DS Interview: Tsunami Bomb keyboardist Oobliette Sparks Talks “Bombs Away” Split EP with The Hammerbombs

Cover Photo Credit: Wayne Lewton This week, Tsunami Bomb and the Hammerbombs will release Bombs Away! on Rad Girlfriend Records. This six-song split EP sees each band covering each other’s songs and contributing one new original, resulting in one of the most fun EPs to come out this year. East Bay punk rock vets Tsunami […]

Cover Photo Credit: Wayne Lewton

This week, Tsunami Bomb and the Hammerbombs will release Bombs Away! on Rad Girlfriend Records. This six-song split EP sees each band covering each other’s songs and contributing one new original, resulting in one of the most fun EPs to come out this year.


East Bay punk rock vets Tsunami Bomb take side one with their cover of “Things Aren’t Going Well” from 2019’s Goodbye Dreamboat. Tsunami Bomb does a great job of making this their song by reworking the original song’s lead part with their signature organ. If you didn’t know this was a Hammerbombs cover, you would assume it belonged to Tsunami Bomb, which speaks volumes about the original song’s versatility.


For their original song, Tsunami Bomb wrote an ode to their beer-drinking comrades, “If I Were A Hammerbomb.” Not satisfied with covering two songs, Tsunami Bomb wrote a Hammerbombs song about the Hammerbombs with tons of puns and references to the band’s discography. Tsunami Bomb closes their side with their second cover from Goodbye Dreamboat, “I Hate Cars,” a quick little song about longing and car trouble. This cover comes across as a much more straightforward version of the original, but it is still a great choice.

Tsunami Bomb’s half of these songs are so well put together, you can tell they put a lot of thought into them, especially regarding arrangement and tone. Longtime keyboardist Oobliette Sparks took time to talk to Dying Scene about Tsunami Bomb’s half of the EP and the mutual love the bands have for each other.

Dying Scene (Forrest Gaddis) How did it come about that Tsunami Bomb and the Hammerbombs recorded a split?

Through a shared love of beer, heartbreak, explosives, and each other, with a little sprinkling of competitive fun, we decided we should make our own versions of each other’s songs.

Tell me about the songs on the EP. 

“Things Aren’t Going Well” is the best Tsunami Bomb song that we didn’t write. The second we spoke about doing this EP, covering that song was a non-starter for me. The second I heard the original version, I heard organs in my head. This one’s about a sinking ship, and you know we aren’t ones to play songs with a positive outcome.

“I Hate Cars” – Blaming an inanimate object for things that bum us out is really in our wheelhouse.  I mean, it has to be some… thing’s fault, right?

“If I Were a Hammerbomb” – Dominic came to visit me in New York…a while ago. We were beginning to talk about this EP, and Dom mentioned we should try to write an original TB song that sounds like The Hammerbombs. I, as I usually do, took it a step further and said, “Why don’t we also write it ABOUT The Hammerbombs?!” Dom started playing the bass, and I immediately started singing along. I think it’s the first time we ever started writing that way, together, just having something come together immediately. Also, I knew they would get a kick out of it, and it would make them happy. Making all of the Hammerbombs happy at once isn’t easy; I was ready to face the challenge.

How did you decide which songs belonged on a split versus an EP or full-length album? 

Since this was a cover EP, the two covers we picked for this mix and the original we wrote specifically for it.

Did working on this split move either of you in a different direction musically? 

Yeah. I played a grand piano on “I Hate Cars.” I half love it, and half think it’s really fucking weird.  Those feelings are pretty on-brand for me. 

There’s a sort of yin and yang in the two bands and the types of songs each releases. Tsunami Bomb is musically darker in sound, and The Hammerbombs sound brighter. Was that on purpose?

The Hammerbombs are so fucking catchy.  I think we both have some really strong pop sensibilities, but Hammberbombs are sneaky dark, while we are not sneaky about it.  IDK dude, the cover of Invasion From Within is dark and unhinged.  It makes me want to play it that way at least once.  It is bright, though.

Do you feel there is a theme or thread between each of the songs? 

I think the entire album is a love letter between the two bands.

Will the two bands be playing any shows together to promote the split? 

We sure hope so!  “Bombs Away” Tour!!!

The Bombs Away! EP releases on 12/26/2025. Stay tuned to DyingScene.com, and we will talk with the Hammerbombs about their half

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Podcast: Listen to Punknews Podcast #710 – Merry Christmas! Happy Holidays! Happy New Year!

Episode #710 of the Punknews Podcast is now up! In this episode John, Sam, and Em talk about the sale of Jello's car, discuss punk… er… uh… "punk" social media influencers, and play a bunch of Christmas tunes! We will be on a reduced schedule until January 1, after which we will be back up tp normal speed and will post best of year lists. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

DS EP Review:  Thee Soreheads – “I’m Not Your Fucking Sex Doll”

On November 29, 2025, the four self-described “slightly angry punks” that make up Montreal punk four-piece Thee Soreheads released a debut EP that isn’t “slightly” anything; the unabashedly titled I’m Not Your Fucking Sex Doll is neither sonically nor lyrically measured in any respect, but believe me when I tell you that you wouldn’t want it any […]

On November 29, 2025, the four self-described “slightly angry punks” that make up Montreal punk four-piece Thee Soreheads released a debut EP that isn’t “slightly” anything; the unabashedly titled I’m Not Your Fucking Sex Doll is neither sonically nor lyrically measured in any respect, but believe me when I tell you that you wouldn’t want it any other way.

