If there is one thing about New Mexico that I miss, it is the breakfast burritos from the Santa Fe Grill located in those Pic-Quic gas stations.
Actually I am lying. I miss living down the street from the Dirt Cult Records headquarters. Chris was a rad dude and I am glad I got to know him even if just for a brief moment. His band, Low Culture, remains one of my favorites to this day.
Recently, I learned that Dirt Cult relocated to Portland, Oregon and I thought I would check in with Chris to see how things were going with the big move. He advised everything was going smooth and shared a few new releases his label is putting out in the upcoming months.
I thought I would do a quick review on all of them them. Enjoy!
Autonomy/No Sir I Won’t – Split I blame Chris for getting me into Autonomy before I even became pals with him. This split is pretty bad ass crust-ish punk act that to me sound way better than Crass. I loved the samples throughout. Autonomy’s “Ashes To Ashes” was a pretty kick ass song that just started almost psycho-garagy and turned fizzled out with a Cure-sounding bass riff. No Sir I Won’t were cool to check out and full of aggressive punk rock that reached into the 80s style I grew up loving. Definitely will be checking them out some more.
Apocalypse Meow! – Baseball and Alcohol 7″ Featuring Off With Their Heads’s Justin Francis as well as members of Sundowners, I knew I was going to adore this 7″ before I even listened to it. With songs relevant to the 7″‘s title, Apocalypse Meow take two of America’s favorite past times and mix them into pure pop-punk goodness. The track “MVP” ruled with the lyrics “all I want to be is a goddamn MVP” repeating throughout. The title track though is what did it for me. Loved it.
Blank Pages – Blank Pages LP
Straight outta Berlin, Blank Pages proves to have one hell of a release with some serious garage rock layered with a old school punk rock feel. These guys really remind me of the Marked Men in a good good way. Great song writing added with vocals that could easily fit in with the 70s/80s punk scene. “We’re All Broken” was just amazing with almost a surf-punk sound in the middle. I was beyond impressed with the clean sound throughout the release and just full on togetherness of the band. It just works so well. “All In Due Time” was another great track. I am really glad Chris threw Blank Pages my way, I am totally loving what they do. If you call yourself a fan bands like the Ramones and the Dickies, I have the feeling you will like what Blank Pages have to offer Ich bin ein Fan von Leerseiten.
For more info on Dirt Cult releases or to check out some other amazing release on the Dirt Cult label, head on over to http://dirtcultrecords.bandcamp.com.
It seems like it has been quite some time since I dipped into my past and talked about a band I really dug.
Today for whatever reason, I thought about a band I absolutely adored in the late 90s. The first time I heard of them was on a 1998 Vagrant Records comp/sampler called Five Years On The Streets.
The band I speak of is New Jersey’s Automatic 7. Does anyone remember them?
The album I became a huge fan of was their sophomore release titled Beggar’s Life. It was put out by Vagrant Records back when they were a indie punk rock label.
With major similarities to Face To Face, Jawbreaker and even Unwritten Law, I immediately became a fan the moment I heard their song “Broken Record”. I loved this East coast band with a SoCal feel but sadly fairly certain that I never caught them live.
From what I have gathered on the good ol’ internet, the band disbanded around 2001 but reformed in 2006. I will be honest, I have not thought about them since my early 20s, but I am stoked that for whatever reason I thought about them today.
Fun fact: Trevor Keith of Fact To Face actually joined the band briefly in 1997. Perhaps that is where some of their sound derived from. I am ok with that.
If you still hold on to the music from your past and were a fan of 90s pop punk rock, check these guys out.
Pop punk’s hooligan heroes, Masked Intruder, are back on the prowl with their all new sophomore release M.I. The ski-masked foursome clearly have no problem dodging the law while stealing hearts and throwing together one of the catchiest releases you will probably hear all year.
Having kept their identities safe so far, probably due to the band threatening anyone with blunt force to those who may know who all is actually under those masks, Masked Intruder remain an enigma of sorts in the punk rock world playing some of the greatest stalker-love jams ever recorded. Think Ramones and Chixdiggit!, but with plenty of obsession and missing valuables.
The album started out with a revamped recording of “I Fought The Law”, a track that originally appeared on Masked Intruder’s 2011 demo. This version clearly trumped the original and sounds even catchier than the demo version.
