Dying Scene is fired up to bring you another exclusive video premiere, and it comes to us straight outta Krakow! That’s right, Polish punks CF98 are back and they’ve got a video for the new track “Plot Twist.” The song is a ball of frenetic energy, and it is the latest single of the band’s […]
Dying Scene is fired up to bring you another exclusive video premiere, and it comes to us straight outta Krakow! That’s right, Polish punks CF98 are back and they’ve got a video for the new track “Plot Twist.” The song is a ball of frenetic energy, and it is the latest single of the band’s forthcoming album This Is Fine, which is due out next month on SBAM Records. Here’s what the band had to say about the clip:
“Plot Twist,” a second single out of upcoming This Is Fine’ album is a short, fast and energetic one minute song. Have you ever thought about dropping the pressure of being perfect and a good character for everyone in your life? Yep, For some reasons, for some other people we will never be perfect and that’s ok, that’s fine. Even if 10 people will tell the same story about you, you might be a villain in one, you could have done something better or in a different way. Sounds familiar? For us yes, that’s why there is no point in perfection. The video is totally DIY, recorded at home and produced by our guitar man Mati.“
Hello, and welcome to the latest installment of the Dying Scene Record Radar! If it’s your first time joining us, this is a weekly column where we cover all things punk rock vinyl. So kick off your shoes, grab a few beers, and break out those wallets, because it’s time to run through this week’s […]
Hello, and welcome to the latest installment of the Dying Scene Record Radar! If it’s your first time joining us, this is a weekly column where we cover all things punk rock vinyl. So kick off your shoes, grab a few beers, and break out those wallets, because it’s time to run through this week’s new releases and reissues. Let’s get into it!
Swedish punk veterans Millencolinhave announced a new LP compiling their first two demo tapes from 1993. Due out in early September, Goofy & Melack will be limited to 500 copies on black vinyl, and 240 copies on red vinyl. Preorder through their webstore starts Thursday, August 4th at 10am Eastern.
Anti-Flag just announced their 13th full-length album Lies They Tell Our Children. It’s due out on January 6th, 2023, and you can pre-order it now here. The record will feature guest appearances from members of Rise Against, Bad Religion, and a bunch of other bands. The cover art’s some avant garde bullshit, which is cool if you’re into that kinda thing. Check out the music video for the first single below.
Asbestos Records has repressed the venerable Against Me!‘s 2007 New Wave LP for the first time in six years. This one’s limited to 1,000 copies on split black/yellow vinyl. Head to the label’s webstore to get yours.
Availfrontman Tim Barry has announced a new solo album titled Spring Hill. This is due out on August 12th, and it sounds like the LP will be available to order the on same day. The “red cloud” variant pictured will only be available at a show he’s playing in Richmond, VA on Friday, August 5th (more details on that here).
Fat Wreck Chords has repressed Frenzal Rhomb‘s incredible Smoko at the Pet Food Factory. Fat doesn’t reveal their colored variants usually, but my super official sources tell me this is what this pressing looks like. Grab your copy here.
British melodic punks Darkojust announced a new EP titled Sparkle. It’s due out on October 21st, and you can preorder it here. The first single “Cruel to Be” is really good; check out the music video below!
Zia Records has a new exclusive variant of NOFX‘s Punk in Drublic, limited to to 500 copies on “Transparent Beer With Red Splatter” colored vinyl. Get it here.
New band alert!Bracket‘s Angelo Celli has a new project called Guilty Party and their debut 7″ Imposter Syndrome is coming out next month. Check out “Circling the Truth” below, and go here to get your preorder in. If you like Bracket, you will like this.
The Homeless Gospel Choir‘s 2020 album This Land Is Your Landfill just got repressed. There are two new variants, each limited to 250 copies. Go here to grab this one.
Rude Records is having a summer sale! Records, shirts, and more from bands like Less Than Jake, Guttermouth, and a bunch of others are discounted up to 25%. Head over to their webstore to check it out.
Now that all the cool stuff has been covered, here’s what I’ve been listening to… Saving money by not buying every new release has given me a chance to dig out some stuff I haven’t played in a while. First up this week was Much The Same‘s Quitters Never Win, a very underrated skate punk record that turns 20 years old next year. MxPx‘s The Ever Passing Moment from last year’s box set got some playing time, too. I also revisited one of my favorite Murderburgers records The 12 Habits of Highly Defective People, and Civil War Rust‘s fantastic debut LP The Fun & The Lonely.
That’s all, folks! Thanks as always for tuning in to the Dying Scene Record Radar. If there’s anything we missed (highly likely), or if you want to let everyone know about a new/upcoming vinyl release you’re excited about, send us a message on Facebook or Instagram, and we’ll look into it. Enjoy your weekend, don’t blow too much money on spinny discs. See ya next week!
