No Friends

Time to set off the pit. No Friends is the new band that is setting the hardcore world on it's ear. Featuring 3/4 of the pretty much dormant New Mexican Disaster Squad, you'll dig this if you liked them or their current franchises Gatorface and Virgins. Oh, wait! Did I mention that Tony from Municipal Waste is fronting this little combo? While I never really got NMDS, I fucking love The Waste. They have been getting serious play at JS-NYC HQ of late, much to the delight to the my neighbors. It's important to point out that while Municipal Waste thrash with wild abandon, No Friends take the hardcore road that bands like Paint It Black do so well. It's definitely on some Dag Nasty/Descendents/GBs shit and most assuredly awesome. No Idea is the label that pays them and Var and Tony must be stoked. It's not just a recording/project band either. The Waste are pushing their new record Massive Aggressive hard, but No Friends are still trying to do some shows around various Fests and whatnot. I'd go out of my way to see them live when and if you could, but in the meantime pick up No Friends here from the lovable men and women of No Idea.

Jeff Klein - 33

I'm far from a MySpace guy, but clicked the link when I got the alert that Jeff Klein had updated his little blog presence there. Jeff is from my hometown, inexplicably, and after catching his set at a Guitartown party a couple SXSWs ago, I've gone out of my way to keep him on my radar. He's been touring as a member of the Twilight Singers in recent years and has popped up in various live ensembles Msrrs. Dulli and Lanegan have put together to promote their myriad projects as well as playing with some TS compatriots in the My Jerusalem ensemble. This rolling stone is gathering no moss. To commemorate the start of his 33rd year, he posted a 23 minute track that has got a bunch of new material along with some wankery. The threat was that it would be available for 24 hours only. Luckily, I'm a nerd and snapped it up quick. It seems like the threat is a valid one, as the link is now dead, but I would expect that a little internet prospecting will turn 33 up. It's worth it. I'm not sure whether any of this stuff will ever see a formal release, but the best place to find out (and check out some other quality tracks) would probably be here.

R

NOFX - Cokie The Clown 7"

More choir-preaching from Fat Mike and Co. Five songs, including an acoustic version of My Orphan Year from the most recent record. Not going to win over any new fans, but if you like the boys, you certainly won't be disappointed by the proceedings. You'll probably also want to peep the video, where Fat Mike punks punks like Matty Skiba and Tim Rise Against. Buy the 7" here and enjoy the video shenanigans here.

R

Another Patterson Hood live set at Southern Shelter

Man, Southern Shelter is definitely giving us something to be thankful for this year. I guess we can probably thank Patterson, too. Is typical JS-NYC bass-ackwards fashion, here's a link to the first of the three Wednesday night hometown residency shows at The Caledonia. The opening night was billed as "Onward Out The Window (New And Used Songs - Stripped Down To Piano and Guitar)". Newish DBT cohort Jay Gonzales holds the piano role down for the most part, but Patterson does tickle the ivories for a song or two. Solid all around, with the inimitable Patterson banter in full effect. Peep it here.

R

The Copyrights and The Brokedowns split 7"

So this is the 7" that I alluded to in my cursory coverage of the recent Copyrights shows. The Brokedowns have been getting a lot of notice lately, playing most of the good Midwestern punk shows with D4, The Dopamines and our heroes, The Copyrights. They have two songs here, none of which really rock my world, but I suspect that if I had a handful of Old Styles in me, I might very well feel differently. I'm not prepared to relegate them to full-on Cobra Skulls over-rateddom yet. Pairing themselves with The Copyrights will certainly get them some shine, but they sure do pale in comparison from where this asshole is sitting. The Copyrights lead off with the banging I'd Rather Die Than Be Alone and seal the deal with Get Got, another number that will enrich your life in many ways. No Idea is the bestest, so why not drink one less beer and help all the parties involved keep the lights on. Here's a link to enable your expenditure.

Patterson Hood live set at Southern Shelter

Hey Kids:

The good folk of Southern Shelter have been posting the live shows Patterson and his Athens auxiliary have been playing during their month-long residency at Caledonia Lounge. This one features some of his more country oriented material. Patterson was sick, but still managed to deliver the goods. Get the skinny on the two new DBT records coming next year and hear some rare stuff via this handy link.

R

Live: The Copyrights @ Fontana's 11.7.9

If there's any band worth seeing a bunch of nights in a row, it's The Copyrights. Fontanas was the venue for one of the best shows of the year last June with House Boat, Dear Landlord and The Unlovables and our heroes, so it seemed promising that the boys would return, albeit with a hodge-podge of random crappy bands.

They were second, listed as going on at 10, so it seemed to make sense
that I showed up at five of to find them halfway through their set and playing to maybe 10 people. When they drew easily 50 heavy drinkers the last time and played to a rabid crowd the night before, it confounds me that Fontana's would put them on early. The seven or eight songs I did catch were as awesome as you might expect, but fuck Fontana's anyway. Keep track of where The Copyrights are here and pick up the new 7" from No Idea.

R