Author: Jerry Actually

The Wonder Years Enter Studio

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The Wonder Years Enter The Studio With Producer Steve Evetts
Announce Summer Release and Tours

January 10- With the success of their album The Upsides, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania natives The Wonder Years entered the studio this past weekend to record their upcoming Hopeless Records full length with producer Steve Evetts (Saves The Day, Lifetime, Every Time I Die).

“Steve Evetts is a legend in our eyes. The man has produced some of the greatest pop punk and hardcore releases of all time. He has the ability to make anything from Saves the Day to Every Time I Die sound good. I trust his judgment, I think he’s going to help push us to make a better record than we could ever thought possible and honestly, I just want to bother him with questions about what it was like to record Through Being Cool.”

The band is gearing up for a summer release date. Stay tuned for more details!
2011 will prove to be a big year for the band! The Wonder Years have secured a spot on The Kerrang Relentless Energy Tour with Good Charlotte, Four Year Strong and Framing Hanley this spring. Fans can also catch them on the entire 2011 Van’s Warped Tour this summer!

MORE INFO:
thewonderyearsband.com
hopelessrecords.com

Bust – Suck Kuts

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[rating:3/5]
© 2010 Cassette Deck Media

As per the !upstarter m.o., this review is rolling in a little on the late side. I’ll go ahead and blame the holidays. At any rate, here is some manner of review.

Behold Suck Kuts (No seriously behold that cover; chick-son-of-bitchin-magnet says I.) the new release from the dynamic duo of Kyle Stembaugh and Jon Olson, heretofore known as Bust. Suck Kuts flings forth with 10 (suck) cuts of punk bombast at the fever pitch that only garages and their related ilk can generally thrust forth.

The diddys are short and sweet and laden with the disenchantment of boredom and life of better laid plans. As I alluded to above, the sound is classic “garage” punk rock, raw and gritty. You know the sound I’m talking about. A band on a mission. A band without 80 brazillion dollars in studio gear and engineering. Don’t get me wrong, I like the occasional ultra-polish, but I believe a band is best heard in the raw and Suck Kuts is done the way I prefer.

For the vinyl aficionados out there, Suck Kuts is carved onto white vinyl and includes a mp3 download code for the kiddies. The liner assures me that Bust would like to thank “Cool Bands, Cool Dudes, and Cool Zunes”, so all you Microsoft mp3 players out there that fit some of that bill, cheers. Oh, and rumor has it that if you purchase the vinyl, “You also have a 1 in 500th chance in finding Matt Skiba’s cell phone number scribbled inside.”

Bottom line: 10 tracks of duo-istic punk rock served old school on white vinyl

Tracks:
1. The Whinery (Merlot Blow)
2. Who Wants to Fuck Bill Rogers?
3. Pear At Heart
4. High on Life, Drunk off Mouthwash
5. Push Ups
6. That Don’t Impressuh Me Much
7. Talk Nerdy To Me
8. First Bench
9. Unsmooth Moments
10. Sascrotch

For more info: www.bustbustbust.com/

Heineken Commercials

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It’s the season to celebrate, so dust off your tuxedo and get ready to make your entrance in style. Heineken’s new film serves up some inspiration.

The Entrance, a 90-second cinematic masterpiece, kicks off Heineken’s latest global brand campaign. The film’s hero demonstrates the ultimate party entrance by charming his way past a gun-wielding oilman, a Russian canary, and a kung fu assassin, before getting his flute out on stage with the smoking-hot lead singer of the Asteroids Galaxy Tour; the Danish band’s latest single, The Golden Age, provides the sizzling backing track to the film.

The film was rehearsed and shot over a week in a palace near Barcelona, with more than 100 actors playing a part in the blockbuster. The Entrance execution includes 12 additional online teasers that reveal the secret back-stories of key characters in the film. They include Kung Fu Comeback, Heineken Duet and the classic, Big in Wonderland , featuring a couple of basketball players who take their training to the next level.

Heineken’s new campaign will see the release of similarly intriguing films over the next few months. In the meantime, if you’re after some tips on how to nail your next entrance, watch the film and explore the hidden stories of its characters at Facebook.com/Heineken.

*No canaries were harmed during the making of the film.

!upstarter Top 10 Reviews of 2010

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When it gets to be this time of year, I, along with just about everyone else, reflect back on what has transpired during the year. Based on those particular musings, I’m pleased to report that !upstarter posted 42 reviews of both musical and literary works in 2010. (I may be able to squeeze in a few more if time allows)

Out of those 42 reviews, I’ve chosen the top ten of what I think were the stand-out releases/reviews of the years. Bear in mind that this is my opinion, so if you disagree, well, them’s the breaks.

With that, I humbly give you the !upstarter Top 10 reviews of 2010:

10: The Decay – This Months Rent

9: The Menzingers – Chamberlain Waits

8: The Kings of Nuthin’ – Old Habits Die Hard

7: Mad Sin – Burn and Rise

6: Hounds & Harlots – Demo

5: The Hollowpoints – Old Haunts on the Horizon

4: Street Dogs

3: The Singularity – A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Drunkenness

2: Ubermanoeuvre – Burn This

1: Mall’d To Death – Can’t Make A Living

Cheers,
Jerry Actually

War Dogs of the Pacific – Publish or Perish

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© 2010 War Dogs of the Pacific
[rating:3/5]

I’m listening to War Dogs of the Pacific right now. Don’t be fooled peoples. They are totally from Kalamazoo. You know, that place where Elvis would be dead at right now, if he were still alive. Geography notwithstanding, they also happen to be a fastish, sing-yellin’ kinda rock and roll band. Some may want to call them punk. I won’t disagree, but I don’t think there is that much need to pigeonhole. Ok, if I must, they are punk.

