While I think the idea of full-album shows can be a cool one, particularly if its an album the listener has a sentimental connection with, I think that they also invite a lot of space for potential letdown; an album performed as a single unit might work well on its own but can also frequently mess with the flow of a full-length headline set. The double album show, however, can be pretty great; you get the natural ebb and flow and crescendo that comes with the experience of listening to an album, then you get to reset and start the process over again halfway through the show. And when the show contains two albums that were released back-to-back, it also allows a unique, retroactive insight as to what the songwriter or the band was going through at that time period.

To that end, Against Me! brought their two-night, four-album mini-tour through Boston last week for a couple well-attended nights at the 1000-capacity Royale nightclub. Yours truly attended the first night which, if you’re keeping score at home, meant getting Searching For A Former Clarity and New Wave in succession. Released in 2005 and 2007 respectively, these represent the band’s last album on Fat Wreck Chords and subsequent first major label album for Sire Records. They were also written during the second half of the eight-year reign of George W. Bush. The country was constantly at war, conservatism ruled the day, and the country was on the brink of an economic collapse, themes that we’re struggling with on an exponential scale a decade-plus later. On a more personal level, they also found Laura Jane Grace exploring themes of gender and identification and isolation, things that would all get blown open on 2014’s Transgender Dysphoria Blues. The band looked and sounded great on this night; Grace’s voice was probably the best I’ve heard it at any point in the last half-decade. It was the first time I’d seen Andrew Seward perform in Boston since returning to his previous role as the band’s bass player, and as much as I loved watching Inge Johansson play and perform, there’s something comforting about seeing the three-headed monster Grace flanked by Seward and longtime ax-man James Bowman with the eternal sparkplug that is Atom Willard providing the gas pedal. I know I mixed metaphors there, but whatever. The double-album show also gave a chance for the band to pull out a few deep cuts that haven’t been played in a long, long time; Grace remarked that time had taught her it was okay to hate the New Wave track “Stop,” but that time has also taught her it’s okay to get funky when listening to that song if you want to.

Support on this quick run of Against Me! shows came from Omaha’s Cursive and Toronto’s Dilly Dally. The former, a long-running six-piece post-punk collaborative are still touring in support of last year’s Vitriola and it’s 2019 companion Get Fixed. The latter are a band that I was not really previously familiar with unfortunately, but they’re a dynamite force. In short order, they’ve perfected a sort of explosive, post-grunge sound that is somewhere between Bikini Kill and Sonic Youth and maybe Smashing Pumpkins but the good Smashing Pumpkins of like 1994.

Head below to see our full photo rundown. For whatever reason, none of the bands involved were really lit from the front, allowing the viewer a more ethereal experience and the amateur photographer an awful lot of frustration. I just kinda leaned into the poor lighting and hoped for the best, particularly where the oversaturdated red light during Dilly Dally’s set is concerned.

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Political punk legends Anti Flag just days after announcing their upcoming record and tour to bless the studio with some never before heard acoustic versions of their new tunes. Front-men Justin Sane and Chris #2 waxed poetic about their musical influences, social activism, and 85 Bud Lights.

It was one of the most genuine and heartfelt Paste Sessions of the last few months, and I should know because I am at most of them. They broke their songs down to their deepest roots on the acoustic guitars as they will bring their live show back to its roots playing in front of a crowd of no more than 200 on Halloween night at New York Cities Mercury Lounge.

Portland’s Ground Score is an under the radar band that deserves at least a listen (if not a beer bong and a stage-dive). This is fast and fun skate punk with a darker edge and some serious songwriting to elevate it beyond you’re usual circle pit. You may even remember, their album Old Theories on Society garnered a not too shabby review from us here.

Well, the boys are back and this time they have a split with New York’s Cop/Out—an absurdly intense, positively destructive pop-punk band that plays Queer anthems that come from a place of raucous distortion and land-speed records. Seriously, this is some frenetic stuff. The split’s titled Hindsight 2020 and sounds pretty rockin’, if I do say so myself.

We’re proud to be streaming songs from both bands, sure to please fans of all that is fast, loud, and Epi-Fat—if you like what you hear, take to the streets and pre-order the damn thing. Split hits the streets 11/1. Go!

If you are a fan of the late 90’s, early 2000’s brand of Midwestern whiskey soaked pop punk like Dillinger Four, Dear Landlord, or Off With Their Heads, Denver’s Filthy Hearts newest album Beyond Repair, out now via Hidden Home Records, will most definitely be in your wheelhouse. It is honest and emotional, a catharsis masked behind gritty guitars and sing-along choruses.

“Every day I’m trying to be better than I used to be” is the very first lyric that greets us in the album opener “Ambulatory” and it sets the tone for the entirety of this album. Aggressively delivered self reflection followed with a catchy chorus of “Ambulatory, sick of being so fucking mean… tired of being bitter about everything” is the exact type of self awareness that makes this album so intriguing. The idea of self improvement while being acutely aware of your faults is an idea that everyone can get behind.

