Yesterday and Record Pressing Plant Fire Show Notes and Links

One this episode the boys talk about what they're listening to: 

Jay's  really digging the new Sick Bags - Only The Young Die Good  LP on Spaghetty Town Records and No Front Teeth Records, the new Slander Tongue S/T LP on Slovenly Recordings and the new songs by Outtacontroller from their upcoming LP on Alien Snatch Records

Ken and Ed are really into the new Tommy Ray  - First Hits Free LP

Also on the show,  the guys talk about the fire that devastated Apollo Masters Manufacturing 

Robert Bauer/RIBsfit Media

https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/apollo-masters-fire-vinyl-records-lacquer-production-949648/



The goons also "Smash or Trash" the new Strokes tunes!  

We find out the charming movie Yesterday just wasn't "Jarmusch" enough for Ken:

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8079248/

Our featured song on the episode is "Addicted" by Dirty Cheetah 

and as per usual our opening theme song is "Alright" by Radiohearts 

Check out this episode!

Audio Amunition Podcast Episode 3 - My Damage and Green Room

Episode 3!

This time around the boys talk about the Keith Morris book My Damage and the punk rock horror thriller Green Room. We also pick some of our favorite desert island bands.

My Damage

https://www.amazon.com/My-Damage-Story-Punk-Survivor/dp/030682406X

Green Room

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4062536/

Our feature band this episode is NYC's Moral Panic!  Check out their new LP on Alien Snatch Records!

Check out this episode!

More Music to Fuel The Savage Spirit!

The Dahlmanns – American Heartbeat LP (Beluga/Ghost Highway)

This is my first time hearing The Dahlmanns, I’ve heard the band’s name around before of course but this is my first exposure to them. All I keep thinking as I’m sitting here listening to this record is why haven’t I gotten off my lazy ass and checked out this band before! This is the band’s 2^nd LP but they’ve released a bunch of EP’s since their debut in 2010.  If you don’t fall in love with these songs just from Line Dahlmann’s vocals alone, then you have no soul! It also helps that the tunes here are so super catchy and well written, they have a timeless feel to them. What a marvelous LP, I’m going on the hunt for more Dahlmanns records! – J Castro

Direct Hit! – Crown of Nothing LP (Fat Wreck Chords)

This is the band’s 5^th LP and they continue to tweak their sound slightly, keeping it similar yet not letting it become stagnant. Out of all the current “Fat” bands with the classic “Fat” sound, Direct Hit are my favorites. Their 2013 LP Brainless God is an absolute masterpiece in pop punk lore and Crown of Nothing doesn’t fall too far from it. Direct Hit’s kind of remind me of Propagandhi if Propagandhi were actually good. They cram loud guitars coupled with strong yet snotty vocals, laid over catchy as measles in an unvaccinated kindergarten class room melodies. Great record to add to an untarnished discography.  – J Castro

Flesh Rag – Inside Your Mind LP (Schizophonic/Loose Lips)

It’s about that time for the mighty Flesh Rag to reawaken from their slumber deep within the mountains of the north, swinging their mighty battle axe reminding us how puny and weak we all really are. This is the band’s second LP, continuing their unique brand of tough, macabre psych that sounds like the Pink Fairies cut with the MC5 or imagine The Stooges writing music on a bad acid trip at a morgue. Flesh Rag sounds tight and mighty as ever on this album, the songs fly by you like a hurled hatched narrowly missing your head.  Remember, if not handled properly Flesh Rag records can cause permanent damage. – J Castro

Isolation Party – Fiberoptic Holiday LP (No Front Teeth)

This London Ontario band’s debut LP comes in like a comet from the north, leaving a fiery trail of destruction in its wake.  Isolation Party takes angular post punk guitars and wraps them around power pop melodies to create one of the year’s most exciting LP’s! If you’ve ever said to yourself:  “Swell Maps would be so great if they weren’t SO weird” or “I’d like more power pop bands if they weren’t so sappy,” then Isolation Party are the band for you.  Their song “Mr. Telephone” is an instant classic and once listened to, will hug your brain for days. If you dig early XTC, Pere Ubu, or Magazine then you’ll instantly want to raise a glass to these guys. – J Castro

