I am lucky enough to have seen The Bouncing Souls more times than I can count. Blessed to have seen them so many times and hang out with them when I would go out and roadie with Weston.
I was also lucky enough to go to Jersey City last year to witness this show live. You might see my bald head, stage right (the right side of a stage from the point of view of a performer facing the audience). You might see Reds and Tracy there too.
Thank you to the Bouncing Souls for so many fantastic memories.Thank you for sharing this video.
The Dollyrots are one of the coolest bands I have ever witnessed live and my wife and daughter also love the band.
The Undertones were supposed to play the Lehigh Valley this month but had to cancel the tour due to COVID19.
Well, the Dollyrots just unleashed a spectacular cover of the Undertones "Teenage Kicks". That song was one of my first introductions to new wave and punk. Released in 1978 it was undoubtedly one of the gateway songs that lead me down this punk rock path. Love that the Dollyrots covered this. Love the way this band interacts with their fans. They embrace the same punk rock ethos as I. I highly suggest you download this cover they "just whipped up in quarantine! Get it for free!"
Listening to this has me fantasizing about an Undertones / Dollyrots tour post-quarantine! How sweet would that be!
The Bar Stool Preachers are attempting to improve the quality of your quarantined life.
They have released two new songs available to you for free download. Head on over to The Bar Stool Preachers site to download, stream and donate if you are so moved. A portion of any proceeds will go to assist NHS Charities Together.
"When This World Ends" and "State of Emergency" are topical and classic The Bar Stool Preachers. "This is a call to be better. To be kinder. To share strength. To be a community that leads with love. To hold politicians accountable."
Both songs are uplifting, which given the topic is no easy challenge. My favorite line from the EP is:
"If we do things right, just this time, we don't have to go back to normal."
Hopefully you are aware of The Bar Stool Preachers. If not, take this free download and check their discography and other releases on Pirates Press Records. They transition from anthem punk rock to a ska influence effortlessly and have a knack for writing catchy, memorable songs. I imagine that fans of pub rock, the Clash, pop punk and/or Bouncing Souls will love The Bar Stool Preachers. I certainly do.
With the infinite ways to access music, you may have missed that the pre-orders for the Supersuckers next LP are up and ready to go.
"Play that Rock and Roll" was recorded at Willie Nelson's studio in Austin Texas. The vinyl comes in a choice of three colors: 200 on Reptilian green vinyl, 300 on Supersuckers orange vinyl and 500 on record store white vinyl.
Track Listing: 1. Ain't Gonna Stop 2. Gettin' Into Each Other's Pants 3. Deceptive Expectations 4. You Ain't The Boss Of Me 5. Bringin' It Back 6. Play That Rock 'n' Roll 7. That's A Thing? 8. Last Time Again 9. Die Alone 10. Dead Jail Or Rock 'n' Roll 11. *Hidden Track*
I love that in 2020 vintage punk bands continue to demonstrate resolve, a word which here means "to decide firmly on a course of action". Whether that action is to continue on, or return to the garage and brush up on their instruments and get the band back together again, or put the old pieces together with some new blood. Obviously, most bands will not become millionaires by doing this. There must be a passion to be old and strap on the old guitar, plug in the microphone or sit behind the drum kit. Have they retired from day jobs and are looking to fill their time? Playing punk rock is better than sitting 'round at home watching the pictures go. Later this year I will get to see the Undertones yet again. Steve Diggle is carrying on with the Buzzcocks. Locally, the Clap keeps plugging away. Thankfully, the examples are many! Which takes us to The Outcasts. In the event that you do not know The Outcasts, they are from Belfast, Northern Ireland. The Cowan brothers; Greg, Colin and Martin started the band in 1977. Give a listen to "Just Another Teenage Rebel", a true classic punk rock single that was released by Good’s Vibrations in 1978.
If you like listening to Spotify, brush up on The Outcasts with "The Punk Singles Collection":
Forty-three years after their beginnings, The Outcasts return with new recordings, available in vinyl and digital formats. Two of the Cowans return, vocalist Greg and guitarist Martin are joined by Petesy Burns on guitar and JP Dear Boy Moonie on drums. They look old. They are old and they take that topic on directly with "Stay Young". Check out the video.
