Serbian gruff pop punks Shoplifters released their new album Secret Free World via White Russian Records last month and if they’re still not on your radar here’s a great way to introduce yourself. Check out the music video for the new track “Everybody’s Nobody’s Fool” below.

[Read more…]

Tiger Army has released a music video for “Devil That You Don’t Know,” taken from their brand new studio album, Retrofuture. Check it out along with the band’s current tour dates below.

“‘Devil That You Don’t Know’ exists because I read a bio about The Cramps,” frontman Nick 13 said of the song’s inspiration. “Lux & Ivy lived in Ohio after abruptly leaving CA under the shadow of legal trouble, prior to starting the band in NYC. While in Ohio, Ivy bought an old fuzz pedal in a pawn shop. I did some research, figured out what it would’ve been and tracked one down. When I plugged it into an early-‘60s Fender Amp with the tremolo way up, this song poured out.”

Retrofuture was released September 13th via Rise Records. Stream the entire album here.

[Read more…]

Podunk Parliament (Dallas, TX) just released their newest album “Nothing Left” on LiberDIY Records. It’s up for grabs here with a “name your price” tag on it. Stream Podunk Parliament’s “Nothing Left” below. [Read more…]

Intelligent song-writing is present on this record of truth. Dutch act, Ink Bomb, take the punk formula and raise hairs and hell. Within a few minutes, when the album Fiction blasts the cobwebs, friction breaks loose, and those turbulent lyrics draw in attention and interest rapidly. The lyrics describe doom and fear. The world is in disarray, and Fiction is a compendium of punk scores tuned in like a TV aerial into the core of drama.

The guitar strokes are always fundamental and Fiction is an exploration of diverse chords. Instrumentation is pivotal to a band which utilise every aching moment. Delivering these pounding songs is their calling. By conveying through the brazen lyrics, they imprint their stories quickly, chronicling the times when hope escaped them, when hurt burrowed profoundly.

The members of Ink Bomb want to breach above the top layer. They don’t want to hit the mainstream, but they crave to reach the top floor. This is not a port of call, but their hearts beat for justification. Writing these words takes time, but they can be misjudged or placed aside. Ink Bomb’s ability at creating lyrics that are poignant is a talent in itself. From the start, the poetry may consume, but it’ll leave a lasting impression.

Fiction sparks with Brittle. A song which is fast-paced and charged. The chugged out guitar parts offer abrasiveness and loud moments. Scourge explains to us the decline of the world and warped reality. The digital age is reaching supremacy. Midnight In The Desert is an intelligent assessment of mental instability. Happiness is distant. Dreams are cut up strips of fear. Behind the guitars is a bubbling bassline and quick fired drumbeats. Cauterize is an emotional affair. Its stripped back, it’s raw and cathartic. Enemies are spotlighted, pinpointed and ready for a fiery wrath.
Ink Bomb are supremely talented. They’re a band expressing themselves fully. With their collection Fiction, they look for an act of kindness and a more stable world.

4.5/5 Stars

When I first started streaming the new Green Day single “Father Of All…” off their upcoming album of the same name I thought I had clicked on the wrong video link. The track felt more like something you’d find on an Awolnation album than on an album of one of pop punk’s most celebrated artists. But then I remembered how long ago “Dookie” was released and reminded myself that artists need to evolve to survive, and that the Green Day of today is not the one of yesteryear. So if you’re a “Dookie” Green Day fan like me, you might not especially like this new tune, but you might find it interesting to see where the band has evolved to. Check it out below.

“Father Of All…” is due out February 7th via Warner/Reprise Records.

[Read more…]

Check out the new ‘Age of Unreason’ mini doc, where Bad Religion discusses the new record ‘Age of Unreason’ and what it’s like to still be proud of the music you’re putting out after 40 years. Check it out along with the band’s current tour dates below.

“Age Of Reason” was released in May via longtime home Epitaph Records.