Ben Katzman’s De-Greaser – Quarter Life Crisis LP (BUFU)

These guys come from Miami Beach, FL and play a paint peeling, face melting brand of loud ass rock with punk rock ferocity. I mean, the first thing that hits you when listening to this record is the guitars, everyone else in the band seems to be running to catch up to them. This isn’t a bad thing at all. And those guitars aren’t just a hard open palmed slap to the face hit either. I mean they hit like wrecking ball to the chest.  Once you get the air back into your lungs you’ll be begging for it again! If you’re into bands like Turbonegro, Zeke, and Electric Frankenstein then I highly recommend these malcontents. – J Castro 

Johnny Mafia – Princes de L‘Amour LP (Dirty Water)

Johnny Mafia are a pretty cool band from Sens France, listening to this record is my first time hearing them. The band has been around since 2010 and this here is their second LP, the first on the Dirty Water label.  The band lists Jay Reatard and The Ramones as influences but the songs on this LP seem to me to fall more towards the Libertines, Cribs, Vaccines sound instead. Let me state that there is nothing wrong with that mind you, I like every one of those bands and I mean listing Johnny Mafia amongst them as a compliment. But if you’re looking for that manic, under produced, recorded in my mother’s garage sound, you won’t find it here.  – J Castro

Neighborhood Brats – Claw Marks LP (Dirt Cult)

This band has been scorching the earth with releases since 2011 and in my opinion, after 2 LP’s and 6 EP’s hasn’t given us a clunker yet. If you’re not familiar with this band, this is as good a place to start as any. I love it when punk bands grab what’s great about different genres of punk, smash them all together and come up with something that sounds familiar yet totally unique. That’s exactly what Neighborhood Brads have done and continues to do so in brilliant fashion on this LP. If you get the chance, go see this band live while they’re touring in support of this LP right now, you won’t leave disappointed. – J Castro

Pale Lips –After Dark LP (Spaghetty Town/Alien Snatch/Gods Candy/)

How can you not like this band? I mean seriously, if you claim to be a rock n roll fan you’ve got to dig Montreal’s Pale Lips. They play short, fun, catchy tunes that when played at high volume feels like someone opened the windows to your musty old soul and let in a cool breeze. They take the core fundamentals of classic rock n roll from the 50’s and 60’s and add their own unique, contemporary spin to it. So like the old adage goes, “what once was old is new again.” This is Pale Lips second LP, hopefully there will be many more to come. The universe needs more bands like this. – J Castro

Quitters – Singing Like Nobody’s Listening 12” EP (Red Toad Music)

Quitters are from Montpelier, France and have been around since 2015. This is their 3^rd release and already seem to have found a sure footing in their sound. This quartet plays loud, catchy songs that have an emo and indie rock touch to them. If you’re into bands like 00’s emo punk heroes like Get Up Kids, The Movielife and The Anniversary you’re going to go seriously nuts for Quitters.  This kind of music isn’t necessarily my first “go to” but even I can tell this band puts a lot into their craft and for that alone I can admire what they set out to do. – J Castro

The Sensations – Just Let Me Turn You Up LP (Paper and Plastick)

Tokyo’s Sensations play wild, good time pop punk with Ska influence. Just from the opening song “Dig Your Own Grave” you can tell these guys are all about a good time like early Fishbone. That opening song pretty much sets the tone for the entire record. I know some cringe at the mention of “ska” but the hons are used sparingly on this record and I don’t get that cheese ball frat boy feel from these guys that I used to get from band like Mustard Plug or MU330. These guys have more in common with bands like Less Than Jake or a less scrappy Operation Ivy. The Sensations must be absolutely explosive live. – J Castro

Territories - S/T LP (Pirate Press)

WOW, Territories are a really great band from Calgary, Alberta! I’m really digging this quite a bit. This record of starts off with really thick, melodic guitars and a rhythm section that sounds like distant thunder echoing in the mountains during the monsoon season. The vocalist has an earnest Springsteen style about him that makes listening to this record feel like putting on your favorite worn in denim jacket. All of the songs ooze this charismatic heartfelt sincerity you don’t get much in punk rock, not the real deal like this anyway. Territories goes well on the same shelf as groups like Iron Chic and Gaslight Anthem.  – J Castro

