For the past decade, Lansing, MI's Cheap Girls have been pumping out catchy-as-hell rock built on a simple, but effective format. On September 16th, they'll be releasing their first compilation of selective rarities, God's Ex-Wife, on Asian Man Records. Interviewer Alex Meylink talked with vocalist and bassist Ian Graham about the process of putting this collection together and what it's like to look back at ten years of personal rock music.
A Wilhelm Scream is one of the hardest working and one of the tightest live bands in the punk scene. If you have ever been to one of their shows then you know exactly what I am talking about. It seems like they never really stop touring and never have an off night. In the studio it is clearly a group effort, but the one of the main engines behind the whole song-writing machine that is A Wilhelm Scream is guitarist and back up vocalist Trevor Reilly. Since their last album Party Crasher was released in 2013, it seemed like it was time to check in on them. So Punknews Editor Ricky Frankel caught up with Trevor Reilly to talk about his very first solo acoustic performance that happened recently, what he learned from working with Bill Stevenson, what the band is currently working on, if they have anything special planned for their performance at Fest 15 this year and a whole lot more.
Photo Credit: John Paul Allen
Video Credit: Mike Plante - ForeignFeelingPhotography.com
Bracket will release their new album, The Last Page this Friday. So, to celebrate this oft-off kilter band, Punknews Editor Jeff Sorley called up the band and put together a history of their exploits. Check it out below.
The Bouncing Souls have been churning out some incredible 3 chord punk tracks for over 27 years. From their 1994 release of The Good, the Bad, and the Argyle to their 2012 release of Comet , the band have 9 albums under their belt they have decided it was time to release their 10th album this week with drummer George Rebelo of Hot Water Music. Their 10th album is titled Simplicity will be out on July 29th on Rise Records. Punknews editor and super Souls fan Samantha Barrett spoke with singer Greg Attonito to discuss aliens, conspiracies, and the new album.
On July 24 at the Hollywood Forever cemetary, Linda Ramone (wife of Johnny… duh) will throw her annual Johnny Ramone tribute. To make things extra special, it's also the Ramones' 40th anniversary, so Linda has got a lot of cool stuff planned. There will be a screening of Rock 'n' Roll High School. Roger Corman will be there, as will Henry Rollins, Steve Jones, and a bunch of other people. Plus Kirk Hammett is bringing his horror movie poster collection!
To kick off our own celebration of the Ramones' 40th, Punknews' John Gentile spoke to Linda about the Johnny celebration, the responsibility of being the protector of the Ramones' legacy, and of course, that very, very famous love triangle…
You can read more about the tribute here and check out the interview below!
Comedian Connor Ratliff really, truly, unironically, honest-to-Godly, hates the summer. Ratliff has honed his creative chops at the Upright Citizens Brigade theater and later, as a regular on the Chris Gethard show. But, despite the fact that he's a funny-man, for some reason, he has a blazing hatred towards the sweetest of all seasons.
In fact, his ire runs so hot that he actually recruited pop-punk titan Mikey Erg to record an entire EP about just why he hates Summer. The record has a loose jangle with slight touches of Moldy Peaches type whimsy and Fugs type bitterness, but through it all, despite that Ratliff gets paid for yuks, there really is a seething hatred towards the warmer months on this record. So, Punknews' John Gentile spoke to Ratliff about just why he hates the months that everyone else loves so much.
Photo by Mindy Tucker
Direct Hit! has come such a long way since the days that they were on Death To False Hope Records and Kind Of Like Records. They have released two full-lengths, a compilation, a bunch of 7-inches, and they have toured like hell over the past several years. This year the band found its new home at Fat Wreck Chords – something that seemed like such an obvious fit (at least from this fan’s view point) and now they have released their highly anticipated third full-length Wasted Mind . So Punknews editor Ricky Frankel talked with lead vocalist and guitarist Nick Woods about the new album, getting signed to Fat Wreck Chords, becoming a punk rock dad, his other band Galactic Cannibal and more. FUCK YOU! GET PUMPED!
Photo Credit: Denise Borders
Parry Gripp has had an interesting musical life, from nerd punker in Nerf Herder to YouTube viral video wizard to music writer for children's cartoons. Nerf Herder released Rockingham this spring, so staff writer and Punknews podcast producer Greg Simpson gave Gripp a call to chat about it and to discuss how to embrace your inner nerd-dom.
The members of Masked Intruder are tough guys to get a hold of. They’re constantly on the run from the cops after (allegedly) committing robbery or they’re constantly on the road playing songs about their crime sprees, love, loneliness, and heart shaped guitars. But now that they have moved on from Fat Wreck Chords and have their new Love And Other Crimes EP coming out on July 8, 2016 via Pure Noise Records. Luckily Punknews editor Ricky Frankel managed to get a hold of lead vocalist Blue (aka Intruder Blue) and talk to him in an undisclosed location about the new release, the classic TV show The Wonder Years, committing theft, celebrity crushes and more before they get caught and thrown in the slammer… or at least before they go on this year’s Warped Tour.
Photo Credit: Joe Leonard
Today, Punknews is pleased to debut the new song by Adrian Cohen.
This premiere might be a little different than our usual fare. Cohen is a 16 year old savant that composes songs, using his dad as a lyricist. Cohen is a calendar counter, eats over 200 cantaloupes a year (he volunteered that info, we didn't like ask him, "how many cantaloupes do you eat in a given year"), and writes songs from a truly unique perspective. Whereas most bands we cover tend to write towards a genre's precepts, or intentionally move away from certain traits, Cohen, like a very small group, seems to write in almost a true vacuum. You could, perhaps, compare his process to that of Daniel Johnston, Brian Wilson, and Wesley Willis, but each of those artists have their own style.
You can pre-order his upcoming album, Sticks and Stones right here. Meanwhile, hear his new single, "Cooler than Cool," and check out an interview with Adrian and his dad, below.
2016 has been pretty big year for Brendan Kelly. So far it has been filled with a bunch of “firsts†and it’s about to become more hectic, too. The first Falcon record in ten years, Gather Up The Chaps was released on Red Scare in March. And now that the long awaited record has finally graced our record players (or iPhones or streaming apps or cassette players or floppy disk drives or whatever the fuck), the time has come for the band to head out and do some proper touring for the first time in a long time. They played their first Groezrock show, but The Falcon will be going on their very first west coast tour in July as well as playing Punk Rock Bowling Asbury Park in June (SEE TOUR DATES BELOW!). So Punknews editor Ricky Frankel caught up with Brendan to talk about the upcoming tour, the new album, David Hasslehoff, his Twitter endeavors, that famous interview he did on The Daily Show and much more.
Photo Credit: Greg Pallante