Dollar Signs are playing Fest 14 this year. We sent Punknews writer Ricky Lineberger out to interview them at their album release show, but instead of interviewing them, they decided to binge on pizza and then engage in a wall of death with cigarette pool noodles.
SO, we had to send him out again to interview the band, who are playing Fest 14 this year. You can see the interview below.
It’s been five years since Joey Cape’s last solo album, Doesn’t Play Well With Others. That doesn’t mean that he’s been idle, though. Lagwagon’s frontman has put out albums and singles with other side projects, such as Scorpios, Me First and the Gimme Gimmes, and Lagwagon itself. But that’s not all he’s been up to, either. His session label, One Week Records, has, so far, put out seven records – all recorded within one week.
Stitch Puppy, released September 4th, 2015, sounds nothing like Lagwagon’s Hang, released earlier this year, but there is a continuity between the two, a darkness that the two albums have in common. It’s a melodic and heavy hitting acoustic album, voicing concerns over extremely personal topics and society as a whole. It’s not quite a One Week Record, but it’s more raw and filled with gut-influenced decisions than his previous solo albums.
To learn about the darkness behind the album (among other things), Punknews’ Emma Potts spoke to Joey Cape about the new album and the making of the video for “This Life Is Strangeâ€, how fatherhood changes things, and chasing instant with Mountain Dew.
For the past seven years, Timeshares have played Fest sets filled with singalong punk anthems sure to please your average bearded, plaid-wearing festival-goer. This year, they'll be playing the Wooly on Friday October 30 at 11:50 PM, but first they'll be heading out on a tour with Signals Midwest.
Punknews interviewer Alex Meylink talked to guitarist/vocalist Jon Hernandez of Timeshares about Fest, their (sort of) new record and Jon's love for spiteful internet commenters.
Brian Gorsegner feels like he was hit by a train. Not a literal train, but the thundering locomotive that is parenthood. He sleeps less now, and his free time isn’t exactly his own anymore. But unlike many who cite parenthood as a mellowing force, Gorsegner hasn’t gone soft. In fact, the Night Birds frontman thinks becoming a father has had the opposite effect on his songwriting, and it’s hard to argue after spinning the band’s new Fat Wreck Chords LP, Mutiny At Muscle Beach . The album is 25 minutes of tense, frantic punk rock, with the overtones of surf punk and ‘80s hardcore that have always marked the band’s sound. In advance of the record’s release, Punknews editor Adam Eisenberg caught up with Gorsegner to talk about Night Birds’ move to Fat Wreck Chords, the band’s upcoming appearance at Fest 14 and the magical effects of coffee on the human body.
Drummer and songwriter John Wright started Nomeansno with his brother Rob back in 1979. On Sep. 20, 2015, the influential band will be inducted into the Western Canadian Music Hall of Fame. Punknews staffer Keenan Novi caught up with Wright to talk about the hall of fame ceremony, the current status of Nomeansno and writing music for robots.
Hatebeak is taking extreme metal to even more extreme places. At the base of the band’s sound is Blake Harrison and Mark Sloan who cut vicious, technical, unforgiving grindcore and death metal. But, the true star of the band is Waldo their vocalist, an African grey parrot who squaks and screams while the band tears out nasty riff after nasty riff.
After a decade of releasing splits, this Friday, the band is about to release their debut long player this, Number of the Beak (Reptilian Records). The release includes their material released to date as well as a side of brand new songs. On the new tunes, the band gets even more daring in their embrace of the jagged and steely, cutting songs that have the gruesome pummeling of Napalm Death but the sheer spiraling of Nile. And Waldo? He spits and clicks and clacks out some of his most vicious vocal takes ever.
To learn about the new album, Punknews’ John Gentile spoke to Waldo about the LP, his bandmates, and being an Avian minority in the metal scene.
When discussing Fucked Up, publications almost invariably focus on Damian Abraham, the obsessive, bearded, pro-toking vocalist, or Mike Haliechuk, the mysterious, visionary, oft-reserved lead guitarist. And to be fair, these two men are punk-par-excellence, both having taken the genre to daring, weird new heights. But, who is the guy that serves as the band’s backbone, the band’s engine, the metal sinew that holds the whole thing together while injecting himself into the proceeding (most of the time without you even knowing it?) That’s drummer Jonah Falco.
