C’mon ska lovers, let’s be honest with ourselves. While we love those upstrokes and off-beat rhythms, 97% of people would rather be tied to tree being forced to listen to Duran Duran for the next 20 hours. So when you’re in the car with your Jamaican roots hater friend, and you want to change his views… what do you listen to?

The answer is the newly released “The Great Rocksteady Swindle” by NYC ska kings The Slackers. For some reason, even those who don’t like ska seem to have a soft spot for the Slackers, and it’s no surprise, as they bring in many influences into their traditional ska sound, including rock and roll, reggae, rocksteady, and generally perfect music for the summer.

On The Great Rocksteady Swindle, The Slackers kick back to their original, easy sounding music. Songs like “How It Feels” shows what the band is all about: updated ska jams without forgetting the spirit of earlier bands such as The Skatalites.

Definitely a perfect summer soundtrack, and I’ve been listening to this one pretty much nonstop as of late.

MP3:
The Slackers – Mr Tragedy

More:
Ruder Than You – Big Step
The Slackers – Self Medication
Hub City Stompers – Ska Ska Black Sheep
Bomb the Music Industry – Scrambles

Buy:
Hellcat

To continue my awesome weekend of punk rock, I headed out to Philly’s Barbary on Sunday to see one of my favorite hardcore bands around: Ceremony.

I missed the first few bands, but made it in time for Vaccine.

Vaccine:

First up was Massachusetts straight edge band Vaccine. These dudes played brutal, spazzy hardcore, even flirting a bit with crust and power violence. Very blast beat oriented, they reminded me of Phobia and Capitalist Casualties much more than any standard hardcore act.

Vaccine’s set was super short, and they were all business. There wasn’t any stage banter at all, and not even an introduction. In fact, I don’t think they said a word to the crowd besides the screams in the microphone.

Skin Like Iron:

Made up from half of the members of Ceremony, these guys freaking killed it. I’ve never heard of them before hand, but I definitely want to check out more of their stuff now. Having a high energy performance, and a sound like Disfear, I was sold.

Ceremony:

If there was one thing that can be said about California’s Ceremony, it’s that you need to prepare for the unexpected. They surprised everyone with their newly released Rohnert Park, and everybody knows by this point that Ceremony are not your typical hardcore band. For example, when the guitarist was asked in an interview what does hardcore mean to him, he responded “glam”.

One thing that can be expected however is an insane off the walls balls shows. The band opened with sick, and we instantly lost our shit going straight for the pile-ons and stage dives. Frontman Ross ferociously attacked the microphone like a rabid dog, was constantly climbing up things, and was down in the middle of the pit for the majority of the time.

Playing a few off Rohnert park, the majority came off of their older material such as Violence Violence and Ruined, which we all went batshit crazy for.

Once the band busted into Terminal Addiction, Andy from Paint it Black played the greatest damn glass bottle solo I’ve ever heard.

Setlist:
Sick
He-god-Has Favored Our Undertakings
Pressure’s On
The Difference Between Looking And Seeing
Terminal Addiction
Throwing Bricks
Walking Home
Mothers And Fathers
Plutocratic Swine Rake
Vagrant
The Lines In My Forehead
Kersed
Living Hell
Open My Head
Eraser Making It’s Way It’s Only Job
It Rained In My Head
I Want To Put This To An End
Living In The Doldrums
This Is My War

MP3:
Ceremony – Into The Wayside Pt I / Sick

More:
Ceremony – Rohnert Park
Ceremony’s Set From “This Is Hardcore 09″
Ceremony – Violence Violence
Ceremony – Scared People EP
Ceremony – Still Nothing Moves You

Buy:
Bridge 9

So, after the Grey Area, Lighten Up, and Static Radio Show on Saturday, I ran out to Philly’s best warehouse “The Ox” to catch another personal favorite of mine: Off With Their Heads.

It was my first time at The Ox, and I was impressed by the massive amount of space that was there. I was also sweltering from the heat, as there isn’t much airflow in the place.

The Holy Mess was towards the end of their set by the time I got there, and I completely missed Dear Landlord’s set as I was waiting in line to use their bathroom.

Off With Their Heads:

I love the band and enjoy every time they play live, but it’s always a crapshoot as to how the crowd is going to respond. Often when I see them, it seems like people are content standing and watching like mature (boring) adults. Other times however, it becomes a frenzy. This time leaned more towards the frenzy side (thank god). The band jumped straight into S.O.S, and didn’t really let up for the rest of the night.

This was also the most energetic I’ve ever seen Off With Their Heads as well, as they completely murdered it on stage, and I think it’s partly because the band brought in another member and the lead singer was relieved of guitar playing duties, allowing him to engage with the crowd much more as a front man.

Playing a decent mix of songs from Hospitals, From The Bottom, and their newest release In Desolation, I think the band had a really good setlist (unless your favorite album was “All Things Move Towards Their End”…) and was stoked to hear the new songs live.

