June 2017 – Upstarter

Senior Discount – And That’s Goodbye (Deluxe)

I’m rocking out to the brand new deluxe edition of the previously released, plain and boring old edition, of an EP from Providence-based punk band Senior Discount entitled, And That’s Goodbye. Did you hear me? I SAID DELUXE! It’s got guts, it’s got cuts. It’s got some sonofbitchin comedy, in the form of hillbilly renditions of some of the band’s previous material.

Well it’s been a year or two since I’ve heard from these Providence punkers, but they are back with some fine new block rockin’ beats. In addition to the aforementioned beats, there are a lot of covers, performed in a manner in which can only be described as cover tunes of Senior Discount songs, as performed by Senior Discount.

I know that maybe sounds kind of weird, but there is also a cover of Girls Just Wanna Have Fun, which can best be described as a cover of a Cyndi Lauper song as performed by Senior Discount. So, ya know, take it for what it’s worth.

Seriously though, the band puts in the effort. The tracks are punchy and punky, but with a depth and sincerity that is often lacking in a lot of crap you are gonna hear on shitrock radio. There are also a lot of acoustic tracks and instrumental breaks, pointing to the fact that these folks really can play. That isn’t to say that the band takes themselves too seriously. They just sometimes sound serious.

Personal favorites: Ben Broke Edge, a simple solo acoustic ditty, and Don’t Hate Me (TBNSB), a melodic punk rock track reminding me a bit of LTJ and/or NOFX.

At any rate, there’s a DELUXE version of “And That’s Goodbye” available, and that’s as DELUXE is the whole goddamn world gets! Go find a copy, ideally at a live show in your neck of the woods. … if that doesn’t work for ya, check ‘em out here: www.seniordiscountmusic.com

Cheers!
Jerry Actually

Tracks: (Just to prove how fucking deluxe it really is)

01 And That’s Goodbye
02 Ataxia (Bluegrass)
03 Caley’s Song (Acoustic)
04 Don’t Hate Me (TBNSB)
05 Girls Just Wanna Have Fun
06 Ben Broke Edge
07 I’m Crazy (Live and Revived)
08 A Death Threat to the World at Large (VBW Song Part 2)
09 Explode RI (Re-Ignited)
10 Explode RI (Big Mac Version)

Band Bio: (which includes things that I wrote)

Senior Discount has played over 200 shows in RI, MA, CT, NH, NJ, NY, PA, and VT, and won the Providence Phoenix Best Music Poll for Best Punk Band two years in a row.

We’ve shared the stage with such acts as Anti-Flag, Gym Class Heroes, Girl Talk, Boys Like Girls, The Bravery, Guttermouth, Less Than Jake, The Ataris, Leftover Crack, A Wilhelm Scream, the Street Dogs, Zox, Big D and the Kids Table, Darkbuster, The Swingin Utters, Rehab, Mickey Avalon, Streetlight Manifesto, the Bloodshot Hooligans,The Loved Ones, MC Lars, Suburban Legends, Patent Pending, The Toasters, The Pilfers, and many many more.

Our first album “There Were Four Who Tried…“, has gotten positive reviews from all over the US (and internationally), including very positive reviews from Maximum Rock N Roll(CA), which boasted, “These guys can rock and scream….a strong full-length,” and the revered AbsolutePunk.net, which stated “The band really acts out their emotions….Every track from the album is an anthem to punk rock’s principles.” Our second release received the comment “These guys slay on record and live!” from mash-up DJ sensation Girl Talk.

We also focus heavily on film production, as we’ve used short films to promote for our shows and releases. Our one full-length film (“VBW Attack: The Senior Discount Movie“) was reviewed by The Noise (Boston) which reported “…let’s just say that this DVD is gold and that the band, and those with them, have some mighty winds at their sails.” The national television network G4 has bought and aired footage from the film. The band has totalled around 40,000 views on their streaming video sites.

