OFF is back, and they are as pissed off as ever.  With their latest Self Titled album, OFF rips through 16 punk rock tracks in 15 minutes, leaving behind a whirlwind of old school hardcore destruction.

For those who don’t know, OFF is a punk band fronted by Keith Morris (of Black Flag/Circle Jerks fame) and features members from Red Kross, Burning Bridges, and Hot Snakes.  Playing brash and unapologetic hardcore, OFF picks up where they left off on their First Four EPs.  Not that Keith Morris cares, as he stated in an interview “I really, really liked the record. I’m not one of the guys that sits around and says “We did this on this one and then on that one we did that.” I’ve never paid attention to anything like that. If the music is good, it transcends.”

The album starts off with the snarling “Wiped Out”, and continues an unrelenting assault all the way through closer “I Want One”.  On the way, guitarist Dimitri expands on the normal three chord approach by sprinkling in sporadic leads throughout the album and even slows things down a bit on “King Kong Brigade”.  Meanwhile, no one is safe from Keith’s biting lyrics.  Whether it be the criticizing old bands and future ones on “I Got News For You” (which with the lyrics “You bet I got something against you too” almost seems like a response to Black Flag’s “You Bet We’ve Got Something Personal Against You”) or “Feelings Were Meant To Be Hurt”, Keith unleashes a pissed off vocal fury with more angst and anger than people half his age.

OFF’s Self Titled is a must for anyone who likes no frills, no bullshit punk rock.  While the band may get a lot of publicity due to their members, the music definitely holds up and sounds like it came straight from the 80s.

MP3:
OFF – I Got News For You

More Punk Rock:
Black Flag – Damaged
Black Flag – The First Four Years
The Adolescents
Bad Religion – How Could Hell Be Any Worse?

Buy:
OFF! (CD or Vinyl)

MP3:
Youth Brigade – Punk Rock Mom
The Vapids – Make Mommy Proud
The Misfits – Mommy, Can I Go Out And Kill Tonight?
Bouncing Souls – I Like Your Mom
Dangers – Stay At Home Mom
Screeching Weasel – Mother
Ceremony – Mothers and Fathers

More Mixes:
Scenester 101: How To Be A Modern Day Street Punk
Scenester 101: How To Be A 3rd Wave Ska Dork
Scenester 101: How To Be A Skinhead
Scenester 101: How To Be Hardcore

Buy:
Interpunk

Photo Taken By: Kurt Christensen

I’m not the biggest fan of screamo (and I came a long way… I used to downright hate it), but I’ve always liked Thursday.  Maybe it’s the fact I’m originally from NJ and Bruce Springsteen himself will come around and uppercut you in the balls if you don’t like Thursday, or maybe it’s the fact that I’ve always respected the band for being the first to start the whole screamo thing without singing about broken hearts, hair dye, or whatever the fuck else most sing about.

That being said, I haven’t seen Thursday since 2003, and am pretty much unfamiliar with most of their catalog with the exception of Full Collapse, Waiting, and Jet Black New Year.  After Thursday broke up, I was bummed I wouldn’t get to see them again, but last night Geoff Rickly (singer) played a free show covering Thursday songs at Philly’s own Gunner’s Run (I guess it’s obvious who didn’t want the band to break up).

Unfortunately I was late due to being caught in traffic after a Philadelphia Union game (DOOP DOOP DOOP MOTHERFUCKERS), but I was able to catch most of his set.  Geoff looked nervous up on stage in front of everyone, and I remember reading in an interview that he always got nervous even when the full band did an acoustic version of a song, because if he fucks up, everyone will know.  Of course, everyone will be too busy singing along to care, but when you’re solo with an acoustic guitar, you leave yourself much more exposed.

Armed with his acoustic guitar, Geoff asked people to sing along to the overlapping vocal parts, but asking was unnecessary. The small bar was packed with fans, and people were shouting along to every word of every song.

Usually I’m not big on the whole acoustic performance, but I had a blast and Geoff killed it (and the fact that the show was free definitely helped matters).  Made me incredibly nostalgic for when I used to go see Thursday way back in the day.

Highlights:
Cross Out The Eyes (and I fucking just missed it)
Understanding In A Car Crash
How Long Is The Night
War All The Time

MP3:
Thursday – Jet Black New Year

More Shit You Love:
Saves The Day – Can’t Slow Down
La Dispute – Somewhere At The Bottom Of The River Between…
Lifetime Live In Philly

Buy:
Thursday’s Albums

While Propagandhi has evolved into a more thrash punk sound as of late (which I fucking love for the record…), the first full length by these snotty Canadian punks featured 12 songs of politically infused skate punk bliss.  Released 19 years ago back in 1993 (holy shit, feel old yet?) How To Clean Everything completely shreds from anthem Anti-Manifesto all the way to the Cheap Trick of I Want You To Want Me.

