SONIC BOOM! MAGAZINE - ISSUE 4

ALTERNATIVE, PUNK, HEAVY METAL, ROCK N’ ROLL

Volume 1, Number 4, June, 2017

Geographic Tongue/ The Pests/DEATH ED. HiGH The Angry 88 Black Kreole . . . and more

Sonic Boom! Magazine, Issue #4, the Punk Rock! Issue. I had this idea to do an all punk rock issue of the magazine and well that idea was good and flawed at the same time but we won’t get into details. This issue celebrates punk rock in southern Louisiana and I tried to have it touch on as many styles of punk rock as I could with articles and album reviews.

You’ll notice a huge areticle by Melissa Crory about a legendary . . . or maybe just ridiculous group of guys

who have been keeping the punk rock legit in New Orleans for over twenty years. That article has so much history and material I didn’t know what to leave out, and unfortunately I did have to leave out a lot of things.

We hope you enjoy this issue and please tell your friends about us. We want to spread the love and make this magazine matter to someone in Antarctica.

- Kevin P. Johnson

I Found Punk Rock . . . And So Can You - By Kevin P. Johnson. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . page 4 Livin’ Dat HiGH Life by Hex Windham . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . page 6 The New LA Hardcore BLACK KREOLE by Kevin P. Johnson. . . . . . . . . . . . . page 14 The Angry 88 Hammond City Punk Rock by Kevin P. Johnson . . . . . . . . . . . . . page 22 Geographic Tongue, The Pests and Reserving the Right to Be Impolite – An Interview with Chuck and Steve From DEATH ED. by Melissa Crory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . page 34 SONIC SOUNDS! - Reviews . .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. . Page 55 SONIC BOOM! MAGAZINE, VOLUME 1, NUMBER 4, June, 2017 - Published by Kevin P. Johnson. SONIC BOOM! MAGAZINE is Copyright ©2017 Kevin P. Johnson. All rights reserved, no part of this work may be reproduced without express written consent of Kevin P. Johnson. Published in the United States of America. All advertisements are created by the purchaser of the advertisement and content or any offerings within such advertisements are the sole responsibility of the advertiser. Sonic Boom! Magazine takes no responsibility for any issue that may be found within’ an advertisement. Please contact the advertiser for any questions that you may have.

This issue: Kevin P. Johnson - Publisher, all layout design, all photography unless otherwise noted, writer, reviews, Melissa Crory - Writer, Austen Krantz - reviews, editing, Hex Windham - Writer, Photography on HiGH article

I Found Punk Rock

. . . And So Can You

By Kevin P. Johnson

I wasn’t a teenage punk rocker . . . I wasn’t ever really much of anything that required a uniform. I just have always liked music since I was a small child. I connected to it and it to me. I started to collect music in the 1980’s and for the most part, my exposure to music was the radio and MTV. You had Pop, mainstream Rock, Hard Rock, and Heavy Metal (the hairbands) and that was it for the early 1980’s. In 1986 MTV came out with 120 Minutes and in 1987 Headbangers Ball. These shows opened up more bands and styles of music to me, but I still didn’t have the exposure to punk rock music that someone in a larger city would maybe have. I knew a little bit about the Ramones but the Clash and Sex Pistols were probably my only access to what was punk rock at that time - was what was on the radio.

Punk rock never escaped the subculture it lended itself to. Spiky hair, leather jackets, safety pin piercings, Union Jack patches, chains, and mohawks were only something I saw in movies or on a TV show. The portrayal of a punk rocker was a dangerous hooligan that never had anything good to offer, and although it looked cool, it never really

was something I was exposed to in real life.

So in the early 1990’s, the alternative rock revolution began and grunge music came out. At this point I was determined to find out what punk music was all about, but I still didn’t have anyone to guide me. I started to find bands that lead to others and by 1994 pop-punk started to find it’s way into the mainstream, and then ska-punk, and I had my way in. I didn’t change anything about myself but now I had a few bands that could bring me to more bands. I’d buy albums by Green Day, Rancid, and Less Than Jake. The Ramones, Sex Pistols, and the Clash all were quickly added into the collection.

I’d read the liner notes on the albums looking for the bands that were thanked, and I would then seek them out. This went on for a few years until Napster appeared.

Now I’m not going to try to justify illegal downloading or anything (although that is kinda punk rock,) but I did find out about tons of bands in the early 2000’s. I’d find a band on there and then run to the music store and try to find their albums.

After all this I found out that punk rock is a strange

animal. It isn’t one style of music at all - it’s usually fast paced and energetic but it’s so varied and has so many subgenres it makes total sense why it took me so long to find it. For its many different forms, I like almost all of it . . . well all that I have found so far.

