When Antisect released their debut LP, In Darkness There is No Choice, in 1983, it tactically reached back into the band's immediate past while simultaneously creating a new sound that would heavily influence crust punk, and heavy music in general, to this day. While Antisect and their contemporaries had all started on the Crass label, or the Crass progeny Flux of Pink Indians Spiderleg label, Antisect seemed more indebted to the original anarchy punks. While Amebix spread their wings and track by track floated away from Crass' ranting and more into Black Sabbath and Mötörhead territory, Antisect kept the choppy rhythm and ranting/screaming of Crass, but interestingly, also seemed to adopt the relentless speed and wall of sound of Lemmy Kilmister and the gang. [more]

February is gearing up to be a really good month for the Menzingers. After years of touring and kicking out high quality records, the group is finally dropping their third full-length on the legendary Epitaph Records. Both as a rising band and a bunch of Bad Religion fanboys, that’s gotta rule. That’s still a few weeks away, though; in the meantime, former label Red Scare has a two-song taste of On the Impossible Past. “The Obituaries” is a concise, catchy rocker with a big, if somewhat obvious, chorus. For a band on the brink of reaching a larger audience, it’s kind of hard not to read into “But I will fuck this up / I fucking know it.” But even if the Menzingers do indeed stumble, this song is still a winner. [more]

Last year, experimental hardcore act Ceremony moved from Bridge Nine to indie titan Matador records. In his interview with Punknews, frontman Ross Farrar warned fans that things were about the get weirder. He wasn't lying. "Hysteria," the first track released from the band's upcoming album Zoo, retains a link with their critically acclaimed Rohnert Park LP, but as much as it branches off that album's weirder elements, it also starts anew. The track opens with walls of metallic, soaring guitars, before breaking into a mid-tempo cadence, reflective of the earliest U.K. punk records. But, where Farrar used to scream, he now seems to sermonize with a detached voice. [more]

The name "Welly" is synonymous with a number of things in the international punk world: fronting the now defunct Four Letter Word for over 20 years, providing art/graphics for record sleeves/shirts, writing extensive liner notes for bands and also for producing the Artcore zine for over 25 years. From a young buck doing a sleeve for a Words of Warning comp seven-inch back in the '80s, Welly has spread his tentacles far and wide, becoming a man with an encyclopedic knowledge of all that we call "punk rock" and a desire to be involved rather than sit back and consume. The other thing you can guarantee with him is that when he produces something he puts his all into it. [more]

It’s a funny thing how different events are wired into our memories in entirely different ways. With so many of life’s events, being reminded of how many years have passed is a bit of a surprise: could it really have been that long? Yet other situations--even those that occurred the same number of years ago--feel like an eternity away. Nine years is hardly an eternity, but it does feel like a significant amount of time has passed since the Jealous Sound’s last full-length, 2003’s Kill Them With Kindness. [more]

I suppose I owe Museum Mouth an apology for doubting them. The group’s first full-length, Tears in My Beer, was one of my favorite albums of 2010. It was a lo-fi, lovelorn punk record that I could leave on repeat for hours, and I didn’t think they could follow it up. So I took it kind of hard when frontwoman Savannah Levin quit. Coupled with drummer/keyboardist/vocalist Karl Kuehn pursuing new sounds with SWTHRT, I kind of assumed Museum Mouth was done. So, uh, sorry. In the bold tradition of Genesis, Museum Mouth’s drummer has graduated to rocking the mic full time. The resulting record, Sexy But Not Happy, is a fitting follow-up to Tears. [more]

Recently, Chuck D described KRS-One as "the Duke Ellington of hip-hop." In the past three or four years, that comparison has become startlingly accurate, both in the quantity of the output of the respective artists, as well as the tactical method in which they attack each project. On his latest project,The BDP Album KRS returns to his own roots as well as the roots of New York hip-hop, all while referring a possible apocalyptic future. The BDP Album (the first of three KRS-One albums due to drop this year) sees KRS' brother Kenny Parker returning to the wheels of steel after nearly a decade of separation. [more]

Aside from the fact that none of the other members plays on it, Provincial is essentially a new Weakerthans record, except even mellower. Frontman John K. Samson may have stepped out on his own here, but he’s always been the Weakerthans’ mouthpiece and leader. He’s a gifted lyricist, but as a guitarist, he only knows so many chords, and flecks of older songs come and go here. Provincial doesn’t stray too far from the template established by the last two Weakerthans records. On the other hand, hey, more Weakerthans. Provincial should satisfy many a fan. [more]

It’s been a long wait for new Sidekicks material since 2009’s fantastic Weight of Air. Sure they’ve given us little treats here and there, most notably that awesome Elvis Costello cover from last year’s split with Tigers Jaw, but it’s never really felt like the Sidekicks were completely back in action… until now. Coming a little over a month before their third full-length, Awkward Breeds, Grace is a delicious taste of things to come that finds the band both sticking with what they do best, and stretching their legs a little bit. [more]

Just a year after the Get Up Kids dropped their most excellent comeback record, There Are Rules, frontman Matt Pryor is back with a solo record, May Day. Combining TGUK’s hooks with the acoustic, mellower vibe of Pryor’s other project, the New Amsterdams, it’s a nifty follow-up to Rules, and a big departure to boot. Aided by Kickstarter funds, Pryor has managed to issue back-to-back great records. Much has been made of donating to Kickstarter. Some think it’s a lazy way for bands to get other people to pay their production costs; others think it helps artists commune with their fans. I’ll say this about it: In this particular instance, Kickstarter has contributed to the creation of an album I really like. [more]

