Banner Pilot - Heart Beats Pacific

To say that I'm a mark for the Banner Pilot would be a mild understatement. There have been periods of time where Drew has skewered me decisively over my ability to dress like Banner Pilot's merch guy and there is nothing I can do to defend myself. I would suspect that he takes great satisfaction in not being my neighbor, as he would no doubt be driven as mad as the rest by my constant playing of Heart Beats Pacific.

The recent CMJ shows from the BP crew haven't helped matters as much. The boys killed it at both shows, drilling tunes like Spanish Reds and Western Terminal into my head and necessitating acquisition of Heart Beats Pacific with the quickness. You should do the same. Heart Beats Pacific picks up where Collapser left off, pumping out just shy of a dozen aces pop-punk tracks heavily indebted to the Jawbreaker. This is far from a bad thing.

I can't say I'm crazy about their recent acquisitions, but the Fat/Banner Pilot union is something I can condone unequivocally. I'd like to think of Banner Pilot as a prime example of a new school Fat band and one that may very well have released my favorite pop-punk release of 2011. Get Heart Beats Pacific here from the good folk of Fat and keep track of the Twin Cities finest here.

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Wrecktrospective review at PopMatters

Hey Boys and Girls:

Review of the Fat Wreck Wrecktrospective anniversary box is now up at PopMatters.

Check it out here.

Thanks to Vanessa at Fat and Sarah Zupko at PopMatters!

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Strung Out at PopMatters

Hey. It's been a bit. Sorry.

While I'm catching up, check out my Strung Out review over at the PopMatters.

Thanks to Vanessa at Fat and Sarah at PopMatters

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NOFX - Coaster

In 2009, do you really need to be told about a NOFX record? They have been putting out the same record easily for the last decade, never bad, butmore importantly never worse. The songs come fast and furious: you get the average band songs (First Call, Creeping Out Sara, Eddie Bruce and Paul), the vice songs (First Call, I Am An Alcoholic), the anti-those who buy your records songs (Fuck The Kids Pts 1 & 2) and the anti-establishment stuff (Blasphemy, Suits And Ladders). 

They are tight as fuck, and Melvin really is one hell of a guitar player. Mike is funny, and sometimes even witty. They are more than willing to throw a ska break or a song about homosexuality into the mix to make the average fan feel worldly and or affirmed and even will hide some vulnerability in songs about dying friends and/or family. It's all pretty good, but is there anyone that isn't a tween that is just getting into NOFX? I guess statistically it could happen, but Mike and Co. are definitely preaching to the choir on Coaster. If you liked NOFX before, you'll like this, if not, don't count on this being an epiphany for you.  It's out today, courtesy of the good folk of Fat Wreck. Here's a link, if you're into such things. Keep track of NOFX here.

R

The Loved Ones - Distractions

The Loved Ones are a decent band. That's kind of hard to say, as it's really Dave and whoever he's got playing with him at the time. At this point, I think it's still Mike and the guys from The Explosion. Distractions is a six song EP that pairs three new tracks with three covers. The new songs are as decent as any Loved Ones songs. They are hooky as hell, but as Hause gets closer and closer to his solo singer-songwriter turn, they sound more and more like The Gin Blossoms. I almost always point that out, and always feel the need to qualify that it's not a bad thing at all. For the record, it's still not. There are some odd missteps, like the keyboard parts cobbled on to Last Call that shoot for E Street and end up Diesel Boy, but Distracted is as good a tune as The Loved Ones have ever had, and they sure have some good ones.

Hause has a solo record coming out soon. It makes sense. We've seen all the signs of him moving away from the punk rock thing. (That's an observation and not an out and out judgement, although me being kind of a dick, I can see reading something that there). Case in point would be his jocking of The Hold Steady in a fashion that makes my unabashed sycophancy seem understated and charming. It's a lofty aspiration, and I'm not saying that Hause isn't going to be able to pull it off, but the three covers show the threadbare secondhand rock t-shirts these Emporers are dressing in. When The Loved Ones set the bar high, like on the cover of Springsteen's Johnny 99 that comes off bar band at best, you see where they aren't quite there yet. It just comes off Gaslight Anthem, and nobody wants that. To be fair, the Billy Bragg cover comes off pretty well, and the Strummer tune splits the difference enough to make this a pretty good EP. If you're old like me, you'll probably roll your eyes at the covers, but Distractions is only $6, and the three new tunes are worth that at least, so pick it up here from the kids at Fat. The Loved Ones are hibernating, but Hause is playing some solo shows, including one at the Unitarian Church in Philly on 3/26. You can get tickets for that here.