Lyrically, Propagandhi tackles political issues and feminism (and the fact ska sucks on one track), but they do incredibly bluntly.  Songs such as Stick The Fucking Flag Up Your Goddamn Ass You Son Of A Bitch aren’t exactly subtle, and neither is the outro to the reggae influenced Haillie Salasse, Up Your Ass which features a chorus simply chanting “fuck religion”.  Still, there is a certain charm to all this bluntness, and Chris’s lyrics are rounded out by John K (of The Weakerthans) who played bass and occasionally sang some more emotional lyrics, as heard on the song Showdown.

Definitely a must for any punk fan in general, Propagandhi is one of my favorite bands, and How To Clean Everything shows their old melodic skate punk roots.  Fuck, I noticed I didn’t post on Today’s Empire Tomorrow’s Ashes as well… guess that’ll go into the queue.

Mp3:
Propagandhi – Anti Manifesto

More Housewives Posts You’ll Dig (Or Else):
We Interviewed Todd The Rod of Propagandhi
Propagandhi – Where Quantity is Job #1
Propagandhi – Supporting Caste
Propagandhi – Less Talk More Rock

Buy:
Propagandhi – How to Clean Everything

RIP Adam.

Playing self-described “cinema-grind”, as we’ve posted before… these dudes take movie themes and just run wild with them.  Their 2007 EP Destination: Time Tomorrow takes movies featured in the future (Alien, Jurassic Park, etc) and creates some of fucking brutal songs around them.

Some may see this as gimmicky, but as someone who doesn’t watch many movies, I couldn’t give two shits and just love the tunes.  Something that separates Graf Orlock from many other grindcore bands is that they throw in enough melodic breakdowns to keep people not really into grindcore interested.

These guys have been been in my regular rotation for a while now, and I highly recommend any fan of brutal hardcore check them out, even if it’s for their crowning achievement of mixing the Jurassic Park theme into a heavy as fuck song.

MP3:
Graf Orlock – The Dream Left Behind

More:
Graf Orlock – Destination: Time Today
Dangers – Messy, Isn’t It?
Phobia – Cruel
Swallowing Shit

Buy:
Graf Orlock – Destination Time Tomorrow

I’m going to keep this one short, but I’ve been on a real Buzzcocks kick lately, and can’t stop listening to their compilation album Singles Going Steady.  Even though they never achieved the same amount of fame as other 70s contemporaries such as The Ramones or The Clash, The Buzzcocks were just as important in shaping punk rock.

Singles Going Steady captures these British dudes biggest songs that were recorded from 1977-1979, with a few B-sides thrown in for good measure.  Playing catchy punk rock anthems, Singles Going Steady features upbeat melodies with charming off-key vocals, the album still has plenty of punk rage.  From the desperate “What Do I Get?” to the driving “Oh Shit”, The Buzzcocks’ Singles Going Steady is a vital masterpiece necessary in any punk fan’s collection.

MP3:
The Buzzcocks – What Do I Get?

Housewives Going Steady:
Sham 69
Anti-Pasti

Buy:
Buzzcocks – Singles Going Steady

Bad Religion is one of those bands that even people who don’t listen to or know the slightest thing about punk rock knows about.  While these Los Angeles guys have exploded over the year, even going on to make some US charts for best selling albums, nothing compares with their first full length How Could Hell Be Any Worse.

Recorded and released back in 1982 on a budget of $1000 (which the band borrowed $1000 from the guitarist’s father) How Could Hell Be Any Worse was the first full length for both the band and their respective label Epitaph.  The music was fast, chaotic, and a staple in 1980s hardcore.

How Could Hell Be Any Worse features fan favorites “We’re Only Gonna Die” and “Fuck Armageddon This Is Hell”, but really, all of the songs on this album are essential.  A must have for any fans of 80s punk rock such as The Circle Jerks and Bad Brains.

MP3:
Bad Religion – Fuck Armageddon This Is Hell

How Could Housewives Be Any Worse:
Bad Religion – All Ages
Youth Brigade – Sink With Kalifonija
Black Flag – Damaged

Buy:
Epitaph

Last night I headed out to Philly’s Trocadero to catch punk turned progressive metal act Protest The Hero.  These guys always put on a good show, and I love watching how they’ve progressed from when I first heard their melodic punk sounds back when they released “A Calculated Use Of Sound” all the way to their face melting riffs of Scurrilous.  I walked in about halfway through Periphery’s set, and while I don’t really know too much about these Maryland dudes, they definitely had the crowd moving.

