Members of Mom’s Basement Records bands the SUCK, Proton Packs and Bad Secret have united to cover the Riverdales‘ classic self-titled record. This LP from “The Greendales” will be available on the label’s webstore Friday, December 16th. There will be two color variants (yellow and clear) of this vinyl-only release.

Our friends at Punk Rock Radar have announced a new release from German melodic punk band Astronuts. Their 2021 debut Dark Matters is getting released vinyl for the first time. I had never heard of these guys, but I’m listening to the album right now on Spotify and it kicks ass! Definitely recommend listening to a few tracks below and grabbing this on vinyl here (US) or here (UK).

I got a pleasant surprise this week when I opened up Facebook and saw Canadian melodic punks Colorsfade had announced a brand new record! Built from the Wreckage is due out January 20th, 2023 on People of Punk Rock Records. Check out the first two singles below (spoiler: they’re killer) and pre-order the LP here.

Also coming to us from north of the border is The Corps! These guys released a digital EP called From Oblivion earlier this year. Thanks to the fine people at Thousand Islands Records, it’s now being given the wax treatment. Get your copy on “green lantern” colored vinyl here.

RECORD OF THE WEEK

We here at Dying Scene are all about trying new things, so this week I’m challenging you, loyal reader, to listen to something new! This week’s Record of the Week comes from Tampa Bay’s Black Valley Moon. Formed by longtime Down By Law guitarist Sam Williams in 2019, the band’s latest album Songs from the Black Valley delivers a unique blend of surfy rockabilly with Americana flair. Check it out below and grab the LP on blue wax here.


And that’s all, folks! Another Record Radar in the books. As always, thank you for tuning in. If there’s anything we missed (highly likely), or if you want to let everyone know about a new/upcoming vinyl release you’re excited about, leave us a comment below, or send us a message on Facebook or Instagram, and we’ll look into it. Enjoy your weekend, and don’t blow too much money on spinny discs. See ya next week!

*Wanna catch up on all of our Record Radar posts? Type “Record Radar” in the search bar at the top of the page! Or, just click here. That’s probably easier.

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DS Album Review: The Travoltas & Huntingtons combine forces on new Split LP

Striped Music has been on an absolute roll this year. The Italian pop-punk label is responsible for two of my Top 10 Albums of 2022: The Manges‘ Book of Hate for Good People and Screeching Weasel‘s The Awful Disclosures of Screeching Weasel. Discerning pop-punk listeners know that when Striped is putting out a new record, […]

Striped Music has been on an absolute roll this year. The Italian pop-punk label is responsible for two of my Top 10 Albums of 2022: The MangesBook of Hate for Good People and Screeching Weasel‘s The Awful Disclosures of Screeching Weasel. Discerning pop-punk listeners know that when Striped is putting out a new record, it’s a safe bet that it’s gonna be pretty fuckin’ good.

This split LP from two veteran bands in the Travoltas and the Huntingtons is no exception to that rule. Both sides of the Rock ‘N’ Roll Universal International Problem kick off with a brand new, original song from each band. For the Travoltas, it’s “She’s Gonna Break My Heart in Two”: a sugary power-pop song that stays true to their signature blend of Beach Boys infused pop-punk. The Huntingtons contribute a new track called “I Don’t Wanna Be Wrong” that probably wouldn’t be out of place on my favorite Ramones record Too Tough to Die.

Following these snippets of new music is a steady stream of cover songs. Each band covers two tracks by the other. The Travoltas offer their take on “Hooray for You” off 1999’s Get Lost and “The Last Time You Left” from 2001’s Songs in the Key of You. They do a great job putting their own spin on these; subbing out the guitar leads on the latter song with keyboards was an excellent choice. The Huntingtons, on the other hand, focus on further Ramones-ifying their Travoltas covers. “You Got What I Need” (from 2001’s Teenbeat) is almost unrecognizable, having been stripped down and sped up, while “Anywhere You Want To” (originally on 2002’s Endless Summer) is slightly closer to its source material with a guitar solo faithfully recreating the surfy keyboard interlude of the original track.

Each side of this split LP is rounded out by a cover of a song from the 50’s. The Travoltas provide a souped-up rendition of Johnny and the Hurricanes’ rock ‘n’ roll instrumental “Red River Rock”. They don’t take too many creative liberties with the song, but it’s an enjoyable bookend nonetheless. The Huntingtons cover the Everly Brothers’ mega-hit “All I Have to Do is Dream”. Aside from adding a little flair with some new guitar parts, this is also a pretty by-the-numbers cover, and that’s perfectly fine by me.

If you’re a fan of either of these bands, or old school pop-punk in general, you’ll likely enjoy this split (which, fun fact, is named after a Joey Ramone quote regarding his disdain for guitarists). Rock ‘N’ Roll Universal International Problem is due out on December 2nd. You can pre-order the LP here (US) and here (EU). There’s even a CD version that you can grab here!