Setlist:
SOS
Drive
ZZYZX
Their Own Medicine
For The Four
Hard To Admit
I Just Want You To Know
I Am You
Until The Day
All I Can Do
Eyes Of Death
Fuck This I’m Out
Die Today

Mp3:
Off With Their Heads – Drive

More:
Off With Their Heads – In Desolation
Off With Their Heads – Hospitals
Off With Their Heads – From The Bottom

Buy:
Epitaph

Holy shit. Tonight, I went to not one show, not three shows… not even four fucking shows, but two! Two different shows making this an incredibly punk rock Saturday night. The first show that I headed out to was at Philly’s Barbary, and I love all the bands that played.

Static Radio NJ

Fuck, I don’t know what it is, but every time I try to see these guys, I always wind up showing up late and missing half of their set. I missed their first three songs, but caught the rest of the (short) set. I got to say, I’ve seen Static Radio NJ a few times now, and they were definitely on tonight.

While it seemed like the majority of the small crowd had no idea who they were, the band sounded tight as hell, and the actual energy on stage was phenomenal. They played a mix of their heavier songs with the more Lifetime-esque melodic ones. They even through in a Saves The Day cover… a much heavier version that completely owned.

Setlist (From what I remember)
-Bothered
-Cut The Tie
-The Waiting Game
-One For The Good Guys
-You Vandal (Saves The Day cover)
-Marc

Lighten Up:

My favorite 12 minute setlist rockers around. Regular readers of my blog know that these Philly guys are one of my favorite bands period, and they are sometimes described as “the next generation of Dan Yemin’s DNA”, which hits the nail right on the head.

While the majority of the crowd didn’t know who they were, Lighten Up played a sick set, and I think they definitely won some fans over that night.

Setlist (From what I remember):
Dolphins Are Sharks With Good Publicists
Born To Perspire
New Song
Invisible Checks
Reality World
Bet II
Boyz II Wolves
New Song
Life On Earth
Absolutely Not

Grey Area:

Finally! Grey Area plays one of those rare reunion shows that they do like once every 2 years. When I caught Token Entry about 2 years ago, all I could think of was how badly I wanted to see a Grey Area reunion again, and it finally happened.

After a rousing rendition of Happy Birthday to Ernie (With Dave from Kid Dynamite bringing him a cake and everything) the band busted into a slower, warm up song (the name escapes me). The crowd started the stage dives and crowd surfing pretty early on, and had a pit going in the back. Unfortunately, the crowd wasn’t losing their shit as I would expect at a Grey Area show (or as lively as I would hope actually…) but still energy was running high.

The band played a decent mix of stuff off of Fanbelt Algebra and their Self Titled, and played really tight. I don’t remember their entire setlist, but from what I can recall:

Setlist:
Right Now
For Real
Insomnia
Before Me
All time Low
Black Train Jack (cover)
Reminder
Sour Grapes

MP3:
Static Radio NJ- Marc
Lighten Up! – Invisible Checks

More:
Lighten Up – Absolutely Not
Static Radio NJ “One For The Good Guys
Static Radio NJ – An Evening of Bad Decisions

Buy:
interpunk

Quarter of a freaking century. Today is the day of my birthday (well, it’s 1am now on the 18th so I guess I’m an hour late), but I just turned 25 (but I still act like I’m 10!)… so, you know the routine… go to the beach, drink shots of… water, and a birthday mix to the max! (Number one, I live in my momma’s house, number one, I live in my momma’s house!)

MP3:

Groovie Ghoulies – Happy Birthday

The Vandals – Happy Birthday To Me

The Vandals – Bad Birthday Bash

Atom and His Package – Happy Birthday General

Big D And The Kids Table – Running Young

7 Seconds – Young ‘Til I Die

Big D And The Kids Table – Good Luck

Bouncing Souls – Born Free

Low Budgets – Born Before The Internet

Kid Dynamite – Birthday

NOFX – New Happy Birthday Song

More Mixes:
Go On Strike?
I’m Not Old Yet (Homecoming 09)
Everytime it Rains, The Bus Is Late Just To Spite Me

Buy:
Interpunk

I’m going to call it now: Off With Their Heads “In Desolation” will be on my top 1o at the end of the year. These Minneapolis punks have done it again, and made one hell of an album.

For those who don’t know, Off With Their Heads plays straight from the gut, beer soaked anthems, pretty similar to Dillinger Four. Within one listen, I instantly fell in love with In Desolation. The songs are similar to those on their 2008 “From The Bottom”, but since I fucking love that album as well, no complaints there.

I’ve heard people bitch about In Desolation sounding a little too polished, and usually I completely despise when bands do that, and only can name one other release where I actually enjoyed it (Strike Anywhere’s Dead FM), but it definitely works for Off With Their Heads. The songs aren’t any less energetic, seem even more melodic,make me want to shout along more, and to be honest, I don’t even know what these critics are talking about being watered down. Keep in mind this is coming from someone who thought Dillinger Four’s Civil War and Municipal Waste’s Massive Aggressive was way too polished, aka I’m usually incredibly harsh.

