September Reviews

Back To Basics – Shaded Eyes 7” (Secret Mission)

If you have been paying attention to Secret Mission over the years, you would know they are all about Japanese punk. Recently, they’ve re-issued both Firestarter LP’s and now have given Back to Basics their first exposure to the U.S.. Back To Basics, featuring members of Louder and First Alert, has been around for over a decade, but only releasing Japanese releases. Shaded Eyes leans more to First Alert than to Louder. Back To Basics is punk with rough pop edges. “Shaded Eyes” is the punker of the two songs on this release while “Not Different” showcases more of the bands poppier side.  – Ed Stuart

Chain Whip – Chain Whip 7” (Dirt Cult/Neon Taste)

Chain Whip is members of Corner Boys, Fashionism and Nervous Talk playing like early D.O.A.. What? No, that wasn’t a misprint. Originally, Canada’s Chain Whip released Christmas Demo last year, which contains three of the songs on this self-titled 7”. The opener “Self Destruct” is no frills hardcore, but the band shines more on songs like “Overstimulated World” and “6 Day Weekend” where they find their Circle Jerks/D.O.A. roots and play harder punk that relies more on ’77 than hardcore. – Ed Stuart

Character Actor – S/T 7” (Dirt Cult)

Character Actor is Jeff from The Ergs! and Brian from Night Birds playing upbeat Lookout style pop-punk. The genesis for this Character Actor is both Jeff and Brian had become fathers in a recently short span of time and both of their bands were on a temporary hiatus. In the meantime, Character Actor was born and this 7” is the result. Four songs in as many minutes that could have fit at home on Lookout’s roster before the label imploded. – Ed Stuart

Dark Thoughts – At Work LP (Drunken Sailor)

Ramones mania meets Spits with a touch of Marked Men and Queers. At Work, is the follow up to 2016’s well received S/T LP. Honestly, Dark Thoughts hasn’t changed that much, but either did the Ramones and they have legions of fans. These Philly punks know where their bread is buttered and don’t stray far from it. Dark Thoughts play short songs with minimal chords and catchy hooks, which is always a good recipe. – Ed Stuart

Dfactor – Nostalgia For Now LP (Self-Release)

The one man Anthemic Pop Wonder or better known nowadays as Dfactor is back with Nostalgia for Now. Most recently, Dfactor Dave has led the Action Jets from Phoenix and he might be the one of the only of the power-poppers in the state. Nostalgia For Now is where Dave plays all the instruments and pulls from all his influences. These influences range from The Kinks, Guided By Voices, ‘60’s garage and ‘70’s American rock n’ roll to create a more personal vision.  – Ed Stuart

Mad Caddies – Punk Rocksteady LP (Fat Wreck)

This is definitely one of the more accurate LP titles you’ll ever read. Mad Caddies take Fat Mike’s handpicked 12 covers and remake them as if they had originally written them. Punk Rocksteady features covers/re-workings of Bad Religion, NOFX, Against Me!, Descendents, Misfits, Operation Ivy and Propaghandi songs. Mad Caddies play the songs with more of a ‘90’s ska sound than their original predecessors, which makes sense they have been around 20 years now. Mad Caddies have shown with careful rearranging any song has another version hidden inside. – Ed Stuart

Outer Spacist – Illness Is A Creepin’ On A Come-Up LP (Heel Turn)

Outer Spacist is writing the lo-fi soundtrack to the alien abduction. These Columbus, Ohio band plays psychedelic space proto-punk. Illness is A Creepin’ On A Come-Up pulls from ‘70’s proto-punk like Pere Ubu, Captain Beefheart, Electric Eels and ‘60’s psych like 13^th Floor Elevators. – Ed Stuart

The Ringleaders – Bi-Coastal Blasphemy LP (Hound Gawd)

Larry from Candy Snatchers and Born Loose has a new ‘90’s influenced punk rock n’ roll mayhem outfit. If you are familiar with Larry’s previous bands, Ringleaders will not be a surprise at all. Larry enlists members of Death By Stereo, Hollywood Hate and Hellbenders. The Ringleaders remind me more of early Humpers, New Bomb Turks and Electric Frankenstein on Bi-coastal Blasphemy. – Ed Stuart

Aaron Troyer – Lone Offender LP (Self Release)