Wanna catch up on all of our Record Radar posts? Type “Record Radar” in the search bar at the top of the page!
“Let me start by peeling back my skin…” With those lyrics from “Performative Hours,” the opening track and lead single from their 6th studio album, New Ruin, The Flatliners announced their triumphant and long-awaited return to the game. With vocals hollered in throat-shredding fashion about a sonic car-crash of guitar, bass and drums, the track […]
“Let me start by peeling back my skin…”
With those lyrics from “Performative Hours,” the opening track and lead single from their 6th studio album, New Ruin, The Flatliners announced their triumphant and long-awaited return to the game. With vocals hollered in throat-shredding fashion about a sonic car-crash of guitar, bass and drums, the track serves as a perfect opening salvo for what you, the listener, are about to experience over the next thirty-eight minutes.
It’s been a while since we last heard from Toronto’s finest. Five years, in fact, since the band unleased Inviting Light on the masses. (Here’s our review from back then, although it’s formatted to the old site so it might be a little wonky, and in the migration to the new platform we lost record of who actually wrote it. Super fun feature.) That album was a bit of a departure in both the literal and figurative senses of the word; it was their first album on Rise Records after the triumvirate of Fat Wreck Chords releases that immediately preceded it, and it brought with it a sound that probably qualifies as more mature and well-crafted than some of the band more frenetic earlier work.
On New Ruin, the Flats find themselves back on Fat Wreck for the first time in close to a decade (I know, I didn’t believe it either, but Dead Language came out in September 2013). Rather than pick up where they left off, however, and fall back on an earlier sound and a shallower bag of tricks which would have, frankly, been a mistake, the band continue to move forward in a way that might just be their best effort yet.
What’s immediately noticeable on this album are the riffs. Oh are there riffs. Not to insert myself into this review, but I had a list of things I wanted to do on the evening that I first listened to this album, and decided to forgo all of them in favor of picking up my Les Paul and trying to decipher some of the rock-and-roll goodness contained herein. Frontman Chris Cresswell and lead guitarist Scott Brigham have always kept the created a variety of textures that range from blistering intensity to swirling cacophony, New Ruin finds the duo fine-tuning their craft into a series of one soaring riff after another. Paul Ramirez and Jon Darby continue to serve as the band’s rock-steady anchor on drums and bass respectively, allowing their six-stringed compatriots to sail in some pretty deep waters filled with big, anthemic, earworm-style riffs.
New Ruin does a wonderful job of weaving in a lot of the different things that the Flats have always done best, but does it better. There’s the caustic, piss-and-vinegar of songs like “Performative Hours” and “Oath,” the latter being lead by those aforementioned massive riffs over a punishing drum line. There’s the mid-tempo push-and-pull of chugging rhythm guitar underneath swirling, sometimes droning leads in tracks like “Top Left Door” and “Big Strum” and my personal favorite “It’ll Hurt.” At least I think that’s my personal favorite. That does seem to keep changing after approximately four dozen listens at this point, however. After another brief, swirling guitar intro, “Tunnel Vision” turns into one of the more straight-ahead, four-on-the-floor punk rock burners in the band’s arsenal. And if you’re really into the big, swirling riffs, album closer “Under A Dying Sun” sets the bar high, an epic six-and-a-half minute wave that gradually builds to a false crest at the midway point, only to regather its energy and continue crashing upon the sonic shores in bigger, bolder fashion.
Both musically and lyrically, New Ruin shines as a beacon signaling that yes, you can go home again, but you can do so with the added weight and wisdom that come with years of consciously examining and reexamining yourself and your place in…well, in all of this. “Performative Hours” laments the self-important, ego-stroking facades that we build up on all sorts of social media. Songs like “Rat King” and “Big Strum” follow the collapse of power-hungry talking heads and their minions who lose sight of the proverbial forest through the trees, eventually collapsing under the weight of their own misdeeds. “Oath” finds our narrator trying to overcome the poisonous waters of hate and instead moving toward love and freedom and acceptance. It’s all a reminder that you can keep your tongue or your pen or your axe all sharpened and ready for battle, primed to call society and our leaders and, sometimes, ourselves on an ever-increasing amount of bullshit in the hopes of a brighter, more hopeful future. We haven’t come up with an album review rating scale here at Dying Scene 2.0 yet, but pick whatever sign or symbol or totem you want, and New Ruin gets all of them.
“…to at least let a little bit of soft light in.”
You can still pre-order New Ruin on Bandcamp here and through Fat Wreck here.
