Audio Ammunition: December 2019

Alpha Hopper – Aloha Hopper LP (Swimming Faith/Radical Empathy)

Buffalo’s Alpha Hopper channels their noise punk heroes on their second LP, Aloha Hopper. Alpha Hopper is a four piece made of two guitars, vocals and drums. Alpha Hopper pulls from Jesus Lizard, Drive Like Jehu, ‘90’s heavy alternative and Am Rep bands. Alpha Hopper penchant for noisy, edgy, rough raw guitar rock is on full display on Aloha. – Ed Stuart

Antagonizers ATL/CRIM/NOi!SE, Rude Pride – 4 Way Split EP (Pirates Press)

Pirates Press has put out this sampler of four newer bands from different parts of the globe in the street punk scene. Antagonizers ATL and CRIM are side A. Both bands play a melodic street punk in the same vein as The Briggs. NOi!SE is a raw fast punk that has more of a melodic hardcore sound. Rude Pride plays a melodic mid tempo that might be most the anthemic of the bunch and could fall into Briggs category as well too. – Ed Stuart

The Aggrolites – Reggae Now LP (Pirates Press)

Rock, what? Rocksteady or as The Aggrolites call it “dirty reggae.” The Aggrolites are back with their sixth LP, Reggae Now. Los Angeles’s Jamaican heir apparent contender took some time before writing and recording. The Aggrolites mix of rocksteady, Motown and ‘70’s funk is all on display on here. For a band that had been on hiatus for eight years, they haven’t lost a step. – Ed Stuart

Bauwaves – U R Everything LP (Salinas)

Wipers meets Fall in this noisy, rough edged, off kilter art damaged world. Bauwaves features members of The Fall and Wild America. U R Everything is the debut LP for this Austin band that mixes art-punk, ‘80’s/’90’s noisy alternative and with pieces of early Dinosaur Jr. and Sonic Youth. – Ed Stuart

The Beatpunkers – Those Years Songs LP (Kool Kat)

The Beatpunkers are a trio from Spain. Those Years Songs sounds like a mix of clean ‘60’s pop with Paul Collins influence, some jangle guitars on a Merseyside street. The songs are pretty straight ahead pop that doesn’t stray from its three chord core. – Ed Stuart

Bracket – Too Old To Die Young LP (Fat Wreck)

Bracket’s ninth LP, Too Old To Die Young isn’t taking any chances and that’s good for Bracket fans. Bracket is still at their old tricks of playing ‘90’s So Cal pop-punk with outsider lyrics. Yes, Bracket was part of that ‘90’s pop-punk scene and on Too Old they don’t stray from that sound. Instead, they have given their pop-punk a bit of Beach Boys and sharpened some of the edges. – Ed Stuart

Brat Curse – Brat Curse II LP (Anyway)

Brat Curse is made up of members of DANA, Sega Genocide, Good Shade and WV White. Brat Curse II is made up of punked up art rock with angular riffs, driving bass lines that stretch from Sonic Youth to New Bomb Turks. Brat Curse, from Ohio, do cover a lot of ground on this LP. There are odes to ‘90’s indie and alternative through this LP without being hero worship. – Ed Stuart

Brave The Sea – The Kraken LP (Self-Release)

Brave the Sea is a Celtic punk rock band that pulls from the same Irish influences that Dropkick Murphys and Flogging Molly do. The Kraken is full of numbers that are in the vein of a punked Dubliners, Dropkick Murphys and Flogging Molly. I these guys from Newark, OH don’t really care about the close proximity of influences. Brave The Sea seems to be having fun and enjoying themselves in their songs that I don’t think they care. If you’re a fan of punk and Irish with a touch of pirate, you should check out Brave The Sea. – Ed Stuart

Charger – S/T LP, EP or 7” (Pirates Press)

