New Jersey poppy skate punkers When Thieves Are About are allowing fans to stream their latest full-length record. It’s titled We’re Literally Almost There and features ten rapid punk tunes with plenty of melody and some extreme catchiness. You can listen to We’re Literally Almost There below. Enjoy!
New Jersey poppy skate punkers When Thieves Are About are allowing fans to stream their latest full-length record. It’s titled We’re Literally Almost There and features ten rapid punk tunes with plenty of melody and some extreme catchiness.
You can listen to We’re Literally Almost There below. Enjoy!
Stalwarts of the UK punk scene The Filaments are streaming a track from their forthcoming album Look to the Skies. The tune is titled “Rip-Off World” and you can check it out below. The full album is due for release this Friday. Look to the Skies is the first album from The Filaments since their 2013 release Land […]
Stalwarts of the UK punk scene The Filaments are streaming a track from their forthcoming album Look to the Skies. The tune is titled “Rip-Off World” and you can check it out below. The full album is due for release this Friday.
Look to the Skies is the first album from The Filaments since their 2013 release Land of Lions.
As well as streaming “Rip-Off World”, The Filaments will also be performing at a few festivals this summer. You can check out where and when below too.
Atlanta-based melodic hardcore unit Ganges Phalanges are allowing fans to stream their latest EP Grime Time Vol. 2. The release features just two songs of fast and fun punk rock. Ganges Phalanges had recently announced their breakup via social media. However, according to a post by the band yesterday, they have since decided to continue with […]
Atlanta-based melodic hardcore unit Ganges Phalanges are allowing fans to stream their latest EP Grime Time Vol. 2. The release features just two songs of fast and fun punk rock.
Ganges Phalanges had recently announced their breakup via social media. However, according to a post by the band yesterday, they have since decided to continue with the project. For now, they’re struggling to find a new drummer with the required commitment to continue booking shows. For this reason, they will be performing less frequently. If you’re based in Atlanta and could help them out, get in contact with them and arrange an audition.
Below is Grime Time Vol. 2.
UK-based melodic hardcore act Layman’s Terms are allowing you lot to stream their latest EP. It’s called An Invite to the End and has been released by Dirty Sushi Records. The record features six tracks of technical melodic hardcore the likes of which will surely delight fans of Strung Out, Propagandhi, or Frenzal Rhomb. Check it out […]
UK-based melodic hardcore act Layman’s Terms are allowing you lot to stream their latest EP. It’s called An Invite to the End and has been released by Dirty Sushi Records.
The record features six tracks of technical melodic hardcore the likes of which will surely delight fans of Strung Out, Propagandhi, or Frenzal Rhomb. Check it out below.
The Pittsburgh-based folk punkers of Cousin Boneless have amped up and gone considerably weirder on their latest record. Possession finds the band exploring a menagerie of new sounds and experimenting with a variety of musical textures. If you’re a fan of Blackbird Raum or Railyard Ghosts, you’re probably going to love this album. You can listen to […]
The Pittsburgh-based folk punkers of Cousin Boneless have amped up and gone considerably weirder on their latest record. Possession finds the band exploring a menagerie of new sounds and experimenting with a variety of musical textures. If you’re a fan of Blackbird Raum or Railyard Ghosts, you’re probably going to love this album.
You can listen to it in its entirety below.
The previous effort from Cousin Boneless was their 2017 EP Revel in Rubble.
Legendary Fat Wreck Chords act Face to Face are allowing fans to stream a track from their latest acoustic album Hold Fast: Acoustic Sessions. The tune is titled “Keep Your Chin Up” and first appeared on the band’s 2016 record Protection. The below version of “Keep Your Chin Up” is the second track that Face to Face have released from Hold […]
Legendary Fat Wreck Chords act Face to Face are allowing fans to stream a track from their latest acoustic album Hold Fast: Acoustic Sessions. The tune is titled “Keep Your Chin Up” and first appeared on the band’s 2016 record Protection.
The below version of “Keep Your Chin Up” is the second track that Face to Face have released from Hold Fast: Acoustic Sessions. The first was a stripped down version of their classic song “Disconnected”.
The full record will be released on July 27, 2018.