Story and Photography by Meredith Goldberg Signals Midwest, from Cleveland, OH, returned to Chicago, supported by Mush, Downhaul, and Into It. Over It. Its performance at Subterranean – aka SubT – was a fun one. The members seemed especially grateful that their friends in Into It, Over It were able to join them. Signals Midwest […]
Its performance at Subterranean – aka SubT – was a fun one. The members seemed especially grateful that their friends in Into It, Over It were able to join them. Signals Midwest lead singer/guitarist Maxwell Stern expressed the sentiment that they should be supporting Into It. Over It instead of the reverse.
Signals Midwest played to what appeared to be an almost capacity crowd in the warm club on a hot night. Said crowd was vastly mellower than most of the shows we cover here in Chicago, with virtually no circle pit, and many fans watched from a second level. Nonetheless, the crowd members were very vocal as they repeatedly shouted their approval.
Signals Midwest performed 7 of the 12 tracks on their new LP “Dent,” which was released in April 2022. The set opener, “I Used To Draw,” was one of those seven. Other “Dent” tracks performed included consecutively “Tommy Takes A Picture,” “Gold In The Grey,” “Sure of It “ and “All Good Things.” The band also performed “Your New Old Apartment,” though without the song’s featured performer, Sincere Engineer. Signals Midwest closed its set with “Alchemy Hour,” from the album, “At This Age” (2016).
Chicago’s own Into It.Over It ripped through its set, performing songs from a cross-section of its albums. These included, among others, “Discretion and Depressing People”, and “Fortunate Friends” from the album Proper; “Spinning Thread”, and “Upstate Blues,” from, Intersections; “Brenham, TX,” and “Augusta GA,” from 12 Towns; and “Heartificial” and 22 Syllables” from 52 Weeks.
The band members also made it absolutely clear their opinions on the recent Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade. Joe George Shadid, has a sticker on his guitar stating, “Abortion on Demand & Without Apology.” Evan Thomas Weiss echoed the message posted on the band’s Facebook page. Whilst promoting a t-shirt to raise money for abortionfunds.org, Into It. Over It declares, “this band aids and abets abortion. it is our belief that abortion is a human right and we’ll continue to do what we can to fight for the human rights of US citizens.peace and love.”
For the band Downhaul, from Richmond VA, the SubT show marked the furthest from home the group has performed. Gordon Phillips, singer and guitarist for the group said it was during the middle of the tour so they were feeling pretty comfortable with their sets at that point. He did admit they might have been a bit nervous because they usually play venues much smaller than SubT. However, Downhaul received a very warm welcome and Phillips and the rest of his bandmates were very happy to have numerous good friends in the crowd. This group of friends included members of the Atlanta based band Worlds Greatest Dad, who were in the city on a night off from their own tour. They were also accompanied by Signals Midwest’s Max Stern on lap guitar. Up next for Downhaul? The members are finalizing, for release, some new songs they recorded in June and playing Fest for the first time ever. Needless to say, the band is very excited about its future.
Mush, the 5-member group from Chicago and Grand Rapids MI, was the first band to play. The band’s spirited set launched an enjoyable evening in the Bucktown/Wicker Park area of Chicago.
Thanks to everyone who has checked out all of the new content we’ve been cranking out since the relaunch of Dying Scene! We’re stoked to be back, and we’re even more stoked that you’ve been checking in! Because we have an awful lot of material from the old site in the Archive, we thought it […]
Thanks to everyone who has checked out all of the new content we’ve been cranking out since the relaunch of Dying Scene! We’re stoked to be back, and we’re even more stoked that you’ve been checking in! Because we have an awful lot of material from the old site in the Archive, we thought it would be cool to take a look back at some of the posts from our past.
First up is a story from August 2, 2012. My memories of writing it are still very vivid. We’d just had it confirmed the night before that Tony Sly had passed away. I remember messaging Dying Scene’s old head honcho (and still head honcho emeritus) Johnny X that I know we had run a news story about it, but that I wanted to say more about what his death meant. I took a little time to process my initial shock, and sat at my desk in my old office and wrote the following post stream-of-consciousness style.
As humans, we’re social creatures, conditioned by nature to thrive off of connections with others. We like to know that other people share in our emotions, both good and bad. So it’s a weird thing when a public figure dies. In trying to make sense of a public loss, it is not uncommon for people to insert themselves in the tragedy of others, searching for connections where none may really exist. The punk rock community can be a jaded one at times, so we turn a condescending eye toward those who vocally mourn the passing of the Whitney Houstons, the Michael Jacksons and the Dick Clarks of the world. But then we lose one of our own, and somehow it feels different.
