NOi!SE’S THE SCARS WE HIDE RE-ISSUE OUT FEB. 9th!

NOi!SE’S THE SCARS WE HIDE RE-ISSUE OUT FEB. 9th!
PREVIOUSLY OUT OF PRINT, REMIXED AND REMASTERED!

Following up their recent full length “The Real Enemy”, there has been a lot of interest in NOi!SE’s back catalog, much of which is out of press. Pirates Press Records is really excited to fill that void, bringing you this remixed and remastered version of the Washington based powerhouse’s debut LP.

Originally released in 2014, and now long out of print, “The Scars We Hide” is a huge part of what put this band on the map. Start to finish, the album solidified the band’s sound – pairing those rivitting drums, insane basslines, and great leads with a true verbal assault.

Coming off their first jaunt over to Europe, and countless local shows and weekenders, NOi!SE is at the top of their game – and while touring full-time pretty much off the table due to family obligations and Matt Henson’s role in the US Army, they are excited to announce a series of upcoming shows and mini-tours for 2018.

Track listing:
1. Rank And File
2. Glass Half Empty
3. The Truth
4. Drift Away
5. Silenced Voices
6. Statistic
7. Pawn In The Game
8. Plastic Friends
9. How We Made It Through
10. Bottom Of The Barrel
11. A Different Road

12. The Future Is Waiting

Find NOi!SE online:
http://www.facebook.com/destinycitynoise
https://www.instagram.com/noi7se

THE LAST GANG TO RELEASE NEW ALBUM, KEEP THEM COUNTING, ON FRIDAY, MARCH 2!

THE LAST GANG hit the ground running with their Fat Wreck Chords debut 7″ Sing for your Supper in December 2017. From the second that needle dropped, fans felt the infectious energy this LA threesome has become known for.

With no signs of slowing down, The Last Gang is ripping into 2018 with their debut FAT full-length, Keep them Counting. Set to be released on March 2nd, the album features 10 punk infused tracks showcasing their diversity, from infectious riffs to punky ballads. The opening track “Sing for your Supper” is the kind of palm-muted ripper that made Rancid famous, with a bouncing bass line, a huge hook, and airtight songwriting that’ll get stuck in your head for years to come. The rest of the album is no less throttling. From the jump, the album whips up a frenzy, shifting directions on a dime but never losing sight of The Last Gang’s pop-indebted ethos.

You can pre-order the album right now via your favorite digital music site, and in doing so, you’ll get to download the first single –”Sing for your Supper” – immediately. Even better, watch them perform it in their new video! You’ll be able to catch them live, as they’ve announced a flurry of shows which include dates with The Lillingtons, Good Riddance, and Propagandhi!

2018 Tour Dates:
01/29/18 San Diego, CA at Soda Bar w/ The Lillingtons
01/30/18 Fullerton, CA at Slidebar w/ The Lillingtons, The Bombpops
01/31/18 West Hollywood, CA at Viper Room w/ The Lillingtons
02/03/18 Las Vegas, NV at The Beauty Bar w/ The Lillingtons, The Bombpops
03/02/18 Ventura, CA at The Garage w/ Good Riddance, A Vulture Wake *
03/03/18 San Francisco, CA at Slim’s Good Riddance, The Last Gang
03/15/18 Portland, OR at Analog Theater w/ Good Riddance
03/16/18 Seattle, WA at El Corazon w/ Good Riddance,
03/17/18 Vancouver, BC Canada at Venue Nightclub w/ Good Riddance
05/02/18 Lindau, Germany at Club Vaudeville w/ Propagandhi, Iron Chic
05/04/18 WELS, Austria at SBÄM Fest 2

 

Keep Them Counting tracklisting:
1. Sing for Your Supper
2. Blood Drunk
3. Salvation for Wolves
4. Strange Fruit
5. Nobody’s Prostitute
6. Affairs to Remember
7. Believe in the Poet
8. Karla
9. Identity
10. Secret Sounds

 

The Last Gang on Facebook
The Last Gang on Instagram

           

Photo By: Billy Beans Kingrock Photo

Oso Oso Sign To Triple Crown Records

Long Island’s Oso Oso have just signed to Triple Crown Records! Triple Crown will be reissuing the indie punk band’s critically acclaimed 2017 album The Yunahon Mixtape, which can be heard now on Spotify, Apple Music, and across all streaming platforms. The band has also just released a music video for their song “Reindeer Games” off of that record. The video can be seen now via Triple Crown Records.

