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The Classics 003

Tue, 07 Sep 2010 07:19:07 PST

ARTIST: The Classics 003
The Refused - The Shape Of Punk To Come
DATE: 09-07-10
WRITER: Bill Adams
While the genre already boasted a large and very enthusiastic fan base at the time, there weren't many fans who wouldn't begrudgingly admit that punk rock had been played by 1998. By then, the genre was already steeped in around three decades' worth of history (give or take, depending on what a [view more]

Lissie - [Album]

Mon, 06 Sep 2010 15:13:44 PST

ARTIST: Lissie - [Album]
DATE: 09-06-10
REVIEW BY: Bill Adams
There's a certain irony in the fact that, in recent years, the musical genre least toyed and tampered with, rearranged or otherwise altered and mutated has been pop. Seriously – pop has historically been the most conventionally accessible of any music but, now, the kid gloves immediately go on to ensure that pop tarts reign [view more]

Street Dogs - [Album]

Mon, 06 Sep 2010 08:00:42 PST

ARTIST: Street Dogs - [Album]
DATE: 09-06-10
REVIEW BY: Bill Adams
The psychology behind a musician's “second time around” band is always a capricious beast. When a player (or singer) who already cut his teeth or made his name in another band that enjoyed some fame strikes out on his own, he's left with a choice of how he wants to approach his music: he can hedge his bets and [view more]

Devil's Brigade - [Album]

Mon, 06 Sep 2010 07:24:59 PST

ARTIST: Devil's Brigade - [Album]
DATE: 09-06-10
REVIEW BY: Bill Adams
Where does the line between 'art' and 'farce' get drawn? That might sound like a cynical or priggish question, but it becomes perfectly valid when one considers the idea of side project endeavors made by the members of an established band. The question is further legitimized when the number of side project [view more]

Blacklist Royals - [Album]

Mon, 06 Sep 2010 05:17:48 PST

ARTIST: Blacklist Royals - [Album]
with free mp3 download for 'Church Bells Are Ringing' from Semper Liberi by Blacklist Royals
DATE: 09-06-10
REVIEW BY: Bill Adams
It sounds contrary to contend this, but some musical mixtures are more easily imagined than executed and, most often, the simplest and most straightforward combinations are the most troublesome to successfully carry off. A perfect example of an idea that seems simple in theory but proves not to be so simple in practice is the mixture of rock, [view more]

The SWAG Report 022

Wed, 01 Sep 2010 09:13:09 PST

ARTIST: The SWAG Report 022
with freebie downloads for songs by El Guincho, The Acorn, Does It Offend You Yeah?, Foxymorons, Manic Street Preachers, Meridene and more! So much more!
DATE: 09-01-10
WRITER: Don Loder
Hey there alla youse,

So I was gone for a week and I think it's showin' on ya a bit – yer lookin' like you've got that itch, junkie. How ya feelin'? Didja miss me? Ya need yer fix? 'At's what I thought – I figured if I [view more]

Luke Doucet and The White Falcon - [Album]

Mon, 30 Aug 2010 11:43:39 PST

ARTIST: Luke Doucet and The White Falcon - [Album]
DATE: 08-30-10
REVIEW BY: Bill Adams
The frustrating thing about semantics is that, as clear and straightforward as one might try to be, it may still be taken the wrong way. As an example of just how a term may be misunderstood, take the phrase 'classic rock record.' For some readers, seeing the words 'classic rock record' will call to mind images [view more]

The Aging Punk 016

Sun, 29 Aug 2010 18:54:21 PST

ARTIST: The Aging Punk 016
G. Murray Thomas Examines Some Of The Names That More People Would Pay Attention To In A Perfect World.
DATE: 08-29-10
WRITER: G. Murray Thomas
A month ago I listed the artists I thought were the most overrated in rock music. Among the many responses I got to that were a number of people who wanted to know what I thought were the most underrated artists. The problem with attempting to compile such a list is that there are just too many to choose from. Every band which I love and you [view more]

Everyone Everywhere - [12'' LP]

Sun, 29 Aug 2010 08:22:03 PST

ARTIST: Everyone Everywhere - [12'' LP]
DATE: 08-29-10
REVIEW BY: Bill Adams
Remember when, about seven years ago, Yellowcard decided to take songs-about-girls punk the extra mile, added a violinist as a full-time member of the band and made all the 'tween punks in training bras a little misty? It was fantastic timing and Yellowcard lived high on the hog for a little while. The Yellowcard phenomenon was [view more]

The Great Explainer - [10'' EP]

Sat, 28 Aug 2010 16:09:43 PST

ARTIST: The Great Explainer - [10'' EP]
DATE: 08-28-10
REVIEW BY: Bill Adams
Some questions simply require answers – no matter how hard people contemplate them. Like, doesn't everyone want to know what purpose Stonehenge serves? Doesn't everyone want to know if we're alone in the universe? Is there a god? What happens to us when we die? All of those are perfectly valid questions, but my [view more]

Bars Of Gold - [12'' LP]

Fri, 27 Aug 2010 06:41:33 PST

ARTIST: Bars Of Gold - [12'' LP]
with free mp3 downloads for both 'The Hustle' from ''Of Gold'' and a full concert bootleg from one of the band's first shows!
DATE: 08-27-10
REVIEW BY: Bill Adams
Remember when punk rock was a lawless, 'anything-goes' province that was more about personal expression than it was about stringing together just the right set of power chords? It's okay if you don't – it was a long time ago – but that torch still burns and Bars Of Gold have picked it up and [view more]

