A while ago I heard that a couple of musicians I dig formed a band together and before I knew it they were the opening act on the 2009 NIN/JA Tour (Nine Inch Nails & Jane’s Addiction). Sadly the tour never made it to Cleveland and I was unable to make it to the Pittsburgh show. From what I heard the band ‘s performance turned a lot of heads to the folk that showed up early enough to catch their set.
The band I speak of is called Street Sweeper Social Club and features guitar effect guru Tom Morello (Rage Against The Machine) and hip hop artist Boots Riley (The Coup). It’s not Rage Against The Machine but does have some elements from the popular 90’s rock act. Their debut self-titled album Street Sweeper Social Club was released over the summer. I still have yet to fully check the album out but was able to hear some of their tunes via YouTube.
My verdict = kick ass.
Here’s a teaser of their upcoming video for “Promenade”:
Nice little “Kick Out The Jams” cover with some guy named Trent Reznor:
Today MySpace Metal (that just sounds funny) premiered the new blessthefall video for “What’s Left Of Me” today. Full of brutal screaming, heavy guitar, and furious drumming I would have to say that they deserve to be featured on MySpace Metal. Check out the video below.
Their latest album Witness dropped on Fearless Records in October.
It’s been a bit since I listened to The Casualties and today I was reminded why I dig them so much thanks to a new video of “We Are All We Have” that posted on MySpace. Having been a huge fan of theirs for years I really have no solid reason why I have not been keeping tabs on their releases. 2004’s On The Front Line has been and will be one of my favorite punk albums to listen to probably for the rest of my life as it just stuck to me.
The NYC street punk band had always stood out over other bands to me primarily due to their dedication to keeping their musical style more like the 80’s punk. I seriously could listen to this band all day.
Street punk, gutter punk, punk punk – call it what you want. These boys know how to dish it out.
Their new album We Are All We Have dropped in stores late summer (and apparently is available at Target???) and sadly I still have yet to check it out but after seeing the video below I want to check it out more than ever now. Looks like I am off to Target.
I am really excited to hear new material by these punk favs of mine…
Thanks to the fine folk at Epitaph Records for this:
Alkaline Trio has announced the birth of Heart & Skull, the band’s own label formed in partnership with Epitaph Records. The band will release its seventh album through Epitaph/Heart & Skull in early 2010.
Commenting on the formation of the new imprint, named for the band’s longstanding logo, Alkaline Trio singer/guitarist Matt Skiba said:
“We made the decision to form Heart & Skull to put out our own records after having been through every kind of label deal in the industry, big indies, small indies, majors. We knew it was time to adapt to the shifting tides of the music industry and we could not be more thrilled about doing that in conjunction with the team at Epitaph. Taking control of our own label situation was something we always wanted to do but never thought was possible, but now thanks to Brett Gurewitz and the fine folks at Epitaph, it is. All three of us in Alkaline Trio have always had the utmost respect for the music and the work ethic of the Epitaph, Anti- and Hellcat family and now we’re honored to be working together under one big happy roof. Heart & Skull/Epitaph is truly a dream come true for us.”
Alkaline Trio bassist/vocalist Dan Andriano added:
“For our band at this time it really makes sense to release our own records, but we wanted to make sure we could partner up with good people who we would want to share in something very special to us. When Brett called and said he wanted to be involved, that was it. Epitaph is a label I’ve admired and supported for more than half of my life! I couldn’t be more excited for how this is turning out!”
Alkaline Trio first emerged from Chicago in 1996 and has since released the full length studio albums Goddamnit, Maybe I’ll Catch Fire, From Here To Infirmary, Good Mourning, Crimson and last year’s Agony & Irony, which was the highest charting record of the band’s career to date. The band is comprised of Skiba, Andriano and drummer Derek Grant, all of whom are partners in Heart & Skull.
Here are some videos for your punk rock entertainment consideration…
Tim Barry, the former front man of punk act Avail, has his own solo thing going on these days. If you have not heard anything by him you are missing out. Here is a video from his upcoming release entitled “Thing Of The Past”:
A while ago I heard that a couple of musicians I dig formed a band together and before I knew it they were the opening act on the 2009 NIN/JA Tour (Nine Inch Nails & Jane’s Addiction). Sadly the tour never made it to Cleveland and I was unable to make it to the Pittsburgh show. From what I heard the band ‘s performance turned a lot of heads to the folk that showed up early enough to catch their set.
