Excuse The Blood – Demo EP

(c) 2008 Excuse The Blood
[rating:3/5]

excuse_the_blood Excuse The Blood is a Bay area 3-piece outfit with a pretty eclectic mix of sounds. Without trying to pigeon hole them, they sound like a mix of Slapshot-esque hardcore and a reggae/ska/punk blend ala Op Ivy or perhaps Rudiments. Despite the obvious influence the music feels fresh. The tempo keeps a good pace through the five tracks. That the disc is only a demo perhaps is the biggest shortcoming. Since I don’t have more of a sampling I’m going with a 3/5 instead of possibly higher. I’d like to hear more from Excuse The Blood. Until such time that a new release comes out, you can check the band out at their website www.excusetheblood.com

–Jerry Actually

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Playing Catchup

I know the volume of reviews has been low as of late. In the interest of restoring the natural balance and harmony to the world, the next batch of reviews may be decidedly brief and for that I apologize.

On another note, Danny from the North Side Kings and his family have been the victims of a house fire. They lost everything. If you can help out at all, please click here to make a donation.

And finally, The Peacocks (Switzerland) are playing at the Radio Room in San Diego tonight. It should be a damn fine show. I’ve been wanting to see them for years and now I finally can.

Cheers,
Jerry Actually

Trustkill band Soldiers to release new CD in 2009

Long Island’s SOLDIERS are feverishly writing for their follow up album to 2008’s “End Of Days”. Singer and songwriter Rick Jiminez checked in with Trustkill to say, “We’ve had some time this spring and summer between the activity of all of our other bands and started writing some new shit. It’s been a while since we had written and released “End Of Days” so we approached this from a totally refreshed perspective. The stuff is still as pissed and frustrated as ever.”

Speaking more specifically on some new songs, Rick said, “The past year and a half have built up quite a bit of cynicism and rage in me and the music also reflects that. “Black Scar” is a new song that switches the perspective of how I usually approach a song. Instead of focusing my attention towards how I observe others and their actions, I’ve used the song to express what I’ve become because of the filth I see and am sometimes forced to be surrounded by.”

For up-to-date information check out: http://www.trustkill.com

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SET YOUR GOALS’ NEW ALBUM OUT IN JULY

Pop-Punk’s Hottest Band To Release This Will Be The Death Of Us On July 21
June 3, 2009 – Los Angeles, CA – Bay Area pop-punk band Set Your Goals will release their widely anticipated new album This Will Be The Death Of Us on July 21 via Epitaph Records. Produced by Mike Green (Paramore, The Matches), the album features twelve relentless tracks of balls-to-the-wall, infectious non-stop pop-punk.

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Continue reading SET YOUR GOALS’ NEW ALBUM OUT IN JULY

Reno Divorce

Reno Divorce’s new album “Tears Before Breakfast”, as gritty, greasy, and down-n-dirty as it gets!
In stores in the US on July 21st!!

Reno Divorce are set to unleash their finest (half) hour yet – the unrelenting punk rock n’ roll hit fest that is their new album, “Tears Before Breakfast”, with 11 melodic punk rock anthems, for the fans of Gaslight Anthems, Social Distortion, Zeke, Agent Orange, The Stray Cats,…

Originally formed in Orlando, FL in 1996 and based out of Denver, CO since 2000, Reno Divorce have built a huge fanbase across North America, toured the US and Europe several times and will continue to do so, starting with a tour of the major European Summer festivals. Reno Divorce has been nominated for Best Punk Band in Denver in Westword magazine in 2005, 2006, and 2008. They also were in the Top 10 Finalists in the 93.3 FM KTCL Hometown For The Holidays contest in 2007 & 2008, shared the stage with Reverend Horton Heat, Henry Rollins, Street Dogs, Agnostic Front, Angel City Outcasts, The Dead Kennedys, Mad Sin and many more…

Make sure to check these guys out because this is probably one of the best punkrock records of the last decade!! Hey, who are we, you don’t have to take our word for it, but still…

The Bolsheviks – Action Reaction

(c) 2009 Red Square Records
[rating:4/5]

bolsheviks_action_reactionHere’s a headline: Bristol’s Bolsheviks’ Bring It! … “Ok”, you say, “smart guy”. “What is it that these Bolsheviks are bringing?” Well sir, it’s the muthafukin’ rock and roll for one and for two refer to number one. Seriously though, Action Reaction, the new CD from The Bolsheviks is hard to place but hard to put down at the same time. It is an eclectic mix of sound. I hear flashes of spacial sounding guitars ala Voivod and hard driving bass lines akin to Hogan’s Heroes. Hell they even remind me a bit of the Cadillac Tramps on track 6 “Stole My Name”. With all that is a crazy mash up of haunted house psychobilly grooves and an undeniable mod rock Clash factor. Though in all fairness I have no idea if these blokes ever listened to either of those bands, I do know there is a bit o’ psycho in ’em. The Bolsheviks formed in 2005 from the remnants of bands such as Lux, Rout and Misdormeanour. The wide-ranging prior influences of the collective memebers comes together for what works out to be a damn good CD. Apparently the band forewent any digital recording on the CD and went full analog. This decision lends well to the rather basement dwelling / garage haunting vibe that Action Reaction is all about. 11 tracks that combine punk, rock, psycho and and a strong retro vibe. If you can find them on this side of the pond, by all means do. Otherwise I suggest packin’ up the fam and moving to jolly ol’ England to catch some of this.

–Jerry Actually

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Aggrolites Kick Off US Tour

THE AGGROLITES KICK OFF US TOUR IN ANTICIPATION OF NEW ALBUM

Soulful Dirty Reggae Group Embarks On US Tour In Support of Their New Album, IV, Due Out June 9th
“Through sheer force of will (not to mention grooves so enticing you can’t help but fall into them), this quintet simply commands you to buy into their music, which they call “dirty reggae.” It’s rock-steady with a punk-funk edge, with frontman Jesse Wagner’s white-soul vocals and Roger Rivas’ crazy organ lines giving it a party-or-die feel.” – Kevin Bronson, buzzbands.la
Continue reading Aggrolites Kick Off US Tour

Heads Held High – So Say We All

(c)2008 Heads Held High on Crossface Records

[rating:4.5/5]

hhh Hot damn, it’s good to listen to old-fashioned, ass-kicking hardcore punk!  I hope these guys have stock in bass drum heads and throat lozenges; I’m sure they go through a lot of them. 

So Say We All is an 11-track musical masterpiece. You get screamish vocals from a frontman who can also sing, classic punk guitar notched up with nu-metal riffs, staunch and strumbly bass support, and insanely exceptional drumming.  Clever nuggets of movie quotes pop up between songs with lyrics ranging from introspective, self-abasing, life-loving and regime challenging — brilliant.

Heads Held High deliver an album that makes you want to go out and drive fast, drink hard, and kiss beautiful strangers.  I can’t wait til they tour the West Coast — go get this CD, learn the lyrics so we can go sing along when they’re here.

-HK-47