Eels - [Album]

Tue, 24 Aug 2010 05:04:29 PST

ARTIST: Eels - [Album]
with free mp3 download for 'Looking Up' from Tomorrow Morning by the Eels
DATE: 08-24-10
REVIEW BY: Bill Adams
It is said that the night is always darkest before the dawn and, for his band's last two albums, Eels singer/songwriter Mark Oliver Everett has followed that adage to the letter. First, on Hombre Lobo, Everett got excited about love and every aspect of it – the chase or pursuit of it, the promise of it, the [view more]

Jane's Addiction - [DVD]

Tue, 24 Aug 2010 04:59:17 PST

ARTIST: Jane's Addiction - [DVD]
DATE: 08-24-10
REVIEW BY: Bill Adams
When watching Live Voodoo, it will suddenly hit long-time fans that it really is just that good to have Jane's Addiction back. There are a few heretics who will say the band never left; after they reformed in 2001, the band maintained a reasonably consistent touring and release schedule – but those fans who [view more]

NOFX Discography Part Four - [Discography]

Sun, 22 Aug 2010 06:12:32 PST

ARTIST: NOFX Discography Part Four - [Discography]
Artists Doing It For Themselves - NOFX Enjoys The Freedom To Work However They Choose, 2004 - 2010
DATE: 08-22-10
WRITER: Bill Adams

Like another SoCal-based bass player (Mike Watt) once said, "You won't know where the wall is until you push off it" and, since moving back to Fat Wreck, that's exactly what NOFX has tried to do. Ironically, the band hasn't found the wall just yet; every endeavor that the band has undertaken has [view more]

NOFX Discography Part Three - [Discography]

Sun, 22 Aug 2010 06:05:46 PST

ARTIST: NOFX Discography Part Three - [Discography]
Regaining Independence (NOFX' Return To Fat Wreck Chords), 2000 - 2003
DATE: 08-22-10
WRITER: Bill Adams
After a certain amount of time, it's important to shake things up a bit in any job, if only to make them interesting again. Realistically, who doesn't want to change it up in their work and discover new possibilities? Most everyone does, and NOFX did too; by the turn of the millennium, the band had been working with Epitaph [view more]

NOFX Discography Part Two - [Discography]

Sat, 21 Aug 2010 11:44:15 PST

ARTIST: NOFX Discography Part Two - [Discography]
The Explosion: 1994 - 1999
DATE: 08-21-10
WRITER: Bill Adams
One of the constants in life is that there are always three points to any growth curve; over-simplified, there is a beginning, a middle and an end. The arc of NOFX' growth is a little more complicated than that though; there is a beginning of course – that's where the band came together, began writing and set the basic [view more]

NOFX Discography Part One - [Discography]

Fri, 20 Aug 2010 20:19:48 PST

ARTIST: NOFX Discography Part One - [Discography]
The Beginning: 1983 - 1992
DATE: 08-20-10
WRITER: Bill Adams

For about twenty years following its' first widespread notice in 1974, punk rock and the bands that made it were viewed by mainstream culture and media (network television, Top 40 radio, Hollywood movies) with equal amounts of disdain and mistrust at least, and flat-out disgust in some circles. The progression of public contempt [view more]

The SWAG Report 021

Thu, 19 Aug 2010 10:01:28 PST

ARTIST: The SWAG Report 021
with free mp3 downloads for songs by DFA, D-Sisive, Soundgarden, Heavy Young Heathens, Lizzie, New Collisions, The Concretes, The Moaners and more! So much more!
DATE: 08-19-10
WRITER: Don Loder

Hey folks!

Welcome to yer twenty-first edition o'the SWAG Report! I'm excited in a big, big way, 'cause I don't remember the last time I turned twenty-one. I know it was a couple o' years ago an' I remember goin' out, but things [view more]

[STRAIGHT TO PRINT] The Dears Ask For Fans' Help To Give Residencies An Image.

Thu, 19 Aug 2010 07:36:30 PST

ARTIST: [STRAIGHT TO PRINT] The Dears Ask For Fans' Help To Give Residencies An Image.
Montreal sextet The Dears open a poster design contest to promote residency shows in Toronto, Brooklyn and Montreal.
DATE: 08-19-10
WRITER: The Dears
The Dears may not reach every city until early next year, but fans can share in the musical magic of the fall residency dates by participating in a tour poster design contest. Fans are encouraged to submit their own design for a poster to commemorate the eight residency shows - three consecutive nights in Toronto and Montreal and two [view more]

Baby Eagle - [Album]

Wed, 18 Aug 2010 11:19:43 PST

ARTIST: Baby Eagle - [Album]
with free mp3 download for 'Day of our Departing' from Dog Weather by Baby Eagle.
DATE: 08-18-10
REVIEW BY: Bill Adams
Ever been present and able to recognize when you're witnessing an exceptional moment? It's not always easy to do because, nine times out of ten, you're usually doing nine other things at the same time so you're only able to catch it peripherally but, when it happens in plain view, the sensation can be elating; [view more]