Rancid and Guantanamo Baywatch come together as Charger. Tim and Lars have side projects so I guess it makes room for Matt to try his hand at one too. Charger wasn’t what I was expecting. In Charger, Matt has positioned in a Lemmy role and the other members help form his Motorhead. Charger S/T is a mix of early Motorhead, NWOBHM and heavy riffs, riffs and more riffs. I wasn’t sure what to expect from Charger, but when I heard “Crackdown”, the opener, I was a little surprised the conviction and commitment to the Motorhead mantel. Listen to “All Kings Must Die” and it feels a new Motorhead is reborn as Charger. – Ed Stuart

CJ Ramone – The Holy Spell LP (Fat Wreck)

CJ Ramone is not afraid of still being influenced by his Ramones heritage. Yes, he was a Ramone for about seven years and it still informs his songwriting today. The Holy Spell, CJ’s fifth LP, is a better-produced and more modern sounding Ramones LP with an acoustic, some country influence and a punked version of “Crawling From The Wreckage.” CJ doesn’t feel the need to play punk-pop like a 20 year old would. Instead, he pulls from his heroes and stays true to his core musical belief. – Ed Stuart

Corner Boys – Waiting For 2020 LP (Drunken Sailor)

Hot on the heels of two amazing singles comes this amazing LP. Corner Boys are like the Undertones dirty cousins who have been dabbling in Simpletones LP’s. Waiting For 2020 is a mix of Northern Ireland and snotty So Cal. This band never takes themselves seriously as you can hear with songs like “Norman” and the current arguable classic, “Joke Of The Neighbourhood.” If you are fan of Undertones, Pointed Sticks, Rudi, Good Vibrations and Simpletones, buy this LP now. Vancouver’s Corner Boys have the fix you need. – Ed Stuart

The Cowboy – S/T 7” (Drunken Sailor)

The Fall didn’t care and neither do The Cowboy. Both bands were fine with the audience peeking behind the curtain. What do I mean? While listening to S/T, I feel like I’m at a practice session or listening to a very rough demo, but this is the finished product. Now, don’t confuse The Cowboy with The Cowboys because they are two different bands. “What you talking about Willis?” The Cowboys are part of the Lumpys. Cowboy is part Pleasure Leftists and Homostupids. The Cowboy play a loose art punk that goes for The Fall with parts Minutemen. – Ed Stuart

Dark Thoughts – Must Be Nice LP (Stupid Bag/Drunken Sailor)

Philadelphia’s Dark Thoughts are back for round three with more of their brand of Ramones meets early Thermals meets lo-fi garage. Dark Thoughts keeps it simple in songwriting and in production, which is a good thing. Sometimes band overproduce for no reason and the songs don’t justify it, but not Dark Thoughts. Must Be Nice is full of one Ramones ripper after another. In many Dark Thoughts songs, the vocals serve as the main melody line that lays overtop those buzzsaw guitars propelling the songs along. Third verse, same as the first aren’t just lyrics, but a credo that Dark Thoughts gladly adheres too. – Ed Stuart

Death Lottery/Hardship Anchors – Split 7” (Freetime Boys)

Florida and California together on one spilt. The two states with the most beachfront property battle it out, well not really. Death Lottery (Florida) and Hardship Anchors (California) are friends and the got the opportunity to do a split. Death Lottery plays a sloppy, garage that is raw and fast and loose. Hardship Anchors play a sped up ‘80’s So Cal think Agent Orange/Social Distortion. – Ed Stuart

DFactor Pop – Anthems For The Active Set LP (Self-Release)

DFactor is a one man machine. Anthems For The Active Set is his latest and again DFactor plays all the instruments. DFactor also plays in the Action Jets. He might be solely responsible for the Phoenix power pop scene. If you haven’t listened to DFactor pop, he pulls from The Jam, Replacements, Guided by Voices and others in that pop range. Anthems is pure pop where DFactor doesn’t hold back his love of the genre. – Ed Stuart

The Exbats – I’m A Witch 7” (Jarama)