“Drinking Wells (is the Best Revenge)” is the type of desperate poetry that is only found at the bottom of the bottle, a way to find some chemically induced false courage in self confidence. This lack of confidence gets revisited in “Hiding Behind the Volume” which soon becomes real confidence once the “music takes my soul, and I forget about the past… the music makes you smile, and I know it’s not just me, and it’s time to go and have some fun.” Perhaps an indication that confidence may not need to be chemically induced. The idea of doing something you do well, as a means to overcoming the nemesis of overthinking, is a confidence booster, especially when there is the positive reinforcement of a crowd full of people have fun with you.

However Filthy Hearts must believe in delayed gratification because before they fully deliver on the fun time premise, they break your heart with a massive tempo break in “Voted Best City to be Lonely”. An almost acoustic number, that has an electric build and features a bassline that attempts to vibrate the sadness into your soul. The whiskey inspired poetry is moved to the forefront once again as “we both took a bottle of shots, and keep drinking till the dark takes you in. Hearts will remain empty tonight” they lament while the guitars develop an intensity that sucks you into the feeling of despair presented.

Immediately following this sadness is “I’ve Never Skanked a Day in My Life” a fun little blitzkrieg of a song. Encouraging us to clap our hands or stomp our feet and sing along, as a way to have fun and not think about tomorrow. “Get out of your mind and have a good time, It’s the only thing we can do better”

There are a few songs that cover the idea of finding things to do better or at the very least finding a way to escape from the way you think about problems, such as “Desire”, “Dreams of Youth” and the break-necked “Seasons”, but none better than ”Career Day” where they encourage you to run away from the machinations of the daily grind at a thankless job because “There’s a better life out there for you and me, a life off the clock, out of this machine.” The outro of “I want to run away” is delivered with such conviction and despair that it is chill inducing.

The album ends with “And I Don’t Even Have Kids” which evokes thoughts of a small bar packed to capacity with the entire crowd desperately singing along. By far their most political song, it comes across as a punk rock State of the Union, complete with back and forth vocals, driving and pulsating guitar work, sing along “woahs” and a giant middle finger to the “greedy selfish fucks” in our government. It almost seems that amongst the self reflection presented on this album, the environment we live in could be creating the very sense of sadness and despair presented.

On Beyond Repair Filthy Hearts deliver honest barrel-aged punk as they take the classic Midwestern sound and mix in a touch of hardcore and skatepunk. The result is an intrinsic experience best enjoyed sung out loud in a club full of your friends, a beer in one hand and a raised fist in the other. It is most certainly one of the years strongest albums and is most likely going to be on on some year end lists.

Florida to Iowa punks Rational Anthem are streaming their latest music video in support of their record, It’s Only Permanent, out November 1 on A-F Records. The new single is called “Through Being Punk” and it’s for anyone who’s ever thought about packing up their bags and moving far off to some remote region where even dyingscene.com can’t get a hold of you.

“The title of this song pretty much sums it up.” Bassist/vocalist Chris Hembrough has to say about the new single. “One of the things I’ve grown super tired of in regards to punk rock is the marriage between the music and how celebrated it is to be depressed and apathetic. I thought that was cool for a long time. It showed people you were punk. I came to realize it doesn’t have to be that way.”

He leaves us with an enlightened perspective to ponder while a guy in an Undertaker shirt superstitiously taps the various paintings of his favorite venue’s art collection. “I want to be happy, healthy, and take good care of myself. I want people around me to do well and do great things. A lot of the punk scene sells you on this dumb notion that staying angsty and sad is all just a part of it. Fuck that. As far as that stuff goes, I’m through being punk, but playing and celebrating punk music will always be a passion of mine. Put on a Tony Robbins tape and join a jazzercise class. Being happy is cool.” Sounds good. Stream “Through Being Punk” below.  [Read more…]

Agnostic Front release their 12th studio album, Get Loud, via Nuclear Blast on November 8th. Following the recent release of first single “Spray Painted Walls“, the band have uploaded a video discussing the recording of the album.

Have a watch below. Album pre-orders are up now.

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West Virginia’s Left Behind are streaming a new track ahead of their upcoming Pure Noise Records album No One Goes To Heaven. “Outside The Body” is the sneak peak of the record that is out on November 15th. Pre-orders are up now.

Have a listen below.

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The Damned are to part ways with drummer Pinch (Andrew Pinching) after two decades.

The drummer made this statement regarding the decision: “After 20 years with The Damned it’s time for me to move on. Having just fulfilled a dream playing Madison Square Garden, the upcoming London Palladium show seems like an obvious stepping off point for me. I’ve been lucky enough to meet some heroes and play shows with legendary bands and amazing characters. I send my love to my band mates past and present as well as everyone in the Damned organization and wish them all the best for the future. Up the Punks. Pinch”

His last show was last night (October 27th) at the London Palladium.