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Dying Scene’s 2022 Halloween Punk Rock Playlist

Greetings, goblins and ghouls! 👻 It’s Halloween and you know what that means: Your friends at Dying Scene have a super spooky playlist that’s sure to make your skin crawl! Whether you’re out trick or treating, or handing out toothbrushes to the neighborhood kids (don’t be that guy), this will make the perfect soundtrack to […]

Greetings, goblins and ghouls! 👻 It’s Halloween and you know what that means: Your friends at Dying Scene have a super spooky playlist that’s sure to make your skin crawl! Whether you’re out trick or treating, or handing out toothbrushes to the neighborhood kids (don’t be that guy), this will make the perfect soundtrack to All Hallows’ Eve. It even has a song from Jerry Only’s critically acclaimed solo album Anti-Hero!

🦇 Go on, give it a listen! Happy Halloween 🎃

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Dying Scene Album Review: The Manges – “Book of Hate for Good People”

The beautiful country of Italy has provided us with countless luxuries for which we should be eternally grateful. The list includes but is certainly not limited to: Subway’s Italian herbs & cheese bread, the Super Mario Bros. video games, and arguably their greatest export, The Manges! An Italian pop-punk institution since 1993, the Manges are […]

The beautiful country of Italy has provided us with countless luxuries for which we should be eternally grateful. The list includes but is certainly not limited to: Subway’s Italian herbs & cheese bread, the Super Mario Bros. video games, and arguably their greatest export, The Manges!

An Italian pop-punk institution since 1993, the Manges are back with their sixth full-length album, and I think it may be their best one yet. I was extremely impressed with 2020’s Punk Rock Addio. At the time, I thought it was by far the band’s most well produced, polished, and complete studio recording. With their new record Book of Hate for Good People, the Manges have once again one-upped themselves.

The songwriting is on another level from anything this band has done before. Starting things off is the high octane album opener “Lucky Tiger”, complete with an infectiously catchy chorus and a healthy dose of Screeching Weasel style lead guitar parts. This song sets the bar quite high, but the rest of the album has no difficulty clearing that bar. “Back to Bangcock” – a song that’s been in my regular rotation since its release as a single months ago – keeps the energy up and delivers big time with its hook: “Once again, dripping red, a small fish in the net, feeling trapped, in the same old crap”.

Having listened to this album about a dozen times, I can pick out a few songs that I’m not totally into. “Jesus is My Homeboy” is an fun little rock ‘n’ roll track, but it kinda ruins the flow of the tracklist being sandwiched between ultra-energized songs like “I Shot Cyrus” and “High on Stress”. The only other song that doesn’t quite stick the landing is “Too Many Freaks”. Obviously, the Manges are massive Ramones fans, but this attempt at a Dee Dee style hardcore song doesn’t quite do it for me.

Enough negativity, back to blowing smoke up some asses! The back end of this record is killer. “The Hate Parade” and “I’m Not a Sissy” throw back to the Manges’ tougher sound from their Bad Juju record. “Red Flags” closes out the album on one final high note. This one’s got another chorus that super glues itself to your brain; the guitar driven melody on this track is awesome as well.

So yes, this record has surpassed Punk Rock Addio as the best Manges record. I can say that with absolute certainty. Book of Hate for Good People is essential listening and is one of my Top 10 albums of 2022.

Buy Book of Hate for Good People:

Digital / CD / Blue vinyl / Yellow vinyl

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Dying Scene Revisits: Ramones – “Too Tough to Die”

What is there to say about the Ramones that hasn’t already been said? They were – and to this day, still are – one of the most influential punk bands of all time. Their 1976 debut was the spark that lit the fuse of American punk rock, and the two albums that followed stoked the […]

What is there to say about the Ramones that hasn’t already been said? They were – and to this day, still are – one of the most influential punk bands of all time. Their 1976 debut was the spark that lit the fuse of American punk rock, and the two albums that followed stoked the flames.

If you ask someone what their favorite Ramones song is, they’ll probably tell you they love “Blitzkrieg Bop”, or “Rockaway Beach”, or maybe even “Commando”. And there’s nothing wrong with that, but those who thumb their noses at the band’s output after Rocket to Russia are doing themselves a major disservice. From their iconic self-titled debut to their 1995 farewell Adios Amigos, everything the Ramones did in their 22-year career is worth a listen.

The 80’s are an interesting chapter in Ramones history. The decade began with the release of their controversial Phil Spector-produced album End of the Century. This record had some great songs – “Chinese Rock”, “Let’s Go”, and “Rock ‘N’ Roll High School”, to name a few. However, Spector’s over-the-top production just didn’t make sense for the Ramones, and unfortunately, this album fails to tickle my loins.

