Category: Punk

Punk Reviews

The Rumblers – Resistor Radio

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© 2011 Creep Records
[rating:3.5/5]

Right now I’m listening to Resistor Radio, the new full-length release from The Rumblers. The release marks eight years since the band’s debut. While I’m not familiar with “Hold On Tight”, I can only assume that the new work represents a more focused and enlightened version of the past.

Resistor Radio features 12 tracks of politically tinged American punk rock. It isn’t quite to the level of social commentary as The Clash for instance. Instead it feels like a sampling of Social Distortion, Pennywise and Bad Religion. The sonic structure has a great level of depth with the blend of horn and organ sounds of the more expected drum/bass/guitar experience. The dynamic and well crafted songs lend to easy enjoyment. It is the type of disc that gains appreciation and respect the more you listen to it.

Aside from the more greaser style punk rock and roll there are tracks like “Bring Me Back” which are more in the vein of newer bands like Dead to Me, Menzingers and American Steel. Additional deviations are the low cowboy ballad, “The Long Con” and the slightly ska/reggae/punk “Final Words”. It shows an excellent level of diversity and writing ability for the band. Like I said, the more I listen, the more I appreciate The Rumblers.

You can find more here: www.therumblers.com

-Jerry Actually

Tracks:
1. Your Future’s Been Determined
2. Days Gone By
3. Smash Your Television
4. Border Town
5. Bring Me Back
6. Time Can Have a Way
7. The Long Con
8. Final Words
9. You’ve Got Your Guns
10. download 10. Rebel Heart
11. Run Away
12. City Lights

Swing For The Fences

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© 2011
[rating:2/5]

Here’s a five track demo from Swing for the Fences, a pop punk band outta the Detroit suburb of Sterling Heights. Pretty straight forward power pop riffs, snappy drum beats and rocking riffs, some solid sing-a-long chorus parts and emo enough lyrics that your girlfriend will totally make you take her to the show. (you know, if you have a girlfriend that is)

The band isn’t breaking much in the way of new ground. It is very Blink 182 influenced from my limited experience with the genre. The vocals strangely make me think that they’d be what Weird Al would sound like if he were singing in a pop punk band. I suspect that Swing for the Fences take themselves a bit more seriously, but then again, maybe not.

The production quality is excellent for a demo, so kudos to everyone that played and produced this. I’m not sure what bandwidth is left in the market for more material of this variety, but since Blink tours again there is always hope. While the demo has plenty of polish and skills, it is all a little too saccharin for me, but if pop punk is your thing, check the band out at their myspace page: http://www.myspace.com/sftfmusic

–Jerry Actually

Tracks:
1. Running Away
2. Spill Your Heart
3. You Shoot For The Stars Because You’re Afraid To Land
4. Just Being Honest
5. If Only You Knew

Can Toker – Six Sick Sixty Second Songs

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© 2010 Can Toker
[rating:3/5]

Assuming that they made it through the recent tidal waves, Can Toker is a low-fi punk rock quintent from outta Santa Cruz, CA. The band consists of: Jack Mehauf (raging vocals), Chappy Left Standing (blazing guitar), Bon Gripper (thunderous bass) and JT Murdoc (earth shaking drums).

Six Sick Sixty Second Songs is the new demo out by the band and in all fairness, the songs, all six of them are sick, however not a single one of them is, in fact, sixty seconds long. This, to me, seems like a glaring oversight. I’m willing to let this slide because I like the raw garage punk thats barreling into my eardrums right now.

In truth, you get six tracks that clock (mostly) in around the minute mark. Snarly vocals, snarly guitar, snarly bass, drums (not snarly) The tracks are mostly about day-to-day goings on. Life in a tiny town. Smoking out a improvised can pipe. You know, living the American dream.

You can find more about ’em on the wide wide world of webs: http://cantoker.com/

-Jerry Actually

For fans of: The Meatmen, Awesome and the Asskickers, smoking things from cans.

Tracks:
1. Just My Job
2. Wheelbite
3. Decay
4. Implant
5. Fishbowl Town
6. Can Toker

Cobra Skulls Bringing The War Home

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© 2011 Fat Wreck Chords
[rating:3.5/5]

Bringing The War Home is the new five track E.P. From Reno’s boys done good, Cobra Skulls. In addition it is their first release on their new home at Fat Wreck Chords. I hope everyone welcomes them warmly to their new label by going out and buying the disc and supporting them at shows.

I’ve been listening the Cobra Skulls for a while now and I like the vibe they are throwing down. They have a sound and a presentation that I truly enjoy. It isn’t overtly aggressive punk, and it isn’t quite hard rock folk. It is somewhere slightly in between while being outside the scope of either. The songs are tinged with the politics of injustice and lash out at perceived ignorance. If I had to marginalize, I’d probably label them something on the order of “roots punk”, but I think the music is accessible beyond the confines of narrow genres.

The tracks offered on the EP serve up 4 originals of the variety previously noted as well as a very unique tack on Bad Religion’s I Give You Nothing, done with an interesting blend of rockabilly and something that reminds me of Stepping Stone. At any rate, I love the EP (I’d give more stars, but well, gimme more songs) and you get five tasty tracks in the vein of a few other bands of similar sound such as, Dead to Me, American Steel, Menzingers and The Loved Ones.

