News – Page 21 – Upstarter

Born Wrong/Kleins 96-Split 10″

I have a couple confessions to make, Hardcore is not my genre. Even in times when I need to listen to something with hardcore’s intensity, the style is not my choice. So when I was asked to review the new Born Wrong/Kleins 96 Split 10″ from Rebel Time Records I was a bit apprehensive because I hate not giving something a good review because I think the punk rock community has a lot of negativity in it, a lot of division where there should be unity. So to help me prepare for writing the review I actually Wikipedia’d Hardcore. I wanted to get a bit of history. What I found was that the term Hardcore possibly originated from DOA’s 1981 album of the same name. I guess I just found that a bit fitting considering BornWrong (Hamilton, On) and Kleins 96 (Regina,SK) are torchbearers for their countrymen’s scene.

My last confession for the night is that in a collection of 300+ punk albums, this split is only the 3rd hardcore album in it (Triple Crossed, and Sick of it All’s Based on a True Story are the other two) so I don’t have a huge frame of reference from which to draw from. When I Wikipedia’d Hardcore it also talked about the more technical aspects of the style, and while I read some of it, I didn’t take a whole lot away from that portion of the article, but what I can tell you is this, I enjoyed the 8 song album (4 by each group). It contains all of the intensity and aggressiveness that I think I always assumed hardcore was supposed to have, while also having all the emphasis on rhythm, screamed vocals, and drop tempos into musical breakdowns (thanks Wikipedia) that Hardcore fan have become accustomed to hearing.

Highlights from the album include Kleins 96 “Eucharist” and Born Wrong’s “Burn a Debt” but for fans of this genre I don’t think there is a track that you could go wrong with. Now when I need something to provide me with a little extra intensity, this is probably the album from my collection that I am going to turn to.

New Morning Glory Song!

Morning Glory’s debut Fat full length, Poets Were My Heroes, will be released on August 28th! A cathartic audio voyage from beginning to end. The album contains so many crescendos and opposing moments of reflection that when it came time to decide on which song best represented the album, we debated, hard…everyone had a favorite; but we settled on “Patiently” which does a nice job of representing the album as a whole. The verse is powered by strings (which is definitely different) and then the chorus brings a rollicking anthemic melody. It’s almost like a microcosm of the entire album. So, download it here, order your copy and get stoked to see them live! Preorders will receive a digital download link via email a week before release date. Read what Ezra from Morning Glory had to say about the song below:

Patiently… This is a kick ass song with a beautiful string section and it was one of the last songs we tracked for the new record; in part because it took a bit to save up for the string quartet. The words, especially the second verse, were written about an ex-gf who liked to destroy things, especially us. I hope she reads them one day. I really like this song, it’s got a beautiful staggered vocal section, a la “row, row, row your boat”, at around the 3 minute mark, which thoroughly frustrated Caleb, our violinist during the recording. This must be a great song cuz Fat picked it as the free download. It has a great melody and a lyrical tone which begs hope for everyone who feels like they do everything right even when no one is looking. We’ll definitely be playing it on our upcoming tour. In short, the whole record fucking sways and rocks and this is a good example of that cross section.

-Ezra Arrow Kire

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:

www.hopelessrecords.com

www.thewonderyearsband.com

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 1^st .

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

Bad Religion – Reason Rally

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The venerated Los Angeles band Bad Religion is honored to be appearing at the historic Reason Rally this March 24^th in Washington DC. The event is a free nationwide celebration intended to “unify, energize, and embolden secular people nationwide.” Bad Religion’s singer, Greg Graffin (author of Anarchy Evolution: Faith, Science, and Bad Religion in a World Without God) will sing the national anthem and the world renowned band will perform a one hour set.

Slated to be the largest secular event in world history, the rally is sponsored by the top secular organizations in the United States and will feature music, comedy, and addresses by leaders of the secular movement. Scheduled to appear are Bad Religion, author Dr. Richard Dawkins, actor and comedian Eddie Izzard, writer and comedian Bill Maher, comedian Tim Minchin and many more. The event is intended to give secular Americans an opportunity to unite under a banner of reason and community, at a level never seen before.

Bad Religion’s appearance at the Reason Rally is only fitting. Formed over three decades ago in the suburbs of Los Angeles amidst the incendiary punk movement, the popular and influential band has a well documented history advocating for intellectual freedom and secularism. From their provocative name, to their iconic “cross buster” logo to a lyrical canon filled with humanist themes, few other artists have so unflinchingly aligned themselves with issues of humanism and rational thought.