The punk community is a finite thing, built on a shared set of experiences and beliefs. It goes without saying that to become more than just a gimmick or a passing voice in the annals of punk rock history, your voice has to be one of honesty and integrity. False celebrity and pretension get snuffed out pretty quickly. Tony Sly’s voice resonated for a lot of reasons. More than anything, Sly’s voice was genuine. Tony Sly wasn’t one of a kind; like most great punk rock poets, he was one of us.
It seems that there’s a common thread for a lot of people who might be of a certain age (let’s say 33 for argument’s sake) while reading this page. For many of us, it was the Green Days and the Offsprings who ushered us into this punk rock community roughly twenty years ago; it was the No Use For A Names that kept us here. Inspired by the Bad Religions and the Social Distortions who blazed the trail a decade earlier, NUFAN were one of the pillars in the skate punk community that exploded in the early 90s, thanks in no small part to Tony Sly’s unique voice and heartfelt lyrics. To many of us, there are less than a half-dozen voices from that pivotal era of our formative punk rock years whose ability to connect with their listeners via their storytelling abilities continues to resonate and has left a lasting impression: Fat Mike, Joey Cape, Trever Keith, Jim Lindberg, and Tony Sly. That foundation crumbled a little with the all-too-untimely passing of Tony Sly.
While Fat Mike’s voice served to take the piss out of people who took themselves too seriously and Lindberg pointed his middle finger directly at the establishment, Sly (along with his later counterpart Cape) was more introspective, directing a lot of that same vitriol toward the man that reflects in the mirror. Sly expressed fear, doubt and insecurity in ways that were very real and relatable, easily allowing the listener to identify with every word. And yet, I always got the sense that Tony wasn’t looking for that sort of connection; instead that he was writing for himself, using his music as a therapeutic tool, actively trying to process and make sense of what he saw unfolding around him in the world around him.
As he progressed as a songwriter, Sly’s frame of reference seemed to narrow, with lyrics that became more personal release-by-release, dealing less with trying to fit into the bigger picture (as on the bulk of the material on the 1995 NUFAN classic Leche Con Carne) and more on trying to make sense with feelings like disappointment and resignation along with the stagnation and inertia that can creep in to long-term relationships. The two solo albums that closed out Sly’s career were perhaps the two most appropriately-titled albums in recent memory (2010’s Twelve Song Program and 2011’s Sad Bear). The former album tells the tale of a man trying to keep a brave (or at least upbeat) face while coping with emotional turmoil; the latter, while very similar in almost every way, adopts the tone of someone who remains stuck in a persistent rut, yet without some of the tongue-in-cheek optimism of its predecessor.
Like most lasting punk rock voices of his era, he wasn’t about gimmicks or style. Tony Sly wasn’t a bondage-pants-and-pink-mohawk type, nor was he a leather-jacket-and-eyeliner type. From afar, Tony Sly seemed like one of the good guys, but equally as important, he seemed like one of the regular guys. He seemed like someone who used his musical platform to cathartically express a lot of the things that many of us go through, particularly with middle age and growing responsibilities that come with it. As he reminded us, Tony Sly wasn’t our savior. Rather, he was one of us. That’s what makes his untimely passing all the more troubling. It means not just losing a made-up face on a television screen or a studio-created voice capable of belting out words that were written in a pop music laboratory. Instead, it makes our own mortality just a little more real.
I still remember that terrible day and I remember the DS tribute to Tony. No Use was one of my favorite bands growing up (still is). They were just that little bit under the radar from the bands that were blowing up like Rancid, Green Day, Offspring and Bad Religion, that we felt like they were are own, despite being a coast away from where No Use formed. Still one of my favorite memories is being drunk as shit outside the Paradise in Boston where No Use just killed with a great set. Me and my buddy left after No Use played knowing that the Dance Hall Crashers just couldn’t compete with No Use. It was awesome that we saw Tony and Dave Nassie outside the bar that was next to Paradise. They were busting our balls cuz of our thick Boston accents and sayings. I told Tony, in pure Boston bro form, “Hey Tony, fuckin’ Postcaaahd was f’n pissah kid!”. Baffled, Tony turned to Dave and was like, does that mean he liked it or hated it?!! He was awesome to talk to and genuinely loved interacting with the fans it seemed as much as we loved talking to him and listening to his music. I still miss that band. I heard Fat Mike had some recordings of Tony but that they were so unfinished that he’s not sure he can do anything with them. Too bad. Would love to hear some new stuff for sure. Thanks for posting the tribute DS. And thank you so much for coming back.. I missed your site 😉
No Use opened for Dance Hall Crashers? At Paradise? Wow, I don’t remember that. I know I saw them both (separately) but it was always at Middle East downstairs. Actually wait, no, I saw DHC (and Unwritten Law) open for Bad Religion at…Axis? Avalon? Anyway, thanks for checking in! I’m glad we’re back too! We’ll have the kinks worked out soon. I hope.