Over time Alkaline Trio has combined more and more influences from pop-rock and post-punk like the Cure, Berlin and Sisters of Mercy with their more traditional punk rock influences like T.S.O.L. and Pegboy. theHELL, Matt Skiba’s latest project, sounds like what would have happened if Alkaline Trio had kept to more of a strict punk/pop-punk template. Rather than regression, Sauvez Les Requins sounds more inspired than Skiba’s work has in some time. “Gasoline” announces theHELL with a cacophony of noise that sounds like pick slides and palm muting, with indecipherable vocals whispering just behind it. Although this might sound somewhat unconventional for a pop-punk song it works surprisingly well with the general production style which seems to favor reverb. [more]

Neo Cons is a four-piece which includes half of San Francisco’s Neighborhood Brats, but where the Brats deal in a more straight-up punk rock approach, tinged with elements of the classic Dangerhouse era, Neo Cons take a considerably different, albeit one that also seems to have its foundations in a sound more noticeable for being from the '80s. The six tracks on this release are much rougher and contain a rawness to them that hearkens back to the early days of hardcore when bands didn’t care too much for production values. They were more concerned with having something to make their mark in the world of punk. [more]

The question that immediately comes to mind when putting this album on, is how on earth do three people make such a cacophonous racket? Yes, I know that music can be loud, in your face and pummeling your ears until they bleed, but this is folk-punk, not a genre that perhaps you would expect to have that effect, but it does. Hell, there are not even any crashing drums here to boost the sound. Still, it’s amazing what can be done with some very simple instruments and some songs that are played within an inch of their existence. You need to banish any preconceptions on what folk-punk might sound like because this turns everything on its head with an energy and full-on assault that reminds me of the first time I saw the Pogues as a teenager: I was mesmerized by everything about the band. [more]

Neighborhood Brats were recently featured on the cover of the L.A.-based zine Razorcake and if you are not up to speed with that publication, they tend towards the more rocking punk rock bands, albeit without sticking to any one particular genre. Not only did the band feature on the cover (a fantastic live photo of vocalist Jenny Angelillo) but there was also a lengthy interview included as well. This interview and the picture of this contorted frontwoman was enough to lure me in and seek out what Neighborhood Brats actually sounded like. [more]

Did you know that the town of Billerica, Mass. has approximately 40,000 residents and that the Shawsheen River rambles through the southerly part of town? Do you even care? No, nor me. However, Billerica is the home of a three-piece named Yo Ticonderoga and this is a fact that you should perk up at because it’s well worth knowing. What’s also worth knowing is that Yo Ticonderoga has released a five track EP entitled The Disc is Dead which is pretty damn good and is available on Bandcamp at the cost of “name your price. [more]

Kiss of Death is a pretty reliable label and to ignore a release with its highly distinctive logo on is criminal. Timeshares is another band that seems to go hand in glove with a lot of other artists on that esteemed label but without just coming across as another typical band. Although a large number of Kiss of Death releases that I have heard could be grouped together in terms of genre/sound, it is by no means the be all and end all for the music they champion. What is evident on listening to Bearable for the first time though is that here the label has unearthed a gem of a band/release (along with the Slow Death’s Born Ugly Got Worse), which really does raise the bar further for Kiss Of Death in terms of quality. [more]

1978: The year the Stones went punk… and country… and disco. Following the releases of 1974's It's Only Rock and Roll and 1976's Black and Blue, the press had begun to say that the group had transformed into "a band that didn't matter." Likely in response to the danger of losing their edge, as well as a way to stay contemporary, for the first time in their entire career, the Stones seemed to formulate a stratagem as to how they would approach their next record, in contrast to their former method of just going to the studio and seeing what happened. The Stones have recently commented that they weren't fans of punk per se*, but did see the movement as a wake up call. [more]

Are those crazy Finns trying to mess with my head? I put this album on to listen with headphones and immediately something sounded a bit off. After checking a different album I started to play this again and after fiddling around a bit I realized that the vocals were really only coming through one headphone/channel. I then checked the ripped version on my MP3 player and also the Bandcamp page for Lunar Outpost and the same was evident on those versions as well. Phew, my brand new headphones were not faulty, nor was my ever failing hearing. [more]

Apparently there was deliberate intent behind the creation of Crusades and the recording of this album which features an undeniable religious theme in its appearance, music and message contained within. Not that this is a pro-religion record--nothing could be further from the truth--but this concept album relies on religion for its whole raison d’etre, addressing the negativity of religion. Crusades has created an extremely atmospheric and effective piece of work. Beginning with a very somber organ and spoken intro, “Attics” suddenly kicks into gear in a blaze of punk rock that is like a kick in the teeth as guitars come crashing in. Throughout this record Crusades use a number of different approaches to its sound as well as utilizing a number of vocalists too. [more]

Esatz GB, the 20th album by the Fall, just drips. While Fall albums are always atmospheric, rarely has the band painted sound on top of sound on top of sound, with layers mixing and melting into each other, and created a distinct scene through so many amorphous movements. On "Mask Search," the band builds the song around a jazzy bouncing bass, but adds in skittering instrumentation and weird sound effects, to create a scene that is distinctly New York, and distinctly dark. On top of it all, vocalist Mark E. Smith, as par for the course, snarls out a chain of words that sometimes link together to form a narration of a deadly scenario, and sometimes just seem to eb words abutting each other. [more]