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2014 News Archive |
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09/24/14 - Six things at once is not the way to do things, but that's exactly what we did!
Hey, all! Yes, six new records are officially out now and
readily available for direct order on the
store page and also from
our much loved distributor
No Idea Records.
For all of you who purchased pre-orders, THANK YOU! We couldn't do any of
this without the support we receive from you. If you haven't already
purchased this new round of releases, please check them out below and get
what moves ya! Check out the
releases page for more
write ups and pressing info for each release. |
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06/02/14 - Finally, Three New records!
We ran into some problems with international shipping on this
new batch of the releases. We're talking the stuff on record label
nightmares! Delayed over a month now from co-release of these records, we
are now ready to go. So without further delay, let's do this. You know how
this works. We put 'em out, you buy 'em up. Right? Yeah, that's right! |
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02/07/14 - Konnichiwa!
Earlier this year The Kingons came over from Japan to do a
little California tour. Most dates were with Greenlandic transplants, The
Maxies. The two
bands fell in love with each other on stage and off. Everyone at the shows
fell in love with the bands, too. It was an international love fest! Both
bands put on incredible live shows. The Kingons melted minds with their
power pop mod punk rock n roll and through-the-roof level of energy,
enthusiasm and dance moves! The Maxies melted hearts with their power pop
punk ballads, love-to-hate-'em stage antics and those oh so fabulous
physiques! Plans were quickly made to bring the love fest across the sea to
Japan. A record to commemorate and celebrate the majesty of such a
power-house pairing had to be made and we jumped at the opportunity to do
just that. This glorious split delivers 16 minutes of the most eargasm
inducing tuneage of recent history. It was too much rock for a mere 7"
to handle, so we upped the split to the almighty 10" format. The cover art
features kick ass illustration by comic artist Tom "The Cock" Cochran. |
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01/06/14 - New Year... Old Band... New Album!
It's a new year and we are starting it off with an album from a band we
haven't worked with since our early days. I'm talking about the Zatopeks!
One of our favorite bands of the past ten years. Shit, one of our favorite
bands ever! |
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A
couple of years ago Luke McNeill, drummer and principal songwriter of The
Copyrights, found himself living a couple hundred miles away from the rest
of his band. Never a guy to suffer a shortage of songs to write or desire to
play, he started another band, Hospital Job. The similarities between his
two bands are easy to hear on first listen, but repeat listens reveal
differences that seem subtle at first, but fairly profound after time. There
is an earnestness in Hospital Job to be its own band with its own sound.
The Believer is a melody-heavy, power-driven pop punk album that rides
the line between the contemporary mid west pop punk sound and indie rock
style of decades past. At times it charges full force into your gut with
relentless hooks, at others it infects on a more cerebral level with
unexpected twists, turns, repeats and breaks. The end result is one hell of
a catchy album always worth starting on track one and playing straight
through to the end.
I
received a copy of Hi Ho Silver, Away's debut album Chore in the mail
this past winter. It didn't leave my car's CD player for a week. It got
better with each listen, slowly unfolding itself and revealing its simple
yet powerful intricacies. Hi Ho Silver, Away! leave nothing for wanting on
Chore. Deeply personal lyrical content delivered by urgent and pained
vocals. Guitar fills the comforting airy space in every song with clear and
determined intention. Bass rhythms alter between slow and steady and
franticly spastic. And when you find yourself slapping your thighs with the
rhythm and stomping your feet with the beat, you will know the drums are
doing it up good and proper. Perhaps what I am most impressed about with
Chore is an incredibly catchy melodic slant that exists despite the lack
of any standard verse/chorus song structure or rhyming patterns. Everything
flows on its own course and is anything but a chore to be moved by and
enjoy..
It's
been thirteen years since Ottawa, Ontario's The Creeps released their first
full length album. Like many pop punk bands getting a start at that time,
they fell into similar trappings of writing songs about girls, aliens, UFOs
and spies. A few years in, a recurring theme of death and murder entered
into their body of songs. It was a theme they held onto for many years and
perfected over time. Love or hate the subject matter, the music could not be
denied. Fast forward to present day, seven years since the release of their
last full length album. The Creeps are back with Eulogies. Ten tracks
of melodic pop punk perfected. The theme of death still remains at the
center of the songs, but it has changed. The feelings of anger and despair
no longer manifest as murder. They have turned inward and taken on the form
of suicide. These eulogies are being sung for you, but there is a
special kind of beauty within each tragedy. Hold on. Reach out. Let go. You
are free.
The
Capitalist Kids third album At A Loss brings the early 90s Lookout
Records sound of The Mr. T Experience and Green Day into a modern day arena
of sociopolitical awareness with catchy as shit results! Nothing can worm
its way into your head like a perfectly crafted pop tune. Attach a message
to that tune and you've just found a way to get some serious points
delivered to an audience it won't likely shake too easily. I'm not sure if
this is a mission the band is actively pursuing or if they simply wanted to
write some lyrics to some songs with something more to say than, you know,
"I'm in love with so and so and it's so sweet!" Intentional or not, I think
it's awesome that The Capitalist Kids have created a bunch of songs that
could just as easily be the soundtrack to a teeny bopper sock hop or serve
as a guide on how not to be a totally shitty, uninformed human being in
2014. But don't fret, love songs were not omitted entirely!
Some
random day back in 1995 I walked into my local record store to flip through
all the new releases just like I did at least a few times each week. A guy
working there named Mike cared to know what I liked and knew it well. On
this particular random day he pulled out Plow United's self titled album and
presented it to me without a saying a word. He just looked at me, then at
the record and then nodded. He was usually very talkative and happy to
engage in conversation about bands and records, so I took his silent
suggestion straight to heart. I didn't even consider not buying that album
that day. And so it goes, my life was changed forever. I never thought that
19 years later I would be running a record label and re-releasing this
classic masterpiece. But here we are and here it is. Twelve tracks of why
punk rock matters to me. And if you told me it was going to be re-mastered
by Stephen Egerton of the DESCENDENTS? Pssssh, yeah right!
Fifteen
years after disbanding Plow United reformed. To say they picked up where
they left off would be an understatement and incorrect. In fact, they picked
up right where they would have been had they never disbanded at all. It's
like they gained fifteen years of improvement without having actually played
together for those fifteen years. It's incredible, really. It's a rare thing
for a band to reunite after as much time and come back better than they've
ever been before. As a long time fan I couldn't be happier with the Plow
United of today. As someone running a record label releasing this new EP
with the band, I am on the moon! Delco is the second record to be
released by Plow United since reforming two years ago. The songs were
written very much about their hometown in Delaware County where the band
first got its start. It plays as a four track reminder of who Plow United
was, who they have become and where they are going next.
Two years ago The Turkletons split a 7" with Masked Intruder
and now those crooks are top of the pops. Last year The Turkletons split a
7" with Lipstick Homicide and now those kids are America's sweethearts (and
American Idiots' [obligatory Green Day name drop] too). Tired of carrying
other bands to the upper echelons of pop punk fame and fortune, The
Turkletons decided that this year they would put out a split 7" with
themselves. Yes, a record with The Turkletons on both sides! Fur Frontal
delivers not two, not three, but four of thee best pop punk songs ever crafted
by aging Minnesota pop punkers still into this shit after all these damn
years. You'd be hard pressed to find a band cranking out catchier, more
infectious, funny-ass jams than The Turkletons. I hope you can handle it.
The Mugwumps are back! Thought dead for years, Austria's
finest pop punk band crawled out from under that rock reanimated and ready
to go with their second full length album, Mutation In The Family.
Their sound has indeed mutated bit since the last time we put out a record
with them seven years ago. A little less frantic and a little more melodic,
Mutation In The Family drops fourteen solid jams on yer head to rock
out and get stupid to. The Mugwumps made and played Mutation In The
Family as an homage to everything great they loved about the 90s Lookout
Records pop punk catalog - from the style to the sound and even the
cartoony artwork. I think their efforts were met with great success. And if
you're into that good old pop punk style too, I think you'll agree.
Back in 2006 we released the first of what would become many
records with The Manges. In the release write up for that first single I
called them a punk rock institution. I still stand by that statement today.
Four albums, a slew of singles, and eight years added to their resume and
I'd say they're fast approaching legendary status.
All Is Well is The Manges' fourth full length album and second on
It's Alive. They have continue to stick to the formula of streamline punk
rock without screwing it up. All Is
Well finds The Manges working with former founding member Herve
Peroncini (of the Italian band The Peawees) as producer. His '60s soul style
of rhythm and blues and roots rock n roll are heavily present in the album's
sound. Guitars ring through crisp and clear with little to no distortion,
rhythms pop, and vocals soar above.
All Is Well is The Manges' answer to Road To Ruin. A new take
on an old sound.
Grab
a copy from the 
About
Bloody Time is the third album from the Zatopeks and their first with
It's Alive. It's been a long six years since their last album, and seven
since their last release with us. To say it's about bloody time is the
understatement of this past decade. I still kick myself daily for not having
released their last album on It's Alive.