Upon the release of our newest package, the CD/DVD “This is Not the End,” Upstarter (CA) said “The band has developed an obvious maturity….serious and sincere” while The Noise (Boston) called the album “smart, loco, epic punk…a pleasant assemblage of earnest songrcraft.” In the past year, the band played some dates of theSka Goes Solo tour with the singers of Less Than Jake and Catch 22, while Senior Discount lead singer Chuck Staton played solo shows with Chuck Ragan (The Revival Tour/Hot Water Music), Dave Hause (The Loved Ones), and Kris Roe (The Ataris). We were recently nominated for Best Pop Punk Band in Motif Magazine.

Pink Muscles – The Signal

Angular is the new curve, at least a curve on the regular old garage punk you’ve been jamming up your ear-orifices lately. To alter that in a direction that maybe you’ll enjoy, I offer, Pink Muscles new LP “The Signal.” 14 tracks of absolutely mental psych-garage-punk-noise. It is angular as fuck!

The band hails from Seattle, and that is about all I know of them, aside from the album that I’m listening to right now. Best I can tell you is that I’m getting a vibe. I don’t know what the vibe means or represents. I mean it might be a drug flashback, or maybe it’s a flash forward to drugs I may be required to do in the future. It really is hard to tell.

The music is swirling and shouty, punctuated with computer-like, precision supersonics. It’s as though a less distorted, or perhaps differently distorted Al Jourgensen was fronting for an alternate history of Voivoid ala Dimension Hatröss, throw in some Prong outtakes of Steady Decline for good measure. Does that give you a feel for what’s going on here? Yeah, probably not. I think you’re just gonna have to give ‘em a listen.

The tunes are brief, but in the time allotted, they go in a myriad of directions, sometimes simultaneously. Frenetic like Mr. Bungle, but not so circusy, more robotic. However, the scattered, yet robotic nature of the music belies its underlying humanity, humanity that is in end stage. It feels like a world in breakdown mode and from these crumbling ruins a new world will rise, Phoenix-like, with more printed circuits and transistors the next time around.

At the end of the day, if you like your music odd, and noisy, and something that will still probably scare the crap out of your parents, teachers, friends, and neighbors, then by all means, give The Signal, by Pink Muscles a whirl.

-Jerry Actually

Find out more about the band:
https://pinkmuscles.bandcamp.com/releases

https://www.facebook.com/pinkmuscles/

Tracks:
1 Resumption
2 Teenage Rainbows
3 Infestopus
4 Star Grove
5 The Man at the End of My Street
6 Black Market Tampons
7 Battery Acid
8 Party at Murder Beach
9 The Egg Lady
10 I Wrote This Song With My Father’s Guitar
11 The Master
12 Officers of the Universe
13 Heaven is for Real
14 Mouth House

Getting To Know Spylights

Where are you from and when did you get started?

I am from a city called Metairie, Louisiana. It’s a small city outside of New Orleans. The idea of doing a solo project really came to fruition when my full time touring band parted ways back in late 2014. I started writing and recording music full time in 2015 and haven’t looked back since.

Who are you and who does what in the band?

I am the songwriter and vocalist for Spylights, and I performed and recorded all the instruments for the record. As of now I have a few talented players on board for live shows. One of them is actually the bass player in my other band called Like Water.

How would you best describe the sound?

I would say there are plenty of different feels involved in the sound,and plenty that have not even surfaced yet. Since 2015, I have written and recorded over 30 songs with many different kinds of feels and mixtures of genres within them. I try to touch on different styles cohesively of singer songwriter, jazz, alternative rock, prog, metal, electronica, and some fusion. I guess it’s mainly going to be considered a rock band when it all boils down.

Dream rock moment (real or not)?

I feel like I have been lucky enough to have some real dream rock moments in my career asa musician so far. Through the bands I have been a part of I’ve toured with Fishbone, shared stages with Haken, Thank You Scientist, The Expendables, Slightly Stoopid, The Damned Things, Dick Dale, H.R. Of Bad Brains, Alkaline Trio, and many more. I am just mega grateful that I had the opportunity to meet, get to know, and become friends with some of those guys through my craft!

Still got day jobs?

Of course that’s pretty much a given nowadays unless you are a massive entity of a band or somehow you don’t have rent or bills to pay. I am a producer, studio engineer, and from time to time I work as an audio video technician for extra money!