Useless ID – 7 Hits From Hell 7” (Fat Wreck Chords)

These guys have been around since the mid 1990’s and have released a crap ton of LP’s and EP’s on a myriad of different labels, probably outlasting most of them. The fact that this band has been around for as long as they have is to be commended for sure. From what I can tell, this is the band’s 11^th EP and they released their 10^th LP on Fat Wreck Chords in 2016. If you’ve never heard Useless I.D. before, let’s just say they’re right at home on Fat Wreck Chords. They play tight, fun loving, baggy shorts/backwards baseball cap, riding your skateboard down a steep hill style of punk rock.   – J Castro

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Impo and The Tents

     Impo and The Tents play some of the catchiest, most endearing rock n’ roll music floating around today. When I first dropped their 2^nd LP, my pick for 2014’s album of the year; the fantastic Peek After a Poke available from Alien Snatch Records, I thanked the maker that someone still found interest in power pop influenced punk bands from the late ‘70’s and took them seriously for that matter! These Swedes crank out short, dizzyingly catchy bursts of candy coated audio razor blades. Two minute songs that are fast and fun to listen to that don’t seem like they’d be all that difficult to write and perform, right? Wrong, wrong you are so very wrong!  It is a fine line to walk the way bands of old walked without seeming like you’re following too close step by step, and to add your own influences and cut them into a timeless sound that still rings with the bells of yesterday and yet still sounds fresh and contemporary.  It’s not an easy job but Impo and The Tents pull it off and make it sound like it is.     

Interview by J Castro

Let’s start by telling me who is currently in the band and what everyone does in Impo and The Tents:

Rune: Vocals & Bass
Dan: Guitar (also answering the questions)
Lars: Organ
Victor: Drums

How did you all meet and decide to play in a band together?

DAN: Me and Rune are childhood buddies and played in other bands before starting Impo & the Tents in 2010. We were supposed to do a 7” as a one off thing, since we were engaged in another band at the time, but things kinda snowballed and I&TT became our main focus. Victor replaced Sanna on drums and Lars replaced Martin on organ. Anders has filled in on drums on two tours.

What band or musician influenced you to want to play/write music?

DAN: There´s a long and a short answer to that question, and since the long answer is really long, I´ll just go ahead and say Appetite for Destruction. That record changed everything. Made me interested in playing an instrument, thieving booze from my parent’s liquor cabinet, secretly smoking in the forest, growing my hair long and cutting holes in my jeans.

How would you describe what your band sounds like to someone that’s never heard you guys before?

DAN: Imagine a Beatles song played at double speed, with the gain cranked up on the amps and some delightfully squeaky vocals on top. We are obviously very influenced by ‘70´s power pop/melodic punk. Reviewers often compare us to Dickies and Undertones.

The band is currently based in the town of Södertälje, Sweden. What is it like playing shows there? Are there people there and other bands that support and understand what you guys are doing musically?

DAN: Both Rune and I are from Södertälje, but we have moved a long time ago. We are based in Stockholm now and part of a ”scene” loosely based around Push My Buttons, who arrange gigs and run a record store/label. Everybody does their own thing and has their own sound, which I think is great. It´s more like a gathering of (sort of) likeminded freaks. I have put out two compilations with contemporary Swedish garage and punk bands on my label Ooga Tjacka Tapes, that you can check out here:

https://oogatjackatapes.bandcamp.com/album/pickled-herring-punk

You guys list the Beatles, Raspberries, Big Star, The Nerves, The Shivvers, Ramones, Dickies, Undertones, The Gizmos, and the Real Kids as your main influences; bands that existed and were in their prime long ago.  Are there any current bands that inspire you?

DAN: I mainly look to old stuff for inspiration and especially love discovering old obscure power pop 7”s. As for contemporary bands in the same vein as us, we like Nobunny, Reigning Sounds and King Khan & Bbq Show, whom we have had the pleasure of opening for when they played in Sweden. Home Blitz is fantastic. Sheer Mag is a cool new band. Baby Shakes. Local heroes Bäddat För Trubbel of course. Perfect Fits released two criminally underrated power pop 7”s in 2008 (one was a split with Twinkle van Winkle, also great).