As Bad Religion guitarist and co-songwriter Brett Gurewitz explains, “People often ask whether I think music makes a difference; whether it’s a force for change. Bad Religion’s invitation to appear at the Reason Rally (history’s largest secular gathering) for me affirms the notion that art has the power to transform social norms, that over the past 30 years our band, through its music and message, has contributed to a real and very positive trend toward secularization.”

The band’s singer and co-songwriter Greg Graffin offers, “We thought it was a good gathering of people who want to stress that reason should characterize the citizenry of this country, not affiliation with some religious group or socioeconomic stratum or any other criterion besides the willingness to engage in reasonable debate that is informed by rational knowledge. All I’ve ever heard from fans (and that includes parents and their kids alike) is that they have been inspired to learn more and care more by listening to our music. I think therefore, that the Reason Rally—like Bad Religion—can be very inspirational. “

Bad Religion’s latest album titled, The Dissent Of Man is available on Epitaph Records.

The Reason Rally will occur this March 24th, 2012, from 10:00AM – 6:00PM at the National Mall in Washington DC. For more information go to: www.reasonrally.org/

The Sidekicks-Grace

I need to start by getting a couple things off of my chest, and if you like them you can keep them, if not you can throw them back at me. Number 1, The Sidekicks are not a punk band. I’m not trying to be negative, or add fuel to the fire of the genre acceptance fight, but there isn’t a single punk lick on the 4 tracks which appear on Grace. I think sometimes when music appeals to listeners who prefer punk music we have to call it punk or else we feel like (for lack of a better phrase) “not repping the brand.”

Number 2, I didn’t like the single at first, which probably has a lot to do with gripe number 1. I took repeated listens, and I actually had to make comparisons to other music that I like in order to help me along. This is something I don’t usually like to do, but on the first two tracks “Grace” and “The Wallflowers” (the first of which also appears on their full length Awkward Breeds) lead man Steve Ciolek vocals bring back fond memories of rocking out to Weezer without River Cuomo’s self loathing lyrics. The next two tracks “The 9th Piece (Alternate version)”, and “Stay” (the first once again appears on their recent full length) have the same type of feeling as Graham Nash’s Songs for Beginners (one of my favourite non-punk albums).

It has been a long time since I have been able to say I liked a different band or album without being able to attach the punk label to them mostly because I feel like it is cheating on my musical love, but sometimes to enjoy good music I have to accept the fact that I can be friends with other genres without betraying the other. With Grace, The Sidekicks have introduced me to a new friend.

The Class Assasins-Equalize X Distort The Studio 3 Sessions

I have long been a fan of Rebel Time Records and I own and enjoy almost every single release on the imprint, but for some reason I have always been weary of listening to one particular group that has released music through them, The Class Assassins. I don’t even know if I can come up with a valid reason as to why, which became even more apparent when I actually sat down and listened to them.

I recently sat and listened to their two latest releases, Treason, which is available on 7″ vinyl from Rebel Time Records, and Equalize X Distort The Studio 3 Sessions. The latter recording is an 8 song live recording which was done in November at CIUT FM in Toronto. The recording features 6 songs from the groups back catalog (including ” Treason” and ” Start Again” from the Treason 7″) as well as two covers “Breaking the Law” and “Fortunate Son” (which I have heard covered before but the group has definitely added their own spin to this classic with a bass and drum intro). The recording was apparently limited to 100 copies on cd but it is available in its entirety on their bandcamp page.

Listening to The Class Assassins reminds me of the Street Dogs songs “Punk Rock ‘n’ Roll”. Not because it sounds like it, but because if Punk Rock ‘n’ Roll was added to the many sub-genres of punk I imagine they would have either wrote the recipe for it or redefined it. Now while I am only currently familiar with the 8 tracks from these two releases, they are full of exactly what I like in punk songs,fast paced guitar attacks and fist pumping, rabble rousing, sing along choruses. Treason and Equalize X Distort were my introduction to The Class Assassins, and it is as good as a place as any to start, and I highly recommend you do.

The Business Return to U.S. for month-long tour

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The Business returns to the U.S. for a month-long tour with direct support from Downtown Struts.

(w/ The Downtown Struts)
Feb 24 Seattle, WA @ El Corazon
Feb 25 Bremerton, WA @ The Charleston
Feb 26 Portland, OR @ Rotture
Feb 28 Sacramento, CA @ The Blue Lamp
Feb 29 San Francisco, CA @ Thee Parkside
Mar 1 Pomona, CA @ Characters
Mar 2 Anaheim, CA @ Juke Joint
Mar 3 San Diego, CA @ Shakedown Bar
Mar 4 Tempe, AZ @ Yucca Tap Room
Mar 6 Austin, TX @ The Mohawk, Patio
Mar 7 San Antonio, TX @ Korova
Mar 8 Dallas, TX @ LaGrange
Mar 9 Corpus, TX @ House of Rock
Mar 10 Houston, TX @ Walter’s
Mar 13 New Orleans, LA @ Siberia
Mar 15 Tampa, FL @ Orpheum
Mar 16 West Palm Beach, FL @ Respectable St.
Mar 19 Savannah, GA @ The Jinx
Mar 20 Chapel Hill, NC @ Local 506
Mar 21 Pittsburgh, PA @ Smiling Moose (Upstairs)
Mar 22 Fort Wayne, IN @ The Brass Rail
Mar 23 Lansing, MI @ Macs
Mar 24 Chicago, IL @ Cobra Lounge (without Downtown Struts)

Frankenbok Tour

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TOUR ANNOUNCEMENT

Once again, Frankenbok embark on another string of shows, this time incorporating some of their favourite destinations – NEW ZEALAND! Thirteen more shows to support the release of the new album – THE END OF ALL YOU KNOW. So put ya best socks on, feed the dog, neck that last bottle and get ready for some boot skootin’ AUSSIE THRASHIN PUNK METAL!

DATES:
FEB 24 – Newcastle (NSW) @ Club LED
MAR 9 – Thornbury (VIC) @ The Prague

MAR 10 – Geelong (VIC) @ The Barwon Club

MAR 11 – Melbourne (VIC) @ The Cherry Bar
MAR 16 – Ballarat (VIC) @ The Karova Lounge

MAR 30 – Bendigo (VIC) @ The Newmarket Hotel

APR 12 – Auckland (NZ) @ The Crowbar (w/Sinate)

APR 13 – Palmeston Nth (NZ) @ Royal Hotel (w/Sinate)

APR 14 – Wellington (NZ) @ Medusa Bar (w/Sinate)

APR 15 – Kapiti Coast (NZ) @ The Village Inn (w/Sinate)

MAY 11 – Frankston (VIC) @ Pier Live

MAY 25 – Maitland (NSW) @ The Junkyard

MAY 26 – Canberra (ACT) @ The Basement

14th Annual Punk Rock Bowling and Music Festival

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14th Annual Punk Rock Bowling and Music Festival
Memorial Day Weekend • May 25 – 28, 2012
Downtown Las Vegas

MORE BANDS JUST ANNOUNCED!!!

Rancid, Nofx, Pennywise,
Sham 69, Hepcat, The Adicts,
Hot Water Music, The Briefs, Youth Of Today
Street Dogs, Dead Ending, Real McKenzies, Old Man Markley,
The Beltones , Far From Finished, Toys That Kill,
American Heist, Holding On To Sound,
The Bots, The Dips, American Werewolves,
PLUS MORE GREAT BANDS TO BE ANNOUNCED

TICKETS ON SALE!!!

3 Day Festival Passes On Sale
Fri. Feb. 24 @ 1pm (PST)
$100 (plus $5 service fee)
(Sat. May 26 • Sun. May 27 • Mon. May 28)

Single Day Tickets on Sale (Based on Availability)
Mon. March 5 @ 1pm (PST)
$40 (plus $2.50 service fee)

Daily Lineup To Be Announced on Feb. 24, 2012
The Punk Rock Bowling and Music Festival was started back in 1999 as a way to bring the independent music community together for an annual party. It has since grown into a 3 day festival in downtownLas Vegas that brings out fans and bands alike from all over the world. Make no mistake, this is a PUNK ROCK PARTY that features some of the best bands of the past 35+ years, from the old school pioneers and classics to mainstays and up and comers. Founders Shawn and Mark Stern of BYO Records and seminal SoCal band Youth Brigade have been heavily involved in the PUNK ROCK community since the late ‘70’s and spend countless hours scouring their record collections, memories and abilities to reach out to old friends and new to put together an amazing line-up every year.

Joining previously announced acts Rancid, NOFX, Pennywise, The Adicts and The Briefs (original lineup) are: Sham 69 (Pursey / Parsons / Tregunna ’77 lineup), Hepcat, Hot Water Music, Youth Of Today (NYC 80’s Hardcore Monsters), Street Dogs, Dead Ending (featuring Joe Principe of Rise Against, Derek Grant of Alkaline Trio, Vic Bondi of Articles Of Faith, and Jeff Dean of Noise By Numbers), Real McKenzies, Old Man Markley, The Beltones, Far From Finished, Toys That Kill, American Heist, Holding On To Sound, The Bots The Dips, American Werewolves AND MORE TBA!!!!

All festival shows are ALL AGES.

To purchase tickets, register for Punk Rock Bowling and for more information, visit: www.punkrockbowling.com