Featuring tracks with titles like “Riot”, “No Means No” and of course, the titular “I’m Not Your Fucking Sex Doll”, this EP is a full-throated and unapologetic tirade against the quotidian violence and mediocrity of men. Lead vocalist Maria Jiminez hurls her sharp-witted barbs with apparently maleficent glee, delighting in the heads that roll in her wake of her sharpened and straightforward lyricism (and if she doesn’t, well, I certainly do.) With equal parts explosive rage, satisfying catharsis, and finely honed wit, Thee Soreheads deliver six epic, no-holds-barred anthems that even the staunchest chauvinist will find difficult to ignore.

The EP debuts with fuzzy, muted guitar on opening track “3 Strikes” reminiscent of the intro to Richard Hell’s iconic “Blank Generation”, setting the tone for what promises to be an uncompromising record. “I make everyone’s life a living hell,” Jiminez chirps in her signature candyfloss voice – girlish, shrill, and unflinchingly feminine – warning that there will be no second chances for the men who dare cross her. 

Listeners are invited to an intimate dish sesh on the tautological “No Means No” where Jiminez recounts in her cartoonish inflection a classic dive bar tale of unwanted attention and leering glances that invariably backslides into the eye-rollingly predictable “well you’re ugly anyways.” A funky bassline and hooky guitar melody thrum along over a bouncy, hi-hat-accented beat. Every chorus, I found myself shouting “NO!!!” before Jiminez had a chance to finish the titular adage; every woman has longed to shriek the way Jiminez does as the story builds to its inevitable conclusion. If only it were socially acceptable get up on a table and howl at all the men who, like Jiminez says, are “in my fucking space and fucking touching me.”

The record’s title track also serves at its thesis; on “I’m Not Your Fucking Sex Doll,” Jiminez decries a culture of men who treat women like objects, stating in no uncertain terms her refusal to be commodified or taken advantage of. The song contrasts today’s jaded, steel-nerved Jiminez against an earlier, doe-eyed version who might have lacked the experience to recognize the warning signs but who now “wraps [her] fingers ‘round the keys”, a behavioral evolution unfortunately familiar to all women. But Jiminez is no victim; if I’m Not Your Fucking Sex Doll teaches us anything, it’s how to find community in our shared anger in a way that makes us stronger together than we could ever be alone.

The record slows to a more leisurely pace on laid-back “Riot”, a mellow track that nonetheless maintains the sense of defiant fierceness that has been building since the album’s opening chords. Jiminez’s voice swings from sweet to snarling over an ambling, surfy bassline, pausing to let shine a whimsical guitar solo so sweet you’ll almost forget how awful men are. Almost.

Jiminez does some of her best vocal work on the up-tempo “Ratlike”, barking out such gems as “I’m not a violent person but I wish that you would die” over a frantic beat, voice rising to a barely intelligible shriek as she rails against yet another racist, sexist, “white suprema-piece of shit”.

Surf-drenched guitar over a four-to-the-floor beat shines on this EP’s swinging closer, with guitarist Ally McPake delivering another standout solo that bookends the record nicely. This track is something of a counterbalance to a record that thus far has proven to be unyieldingly defiant: “I’m broken, cracked and shattered,” Jiminez admits on the chorus, a moment of sober self-awareness that finds her unsure of where to go after the rage has dissipated, leading us to wonder: after suffering all the bullshit heaped onto us by this evil beast we call patriarchy, how do we go about putting ourselves back together?

It would be inaccurate, or at least incomplete, to assert that I’m Not Your Fucking Sex Doll is merely the cathartic ranting of an angry feminist, as many a miffed misogynist are likely to characterize it in an attempt to soothe their fragile feelings. It’s also a decisive proclamation of a refusal to be further mistreated and a call to arms to all of us to do the same. This explosive EP should be mandatory listening for every whiny man who’s ever made a fumbling, skeevy pass at a demonstrably uninterested woman and every self-proclaimed “nice guy” who bemoans his idle love life but refuses to examine his own behavior. With clever songwriting and the ability to spin a catchy melody and make it stick, I’m Not Your Fucking Sex Doll is a standout debut EP from a talented band that should be on every punk’s radar. The group is promising big things in 2026, so stay tuned for that, and head over to the group’s Bandcamp while you wait to cop a freshly pressed vinyl copy of this riotous record.

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Tours: Hot Mulligan announce more tour dates

Hot Mulligan continues to support the release The Sound A Body Makes When It's Still into 2026 with tour dates in Europe/UK, Australia and Japan. Delta Sleep will be supporting the European and UK dates, and Saturday at Your Place and Forests will be supporting the Australian dates. Tickets are already on sale. See below to check out the dates.

Shunk release video for "Party Girl"

Shunk have released a video for their song “Party Girl”. The video was produced, edited, and directed by Aaron Nadal. The song was released as a standalone single in August. Shunk released their debut album Shunkland in March. Check out the video below.

The Spuds MacKenzies cover Chappell Roan

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Stevo32 of Sum 41 in the studio

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Private Function recording

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NOFX announce two new 10-inch EPs

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