Camp Cope has long considered Philadelphia to be their home away from home, so when lead singer Georgia Maq greeted the crowd at Union Transfer on Friday night with the exclamation, “It feels so good to be in my favorite city in the entire world!” it wasn’t hard to believe that she was being totally […]
Camp Cope has long considered Philadelphia to be their home away from home, so when lead singer Georgia Maq greeted the crowd at Union Transfer on Friday night with the exclamation, “It feels so good to be in my favorite city in the entire world!” it wasn’t hard to believe that she was being totally sincere. The Australian group was accepted as one of Philly’s own going back to their debut in the City of Brotherly Love at the old Balcony Bar just about 5 years ago to the day. Philly’s vibrant and accepting indie/punk scene is extremely female/LGBTQ-centric and Camp Cope has always been considered one of the gang. It’s with this in mind that I am always willing to make the hour and a half drive down the NJ Turnpike from NY to catch them in Philly.
A lot of water has flowed under the bridge since I last saw Camp Cope at The Church (AKA First Unitarian Church) back in 2019. With that in mind, the current version of the band which graced the stage at Union Transfer was somewhat different from what we last saw 3 years ago. They released a new album earlier in the year and Running With The Hurricane is somewhat of a departure for the band. Of course there’s still precocious Georgia and the backbone of the group, Sarah (Thom Thom) Thompson behind the drum kit but for the album, they added a second guitar and for this tour they’ve added Jenny Aslett to the mix. And then there’s the absence of Kelly-Dawn Helmrich on bass who couldn’t make this trip due to her expecting her firstborn relatively soon. Kelly’s role as bass player extraordinaire is being filled by UK ex-pat and current Philadelphia denizen, Lou Hanman of All Away Lou (amongst a multitude of other bands).
Having seen their show a couple of days earlier at Webster Hall in NYC, I already knew what would be in store as far as the new lineup was concerned. Their set started off with an early single, “Keep Growing” which the band would eventually include on a 4 song split they did with the now disbanded Philly group, Cayetana. With the lyrics:
I’ll keep growing my hair out
It’s not for you
Oh no, it’s not for you
No, it’s not for you
While the song might have been at the time a direct response to a romance gone wrong, it seems that on this tour, Georgia and Camp Cope are doing their own thing, they’re not the same group from 5 years ago and these imminent and obvious changes aren’t for the public but instead for them. They’re growing as a group (both literally and figuratively) because they need to. The need to avoid inertia and stagnation is first and foremost a priority for the group.
Next up was “Jealous” from the new album. This one started out pretty slow with Georgia singing almost dirge-like over Lou’s rolling bassline riffs. That is until the chorus where Georgia’s vocals take off. After experiencing vocal issues a couple of years ago and subsequently having surgery to repair the problem, her voice is back better than ever. With a range much more diverse than before, she is now hitting notes and killing them…killing them in a very good way.
The third song of the evening was another older one, “How To Socialize and Make Friends”, the title track from their incredible sophomore album. A bouncing rocker and crowd favorite, this one would have the crowd swaying and dancing and singing right along with Maq as she danced and swirled all over the stage in not much more than a t-shirt and sandals, eventually kicking off her shoes saying “shoes…they’re so fucking stupid”.
We then got a stretch of new songs from Hurricane to which the crowd was already quite familiar, singing and dancing throughout. At some point during this set of new material, Georgia expressed how sorry she and the band were for the “fucked up things your country is putting you through”. Going on she explained how they were raising money on this tour for reproductive and female rights. This would be an ongoing topic throughout the evening, not at all surprisingly.
Two of the new songs which stood out during this section of the show were “Caroline” and the album’s first single “Blue”. On the album, “Caroline” is sung quite slowly but here Georgia took the bouncy, yet subtle bass riff that plays throughout and interpreted the lyrics with that same bounce, picking up the pace of the song, making it much more of a jaunt than what we hear on the album.
As far “Blue” is concerned, they played it pretty straight up relative to the recorded version. But what struck me was the vocal work on the song. As I’ve said already, Georgia’s voice is sounding superb on this tour and on this song particularly she gets to show it off glowingly. Furthermore, we are treated to something we’ve never had before as far as live Camp Cope is concerned, background vocals. With the addition of Jenny and Lou, the extra vocals only accentuate the power and beauty of Georgia’s pipes.
I guess this might be as good a place as any to mention the unbridled triumph which Lou Hanman is on bass. Kelly’s style of playing bass as almost a lead instrument rather than a rhythm instrument is not at all typical. Matter of factly, off the top of my head, the only other player who does it is Peter Hook of Joy Division/New Order fame. Well, Lou has managed to step into the band and absolutely nail it. While I’m not at all surprised she was able to fill Kelly’s role, but the ease and comfort to which she’s accomplished it blows my mind.
