A deeper look at the grooves pressed into Stadium Way’s self-titled 7” EP. While the idea of the members of punk bands starting side projects in order to express ideas which won’t fit the form of their main band is not a new one, few side projects in recent memory are quite as compelling as Stadium Way. Formed by Matt Henson and Kenny Dirkes as a getaway from their duties as bassist/singer and drummer in rough housing punk band Noi!SE,...
A deeper look at the grooves pressed into the “War On Love” 7” single by Roadside Bombs. It might not be for everyone but, for me, some of the coolest things to hear are those which crosswire a few different sounds and styles which feel as though they should stand at odds with one another. A perfect example of such an unusual stylistic counterpoint can be found on Roadside Bombs’ new single, War On Love; pressed on “super” cyan blue...
A deeper look at the grooves pressed into the Blatant Propaganda LP by The Bar Stool Preachers. It’s pretty incredible how much a band seems to change as soon as people start paying attention to them and their fanbase swells. History is littered with band who seemed not to change for years as they attempted to get legs under them (see Social Distortion, Against Me, Black Flag, Bad Religion and Rise Against – to name only the first which leap...
A deeper look at the grooves pressed into Bum City Saints’ self-titled LP. While some critics may claim that an album or artist being “derivative†is a negative trait, that’s not always true – in the right context. Sometimes, the right sequence of sonic elements can align and instantly throw listeners listener back into the mindset which they had perceived to have long forgotten; it can be exhilarating and comforting all at the same time, no matter how aggressive the...
A deeper look at the grooves pressed into the diecut “Carry On” single by Booze & Glory The catch about the genre that’s affectionately known as “street punk†is that those who make the music often do not make it for very long. The reason for that is simple: street punk is impoverished by nature – the best of the genre is made by penniless players who are making music either to entertain themselves or their friends – and loses...
A deeper look at the grooves pressed into the Dreams From The Factory Floor LP by Louise Distras. The problem with a lot of what is earnestly being marketed as punk rock in the twenty-first century is that much of it is fundamentally flawed: it’s made the way it is because that’s what’s expected.The expectation is that punk songs will come equipped with a confrontational attitude stacked on top of a progression of between three and five chords, and somewhere...