Ex-Day Creeper and current Outer Spacist member, Aaron Troyer has released his solo LP, Lone Offender. Troyer, in his solo career, focuses on ‘70’s rock n’ roll in the melodic Stooges/Velvet Underground/Television style. Troyer, on Lone Offender, you’ll notice he doesn’t strive for volume, but melody on tracks like “Store” to get his point across. Sometimes being in a band can be a collaborative experience and sometimes it can be pigeonholing to live and die by a recognized sound. Now Troyer can spread his solo wings to show what he can do when he is on his own.  – Ed Stuart

Various Artists – Wassup Rocker Radio Presents: Sick Sounds Digital (Self-Release)

Wassup Rocker Radio a radio station run by Alex Kish out of Ohio that plays bands like Crazy Squeeze, Criminal Kids, Faz Waltz, Devious Ones, Gino and The Goons and much, much more. Alex and Wassup picked thirty-two songs for this compilation and made it a free download for your ears. For fans of ’77, power-pop, punk, and garage from all over the globe are covered are available for free. So, if the bands I mentioned are ones you listen, go ahead download it. – Ed Stuart

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August Reviews - Three more

Firestarter – First Album LP (Secret Mission)

Wow, it’s been twenty years since the original release date of First Album, I can’t believe it. There are a heap of modern bands that sound like this. Hmm, I wonder? Firestarter is three out of four members from Teengenerate, but sound nothing like them. Yes, Firestarter is the Fifi/Fink combo, but Fifi is the lead songwriter in this band. Firestarter leans more toward Raydios and Tweezers and writes ’77 punk/power-pop that rank right up there with The Boys, The Jam, and other greats of the era. If you only thought this family produced Teengenerate, you have been missing out for years and missed this underrated gem.  – Ed Stuart

Gloom Sleeper – Luminous Galaxies LP (Dirt Cult)

Oh those Germans dipping into their Cold War past have definitely unearthed the sounds of the era. Gloom Sleeper plays a post-punk/dark wave set in the ‘80’s, but doesn’t seem to stick on the melancholy side of it. Yes, there are notable Echo and The Bunnymen, Cure and even Smiths-y guitar and moody keys, but surprisingly, some the songs are upbeat and danceable. Too often these bands go straight for the Bauhaus gloom and doom, but Digital Galaxies isn’t afraid to get upbeat and add a little more punk to it’s post-punk songs. – Ed Stuart

Proud Parents – S/T LP (Dirtnap)

Dirtnap has officially released their first release from their new hometown of Madison, Wisconsin. Proud Parents, who I already mentioned are from Madison, filled their debut LP with plenty of jangle-garage-lo-fi-pop-punk lite songs. Originally started as a side project from Tyler (Fireheads) and Claire, the guitar/vocalists of Proud Parents, formed into a full four-piece band. Proud Parents, you could argue, could fit into Martha territory, but it’s earlier ‘80’s REM meets quirky pop.  – Ed Stuart

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July Reviews

Bikini Cops – Three 7” (Drunken Sailor/Televised Suicide)

Early ‘80’s So Cal meets some mid ‘80’s DC early alternative. Three is in reference to the band third release. This 7-inch is 6 songs of Circle Jerks meet post-Minor Threat DC blasts in 10 minutes. Bikini Cops, hail from Australia and do not solve crimes that we know of, have had many a Black Flag/Circle Jerks LP make it’s way across the Pacific, which hasn’t hurt them at all.  – Ed Stuart

Chiller – Chiller LP (Dirt Cult)

Feral Trash part 2 or Chiller, origin story, you decide. Eric and Illisha played in Feral Trash, but for Chiller they recruited members of Mother’s Children and Black Union. Chiller is a mix of Wipers and Marked Men with male/female vocals. Pop that veers to its darker minor chord fueled opposite end without losing its melody. Chiller relies a lot on the vocals to supply the melody much like the early Thermals did while rhythm continues its Marked Men momentum. – Ed Stuart

Dboy – Prove Your Love (Live In Belem) LP (Self-release)

If you believe what you read, Dboy either hails from Welland, Canada or parts unknown. Dboy is into their secrecy, only communicate through their representative and live by their 13-point manifesto. Musically, Prove Your Love is Misfits and Hives meets Stooges. Live In Belem isn’t really live, but I’m thinking you might have guessed that, but in their defense how many live albums are truly recorded live? – Ed Stuart

Down and Outs – Double Negative LP (All In Vinyl/Yo Yo/Waterslide)