Finishing off the evening’s set were two absolute gems. First, was the title track from the new one, “Running With The Hurricane”, a rollicking freewheeling song that reaches anthemic levels as Georgia pranced throughout the stage shouting the title and main lyric.
And to close things out, the band jumped into what might be one of the most scathing FU songs of all time. Part jilted lover breakup song and part I’m so sick of the patriarchal music biz bullshit, the song oozes with male loathing. And on Friday night Georgia spewed that loathing with an absolute vengeance. The beauty of it all, however, was and is that here was Camp Cope, having just gotten back from a triumphant set at Pitchfork, here was Camp Cope playing Union Transfer in Philly, a steady upward progression from The Balcony Bar to Philly MOCA to The Church and now UT.
Camp Cope killed it in Philly and continues to kill it almost everywhere they go despite all those naysayers who told them along the way to book a smaller venue.
Swipe through below to see more pictures from the triumphant event!
If you’re unfamiliar, Proper. are a three-piece formed in NYC roughly 5/6 years ago (as The Great Wight initially) but hailing really from a variety of locations across the country and bringing with them all of their collective experiences and musical influences and creating something that hasn’t really been done before. I remember hearing their […]
If you’re unfamiliar, Proper. are a three-piece formed in NYC roughly 5/6 years ago (as The Great Wight initially) but hailing really from a variety of locations across the country and bringing with them all of their collective experiences and musical influences and creating something that hasn’t really been done before. I remember hearing their last album, I Spent The Winter Writing Songs About Getting Better admittedly a little late and thinking “damn…I’ve never really heard anything like this before.” The new album, The Great American Novel, takes all of the things that were great about the last one and pushes the needles way past 10. It’s important music. It’s music about alienation and about not fitting in and about being a queer person of color in a land that, despite it being 2022, is at times becoming even less comfortable with people that check those boxes. It’s raw and it’s powerful and it’s somehow still hopeful. Oh, and if fucking rips. I feel lucky that I was able to catch up with the whole band (not just with Erik Garlington who spearheads the whole thing shredding on guitar and vocals but with the full band, new mom Natasha Johnson on bass and Elijah Watson on drums and whom you may also know from his “day job” as a journalist for Okay Player) for the (*both laugh*) podcast a couple months ago – you can check that our here or wherever you listen to your podcasts. In the meantime, fire up The Great American Novel and be ready to be blown away. we were able to catch up.
Punk Rock Saves Lives has been doing some incredible shit in our beloved community for a few years now and during that time, they’ve come to be one of the largest non-profit scene related charity organizations, focusing on Health Concerns (both physical and mental), Equal Rights, Human Rights, and so much more. If you’re not […]
Punk Rock Saves Lives has been doing some incredible shit in our beloved community for a few years now and during that time, they’ve come to be one of the largest non-profit scene related charity organizations, focusing on Health Concerns (both physical and mental), Equal Rights, Human Rights, and so much more. If you’re not familiar with them, check them out, give them a follow and stop by their tent at pretty much any large punk fest in North America and say ‘Howdy’!
This year the ever growing charity decided to throw their first ever Punk Rock Saves Lives Festival in Denver, CO. The terrific, two day event (not counting the pre-party show at EastFax Tap on Friday night) was held at Ratio Beerworks (Overland) to help raise awareness and funding to allow them to continue providing vital resources to our comrades in punk (anyone really, they just lean towards us filthy lowlifes for some reason 😛). Since The Masked Moron, Anarchopunk lives in the Mile High now, we dispatched him to take some pics, drink some locally brewed beer, eat some great food truck grub (those CFH Sliders from Brutal Poodle truck slapped), party with a whole slew of awesome people…..and get Covid. We hear that he successfully accomplished his mission (especially the getting Covid part), so check out his report below!
Local solo act, Sputnik Slovenia started things off, promising to be the tamest act of the night and even though I think he was right, we were still treated to some pretty raucous tunes including a rousing cover of the theme to “Gilligan’s Island” which scored major fan participation points, because who doesn’t sing along to that one, even if it’s just the “…threeeee hour toooouuuur” part?
Next to hit the stage was Adams County’s premiere appliance repairmen/punk rock band, Dryer Fire. Some bands have political messages, others may speak on cultural/social issues, some just sing about having fun. But for this group, appliance safety is paramount, taking ample time between songs to remind everyone to clean their lint traps and check their dryer exhausts on a regular basis. Sooooo……go clean your lint trap and check your dryer exhaust.
