The band EVA has posted their music video for their song “Pro-Wrestling is Real; People Are Fake.” Rick Jimenez of This Is Hell makes a cameo both on the song and in the video and it’s…interesting to say the least.
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Month: June 2012
Harrington Saints – Pride & Tradition
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© 2012 Pirates Press Records / Contra Records
[rating:8/10]
With a name like “Harrington Saints”, I’m immediately struck with the idea that this is a serious business, no holds barred, blue collar, in your face, working man’s street punk band. Maybe it’s familiarity with the genre, but there was no mistake in my assumption. These particular saints hail out of a little east bay town know as Oakland. You may have heard of it.
The band has been around since 2005 and Pride and Tradition is their second full-length. This one is produced by Lars Frederiksen. You may have heard of him. With it you get 11 tracks planted firmly in the vein of Oi and Street Punk; Blue collar rock and roll for the poor souls that have had their back broken by the man and get nothing in return.
The music is short, crisp, poignant, and timely yet timeless. (until such a time as people aren’t getting the short end of the stick I guess … so yeah, timeless.) That said, Street Punk isn’t the be all, end all for me. There is a strong tendency to get a bit repetitive. The Harrington Saints work to remedy this by not sticking strictly by the books. Tempos shift and not every track is a full on shout along. The themes run constant though; A desire for more, the tenuous grasp on the American Dream, white collar bandits, the ones who don’t put the effort in for their fair share.
Bottom line: If you like punk rock and you feel like you’ve constantly got the boot against your neck, rock the hell out and shout along with the Harrington Saints when they come crushing through your town.
–Jerry Actually
The Wonder Years – A Year As A Ghost
THE WONDER YEARS
ANNOUNCE
A YEAR AS A GHOST: ON TOUR WITH
THE WONDER YEARS
PRE ORDER BEGINS TODAY
June 14- Hopeless Records and The Wonder Years are excited to announce the upcoming release of A Year As a Ghost, a 200-page, soft-cover, full-color, matte-finished intimate look at life on the road and at home with The Wonder Years that includes a download card for the bands successful 2011 release “Suburbia I’ve Given You All And Now I’m Nothing” plus 11 rare recordings including basement demos and B-sides. The year or so during which The Wonder Years created and toured in support of “Suburbia I’ve Given You All and Now I’m Nothing” was the most eventful of the band’s career thus far and photographer Mitchell Wojcik was there, camera in hand, every step of the way. Mitchell moved to The Wonder Years hometown and sat alongside them in the van during every tour in order to capture the moments previously only experienced by members of the band. Inside the book you’ll find original lyric book scans, hand-written tour stories, scans of artifacts and upwards of 500 photos taken on formats ranging from 35 mm film to cell phone camera pictures. An immense amount of time, energy and love was spent making this book more than just photos thrown onto pages; this is a story told through mixed mediums of a band putting their whole hearts into playing the music they believe in all over the world.
The audio portion of the collection includes the 13 tracks originally released on Suburbia plus three B-sides, two studio acoustic versions, one nervous energies session version, four basement demos and a joke nu-metal song the band wrote to break writer’s block.
Mitchell took over 100,000 photos during his time with the band. Orders placed before June 30th will receive an original print, unique to them, signed by everyone in the band.
Pre order A Year As A Ghost: On Tour with The Wonder Years here!
www.hopelessrecords.com/thewonderyears
Pre order bundles include the book or book + A Year As A Ghost T-shirt.
An official street date is yet to be set due to production times, but expect it to ship to you as soon as it arrives to us in the early fall. Information on exact ship dates will be sent out as soon as they are available.
Track listing:
1. Came Out Swinging
2. Woke Up Older
3. Local Man Ruins Everything
4. Suburbia
5. My Life as a Pigeon
6. Summers in PA
7. I Won’t Say the Lord’s Prayer
8. Coffee Eyes
9. I’ve Given You All
10. Don’t Let Me Cave In
11. You Made Me Want to be a Saint
12. Hoodie Weather
13. And Now I’m Nothing
14. My Life as Rob Gordon
15. Me vs the Highway
16. Living Room Song*
17. Don’t Let Me Cave In (Nervous Energies)*
18. Woke Up Older (Acoustic)*
19. Local Man Ruins Everything (Acoustic)*
20. Came Out Swinging (Demo)*
21. Don’t Let Me Cave In (Demo)*
22. Coffee Eyes (Live Demo)*
23. Woke Up Older (Live Demo)*
24. It’s Murder-Suicide (Nu-Metal Jam)*
* Previously Unreleased
FOR MORE INFO:
Dead Ellington – Refuse
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© 2012 Dead Ellington
[rating:8/10]
Refuse is the 3rd release from Boston’s Dead Ellington and the first EP in a three part series. Recorded at Little Eden Studios, Asbury Park, NJ with Pete Steinkopf (of Bouncing Souls), the EP delivers 5 solid punk rock tracks.