 

Oso Oso is on tour now with Tiny Moving Parts and Mom Jeans. A full list of dates can be found below.

Oso Oso is the latest project of Jade Lilitri out of Long Beach, New York. After a couple of early records, the band self-released their first fully realized album The Yunahon Mixtape on Bandcamp in early 2017. Despite this low key release, the album quickly gained traction across the scene, winning over both fans and critics with it’s diverse, recognizable knack for memorable choruses and instantly relatable lyrics. In 2018 the band was signed by Triple Crown Records, who plan to reissue The Yunahon Mixtape in advance of new music coming soon.

A quote from Jade Lilitri on signing to Triple Crown Records can be found below.

“Can you even believe it? As a fan of music, it’s super exciting to be working with a label that not only has a collection of so many releases I love, but is also engaged and working with exciting young bands who are doing it today. As an artist, it’s beyond exciting to have this kind of backing to allow you to grow/explore and just reach a new potential in what Oso Oso can create. I’m generally stoked on all ends.”

The Yunahon Mixtape Tracklisting
1. The Cool
2. Reindeer Games
3. The Walk
4. The Bearer Of Truths
5. Get There (When You Get There)
6. Great Big Beaches
7. Shoes (The Sneaker Song)
8. The Slope
9. The Secret Spot
10. The Plant Mouth
11. Out Of The Blue

Praise For The Yunahon Mixtape

“Lilitri is as much of a student of his influences as he is a fan, understanding the exact methods that make the sound of this music hit a certain way at a certain age and linger in the years to come.” – Pitchfork

“The best old-school ’00s indie album of 2017” – Uproxx

” that perfect balance between words, wisdom, and musical endeavour” – GoldFlakePaint

Tour Dates:
JAN 25 – St Paul, MN – Amsterdam Hall
JAN 26 – Madison, WI – University of Wisconsin
JAN 27 – Chicago, IL – Lincoln Hall
JAN 28 – Detroit, MI – Loving Touch
JAN 30 – Indianapolis, IN – Hoosier Dome
JAN 31 – Newport, KY – The Southgate House Revival
FEB 1 – Columbus, OH – Ace of Cups
FEB 2 – Cleveland, OH – Mahall’s
FEB 3 – Toronto, ON – Hard Luck
FEB 5 – Pittsburgh, PA – Cattivo
FEB 6 – Richmond, VA – Camel
FEB 7 – Washington, DC – Rock N Roll Hotel
FEB 8 – Philadelphia, PA – First Unitarian Church
FEB 9 – New York, NY – Music Hall of Williamsburg
FEB 10 – Boston, MA – The Sinclair
FEB 11 – Hamden, CT – Ballroom at the Outer Space
FEB 13 – Carrboro, NC – Cat’s Cradle
FEB 14 – Orlando, FL – The Abbey
FEB 15 – Margate, FL – O’Malley’s
FEB 16 – Tampa, FL – Crowbar
FEB 17 – Atlanta, GA – Masquerade
FEB 18 – Nashville, TN – The End
FEB 20 – Dallas, TX – Dirty 30
FEB 21 – Austin, TX – Barracuda
FEB 23 – Phoenix, AZ – Rebel Lounge
FEB 24 – Los Angeles, CA – Hi-Hat
FEB 25 – San Francisco, CA – Bottom Of The Hill
FEB 27 – Portland, OR – Analog Theater
FEB 28 – Seattle, WA – Vera Project
MAR 2 – Salt Lake City, UT – Kilby Court
MAR 3 – Denver, CO – Marquis Theater
MAR 4 – Kansas City, MO – Bottle Neck

The Jukebox Romantics – Sleepwalk Me Home

Generally a bit behind the curve here at good ol’ Upstarter, I’m just now getting around to listening to Sleepwalk Me Home, the late 2017 release from The Jukebox Romantics. As wise wise people have espoused for millennia before me, better late than never.

I can’t say that I’ve listened to the band before. Well, I could say it, but it probably wouldn’t be truthful. If I have though, it was maybe on a comp, or I thought it was Blink 182 or something. With that said, the band captures the finer points of pop punk, namely being poppy, whilst being punk rock. Seriously though, 10 tracks, mostly under the three minute mark, stemming from a peppy rock trio? This is entirely up my alley.