Any regrets?

No major regrets really, we all just play the hand we are dealt in life and learn from those mistakes we make along the way. The only regret I may have at all as a musician is wasting too much time on different bands over the years that only had a small percentage of dedicated passionate members in it for the long haul. Everybody wants to be in a band, brag about it to girls or their friends, until they learn what they truly signed up for and the sacrifice it entails. It is a long hard road that many aren’t either cut out for or willing to put the work into to get down.

Verthebral – Regeneration

When I think of blistering Death Metal, naturally my thoughts turn, geographically, to the sleepy plains of South America. Of course I’m talking about Paraguay. It’s what is basically the Kansas of South America. Were else do you expect to find brutal, crushing, tormenting metal? As I’m sure you already know, I’m referring to Verthebral and their forthcoming release “Regeneration” on Satananth Records. 10 tracks of musical onslaught so intense that it’ll make your forgot about every other death metal band from Paraguay you’ve ever heard.

I’ve mentioned it in the past, but I think it bears repeating. Modern technology and the rapid sharing of information, when put to good use can be a powerful force for change. It can bring the underground to the surface and bring an audience to artists that may have previously gone unheard. Twenty years ago, I can nearly guarantee I never would have heard of music coming out of Paraguay. I’m very thankful that I have.

Seriously though, Regeneration is a powerful, driving album with all the metal bits in all the right places. It soars, it seethes, it chugs, and it growls just when you need it too. The riffs are breakneck, and the solos cut through your bones with the metal sound of the late 80s.

This is where the death/doom/dark metal world needs to be. Modern tunes that pay respect to the roots.

Fantastic stuff. Check it out.

Here’s a video to get you going:

Line up:
Cristhian Rojas – Bass, Vocals
Gabriel Galeano – Drums
Daniel Larroza – Guitars
Alberto Flores – Guitars

Track list:
1. Apocalyptic Seasons (Intro)
2. Place Of Death
3. Spirit In Solitude
4. Regeneration
5. Beyond The Garden Of Creation
6. Without Any God
7. Old Man’s Memories
8. The Plague Of Insomnia
9. Immaterial Essence Of Things
10. Inside Of Me

RANCID’S NEW ALBUM ‘TROUBLE MAKER’ OUT NOW

Rancid’s ninth studio album Trouble Maker is now in stores. Trouble Maker was produced by Rancid’s longtime producer and founder of Epitaph Records, Brett Gurewitz. Watch previously released videos of the band performing singles “Telegraph Avenue” and “Ghost of a Chance” or head over to Rancid’s YouTube channel for more performance videos from every song on the album!

Listen to Trouble Maker now:

http://open.spotify.com/album/0IJ8KmhJausnsCjUvgM5vY

Emerging from the blue-collar swamps of Berkeley, California, Rancid has now been a living, breathing punk rock band for over a quarter century. Back in 1991, after the demise of their much beloved first band, Operation Ivy, founding members Tim Armstrong (vocals, guitar) and Matt Freeman (bass, vocals) decided to do the impossible — start an even better band. Thus, Rancid. Signing with Epitaph Records, the band released their first album Rancid in 1993. Shortly thereafter, Lars Frederiksen (vocals, guitar) joined the band, because… well, are you going to tell him he can’t? The result, in 1994, was Let’s Go.

In 1995, Rancid released the classic platinum selling …And Out Come The Wolves. You still remember when you first heard it. They followed with the even more ambitious Life Won’t Wait in 1998, and in 2000, Rancid released another album entitled Rancid, just to see if anyone was paying attention. After Indestructible in 2003, Branden Steineckert (drums) joined to solidify Rancid’s current line-up. They subsequently released the albums Let The Dominos Fall (2009) and Honor Is All We Know (2014).

Through it all, Rancid has remained fiercely independent, never losing their loyalty to community or each other. Their music confronts political and social issues, while balancing personal tales of love, loss, and heartbreak with attitude. Rancid gives their listeners a community where everyone can belong. By carrying on the traditions and spirit of the original punk rock bands that came before, Rancid has become a legend an inspiration to punk bands that have come after.