The Exbats play ‘50’s/60’s garage punk stomp on this three song single. “I’m A Witch” is the ‘50’s/60’s garage influenced lead track. “2027” is more punked up Sonics and “Doorman” is more garage-y punk. This is pretty stripped down that’s more in tuned with the Burger crowd than the Rip Off crowd. – Ed Stuart

Heterofobia – Queremos Ver El Mundo Arder LP (Drunken Sailor)

Heterofobia, whose name gives you a window into their politics, is a dark goth-punk band from Mexico. Queremos Ver El Mundo Arder, sung primarily in Spanish, is the brand new LP from Heterofobia. Based of an interview with the band, Monterrey is a politically oppressive town especially for a band that supports gay rights. In some ways, this band is like The Horrors or Bauhaus with a punk rhythm section. – Ed Stuart

Hound of Love – Comin Thru 7” (Drunk Dial)

Hound of Love better known as Andrew from Mean Jeans is back with another helping of his ode to ‘80’s radio pop. If you’re not familiar with Drunk Dial, when the label releases your songs, there are a few rules. First, you must cover a classic and write one original. The second, you must be drunk while recording the songs. “Comin Thru” is an homage to bands like Flock of Seagulls, Human League and other ‘80’s band that unashamedly went for radio hits. The cover is Rancid’s “Journey To The End.” The Hound plays this, I’m guessing as straight faced as possible, as a synth pop rendition which fits all things considered. – Ed Stuart

Joey Cape – Let Me Know When You Give Up LP (Fat Wreck)

Lagwagon and Bad Astronaut’s front man has just released his fourth and most recent effort, Let Me Know When You Give Up. Lagwagon were one of the original Fat bands, but Cape solo is nothing like those ‘90’s skate/punk/metal mainstays. Cape channels his melancholy and observations as a seasoned musician over a mix of pop, alt-country and Americana. – Ed Stuart

Lagwagon – Railer LP (Fat Wreck)

On Trashed and Duh, Lagwagon wrote a musical template what would help dictate and define ‘90’s skate/punk/metal. Over thirty years, Lagwagon has wavered slightly from this sonic sound print, but Railer is a return to form with bit of Hoss thrown in. Sure there are some acoustic guitars in part to expand the sound, but this a Lagwagon that isn’t afraid of their past and still enjoys playing this style even it’s not the flavor of the month. – Ed Stuart

Locate Your Lips – For Kenny CD (Happy Growl)

This is a real labor love project. Locate Your Lips started over 30 years ago in Milwaukee. During the initial recording of this LP, the band had split up and went their separate ways. In 2015, Kenny, who the LP is named for, passed way, which spurred ex-Shivvers guitarist Jim Eanneli to release these never heard before songs. Locate Your Lips is mid ‘80’s melodic pop that when you listen to has a myriad of the decade’s influences. – Ed Stuart

Make War – Get It Together LP (Fat Wreck)

I’m late to the Make War party. Get It Together is the bands third LP, but the debut on Fat. Make War, from Brooklyn, was found/discovered by Brendan from Lawrence Arms after a superb acoustic set by the singer/guitarist Jose. Make War, on Get It Together, play a very slick anthemic melodic punk with socially charged heart on their sleeve lyrics that puts them right in line with Face To Face, Menzingers, Gaslight Anthem and Against Me. – Ed Stuart

Mean Jeans – Gigantic Sike LP (Fat Wreck)

After living high on the hog after the Jingles Collection and supposedly “trying too hard” on Tight New Dimension, Mean Jeans gets back to basics with Gigantic Sike. Mean Jeans the self-proclaimed dumb band writes some pretty catchy Ramones/Queers influenced punk-pop. Yes, there are a zillion Ramones influenced bands, but I think Mean Jeans has something special about them with their catchy hooks and their quest for the essentials of punk-pop. They pull from all over the Ramones catalog to keep the party going, but on Gigantic Sike the party has a little darker side with tracks like “Party Line” and “I Fell Into A Bog.” There is only so much Mountain Dew one band can drink and maybe Mean Jeans reached their fill or stopped to write and recorded this LP. – Ed Stuart