The band lists Alkaline Trio and The Bouncing Souls as influences and I can definitely hear them, but I really pick up a Blink vibe. Maybe it’s in the way they sound so SoCal sardonic, despite being from downstate NY (I initially suspected this was a secret code for New Jersey) No matter. They sound good. They sound especially good if you like pop punk.

It’s funny, to me at least. My “reviews” have rather devolved to the point of, “here’s my opinions about things while I’m listening to this new (to me) music) I don’t know that it is expressly helpful to anyone at this point. I hope that it is.

The takeaway here: Pop punk. Good. Fast. Fun. New!

Cheers!
Jerry Actually

Getting To Know Swirl


Where are you from and when did you get started?

Swirl is currently from sunny Southern California with half the band in Temecula and the other half in Pasadena.

Swirl was born in the Pacific Northwest. A little town called Mukilteo, WA. The current incarnation which has been together for 9 years now. In fact, we were kind of “put together” by Claude Schnell (former keyboardist for Dio). He was looking to record with a band that needed a guitar player and he asked if I would be willing to write with them so we could record together. It never got that far. Shortly after I joined up I recruited Shane and Alfred for Swirl.

Who are you and who does what in the band?

I am Duane “DT” Jones- guitar player. My brother Brian “Bam Bam” Jones is the drummer. Alfred Ramirez is our lead singer and Shane Carlson plays bass in the band

How would you best describe the sound?

With as many diverse musical interests as the members of Swirl have I honestly don`t know how else to describe our sound other than “it’s in the name”. We each bring our own influences to this band to create what you hear.

However, in 2017 The Huffington Post did a review and stated “they sound like an amalgamation of Slipknot and AC/DC”. Very flattering indeed as those are two very good bands with incredible careers. I have also read “…an interesting and diverse band to check out, as they combine the best of the past 20 years of American Rock/ Hardrock” which personally I think sums us up pretty succinctly.

I encourage you to give us a listen and judge for yourself at http://www.swirltheband.com/

Dream rock moment (real or not)?

Great question. Standing on stage at Wembley Arena, playing to a sold out audience where Swirl is the headliner and as we are getting ready to start the first chorus of our latest single, “The Lift” the power goes out on the electric guitars causing a delay in the performance. Strangely enough the microphones still work, but not the electric instruments. Before we lose the moment entirely and ruin the night the band gets handed acoustic guitars and we sit on the edge of the stage playing “The Lift” while the entire crowd sings the song back to the band! Yeah that would be my “it can`t get any better than this” moment.

Still got day jobs?

Well my “day job” is coaching football. As of this interview the season is over so I can put all my energy into promoting Swirl.

Brian is a drum instructor so he is “behind the kit” all day anyway.

Alfred has a night job, but Shane still has his day job….for now.

Any regrets?

None. If I did it I had a reason. Not saying it was the best of reasons, but clearly I thought it was the way to go at that time. None of us are getting out of here alive so might as well have some fun right?

“The Lift” Lyric video- https://youtu.be/xaBMGg0ACYo

illicitor – self-titled


Illicitor is a 3 piece punk/hardcore band born out of the ashes of prolific Las Vegas favorites: Holding Onto Sound. Their debut album arrived December 2017.

I was somewhat familiar with Holding Onto Sound (HOTS). I spent a little time listening to their music, an interview, and a review. I have also seen them perform live in the past, so I was excited to hear about illicitor. Stripped down 3-piece punk rock born from some familiar faces and voice. Thus far the self-titled debut does not disappoint.

The core of the nine tracks are uptempo punk rock with some hardcore aggression. There are some departures from the formula with track 4. The Body and The Dirt with its acoustic guitar and vocal intro, climbing into full arrangement and eventual insistence on a complete sonic uprising. For a trio, the soundscape is quite full. Studio magic goes a long way, but then again so does competent musicianship, none of which are in short supply on this release.

The band ticks a lot of boxes on my list of favorite rock and roll features: fast paced, trio, clear vocals, short tracks with a bit of grit. If you’re of a similar mind, and I know that you are, check out illicitor. I have no doubt that you will dig the hell out of them.

Nothing on the album gives me cause to be overly critical, but nothing can be completely perfect I suppose. There is a bit of psychedelic guitar noodling that I could probably live without, but overall a solid debut from Las Vegas’ illicitor.

Cheers!
Jerry Actually

Members:
Zabi Naqshband – bass, vocals
Bob Gates – guitar, vocals
Micah Malcolm – drums


(Photo by Aaron Mattern)