Stripped down to its most basic core, reviewing something is simply answering the question, “What is this?”. Violet Ray answered this for me on the front cover.
Now, “skate rock” can mean two pretty drastically different things. Historically speaking, I attribute the term to bands like JFA, Agent Orange, or Aggression. Early 80s hardcore that either has some surf guitars sprinkled in there, or someone skateboarding on the front cover, or both. The term was also co-opted in the 90s to describe more melodic stuff like No Use For A Name, Strung Out, Lagwagon, etc. While I have an affection for both definitions, I think the latter grouping would be more accurately described as “snowboard rock”.
Violet Ray are not snowboard rock. Every song sounds like the aforementioned 80s influences, with maybe some Night Birds sprinkled in there (who themselves draw from the same sources). It’s all pretty good. The songs are about skateboarding, people who skateboard, and characters from skateboarding films. It’s extremely derivative, but the source material is sick, so whatever.
Even their logo kinda looks like the Battalion of Saints. If I have a complaint, the cover art could use some sprucing up. It looks like the opening credits to a Nickelodeon show, but not a cool one like “Doug”. If you’re going full-on skate rock, put a slightly off-kilter photo of shirtless dude skating a pool on the front, matted onto a repeating wallpaper pattern of the band logo in the background. Otherwise, keep up the good work.
-Zach Akenson
Tracks: 1. Blender Knows 02:52 2. Phillips 66 02:23 3. Master of Disaster 02:51 4. Don’t Jump Off 02:46 5. Street Survival 02:44 6. Brookpark Rd. 02:03 7. All Hail Cardiel 03:00 8. Head Bongo 02:58 9. Skate or Die 03:00 10. Animal Chin 03:26 11. Dogtown 03:41 12. Poor Devils (2025) 03:46
Listening to the brand new studio album, “So, Here’s The Thing” from Sonoma County (CA) ska punk band Legal Disaster. Billing themselves as the first “Crystal Rock Steady” band, the Crack Rock Steady adjacency is (obviously) undeniable. Fractional subgenres notwithstanding, I dig what they’ve got going on.
This release brings nine tracks, eight and an intro really, of fun, upbeat, ska punk. Healthy amounts of call and response vocals, catchy choruses, and well placed horn work provide for an entirely compelling album.
Despite the nod to bands like Leftover Crack / Choking Victim / Morning Glory, etc., Legal Disaster has a bit more influence than solely that. It’s hard for me to not hear references such as Spring Heeled Jack, and Less Than Jake. It makes for a solid mix of styles, really.
A couple of the standout tracks, for me at least, include the vocal / acoustic track The Creature. It’s an interesting diversion for the rest of the album. Track seven, “Money” jumps out with some serious sonic intensity musically and lyrically.
There’s a cover track on here, but I really have no clue who “Price Daddy and The Hyena” are, so I won’t provide any comment there.
The final track, “Cigarettes”, a more folksy number, will probably resonate with anyone who has ever struggled with quitting smoking or anything else.
Bottom line is a pretty rad ska punk album for 2025. Check it out when you can.
Cheers! Jerry Actually
Tracks: 1 Intro 2 New Age Anthem 3 Question Yourself 4 Crystal Rock Steady 5 No Complaints 6 The Creature 7 Money 8 I Lost My Life (Prince Daddy and the Hyena cover) 9 Cigarettes
Sexy, sleazy, ballsy, and rocking … is my take on the new Cam Girl release.
Hailing from Asheville, North Carolina, the group is about as opposite the folksy, roots, Americana that my mind conjures up when I think of Asheville.
Times they are always changing though. Keep up or get left behind, right?
Musically, the album is full of arena rock beats, arpeggiated guitar runs, operatic vocals, and sweeping solos.
The lyrics ooze innuendo. Clearly politically, and socially charged they add gravity to the theatrics of the album.
This is great rock and roll.
I can’t help but think of Shonen Knife, combined with Iron Maiden, filtered through a Bill and Ted lens.
Shrapnel is the new EP from punk / post-punk band, Giglinger from Helsinki Finland. Two tracks and two alternate “Edit” versions of the same tracks offer up some solid atypical rock and roll.
The songs are quick, fairly rapidly paced and rhythmically tight. The tunes are washed in shifting sonic themes. Despite the overall brevity of the tracks, they seem somehow more epic than the numbers would have you believe. At times the overall sound is reminiscent of Dead Kennedys, and the EP really carries some of the post-apocalyptic soundscape of a Voivod release.