Tacoma, WA based pop punks, Let Me Downs flew in on short notice to cover for a band that had to fall out and I think the crowd appreciated them a little extra for that because the energy level spiked significantly during their thirty minute set, which was supposed to be the last indoor set of the night (that’s called foreshadowing, kids).
Time for some fresh Rocky Mountain air! Local favorites, Discomfort Creature (fresh off of a Euro Tour) kicked things off on the outdoor stage. The extra space on the lawn was quickly filled with a humble yet aggressive circle pit and the band fed off of the power that was generated by the constant swirl of the denim and leather clad cyclone.
Denver based super-group, Record Thieves were up next and the crowd definitely knew it as they started slowly creeping towards the stage area, in small waves prior to the band taking the stage. Musically speaking, these guys probably hit the highest mark on the ‘Talent Meter’ for Day One and always bring a pretty high level of intensity. But the highlight for me was hearing the first live performance of their new single “Fault Lines”. Stellar work as always, comrades!
Thousand Island Records representing hard at PRSL Fest! Chicagoland residents, Counterpunch took the stage next. The Windy City punks played through some songs from their most recent LP (and AoTY Contender?) Rewire. But they also tipped their hat to the local scene by inviting The Gamits‘ ex-frontman Chris Fogal to provide vocals for their cover of the defunct band’s most popular tune, “Dotted Lines”. Side Note: I think I have a new favorite basser. That cat fucking briiiings it!
Yes, everybody enjoyed all of the other bands. Yes, everyone had a fabulous day, all around. But let’s be real, everyone was ultimately here to see Chicago hardcore stalwarts, The Bollweevils. Before the set even started, the pit was starting to form and it got more fervid as the band took the stage. After the first song, the weather started to shift and Dr. Daryl, as expected, took his secondary position down in the middle of the ever swelling pit, thrashing around with the fans. The weather continued to deteriorate and as the winds picked up to 25+ MPH 98Gotta love Denver weather), a large tent that was affixed the pergola caught air and nearly flew away. At that point, it was determined that for eh safety of everyone involved, the show had to move back indoors. The sound crew did an amazing job and had the show back in operation inside in about twenty mins. As the set recommenced, The Good Doctor asked the crowd if they could remember where they had left off before Mother Nature interrupted, to which the reply was a hearty “Start Over!”. The band complied and we were treated to a bonus ‘extended set’! It’s been four years since I’ve been tossed that badly down in the pit. Damn, it felt good!
*Check out the rest of the day’s action in the below slideshow! Keep an eye out for Day Two coverage, coming soon!
For a long time, it wasn’t “cool” to say you like ska, but that never deterred me; I’m not cool anyway. I see Less Than Jake more often than I see my parents. I get through long days at work by listening to The Toasters, Mighty Mighty Bosstones, Against All Authority, Buck-O-Nine, and my favorite […]
For a long time, it wasn’t “cool” to say you like ska, but that never deterred me; I’m not cool anyway. I see Less Than Jake more often than I see my parents. I get through long days at work by listening to The Toasters, Mighty Mighty Bosstones, Against All Authority, Buck-O-Nine, and my favorite hometown band Victims of Circumstance. In recent years, ska has enjoyed quite the revival, and the old guard is starting to make way for some new blood. Ska Tune Network has brought the genre to a new audience, with fun ska-punk covers of pop songs and video game music garnering over 12 million views on YouTube. The Interrupters are breaking into the mainstream and have even performed on national TV. The tide is turning, and for the first time in a long time, ska is cool again.
Naturally, with the revival of a genre comes a new wave of bands. New Jersey’s Joker’s Republic is part of a growing crop of ska-punk up-and-comers. Their new album Necessary Evil was recorded and produced by Less Than Jake’s Roger Lima at his Gainesville recording studio The Moathouse. If you’re a fan of the poppy “fourth wave” ska-punk formula played by bands like We Are The Union and Kill Lincoln, these guys are right up your alley. The production on this album is top notch, and the songwriting isn’t too shabby either. Necessary Evil, the band’s third effort, offers up a mix of pop-punk and ska, with a hint of skate punk. The album-opening title track is my favorite song, but the blazing fast “Talk To Me” is a close second. “Gin and Tonic” is cleverly built around a fun early Blink-182 sounding guitar riff that doubles as a bassline during the song’s second bridge. “Anxiety” and “Dead Man Walking” are both very skankable tracks with some really catchy hooks. The album wraps up with “Anchor”, a grooving mid-tempo ska song that reminds me a lot of “The Science of Selling Yourself Short“.
