A vision of walking around and imagining my Walkman headphones were actually giant speakers accompanying me forcing the world into dancing and performing their tasks to my music. If I had giant speakers up in the sky blasting my own music then everywhere I went people would have to listen to my music and the world would have a uniform emotion, a sort of interconnectedness. Like an unrelenting soundtrack to which everyone must acquiesce… These are my speakers in the sky.
The first single from their second album, Siamese Dream and the opening track, Cherub Rock was one of the last songs written for the album. The lyrics relate to Corgan's relationship with his perception of the indie rock community and larger media.
It is a brilliant song from a cracking album and thought it deserved a place on this blog.
Antarctigo Vespucci is an American indie rock band, formed in 2014. The band is composed of punk musicians Chris Farren and Jeff Rosenstock.
The band explains their name as a joke: "Amerigo Vespucci is the guy who discovered America so it stands to reason that Antarctigo Vespucci would be the guy who discovered Antarctica."
In 2015, the band released their first full-length album, Leavin' La Vida Loca on Rosenstock's pay what you want label, Quote Unquote Records. The band described their debut album as "dreamy beachy pop-punk with catchy hooks," and "apartment power-pop," likely in reference to the album having been largely recorded and produced in a small bedroom in Rosenstock's Brooklyn apartment.
I am sharing album closure I See Failure which to me is a very underrated classic tune.
These are from Greensboro, North Carolina and finds the middle ground between Adolescents' snotty SoCal punk and the harder sounds of DC post-hardcore, and it manages to induce nostalgia and feel fresh and urgent all at once.
On Casual Drag’s ten streamlined songs, you’ll hear razor sharp, no-frills melodic hardcore, with angry lyrics that show how the personal is inseparable from the political when the country is on the brink of chaos. For this bracing album, Totally Slow has combined the melodic anthems of 1980s SoCal bands like The Adolescents, Agent Orange and The Faction, with the skewed rawk of ‘90s San Diego bands Drive Like Jehu and Truman’s Water, and the righteous conviction of classic DC hardcore like Dag Nasty, Gray Matter and Fugazi. Not only does Totally Slow burn bright, on Casual Drag, they also feed the fire.
Crime Line are a band from Norfolk, Virginia who play loud, fast, snotty rock and roll and line up with Ray Braza (Vocals), Stephen Marsh (Lead Guitar), Charles Glover (Guitar), Andy Harris (Bass) & Jared Fritzinger (Drums).
Earlier this year they introduced themselves with the blistering Locked And Loaded ep and they've just followed it up with the equally ferocious Crime Line II : Violent Urges. 7 more tracks of high octane garage punk that you're gonna love. I was going to say that highlights include the frenetic Bad Luck, and the more mid paced but very catchy Velcro Heart but to be honest, all the tracks are worthy of a mention. This is the title track, it's called Violent Urges
Dublin "garage noise four piece" Sprints formed in 2019 and have been championed by the likes of the BBC (both Radio 1 & 6), The Guardian and The NME.
They've just released a new single. It's on Nice Swan Records and it'll be available soon on limited edition 7" signed vinyl. You can get it now digitally via their Bandcamp
Featuring an impressively passionate performance by vocalist Karla Chubb this is a track you definitely won't be wasting your time on, it's called How Does The Story Go?...
Based in Deal, Kent, Mr Wu's Pigs is the solo project of David Tombesi-Walton. The music has been described as garage-punk fuzzpop and influences include the likes of Buzzcocks, Nirvana, Weezer, Billy Childish and Mary Bell. There's a decent sized back catalogue available on Bandcamp.
6th August sees the release of his 3rd proper album. This time around it'll be a covers album featuring a varied collection of songs from genres such as rockabilly, proto-punk, electropop etc. The song choices aren't as obvious as on some collections of this kind but they coalesce well.
You can pre order the cd & digital versions on Bandcamp
Being Boiled was originally released as a single in 1978 by The Human League.