You guys put a lot of humor in your songs and records; it’s even in the band’s name. Is this important for you guys to do? Could you ever see Impo and the Tents doing a social or political song like the Ramones did with “Bonzo Goes to Bitburg”? 

DAN: Sometimes too much it seems, since some people aren´t able to see past it. The band name especially has shown to be a turn-off for some people ha, ha! We´re pretty serious about our tunes but pretty unserious about the rest. It´s not important to be funny, but it´s important to keep the music playful and not take yourself too seriously. I think politics have no place in music.

You guys have toured Europe quite a bit.  Can you tell me about the most memorable show you can remember playing, good or bad and what made it so unforgettable?

DAN: I don´t know where to start, but let me say it´s more like the movie about Anvil, and less like the book The Dirt. It´s fun, chaotic and blurry. You get a great knowledge of Autobahn!

If you were stuck on a desert island with (A) one record, (B) one meal and (C) one person, what would they be?

DAN: (A) Velvet Underground - S/T (B) Vegetarian meze buffé (C) Maggie Gyllenhaal

Where can people go or log on to buy and listen to your music?

DAN: You can buy our latest LP, upcoming EP and listen to some tracks over at Alien Snatch:
http://www.aliensnatch.de/start.htm
https://soundcloud.com/aliensnatch/impo-the-tents-dead-giveaway
https://soundcloud.com/aliensnatch/impo-the-tents-peek-after-a-poke

Push My Buttons usually carries our old stuff on vinyl. Worldwide shipping:
http://pushmybuttons.se/
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/35IU6hOXQcob43ma1XPRzm
iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/impo-the-tents/id417964446

What lies ahead in 2015 for Impo and the Tents?

DAN: New 4 track EP to be released on Alien Snatch at the end of the summer! It´s called Anxious Times and we are very happy with it! It´s a natural development from our recent LP ”Peek After A Poke” in style, but with a bit more punch in the production.

Follow us for updates:  https://www.facebook.com/impoandthetents?fref=ts

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Tyred Eyes

     Hailing from the beautiful city of Göteborg, Sweden (I haven’t actually been but I’ve seen pictures and it makes me want to drop everything and move there right now!), these three lads and a lovely lady create tremendously melodic and charismatic Rock N’ Roll music that falls somewhere between a less reverb drenched Raveonettes and The Ramones. The band can excel at introspective slower numbers to urgent garage punk. It’s not often a band can pull something like that off without sounding contrived, but Tyred Eyes run it radiantly with ease and style!   

Interview by Jay Castro

Please introduce yourself and how you contribute to Tyred Eyes.

Hello. My name is Erik Toresson and I play electric bass in the rock band Tyred Eyes. I also write some of the songs. The other members are: Martin Toresson, Johanna Hellqvist and Joel Bjurbo.

Where are you all from originally and how did you all meet and decide to play music together?

Martin (who sings and play guitar) and I are from a small city in northern Sweden called Falun. It’s very cozy up there. I met Martin for the first time when I was 2 years old, cause he’s my brother. 24 years later we both ended up in Göteborg (although Martin now lives in Stockholm). We had been in bands before, but never in the same band, so we talked about starting one and we did. Johanna joined 2 years later. Last year our drummer Joel joined the band. Those two people joining are by far the most vital and important things that has happened to this band.

What’s life like for a Rock N’ Roll band in Göteborg, Sweden?  Are there a lot of other bands there to play shows with and what is the crowd like?

It’s ok! When we started the band it was easier to get shows. Or maybe it’s because the shows were a bit smaller then, and we’ve just gotten pickier about what shows we want to do nowadays. There is a great sense of community between us and some of the other bands in Göteborg; especially the bands that we share our rehearsal space with: Hunt and Killers Walk Among Us. Our musical styles differ quite a bit, so we don’t often play shows together, unfortunately. They are superb bands, I am very proud to count them as my friends.

What’s your favorite album to listen to from start to finish?

Radiohead - Ok Computer or Neil Young - On the Beach.

