This site is awesome if you are a fan of the history of the Cleveland punk rock music scene:
I just spent about an hour on this site reading about long lost venues, old punk rock bands, personal stores from random punkers from back in the day. Very interesting read and worth checking out.
One of my buddies sent me an email the other day asking for me to give him a name of a band that he might have overlooked in the past. Between him and I we have always appreciated all types of good music, punk being the favored. He was looking for something to listen to, something good and I knew the perfect band for him to check out, the problem was I could not remember the name of the band for the life of me.
Am I really getting that old that I can not remember the name of a band? In my defense there is tons of music out there for your listening pleasure…
Well I did remember the CD had a blue cover. That is a start. Not a good start, but it was something.
All last night I thought good and hard what the hell this band name could be. I kept thinking the band was called Bender or Bekker but nothing would come up when I searched online. I eventually just gave up and went to bed.
This morning I woke up with a record label stuck in my head. The label was aimed towards the punk rock bands and was called Hopeless Records. One thing led to another and soon I was on the Hopeless Records website and was searching for the catalog of CDs. I was not expecting to find anything on the site but suddenly my eyes focused on a blue covered album. Just when I was about to give up I found what I was looking for.
So Kevin, this is the band I was trying to tell you about and if you have already heard of them you should check them out again for the sake of me stressing out trying to figure it out.
The band is Heckle
Heckle was a east coast hardcore/punk rock band from New Jersey formed in the mid-nineties. The bands first release was a split release with their friend’s band called AFI. They released their first full length under the now defunct Wingnut Records in 1996 and not even a year later were picked up by Hopeless Records and released their second and final CD called Complicated Futility of Ignorance
The thing I loved about this band is that they sounded like all of the SoCal punk rock I was getting into at the time. One of my friends told me to buy it randomly one day and I was glad I did. It more more melodic punk rock over a hardcore feel and was just easy to get hooked on. It was perfect for a guy like me who was addicted to Face To Face and Bad Religion.
I have to say I am stoked my friend asked me to find him a band to listen to otherwise I may not have found Heckle again. They were one of those bands that disappeared unknowingly from my music collection but will once again be reunited into regular play.
I was unable to find any videos for your entertainment but if you want to hear more about this band you can check out the following links:
No Use For A Name “Fairytale Of New York City” (Pogues Cover)
The Vandals “Oi To The World”
The Ravers “Punk Rock Christmas”
Finally one of my all time favs:
The Ramones “Merry Christmas (I Don’t Want To Fight)”
Have a great day everyone!!!
While checking out Punknews.org this evening I could not help but get excited for the Van’s 2009 Warped Tour. The successful punk rock festival created by Kevin Lyman looks to be getting back to it’s punk roots this year. This will mark the 15th year the festival has been running.
The line up announced so far:
Anti-Flag, Bad Religion, Big D and the Kids Table, Bouncing Souls, Chiodos, Flogging Molly, Lights, NOFX, P.O.S., Shooter Jennings, TAT, The Devil Wears Prada, Thrice, Underoath and Westbound Train. Also listed to perform are Less Than Jake, Silverstein, Senses Fail, Streetlight Manifesto, The A.K.A.s, The Ataris, Alexisonfire, Black Tide, Dance Gavin Dance, Escape the Fate and Gallows.
Can you say awesome? WIth Bad Religion, Flogging Molly, NOFX, and Shooter Jennings listed I am going to be there for sure. In fact I may try to hit the Cleveland and Columbus shows… maybe even Pittsburgh!
I have has the pleasure of reviewing and photographing the Warped Tour in 2007 and 2008. I hope again to be able to cover the festival as each year is all so entertaining.
My reviews of both years on Blogcritics.Org:
Something that got my attention too was the announcement by Kevin Lyman on NotMTV.tv that there would be some changes at the next installment of the Warped Tour including 40 minute sets, less stages with only one major stage, and ticket prices staying hopefully around the same price. By the looks of the line up too it looks as if he is making a point to actually have a more punk oriented festival in 2009..
Here is an interview with the creator of the longest running festival ever thanks to NotMTV.tv:
For more info on the Warped Tour check out:
Many of you know I do not call the birthday of Jesus by it’s common name. I skip out on tradition mainly from over exposure of retail during the holiday season. I see how people really are before the big day. I have turned away last minute shoppers from buying just one more thing that is not necessary to give. I have seen nice turn to pure evil in .00056 seconds. It’s tough being in retail. I am glad I am out of it and I do not miss it one bit.
I am sure many of you have heard this before but if not, I call this day of giving some refer to as Christmas or X-Mas simply J-Day. It stands for Jesus Day, you know, the whole reason the day exists for all you religious type out there.
My wife and I are not religious though we do respect people’s beliefs. We actually see J-Day a little differently than most mainly because J-Day is the day my wife and I hooked up. In fact this J-Day will mark 4 years.
Impressive.
We met at a punk rock x-mas party. I will never forget the night. We both had rough days and randomly ran in to one another at party my friends threw. She was actually friends with my best friend’s girlfriend at the time and I remember I kept asking him before the party if she was coming. They told me she was coming and I figured it was a good day to talk to her. Good conversation, endless cans of gross Natural Light, and the rest is history…
So what does this blog have to do with punk and rock and x-mas? Well I have a certain little compilation I listen to every once in a while during the holidays I thought I would share with some of you. It is a compilation for all you punk rockers out there who like tradition and also like a little out of the ordinary. The CD really reminds me of the night of the party I met my wife at not because that music in particular was playing but more so the reminder of the combination of punk and holidays.
Track Listing:
1. Punk Rock Christmas, (It’s Gonna Be A) – The Ravers
2. Silent Night – The Dickies
3. Hooray For Santa Claus (Theme From “Santa Claus Conquers The Martians”) – Sloppy Seconds (CD only)
4. F*ck Christmas – Fear
5. Merry Jingle, A – The Greedies
6. There Ain’t No Sanity Claus – The Damned
7. Homo Christmas – Pansy Division
8. It’s Christmas – Bouquet Of Veal (CD only)
9. Merry Xmas Blues – Celibate Rifles (CD only)
10. Merry Christmas (I Don’t Wanna Fight Tonight) – The Ramones (UK single version) 11. Deck The Halls – Metal Mike/Alison & Julia
12. Feliz Navi-Nada – El Vez
13. Run, Run Rudolph – The Humpers (CD only)
14. Daddy Drank Our Xmas Money – TVTV$ (CD only)
15. Here Comes Santa’s Pussy – The Frogs (CD only)
16. Christmas Christmas – Mojo Nixon
17. Mr. Grinch – D.I.
18 White Christmas – Stiff Little Fingers
Choice tracks on the CD would have to be of course The Ramones, Mojo Nixon, and D.I. I originally bought this on cassette when I was 17 and played the hell out of it. It was not until a few years back at The Exchange (no way they would ever ever fire me on the day after x-mas) for $5.00. Worth every penny of it!
So check it out if you dare, or not.
There again if that is too much for you there is always Jingle Cats
In case you are wondering, yes I own this CD too. Well actually I took it away from my old co-workers at a certain little music store one year because they played it daily.
Just in case your sick sick mind wants to know what Jingle Cats sounds like I found a clip: