Tag Archives: Punk

Live Shows, Music, Music Video, Punk, Review

Bouncing Souls – “Gasoline” – Song Review

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Bouncing Souls Celebrating 20 Years
Bouncing Souls Celebrating 20 Years

One of my favorite punk rock bands ever, the Bouncing Souls, recently have celebrated their 20th anniversary as a punk rock band. With such a high accomplishment in the music world the band thought they would celebrate their success by releasing material a little differently from the norm.  They announced that on the first of each month for the entire year they will release a single. This might very well be the longest album you will ever hear seeing how they have decided to discharge the songs month by month.

About 16 years ago the Bouncing Souls released an album called The Good, The Bad, & The Argyle on their very own Chunksaah Records. Their DIY attempt proved that the band could do it on their own without help from major record labels. In remembrance of their DIY effort years ago the band will be releasing a song a month for the entire year of 2009 exclusively on their website for a mere $0.99 a song.

They also announced that every four months the songs released for this specific project would be pressed onto a 7” vinyl and available for sale on their website. This is indeed a great idea, now all I need to do is remember to visit the Bouncing Soul’s website at the beginning of each month.

The Bouncing Souls
The Bouncing Souls

The first song released, called “Gasoline”, is punk rock satisfaction from start to finish. The Bouncing Souls prove with this single that even if 20 years have passed they still are capable of pushing out great tunes. Greg Attonito sings of being bored yet sheltered from reality and screaming for an explanation or maybe just a distraction.  After hearing this song I can not wait for the next installment.

The New Jersey punk rock band has always been a favorite of mine not just for their musical style but for also doing things themselves with limited help. They stayed away from the mainstream, chose to not be seen on corporately owned music television channels, and refused offers for assistance. Traveling in vans over big fancy tour buses may not be a luxury for anyone but feeling a sense of self accomplishment for 20 years sure is.

Check out the websites of the Bouncing Souls or their label Chunksaah Records to purchase “Gasoline” and be sure to remember to return to either site at the beginning of each month to grab their next single for the rest of the year.  Also check back here on good ol’ brokenheadphones.com as I will be reviewing each song every month!

I’d offer you a sample of the song or a link where you could hear the whole thing, but for $0.99 you might as well just buy the song and help support the band!

The Bouncing Souls will be touring this year in celebration of their 20 year accomplishment including first time shows in South America as well as finally making an appearance in Alaska.  Check out HERE for info on buying tickets (see below for tour dates).

One show to mention in particular that the band will be playing this spring is at the Harvest Of Hope Festival 2009 taking place the weekend of March 6-8.  I will have more about this great benefit festival in a later post as I am working on interviewing some of the acts that are performing, including the Bouncing Souls.  Stay tuned for that.

Bouncing Souls Tour Dates:

01.20.09 – Salt Lake City, Utah – Club Elevate at the Hotel
01.24.09 – Minneapolis, MN – Triple Rock Social Club
02.06.09 – Mexico City, Mexico – La Capilla
02.07.09 – San Jose, Costa Rica – Latino Rock Cafe
02.08.09 – Panama City, Panama – Cancha De Futbal Femca Coca Cola
02.10.08 – Bogota, Colombia – Gotica
02.11.08 – Lima, Peru – Mao Bar
02.13.08 – Sao Paulo, Brazil – Hangar 110
02.14.08 – Rosario, Argentina – Willie Dixon
03.07.09 – Elkton, FL – St. John’s County Fargrounds – Harvest of Hope Festival
03.10.09 – Louisville, KY – Skull Alley w/ Dillinger Four
03.11.09 – Pittsburgh, PA – Mr. Smalls Theatre w/ Dillinger Four and AKAs
03.12.09 – Balitomore, MD – The Ottobar w/ Dillinger Four and AKAs
03.13.09 – Norfolk, VA – The Norva w/ Dillinger Four and AKAs
03.14.09 – Atlanta, GA – The Masquerade w/ Dillinger Four and AKAs
03.16.09 – Orlando, FL – The Social w/ Dillinger Four and AKAs
03.17.09 – Orlando, FL – The Social w/ Dillinger Four and AKAs
03.18.09 – St. Petersburg, FL – The State Theatre w/ Dillinger Four and AKAs
03.20.09 – Austin, TX – Red 7 w/ Dillinger Four and AKAs
03.24.09 – Honolulu, HI – Anna Bannana’s
03.27.09 – Fairbanks, AK – Wood Center Ballroom
03.28.09 – Fairbanks, AK – Pub

Visual entertainment time:

Death, Music, Punk

Stooges Guitarist Ron Asheton Found Dead

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Ron Asheton
Ron Asheton

Sad day in the rock n roll / punk rock world as founding member Ron Asheton of The Stooges was found dead at his home in Ann Arbor, Michigan.  He was 60 years old.  The official cause of the founding member of The Stooges has not been reported yet but initial discoveries claim it may be from a heart attack.

I had the pleasure of seeing Ron Asheton play last summer when Iggy & The Stooges took stage at the 2008 Virgin Mobile Festival.  This was my second viewing of one of the more important punk rock bands and I must say the performance was memorable.  Ron Asheton was amazing on guitar along side his pal Mike Watt (who took the place of bassist when the band reunited in 2003) while Iggy Pop went insane in front of the crowd.  I am glad I was there to witness that performance.

The Stooges were recently nominated as an inductee into the 2009 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Museum.   It’s a shame that Ron Asheton will not be there to see if The Stooges are inducted.  There is not a doubt in my mind that they will not be as their place in the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame Museum is well deserved.

This is a huge loss.  He will be missed.

Some videos:

Ron Asheton in The New Order (not the New Order you are thinking of…):

Iggy & The Stooges Live In Cincinnati 1970:

Iggy & The Stooges “The Passenger”:

Links from major music websites reporting on Ron Asheton’s death:

Rolling Stone
Billboard
NME

Folk, Music Video, Post-Hardcore, Punk

Not So Much Of A Review: City and Colour – Bring Me Your Love

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I came across an artist the other day named Dallas Green who has a solo project he calls City and Colour.  The thing is, I have heard the voice before but could not pinpoint where…  After a minute of research I was amazed to find out that Dallas Green is also the lead vocalist for the post-hardcore act Alexisonfire.

Crazy.  I am so out of the loop.

I admit it.  I am not hip to everything so you can imagine how I felt considering I am a fan of Alexisonfire…a fan that does not necessarily know all the band members by name.

It seems that all of these punk rock / hardcore artists are doing solo albums lately and it appears it might be the new “in” thing to do, but before I continue I need to state that Dallas Green has been doing his solo project for a few years now.  Also “in” or not if an artist can pull off an amazing solo album, more power to them.

I have yet to check out the entire album called Bring Me Your Love as well as the rest of Dallas Green’s solo catalog.  Funny thing is that I have seen this CD before on the shelf but didn’t even give it a chance.  Looks like I was the one missing out.  If you like meaningful folk rock material you should check out this CD like I intend to do so…

Here is a really neat video.  Yes, I said neat.

The Girl

90's, Music, Punk, Times Of Yore

Times Of Yore: Heckle – Complicated Futility of Ignorance

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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.

Heckle
Heckle

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:

Heckle on Hopeless Records

Heckle on Artist Direct