Ingo, the singer of renowned German punks DONOTS didn‘t just sit out the pandemic watching Netflix. He has recently started a new mini all-star-band featuring his old friends Kruse from Adam Angst, Benni from Schrottgrenze and Peter from Robocop Kraus/Pale. They share a deep love for 90s Old School Posi Hardcore in the vein of Lifetime, Kid Dynamite, Dag Nasty, CIV, H2O or Grey Area and pay tribute to the East Coast with their songs.
This is the video for The Art of Defiance & Old Dogs Don't Die which features Jason Shevchuk of Kid Dynamite and None More Black. The album Slingshot Anthems will be out later on this year.
Growing Stone is the pretty sadcore project of smooth-singing NYC songwriter, Skylar Sarkis (see also: Taking Meds).
Rushing For Fear Of Intruder is a single from his very solid lo-fi album I Had Everybody Snowed. I saw rave reviews about the album but didn't really get it at first. It's definitely a grower.
The Linda Lindas are currently one of the most talked about new bands around and also one of the youngest. Based in Los Angeles they're two sisters, a cousin, and their close friend; 10 year old Mila, Eloise (13), Lucia (14) & Bela (16). Two of them are Asian, two Latinx and they mix up the spirit of punk rock with a healthy dose of both power pop and new wave. They took their name from a 1987 song by Japanese punks The Blue Hearts
Signing to Epitaph hasn't done them any harm you wouldn't have thought. This is Oh!
Soursob are a trio from Glasgow with members originating from Glasgow, Lithuania, and Australia. Their sound is a mix of C-86 and riot grrrl, think mid paced menace rather than all out aural assault. It's bass led & growly with comparisons being made to the likes of Huggy Bear, Period Pains, Shop Assistants etc.
This track is about wishing you had a plentiful supply of cocaine. It's called Blow.
Goncalo Salgado is a Portuguese artist that releases music under the name Lake Haze. He is a key player in Portuguese musical exports, delivering masterful blends of techno grooves and retro melodies, and released his second LP titled Sun Rising On Concrete Landscapes in April. The record explores atmospheric, slightly melancholic timbre to Salgado’s music. I could have pretty much picked any track from the album, so I am going with the opening track That Rave Saved My Life. It sounds like echoes from a distant memory and turns the sounds of the rave into something sombre, expansive and scattered with space age breaks. Get the headphones on and give it a whirl.
Max Collins is an American musician, singer, and songwriter who is best known as the lead vocalist, primary songwriter, and bassist of the alternative rock band Eve 6, which he co-founded with Jon Siebels. Honey from the Icebox is his debut solo album which was released in 2014.
The Muslims are QADR (vocals/guitar), Abu Shea (bass), and Ba7ba7 (drums). They're from Durham, North Carolina and are a "crunchy, kickass punk band of Black + brown queer muzzies" whose intention is to bring us a healthy serving of "political satire, spandex and radical extremism. Black/Brown queer shit."
Fuck These Fucking Fascists is their first release since signing to Epitaph and you can get it on Bandcamp
Rum Lad has been agonising over whether to carry on or whether to concentrate on other projects, happily sense has prevailed so not only do we get new album Punk AF. This a great track it is called Taste.
The upcoming new old Descendents album, 9th & Walnut (“9th & Walnut is where our first practice room was, in Frank’s sister’s garage,”), is shaping up very nicely. It'll be their 8th studio album and it'll be out on July 23rd on Epitaph Records. It'll contain 18 tracks written by the band between 1977 and 1980 and recorded over two time periods (first in 2002, and again in 2020). Many are previously unreleased (including a cover of the Dave Clark Five's Glad All Over) but there's also re recordings of Ride The Wild & It's A Hectic World. Best of all, it's the first time that the classic line up of Milo Aukerman (vocals), Tony Lombardo (bass), Frank Navetta (guitar) & Bill Stevenson (drums) have recorded together since the 1996 album Everything Sucks.
Originally appearing on The Blasting Room comp in 1999, it was a studio outtake from the Milo Goes To College sessions. It's titled Like The Way I Know and is a glorious sub 60 second blast of premium punk rock. The bar has been set high and I'm sure they're gonna deliver.