If you are an old punk feeling down on being old, let this be your rebellion, your reminder to take each day as a blessing and attack it with whatever you have left. If you are a youngster, realize it isn't so bad getting old. I sure am glad that living fast early on didn't lead us to die young. This is inspirational.
"The Pressure's On" is driving classic punk cover, originally done by Rudi, another Northern Ireland punk band. If you don't know that song, give a listen below and know that The Outcasts version stays true.
"Rebel Rock Radio" puts the stay young mentality in perspective knowing that the worms will be licking out our eyes soon enough, but also has a twisted way of making its point, to make sure you leave your mark, so your music and spirit live on.
The digital version of the EP features two additional tracks, a rerecording of their early B-Side “You’re a Disease” and "78".
Thank you to Violated Records for releasing this new addition to The Outcasts already mandatory discography. Let's hope they bring this to the US for a tour!
I had to make a change. I love sharing my reviews of albums. It gives me pleasure to turn someone on to a record. When I did a physical zine back in the day, print space left me with about a three-sentence paragraph to convey my opinion on a record. The blog format eliminates space constraints. And this presented a problem. Therefore, each review I was doing was becoming a feature presentation. This severely limited the amount of music I could share with the world. A backlog of releases I wanted to tell you about that was never going to be shared. When I only shared one with you, there were actually dozens of albums I wanted to share with you. This goes against my overall goals. My surgery recovery provided me with plenty of time to reflect. I got back to my roots. I decided to shorten up my reviews, not quite back to the old days, but just enough to get my point across and share the music. But an entire blog of three sentences seemed silly. So how many? Ten? A six pack of reviews? A Ramones dozen? How about 5. What comes in fives? There are five senses. A great point when reviewing an album... But then 5 seemed to pose its own road blocks. This would also take too much time... So of course I now present, three... While three is tied in with spiritual significance, three is also a hat trick. Three goals in hockey. Or my personal favorite, a Gordie Howe Hat Trick (goal, assist and a fight in one game). This also provides an opportunity to include observations on classic old albums and even a platform to share videos and events that spark my interest that I want to share and of course a level of freedom to do whatever I want. Thus I offer a Hat Trick of Frank FOE’s Observations (a word here meaning: a judgment on or inference from what one has observed) & Expressions (a word here meaning: an act, process, or instance of representing in a medium - such as words).
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CRIPPLED FOX
"10 Years of Thrashing"
Released June 22, 2019
Crippled Fox are from Budapest, Hungary. Crippled Fox are playing in the Lehigh Valley PA Thursday (November 7, 2019) night!
Straight up powerviolence thrashcore is a beautiful thing wherever it comes from in the world. Crippled Fox's discography is ridiculously large. Just check out their bandcamp page. Many of their releases are free to download. Check the vintage 2009 release "If I Lived In Venice Beach". The track "D.I.Y." even includes a Scarface sample.
I have been a fan of Speedealer since they were called REO Speedealer (cease and desist ended that fun). Love every album in their discography. Smash the Dwarves no nonesense HC assault with Nashville Pussy's snarl and Supersuckers punk coolness and you get Speedealer. A match that expands and contracts their influences on their latest album. "Losing My Shit" is a punk rock masterpiece. "A Reckoning" is a brooding metal smackdown. "Never New" speeds through in classic Speedealer reckless abandon (a phrase here that means to progress with a sense of carelessness with the idea of yielding oneself to an action or impulse without restraint with no concern for consequences or danger). Love Speedealer.
This is mandatory on two levels. First as you will hear in the video below, The Drowns play classic, anthemic, singalong, uplifting oi and punk rock. Secondly, Pirates Press Records isn't messing around with the physical product. These two songs are from the upcoming 2020 release of the album "Under Tension". That vinyl will be an updated sort of picture disc, but it’s not a picture disc. From Pirates Press Records, "As the leaves in the wreath are actually transparent! This one-sided record is actually digitally printed on the non-groove side, with two separate passes through the machine, creating one very cool (and very limited!) brand new style of 12“ - pressed on real vinyl, sounding great, unlike actual picture discs." The version of this two song record that I have appears to be a typical cardboard foldout CD. And yes there is a cd but there is also a CD sized record in the other side. The record itself was manufactured using a CD press, but the record has grooves and is played on your turntable. So you know, just get it.
