Archive for June 26, 2012

Municipal Waste Live In Philly (6/25/12)

/ June 26, 2012 / No comments

Last night I headed to Philly’s new(ish) Union Transfer to go see Richmond party fuck thrashers, Municipal Waste.  I wasn’t sure how seeing them at Union Transfer would be (a relatively large venue compared to most places they play), but the place made sure to make it seem as intimate as possible without barricades… oh and there is air conditioning there, so won’t argue that.

Municipal Waste:

I wound up showing up pretty late, missing everyone except for the Waste.  These guys are up there in my favorite bands, and unfortunately I consider it a missed opportunity that i didn’t really get into them until the end of when I lived in Virginia (I was near Richmond from 03-07, and didn’t really love the Waste until about 06ish).  Regardless, there is always strong reaction anytime they come to Philly, and last night was no exception.

The second they took the stage and broke into “Unleash The Bastards” they place erupted into a circle pit and stage dives (with boogie boards of course… I mean, this is a Waste show).  The band didn’t really let up the rest of the night, and had their set span all of their full lengths, with latest Fatal Feast, Art Of Partying, and Hazardous Mutations dominating the majority of time (with a few throwbacks to Waste Em All).

Apparently I wasn’t alone in thinking that the new album was a lot better than Massive Aggressive, because even the newer songs which often don’t get a strong reaction from fans got the place moving and thrashing about.

Always a good time, definitely go see Municipal Waste if they come around your hood.

Setlist (From what I remember and not in order)

Unleash The Bastards
You’re Cut Off
Mind Eraser
Beer Pressure
The Thrashin Of The Christ
Idiot Check
New Dead Masters
Toxic Revolution
Sweet Attack (I think they played this…)
Wrong Answer
Headbanger Face Rip
Repossession
Terror Shark
Sadistic Magician
Born To Party

Encore:
Pregame / Art Of Partying

MP3:
Municipal Waste – Unleash The Bastards

More Waste:

Municipal Waste – The Fatal Feast
Municipal Waste – Scion EP
Municipal Waste – Waste Em All
Municipal Waste – Massive Aggressive
Municipal Waste – Tango And Thrash EP
Municipal Waste – Hazardous Mutations
Crucial Unit – These Colors Get The Runs

Buy:
Municipal Waste

Category: live, music, punk, show, thrash / Tags: , , , , , , ,

The Copyrights, The Dopamines, Mean Jeans Live In Philly (6/24/12)

/ June 25, 2012 / No comments

After being in the sun all day at a super last minute Phillies game (don’t care about the Phillies, hoped to see Tampa Bay lose), I headed out to Philly’s Barbary to catch one hell of a pop-punk lineup.  I would have went for The Copyrights or Mean Jeans alone, but having them both on the same set?  Fuck yeah.

House Boat:

I came in about halfway through these NJ guys set.  I caught House Boat at the Asbury Lanes about two years ago, and remember not being that big of a fan, but this time they killed it.  The vocals used to be a lot whinier is what turned me off originally, but at least last night, it seemed like that was toned down and a gruffer sound shone through.

I unfortunately don’t know any of their songs, but there were a lot of people in the crowd singing along.  I’ll have to give these guys a second listen.

Mean Jeans:

I’ve been meaning to see the Mean Jeans for a while now ever since I’ve heard their Ramones influences punk off of Are You Serious and missed their Friday house show they played in Philly before heading off to Baltimore’s Insubordination Fest.  Seeing them open on a Sunday meant it was going to be a lot more calm (I even heard one girl in the crowd say “wait, the Mean Jeans are drinking water? I’m confused”), but no matter, I’ll take what i can get.

Unfortunately I was upstairs talking to a friend and missed their opening song (and one of my favorites “Born On A Saturday Night”) but the band continued to bring the party with songs off of both full lengths (I need to still check out their latest one On Mars) and even threw some in from some early EPs.  Definitely a fun time, wish they’d come to the east coast more often.

Highlights:
Born On A Saturday Night
On Mars
Steve Don’t Party No More
No Brainer
Case Race
Slime Time
Stoned 2 The Bone
Let’s Pogo B4 U Gogo

Unfortunately I missed Dear Landlord’s set as I needed to grab some food, but I made it back in time for The Dopamines.