As much as I like this album, I have to say that Joker’s Republic and Necessary Evil would benefit greatly from the addition of a horn section. The opening track features a guest appearance from LTJ’s Buddy “Goldfinger” Schaub on trombone, laying down some awesome horn parts. This added a much needed extra layer of depth to the song’s melody, and rounded out the band’s sound very nicely. After this, on the album’s remaining nine tracks, there are no brass instruments to be found. How could you do this to me? I feel deceived, hustled, betrayed, and utterly bamboozled! Let’s Face It, ska just isn’t as good without horns; unless, of course, your band is named Operation Ivy. In other words, it’s time to start auditioning for your horn section, fellas!
These guys are a promising young band, and I look forward to watching them continue to evolve. Listening to their previous releases on Spotify and comparing it to their latest work, it’s easy to see that Joker’s Republic is progressing pretty quickly. Necessary Evil is by far their best work to date. Listen below and click here to grab the CD. If you prefer digital, visit their Bandcamp to download the album.
Before the Festival proper kicked off, EastFax Tap (in the stunningly beautiful East Colfax corridor) hosted a Pre-Party. Full disclosure, The Masked Moron, Anarcopunk had to bounce a lil early to prep for the festival proper, so no pics of Reno Divorce or Dylan Walshe. This is also where we would normally provide you hyperlinks […]
Before the Festival proper kicked off, EastFax Tap (in the stunningly beautiful East Colfax corridor) hosted a Pre-Party. Full disclosure, The Masked Moron, Anarcopunk had to bounce a lil early to prep for the festival proper, so no pics of Reno Divorce or Dylan Walshe. This is also where we would normally provide you hyperlinks to the band pages for each of those incredible acts but our site still isn’t fully functional and apparently won’t be until we spend more money. However, all of the acts mentioned in this article should still be searchable on our Band Index page, where you can find links to all of their Socials and Music Pages, sooooo….do that. Related Side Note: Do we know any good web developers?
Sammy Kay started the night’s festivities with an energetic acoustic set inside, near the bar (perfect placement for me). The music was fantastic as one would expect but the stories he wove between the songs were just as entertaining and were a great way to make the crowd fall in love with him, which they inevitably did. Fun Fact: Sammy and I are ‘tattoo twins’!
For the second set of the evening, things moved out to the back patio where the volume (and partying) increased significantly. America’s Most Haunted kicked the outdoor sets off and did so with enough fervor to keep the audience’s energy stoked to it’s maximum level. And while Horror Punk isn’t my favorite sub-genre, this group had enough chops to keep me tappin’ my toes through the entire set.
Back inside for another acoustic set (and another beer). Billy Herring from Irish Punk act 1916. sang some Irish inspired ballads and the folks that had squeezed into the meager interior of the bar loved every second of it.
BACK TO THE PATIOOOOOOO! Reno skate punks, Boss’ Daughter hit the stage next and the crowd started gathering closer to the stage, preparing for the #maximumpartytime that was to ensue. If you’ve never caught a live set from this tremendous trio, you’re doing yourself a disservice. Talent, intensity, fun, it’s all there in one single, perfect set. Go see ’em. If you have a bad time, Dying Scene will refund your admission cost. That’s right! If you go to a Bossy D show and hate it, just send an email to gofuckyourself@dyingscene.com and we’ll get right back to. Honest.
Check out the rest of the night’s activity in the below slideshow!
Huddy
I still remember that terrible day and I remember the DS tribute to Tony. No Use was one of my favorite bands growing up (still is). They were just that little bit under the radar from the bands that were blowing up like Rancid, Green Day, Offspring and Bad Religion, that we felt like they were are own, despite being a coast away from where No Use formed. Still one of my favorite memories is being drunk as shit outside the Paradise in Boston where No Use just killed with a great set. Me and my buddy left after No Use played knowing that the Dance Hall Crashers just couldn’t compete with No Use. It was awesome that we saw Tony and Dave Nassie outside the bar that was next to Paradise. They were busting our balls cuz of our thick Boston accents and sayings. I told Tony, in pure Boston bro form, “Hey Tony, fuckin’ Postcaaahd was f’n pissah kid!”. Baffled, Tony turned to Dave and was like, does that mean he liked it or hated it?!! He was awesome to talk to and genuinely loved interacting with the fans it seemed as much as we loved talking to him and listening to his music. I still miss that band. I heard Fat Mike had some recordings of Tony but that they were so unfinished that he’s not sure he can do anything with them. Too bad. Would love to hear some new stuff for sure. Thanks for posting the tribute DS. And thank you so much for coming back.. I missed your site 😉
jaystone
No Use opened for Dance Hall Crashers? At Paradise? Wow, I don’t remember that. I know I saw them both (separately) but it was always at Middle East downstairs. Actually wait, no, I saw DHC (and Unwritten Law) open for Bad Religion at…Axis? Avalon? Anyway, thanks for checking in! I’m glad we’re back too! We’ll have the kinks worked out soon. I hope.