Teenage Bottlerocket's Ray Carlisle on how to stay rad

Teenage Bottlerocket has always been about positivity. So much so, that “rad” has become synonymous with the band because it pops up so much in the band’s lexicon, becoming a common theme in the music. It has definitely become singer and guitarist Ray Carlisle’s philosophy - a guide through tough times in life, especially recently when he his twin brother and former drummer, Brandon, tragically passed away in 2015.

Out today, the aptly titled Stay Rad! is a, um, a rad mix of silly and sentimental, with a little more sentimental as this is the first full length since Brandon’s passing. Surprisingly, you romantics won’t find has many songs about girls and relationships like past releases. Instead you have more mature (Gasp!) songs about fatherhood, the perils of social media and killing their long-time merch person.

Punknews writer Gen Handley spoke to Ray on his lunch break to talk about what it was like to make the new album, if they care about evolving or not, and how they have managed to keep politics out of their songs for nearly 20 years.

Stephanie of the Coathangers on the new album, the NRA, and death

If you listen to The Coathangers, you'll hear a gentle soul. A sort of sweetness tinged with a slight rasp and rage that calls back to the heralded soul singers. It's a sound that is wounded and enraged at once and expresses a kind of emotion that can only be heard, not read or seen. The is the sound of Stephanie Luke. Also, if you listen to the Coathangers, you'll hear a smashing boom-boom-bap the will crack your skull and mash up your ribs. That's Stephanie, too, because she plays the drums.

The trio, which also includes Julia Kugel on guitar and Meredith Franco on bass, just released their sixth album, The Devil You Know.The album finds the band refining their sound even further back into a clean spartan strike that's crisp like The Cars and huge like Gang of Four. Perhaps most surprisingly, a certain darkness and anger dwells in the album's recesses: "Step Back" has a sinister shift and ghoulish howls. "5 Farms" confronts death itself. "F the NRA" is about how whacked out the NRA is.

Because the album finds the group snatching up all manners of devils and sawing off their horns, Punknews' John Gentile spoke to Luke about the new LP, the gun lobby, and the human condition itself. Check it out below.

Dangerface talk about their new record

Norway's Dangerface just released their new album, Get Loud!. Punknews' Sam Houlden reached out to the band's Michael Myklebust and found out more about them as a band, their influences, and what went into making their newest record. Check it out below.

Highs and lows with Mike Warne of Pkew Pkew Pkew

Toronto's Pkew Pkew Pkew are buzzing. The band's new full-length Optimal Lifestyles has been unleashed on Dine Alone Records, and fans are finding a striking emotional depth that the band's beer-soaked party punk only hinted at in the past. Writer Graham Isador cornered vocalist Mike Warne to chat about the album's themes, hopping record labels, the sage advice of Craig Finn, and more.

A Brief History of Failure Records & Tapes and The Record Farm

The Record Farm in Logansport, Indiana will be celebrating its third anniversary on Saturday, March 16th at the State Theatre of Logansport! Indiana punk legends Sloppy Seconds are the headlining, and will be joined by Harley Poe, Clownvis Presley, Brother O’ Brother and The Tentakills. Punknews is one of the sponsors of the event and Punknews' own Tom Trauma is very excited about the party. So, he sat down with the record store/label heads and got the story of their intertwining history. Check it out below!

Surviving the polar vortex with Wolfrik

Late last month as the polar vortex was making its presence known across a large portion of North America, Punknews editor Jeff Sorley held a web-chat based interview with two members of Edmonton, Alberta thrash punks Wolfrik: Dylan Toews (vocals) and Mark Seifeddine (guitar/vocals). Included over the short chat were the weather, the upcoming vinyl release of their late-2017 debut EP, as well as their upcoming UK/EU and eastern Canada tour and, of course, the Oilers.

3 songs with Flesh Rag

Last fall Hamilton trio Flesh Rag released Inside Your Mind on Schizophrenic and Loose Lips Records. The record took the Ontario band's rust belt punk'n'roll and cast it off into space. Adrift in the void of trash sci-fi and illicit substances, the band's well-honed Stooges-worship had a complete psychedelic freak-out. Vocalist/guitarist Matthew Ellis spoke with us about three songs from the new record.

Today Punknews and Some Party team up to launch a new feature. We'll be bringing in some cool underground bands and breaking down three of their favourite new tunes.

Kev Douch on running Big Scary Monsters Records

Big Scary Monsters is a happenin' record label out in Oxford, england. They've put out releases by a TON of bands including The Get Up Kids, Beach Slang, Modern Baseball, , Minus The Bear, mewithoutYou, Kevin Devine, Caspian, Balance and Complsure, Cursive, The Fall of Troy, Andrew W.K., Joyce Manor, Gnarwolves, Bear vs Shark, and more. They've got a lot planned for 2019, so Punknews' Sam Houlden met up with label head honcho Kev Douch to talk about running a bigger, small label.

Kenny Lush of Daggermouth

In the past several years many nostalgic punk rock bands have rediscovered themselves and decided to hop back in the van (or plane) and get back into the studio as of late. Coming out of Vancouver, Canada, Punknews' Dan Donald had the opportunity to sit down and speak with Daggermouth’s guitarist Kenny "The Loose Cannon" Lush. Lush is known for many things, but they chew the fat over his experience as a professional wrestling champ and as a Canadian punk rock veteran returning to the stage and slugging it out in 2018.

Pustulus Maximus of GWAR on compassion, education, and the IRS

Having dealt with the death of the leader Oderus Urungus over the past few years, GWAR have now licked their wounds and released Blood of the Gods, a powerful comeback album that hunkered down on classic metal riffage and even threw in a little bit of 80s style Judas Priest metal. Now that the band has rebuilt itself with the additions of Pustulus Maximus on guitar and the bestial Blothar on vocals, they've been touring across the world, killing weak humans, doing drugs, and just generally being obnoxious. And no doubt, the world is in a state of chaos even without GWAR's helpful hand. So, Punknews' John Gentile caught up with Pustulus to see how the guitarist and mass murderer was feeling.

Drew Thomson chats about Single Mothers and his recent solo EP 'Stay'

This May musician Drew Thomson, the frontman of London, Ontario's Single Mothers, released a new EP as The Drew Thomson Foundation on Dine Alone Records, featuring a style quite unlike the caustic punk he's known for. It was followed up later this year by Through A Wall, a surprise new Single Mothers LP that features some of that band's hardest-hitting material to date. Writer Graham Isador met up with Drew in Toronto to discuss the dichotomy between the two projects.