Hailing from Liverpool is never going to be an easy feat considering it’s the Beatles hometown. Luckily, Down and Outs don’t bother emulating them. The Clash, Stiff Little Fingers mixed with Leatherface, Lawrence Arms and Gaslight Anthem, influence Double Negative’s songs. Down and Outs mix the personal and political lyrically over crunchy melodic guitars, raspy vocals and energetic bass and drums.  – Ed Stuart

Erik Nervous – Assorted Anxieties LP (Drunken Sailor/Neck Chop)

Assorted Anxieties is more a compilation than straight LP. Drunken Sailor has complied several of Nervous’s EP’s, cassette releases and comp tracks to fill this LP. Nervous plays a trashy indie punk sort of like Wire/Fall meets Minutemen that leans toward Rip Off in the production value, but doesn’t lack energy.   – Ed Stuart

Last Gang – Keep Them Counting LP (Fat Wreck)

Last Gang’s debut LP, Keep Them Counting is full of Rancid/Distillers/Dance Hall Crashers inspired tunes. It’s easy to forget how influential Rancid actually is on a lot of modern bands. Last Gang, hailing from Los Angeles, has been around for ten years with a breakup/hiatus in the middle, but without much recorded output to show for it. Last year, they released Sing for Your Supper as a teaser for this upcoming LP. Girl fronted punk with raspy vocals that fits right at home with other Fat bands like Bad Cop Bad Cop.  – Ed Stuart

Magpie – Picasso On A Log EP (Kool Kat)

In a lot of ways this sounds like a lost release from the mid ‘60’s. Magpie mixes California pop like the Byrds, melodic Kinks and bits of folk vocal harmonies together. Magpie hails from Somerset and features members of Bad Detective and Bronco Bullfrog. Picasso On A Log, shows Magpie are all in on the sound and songwriting. – Ed Stuart

Marriage Material – Making The Worry Worth It Part 1 7” (Dirt Cult)

Los Angeles three piece featuring members of God Equals Genocide, Spokenest, Pinned in Place, and Summer Vacation. The band released a demo earlier in the year and Making The Worry Worth It is the band’s second release. Melodic Material plays gritty melodic Midwestern punk influenced pop-punk that isn’t afraid too get a little arty. – Ed Stuart

Outtacontroller – No Echo EP or 7” (Jarama)

Halifax, Nova Scotia’s plays a slight fuzzed out punk pop that falls somewhere between Ramones and early Mean Jeans. No Echo is nothing, but fun, which shouldn’t come as a surprise it’s on Jarama. This is the follow up to their LP, Television Zombie from 2016. Outtacontroller plays four songs under 10 minutes, which is a good recipe for a band playing ’77 infused punk pop.  – Ed Stuart

The Ravagers – Drowning In Blood 7” (Spaghetty Town/No Front Teeth/Gods Candy)

You know what you’re getting into when a band features members of RMBLR and Biters and this single doesn’t disappoint. It’s been a few years since we heard from Baltimore’s The Ravagers, but Drowning in Blood will make you forget that. The Ravagers play a Dead Boys, Turbonegro, Backyard Babies punk ROCK. Yes, emphasis is on the rock and the guitar playing with Hagen (RMBLR) and Gabs (Biters) doesn’t shy away from leads. The A-side is more rock and the B-side, Suzi (Has An Uzi), is more punk like early Damned meets Dead Boys. Supposedly there is an LP on the way; hopefully we won’t have to wait another two to three years for new material.  – Ed Stuart

Razorbats – II LP (Rob Mules)

Hanoi Rocks meets Hellacopters/Backyard Babies meets punk touches. Before the band released II, Norway’s Razorbats changed their singer and bass player, but instead of packing it in they decided to keep going. Razorbats have their musical toes dipped in the hard rock and punk world. “Social Rejects” mixes both, but other songs go for the hard melodic rock jugular like “Dead Boy City.” Is hard rock punk or rock punk a sub genre yet? If not, Razorbats could heed the call.  – Ed Stuart

Spring – II Cassette (Sabotage)

Spring is from Northern Germany and released a demo in 2015. II is the follow up to that demo with five new songs. There isn’t a whole lot of info I could find about them. Spring plays a sludgy, dirty lo-fi mid ‘80’s hardcore.  – Ed Stuart

Syndrome 81 – Beton Nostalgie LP (Sabotage)