The Dopamines:

I’ll be honest, I’m not very familiar with these guys.  I know the name, and I know that I would like them if I ever listened to them, but I never got a chance.  Needless to say I was pretty excited to finally get to check them out.  Totally blown away.

These guys played fast paced pop punk in the veins of early Green Day and Teenage Bottlerocket, and had the crowd singing along every word (although being a mixture of the fact it was early, sunday, and hot as shit… people stayed relatively calm).

Definitely need to check these guys out.

The Copyrights:

I’ve always dug The Copyrights and always try to go see them anytime they come to town, but I was honestly blown away by their latest release of North Sentinel Island.  When I first started listening to them after seeing The Copyrights play a show with Teenage Bottlerocket, they played pretty straight forward pop-punk, but their latest album incorporated so much more.  Less I digress though.

The band took the stage and the sing-alongs began immediately.  Again the crowd was pretty mellow (and my attempts to start a pit were for naught… but all good, I’m seeing Municipal Waste tonight.) but that didn’t slow The Coprights down.  They played a mix from the majority of their releases, with the heaviest being off their latest.

The band looked like they were dying from the heat by the end of their last song when the crowd demanded an encore.  They didn’t leave the small stage yet and then proceeded to blast two more, taking the crowd’s request of “Worn Out Passport” as a closer.

Highlights:
Kids Of The Black Hole
Trustees Of Modern Chemistry
Cashiers
Hardwired
Crutches
Weapons Of Math Destruction
Worn Out Passport

MP3:
The Copyrights – Trustees Of Modern Chemistry
Mean Jeans – Rats Roaches And Jeans

More:
The Copyrights – North Sentinel Island
Mean Jeans – Are You Serious
The Lillingtons – Too Late Show

Buy:
Interpunk

Category: live, music, pop punk, punk, show, Uncategorized / Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

Static Radio NJ – We Are All Beasts (For fans of Lifetime, Banquets, The Great Explainer)

/ June 22, 2012 / No comments


Static Radio NJ have evolved quite a bit over the past few years.  After releasing their debut One For The Good Guys EP, the band gained popularity due to their no bullshit, fast paced hardcore.  With their follow up An Evening Of Bad Decisions, Static Radio NJ switched gears into a more melodic direction, and with their latest release We Are All Beasts, they expand their Lifetime-esque sound even more.

With 12 melodic punk tracks it’s almost impossible not to compare them to other NJ contemporaries such as Banquets or The Great Explainer.  While the band is more melodic, Static Radio NJ manages to be more straightforward in their melodies.  At times on Evening Of Bad Decisions, it sometimes sounded like the band was trying too hard to change their sound up and evolve, but on We Are All Beasts the songs are much more natural and organic sounding.  The band also shows a completely new side breaking uncharted territory with their acoustic tearjerker Geeks, yet still manage to remain gritty as fuck.

Where in the past vocals used to be yelled or screamed, the majority are now sung with a gruffness that (strangely) reminds me a bit of Kurt Cobain (seriously… go listen to Some Kind Of Something or the chorus of I Might Kill, you’ll see what I mean).

Fans who were hoping for a return to hardcore form will be disappointed, but while One For The Good Guys holds a special place in my hardcore heart, We Are All Beasts is definitely one fuck of a listen and definitely worth your time.

MP3:
Static Radio NJ – I Might Kill

More:
Static Radio NJ – One For The Good Guys
Static Radio NJ – An Evening of Bad Decisions
Lifetime Live In Philly

Buy:
We Are All Beasts

Category: music, punk / Tags: , , ,

Campaign – The Black Album (For fans of Hot Water Music, Banquets, Banner Pilot)

/ June 21, 2012 / No comments

Ever since Beetlejuice Beetlejuice Beetlejuice I’ve been anticipating some new music from Atlanta, Georgia’s Campaign.  With their fourth EP (because fuck full lengths is the philosophy of these guys) The Black Album, (what up Jaaaaay-Z) Campaign returns to their gruffy and gritty punk rock sound.

The 5 song album kicks off with Breaking Bones, which is a much more straightforward punk rock song than any of the more melodic songs of theirs in the past.  Campaign also shows a new darkness to their music with Slums, a song that dives into dissonant melodies and features an uneasy ambiance throughout.  Closing out the album is Out Of Control, which takes a page from good ole fashioned dirty rock and roll.