[Read more…]

On an absolutely perfect Sunday afternoon I was able to catch an old fashioned Sunday Matinee show at a cute little Mexican restaurant called Mole Mole in Poughkeepsie New York. Where not only was the weather perfect, the food exquisite , and the entertainment excellent, but the entire concept of a free afternoon show featuring all of the above was, well, astonishing these days.

Please read on below and I’ll explain.

[Read more…]

Hardcore, for me, has always been relegated to the sidelines. I like hardcore just fine, and every once in a while I find something that truly resonates with me—but for the most part, hardcore is something I revisit a couple of times a year and them subsequently move on from. It’s powerful, adrenaline-pumping stuff, but I never really got the culture surrounding it, so I’ve always stayed at arm’s length, despite my dalliances. Knocked Loose are the sort of genre darlings that make waves big enough that even melodic punk folks like myself get to feel the ripple. Based on the buzz of the hivemind, these guys are huge and I should be paying attention; they’re bringing something to hardcore that is new, or they’re performing it with the intensity turned up a couple of notches. Maybe. I don’t know. I listen to Tragedy and Comeback Kid four times a year, so I have no idea what, if any of that, is true. But I do know their new album is A Different Shade of Blue, and that despite being somewhat unfamiliar with the tropes of the heavier side of the genre (continually thinking: isn’t hardcore supposed to sound like Minor Threat?), the music comes off as powerful, venomous stuff.

If I were to outline Knocked Loose’s sound I’d describe it as a focused cacophony. It’s wild and unhinged, noisy and loud—but with a strong sense of rhythmic hooks, both in their vocal lines and riffage. The songs are full of forward momentum and righteous rage, with jaw-dropping breakdowns (see: “Belleville”) that play with dissonance as much as melody. Not to say that Knocked Loose is a melodic hardcore band per se, but they know how to write a song and make it memorable, even in such an absurdly heavy, beatdown-influenced arena. 

Which is all the more impressive considering the rather narrow sonic range of the genre. Still, Knocked Loose manage to knock out chugger after chugger, swapping from groovy headbangers to high note dissonance to metallic riffing—all while maintaining the singular identities of their songs. “In the Walls” features all of these and more, all led by the throat-shredding scream of vocalist Bryan Garris, who may be the X-factor that propelled Knocked Loose to the top in the first place. Throughout the album, his vocals are unmistakably passionate. There’s been a shift in heavier genres in the last couple years that have strived to make screaming as sustainable and healthy as possible—the influence of vocal coaches and vocalists who want a career that lasts longer than a season. It’s a commendable drive—ultimately, no one should destroy their body for the sake of kids being able to hit each other in a pit—but oftentimes, the end result is a crisp, articulate noise devoid of the volatility of the noise it mimics. I don’t know if Garris is screaming healthily or not, but I do know that it sounds like he means every word that’s coming out of his mouth. And in hardcore, where authenticity is a currency, selling that intensity to your audience is paramount. 

A Different Shade of Blue is a sophomore album. And as a hardcore meerkat who pops out of his burrow just enough to know Code Orange Kids is now just Code Orange, I’m experiencing Knocked Loose for the very first time. What I’ve seen and heard is a band of incredible energy, playing heavy-ass music, and executing it with underrated creativity. Knocked Loose may not be the poet-bards of hardcore, but they’re not trying to be. This is a band trying to be nasty heavy—and shit, man, what can I say? They succeed. 

4.5/5

New York pop-punk veterans Bayside have just announced the release of their new full-length album “Interrobang.” Slated for release via Hopeless Records, fans can expect it to hit digital shelves on October 4th. Until then get a taste for what’s to come by streaming the title track below.

“Interrobang” is the band’s first release since last year’s acoustic album cleverly titled “Acoustic Volume 2.”

[Read more…]

Allow us to introduce the newest member of the Fat Wreck Chords family, MakeWar. Their album Get It Together drops on November 1st, but you can check out the video for their first single “Oh, Brother” below along with a more detailed (and hilarious) introduction to the band via Pulitzer Prize caliber write-up that Brendan Kelly (singer/bass player of The Lawrence Arms).

MakeWar will be heading out with Lagwagon and face to face next month. Don’t miss them!

[Read more…]