Since releasing their first demo in 2013, France’s Syndrome 81 has been gaining steam in the French punk scene. Beton Nostaglie sounds like ‘80’s UK, think Blitz, mixed with Oi!, but Syndrome 81 also adds some dark melodic pop to not be one trick ponies. The LP is sung in French so it will be tough to join in on the gang vocals, but fans of French Oi! won’t mind. Beton Nostalgie is a collection of songs from their demo, Litovsk split, UVPR compilation song, Desert Urbain, BMAB single serie and Urban Savage split.  – Ed Stuart

Various Artists – Scrap! LP (Secret Mission)

Six new Japanese bands (Car Crash, Middle Edge, Centipede, Black and White, Dials and Loudmouth) are featured on this Secret Mission LP. I should really say six singles for the price of one. Most comps give one track by each band, but Scrap! gives each band three tracks to shine. Much like Secret Mission releases the music ranges from ’77 punk to KBD to mod pop. If you’re a Secret Mission fan, this is worth checking out. – Ed Stuart

The Whiffs – S/T LP (Drunken Sailor)

For a band that borrows their band logo from Stiff Records, has far more US influences than UK. Prior to starting, half the band had never met before. Kansas City’s, The Whiffs feature members from The Conquerors, Wet Ones, Nubiles and The Caves. The Whiffs take Tom Petty, Big Star, Dwight Tilley, and The Nerves to make one of the finest LP’s you’ll hear this year. Originally titled Take A Whiff, Drunken Sailor re-issued the LP with the S/T title, but the title doesn’t change a thing. The Whiffs mix jangly, gritty guitars that give the right amount of toughness and melody. Okay, they aren’t that tough, but what they lack in toughness The Whiffs make for in melody.   – Ed Stuart

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Modern Pets

Photo by Andrea Shettler

     Any ignorant fool that utters the words “punk is dead” needs to pick his ignorant ass up off the couch and direct his/her attention towards Berlin, Germany. It’s a land of culture, politics, science, and top-notch punk rock! This is the city where Modern Pets dwell. This band relentlessly hurls snarling, anxiety filled ‘77 style punk rock similar to bands like The Gaggers (R.I.P.) and American groups like The Stitches and The Briefs.  It’s fast, snotty, and the songs are driven in and pierce your eardrum just right, to ensure maximum pogo-bility. Modern Pets have been at their game and perfecting their craft for years now, releasing a number or EP’s and LP’s on various labels. Once you hear them you’re gonna want to gather them all and realize playing Modern Pets records at maximum volume is mandatory!   

Interview by J Castro

Let’s start off with introductions, who’s all in Modern Pets and what do they do in the group?

JAN: Its Axel, Tobi, Alvar, and Jan. Bass, guitar, guitar, drums and we all sing. Everybody is writing songs that we arrange together in our practice room. I am doing the main part of the organizing, Tobi and Axel do a lot of the recordings and help with organizing too and Alvar looks really good!

The band is currently based out of Berlin, Germany. Germany has a history of great punk bands back in the day, The Razors, PVC, The Pack just to name a few.  What’s it like there now, are people pretty receptive to what you guys are doing musically?

JAN: To be honest – All the bands you are mentioning are ok, but not our favorites if it comes to German Punk from back in the day. We´re more into The Buttocks, Neurotic Arseholes, A+P, Schleimkeim, Abwärts, Betoncombo, Chaos Z and the likes. Anyways, nowadays the most German Punk/Deutschpunk is really shitty if you compare it to the ‘80s or early ‘90’s, it actually pretty much sucks! The scene, especially in Berlin, totally changed, Berlin is a really international city and you have all kinds of influences and languages from all over the world. So nowadays you find all kinds of different subgenres of Punk in here: from UK influenced HC, American garage to Spanish post punk and back. The scene still is a much more political one than in the US for example as its roots are deeply connected with the squatting and antifascist movement. It’s also still really big, at least in Berlin and still you find loads of different venues and places to go if you are into Punk and anything related. To me it seems an active and vital movement. Getting back to your question: yes, people are and always were receptive to what we were/are doing, as most of them at least partly understand where our influences are coming from (people in the US seem to understand that way better though).

You guys toured Japan in 2014, how did that go? Was it your first time there?

JAN: We got invited to do a tour there together with The Kidnappers from Hamburg and Your Pest Band from Tokyo. The tour's been absolutely great and was a really special experience! None of us have been there before ever, but we all hope we can do it again someday!

Speaking of playing live, what has been the most memorable Modern Pets show, good or bad that you can remember?  Where was it and what made it so unforgettable?