Campaign definitely expanded their melodic sound on The Black Album without abandoning it, and I have to say, I’m really digging it.  Check them out if you liked your punk with plenty of whoa’s and with beer soaked.

MP3:
Campaign – Breaking Bones

The Housewives Album:
Campaign – Beetlejuice Beetlejuice Beetlejuice
Banquets – Top Button Bottom Shelf
The Bouncing Souls – Comet

Buy:
Bandcamp

Category: music, punk / Tags: , , ,

The Clash – London Calling (For Fans of The Ramones, The Buzzcocks, Cock Sparrer)

/ June 18, 2012 / One comment

If you were to mention The Clash to anyone, the iconic album cover of London Calling, with Simonon smashing his guitar into the stage is the first thing to come into mind for most.  Even though the cover was originally a tribute to Elvis Presley, it has definitely passed it in terms of recognizability.

London Calling is actually the third studio album released by The Clash, and if you are a fan of punk at all, you ought to have this album.  The songs range in style a bit more than the punk influenced previous released Self Titled and Give Em Enough Rope, with them exploring rockabilly on “Brand New Cadillac” (a cover of Vince Taylor’s song), lounge style “Jimmy Jazz”, and plenty of ska/reggae to go around with songs like “Rudie Can’t Fail” and “Revolution Rock”.

The Clash remain political throughout the album, praising the fight against fascism in Spain in “Spanish Bombs”, attacking the advertising world in “Koka Kola”, and struggling with commercialism in “Lost In The Supermarket”.

Every punk band around these days were somehow influenced (directly or indirectly) by The Clash at some point.  While London Calling is more mellow than other punk of the late 70s, it’s still an album that needs to be in everyone’s collection.

Mp3:
The Clash – Spanish Bombs

Housewives Calling:
Cock Sparrer Live In Philly
The Buzzcocks – Singles Go Steady
Sham 69
Anti-Pasti

Buy:
Amazon – The Clash London Calling

Category: music, punk / Tags: , , , , ,

The Bouncing Souls – Comet (For fans of Hot Water Music, The Loved Ones, Gaslight Anthem)

/ June 12, 2012 / No comments


New Jersey’s The Bouncing Souls and I have a bit of a history.  They’ve easily been my favorite band since I picked up their Self Titled many moons ago as an angst filled teen, I have seen them countless of times, and even fucking broke my arm at one of their shows (resulting in the permanent fixture of 2 steel plates and about 20 screws in my arm.  Their music has (and still) gets me through some of the roughest patches of my life, and I’m been seriously been considering getting this tattoo since I turned 18 (which was 9 years ago).  Needless to say, I’m a pretty fucking die hard Souls fan.

With all that being said, I was cautiously stoked for the release of Comet, as I didn’t really love the Ghosts On The Boardwalk or The Gold Record (don’t get me wrong, there’s some solid songs on there I love… but I don’t find myself listening to them regularly.)  Now, I know you’re supposed to listen to music contextually as opposed to comparatively, but when I’m listening to an album and I can easily switch to Maniacal Laughter at any point if I get bored… fuck it, I’m going to compare things.  So how does newly released Comet stack up?  I’m not entirely sure yet.

On one hand, with songs like Infidel, Baptized, and DFA the Souls do seem to embrace their punk rock roots a bit more on Comet than on their previous two release, but they still pursue the more mellow, Bruce Springsteen influenced songs that we found on Ghosts On The Boardwalk.  Even the mellow songs like Fast Times and In Sleep are pretty solid.  Also worth mentioning is the first single Static, which while a solid song, doesn’t even sound like the Bouncing Souls until the anthematic breakdown (and I honestly wouldn’t be too surprised if this one gets radio play.)

There aren’t any real lulls in the album, but there aren’t incredible passionate highs for me either.  The whole thing comes off a bit generic, and it may be because it’s The Bouncing Souls and everyone expects greatness from them all the time, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t a fun album to throw on.

Will it enter my regular rotation like anything pre Gold Record?  Probably not, but I do sense it may be a bit of a grower for me.

MP3:
Bouncing Souls – Baptized

More:
Bouncing Souls “Worst” Album
Bouncing Souls – The Good The Bad And The Argyle
Bouncing Souls Split Series
Bouncing Souls – Ghosts On The Boardwalk

Buy:
Amazon

Category: music, punk / Tags: , , ,

Ceremony, Citizen’s Arrest Live In Philly (6/10/12)

/ June 11, 2012 / No comments

Last night after trekking out to my home state of NJ, I rushed back to Philly in order to catch one of my favorite hardcore bands around, Ceremony.  I arrived at The Barbary just in time to catch the majority of Citizen’s Arrest.