More Kicks – More Kicks LP (Wanda, Adrenalin Fix, Dirt Cult, Snap, Beluga)

Sulli from Suspect Parts has enlisted members of Los Pepes to help round this London power trio that deals in pop. In Suspect Parts, Sulli is a member of an international pop brotherhood, but with More Kicks is the lead man in charge. More Kicks mixes ‘60’s pop, ’70 punk with garage flair and attention to melody. In some ways, More Kicks is a little garage-y punked up Kinks that doesn’t shy away from the pure pop. Instead, they run right toward it. – Ed Stuart

Omnigone – No Faith LP (Bad Time)

Members of Link 80 and Rx Bandits are back with their new band Omnigone. Hailing from East Bay, Omnigone is picking up the mantle of ska/punk/hardcore again. This isn’t a retread, Omnigone mix up the songs quite a bit through punk, reggae, ska and fast punk/hardcore. Sure there are songs that will lead to skankin’ (yes, I threw it in there), but instead of being a tribute band or a Johnny One Note, Omnigone is trying to keep it as fresh as possible. – Ed Stuart

Radioactivity – Erased 7” (Wild Honey)

Two brand new songs! Well, sort of. Both songs were written years ago, but took a while before seeing the light of day. Sure these songs have been aged like a fine wine before being released to the general public, but don’t let that distract you. “Erased” is a punchy, catchy upbeat song that you come to expect from Radioactivity. “Fear,” the B-side, is where Burke and company really shine. This song is a like a dark, melodic Buzzcocks that drips in bittersweet emotion with a hook riff that not only hooks you, but digs in. – Ed Stuart

Ramoms – Problem Child EP (Pirates Press)

The life of a busy working mom is one of the busiest schedules on the planet. Yet, the Ramoms have made their lives busiest and more fun at the same time. The Ramoms, four working moms from Philadelphia, decided to start a Ramones tribute band, but changed the words to more child friendly topics. On this three song EP, “Rockaway Beach” is the only true cover with the original lyrics intact. The other two songs are reworked Ramones classics about Gritty, the Flyers mascot and Boogers. – Ed Stuart

Screaming Targets – Carbon Copies LP (Recess/This Is Pop)

Edmonton’s Screaming Targets don’t do much screaming, but seem to be targeting late ‘80’s/early 90’s college rock mixed with punk pop. For some reason Carbon Copies makes me think of Sludgeworth if they were a Merge records band. Screaming Targets features members of Real Sickies, Slates and Blame-Its and is full of fuzzy punk pop with single note melodies that cut through and drive an earworm into your head. – Ed Stuart

Sleave – Don’t Expect Anything LP (Engineer)

Two of the members of this band met at a party and basically formed Sleave soon after. That’s a little amazing since the “Hey, let’s a start a band” party conversation never amounts to anything. Sleave hails from Richmond, VA and mixes pop-punk’s muted chugging guitars, ‘90’s alternative melody and pieces of hardcore. Don’t Expect Anything reminds me of some of the Long Island bands in the way they mix emotionally draining hoarse vocals with a consistent single melody that runs underneath. – Ed Stuart

Snuff – There’s A Lot Of It About LP (Fat Wreck)

It’s been a long time since Demussabebonk, but the Snuff sound marches on. On There’s A Lot Of It About, Snuff keeps plying their trademark punk-pop mixed with horns and shouty vocals. Duncan, also in Guns N’ Wankers, is still leading the charge. Snuff never reached the heights of the pop-punk like I would have figured. I don’t know if it’s because they don’t stick to a singular sound. Each song is a little bit of a different style and different tempo, which in the pop-punk world can hurt. I think Snuff does some of their best work when the horns and/or keys do the main talking like on “A Smile Gets A Smile” or “Dippy Egg.” If you’re down with listening to a band that’s still delivering, then listen to Snuff. – Ed Stuart