If you’re looking for a little something new, check out Giglinger’s new EP – Shrapnel
Cheers! Jerry Actually
Track 1: The Man With Shrapnel in His Head Track 2: Born Dead Buried Alive
It’s been a hot minute since Portland Oregon’s My New Vice released any material. Covid had signaled the band’s demise, and the emergence of The Melders seemed to cement that notion, but as it turns out, it was a bit more of a hiatus, or perhaps a long sleep. Here we are though, and 2025 marks the return of My New Vice with 7 new tracks of heavy rock and roll.
This release straddles the space between an EP and an LP, clocking in at about 27 minutes. Songs in the upper 3 to 4 minute range tend to be a bit outside of my fleeting cat-like attention span, but the tone and pace work well for this band.
The material feels darker and more brooding than earlier work, which was in no way short on darkness and brooding. I suppose it’s a sign of the times. It’s not all sludgecore and doomgrind though, tracks like Track 5. Babadook leans hard into thrash metal territory with a bit of Metallica does Diamond Head covers vibe.
Perhaps it’s the sound of the NW coming though, but I can’t help but notice the Red Fang influence on some tracks, especially Track 6. “Witch”. I don’t want to pigeon hole anyone, but to help you identify the sound, there’s also elements of Corrosion of Conformity, and some rather Sound Garden-esque vocal qualities at points.
On the whole it’s a great album, especially for fans of darker heavy rock and metal. Horns up for My New Vice and their new release Truth About Lies.
I’m listening to the new EP, “Atomic Summer” from Southeast England’s Popclaw. It’s got four tracks of peppy punk rock, created by a duo who’ve never stepped foot in the same room. (Ain’t technology amazing!?)
Track 1: Let’s Start A Riot reminds me a bit of Rancid, in a good way. In particular it makes me think of some of the more Lars-centric tracks.
Track 2: Anthem of Chaos has a sweet vocal hook that keeps running through my head, and after a few listens really has a similar vibe to Blood Rushes by Aussie punk band, Civic. If not a total coincidence, a solid influence.
Track 3: The titular track, Atomic Summer has a delivery that reminds me of something that I can’t quite pin down, but I like it.
Track 4: Chasing Shadows is the longest on the EP and is a bit of a dissonant number. It’s got some garage / lo-fi vibes to it, without being overly scrappy.
Atomic Summer: A fun EP from the geographically diverse Popclaw. I like the nature and direction, and look forward to hearing more in the future.
The EP will be available on all major streaming platforms 3rd January, 2025.
The Fastbacks have survived virtually every era of punk, somehow managing to sound fresh, interesting, and unfashionable every step of the way. Forming in 1979 in Seattle, they played early gigs with bands like DOA and The Lewd, and also opened for bigger touring bands like the Ramones. Pre-Guns ‘N Roses Duff McKagen was even their drummer for a little while in the 80s, a decade in which they released a handful of classic EPs and a couple records on PopLlama. They signed to Sub Pop at the height of the label’s power in the early 90s, releasing three more seminal full lengths and slough of more 7″s. The band finally called it quits in the early 2000s after one more LP on spinART. After they split, guitar player/principal songwriter/sometimes drummer Kurt Bloch continued working with the Young Fresh Fellows, as well as his many other side projects. Bassist/singer Kim Warnick joined Visqueen, and then moved to Maine, quitting music altogether. 2011 and 2018 saw one-off reunion shows in Seattle, and the band’s label No Threes has been trickling out vinyl comps of their old EPs and B sides (most of which are still available from their Bandcamp page, and all of which are essential). Songs spanning their career like “In America”, “Gone to the Moon”, “On the Wall”, “Just Say”, “Goodbye Bird”, “Impatience”, “In the Winter”, and countless others are timeless bangers I’ve listened to hundreds of times.
I’d been more familiar with their earlier records, but I recently listened to an interview with Tony Molina where he said not only were the Fastbacks his favorite band, but that his favorite album was 1999’s The Day That Didn’t Exist. I went back and listened to it again, and damned if he didn’t have a strong case. I also went and picked up a copy of 1996’s New Mansions in Sound and was equally blown away. Working my way backward through their catalog, I came to the conclusion that the Fastbacks just kept getting better with each release. This pattern arguably continues with their first new full length in 25 years, For What Reason!.