Protest The Hero:

I was feeling a bit down before the show for some reason, and almost didn’t even want to go (even with them being one of my favorite bands), but they played Propagandhi while they set up their equipment, and suddenly I was stoked.  These young bucks from Canada took the stage to the oh so beautiful sound of a 56k modem dialing up, to which some youngsters in the crowd yelled “This sounds like Skrillex!”.  Seriously, am I that old?

Breaking out into Scurrilous closer “Sex Tapes”, Protest The Hero had the crowd screaming along and opening into a rather sporadic pit.  The band played as tight as ever, and they blasted through songs on all of their releases (minus A Calculated Use Of Sound).  Rody took some time to congratulate Philly for their Flyers victory, make fun of the few who thought the 56k modem was Skrillex, and thank and take some friendly jabs at the bands they brought on tour with them.

One of the highlights of the show was when during their final songs, all of the openers came out on stage and did the conga stripped down in their boxers to the confusion and hilarity of Protest The Hero.  The band was able to keep a straight face and continue playing (except Rody, who started cracking up) but he recovered quickly and continued the song.

Definitely a solid show and always a fun time when they come around.

Setlist (Not in order, but pretty complete)
Sex Tapes
Goddess Bound
Goddess Gagged
Bloodmeat
Tongue Splitter
Moonlight
Sequoia Throne
Turn Soonest To The Sea
Hair Trigger
Limb From Limb
Blindfolds Aside
C’est La Vie

MP3:
Protest The Hero – Heretics And Killers

More:
Protest the Hero – Scurrilous
Protest the Hero – A Calculated Use Of Sound
Protest The Hero – Fortress
Protest The Hero – Kezia

Buy:
Protest Official

Dead People Screaming:

Singer Ryan came out wearing a drag dress and some Batman undies to the surprise of mostly everyone (possibly including his band) and within the first note jumped down off the stage and into the crowd.   I love this fucking guy.

They blasted through a few heavy hitting, fast paced punk jams that the majority of the crowd seemed to be digging (albeit shielding themselves from the singer who was flying through the crowd).  My favorite jam was a “pop punk” (I use that term loosely) song they did, which featured incredibly catchy melodies with some break-beat breakdowns thrown in.

Definitely need to catch Dead People Screaming play a house show, I’m sure they tear that shit up.

Ceremony:

I missed both Watery Love and Salvation (who I’ve seen before at the American Nightmare reunion up in Boston), but made it back to the venue in time for Cali’s Ceremony.  Known for their power-violence blast beat hardcore, they threw fans a curve ball with their latest release of Zoo.  Zoo has been both critically acclaimed and crucified by fans for a complete change in a direction, and abandoning all their hardcore influences for a more post-punk (think Pixies, Joy Division) sound.

I was cautiously excited for their set as I wasn’t the biggest fan of their latest, and was afraid that the majority of the set would be of the newer influence.  Unfortunately for me, my fears were true.  The band opened up immediately with Hysteria which sent the crowd into a stage diving, pile-on frenzy.

Ceremony followed it up with “The oldest song ever written”, Kersed which had all of us losing our shit.  The band played tight, and Ross’s usual one man ball of destruction/raving lunatic on stage was a little more subdued (but that could be because there were always a minimum of like 6 additional people up there with him just singing along).

Majority of the set was from Zoo and Rohnert Park, with a few songs sprinkled in from Violence Violence and Still Nothing Moves You.  I love Ceremony, and they are still one of my favorite hardcore bands ever, but I personally felt a little underwhelmed by their set (not their actual performance, they killed it with all of their songs, I’m just picky and want more old stuff… but they DID just come out with their new album).

Still, even if I don’t like it, I give the band credit for going out there and trying something different… as in true Ceremony style, I know they’re doing it for themselves and couldn’t give two fucks what anyone thinks.  I just hope they incorporate more of the brutal passionate rage that made me love Ceremony in the first place.    They DID close with Throwing Bricks and I Want to Bring This To An End so i can’t complain too much.

Setlist:
Hysteria
Kersed
Open Head
The Difference Between Looking And Seeing
Citizen
Sick
MCDF
World Blue
The Doldrums
Nosebleed
He-god-has Favored Our Undertakings
Terminal Addiction
Adult
Pressure’s On (Red-C Cover)
5 to 10 (Vile Cover)
Throwing Bricks
I Want To Bring This To An End
Violence Violence

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:
Ceremony
Dead People Screaming