These bands all have something similar in their sound, and I think is is a strong reminiscence of The Clash: Punk rock with political overtones and a nature that encompasses more than one sound can confine. So maybe forget what I said about “roots punk” I think now I’m going with “Clash-ic Rock”. No, I kid, I kid. I’m not going to say that.

–Jerry Actually

Freedom Assault – Welcome to 1984

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© 2010 Freedom Assault
[rating:2.5/5]

Welcome to 1984 is a newer (Oct 2010) release from multi-regional (both Maine and Arizona) “peace punk” band Freedom Assault. From the band’s website: “We are a political and socially conscience punk rock influenced band. We play mid to fast paced music with dual female and male vocals. We are Travis, Les, Brand-o and Rob.” The sound is very very garage/lo-fi with distorted hyper-fuzz guitar and drum over low-in-the-mix vox. A very DIY sounding effort indeed. I’m not saying that is a bad thing, I like raw music, but if you like a little more polish, Welcome to 1984 may not be for you.

The lyrics are passionate and topical focusing on things like animal testing, terrorism and, you know, zombies. The tracks are quick almost entirely clocking in at under the two minute mark, just fine for me. Actually you get eight songs in just around 14 minutes. (a bonus Queers cover if you are one of the lucky ones to have the pre-order download.)

Overall, I like the spirit and I like the intensity. However, I would like just a little bit more control behind the production. The mix seems out of balance, way to guitar heavy and way too muddy in a way that it sounds like somebody hit record on a jam box during band practice. That said, Welcome to 1984 is a decent blast of DIY punk rock.

–Jerry Actually

Tracks:
1)Many Will Die…
2)Terror Front
3)Zombies!!!
4)Terrorized
5)DIY Pride
6)Survival of the Richest
7)System Failure*
8)Life Dogmatic With Pat Robertson*
9)Live This Life**

tracks 1-3, 8:
Travis – guitar, bass, vocals
les – vocals
Brand-O – drums, back up vocals

tracks 4-7, 9:
Travis – guitar, vocals
les – vocals
Rob – drums
Fernando – bass, back up vocals

*Included on the digital download
**Included on the preorder digital download, written by the Queers.
You can visit their website read more about Freedom Assault

Sadplant The End of Fun

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© 2011 Sadplant
[rating:3.5/5]

Connecticut’s prolific favorites are back with a new release. I know that it’s been like 16 minutes since the last new release, but hell if you got the goods, rock with it, right?

The End of Fun brings 12 new tracks of snotty punk rock songs of angst, despair, guts and a slight slight glimmer of hope. Along with that, if you’ve been following this band at all, you get a lot more synchronicity in the music. While the recording still has a garage edge to it, the music is more polished and I think the mix is finally right.

I try not to gush, but this band really makes me proud. They, like the rest of us have to deal with every waking day, but through daily struggles of life and lineup changes (new drummer) they continue to produce. I’m not sure I need to say much more.

Speaking of the lineup, Sadplant currently consists of Benny Social on guitar and vox, Amy Wappel on bass and box and Gabe Fonseca on drums and vox as well. The bottom line is that Sadplant rocks. The underline is that if you get bored with the last release, you get a new one in minutes.

On a side note, I totally dig male / female point / counterpoint vocals. … makes me think of the old school track Oki Dogs from Youth Gone Mad or Hopeless Romantic from Bouncing Souls (or heaven forbid, Renee Zellweger in Capital Records. … I kid, I kid. That movie rocks.)

Cheers!

Prize The Doubt – This Will Die Unrecognized

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© 2010 Prize The Doubt
[rating:3.5/5]

This Will Die Unrecognized is the new EP from Ohio’s Prize The Doubt. Six tracks of intriguing, semi-melodic (I say semi-melodic because the songs drift from melodic to hyper-aggressive) rock. The vocals especially enforce the melodic nature of the guitar drive rock riffs.

Prize The Doubt (PTD) consists of Alex Webb on guitars/vox, Brent Bogard on bass/vox and Jeremy Hill filling the percussion roll. If you’ve read any of my reviews before, you’ll know that I have a bit of a bias towards the punk/metal/rock/[insert genre here] trios. PTD certainly doesn’t change that. I appreciate the way the songs are tighter knit to accommodate the stripped down cast.

The EP, as mentioned, offers six tracks all of which seem to run from dreamy to screamy within the same song. Generally I find that formula a bit off-putting, but PTD throws it down in a manner that remains enjoyable. I think the quirky beats and vocal counter point goes a long way to keep the songs fresh. … Don’t get me wrong though, it could be totally better if the screamo direction would be kept at a barest of bare minimums. There is also an appreciable level of complexity to the arrangements that makes this EP hard to overlook.

All said and done, a solid EP and I would definitely listen to Prize The Doubt again.

Tracks:
1. Forget And Forget Again
2. Innocent Subjects
3. We Are Too Separate
4. Daily News Is Dead
5. The Purity Of Conformity
6. October 17th

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/

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

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