“The Most Beautiful Girl” is flawless when talking about a pop punk love song. In less than 2 minutes, the band manages to pack together harmonies within sing-alongable lyrics (is that even a word?) all while swooning someone special.
“Saturday Night Alone” pretty much sums up some of my weekend nights sans spending it in the slammer like these masked heartthrobs do. Hard-driven guitar playing (that easily could have been stolen from label mates Teenage Bottlerocket) played throughout making for a fun track. I loved when the band just stopped playing and just sang and crooned for just a couple of seconds only to start jamming out again.
I loved the track “When I Get Out”, especially on how the band sang about what they were going to do when they were released from the slammer. From getting revenge to slamming ice cream and pizza, it is clear that Masked Intruder had a lot of time to plan out their freedom while locked away and incorporate it all into a fun song.
I really was hoping the band would go all a cappella again on this release, and they did in “Almost Like We’re Already In Love”. It’s like a barbershop quartet song, but different. I’m sure if the band sang this song to me in person, I would be batting my lashes and blowing kisses their way.
“Hey Girl”, was a quick, catchy jam aimed at breaking the ice with the ladies. “Don’t Run Away” followed perhaps on purpose to assure all the beautiful ladies by singing “don’t run away, I think this is it.”
“Say that I’m a freak, a geek, a weirdo” started off “Wierdo”, a track that may have been written by actual events that happened in my life. Seriously, I think these guys plagiarized my lady luck in my early 20s and threw it into a song. What the hell guys?
Another great track was “I Don’t Wanna Say Goodbye To You Tonight”. It was a pop punk love track that may or may not require a restraining order.
Ending the album was “Locked Up And Lonely”, a song that did not really sound like the others as it was a little slow starting at the beginning, but only for a moment. I could not but help think 90s punk rock on this song. On another note, can someone please tell me why I thought of Charles Manson in this song (in a comical way of course). Seriously, as this song played, I thought of an emo’d out Manson sitting in a cell looking out his cell window and writing about how lonely he is.
After listening to this album at least 37 times in a row, it is safe to say that Masked Intruder has once again dropped a solid release. I was so addicted to their debut release so much that I failed to review it, but this time I decided I had to at least say a couple nice things about their latest effort.
M.I. has the potential to make Masked Intruder appear on many Most Wanted lists. With their quest to avoid Miranda Rights as well as continue to hide their identity, this band has surpassed the gimmick stage and is going toward full-blown rockstar.
So who are Masked Intruder? Who cares. Just keep them away from my record collection and wallet. Beyond that, I hope they keep doing their thing. Those guys rule hard.
Masked Intruder is seemingly always on tour. Personally, I think it is because they are running away from the law. Regardless, they are playing Cleveland on June 20th at Now That’s Class.
Downingtown / West Chester, Pennsylvanians Panucci’s Pizza are an emo-ish punk rock duo with a heavy appreciation for pizza and straight up ridiculous song titles.
Not only were the track names entertaining, the music itself was pretty bad ass to listen to. I liked the mix of acoustic demos and just full blown chaotic jams. I did not know what to expect with each track and by the end I just wanted some more. Funny, that is exactly how I feel about pizza sometimes…
Panucci’s Pizza re-released their 2013 full length Don’t Tip the Delivery Boy on CD via Songs from the Road Records. You can order the pizza-decorated CD here. Scroll down a bit to check it out via Bandcamp.
I can not help but be reminded of my homies Cherry Cola Champions and Two Hand Fools a lot though this release. It’s definitely worth checking out.
Track Listing:
1. Holy Diver Pt. 2 2. Ladies, Welcome to my Swaggrokrag 3. You know when the Trojans got that horse and they were all “Yeah this is totally a gift” Thats how sure I am 4. Pokemon Cards and an Empty Bottle of Grape Juice 5. The World’s greatest Bowler is the World’s worst anything else 6. Nicholas Cajun (Stole the Declaration of Pizzapendence!) 7. Wait, you know who Frankie Muniz is right? 8. I still haven’t seen “Almost Famous” 9. My Imaginary Friend is STILL addicted to Pornography
Chances are if you’ve heard of Pittsburgh political punkers Anti-Flag, you’ve heard about their label A-F Records.
For the longest time, I thought A-F Records was just a fading memory as I did not see a lot of releases coming from the independent label. In fact, the label pretty much stopped putting out releases about 8 years ago…until recently.