Austria’s Astpai play punk rock with a healthy dose of Kid Dynamite snarl. It’s melodic, it’s loud, and most of all, it wants to be heard. Think of all those bands in the mid-aughties who started drawing on the melodic side of hardcore and post—Make Do And Mend, Title Fight, and Hostage Calm, to name […]
Austria’s Astpai play punk rock with a healthy dose of Kid Dynamite snarl. It’s melodic, it’s loud, and most of all, it wants to be heard. Think of all those bands in the mid-aughties who started drawing on the melodic side of hardcore and post—Make Do And Mend, Title Fight, and Hostage Calm, to name a few—bands that took to the musicianship of Hot Water Music and Fugazi but kept their feet firmly in the world of traditional songwriting. Astpai is a step once more removed from those post-hardcore roots, but it’s hard for me not to think of them as kin. True Capacity is melodic punk that wants to hit hard, to give you all its got, and have you singing along with every word.
A more direct comparison for Astpai would be something like The Flatliners. They have a similar feel of heightened melodic punk, where they take from hardcore sounds but not structures. True Capacity opens with “Rotten Bait”—beginning with some soft arpeggios (oh—how I miss 2010) and going harder and louder with sharp guitar changes and gang vocals. “Lottery” follows up with a more mid-tempo stomper, the line “when it rains it always pours,” rising above the distortion.
“Best Years” is one of True Capacity’s highlights, with the memorable opening lyric, “My name rhymes with the mess I let you drown in.” Syncopated guitar notes add tension and highlight the fact that Astpai is aiming to do more than push their songs through the chord progression meat grinder. These little details pop up all over True Capacity, again, in “Best Years,” they finish with ethereal whoas; “Falling Trees” features some spidery lead work; and while these flourishes aren’t particularly groundbreaking, they help to keep the album from being a chug-fest.
The title track is the hardest of the bunch, opening with a fuzzed out bassline that sounds like something spat out of Hell. Accompanied by gravel-coated vocals, the track has a lean, mean hardcore feel that becomes almost full 90s post when the guitars come in. Like, total Quicksand shit. Venomous to the core, shaking with rage. It’s in stark contrast to the rest of the songs on the album, but it does stand out.
Astpai are good at what they do, and if you’re a devotee of this particular style, you’ll probably find a lot to dig. Here, there are songs with big choruses and competent arrangements delivered with an emotional range in line with what we expect from today’s melodic punk. True Capacity is a good album, but doesn’t do quite enough to push is boundaries and carve out its own identity in a pretty well-tread subgenre of modern punk to be great. That being said, there are moments on True Capacity that shine, and if you’re eager for more of the sounds you love, Astpai has the tracks and the chops.
3.5/5
O.C. punk veterans The Offspring debuted a new song last night at Greenfield Festival in Switzerland called “It Won’t Get Better”. You can check it out below. The song is expected to appear on The Offspring’s long-awaited new album, which is tentatively due for release before the end of the year, and will be the first from the band since 2012’s Days Go By.
O.C. punk veterans The Offspring debuted a new song last night at Greenfield Festival in Switzerland called “It Won’t Get Better”. You can check it out below.
The song is expected to appear on The Offspring’s long-awaited new album, which is tentatively due for release before the end of the year, and will be the first from the band since 2012’s Days Go By.
Legendary post-hardcore band Thrice has just signed with Epitaph Records. “We grew up listening to and being inspired by Epitaph bands, and have always admired and respected the label’s independent spirit and ethics,” they said. “To finally be a part of the family there is an absolute honor, and we couldn’t be more excited about […]
Legendary post-hardcore band Thrice has just signed with Epitaph Records.
“We grew up listening to and being inspired by Epitaph bands, and have always admired and respected the label’s independent spirit and ethics,” they said. “To finally be a part of the family there is an absolute honor, and we couldn’t be more excited about our future with them.”
They have also released a lyric-video for their new track “The Grey” and announced a co-headlining tour with The Bronx and label-mates Teenage Wrist. Tickets are on sale now at Sound Rink.
Check out the video and tour dates below.
Wow! Here’s a straight-up EXCLUSIVE… and only a couple years late, but hey, we’re all on punk rock time anyway. We caught up with Eddie from The Vibrators at Three Links on their 40 year anniversary tour. We talked music, tacos, debauchery and bamboozling David Bowie fans back in the day after the shows. Great […]
Wow! Here’s a straight-up EXCLUSIVE… and only a couple years late, but hey, we’re all on punk rock time anyway.
We caught up with Eddie from The Vibrators at Three Links on their 40 year anniversary tour. We talked music, tacos, debauchery and bamboozling David Bowie fans back in the day after the shows. Great stuff! Read more on the past, present and future of the band below.