Epic Problem - Blindside

Epic Problem are a four piece punk rock band from New Mills, Derbyshire, UK. They are one of the many bands discovered whilst wandering around Rebellion Festival. They play melodic & angry Street Punk and should be higher up any bill than opening a main stage.

This is Blidside

Street Dogs - Punk Rock And Roll

Street Dogs are an American punk rock band from Boston, Massachusetts, formed in 2002 by former Dropkick Murphys singer Mike McColgan. Signed to Hellcat Records, Street Dogs is the fifth album by the Street Dogs and was released on August 31, 2010.

This is Punk Rock And Roll from that album.

Nothington - In The End

Nothington are a punk rock band from San Francisco, California. We had been waiting over five years for a new Nothington album when In The End was released in 2017. Nothing ever comes easy to this band, and that's why it took so long, but you can hear that struggle and restlessness in this batch of songs. Dual singers Jay and Chris make this album what it is. It is an album full of triumph and tenacity, turmoil and turbulence. Just the way we like it.

The album is nothing short of fantastic. Every single song is an anthem for the disenfranchised that comes charging for you with a powerful rhythm section, killer riffs and choruses that beg to be screamed along from the top of your lungs.

As a taster this is the title track and album closer.

Dirty Cheetah - Got Caught

Dirty Cheetah are a punk n roll band from Montreal. Their bio states "Two greasy hands mechanics hammering their guitars to the rhythm of a roller derby warrior and a rock”n Biker. You get Dirty Cheetah!"

They released their debut album on 22nd April and it is very good. Titled Never Too Late it is full of pretty straightforward music with lyrics that don't take themselves too seriously but it is the kind of album that will make you want to stomp and chant to the rock n roll they are producing that comes with a punk edge. Music that begs to be played loud! It will also sound great in them small toilet like dive bars, whenever that may be.

I am going with Got Caught which is track that stuck out to me on first listen.

Give it a shot!

Bandcamp


 

Thrice - Artist In The Ambulance

Thrice is an American rock band from Irvine, California, formed in 1998. The group was founded by guitarist/vocalist Dustin Kensrue and guitarist Teppei Teranishi while they were in high school.

Early in their career, the band was known for fast, hard music based in heavily distorted guitars, prominent lead guitar lines, and frequent changes in complex time signatures. This style is exemplified on their second album, The Illusion of Safety (2002) and their third album The Artist in the Ambulance (2003). Their fourth album Vheissu (2005) made significant changes by incorporating electronic beats, keyboards, and a more experimental sound.

I am going with the title track from 2003's he Artist in the Ambulance which is a great track and potentially quite unerrated also.

Lagwagon - May 16

Lagwagon is an American punk rock band originally from Goleta, California, just outside Santa Barbara. They formed in 1990, went on hiatus in 2000, and reunited several times over the years. Their name comes from the band's tour van, which can be seen on the back cover of their 1994 second album Trashed.
 
The band has 11 releases through Fat Wreck Chords: eight studio albums, one EP, one live album and a collection of B-sides, compilation tracks and demos. Lagwagon has never had, nor have they seemed to pursue, strong mainstream success, but they do have a devoted underground following in North America, Europe and Asia. Their moderate success reflected a growing interest in punk rock during the 1990s, along with fellow California bands Rancid, Green Day and The Offspring.  

I am sharing the song May 16 from their 1998 5^th album Let’s Talk About Feelings which was also featured in Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2.
 

In 2016 Noisey did an interview with singer and songwriter Joey Cape about the meaning of the song and how the date had the nickname, "Lagwagon Day". Speaking about the inspiration for the song:

"You know, it was me, hungover in an apartment with some girl I went home with from the bar the night before. There was an acoustic guitar in the corner. I heard this ruckus happening in a park adjacent to the apartment complex, and it was just a wedding happening on this Saturday, May 16. And my heart just broke; this wedding that I hadn’t been invited to for someone I was so close to for so many years of my life, where a misunderstanding caused a falling out between us from some time before. That story is very long and I don’t want to revisit it, but I kind of picked up the guitar and the first thing that came to mind was: “It’s just another Saturday,” but obviously I was in denial. The melody and the song came together; by the time my new friend got out of the shower or whatever, I had this terribly sad song."

It is a great "American punk rock" song and one worth a share.

Tommy And The Rockets - You Don't Know What You've Got

Hailing from Odense (Denmark), Tommy And The Rockets are a very catchy good time band who have teamed up with Moss (Norway) power pop punkers The Dahlmanns to release the Scandinavian Affair 7". It's a perfect soundtrack to the approaching summer with both bands knocking it out of the park.

The Dahlmanns contribute a classy cover of Party Girl, a track from Rachel Sweet's 1981 album, ...And Then He Kissed Me. Smooth as satin and sure to have you singing along, definitely a track to check out.