Pleasant Dreams is a pretty good record, but lacks the raw energy of everything pre-End of the Century. Subterranean Jungle had its moments, but was a mostly unremarkable album by the band’s standards. The neutered drum sound that even Marky Ramone hated is pretty hard on the ears, too. But great songs like “Psycho Therapy”, “Outsider”, and “Somebody Like Me” make it slightly easier to forgive the odd production and the fact that there are three cover songs on this record.


The real turning point for the Ramones was when Richie Ramone took over on drums in 1983. A year later he would make his studio debut on my favorite record: Too Tough to Die. Richie’s powerful style of drumming gave the band a much harder edge that revitalized their sound for a new era of punk. Songs like “Mama’s Boy”, “Wart Hog”, “Danger Zone”, “Human Kind”, and “Endless Vacation” proved the Ramones were, in fact, too tough to die.

For fans of the band’s poppier side, the trio of “Chasing the Night”, “Howling at the Moon”, and “Daytime Dilemma” offers up a healthy dose of bubblegum. The album’s closer “No Go” might be one of the catchiest Joey Ramone ever penned. If this song doesn’t at least make you bob your head, there might be something wrong with you.

Also noteworthy is that Too Tough to Die saw Tommy Ramone and Ed Stasium return to the control room for the first time since 1978’s Road to Ruin. Of the band’s fourteen LPs, this is probably the most well-produced. Gone are the synthesized drums, horn sections and violins; Tommy and Ed trimmed the fat and delivered a great, organic-sounding Ramones record.

Richie’s drum sound is big and the thumping kick of his bass drum makes my floor (otherwise known as my neighbor’s ceiling) shake when I put this record on. Johnny’s guitar sounds tough as fuck, and Joey Ramone turns in an excellent vocal performance, perfectly matching the tone of each song. And of course, Dee Dee shines when he takes the lead on two of the album’s most frenetic tracks “Wart Hog” and “Endless Vacation”. I think this is the closest the Ramones ever got to capturing their “live” sound in a recording studio.

My lone gripe about Too Tough to Die is that its track sequencing leaves a lot to be desired. Why would you start a Ramones record with the three slowest songs on the tracklist? Other people seem to share my opinion, and thankfully, someone made a Spotify playlist called Now Even Tougher to Die, with a re-sequenced tracklist that makes the album flow a lot better. I mean, come on, “Durango 95” just makes sense as the opening track.

So, go on, indulge yourself. That’s right, kick off your shoes… put your feet up. Lean back and enjoy the melodies of Too Tough to Die.

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DS Album Review: Pinoles – Just Wanna

Ramonescore: a campy sub-genre of a sub-genre, paying tribute to a legendary band that helped birth that very sub-genre. Bands who participate in the act of Ramones worship typically play light-hearted, upbeat songs about drinking, girls, and drinking because of girls. Some people appreciate Ramonescore for what it is. Others write it off as vacuous, […]

Ramonescore: a campy sub-genre of a sub-genre, paying tribute to a legendary band that helped birth that very sub-genre. Bands who participate in the act of Ramones worship typically play light-hearted, upbeat songs about drinking, girls, and drinking because of girls. Some people appreciate Ramonescore for what it is. Others write it off as vacuous, repetitive pop-punk, played exclusively by guys with Screeching Weasel tattoos. And while I understand those criticisms, you have to be a real stick in the mud to outright hate this shit. It’s fun!

Sure, if you listen to enough of the stuff, you’ll certainly hear a lot of similar (if not exactly the same) chord progressions. And reading through tracklists, you might get overwhelmed by the amount of things these bands do and don’t wanna do. I view all of these idiosyncrasies as a set of strict parameters that must be adhered to when writing songs. It’s easy to write a shitty Ramonescore style pop-punk song (believe me, I’ve heard my fair share), but quite difficult to write good ones when playing by these “rules”.

With their debut album Just Wanna, the Pinoles pass the test. This record delivers everything an old school pop-punk fan could ask for. Nine tracks in 20 minutes, all simple, catchy, and easy to sing along to even after you’ve thrown back a few. Some of my favorite songs are “Padded Walls”, “You Make Me Sick”, “I Don’t Love You Anymore”, “Santa Cruz”, and the title track. These guys don’t fuck around. Just like the Ramones, they get you in and out quick. I appreciate the efficiency.

Like most Ramonescore bands, these Californians wear their influences proudly on the sleeves of their leather jackets. Their frontman uses a Mosrite guitar to deliver a barrage of downstroked bar chords, à la Johnny Ramone. The little “whoa oh-oh-oh” bit on the album’s title track is lifted straight from Screeching Weasel’s “High School Psychopath”. And there are numerous references to classic songs and records sprinkled throughout the lyrics across this entire album. There is no shame in their game, and that’s perfectly fine by me.

Regardless of whether you enjoy this brand of pop-punk, I highly recommend checking out Just Wanna. It’s a very well produced record with fun, no-nonsense songwriting. Listen to the album below, and head over to the Pinoles’ Bandcamp page to download it.

Official Review Score:
4/5 Converse All Stars

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