The recording, upon listening, is obviously punk rock, but there is definitely an emo-ish feel to it in both the vocals and the tempo downturns on the majority of the tracks. As well, there is a very 80’s poppy feel on the closer, “Miracle”. I’m thinking Plimsouls maybe, but what do I know? I’m not familiar with previous material from the band, so I can’t suggest that this is normal for them or otherwise. Either way, it isn’t my cup of tea, but not an unpleasant experience either.
Lyrically, the band brings a very positive message. To wit, from track three, “Network”, “There ain’t no power like the power of people, ‘cause the power of people don’t stop.” I think the band sums up their message well from their website with these words: ‘Refuse, Rethink, Rebuild is a new way of thinking. It is about looking at the reality of ones surroundings and creating something new. It’s all about refusing the present, rethinking the future, and rebuilding the past. “It’s a way of life not just music, it’s our manifesto, embracing the D.I.Y scene from street art to punk rock.”’
So, in the end, heartfelt punk rock, coming at ya straight outta Boston; Support your local scene and pick up a copy for yourself and/or your mother. You can find out more here: http://www.deadellington.com
–Jerry Actually
The Atom Age – The Hottest Thing That’s Cool
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© 2012 Asian Man Records
[rating:9/10]
It is a rather rare occurrence when an AMR release doesn’t just thrill the hell out of me when I listen to it. The Hottest Thing That’s Cool, the new release by Oakland’s The Atom Age is no exception. To that I say, “Hooray for rock and roll!”
The Atom Age is a 5-piece punk/rock band with a lot of horn laced garage punk cache. Don’t let the garage moniker throw you though; the tracks are by no means lo-fi. It is merely a designation, like a map marker to help you locate things that have some Hammond B3 in there somewhere 😉 If it’ll help you get a better idea of the sound, I’m thinking immediately of Rocket From The Crypt. That influence is inescapable, however the overall vibe is decidedly more aggressive. The additional punk-rockery (when combined with the horns) makes me think more along the lines of King’s of Nuthin’. I also guess that on a purely on a rock plus horns level, they also make me fondly remember a late 90s Portland band. So a nod to The Sauce, for all who remember.
The tracks run around the three minute mark, on average, with the occasional number clocking in at the three and half mark. This works out well with my appreciation of compact tracks. In conjunction with shortish track length, most of the songs are up tempo, with exception of track five, “I’ve Been Thinking.” For this release, I’m a fan of the faster pace as well. The structure of the music isn’t overly complex, but the addition of horns, effects, and strong arrangements make for a larger soundscape than might otherwise be imagined.
So, in a nutshell, five piece horn-laced punk rock with an intriguing and solid sound. The Hottest Thing That’s Cool is out now on Asian Man Records. The band is on tour in June, so check them out if you can. You can get more tour dates on the webs: http://theatomage.com/
–Jerry Actually
STREET DOGS FRONTMAN MIKE MCCOLGAN TO PLAY “GET OUT THE VOTE RALLY”
STREET DOGS FRONTMAN MIKE MCCOLGAN TO PLAY “GET OUT THE VOTE RALLY”
Multi-Platinum Recording Artists Headline Rally June 1st
Mike McColgan, the lead singer of the Boston Punk band Street Dogs, and the original lead singer of the Dropkick Murphys will play alongside Grammy Award-winning guitarist Tom Morello of Rage Against The Machine, singer-songwriter Jackson Browne, Tim McIlrath of the punk rock band Rise Against, and many others in Madison, Wisconsin this Friday, June 1st .
The artists are all hitting the stage in Madison in support of bringing out voters to the Wisconsin recall election with current Wisconsin governor, Gov. Scott Walker and challenger, Milwaukee Mayor, Tom Barrett.
About Get Out The Vote Rally:
The “Get Out The Vote’ Rally” is sponsored by We Are Wisconsin and will help to provide a massive boost to canvassing efforts days before the recall election on June 5. The event, which will be held at the Madison Labor Temple at 1602 S. Park St., is free to the public with a sign up to volunteer to help get out the vote. Doors open at 5:30 p.m.
For more information:
www.street-dogs.com
www.epitaph.com
www.hell-cat.com