Citizen’s Arrest

Screaming Females had to drop from the tour for medical reasons, and so Ceremony got recently reunited Citizen’s Arrest (they were originally only active from 1989-1991) to play.  They known for blending hardcore, grindcore, and power violence to make one fuck of a brutal sound.  Probably most famous for being Ted Leo’s old band, after seeing them last night they deserve much more credit.

The music was incredibly brutal, and while most people didn’t seem to know much by the band (myself included), it was obvious people were digging it.

I definitely need to check out their recorded work.

Highlights:
Soaked In Other’s Blood
Family At Your Throat
Death Threat

Ceremony:

California’s Ceremony draws one hell of a diverse crowd nowadays.  On one side you have the hardcore purists (like myself) who were originally attracted to the band through their brutal releases of Violence Violence and Still Nothing Moves You, and then you have the folks who recently became fans through their experimental, The Wire-esque sounds of latest Zoo.

Surprisingly opening with The Doldrums, Ceremony ripped through a set list consisting of songs split between Violence Violence, Rohnert Park, and Zoo.  Vocalist Ross was under constant assault of stage dives and pile ons while the pit was in constant motion (pretty fucking lively for a Sunday night, hell yeah.)

Even though I do like the older songs more, I have to say the new stuff translates much better live then it does on record, and I found myself really enjoying songs I’d usually skip on album.

By the end of the night as they were closing out I Want To Bring This To An End and Kersed, the entire place was pandemonium gone wild.  Fuck yeah.

Also, I’m glad that Andy (of Paint It Black) joined the band, because I think that’s brining them to Philly much more often now.

Setlist:
The Doldrums
Hysteria
Open Head
He God Has Favored Our Undertakings
Living Hell
Citizen
Into The Wayside/Sick
MCDF
My Hands Are Made Of Spite
World Blue
Pressure’s On (Red C cover)
Terminal Addiction
Community Service
Video
I Want To Put This To An End
Kersed

MP3:
Ceremony – My Hands Are Made Of Spite

More:
Ceremony – Zoo
Ceremony – Violence Violence
Ceremony – Scared People EP
Ceremony – Still Nothing Moves You
Ceremony – Rohnert Park

Buy:
Amazon

Category: hardcore, live, music, punk, show / Tags: , , , , , , ,

Bouncing Souls, Cheap Girls, Static Radio NJ Live in Philly (6/8/12)

/ June 9, 2012 / No comments

Last night I headed to Philly’s Trocadero to catch my all time favorite band, The Bouncing Souls.  This was the first time seeing them in Philadelphia since shattering my arm last year at their shows at the First Unitarian Church, and it was also their record release show for their latest album, Comet.

Static Radio NJ

I didn’t even realize Static Radio NJ was on the bill until about an hour before the show started, so I hauled ass to catch them.  They took the stage to a mostly empty room that started to pack out once they hit the first chord.  Not many people knew who these guys were, but a dedicated few sang along to every word.

It was a bit strange seeing them on a stage that big (I’m used to seeing them play basement shows), but they utilized the space well and seemed completely comfortable up there.  They didn’t play any of their earlier hardcore stuff from One For The Good Guys and mostly concentrated on their latest release We Are All Beasts.  I’m not overly familiar with that album (listened to it once or twice) so I didn’t know a lot of the songs, but they do translate really well live.  Still, I would have loved to hear “Won’t Sleep”.

Highlights:
Green Hoody
Addict
I Might Kill

Cheap Girls:

I’ve never really heard Cheap Girls before, and when they started I was digging their first few songs, but I will admit, I got a bit bored halfway through the set.  People in the crowd seemed to dig their pop tinged mid tempo music, but it just wasn’t my cup of tea.

Bouncing Souls:

You know what’s strange?  The fact I still get ridiculously excited to see the Souls even though this would be close to the 30th time seeing them.  The lights when dark, and the crowd instantly busted into the Ole and Here We Go chants that we’re known to do at Souls shows.  When they finally took the stage, they busted out into the song Static from their latest Comet, and instantly people broke out into a pit that didn’t let up for the rest of the night.