Do you remember your first Rock N’ Roll show?  Who did you see and what impression did it make on you?

I don’t remember any specific show from the age when I started going to concerts at the local youth center in my home city. But the first rock show that really had an impact on me is probably when I skipped school and took the train to Stockholm to see the Australian band The Datsuns. But it was more the sense of being in a real rock club in a real city, and smoking cigarettes and drinking beer next to the members of The Hellacopters, than the concert itself. Also I met Andy Bell from Ride/Oasis in the urinal. It was a big night for me because I realized that there was a very exciting world waiting for me out there. One thing that I have thought about a lot recently is that nowadays when I go to a concert I spend more time complaining that my feet hurt, rather than being excited about the band, even if it’s a concert I’ve been looking forward to for a long time. When I was younger I went totally crazy before a concert, just by the sheer fact that the band that I was there to see was about to be a couple of meters away from me in 5 minutes. That doesn’t happen anymore, and it scares me. Sometimes I do get excited though, it’s just less frequent. I saw my absolute heroes Neil Young & Crazy Horse this summer, something that I had been waiting for as long as I can remember. My most vivid memory from that show is when Neil played a song just by himself, and Ralph Molina, who plays bass, stood by the side of the stage drinking tea and chatting with the guitar tech. That’s my biggest memory from that show. What’s wrong with me??

In your opinion, what bands do people need to know and understand in order to appreciate your music more?

Broder Daniel.

I don’t like using the term “guilty pleasure” just because I don’t think people should be ashamed by anything they really like.  With that being said, do you guys listen to anything that some of your fans would be surprised by?

My fellow band colleagues will probably hate me for revealing this... I do however agree with your statement that good music is good music, and you should never be ashamed of what you listen to. Having said that I can’t seem to outgrow a lot of the emo bands that I listened to a couple of years ago: My Chemical Romance, Paramore and Taking Back Sunday to name a few. Just for the record, I started with all the cool bands, from the second generation of emo bands, like Sunny Day Real Estate (although they might actually fit more as a first generation emo band?) and At the Drive-In.

What’s been the most unforgettable show you’ve played, good or bad and what made it so memorable?

The latest show we did. We played in Stockholm at the now closed venue Debaser Slussen. It’s probably Sweden’s most famous venue, and we played the second to last night it was open. That was a huge deal for me personally because it was the same venue as I went to when I was young (as I mentioned in a previous question). If someone had told me at age 18 that I was gonna play a show there myself in 10 years I wouldn’t have believed it.

Also it was memorable because we were fucking great that night! We played a lot of new songs from the new album for the first time and it was so much fun. We also had my very good friend Stefan with us on stage on third guitar, which really added to the sound. In my opinion we have never sounded that good before, which brings me to the sad part, and the biggest reason why it’s the most unforgettable show I’ve played. And that is that my dear friend who played with us died 2 months later, before we had time to ask him to play with us again. We did this really cool outro for the last song, where we took turns to get off stage, and it all ended with this huge wall of noise from everyone’s amplifiers. I have spent many hours daydreaming about doing that outro again with the same people, but now that will never happen. Luckily, someone filmed it, and it’s on Youtube. It breaks my heart every time I watch it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ze4JW2TVk54

The cassette is making a raging comeback.  Do you think it’s a viable and collectable form of music or just another hipster trend that will soon go hobbling back to its dark cave of obscurity where in belongs?
Actually the first ever release that we did was a split cassette with a band from Santa Cruz called The Groggs. I never collected cassettes or made mix tapes when I was young, so I don’t really have a personal connection to that storage device. But I really like the size of it, and it seems to be a good substitute for making an expensive vinyl release. I would love to do a new cassette release for Tyred Eyes, so if there are any cassette labels out there reading this, let me know!

What does the band have in store for us in the near or not so near future?

We have just finished our second album. It will be released after the summer, and it’s called Elevator. I am very proud of this record, and can’t wait to let people hear it! I think we really gave it all this time, and now all four of us writes songs, and play different instruments, which was a lot of fun. Musically it’s quite a big step up from our previous releases, and that has always been my goal: to do different and better things for each record. The first single from the album is called Lunar Escapade, and will be released on the 16th of March. 

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