I highly recommend taking a listen before brushing it off because of what some critic’s may think.

MP3:
Off With Their Heads – Drive

More Punk Rock Than You Can Shake A Clenched Fist At:
Off With Their Heads – Hospitals
Off With Their Heads – From The Bottom
Dillinger Four – Situationist Comedy

Buy:
Epitaph

Yeah… I know I know, posts have been a lot more scarce than usual. Thing is, shit has been completely crazy as of late. I am starting a new job, apartment searching, and trying not to get arrested by the city of Philadelphia for owning this fucking site (because they probably hate punk music). The only thing that keeps me calm is the fact that I say “at least I’ve got Kid Dynamite tickets”.

So what do we do when shit gets crazy in our life? Shoot lots of heroin into our eyeballs… and then afterwards, we have a (slightly) relative fucking mix god damn it!

MP3:
Good Clean Fun – Let’s Go Crazy
Bomb The Music Industry – Slumlord
Capitalist Casualties – Jobs
Off With Their Heads – God Damn Job
Leftover Crack – Stop The Insanity (Demo Version)

More Mixes:
Songs to Piss Off The Personal Fitness Trainer Below Me Mix
Drunken Yuppies Breaking Into My House Mix
Your Job Sucks Mix
Every time it Rains, The Bus Is Late Just To Spite Me

Buy:
interpunk.com

Man, Ceremony’s June 8th release “Rohnert Park” is one giant case of blue balls. It’s solid, but you’re going to want more and feel a little bit unfulfilled.

One of my favorite hardcore bands around, Ceremony always keeps fans on their toes with their surprising, frenzied sound. However, on Rohnert Park, the songs are much more of a thought out, calculated frenzy. The opening track “Sick” is a perfect example. You can feel the tension building throughout the song, but never lashing out to a full outrage, leaving us with a feeling of uneasiness.

Ceremony certainly threw us fans a curveball though. Many of these songs have a lot of rock and roll influences, and those looking for the rage of Violence Violence or Ruined will only find it in scarcity on Rohnert Park. Some of the songs are too slow for me personally, such as The Doldrums (Friendly City), but I do need to hand it to them for capturing lyrical theme in the music.

The end of the album is a bit more of what us Ceremony fans are used to, with Nigh To Life and The Pathos. Definitely a good album, but I need to warn fans, it may be a grower for you. But if there’s one thing we know about Ceremony, it’s to expect the unexpected.
MP3:
Ceremony – Into The Wayside Pt I / Sick

More Sick Articles:
Ceremony’s Set From “This Is Hardcore 09″
Ceremony – Violence Violence
Ceremony – Scared People EP
Ceremony – Still Nothing Moves You

Buy:
Bridge 9

Franz Nicolay is a man of many talents. While this Brooklyn musician is best known for being the prolific accordion/piano player in cabaret punk band (not to mention Housewives loved) World Inferno Friendship Society, and was the primary keyboardist in the much more popular Hold Steady, Franz released a hell of a good solo album as well.

I usually shy away from solo albums, because I usually find the whole “guy with acoustic guitar” thing pretty damn boring regardless of how good their bands are, but on Major General, Franz invites a few other musicians along and plays a variety of instruments himself, giving it a more full band feel.

Franz covers a range of different styles on the album. Opener “Jeff Penalty”, a song about a guy who filled in for Jello Biafra at the Dead Kennedy’s reunion show is a mid-tempo punk song, while “World Inferno Vs. The End Of The Evening” is a much slower number. One talent the man really has is all of the lyrics are incredibly insightful.

A pretty solid album that is damn worth your time if you’re familiar with any of his bands, and if he come s around your area live… seriously, go fucking see him. It’s one hell of a show.

MP3:
Franz Nicolay – Jeff Penalty

More Articles You’ll Dig Homie:
Franz Nicolay With Bomb The Music Industry
World Inferno Friendship Society – A Demonstrational Introduction to the Astral Plane
Addicted to Bad Ideas
Just The Best Party
Red Eyed Soul
East Coast Super Sound Punk of Today

Buy:
Franz Nicolay

This album got a lot of shit when it was released back in the year 2000 (holy shit, it’s been 10 years already?). When NOFX released “Pump Up The Valuum”, people were saying that it was just “ok” and doesn’t compare at all with older classics such as Punk In Drublic.

Personally, Valuum is one of my favorite NOFX releases, as it contains some of their most humorous songs and catchiest melodies yet. Unlike many of their other albums, this one doesn’t really deal with anything too serious, besides the rant against major labels “Dinosaurs Will Die”, but while the political message has been toned down, the music has not.

I’m sure the majority of you have heard this already (or at least I hope so), but pop it back in for a spin, I’m sure it’s been some time.

MP3:
NOFX – Clams Have Feelings Too

More:
NOFX – Cokie The Clown
Nofx – Coaster
NOFX – So Long And Thanks For All The Shoes
NOFX – War On Errorism

Buy:
Fat Wreck