JAN: That´s a really hard question, maybe the one in the end of a 40 show European tour in 2013 where we were punching each other on stage in Gothenburg/Sweden, a really bad memory though. Still we learned something out of it I guess and it was a great show for the audience!

When you guys are up there playing in front of an audience, what distracts you most?  What kinds of things annoy you that you see people doing during your gigs?

JAN: As we´re having a pretty solid experience in playing live I think it’s kinda hard to distract us from the outside. A bad monitor/stage sound is always something that sucks and kinda makes you feel uncomfortable playing, but that´s how it goes sometimes. What really annoys me are stupid people in the audience; people that dance too violent or disrespect others, smaller people with their acting and moving and also people who seem like totally not interested in what you are doing. I don´t get how you can pay money to enter a show and then just stand around and shake your head and build a semi circle in front of the stage. Luckily we don´t have any of these types in our audiences too often.

You guys have released a number of records on a bunch of different record labels including Modern Action and Secret Mission here in the U.S.  How did you hook up with these guys on a different continent?

JAN: They got in touch with us and asked if we wanna release something with them. Both labels are run by amazing people and we really like what they are doing, so we're really happy about that.

Do you remember as a kid, who made you want to pick up and learn to play an instrument?

JAN: As far as I can say, I started playing drums in the early ‘90’s, it was definitely Guns n’ Roses when I was an 8 year old kid. I know that´s a bit awkward, but they definitely were the first rock n’ roll band that I was ever listening to and had a big impact on me at least for 2 years. And of course when I was 13 and started to listen to punk I always denied that I ever listened to them, he, he. But yeah, if it comes to punk it was maybe popular bands like Green Day, Nirvana, Offspring, Die Ärzte and Die Toten Hosen, Bad Religion that first touched me and then later on bands like Slime, Spermbirds, Black Flag, Crass, Discharge and Minor Threat as well as a whole bunch of popular ‘90’s Deutschpunk like Wizo or Hammerhead that got me deeper into it and really made me play what I´m doing today at least kind of. That’s excluding all the much more specific ‘70’s punk, power-pop, Beat and HC stuff that I got in touch with later that clearly had an of an effect on what we are doing with Modern Pets now. Tobi and Axel are both about 5/6 years younger than me, so for them it must have been quite different and Alvar is my age – we have a couple of similarities, but he´s from Spain, so there´s loads of local differences too.

Do you remember where you were and who first introduced you to punk music?  Tell me a bit about that, can you remember what record or song it was? 

JAN: It was my uncle, it was on the south German countryside in a village called Sülzbach (that´s close to Stuttgart), it was in the mid ‘90’s and it definitely was “A Texas Cowboy” from the Spermbirds. I remember jumping around my uncle’s room (he is really young and by that time he was still living with my grandparents) together with my sister while we were listening to it.... Good times! 

When you aren’t playing or listening to music, what other sorts of thing do you enjoy doing, any non-musical hobbies or interests?

JAN: Music is definitely the thing for all of us. Every one of us is at least playing in 2 bands at the moment, so as sad as it is, I think all of us are spending most of our time listening and playing music as well as organizing shows for other bands or putting out tapes. If I don´t do that I´m reading a lot, doing a bit of sports, watching movies and smoking pot with my housemate. I think I can more or less speak for all of us that this pretty much sums it up, if you ask me what we are doing. Some of us are also recording bands or DJ-ing, man maybe I should change something in my life he, he.

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

JAN: Hopefully your local punk record store, definitely our live shows and at our labels, Secret Mission Records, Modern Action Records, Dead Beat Records in the US; P.Trash, Concrete Jungle Records, Rockstar Records, This Charming Man Records in Europe and Black Hole Records in Japan. We also have a Bandcamp site with almost all the releases we did so far. You can download there for free or at least listen to the stuff. Its modernpets1.bandcamp.com

What lies ahead in the near future for Modern Pets?

JAN: We're pretty much focusing on working on new songs at the moment that might end up on another record one day and we'll tour Eastern Europe this year for the first time as well as some smaller weekend things in Spain, the UK and of course Germany and then hopefully the US again in late 2015 or next year.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zbdwhmKo6_k

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6yN41D9ocV4

website: http://modernpetssuck.blogspot.de/

bandcamp: http://modernpets1.bandcamp.com/

facebook: https://www.facebook.com/modernpets

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