Burlington, VT punk act Suburban Samurai are streaming their new EP Short But Not Short Enough, which was released on June 6th.

You can give it a listen below, and if you like what you hear, the band is offering the whole thing as a pay what you want download.

Suburban Samurai last released Six Month Winter in January 2017. [Read more…]

Charlotte based folk-punks Dollar Signs have released a music video for their new single “Waste My Life Away.” 

You can check it out below.

Dollar signs last released Life Is Ruff on March 28th, 2017 through their own Possum Heart Records. [Read more…]

Jawbreaker has added another stop in their reunion tour. They’ll be playing the Crystal Ballroom in Portland Oregon on August 17th and 18th, and will be joined by Swearin’ and Hurry Up.

You can see all of Jawbreakers upcoming reunion shows below. [Read more…]

Boston hardcore legends Slapshot are streaming their latest masterpiece Make America Hate Again. Released June 1st through Bridge Nine Records, this is quickly becoming one of my early record of the year candidates.

Check out the genius that is Slapshot below.

This is the first new music from the hardcore vets since 2014’s LP. If you want to jump straight into the fire I suggest the track “Hypocrite”.  [Read more…]

Jersey hardcore act Blind Justice are streaming the track “Never Enough” off of their upcoming album No Matter the Cost. Set to be released June 29th on Flatspot Records.

Give the single a listen below.

This is the first new music from Blind Justice since their 2014 split album. If you’re a fan of hardcore you’re a fan of these guys so check them out. [Read more…]

Texas melodic punks Winning streak are streaming the track “The Black Behind the Stars” off of the upcoming album Whichever Path You Take. The track features Gunnar McGrath of Much the Same.

Check out the track below.

This is shaping up to be a pretty stellar record with tracks featuring Mike Herrera (MXPX), Dave Nassie (NUFAN) and Eddie Haddad (Eddie Money) keep your eyes peeled when it’s released July 8th. [Read more…]

Medicine Hat punks OHMWAR are streaming their tracks off their split with Rebuild/Repair. OHMWAR does a great cover of The Gits song “Second Skin”.

Give the songs a listen below.

This is the first new release from OHMWAR since their 2014 release of Broken Arms Dance With Black Feet. If you’re a fan of Raygun Cowboys these guys are a little heavier but remind me of them all the same. [Read more…]

L.A. based punks The Lungs are streaming their latest masterpiece Bodysnatchers. The four song EP features some raw, punk rock aggression. I was particularly impressed with the track “Candy Gap”.

Check out the new album below.

Their last album The Lungs was released in January 2017. If you’re a fan of Agnostic Front these guys are right up your alley. [Read more…]

Orlando thrash/hardcore outfit 430 Steps are streaming their new single “Me Against the World”. If you’re a fan of metal infused punk these guys are pretty great. No word on whether this is a part of a bigger project.

Check out the new single below.

This is the first new music from 430 Steps since their stirring 2017 cover of “Ace of Spades”. They released the album Faster & Louder in March of last year. [Read more…]

After what was, by all accounts, a pretty successful year on the road with a new band (The Mermaid) following the release of his latest solo album, the redemptive, triumphant Bury Me In Philly, Dave Hause had been planning on scaling things down a little bit for 2018, both to celebrate newly married life and to work on new material. As fate would have it, things don’t always go as plan. Hause and his band played a bunch of European shows with his longtime comrade Brian Fallon earlier this year, and he and his musical – and real-life – brother have played a handful of Canadian and, now, US shows alongside the likes of the Drew Thomson Foundation and, more recently, Northcote. The latter tour rolled through Boston’s somewhat newly-opened City Winery last Tuesday, where they plied their mostly-acoustic wares in front of a house that mostly packed the upscale venue in spite of relatively little advance fanfare.