Today's song comes from a very good new ep by a band from Newcastle, Australia called Rort Menace. The band is comprised of Madeleine Mitchell (vocals/bass), Will Mitchell (vocals/guitar) and Zac Graham (drums/vocals) and I think it's fair to say they kick up one hell of a racket. They describe their sound as brutal, coarse and bratty punk rock and it's a pretty accurate summation.
The ep is titled Turea and all the tracks on the ep were written on the sovereign lands of the Awabakal and Worimi peoples with the band wanting to pay their respects to Aboriginal elders past, present and emerging in consideration of a rich cultural storytelling and musical tradition that extends beyond 75,000 years through to time immemorial. The word Turea comes from the main street in Blacksmiths, NSW which was named in 1948 after the Awabakal word for Bream (type of fish) as recorded by Reverend Threlkeld, a notorious English missionary.
The Hum Hums are a Tokyo based pop punk/power pop band who for over a decade now they've been releasing some of the catchiest tunes around. Their influences range all the way through from Stiff Little Fingers to Herman's Hermits via the likes of Jan And Dean.
They're pretty much ready to record a new record but the restrictions caused by the pandemic have left the coffers somewhat bare so to raise funds they recently put out a couple of stop gap releases full of previously unreleased stuff. There's Teenage Loser Outtakes (7 outtakes during the pre production for "Teenage Loser" back in 2012 including an unreleased song) and even more interestingly Rejected Demos 2013-2021 (10 rejected demos in 8 years including 2 cover songs).
Perfect music for driving in your car on a sunny day or maybe lying on a golden beach watching the surfers.
This track is about the one and only Dee Dee Girl...
Bambies are a garage punk trio based in Montreal who's members, Sami (guitar, main vox), Feli (Bass, backing vox) & Franki (drums, backing vox), originate from Canada, France & Costa Rica.
Titled Summer Soon, their debut albuml will be out in August via Spaghetty Town Records in the US and Wanda Records in Europe. They describe their music as "gritty yet poppy, mischievous but charming, infectious, danceable, and above all, fun." It's inspired by 70's era punk, power pop and garage, you might even notice a sprinkling of rock n roll and a topping of surf rock.
They've released a teaser track which is about "answering the call of invisible forces, internal chemistry or whatever it is that brings you to the right place, at the right time to have a perfect night. It’s an ode to dirt too. Because the perfect night is not a sanitized one."
Real Sickies are from Edmonton, Alberta and boast some great catchy choruses and melodies galore.
Titled Love Is For Lovers, their new album is out on July 9th on and will feature "a stellar collection of 14 timeless songs about love (duh), loss and heartache served up as only the Sickies can. From explosive rockers to heart-wrenching ballads, Love is for Lovers has the whole enchilada!". Today I am sharing the title track. This is Love Is For Lovers...
It can't be easy being in the music industry during the pandemic. Pretty much impossible to tour, hard even to meet up to practise or record. I know of a few big name bands that have managed to record but are holding off on releasing new material till they can get out on the road.
Das Kapitans are Stephen Potter & Simon Bailey who took advantage of their other band, Fuzz And The Felts, being unable to get together to set themselves the goal of releasing a new album every 5 minutes during 2021. A daunting task but one which left them enough spare time to release even more extra tracks, including the one you'll see below. It's a football song for the Euros and it's bloody good. You can snap it up name your price on Bandcamp and is called On Me Head Son
Vancouver punks Chain Whip have a new ep which is titled Two Step To Hell coming out on July 15th on 12" via Drunken Sailor (UK/Europe) and Neon Waste & Neon Taste Records (North America). Combining Killed By Death with California beach punk stylings, the 6 track ep sees the band "meaner, faster, and a bit more pissed off." Pissed off about the huge disparity between haves and have nots, right wing fuck jobs, media bias and a growing sense of helplessness, the members of the band are on the edge. They'll be treating us to 5 originals and a cover of (Canadian) Subhumans' classic Death Was Too Kind which I am posting today.
Nasty Rumours are a Powerpop / ‘77 Punkrock band from Bern, Switzerland. Think catchy old school punk and you'll be bang on the money. We might not have heard from them for a while but they haven't lost their knack of turning out a catchy earworm.