A-F Records have gone through a huge overhaul and have reinvented themselves adding multiple artists to their roster in just the past year alone.
This said reconstruction can be credited to Mr. Chris Stowe who has been working hard the last couple of years to make the independent label even bigger. He’s the label manager / jack of all trades.
Last year alone, Stowe was the man who added All Dinosaurs, Worship This!, and Worlds Scariest Police Chases (WSPC) to the roster. This year he will be releasing his own solo album on the label as well as look for more well-deserving bands to add to the A-F family.
As if busting his ass for the label is not enough, Stowe has a solo project going on, rocks out with White Wives, and is also a permanent substitute of sorts for WSPC. Needless to say, he is a busy, busy man.
Recently, I was able to catch up with Stowe who was still in heavy celebrations for signing himself to the very label he represents. Check out what he had to say:
BHP: Hey man, thanks for taking some time to chat with me today. What have you been up to recently?
CS: No prob man. Lately we’ve just been laying the ground work for our 2014 releases we’ve got planned and just trying to be as prepared for that as [soon as] possible. We’ve made some moves to expand this year and i’m stoked about that.
I am sure many can agree with me that A-F Records has revitalized themselves over the last couple years. Word on the street is that you have been pouring your blood and sweat into the label. How did you happen to fall into this role?
Blood and sweat huh? To be honest, I’m not really sure how the hell I ended up doing this. A few years ago, I joined White Wives [and] then got to know Chris and Chris [#2] through being in that band with them. Then Anti-Flag needed someone to drive/tour manage them for Warped Tour two summers ago and they asked if i could do it. Since I’ve never experienced anything like that, I jumped at the opportunity.
We talked a lot about label stuff while we were out there and how it would be cool to be able to put out records. When we got home, the dudes decided they wanted to make that bacon shaped picture disc thing and all of a sudden we had relaunched A-F Records and I was managing it.
Just like that? Crazy. To someone who may not know of the indie label A-F Records, can you give them some history?
Yeah sure. Anti-Flag started A-F Records in 1997 to release Their System Doesn’t Work For You and then they just grew from there. They put out a ton of classic punk records. Reagan Squad was amazing, The Unseen, etc. In the early 2000s, they continued to grow with the boom of the record industry and put out a ton of great bands but eventually fell prey to the great collapse in 2006 and then eventually went dormant around 2008 until we relaunched it last year.
Some of these hand-picked bands on the current roster are top-notch in my book, but also seem to challenge the former A-F alumni. Would you agree?
Hmmmm, not sure what you mean by “challenge” here? I’m thinking maybe you mean that they’re not necessarily in the same genre of political punk rock as some of the old A-F Records bands?
Yeah, I meant the political punk rock. Sorry about that. Can you tell me when you say you hope to move A-F into a less genre specific label that you might try something completely different, say like gangster folk? I kid about that of course but not really.
Gangster folk. That sounds terrible, so probably not. But I mean, I’m not opposed to anything as long as it’s awesome and the people that made it are awesome.
My end goal with the label is to put out great records that are pieces of sonic and visual art, and that’s it. I feel like we’ve done that so far with our new bands even though they don’t necessarily live within a specific genre, and that’s how i think it should be anyways.
Ideally in the next few years, I’m hoping to move A-F records into being a less genre specific label and we’ve got a bunch of stuff coming out this year that we hope challenges our core group of hard core fans and also brings some new faces into the family at the same time.
Speaking of new faces… Who would win in a street fight: Worship This! or World’s Scariest Police Chases?
Police Chases obviously, as they will have zero problem fighting dirty. pepper spray, dick punches, purple nurples, etc.
I appreciate the detail in that answer.
When A-F Records started, social media was barely existent. These days though it is almost impossible to not be emerged in. How are you taking advantage of social media to better the label?
It’s definitely got its good and bad elements, but mostly the key to properly utilizing all of the various social media outlets is to just keep your crowd engaged. The best response we’ve had I feel has come from the level of personal engagement we have with people that follow our bands and buy our records.
Anti Flag celebrated their 20th year as a band last year. I was 17. How old were you?
I was 8. That’s over 2/3 of my lifetime that these dudes have been together…it’s really amazing.
You were 8? Holy shit. I feel old now. Thanks dude. Seriously though, that is beyond amazing. You are living a punk rock dream.
