The Descendents were in town last week for their Canadian tour, along with the Buzzcocks and the pop-punk band, Mattstagraham. The all-ages show was held at MacEwan Hall at the University of Calgary. Mattstagraham was an excellent choice to start things off; their fast, energetic, and melodic pop-punk sound meshed well with the other bands. […]
The Descendents were in town last week for their Canadian tour, along with the Buzzcocks and the pop-punk band, Mattstagraham. The all-ages show was held at MacEwan Hall at the University of Calgary.
Mattstagraham was an excellent choice to start things off; their fast, energetic, and melodic pop-punk sound meshed well with the other bands. Their captivating set got the audience pumped for the rest of the night, featuring tracks from their relatively small but strong discography, including songs from their latest album, Yellow Paint. Tracks like “Still Dumb, Still Rock and Roll” and “Caffeine” were crowd-pleasers, and the set went over well with the audience.
When the Buzzcocks took the stage, you’d have thought they were the headliners. The crowd was hyped, to say the least. Steve Diggle appeared on stage with a harmonica in hand, and everyone was ready. Their performance was amazing, and it was incredible to hear so many of their hits live, including “Orgasm Addict”, “Ever Fallen in Love”, and “Why Can’t I Touch It”. The audience loved the show and was thrilled to be there.
As the Descendents made their way on stage, the crowd went crazy. Milo announced it was Bill Stevenson’s birthday the day before, so naturally, the crowd sang to him. As one of the last stops on the tour, Milo stated they would go all out, and they certainly delivered. They played a ton of their hits, from classics like “Suburban Home” and “Silly Girl” to more recent favorites, such as “Everything Sux”, “I’m the One”, and “On Paper”. It was a stellar performance from start to finish. They kept the crowd entertained with some humor, trying to keep it PG for the kids – mostly fart jokes. Having promised a return to Calgary, they departed the stage, only to come back for a brief encore and play a slew of tracks from their 1986 album, Enjoy. As always, the audience was thrilled and eager for more. We can’t wait for them to come back!
On 2nd September, The Owners opened the night at the Black Cat with a fun energetic set that got the crowd fired up early. The Attack kept the energy going with a punchy, tight performance. Then Stiff Little Fingers closed things out like the legends they are. The club was packed, the energy was real, […]
On 2nd September, The Owners opened the night at the Black Cat with a fun energetic set that got the crowd fired up early. The Attack kept the energy going with a punchy, tight performance. Then Stiff Little Fingers closed things out like the legends they are. The club was packed, the energy was real, and it felt like one of those nights where punk was exactly where it belonged, at the Black Cat! Complete fun from start to finish.
Stiff Little Fingers hit the stage with a bang and delivered a career spanning set of hits, deep cuts, and new songs. Founding members Jake Burns (vocals/guitar) and Alistair Jardine “Ali” McMordie (bass) were joined by longtime members Steve Grantley (drums) and Ian McCallum (guitar).
Before launching into “Mary’s Boy Child,” Burns said the song was about current U.S. President Donald J. Trump’s behavior. Burns said that he decided to name the song after a Harry Belafonte song because Trump’s mother’s name was Mary. After relocating from Chicago, Illinois to a small place in West Virginia, Burns happened to run into the daughter of Belafonte, Adrienne Belafonte Biesemeyer, who also lived in the area and told her the story. Upon hearing it, she said her father would be turning in his grave.
Before performing the Special’s “Doesn’t Make It Alright,” Burns recalled how he and the band fell in love with the Specials and this song before they had even recorded it. Burns and crew attempted to record and release it before the Specials finally did on their eponymous debut album. He further recounted how the Specials’ recorded version was much weaker or wimpier than their live version and that some of members of the Specials liked Stiff Little Fingers’ cover better. Follow the band here.
The Attack brought the energy up a bit and blazed through a set of upbeat, poppy street punk. Longtime members Charlie Bender (vocals), Brad Palkevich (guitar), Mikey Cortes (bass) and were joined by original drummer Tito Esquiaqui. Bender expressed his admiration for many of the DC punk and hardcore pioneers who paved the way for bands like his and the audiences that support them. Dying Scene’s head huncho, Jay Stone, conducted an interview with Bender and Palkevich back in 2015 and you can check out here. Find them here.
Washington, DC’s The Owners includes Black Cat owners Dante (drums) and Catherine Ferrando (vocals) along with famous bartenders Laura Harris (bass) and Alec Budd (guitar). The band tore through one fun punk rock n roll song after another. They played their new single, Monster, which was released digitally on 28 August 2025. They said it would be available on vinyl in November 2025. Be sure to find them here.
At long last! Austin, Texas pop-punks Dropped Out will be releasing their long awaited new album Always Trust Your Dog next Friday, September 26th on Mom’s Basement Records. We’re stoked to bring you this Dying Scene Record Radar Alert exclusively revealing all the color variants you’ll be able to grab from the Mom’s Basement webstore starting at […]
At long last! Austin, Texas pop-punks Dropped Out will be releasing their long awaited new album Always Trust Your Dog next Friday, September 26th on Mom’s Basement Records. We’re stoked to bring you this Dying Scene Record Radar Alert exclusively revealing all the color variants you’ll be able to grab from the Mom’s Basement webstore starting at noon eastern next Friday.
Always Trust Your Dog will be available on three vinyl color variants, limited to just 100 copies each. Check ’em out below and set a reminder to buy this bad ass mothafuckin record when it goes up for sale! You can listen to two tracks from the album down below, too – “Cute Little Sheep” and “Nothing Gold”. Both are absolute rippers!
Wichita, KS pop-punk/easycore outfit Stay The Course are gearing up for the release of their debut album Red Flag, due out December 12th on Punkerton Records. Dying Scene is stoked to premiere the music video for the band’s brand new single “Post Traumatic”. Check it out below! A bold departure from the band’s signature heavy […]
Wichita, KS pop-punk/easycore outfit Stay The Course are gearing up for the release of their debut album Red Flag, due out December 12th on Punkerton Records. Dying Scene is stoked to premiere the music video for the band’s brand new single “Post Traumatic”. Check it out below!
A bold departure from the band’s signature heavy hooks and breakdowns, “Post Traumatic” strips things back with acoustic guitar, intimate strings (performed by frontman Joseph Meador’s wife and eldest daughter), and guitarist Colby Munn stepping forward on lead vocals. The result is a hauntingly vulnerable ballad that pushes Stay The Course into new emotional territory.
“This song is a far cry from what we normally do. Colby had sent me a demo over the phone and I knew immediately that it had to go on the record, and he had to do the lead vocal on it. His songwriting is great and his voice is incredible. This song really showcases that. Also, my wife and eldest daughter performed the cello and violin on the song, so that makes it a little extra special for me.” -Joseph Meador
Stay The Course’s brand new record Red Flag is available to pre-order now on three bad ass vinyl color variants. Get it here! You can also pre-save the album on all streaming platforms right here.
After three albums on Minneapolis’s Twin/Tone Records, the Replacements signed to Sire Records. A record label with a history of its own, its line up had included bands like the Turtles, Duane Eddy, and Del Shannon. When punk and new wave hit in the mid 1970s, Sire was mostly independent and signed the early pioneers […]
After three albums on Minneapolis’s Twin/Tone Records, the Replacements signed to Sire Records. A record label with a history of its own, its line up had included bands like the Turtles, Duane Eddy, and Del Shannon. When punk and new wave hit in the mid 1970s, Sire was mostly independent and signed the early pioneers of the genre. The Ramones, the Dead Boys, and Talking Heads, but in the late 1970s Warner Bros. worked out a major distribution deal, which essentially made the label a subsidiary of the company.
Writing their own rules, the band would frequently do things like perform shows where they wouldn’t play the hits or in some cases not play any of their songs at all with all cover sets. If you’ve read the book, Trouble Boys by Bob Mehr, you can get the impression that the Replacements didn’t give a fuck about their career, but if you listened to their albums, you could think otherwise.The band could have been bigger than they were, if it weren’t for the self sabotage.
The Replacements’ last record on Twin/Tone was 1984’s Let It Be. Despite the band’s behavior off stage, Paul Westerberg wanted to write a more sincere record. Given the band’s previous output, it was a change of pace for them. Westerberg would dabble with poppier songs on their second album, Hootenanny, with songs like “Color Me Impressed” and “Within Your Reach,” but Let It Be would put the band on a different path from their not quite punk rock enough beginnings. Let It Be would produce one single, “I Will Dare,” a slower shuffle that features Westerberg on a mandolin during the chorus and features Peter Buck of REM playing the solo that Bob Stinson reportedly couldn’t play.
Tim is the sloppy (positive) precursor to the cleaner sound of Pleased To Meet Me. The songs are uneven, but it feels like the point. Opener, “Hold My Life,” is an Alex Chilton inspired rock song, but is not the strongest on the album. Despite not being a single, the band recorded a video for the song. There’s a difference between lyrical honesty and lyrical corniness, which this song’s chorus definitely falls under with its, “Razzle dazzle, razzle droll” and its “Razzle dazzle, razzle die.” This is not my favorite Replacements song lyrically.
Another album, another shuffle, “Kiss Me On The Bus” is the second shuffle in just as many albums. Although, you could probably lump “Waitress in the Sky” under as a shuffle as well if you needed to. When Westerberg finished “I Will Dare” shortly after Hootenanny had been finalized and declared it the best song he’d ever written. It was more than expected he would jump into other songs in this vein. Its not as strong as its predecessor, but it does hit the marks of a great Replacements song; honesty, urgency, and desperation. This song’s solo was performed by the album’s producer, Tommy Erdelyi, better known as Tommy Ramone.
The first side closes with the Roy Orbison inspired “Swingin Party.” A song about the anxiety of always being on display for the world and the nerves it caused. Westerberg has attributed the amount of drinking The Replacements did before a show to this sentiment. While I never got to see the Replacements in their heyday, it makes me wonder how much of the band’s self sabotage was really just collective anxiety. Westerberg’s dive into poppier sounds after an album and a half (Sorry Ma… and Stink) of mostly fast punk rock songs, feels forced in a maybe this is what we should have played all along type of way, but paid off in the end.
“Bastards of Young,” Westerberg’s anthemic side two opener is a fan favorite, but again it seems the Replacements do things back asswards. In a time where records were frontloaded with singles, “Bastards of Young” seems to have been shrugged out by the band as the second single despite being the stronger song. It remains one of the defining songs of the band and was inspired by Westerberg’s sister, who left Minnesota to be an actress. She felt the need to go somewhere else because she didn’t know where she fit in, something Westerberg shared with her at the time. While “Bastards of Young” was the song that got the Replacements banned from SNL during their only appearance in the show, the music video produced for the song is an extreme exercise in minimalism.
While, also, not an official single, “Left of the Dial” took off for the Replacements. On the surface the song is about the barrage of smaller bands trying to break through college radio stations only to give up hope when bands like the Replacements and REM were able to do so. The track is actually a secret love song Westerberg wrote about then girlfriend Lynn Blakely from the band Let’s Active and their long distance relationship. With the lovers both being in bands it had been some time since either had seen each other. While driving one night Westerberg heard an interview with her, but the voice kept fading in and out.
The album closes with another fan favorite, “Here Comes A Regular,” it features Westerberg melancholy vocals paired with an acoustic guitar singing about one of the band’s watering holes, the CC Club. The rest of the band was not a stranger to Westerberg’s “solo” songs with the Hootenanny track, “Within Your Reach” using a drummer machine and “Answer Machine” on the previous record. The song is about being stuck in the same cycle. Something Paul and the Replacements probably felt a lot as they got more and more into the music machine and the isolation felt sometimes.
The Replacements jump to major prompted a lot of things. It was the end of an era for the band, as original guitarist Bob Stinson would not return for the bands follow up album, Pleased To Meet Me. Whether it was due to a power struggle with Westerberg or his alcohol and drug use, his void would be filled by Slim Dunlap and the band would dive deeper into poppier sounds. Tim has been re-released twice with extended editions. The first in the late 2000s with a handful of bonus tracks and also in 2023 with three extra discs of material ; including the original version of “Can’t Hardly Wait.” While it was meant to be included on Tim, it was reworked and saved for the next album.
The Replacements haven’t toured for the better part of a decade mostly due to Paul Westerberg’s retirement from music, but you can still catch Tommy Stinson on the road with his band, Cowboys By The Campfire. Given the almost cryptic message Westerberg gave his fans during their last tour it seems it may have been for the money. Each night Westerberg wore a white t-shirt with a letter spray painted on it. By the time the band had reached the end of the tour a phrase had been revealed, “I have always loved you, but now I must whore my past.” Every few years the band releases the aforementioned extended editions of their albums with so much bonus material hardcore fans and collectors eat it up keeping Westerberg’s retirement afloat.
Tim earned its accolades, in 2012 the record was put on Rolling Stone’s list of the five hundred greatest albums of all time, and Alternative Press ranked it fourth in their list of Top 99 albums between 1985 and 1995. While things like that are usually arbitrary it shows the everlasting power of a band, whether they cared about where there major label debut would take them or not.
It was a packed house at Modern Love last Saturday evening; Joey Cape, Dave Hause, Tim Hause and local musician Jay James were on the bill, and it was perfect. Jay James, the local artist, kicked things off. His rockabilly-folk sound immediately captivated the crowd, getting everyone in the mood for a great night. It’s […]
It was a packed house at Modern Love last Saturday evening; Joey Cape, Dave Hause, Tim Hause and local musician Jay James were on the bill, and it was perfect.
Jay James, the local artist, kicked things off. His rockabilly-folk sound immediately captivated the crowd, getting everyone in the mood for a great night. It’s hard to believe it’s been 15 years since his last performance.
Next up was Tim Hause, performing solo for this Canadian tour and happy to be back, he played songs from his debut album, plus a few tracks from his latest album, Pre-Existing Conditions, including “Tyrannosaurus RX” and “Fear Ate My Faith.”
Shortly after, Dave Hause took the stage and announced a surprise: he and Joey Cape would alternate playing songs for the rest of the evening, each doing five-song sets, with Joey closing out the night. Dave, along with his brother and collaborator Tim, started the alternating performances. He played songs from his entire discography, including his work with The Mermaid, covering everything from old favorites like “Dirty Fucker” to newer tracks, including songs from his new album, …and The Mermaid. He even threw in “Jane” from his Loved Ones days.
When Joey Cape took the stage, the crowd went wild. He ditched the planned setlist and took requests from the crowd instead. After laughing off some of the suggestions and promising to prepare for his next visit, he launched into a mix of songs. From Lagwagon tunes to his solo work and everything in between, the legendary musician with an impressive catalog played whatever he could. He kicked things off with the fan-favorite Lagwagon classic, “May 16th,” and I’m sure his spontaneous performance didn’t disappoint anyone. We’re always happy to host the Caper when he’s in town.
Journey to the Center of the Cramps is a revised version of Dick Porter’s previous biography of the band, written in 2007 before Lux’s untimely and unexpected death stopped the band in its tracks in 2009. If any band’s time was cut too short, it was the Cramps. It’s not like they weren’t given their […]
Journey to the Center of the Cramps is a revised version of Dick Porter’s previous biography of the band, written in 2007 before Lux’s untimely and unexpected death stopped the band in its tracks in 2009. If any band’s time was cut too short, it was the Cramps. It’s not like they weren’t given their kudos while they were active, but they completely missed an era where punk bands are worshipped just as much as the popular rock bands they spent years trying to be different from. Dick Porter’s telling of the band’s story does just that.
Fueled by early rock ‘n’ roll, EC Horror comics of the 1950s, and drive-in B movies, Porter details the story of Erick Purkhiser (Lux Interior) and Kristy Wallace (Poison Ivy Rorschach). Two kids who met in college in California were credited with creating a genre in the 1970s New York City punk rock scene. By all accounts, they were outliers in the Bowery along with other CBGB bands and were essentially known as the hillbilly counterpart of the band Television.
The Cramps were always unique and unable to be put into a genre box, which shines through in Porter’s writing. If you are looking for the comprehensive telling of the band’s story, look no further than this book. The term psychobilly was coined to describe their sound. The Cramps sort of (and believe no one hates using this phrase more than I do) Forrest Gumped their way through rock music, being a CBGB band, but also friends with people like Alex Chilton.
Each chapter starts off with a historic event. The type of history is dependent on what the chapter is talking about related to the Cramps, but mostly related to music. While it does feel monotone in some spaces, it works in the context of the book. As members leave, I do like that Porter ties up loose ends and tells what happened to them at the end of the chapter rather than waiting until the end of the book.
With Lux and Ivy being the only two consistent members, their cut-and-pasted interview responses intertwined with Dick Porter’s straight-man narration work as a foil for the telling of the Cramps’ story in their own words. A frustrating, but understandable, aspect of the interviews was that, outside of the citations in the back, there isn’t any way to confirm what responses came from when. It was hard to tell if these were retrospective or around the time the events actually occurred.
The end of the book would have seemed a little rushed if the band’s activity wasn’t so scant the last fifteen-ish years of their career. With lineup changes, the gaps between records were sometimes longer than others, but the Cramps chugged along, mostly on the rim of pop culture up until Lux’s passing. Surprisingly missing is any mention of the band’s song “Goo Goo Muck” in Tim Burton’s Addams Family spinoff, Wednesday. A moment that reintroduced a newer generation of kids to the band, even if it was about fifteen years too late.
Outside of being a book about the band’s origins, music, the various members, and exploits, it’s no surprise that the center of the Cramps was Lux and Ivy. The book isn’t only a love letter to one of punk rock’s most beloved bands, but also the love story of Lux and Ivy’s relationship. One does not need to be a fan to appreciate that aspect of the Cramps’ story.
Journey to the Center of the Cramps is published by Omnibus Press and can be purchased here.
When I heard that the Buzzcocks and the Descendents were bringing their 2025 Canadian tour through the often passed-over city of Montréal, I jumped on the tickets immediately. Formed in 1976 and 1977 respectively, these two legendary punk acts from different sides of the globe have played a significant part in shaping the sonic landscape […]
When I heard that the Buzzcocks and the Descendents were bringing their 2025 Canadian tour through the often passed-over city of Montréal, I jumped on the tickets immediately. Formed in 1976 and 1977 respectively, these two legendary punk acts from different sides of the globe have played a significant part in shaping the sonic landscape of punk music, whether that be leading the first wave of British punk in the late 1970s or pioneering the catchy sounds of So-Cal pop-punk in the early 80s. The fact that both groups are still touring and performing after nearly fifty years in what can be a pretty unforgiving industry is rare and incredibly lucky, affording younger punk fans like myself a chance to experience firsthand the iconic groups that exerted an undisputed influence on the scene we know and love today. The bands were playing Montreal’s MTELUS concert hall, a venue with a centuries-long history of entertainment and host to the likes of Green Day, Prince, and Radiohead. With a capacity of about 2,500 people, the place was already relatively full when I arrived about ten minutes before showtime. I settled into a floor spot front and center, ready to take it all in.
The show opened with Mattstagraham, an infectiously catchy pop-punk outfit from Tuscon, Arizona. Their music is fun, fast, and unapologetically political, and charismatic frontman Matt Graham had the crowd jumping up and down shouting his catchy hooks back to him from the get-go. The band’s lyrics are biting and witty – on “Can I Be VIP”, the group pokes fun at all the people they barely know suddenly cozying up to them amid their burgeoning success with the misguided expectation of free tickets and merchandise; the pithy “Broke and Hungry” is a scathing indictment of the so-called American Dream. They closed out their set with the anthemic “Caffeine”, whose soaring chorus whipped the crowd into a delighted frenzy. Mattstagraham was the perfect opener to get the crowd hyped up and ready for the acts to follow.
The crowd condensed in anticipation of the next artist, and with good reason. The Buzzcocks are veritable punk legends with a monumental legacy; it inspires genuine awe to even be in the same room as them. The group sauntered onto the stage one by one waving and smiling, seeming almost humbled to be there, as if it were a privilege to be playing for us and not the other way around. They exuded from the outset an infectiously affable energy, which the crowd returned to them in spades – right from the opening chords of “What Do I Get”, the pit roared to life. We knocked each other about good-naturedly in time to the group’s richly sunny, up-tempo tunes, whirling and slam-dancing and jumping up and down, raising our arms to ferry crowd-surfers along above the audience and over the barrier. I pogoed along with the crowd, catching stray elbows in the small of my back and careening from one side of the pit to the other, letting myself be pushed back and forth by a rollicking wave of moshers. It was exactly what I had come there to experience: good fun and a little release. Some of the concert-goers had clearly expected a tamer show and were visibly pissed at the unexpected rowdiness; I think it’s a little deluded to stand up front at a punk show and not expect it to get a little rough.
I found the crowd to be incredibly present and in-the-moment, with hardly anyone filming or taking photos; it truly felt like nobody wanted to miss even a second of the Buzzcocks’ electric show. Free from the distracting glow of my phone and the constant need to document my every lived experience, I found myself connecting to the performance in a much more meaningful way. It was the perfect way to experience the sudden wild surge in energy that descended upon us when that opening cymbal crash of “Ever Fallen In Love (With Someone You Shouldn’t Have)” rang out. In that moment, we all felt the crushing heartbreak of unrequited romance together; we shouted the lyrics like the people we loved would never love us back; Steve Diggle grinned at us from the stage like that was his plan all along. “Ever Fallen In Love” is one of my all-time favourite songs, and to hear it live was (don’t tell anyone!) a little bit of an emotional experience. I passed off the tears gathering in my waterline as dancefloor sweat and kept right on moshing.
Sticky, bruised, and in desperate need of a glass of water, I relinquished my prime pit spot and headed for the back of the venue to a calmer area behind the mixers, where I met up with a friend who I’d discovered was also at the show. Despite being a good hundred feet further back from the stage than I had been for the previous set, the experience was in no way diluted; when the Descendents trooped out on stage and exploded right into the opening chords of “Everything Sux”, I knew we’d be in for an unrelenting second act.
The Descendents blasted through a jam-packed setlist with that consummate mix of power, precision, and poise that can only be honed over lifetime of performing, ripping through the material with such finesse you’d have a hard time believing that frontman Milo Aukerman left the band several times throughout their forty-odd years of existence to pursue multiple biochemistry degrees. All throughout the show they kept up an energy that was dynamic, playful and zealous; Milo spat his lyrics into the crowd with pitch-perfect fervor, tilting his head upwards to howl them at the sky between swigs from his crossbody water bottle, while Karl Alvarez’s fingers ran expertly up and down his bass, coaxing the group’s signature giddy, meandering basslines out of the strings and slinging them into the crowd for our rabid enjoyment. The energy in the room reflected the ebullient, live-for-the-moment quality that characterizes much of the Descendents’ catalogue – I found myself howling along to goofy lyrics about silly girls and good, good things, flipping my finger to the King of England, and listening with rapt attention as Milo listed all the things he hopes to accomplish in his van. The band played a handful of tunes from their incel catalogue, with “Myage”, “Hope”, “Bikeage”, and reigning incel anthem “I’m The One” all making the night’s setlist, but pull it off with the sort of self-aware, tongue-in-cheek irreverence that reminds us they were once nothing more than a group of self-loathing, lovelorn, adolescent dweebs who just happened to go on to form one of the most important punk bands of all time. And truthfully, which one of us hasn’t been that first thing? Bill Stevenson said it best in a recent interview with DS contributor Forrest Gaddis: “Look, I was a dumbass teenager. Weren’t you?”
The band closed out their electric set with fan-favourite “Suburban Home” and “Smile”, then ran back out on stage for a four-song encore which included “Kabuki Girl” and three other songs I forgot to write down and which, at the time of writing, no generous strangers have been kind enough to add to Setlist.fm. This of course leaves you, reader, with no other choice but to go catch them on tour when they pass through your city. I can promise it’s well worth it.
It was a night of first-rate performances, nonstop dancing, and joyful, unencumbered punk energy, the kind of night that leaves you feeling decidedly awe-inspired, if slightly out of breath. My friend and I ended the night with a few drinks down the street at Montreal punk institution Foufunes Électriques before heading home to crash into bed. My takeaways from the night are threefold: 1) when the pit is good, it’s really good; 2) we should all be putting our phones away at shows more often; 3) sometimes, the best part of the punk show is letting loose, dancing like mad, and knowing that your friends will be dancing just as crazily besides you. However, if you insist on taking only one thing away from this review, let it be this: I did not cry during “Ever Fallen In Love”. That was only sweat.
One of the premier tours of the Fall kicked off Wednesday September 3rd in St. Paul. “A CATACLYSMIC RAPTURE OF FRIENDSHIPNESS!!!” featuring Toronto-based punk outfit PUP, the legendary Jeff Rosenstock, and upstarts Ekko Astral from Washington D.C. PUP is coming off the release of their new record Who Will Look After the Dogs earlier this […]
One of the premier tours of the Fall kicked off Wednesday September 3rd in St. Paul. “A CATACLYSMIC RAPTURE OF FRIENDSHIPNESS!!!” featuring Toronto-based punk outfit PUP, the legendary Jeff Rosenstock, and upstarts Ekko Astral from Washington D.C.
PUP is coming off the release of their new record Who Will Look After the Dogs earlier this year While Jeff Rosenstock is still riding high off the release of another classic album in the form of 2023’s Hellmode.
The twin headlining bill of PUP and Rosenstock is a dream for those inclined towards high-energy pop punk and garage rock with a focus on song-writing. Personally, both bands have played some of the best shows in my memory, so I couldn’t miss seeing them together.
Ekko Astral
Before the headliners, Ekko Astral took the stage for a great set of politically charged post-hardcore, noise punk and art rock. I wasn’t familiar with the band prior to the show, but have definitely checked them out since. The band released their debut record, Pink Balloons, in April of 2024 to critical acclaim. The album even clocked in at the #1 spot of Pitchfork’s “Best Rock Albums of 2024” list.
Ekko Astral played for roughly half an hour and made the most out of every minute. The highlight of the set came when they played some unreleased material off a future project. If the material translates as well in studio as it does live, their follow-up record should be just as lauded as Pink Balloons. The band does a great job of mixing their styles up, going from slow and heavy industrial sounds to a more upbeat pop punk sound. There’s a bit there for everyone and a lot of great political and social messages in their music.
In the current political landscape, it’s important to rally around the people who need support and protection. Ekko Astral is on the forefront of those issues. If you’re coming out to the tour, make sure you show up early enough to catch their set.
Jeff Rosenstock
After Ekko Astral’s outstanding opening, Jeff Rosenstock took the stage for a blistering set that spanned some of the biggest hits and fan favorites from his solo career. Rosenstock burst onto the scene with his work in Bomb the Music Industry! But he has arguably built just as impressive a catalogue under his own name. The California-based guitarist and songwriter showed off his deep discography during the show, playing a well-balanced show with material from all six of his studio albums.
One of the first observations about a Jeff Rosenstock show that one may make is how well he connects with the crowd. The sing-alongs are all met with audience participation, Rosenstock’s banter feels warm and welcome instead of like a necessary but unwanted break in the show. The audience is just as frenzied for deep cuts like his set opener “Darkness Records” as they are for his most popular material. Another great aspect of a Jeff Rosenstock set is how dynamic the pacing is. He has garage rock-tinged power pop bangers like “Scram!”, but also can slow it down with moody and reflective ballads like “Staring Out the Window at Your Old Apartment”.