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Free Whiskey Trench download at If You Make It

Whiskey Trench hail from Montreal, home of the loveliest women (and smelliest men) in the world. They play the punk rock in the time-honored Naked Raygun/Jawbreaker tradition and have Hugo Mudie from Sainte Catherines/Yesterday's Ring playing guitar and singing lead. For the average American (that isn't a Dumps fan) Mudie is probably your initial reason for checking these guys out, although I'm pretty sure they've played some Long Island shows. I wasn't familiar with The Sainte Catherines prior to Vanessa at Fat sending me Dancing For Decadence, but upon pulling the string a bit, I became a pretty big fan of TSC, their country side project Yesterday's Ring even more so. Frankly, I figured Mudie was stretching himself a little thin with three bands, but dammit if Whiskey Trench aren't pretty damn good their own bad selves. With The Good Sun E.P. Whiskey Trench come out the gate slinging hooks, romping through four tunes in short order. This was released as a 7" on Dead Broke Rekerds initially, it's way sold out by now, but the awesome folk of If You Make It have teamed up with DBR to make it available as a free download here. The last song cuts off, but if you're savvy enough to download from IYMI, I expect you can probably troll around and get the full version somewhere.

There are evidently new Whiskey Trench releases a'comin in the new year. I'm not sure who's releasing it, but keep tabs on the gents here. There are four more MP3s there, too.

Kudos to Whiskey Trench, Dead Broke Rekerds and If You Make It for making great stuff like this available. Download it and leave a donation afterward, willya. Punks got bills, too.

R

Swingin Utters - Hatest Grits: b-sides and bullshit

Swingin' Utters have been around since the late 80s and represent for the Bay Area. If you like the street punk and have been around more than a week or so, chances are you're already a fan. For the uninitiated, the street punk is more British-based, but the Utters have been around long enough that all sorts of influences have crept in, from the Pogues to Social Distortion. Since their inception, they have gone through some member changes and formed side bands like the Re-Volts and Filthy Thieving Bastards. Jack Dalrymple of yesterday's Dead To Me fame also currently tenures in their ranks. They also have a shit-ton of b-sides, like thirty-one to be specific, all compiled for your pleasure on the imaginatively titled Hatest Grits: b-sides and bullshit. There are both included, although the former more than outweighs the latter. I hear there are a bunch of pictures and annotations, but I got a bogus download card rather than the actual cd, so no art for me. Or review for you. Most of the material on Hatest Grits is a keeper, but I wouldn't make this my first purchase. If you're a fan (and I am) it's a nice addition to almost 2o years of punk.

Buy the record here and check out the web to hear some albums tracks here. There's an older site here if you want to bask in the nostalgia. I'm tired.

R

Dead To Me - Little Brother

So a couple days ago, the good folk of Dead To Me dropped a new EP called Little Brother and cancelled their appearance at The Fest. Lots of people felt strongly about both eventualities, but I can't say I was one of them.  Don't get me wrong, Dead To Me are an ok band, but nothing that really caught fire with me. Plus, it's important to point out that they cancelled The Fest appearance because Jack and his wife are expecting a baby, so all the best to the new family.

Dead To Me was founded by Jack Dalrymple and Brandon Pollock after the demise of One Man Army. They recruited Chicken from Fat Wreck softball team/mascot band Western Addiction who brought his cousin on drums and eventually guitarist Nathan Grice when Pollack moved on. The four play East Bay/Fat Wreck approved punk rock with Jack and Brandon sharing vocals. They all appear to ride bikes, which may very well sway me a little more down the line, but save for that I have Rancid and Social Distortion records I don't have the time to listen to, so I think I'll leave Little Brother and their Fat Wreck spin on it to the younger set. Don't let this asshole stop you from checking them out, though. 