Yeah, 8 years old. There’s a John Waters quote, and I’m paraphrasing, that goes something like, “if you want to do what you love for a living, plan on interning for yourself for at least 20 years”, and I feel like that definitely applies in music. Just don’t stop doing it, no matter how hard it gets, and eventually you’ll find that you accidentally made a job for yourself.
That was deep dude. Well said. So, whose idea was it for the 20 Years of Hell subscription series?
That idea kind of evolved from a combination of a bunch of different ideas, so no one person was responsible for it i don’t think. We mostly just wanted to kind of create a platform to engage people in a new way, which i think we did with the subscription website. Ultimately, we did the whole thing as a project of love for the real hardcores, ya know? I can’t tell you how hard it is to die-cut 3000 record sleeves…
How’s the response been so far?
Really great. I feel like my favorite part is that, since it’s mostly just myself and Josh Massie – Anti-Flag merch guy / most helpful dude ever – communicating with the subscribers, I’ve been able to develop a cool personal relationship with a lot of kids that I wouldn’t have otherwise come in contact with.
A-F seems to be leading in throwing contests lately. Can you tell me the current contest that is going on?
We just wrapped up the Anti-Flag “Power To The Peaceful” cover contest, which was awesome. We got so many really good submissions for that, and they’re all up on our YouTube page.
Our next contest is going to be really cool and involve some rad Anti-Flag gear. Stay tuned on that.
Being a musician yourself, how tough is it to pack up all the A-F orders, mail them out, and then play a White Wives or WSPC show let alone focus on your solo stuff?
I’m not sure how many people know. It can definitely be a challenge to get everything done sometimes, but it’s also such a blessing to be busy doing shit that you love you know? I mean, basically my dream was to one day be doing music constantly, and I’ve somehow pulled that off so that’s cool. And it’s not just my music, it’s my solo stuff, White Wives, WSPC, plus all the A-F bands we’re working on this year. It’s a dream job dude, for real.
Hell yeah. So when is your solo stuff supposed to drop? Anything Wives related you care to mention?
I can’t really speak to Wives stuff, but I’ve got a record coming out on A-F this summer as Chris Stowe.
How’s it feel to be signed, a rock star, and have your own material coming out on wax?
It’s not that cool dude. “Hey Stowe, you wanna sign this Stowe guy? Sure Stowe, if you like it I’m all for it. Well sounds good, Stowe, you’re signed!” It does feel good.
I believe that. So I noticed the pre-orders for your solo release have posted to the A-F site already. Charlie Brown yellow may be the most unique color I have heard of in a while. Is there any reason behind this?
I just love the peanuts man, always have. Plus I like to come up with cool “inside” names for our vinyl colors like Forest County green. Forest County is a magical place in PA that I go camping with my buddies every summer and a lot of my record was inspired by that part of the country.
So how were you suckered into WSPC? I will not lie, they are currently one of my favorite bands right now and it has nothing to do with my bromance via instagram with DeLucia.
Well, DeLucia, in real life, became a mailman. and he couldn’t play Fest last year, so I learned all the songs and played in his place – although my head blew up after just 1 song so I didn’t end up playing Fest really… Then I played some more out of town shows with them, Detroit and Asbury Park…then they tried to kick me out, but I got real sad about it so they let me stick around. Now there’s too many guitar players.
Tell me about A-F Records and Turnstyle Films. I might have heard a little something something…
Yeah we’ll have to keep the kids in suspense on that for a little while longer. I will say that we’ll be working heavily with Turnstyle this year on a ton of projects, which i’m excited for. They are amazing at what they do.
I credit A-F for making Cleveland and Pittsburgh friends again. What city do you think you will swoon over next?
I love Cleveland. A lot. And Pittsburgh. A lot. I’m not sure I can take credit for them becoming friends again, I feel like they always have been. We’ve both got amazing music scenes and live in the same economical climate for the most part, so it only makes sense to me that we should combine forces as much as possible.
What is next for Chris Stowe?
Just A-F Records stuff, solo stuff, maybe a secret band no one has heard yet….all the stuff. ALL.
What about A-F Records? Seems like the label has built up a ton of momentum as of late and isn’t slowing down anytime soon.
Yup, just forging ahead. Going to put out some great stuff this year and see where that takes us. the future is bright.
Head on over to A-F Records site and secure your copy of Stowe’s upcoming release of Hallow. The album drops in late June.
For more info on everything else A-F related, check out the A-F Records website.
