Archive for August 29, 2012

Morning Glory – Poets Were My Heroes (For fans of Leftover Crack, Choking Victim, INDK)

/ August 29, 2012 / No comments

It’s been over a decade since New York’s Morning Glory released their debut This Is No Time To Sleep and they have remained pretty quiet as far as new music goes, having only two other releases.  Now Morning Glory returns with the August 28th, 2012 release of their full length Poets Were My Heroes and there are definitely some solid songs on here.

Formed from the ashes of Choking Victim, there have always been traces of the crack rock steady sound that associated acts such as Leftover Crack and INDK have made popular in Morning Glory’s music.  However, on Poets Were My Heroes, the traces are incredibly thin, and the band explores a new, cleaner sound.  One of the most noticeable differences is the slick production giving them a poppier sound more comparable to bandmate’s Star Fucking Hipsters.

Poets also includes a span of new instrumentation including a piano and strings, expanding the gritty straight forward punk tunes we’re used to from Morning Glory.  Sometimes it comes off more as a ballad, such as on Touch or Born to December.  It’s not all slower ballads and experimentation though, with tracks like Divide By and Everything’s A Song (To Me) taking a page out of old style Morning Glory.  Shit, even with the piano on Shelter From The Spoon, I’m willing to say with it’s uplifting melody and it’s shout-along chorus it’s easily one of the most infectious songs on the album.

I have a feeling that Poets Were My Heroes is going to be a bit of a grower for many, and a lot of older fans may feel alienated with the cleaner sound.  However, if you can get past that, you’ll find a decent album with some damn fucking good songs on it.

MP3:
Morning Glory – Shelter From The Spoon

That Crack Rock Steady Beat Goes On:
Morning Glory
Leftover Crack – Rock The 40 Oz
INDK – Kill Whitey
Star Fucking Hipsters – Never Rest In Peace

Buy:
Fat Wreck

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

Teenage Bottlerocket Live In Philly (8/24/12)

/ August 26, 2012 / 2 comments


This past Friday, I headed out to see one of my all time favorite pop-punk bands around, Teenage Bottlerocket.  It’s a rare occasion for me to be able to see them (in the years I’ve been listening to them this was only going to be my 4th time… due to the fact they are from Wyoming and rarely make it out to the east coast), and I’ve been stoked for months about this Barbary show.

Add the fact that I love their latest release Freak Out, and you’ve got one fucking winning combination.  Unfortunately, I got there really late and was not able to catch any of the openers due to the fact that I get easily distracted by Philly’s soccer team Philadelphia Union.

Regardless, the place had a decent amount of people packed in, and the band finally took the stage with a skull masked man flashing a neon sign reading “Freak Out” and had the TBR logo.  The band blasted straight into Freak Out (which sounds a lot like their song Teen Wolf I just realized), and in a Ramones-like fashion, the band kept the banter to a minimum and blasted through their hour long set as the crowd shouted every word back to them.

Seriously, Teenage Bottlerocket are simply one of the most fun bands to see live and in general.  They played songs off of most of their releases, even including the song “Rebound” which when I requested the past few shows, they told me they hate playing that one.  So fuck yeah.  We were even treated to a little bit of the Lillingtons with the song “Lillington High”, and were instructed to pogo throughout “Bottlerocket” to which we happily obliged.

One of the more hilarious moments of the show is when they were about to close with So Cool but fucked up the intro 3 times and were cracking up about it, so instead just closed with Repeat Offender (another excellent choice).

Seriously, go see them if Teenage Bottlerocket comes around your parts… and fucking travel to see them if they don’t.

Setlist: (some might not be in order, but pretty accurate)
Freak Out
Bigger Than Kiss
Don’t Want To Go
Stupid Games
Fatso Goes Nutzoid
Welcome To The Nuthouse
——————————–
Rebound
In The Pit
Cruisin For Chicks
Skate Or Die
On My Own
——————————-
Bottlerocket
In The Basement
HeadBanger
Lillington High
——————————
Bloodbath At Burger King
Crashing
Radio
Go Away
—————————–
Necrocomicon
Go Away
Senior Prom?  (I honestly can’t remember if this was played)
Repeat Offender

MP3:
Teenage Bottlerocket – Be Stag

More:
Teenage Bottlerocket – Freak Out!
Teenage Bottletrocket – They Came From The Shadows
Teenage Bottlerocket – Another Way

Buy:
Fat Wreck

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

Cock Sparrer – Shock Troops (For fans of The Clash, Buzzcocks, Sex Pistols)

/ August 22, 2012 / No comments


Quick, when you think of early punk rock, what are the first 3 bands that come to your mind?  If you’re like most people, The Ramones, The Clash, and The Sex Pistols all came to mind immediately… and rightfully so as they all are great fucking bands.  Unfortunately, sort of like the Buzzcocks, one of the greatest punk bands often gets left out.  England’s Cock Sparrer is easily one of the most influential and underrated bands of their time, and I have been listening to Shock Troops non-stop ever since I saw them a few months back.

While probably most famous for their song “We’re Coming Back”, which have been covered by The Bouncing Souls on their split with Anti-Flag, there are so many good hits on Shock Troops.  From the infectious hooks of “Riot Squad to the anthematic shot at the music industry “Take Em All”, Cock Sparrer knew how to right a damn catchy punk tune.