At any rate, Publish or Perish holds nine tracks or so of punk rock, intriguingly laced with a diverse range of musical deviations. Honestly it is refreshing. I get a bit of a Replacements feeling, or perhaps less specifically, a felling of the energy of the early alternative movement combined with a more modern punk sound.

The disc hovers around the half hour mark and is a good introduction into the fresh rock sounds coming outta Kalamazoo, MI. So if you’re curious, you can check ’em out here: www.myspace.com/wardogsofthepacific

-Jerry Actually

Headbangers Ball – Still Exists

Life Of Agony performs for MTV’s Headbangers Ball

On Monday December 6th 2010, Life Of Agony was invited by MTV2 for an exclusive in-studio performance and interview for Headbangers Ball’s: “The Year in Metal”. The band performed the classics “Underground” and “Through & Through” and one of these performances will air on Headbangers Ball, on MTV2, on Saturday December 18th 2010, at midnight.

In the meantime the band is flying out to Europe this week to perform 3 exclusive shows during the upcoming weekend:
Friday December 10th at De Mast in Torhout, Belgium
Saturday December 11th at the Klokgebouw (2010 Speedfest) in Eindhoven, The Netherlands
Sunday December 12th at the Live Music Hall in Cologne, Germany.

Life Of Agony will also be playing a co-headline show with Biohazard on December 16th at the Best Buy Theater (formerly, NOKIA Theater) in Times Square, New York City!!!
Tickets are available through Ticketmaster and V.O.D. will be the main support.

On Saturday April 3rd 2010 I Scream Records recorded & filmed Life Of Agony’s performance at the Ancienne Belgique in Brussels, Belgium, this was the second show of their exclusive European “20 Years Strong” tour. In late 2009 the band performed their debut album “River Runs Red” in its entirety during a few exclusive, sold-out, US shows and, after popular demand, they went over to Europe in April 2010 to perform a set built around this amazing, legendary album.

The highly anticipated release, “20 Years Strong: River Runs Red | Live In Brussels”, a digipak combo release holding a CD of the entire show as well as a DVD with a 10 camera production of the show, an on-the-road documentary and much more, was released on July 19th in Europe & July 27th in the USA.

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Continue reading Headbangers Ball – Still Exists

Rob Lind speaks out about the reunited Blood For Blood. An official statement.

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This week, on Thursday December 3rd, Blood For Blood is kicking off their, long awaited, European Tour, as part of the 2010 Persistence Tour. This will mark the first time since 2004 that Blood For Blood fans have been able to see the band live on stage. As previously announced by the band on June 19th 2010 (statement hereunder), Rob Lind decided not to join the rest of the band and Billy Graziadei, from Biohazard, will be filling in for him.

Today Rob Lind wants to share this official statement about not joining Blood For Blood (for now), the future of the band and his relationship with his band mates.

Hello there children!

It’s been long time…

A few months ago it was announced in the press that Blood For Blood would be touring again. Specifically it was announced that BFB would be doing this years annual Persistence Tour in Europe (with Sick Of It All, D.R.I., Unearth, Evergreen Terrace and others). It was also announced that Blood For Blood would be doing this tour and future shows without me.
In absence of a response or statement on my part, there was an immediate deluge of speculation, invective and hostility in reaction to the announcement online and in the scene. And it is ongoing.
Continue reading Rob Lind speaks out about the reunited Blood For Blood. An official statement.

The Spoilers – Loaded to the Gunwales

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© 2010 Vaccaro and the Spoilers

[rating:3:5]

Here’s a fun little EP. Punkish yet poppy; assuming but not precocious. Ok probably a lame little lead in. I’m ok with that. I feel the way I said.

The Spoilers have nice rock chops and the songs are catchy and danceable. I have said in the past that I’m not a big fan of female fronted rock, but I think The Spoilers make it work. There is no obvious attempt to force things into place that need not be there (vocally). On the other hand, I think that some of the guitar work seems a bit show-boaty and may be unnecessary, but hey that’s just me. I’m pretty sure the world knows that I’m anti solo.

What it all boils down to is a pretty catchy punk rock EP with a lot of rock edge. I was going to go into a big thing about how its hard to not draw comparisons and things like that, but here’s the truth: I like this EP. I would listen to more.

As a bonus, I think the cover on the end is likely the anthem to kick ass drunks everywhere, and damn well done!

–Jerry Actually

Prison Break 2438

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Do you like sci-fi? Wanna help somebody get the capital together to publish a book? (It isn’t me) Take a look here and decide if you’d like to help: http://kck.st/cc4UbN

Here’s the premise:

The book is about a man who lives in southern California in 2438 AD. His friend from way back gets taken to the world’s worst prison as a political prisoner. It’s his job to save his friend before he gets executed.