San Francisco, CA – January 23, 2026 – Bay Area punk rockers Druglords of the Avenues have just announced pre-orders for their new LP Gotta Light via Pirates Press Records. The LP is scheduled for release on March 20, and features the single “Ghetto Sidewalks,” along with nine other new songs. The album is available for pre-order from Pirates Press Records. “Ghetto Sidewalks” is now streaming on all major platforms! Click here to stream the single.
What began as a side project with legendary San Francisco punk singer Johnny “Peebucks” Bonnel (Swingin’ Utters, Filthy Thieving Bastards, Primitive Heads) and guitarist Matt Grayson quickly evolved into a fully fledged band with a life and perspective all its own. Now releasing their third full length, the band are locked in and firing on all cylinders with their unique brand of rollicking, storytelling streetpunk.
On past albums, influences from the fiery grit of punk & hardcore classics like the Dwarves & Circle Jerks to the ramshackle folk chaos of The Pogues and the dark complexities of The Pixies have been spotted in the mix.
What truly sets Druglords of the Avenues apart is the combination of that punk rock energy with the folk tradition of songwriting as storytelling. While the guitars and the rhythm section – where Bonnel & Grayson are joined by guitarist Rob Pierce, bassist Michael Mininger, and drummer Robert Faria – may be blazing at a breakneck pace, the lyrics are relating street level tales of poor and working class people doing what they have to to survive.
On the single “Ghetto Sidewalks,” primary lyricist Bonnel engages in complex wordplay alongside straightforward snapshots of urban decay with declarations such as “We need some light on the ghetto sidewalks / We’re always stumbling in the dark.” Indeed, Bonnel’s one-of-a-kind, dense but direct lyricism calls to mind a character he describes in “Gutter Roller Mart”: “He’s a street poet / Aggressive misbehavior.”
The characters that populate the streets and sidewalks of Gotta Light have their struggles, mistakes, conflicts, and grudges, but for the most part, they are presented without value judgements. These are simply the stories of lives lived hard, and Druglords of the Avenues are here to tell them.
Gotta Light by Druglords of the Avenues is available from Pirates Press Records on two different 12” Picture Disc editions: both feature the same art by Bonnel on the A-side, while the B-side art is available with both a black & white spiral or a limited edition pink & black spiral. The album will be available everywhere on March 20, 2026!
Swingin’ Utters is a damn good band. Youth Brigade is still a damn good band. Both of them together on one CD?? Stop, you say. It can’t be so. Ah, but it is true. This spit series CD is a fucking cool idea. This is the first time that I, personally, have run across one of these (that’s not saying a whole hell of a lot.) Anyway, for those of you who have never heard of these bands, Go BUY IT NOW!!! This is not necessarily 100% hardcore, but a little Oi, a little traditional, a little hard-core, and a little (oh shit!) pop. Could you really ask for more? Guaranteed you will find at least 4 songs that you will play again. My personal favorites, not that you give a stinky hippie, are Haven’t Seen Yourself In Years (Swinging Utters) and Let them Know (Youth Brigade.)
Where the heck were these guys when I lived in Portland? Not around I guess. I wish I would have would have been in town though. They sound like a hella good band. Folksy and punky with songs of sailing the seas and the drinking of beer. They swagger like Swingin’ Utters and The Pogues and rock out with less melodrama than most of the rain-addled cock-n-roll of many Portland bands. Cloudy Skies contains 12.5 tracks of the aforementioned variety of rock and it does not dissapoint. If you like the drinking and the singalongs and music that may make you want to steal a boat, then this one is for you. There’s more to it of course, but the jist of it is good time rock and roll. Enjoy!