Shock Troops is the perfect blend of old school punk and good ole fashioned Oi, and is an essential if you’re a punk fan at all.

MP3:
Cock Sparrer – Take Em All

More:
Cock Sparrer Live In Philly
The Buzzcocks – Singles Go Steady
The Clash – London Calling
Anti-Pasti

Buy:
Cock Sparrer

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

Coke Bust – Fuck Bar Culture (For fans of Punch, Ceremony, DANGERS)

/ August 21, 2012 / No comments


In the spirit of the EP itself, I’m going to make this quick and to the point.  How do you feel about blast beat hardcore such as early Ceremony or Punch (who’s latest EP I’ve been spinning non-stop by the way… so fucking good).   If you dig it, you’ll fucking love DC Coke Bust’s 6 song Fuck Bar Culture.

Released in 2007 and clocking in around 4 minutes, the longest song on here is a quick 1 minute kick to the face just to give you an idea of what to expect.  Straight edge hardcore played fucking right: fast, brutal, and leaving you asking “what the fuck just happened?”

While I don’t agree with everything they say (personally, while I don’t really drink, I enjoy going to bars with friends and I’m not going to  think everyone who does drink is a depressed alcoholic), Coke Bust are the type of band where it doesn’t matter… proof?  Let’s just say I saw them in a basement sharing the microphone with kids who were rocking out and singing along with 40s in their hand.  And that’s what hardcore should be all about: saying your views, but not hating others who think differently than you.  As stated in an interview with one of the members of the band: ” I couldn’t really care less about the dominant straight edge scene today. I don’t think straight edge is anything to care too much about or to be militant about. Do what you want. I don’t give a fuck.”

MP3:
Coke Bust – Fumigation

More:
Cokebust – Lines In The Sand
Ceremony – Violence Violence
Punch – Nothing Lasts

Buy:
Coke Bust

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

Aloha Motherfuckers. (A Back From Hawaii Mix)

/ August 16, 2012 / No comments


It’s been a little while since my last post here, and that is because I was escaping the east coast for a bit and checking out that lovely little chain of islands known as Hawaii.  Beautiful place, I tried scuba diving for the first time… aaaand got kicked out of class.  Surfing was also a bit of a bust (I was fine at it, I just found it kind of boring…  Think I’m just beach bum, I’ll stick with skating and snowboarding and my other land sports).

Not much of a punk scene down there from what I can tell, to which my friend reminded me, punk often thrives in shitty places…which needless to say, Hawaii is not. The closest thing I got to any conversation regarding punk music was this:

Random Bro: “What’s Bad Brains?” (regarding my shirt)

Me: “Oh they’re an old hardcore band”.

Random Bro: “Never heard of them.  Hardcore? Dude I bet my music is so much more hardcore than yours” (yes, he actually said this.  Bro hipster?  I smirked and said I bet it is, what do you listen to?)

Random Bro: “You know man, the heavy shit.  Six Feet Under, Atreyu.. the heavy shit.”

Yes. That actually happened.

MP3:
Aneurysm Rats – Aloha
Screeching Weasel – This Ain’t Hawaii
Fenix TX – Surf Song
Guttermouth – Surf’s Up Asshole

Surf Punk Baby:
Guantanamo Baywatch – Chest Crawl
Dry Feet – Philadelphia Beach

Buy:
Interpunk

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

Punch Live in Philly (8/3/12)

/ August 6, 2012 / No comments

Friday after a day at the pool with some friends and celebrating the opening of new ice cream places (what’s up Little Baby Ice cream) I rushed over to the Barbary to catch brutal as fuck San Francisco hardcore act Punch.  I didn’t think I was going to make it, but when I asked the doorman (Andy from PIB) he said “they literally just went on 5 minutes ago… so probably 3 songs in” perfect.

The last time I saw these guys (and gal), my arm was shattered and in a sling, so I had to opt to stand in the back and two step by myself to the strange looks of others.  This time, I made a beeline up front, and there was a sizable pit right in front of the stage.  While I and one other seemed to be the only one two stepping… the rest opting for a push pit?  Whatever.  They blasted through much of the new EP, a few off Eyeless, and a bunch off their Self Titled.

The front woman kept the energy high and was all over the place, and jumped into the crowd on a few occasions.  They played a tight, short set that was almost marred by the one of the stupidest fights I’ve ever seen at a hardcore show (drunk metalhead being completely obliterated and obnoxious…) but the crowd quickly through him out and they picked up right where they left off.  t
Wish they played these parts more often, but I’ll take what I can get with Punch.  Maybe get an east coast DANGERS, Ceremony, Cokebust, Punch tour going?

Setlist:
How Nothing Lasts
Don’t Start
Ol Factory
DIY
Stay Afloat
No Such Thing As A Stupid Question
Time Apart
Get Back
Positively God Free
Fuming
Nothing Left
Let Me
Fixation
If Not Me
Words

Mp3:
Punch – The Chase

More:
Punch – Nothing Lasts
Punch – Self Titled
Cokebust – Lines In The Sand
Ceremony – Violence Violence

Buy:
Punch

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

Tony Sly (No Use For A Name)

/ August 1, 2012 / No comments

As many of you may have heard, frontman Tony Sly from the influential skate punk band passed away today at the young age of 42.  Rest in peace Tony, and our condolences to his friends and family.

Category: music, punk / Tags: , , ,