On Episode #101 “Loud Fast and Shitty” talk with the darlings of bluegrass/punk, Old Man Markley. The 8 piece band from California recently had their debut record chart at #8 on Billboard’s Bluegrass Charts. The radio show caught up with them on their Orlando, Florida tour stop with NOFX, Bouncing Souls and Cobra Skulls…

Among the topics discussed was the band’s origins, which started early with punk rock. Singer John Carey and upright/washtub bassist Joey “Balls” Garibaldi moonlight in the seminal punk rock institution, Youth Brigade. Washboard player Ryan Markley and Mandolin player Alex Zablotsky played together in the Los Angeles based band, Angel City Outcasts. Mix those musicians and their influences together with the traditional banjo pickin’ of John Rosen and the down home fiddle playing from Katie Weed, and you have the makings of Old Man Markley. Annie DeTemple, who already had a musical background and is now married to John Carey, learned to play the Autoharp specifically for Old Man Markley. Her father, Michael DeTemple was part of the legendary Flying Burrito Brothers.

An encounter with Fat Mike (NOFX/Fat WreckChords) on the road with Youth Brigade led to the interest in signing Old Man Markley to Fat. Before that, three of the members of Old Man Markley supported themselves by working at Michael DeTemple’s custom guitar shop. John Carey, who is a luthier by trade even helped design and build Joey Garibaldi’s trademark washtub upright bass. Alex Zablotsky, who does all of the OMM artwork, worked for the animation company that does The Simpsons and Family Guy. Katie Weed, who recently graduated from film school, now does all of the official YouTube tour videos of Old Man Markley.

Download/Listen/Subscribe to www.loudfastshitty.com to hear the complete interviews from Singer/Guitarist John Carey and Banjo player John Rosen on Episode #101.

Also included in the podcast are two tracks from Old Man Markley (“Running Weight” and “Letterman”) as well as bonus tracks of other OMM member’s previous bands Angel City Outcasts and Blue Collar Special.

Dave Hause played guitar and did some vocals in the bands ‘The Curse’ and ‘Paint It Black’ before helping to form ‘The Loved Ones’ back in 2004. While his early bands are considered to be more hardcore, ‘The Loved Ones’ have that punk meets Bruce Springsteen feel to them, a sound that is very popular these days. Their music is similar to some of the stuff by ‘The Gaslight Anthem’ but Dave and his fellow band mates put their own spin on it. I first heard ‘The Loved Ones’ music about five years ago, a friend of mine gave me a copy of their self titled EP and I really enjoyed it. Since then I’ve picked up all of their releases, seen them live and met a couple of the band members (we actually ended up talking about how successful ‘The Gaslight Anthem’ were becoming).

So when I found out that Dave Hause was releasing a solo album I was both excited and confused. From what I’d read, “Resolutions” was going to be more of an acoustic album, which is cool but I didn’t (and still don’t) really understand why this album wasn’t recorded with ‘The Loved Ones”. Usually when the lead singer of a band puts out a solo disc it’s in a style of music that doesn’t fit with the stuff his band usually releases and that is what confuses me about “Resolutions”. These songs could have easily been put out on an acoustic album by ‘The Loved Ones’ and they would have fit just fine. Perhaps there are other reasons as to why this was not a band release, who knows? I don’t. Now on to the review.

“Resolutions” is an amazing record but it sure as hell is not a happy one. These songs are filled with images of hard times, longing and even death but throughout them all there is a feeling of hope. That’s a thing that I don’t mention very often in these reviews, the emotion that you get from the music. To me this is a very emotional album, Dave Hause has managed to do more than just tell you a story, he has managed to make you feel it, at least he did for me.

While listening to “Time Will Tell” (the first song) I feel like I’ve been transported to a time from my past. Lyrically he’s singing about being nostalgic for his younger days so it makes sense, but it’s also in the music. The track sounds like a Bruce Springsteen song (not any particular one, it just has that feeling) and reminds you of an easier time. That vibe is continued throughout the album with the exception of the song “Prague (Revive Me)”. The music in that one has a gypsy, or maybe even a circus sound to the guitar. It’s still a good song but it’s placement, in the middle section of the album is puzzling, it kinda throws off the flow of the disc. I think it would have been better to put this track as the last song rather than where it is.

Speaking of the last song, it’s called “Meet Me At The Lanes” and it’s another nostalgic song. On this one Dave sings about getting his friends together more often before they grow even further apart. Most of us who are in our thirties, or beyond understand what he’s feeling.

If you’re looking for something a little more upbeat, the songs, “Resolutions” and “Rankers and Rotters” are the most rockin songs on here. Neither of them are what I would call ‘happy’ songs but they do the best job at conveying that feeling of hope that is laced throughout the whole album. As demonstrated by the repeating of the line “We Won’t Back Down” several times at the end of “Rankers and Rotters”.

This release is Dave Hause at his best. As I said, I am a fan of ‘The Loved Ones” but at least in my opinion, “Resolutions” tops all of their albums.

**The Album Reviews published on Dying Scene are written and submitted by fans of punk music, just like you. If you disagree with an album’s rating, feel free to voice your opinion and give it your own rating in the comments. If you’d like to submit your own review do it here.

My favorite Australian punk band, Backyard Surgeons, have posted a video for their song “Don’t Expect A Change,” in which they apparently got together a couple of high-speed video cameras and smashed the shit out of anything they could get their hands on.

The song is from their debut EP “Totally Numb” and if you aren’t yet familiar with these dudes, now’s a great time to check them out.  See the video here.

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Balance And Composure are currently in the studio working on their debut full-length album.

You can watch the studio videos here.

The new album will be a follow-up to the 2010 split with Tigers Jaw.

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Pennsylvania punks Title Fight have announced that their upcoming full-length album will be titled “Shed” and will be released on May 3rd via SideOneDummy.

The album was produced by Walter Schreifels (Gorilla Biscuits, Rival Schools, Quicksand).

The band’s latest release “The Last Thing You Forget” was released in 2009 through Run for Cover Records.

Pennsylvania punk act HisDayHasCome have announced that they will release a split 7-inch with Crucial Dudes.

The split will be released sometime in the Spring on Jump Start Records.

You can download the 2010 HisDayHasCome EP, “Where I Belong” for free here. (Recommended!)

Orlando punks Big City Bombers have announced that they will be releasing their new EP “10,000 Miles To Nowhere” this Spring and you can stream two rough mixes of “Live Free” and “Die Hard” here.

You can check out the tracklist here.

If you like what you hear, stream their entire discography here.

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Boston punk act Transit have posted a few videos of them covering Osker’s “Motionless”, “Patience” and Archers Of Loaf’s “Web In Front.”

Check out the videos here.

The band is set to release their new album “Somewhere Left Behind” on February 21st via Mightier Than The Sword Records. It will be a follow-up to 2010’s “Keep This to Yourself.”

Seminal punk band, Swingin’ Utters, have announced that their new album “Here, Under Protest” will be released on April 26th, 2011.

“Mixing is winding down… going to mastering soon. release date is April 26.”

The album will be a follow-up to “Taking the Long Way” which was released last November on Fat Wreck Chords.

Vancouver, BC punk rockers Cambridge have posted their entire discography online. You can stream it here.

Cambridge released their second full-length, “This Is Not A Victory” last summer via Rebel Time Records.