Falco’s drumming is flexible and distinct. He can roll out quiet, expressive comments in a barely there jazz cadence, but he can also storm down like Keith Moon if Keith Moon was in a d-beat band. But, on top of that, Falco is also a song-writing acolyte, having contributed to a great many Fucked Up songs. In fact, the band’s newest release, Year of the Hare, out tomorrow on Deathwish, is mainly the work of Falco and Haliechuk.
The release, which is the band’s seventh of twelve planned Zodiac 12-inchers, finds the band taking a song, tearing it apart, and then sewing it back together in a grotesque fashion. The tune, which pays slight homage to Alice in Wonderland, details a dude just completely losing his shit. To learn about how the this daring, fractured tune came to be, Punknews’ John Gentile spoke to Falco about the new release, being the “regular Joe†in Fucked up, and why Penny Rimbaud is cool.
Dummerfest 2k15 is almost here and we know you're crazy excited. To get you even more stoked Dummerfest organizer and Direct Hit! frontman, Nick Woods, sat down with another band who will be performing at the festival, Tenement. Check it out below and also scope out his recent interview with Juiceboxxx right here. Dummerfest will take place June 20 in Milwaukee, WI at the Metal Grill.
If there’s a band in punk who get the “Toughest To Pin Down†award, it would probably be Tenement. That’s likely a by-design distinction, coming from a group of relatively rural musicians, led by perhaps the most focused songwriter in the genre that this writer’s had a chance to pick over.
Calling the Wisconsin natives “dedicated†would be an understatement. They’ve spent more than their fair share of time on the road, touring with Screaming Females, Night Birds, and dozens of other, lesser-known, but no-less-awesome groups who exist on the fringe between art and pop. They’ve released a dizzying number of records since 2008, including 10 singles in multiple versions, 2011’s criminally-underappreciated LP Napalm Dream , compilations, original and re-released songs on cassette, and more, pieced together mostly at singer Amos Pitsch’s hand-assembled home studio. Their collective knowledge of recorded music is encyclopedic. Their live sets often last less than 15 minutes before exploding into feedback and wrecked equipment. And, of course, they proudly deliver proverbial middle fingers to many of the standbys that have come to define “punk rock†in 2015.
This was an intimidating interview for yours truly. From a distance, the band seems unapproachable and wild, and difficult to measure. But I was surprised by how interesting it was to chat with Pitsch, bassist Jesse Ponkamo, and drummer Eric Mayer over email, discussing their thoughtful approach to crafting what this writer considers to be one of the freshest, most interesting approaches to DIY music in 2015. They’re also playing this writer’s Dummerfest event on June 20 in Milwaukee, and have a new double LP out right now from Don Giovanni Records – Predatory Headlights . You should come experience it for yourself.
Are you ready for Dummerfest 2k15? If not Dummerfest organizer and Direct Hit! lead singer, Nick Woods, sat down with Juiceboxxx to get you amped up. Dummerfest will take place June 20 in Milwaukee, WI at The Metal Grill.
Tomorrow, Mischief Brew releases their new album, This is Not for Children. The album finds the band evolving from their previous LPs. Gone is the clacking, clinking, shambolic instrumentation. In its stead is a new, direct, pulsating energy, and the band uses that energy beam and reflects inward.
This is Not For Children dwells on the gentrification of Philly, laments the tragic loss of friends and looks at a town that is literally built on top of a giant, blazing fire. To learn about the band's current focus, and to get some history, features editor John Gentile spoke to the Brew and their friends. You can read the interview below.
The Melvins do play well with others. Across a span of 24 studio albums, 12 EPs, 12 live albums, 68 singles (or so), the band has collaborated with more than 30 other musicians. In fact, their latest album, Hold It In is a full length collaboration with Paul Leary and Jeff Pinkus of The Butthole Surfers.
On top of that, this week, the band embarks on a massive summer tour with Pinkus on bass! (And, Melvins' pals Le Butcherettes are opening and share a new 10-inch with the band!)
So, Punknews' John Gentile spoke to frontman Buzz Osborne about some of the band's collaborations. You can click read more to see what Osborne thinks about working with Jello Biafra, Lustmord. Leif Garrett, Mike Patton, and more.