Reunion albums don’t have a great reputation, but the past 10-15 years have seen some truly remarkable success stories in bands putting out some of their best material post-reuniting. Dinosaur Jr, Superchunk, Quicksand, Hot Snakes, and Lifetime to name a few. The Fastbacks are definitely at the top of the list now as well. The original three of Kurt, Lulu, and Kim are all here, as well as who I consider to be the quintessential FB drummer (there have been many) Mike Musberger. Original line up reunions are the best. Kurt Bloch is possibly the best punk rock guitarist of all time. Nobody can rip a solo that doesn’t ruin a song like he can. It’s great to hear him plying his trade with his old bandmates again.
for WHAT reason! opens with a classic Kurt Bloch lead on “The End of the Day”, and before long Kim and Lulu have you hooked in what is an instant Greatest Hits Fastbacks song. This is followed up by the Kim penned “Come On”, which has a bit of power pop feel to it, but equally catchy and also makes it onto the Greatest Hits. A cover of The Seekers 1966 “I’ll Never Find Another You” comes next. To know the Fastbacks is to know the true art of faithfully covering an obscure 60s classic, while also making it unmistakenly their own. Nobody does it better. Reading the comments on the Bandcamp page, this is mentioned as a lot of people’s favorite track on the album.
This perfect run to start the record continues with my personal favorite “Nothing To Do”, which has everything that makes a proper Fastbacks banger so special. Hooks, harmonies, instantly memorable, but also a GREAT bridge. No one writes a better bridge than our man Kurt Bloch. He has such a musically prolific embarrassment of riches that he can afford to use up a perfect little riff or lead one time in the middle of a song, rather than taking that immense quality and framing an entirely new song out it. There are truly no bad tracks on here. Another notable favorite is the album closer, “The World Inside”, showcasing that the Fastbacks are capable of writing not only perfect two minute bangers, but also seven minute ballads of equal quality. The initial run of these have sold out, but keep an eye on their Bandcamp page as they plan on repressing more. While you’re there, grab a copy of literally anything else that’s still available. There is no bad starting point if you’re just looking to begin your Fastbacks journey, including for WHAT reason!
I’m currently rocking Jam Packed, the new release by Three Fingers, a self-described “power pop punk” band from Seattle.
I think the description is apt. The 14 track album immediately hits with a decidedly 90s era 120 Minutes vibe. There’s a bit more Riot grrrl aggression as opposed to a lilting wallflower aesthetic, coupled with taut punk riffs, it makes for a solid mix. The songs are “pretty” but there is an underlying anxiety to them. Hard to not relate to anxiety these days.
The songs are compact and uptempo, relatively. Mostly running around the 2 minute mark. This is definitely in my wheelhouse. (I’m not sure how I listened to so many epic sweeping metal tracks back in the day without losing interest, but I digress.) Production is great. Not overdone, not underdone. Well balanced to fit the vocal forward tunes.
Tracks: 1. Feels Weird 2. Love This Part 3. Moving On 4. Bummer 5. I’m Still Here 6. Glass Houses 7. S.O.S. 8. FAFO 9. Alone Time 10. This is Fine 11. Might Be 12. Blew It 13. Looking 4 Luv 14. Never Again
Got Breakout, an awesome looking EP by Bad Idea in the mail the other day, and by awesome looking, I mean that. The album art, by Brian Walsby is super rad.
Musically, the tracks are four on the floor, straight ahead, hard rocking punk. The band hails from Minneapolis, MN, but their driving riffs remind me of Zeke. Clearly also influenced by Black Sabbath as evidenced by the Electric Funeral intro to Track 2, Breakout, and a smidge of Misfits-style riffery on Track 6. Night of the Hunter.
It’s good, loud, relatively fast-paced punk. 6 tracks in about 10 minutes. Enjoy!
I’ve been listening to “In The Badger’s Cave”, the new EP from Leipzig’s Mantarochen for a few days now, and honestly, I can’t get enough. I don’t know if it’s my particular frame of mind at the moment or my tastes shifting, but this is really hitting a sweet spot.
The sound is Post Punk / Cold Wave, blending genres handily. It’s as easy to draw Siouxsie comparisons, as it is Bauhaus and Berlin. There’s a decidedly 80s vibe to the entire thing and as much as I’m a sucker for nostalgia, this EP stands on its own in a new era.
Industrial noise and low-fi synth oscillations and arpeggios punctuate underwater guitar and pulsing bass. Lilting dreamy vocals flit in and out between the ever-so-slightly dissonant melody.
The new EP is out on May 31, 2024 on It’s Eleven Records. Please check it out.
While you wait for the EP, checkout this video for Grey:
Cheers!
Jerry Actually
Tracks: 1. Reflection 2. I’m Sand 3. Jaguar 4. Grey 5. Blue Heads 6. Still Black
Mantarochen: Diana – Synth, Vocals Sebi – Guitar Tom – Bass