Rancid and Dropkick Murphys will be co-headlining From Boston To Berkeley Tour, kicking off July 27 in Bangor, ME and wrapping August 26 in Southern California. Each night will culminate with Rancid and Dropkick Murphys on stage together for a joint encore. Additionally, Rancid will tour this summer with Green Day in the UK and perform at select European summer festivals. Worldwide tour dates listed below.

Rancid Trouble Maker Track List:

1. Track Fast

2. Ghost of a Chance

3. Telegraph Avenue

4. An Intimate Close Up Of A Street Punk Trouble Maker

5. Where I’m Going

6. Buddy

7. Farewell Lola Blue

8. All American Neighborhood

9. Bovver Rock and Roll

10. Make it Out Alive

11. Molly Make Up Your Mind

12. I Got Them Blues Again

13. Beauty of the Pool Hall

14. Say Goodbye to Our Heroes

15. I Kept a Promise

16. Cold Cold Blood

17. This is Not the End

18. We Arrived On Time (bonus)

19. Go On Rise Up (bonus)

Tour Dates with Green Day and European Summer Festivals:

6/9/17 Switzerland, Greenfield Festival

6/11/17 France, Paris, Download Festival

6/12/17 Luxembourg, Rockhal

6/14/17 Italy, Lucca, Piazza Napoleone

6/15/17 Italy, I Days, Monza Park

6/16/17 France, Clisson, Hellfest

6/17/17 Austria, Novarock Festival

6/18/17 Hungary, Budapest, Sportarena

6/21/17 Sweden, Gothenburg, Scandinavium

6/23/17 Germany, Hurricane Festival

6/24/17 Germany, Southside Festival

6/28/17 UK, Belfast, Ormeau Park

6/29/17 Ireland, Dublin, Royal Hospital Kilmainham

7/1/17 UK, London, Hyde Park

7/3/17 UK, Sheffield Arena

7/4/17 UK, Glasgow, Bellahouston Park

7/7/17 Spain, Madrid, Mad Cool Festival

7/8/17 Spain, Resurrection Festival

From Boston To Berkeley North American Tour Dates with Dropkick Murphys:

7/27/17 – Bangor, ME – Darling’s Waterfront Pavilion

7/28/17 – Montreal, QC – ’77

7/29/17 – Toronto, ON – Echo Beach

7/30/17 – Cleveland, OH – Jacobs Pavilion at Nautica

7/31/17 – Sterling Heights, MI – Michigan Lottery Amphitheatre at Freedom Hill

8/2/17 – Pittsburgh, PA – Stage AE

8/3/17 – Philadelphia, PA – Festival Pier

8/4/17 – Asbury Park, NJ – Stone Pony Summer Stage

8/5/17 – Boston / Brockton, MA – Brockton Fairgrounds

8/6/17 – Brooklyn, NY – Ford Amphitheatre at Coney Island Boardwalk

8/8/17 – Chicago, IL – Huntington Bank Pavilion at Northerly Island

8/9/17 – Milwaukee, WI – BMO Harris Pavilion

8/11/17 – Denver, CO – Sculpture Park

8/12/17 – Salt Lake City, UT – Saltair

8/13/17 – Nampa, ID – Idaho Center Amphitheatre

8/15/17 – Vancouver, BC – UBC Thunderbird Arena

8/16/17 – Seattle, WA – WaMu Theater at Century Link Field Events Center

8/18/17 – San Luis Obispo, CA – Avila Beach

8/19/17 – Sacramento, CA – Memorial Auditorium

8/20/17 – Berkeley, CA – The Greek

8/22/17 – Chandler, AZ – Rawhide Event Center

8/24/17 – San Diego, CA – Petco Park In The Park

8/25/17 – Las Vegas, NV – Downtown Las Vegas Events Center

8/26/17 – San Bernardino, CA – Glen Helen Amphitheater

Rancid – Promo Photo – Credit Anthony Marchitiello

For more information on Rancid, visit:

Website: www.rancidrancid.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/rancid

Twitter: https://twitter.com/rancid

Instagram: www.instagram.com/rancid/

YouTube: www.youtube.com/rancid