The wide-ranging genres and topics of Rosenstock songs make for an amazing live experience. He and his band are truly among the gold standards of live punk rock shows. Rosenstock has become one of the most interesting figures in alternative rock as an active artist since 2005. As mentioned, he’s most known for his solo material and time in BtMI! but has also released music with The Arrogant Sons of Bitches, Antarctigo Vespucci and more. If his live performances are any indication, Rosenstock isn’t slowing down.
Highlights of the hour-long set included a spirited rendition of his hit song “Nausea”, a sing-along of the vulnerable “9/10”, as well as the high-energy “Festival Song” a scathing anthem about the commodification of punk and DIY ethos.
PUP
While Jeff Rosenstock’s set was a rollercoaster, going from frantic and chaotic rippers to emotional reflections, PUP is much more primal and guttural. Sure, there’s some letting up in the set, at least sonically, but most of the show is a balls-to-the-wall shit show of anthems for those of us who are feeling the pain of the modern world.
Lead singer Stefan Babcock started the set by declaring that outside the walls of the Palace Theatre in St. Paul, the world is very difficult and unfriendly right now. A lot of us are having a very difficult time for a myriad of reasons, but for the duration of the show, it was important to make that time a good one. This included watching out for fellow concert goers, making sure everyone was having safe and having a good time while tearing it up. The request is appreciated for PUP’s crowd, which tends to be incredibly raucous. Their music is ripe with opportunity for crowd-surfing, moshing and full on circle pits that are unfortunately missing from so many of the “newer” punk bands on the scene’s shows.
The set started with a high-energy fan favorites that included “No Hope” off their new album, along with PUP setlist mainstays “My Life is Over and I Couldn’t Be Any Happier”, “Free at Last”, “Robot Writes a Love Song” and “Dark Days.”
The set included several songs from their new album, which fit well into their trademark high-energy show. As always, a highlight of the night came from the double feature of their classics “If This Tour Doesn’t Kill You, I Will” into “DVP”. The band has been closing shows with those two songs for much of their history, but have moved it towards the end of the set.
Throughout their history, PUP have never been a fan of doing encores. They traditionally let the audience know its their last couple of songs and end the show. For this tour, there once again is no encore, but there is something else. Jeff Rosenstock and his band rejoin the stage for a quick set that includes two PUP songs, two Jeff Rosenstock songs and a cover of Alanis Morrissette’s “You Oughta Know.”
The show was great up till that point, but the double band set was a real highlight. It felt like a joyous celebration of an amazing night of music.
The show truly was an epic night of some of the best pop punk has to offer. The audience responded to everything all three bands did. As a veteran of hundreds of shows, I’ve lost the feeling that I had when I first started going to shows. Sure, all live shows are fun, but there’s times where the experience feels a bit worn, like your old favorite shirt that doesn’t quite fit anymore. Every now and then, a show comes through that gives me the same feeling I had when I went to my first-ever live punk gig, a 2011 Dead Milkmen show at the now-defunct Congress Theater in Chicago. This was one of those nights. If you’re a fan of PUP, Jeff Rosenstock or Ekko Astral already, this is a must-see show. But if you’re interested in a great show and happen to see it coming through your town; go. You won’t regret it.
Indianapolis punks the Remote Controls released their bad ass new album Too Tough digitally last month, and now a physical release is on the way thanks to our friends at Mom’s Basement Records and Fail Harmonic Records. The two labels are joining forces for a vinyl release across three color variants, limited to just 100 […]
Indianapolis punks the Remote Controls released their bad ass new album Too Tough digitally last month, and now a physical release is on the way thanks to our friends at Mom’s Basement Records and Fail Harmonic Records.
The two labels are joining forces for a vinyl release across three color variants, limited to just 100 copies each. We’re stoked to give you the first look at the variants; check ’em out – and listen to this killer fuckin’ record – down below!