The boys were out with The Draft for a bit before the Hot Water Music shows, but I assume are up on blocks until Jack's new arrival settles in. You can get the Little Brother here. Check out the Fat Wreck page for more info and their social networking interface here for up to the minute info on what's coming next for Dead To Me.

Star Fucking Hipsters - Until We're Dead

Star Fucking Hipsters are from points outer borough here in town. They are an adjunct of the Leftover Crack crew, featuring Sturgeon from that smelly bunch. The band was initially the brainchild of Sturgeon and LoC drummer Brandon Chevalier-Kolling, but fell by the wayside after the drummer's accidental death by Vicodin on tour with LoC. Much of the stronger SFC material was cannibalized into the last LoC release, but a gutting of the line-up and refurbishment with ex-and current members Ensign, The Slackers and World Inferno Friendship Society has prompted a deal with Fat Wreck and the release of Until We're Dead.

Star Fucking Hipsters are all over the punk spectrum, kicking things off with the Pop Will Eat Itself meets Sigue Sigue Sputnik Introduccion de los Hipsters and proceeding through ska, crust and acoustic fare before leaving you sweaty and confused forty-five minutes later. It's not a bad thing. The songs are good, despite Stza's attempts to 'punk' things up by singing like he's fronting the River Bottom Nightmare Gang on some of the tracks. Singer Nico De Gaillo hold down the female end of the spectrum nicely, sounding a lot like Linda Hopper from Magnapop in a couple places, but more than holds her own regardless of what genre is thrown at her. It seems like Star Fucking Hipsters may have replaced Leftover Crack as Stza's main focus. Barring their seeming inability to ever play a hometown show, I can see Fat making Star Fucking Hipsters a pretty big deal. Stza is the x-factor, if he can keep his cop-baiting at bay (and would stop feigning innocence and shock afterward) Until We're Dead should get a lot of notice from a lot more than just the squatter set. Buy the record here and see where the cops will be showing up next here

R

Dillinger Four - Civil War

It's been a long six years since the last Dillinger Four record. That's an eternity in the world of punk rock, making the successor to Situationist Comedy some semblance of a punk rock Chinese Democracy. Civil War was streamed in anticipation of its formal Fat Wreck release on 10/14 on a couple of punks sites and popped up on the torrent sites in short order, prompting a shocking bit of not-especially-believable (or particularly realistic) bitching from Fat Wreck and a couple days of internet pissing between cartoonist Mitch Clem and Civil War producer Dave Gardener, among other wastes of internet bandwidth.

The big question (and the crux of the download issue) is whether Civil War is worth the wait. The short answer is yes, but that is tempered by the fact that there aren't too many bands putting out good records. There have been flashes of brilliance, like the soon to be defunct Ergs!, The Copyrights, plus fellow Twin Cities punks Off With Their Heads and Banner Pilot, but they have been few and far between. Erik has most of the songs here, although our dear Paddy clocks in with two or three. As I don't have a hard copy as yet, I'm not sure whether Billy has been afforded any songs, but he had said previously that they were going back and doing more stuff in their old-school triple vocal vein, so maybe my discriminating ears are failing me. Publishing aside, Civil War sounds good: Gainesville and Clown Cars on Cinder Blocks are top-notch Erik tunes (albeit with a bit of preaching to the choir, what's next? a song about Grumpy's?) and Paddy's songs are always a good choice to finer-point around your living room to. Trust me, you want this record.

After playing a bunch of Dillinger 4th Of July shows and the odd Leatherface tour, the mighty D4 overcame their inertia and started doing some more dates on this side of the country. Their sets on the Fuck Yeah tour were decent, albeit short, but it left me more than salivating for a longer show in a punk-er (not punker) venue. It appears that we'll be afforded that in the coming weeks at the Record Release Show they are playing at the Renfro Warehouse show with The Ergs! and The Measure (SA) on 10/14. That ought to be a fair share more fun that the two shows with NOFX at Irving that precede it, but maybe we'll see some guest starrage. Rumor is that Municipal Waste are on the bill as well. That oughta spike the poor hygiene factor. Either way, I'd take a guest list slot for either of the NOFX/D4 shows in NYC if any of my rainmakers out there can work some magic. Buy a ticket for the Renfro show here and pre-order Civil War here. See you in the pit!

R