Following it up with Kids and Heroes, I immediately lost both my sneakers in the pit which I didn’t retrieve until the very end of the night.  Looks like I’m going to have to risk moshing in my socks (just avoid the big dudes wearing doc martens.)

The Bouncing Souls played a mix of songs from most of their albums (except The Good The Bad And The Argyle for some reason).  Definitely a solid show, even though I was incredibly distracted trying to find my god damn shoes. I need to check Comet out immediately.

Setlist (Not in order and from what I remember, I am missing a bunch of the new songs)

-Static
-Kids and Heroes
-Sing Along Forever
-Highway Kings
-Anchors Aweigh
-Cracked
-Say Anything
-ECFU
-Kate Is Great
-Hopeless Romantic
-Night On Earth
-That Song
-Private Radio
-True Believers
-The Something Special
-Lifetime
-Late Bloomer
-Gone
-Argyle
-Here We Go
-Lean On Sheena
-Midnight Mile
-Coin Toss Girl
-We Want Fun
-Few more new ones I don’t know the names of

MP3:
Bouncing Souls-Joe Lies (When He Cries)
Static Radio NJ- Marc

More:
Bouncing Souls “Worst” Album
Bouncing Souls – The Good The Bad And The Argyle
Bouncing Souls Split Series
Bouncing Souls – Ghosts On The Boardwalk
Static Radio NJ – One For The Good Guys
Static Radio NJ – An Evening of Bad Decisions

Buy:
Chunksaah

Category: live, music, punk, show / Tags: , , , , , , , ,

Dangers – Self Titled EP (For fans of Ceremony, Punch, Graf Orlock)

/ June 8, 2012 / No comments


California’s Dangers is easily one of the most pissed off, unapologetic hardcore bands around today.  Their 2005 Self Titled EP contains 9 minutes of 7 scathing songs, scorching everything in it’s path.

The music is aggressive and no bullshit, which is incredibly congruent with their lyrics.  From attacking the punk scene for stagnation and being too afraid to change anything in Our Whole Entire Unit, to criticizing the meat heads in hardcore in Neo Neo Nazis (Stop F.ucking S.hit U.p), Dangers bring a refreshing kick in the ass to hardcore.

If you like fast paced aggressive hardcore along the lines of Punch, Dangers is a must.

Fun fact: Dangers had to cancel a show due to threats from FSU regarding the song Neo Neo Nazis (Stop F.ucking S.hit U.p) who said there would be trouble if they played the song.  Thus proving Dangers point about everything that is wrong with hardcore.

MP3:
Dangers – Our Whole Entire Unit

We Just Sing The Same Old Shit:
Dangers – Anger
Dangers – Demo
Ceremony – Violence Violence
Dangers – Messy, Isn’t It?
Graf Orlock – Destination: Time Today
Graf Orlock – Destination Time Tomorrow

Free Download From Dangers:
Dangers

Category: hardcore, music, punk / Tags: , , , ,

Refused – Songs To Fan The Flames Of Discontent (For fans of Blacklisted, Minor Threat, At The Drive In)

/ June 5, 2012 / No comments

Sweden’s Refused have been blowing up all sorts of headlines this year with the announcement of a reunion and playing a few shows.  I never realized they had so many fans, and it seems like the majority of people I talked to dig their groundbreaking The Shape Of Punk To Come as their favorite album.  Confession time: I don’t really like The Shape Of Punk To Come.  Maybe I need to give it another chance, but I’ll take their 2nd album Songs To Fan The Flames Of Discontent over it any day.

SFFD was released back in 1996, and is much harder and heavier than Shape.  On SFFD Refused were just toying with the experimental song formations and patterns that eventually made them famous.  Even with this experimentation, SFFD is clearly a hardcore album, as proven with fast ripping songs such as “Life Support Addiction” or “The Slayer”.  Songs such as “Hook, Line, And Sinker” and “Crusader of Hopelessness” manage to stay heavy while slowing things down a bit, making for a much sludgier hardcore sound.

Whether you like their later work or not, Songs To Fan The Flames Of Discontent is a solid hardcore album that any punk fan should check out.

MP3:
Refused – The Slayer

More:
Scenester 101: How To Be Hardcore
Paint It Black – Amnesia
Black Flag – Damaged

Buy:
Amazon

Category: hardcore, music, punk / Tags: , , , ,