Tommy And The Rockets take on a track written by Joan Jett, Kenny Laguna and Ritchie Cordell which originally appeared on Joan's first album from 1980. A gentle rocker about lost love, it is a catchy little number.

It's titled You Don't Know What You've Got...

Bandcamp

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The Draft - New Eyes Open

The Draft is made up of three quarters of the recently defunct Hot Water Music. When Chuck Ragan left the band to pursue more time with his family and a new acoustic project, the remaining members - bassist Jason Black, vocalist/guitarist Chris Wollard, and drummer George Rebelo - decided they weren't ready to slow down, appointed Todd Rockhill to join Wollard on guitar and started this project. The project gave us one album, this being In A Million Pieces. Some songs sound like they would be perfectly at home on a Hot Water Music album whilst other are a total surprise. Whilst Chuck's gruff is missed, some of the things being tried on this album are a pleasent surprise.

I am going with is New Eyes Open, which is the albums opener. In the chorus Chris Wollard shouts, "That's what I like about it, it's not so complicated." While he might have been singing about things other than his musical pursuits, the same can be said about what makes their debut album a pleasurable listen. New Eyes Open sounds like something that Hot Water Music could have done and is a great introduction to the band and album.

The Muslims - Punch A Nazi

The Muslims are a punk rap band from Durham (North Carolina). Listed amongst their "likes" on Facebook are Black Punks. Brown Punks. Femme Punks. Ghetto Punks. GNC Punks. Ratchet Punks. Dyke/Trans/Queer/Faggy Punks. Punks who piss on Nazi graves... What they don't like are racists, homophobes, bigots, the intolerant and Donald "fuckface" Trump.

They mix up punk, afropunk, hardcore and rap-rock. They're direct in their verbal attacks but they certainly aren't po-faced whiners. They add plenty of biting satire to their incendiary songs.

They've recently released a new album titled Gentrified Chicken. It let's rip at the usual targets but does it in a style that makes it seem fresh and vital. White power goons who blame everything on Mohammad, trigger happy cops, government surveillance, gentrification, inequality etc... There's even a "sort of" Blink-182 cover!

This track hits out at the relics of a dying system, the flag flying proud boys and the racist establishment that enables them. It's a great companion song to the Bob Vylan track I featured a couple of weeks back.

This is Punch A Nazi...

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Bandcamp

Goldfinger - Superman

Goldfinger is an American punk rock and ska punk band from Los Angeles, California, formed in 1994. In their early years the band is widely considered to have been a contributor to the movement of third-wave ska, a mid-1990s revitalization in the popularity of ska. Aside from the band's music, Goldfinger is also noted for their political activism, particularly in the area of animal rights. On their later albums, the band shed most of the ska influence and they have been more commonly placed in the punk rock genre than ska.

Superman was used in several scenes for the film Kingpin. Also, two years after its release, the song was featured in the 1999 video game Tony Hawk's Pro Skater which is probably where I first heard of Goldfinger.

It is just a great, happy song that never fails to make me smile.

Alexisonfire - Boiled Frogs

Alexisonfire (pronounced "Alexis on fire") is a five-piece Canadian post-hardcore band that formed in St. Catharines, Ontario in 2001.

Boiled Frogs is a song that has always it home lyrics wise and is a great sing along when they play it live. If I hear it, it gets stuck in my head for days. It is another that has some good memories tied to it, mainly from club nights when it comes on at 2am. It is a great  post-hardcore punk song.

Lyrics
Old man sits at his desk
One year for retiring
And he's up for review
Not quite sure what to do, each passing year
The workload grows

I'm always wishing, I'm always wishing too late
For things to come my way
It always ends up the same
Count your blessings
I must be missing, I must be missing the point
Your signal fades away and all I'm left with is noise
Count your blessings on one hand

So wait up I'm not sleeping alone again tonight
There's so much to dream about, there must be more to my life

Poor little tin man, still swinging his axe
Even though his joints are clogged with rust

My youth is slipping, my youth is slipping away
Safe in monotony, so safe, day after day
Count your blessings
My youth is slipping, my youth is slipping away
Cold wind blows off the lake and I know for sure that its too late
Count your blessings on one hand

So wait up I'm not sleeping alone again tonight
There's so much to dream about, there must be more to my life

Can't help but feel betrayed, punch the clock every single day
There's no loyalty and no remorse
You spoke for present check
That makes me fucking sick
He's sick of, he can't say no

Whoa-oh-oh-oh-oh

So wait up I'm not sleeping alone again tonight
There's so much to dream about, there must be more to my life
So wait up
So wait up I'm not sleeping alone again tonight
Between the light and shallow waves is where I'm going to die
Wait up for me
Wait up for me
Wait up for me