If you’re not familiar with the City Winery concept, it can be a little bit of a shock to the system if you’re used to sweaty basement clubs or even mid-sized theater shows. To start, you take your seat at one of four rows of family-style tables run perpendicular to the spacious stage, and an ample, attentive waitstaff checks in with you regularly, ready to bring you everything to a $64 bottle of 2014 Pinot Noir from New Zealand to a variety of cheeses and charcuterie board served on an individual cutting board to, chicken coq au vin, the latter of which I thought existed only in places Anthony Bourdain traveled (rest in peace). In spite of the fact that you’re largely looking over your left or right shoulder depending on which side of the table you’re seated at, sight lines are pretty solid and the sound is crystal clear. This is not the rebirth of The Rat, my friends, but that’s okay, because sometimes you’re in your late-30s and have a day job and a kid and don’t want to get your ass kicked in a pit on a Tuesday night. (Plus, there’s perhaps some level of comedic value in seeing a room full of denin-jacketed punks eating roasted Brussles Sprouts singing along to “Dirty Fucker.”)

Anyway, the show’s promoters kept things lean. Northcote (Canadian singer/songwriter Matt Good – not to be confused Canadian singer/songwriter Matthew Good) kicked things off, appearing as a duo with the acoustic-wielding Good supported by longtime collaborator Steven McGillivray on the electric. Like many in the crowd (based on my informal poll), yours truly’s introduction to Northcote in a live setting was his opening slot on Hause’s 2014 tour in support of Devour, or the subsequent dates he played with Gaslight Anthem as they wound down the Get Hurt touring cycle. Good cuts an imposing figure, with the Viking-esque long red hair and beard to match somewhat offset by his denim-and-flannel attire. Good is a criminally underrated songwriter, having earned a good many stripes from a past life playing in punk and hardcore bands before branching out on his own. He’s also owner and operator of one of the premiere voices in all the scene, able to convey both tender sentiments and heart-breaking despair in a single bound. Case in point: Northcote closed his set with an ode to recently-departed Frightened Rabbit frontman Scott Hutchison by covering the latter’s “My Backwards Walk.” The song is gut-wrenching in its original incarnation, but the gravity of the situation and the honesty in Good’s voice left barely a dry eye in the house.

The Brothers Hause followed, and dove right into a stripped-down rendition of Bury My In Philly‘s “Shaky Jesus.” We’ve obviously been pretty open about our love for Dave Hause’s post-Loved Ones career on these pages, but perhaps one of the most exciting, and unexpected, developments of the components there-in has been the emergence of his kid brother, Tim, as not only a perfect right-hand man, but a musical force in his own right. The same Tim that Dave reflected on wanting to spend more time with back on the 2011 track “Resolutions” has turned into a supremely talented guitar player (primarily adding electric textures to his brother’s acoustic rhythms), but split his time on the baby grand piano (told you it was a classy venue) and the mandolin as well, all while providing pitch perfect harmonies. Still riding the wave from their hometown Eagles’ Super Bowl victory over the New England Patriots – on the eve of the now infamously canceled White House visit no less, the Hause brothers were in good, playful spirits for the duration of the set that drew not only from the elder Hause’s three solo albums, but his work with surf punk goofballs The All Brights and, of course, The Loved Ones. That good-nature was put to the test when a spontaneous, mid-set appearance by a background vacuum cleaner, ill-timed in the middle of perhaps Hause’s quietest stomach-punch of a song, “Bricks,” forced the consummate frontman to struggle to keep his composure. Once the vacuum cleaning portion of the evening’s festivities wound down, Hause also included an ode-to-a-departed-hero toward the end of his set, covering the late, great Tom Petty’s “I Won’t Back Down,” though this one turned into a celebratory singalong as you might imagine.

Head below for our full photo gallery from the evening, and stay tuned for more from City Winery in the coming months, because we’re so fancy (you already know). But seriously; Cory Branan and Face To Face and Austin Lucas are playing in the near future, so we’ll be back for the Coq Au Vin soon!

[Read more…]