Sore Points – Not Alright EP (Slovenly)

Sore Points don’t fuck around or waste time. Not Alright goes straight for the jugular. Sore Points fresh off their 2018 S/T debut LP, amps up their KBD meets early Kids and Saints sound. This Canadian power trio powers through this brand new EP with fast chainsaw guitars and rhythm section that’s on time like a train and pummeling down the tracks. By the time, you wonder what happened, it’s time to play this record again. Not Alright is an ode to first wave punk and something fresh again. – Ed Stuart

Strung Out – Songs Of Armor and Devotion LP (Fat Wreck)

Strung Out has been together for 30 years now and show no signs of slowing down. Strung Out was part of the wave of punk bands that weren’t afraid to show their playing chops and metal influences. Both of these traits show on Songs of Armor and Devotion. Strung Out mixes ‘90’s – ‘00’s punk with metal riffs and melodic hardcore parts with confidence that has kept fans loyal for over three decades. – Ed Stuart

Subhumans – Crisis Point LP (Pirates Press)

In an age of political upheaval and divisive party lines, Subhumans release their first LP in twelve years, Crisis Point. Years ago, SUB HUM ANS released The Day The Country Died and EP-LP in the mid-80’s and cemented themselves as a crucial fixture in the anarcho-punk movement. Subhumans certainly haven’t changed much in the last thirty years and maybe that’s a good sign. Crisis Point sounds reminiscent of their ‘80’s output, which was politically and socially charged over simple effective riffs with lyrics that were half spoken and half sung. – Ed Stuart

The Whiffs – Another Whiff LP (Dig!)

There is something so satisfying about listening to a band that is a notch above the others. The Whiffs were already top of their game on their EP, 2017’s Take A Whiff. Another Whiff shows The Whiffs are no fluke. The Whiffs took their time, didn’t rush the debut LP and even added Joey from The Rubs for good measure. The Whiffs are writing power pop gems that range from ‘60’s, ‘70’s American power-pop, Big Star, Replacements, Exploding Hearts and Flamin Groovies. This Kansas City power pop powerhouse is on fire and hopefully no one puts them out. – Ed Stuart

Wyldlife – Neon Nightmare 7” (Wicked Cool)

New York’s rock n’ roll party boys are back with another smoker. Wyldlife is easily one of the best bands right now and they are only getting better. “Neon Nightmare” is a 70’s inspired rock n’ roller that woulda, coulda, shoulda been a hit, but it’s not. I know, I know, I’ll leave it at that. Wyldlife is at the top of their game with this A-side that has a big meaty hook riff, catchy chorus and a verse that never drags. “I’m Just Losing That Girl” is Wyldlife’s faithful rendition of the Dogs punk/rockabilly original. Wyldlife does have a penchant for finding more obscure songs to cover like how they did with The Brats a couple of singles ago. – Ed Stuart

Wyldlife – Another NY Christmas (Piss The Season) 7” (Wicked Cool)

Two Wyldlife singles in two months! Happy holidays to me! If you want to read what I think of Wyldlife, read the Neon Nightmare review. This time around, Wyldlife tackles the Christmas song for their entry into the seasonal catalog. “Another NY Christmas” is a power pop gem detailing a lonely Christmas spent in New York City. “Peppermint Schnapps,” the more melodic of the two is a good counterpoint. What makes Wyldlife different than your typical raucous punk rock n' roll band is their attention to melody, which they don’t shy away from in their songs. – Ed Stuart

The Yolks – Get Back 7” (Randy)

Primitive garage stomper on one side and an Everly Brothers influenced song for the flip side. Get Back from Chicago’s Yolks showcases the band’s Jekyll and Hyde. “Get Back” is primitive rudimentary punk that is Ramones meets The Spits. “Vampire” sounds like a ‘50’s inspired melodic throwback that is played straight without a hint of irony. – Ed Stuart