A short list of subgenres that I have come across over the years: Afro-Punk, Deathrock, Horror Punk, SkaPunk, Pop Punk, Celtic Punk, Hardcore, Skate Punk, Riot Grrrl, Psychobilly, Post-Punk, Oi!, Emo, 2 Tone, Garage Punk, Folk Punk and probably a few more. None sound the same, but all are for me easily identifiable as punk rock and I am drawn to it.

Punk rock can be serious and angry, or fun and silly. It really has no rules, which is where a lot of people are lost.

It makes no pure musical sense . . . sometimes it’s barely even “music” at all and that’s where I find it intriguing.

Punk rock is the music anyone can make if they want to good or bad it just takes a few instruments and a few willing participants and punk rock can be made.

Now I told you that I had to figure all of this out on my own . . . that may be the best way to do it but I wanted to give a place to start for someone that picks this magazine up and decides they want to know about punk rock too. The following will be a list of albums that are meant to be a starting point that if you gather this music it will lead you to many other punk rock bands. This is not in any way a list of the top albums in any genre it’s just a punk rock starting point. Some are great albums, some are greatest hits and some just matter . . . and each band will only be mentioned once you’ll need to check out more by each to become the master.

The Clash - The Story of The Clash Vol. 1 The Ramones - Mania The Sex Pistols - Never Mind The Bollocks Here’s The Sex Pistols Fugazi - Repeater Fishbone - The Reality Of My Surroundings Green Day - Kerplunk Minor Threat - Complete Discography Rollins Band - The End Of Silence Alkaline Trio - Agony and Irony

All - Pummel Dropkick Murphys - Blackout Anti-Flag - Die For The Government Less Than Jake - Hello Rockview Reel Big Fish - Turn The Radio Off Blink 182- Enema Of The State The Misfits - Walk Among Us Bad Brains - Bad Brains Nirvana - Nevermind The Dead Boys - Young Loud and Snotty Social Distortion - Somewhere Between Heaven And Hell Bad Religion - Stranger Than Fiction The Exploited - Punks Not Dead Rancid - . . . And Out Come The Wolves The Specials - Specials Black Flag - Damaged Operation Ivy - Operation Ivy The Living End - The Living End X - Los Angeles Concrete Blonde - Concrete Blonde Suiciadal Tendencies - Suicidal Tendencies The Jesus and Mary Chain - Psychocandy Violent Femmes - Violent Femmes The Suicide Machines - Destruction by Definition The Dead Milkmen - Cream Of The Crop: The Best Of The Dead Milkmen MXPX - Slowly Going The Way Of The Buffalo The Offspring - Smash The Exploited - Best of Exploited: Totally Exploited NOFX - I Heard They Suck Live!

U.K. Subs - The Singles 1978-1982 Pennywise - Full Circle The Vandals - Slippery When Ill Sick Of It All - Scratch The Surface There you go now run out and buy a bunch of these albums and get your studded leather jackets and mohawks going and remember to check out your local scene there are probably plenty punk rock bands waiting for you to find them.

-Kevin P. Johnson

’ n i v i L “ Dat

HiGH

” e f i L

“Hey everybody! We’re HiGH!” is stage banter that might fall flat coming from another band, but the grown-ass rascals from HiGH are such genuinely nice guys that it comes off as hilarious. This allkiller-no-filler power trio has its roots in a decades-long friendship between local boys Craig Oubre and Izzy Grisoli, rounded out by power-pop-solid drummer Josh White. After greeting me at the door with a beer, these guys escort me to a patio view of the wildlife on Tulane Avenue, where we engage in a brief discussion over how much local cover band Chee Weez makes at one weeknight gig (Izzy: Why the hell aren’t we doing that?!?) before talking about how they “got HiGH.”

Izzy: I remember we hung out at a Rancid show once.

You know, we were suburban MTV punks, except that Craig had been a Ramones fan since he was born.

Sonic Boom!: And where did Josh come in?

Josh: I played a show with The Melters in Baton Rouge at some garbage coffee shop, and I met Izzy at the show because he was playing in Big Baby at the time.

Izzy: Our friend Ashley Arceneaux, who did some of the Lovey Dovies’ artwork – her husband was Josh’s good friend, so I got his number, kept it for a while, and used it later. I pulled the ol’ bait & switch on him.

Sonic Boom!: When y’all were teenagers growing up Josh: Yeah, when he called me I thought I was going in Norco and Destrehan, how did you become aware of to audition for the Lovey Dovies. the punk scene in New Orleans?

Izzy: Well, the Lovey Dovies wasn’t really a band Craig: I’m not sure how I first found out about the anymore at that point, so I got Josh for HiGH. New Orleans punk scene, but I had a punk uncle who Craig: I can remember hearing about this great punk showed me a lot of music when I was a little kid; you drummer once from Bill Heintz, who is maybe the only know, “Here’s The Ramones, here’s The Clash…” dude I know who is more into the Ramones than me.

Izzy: I think I found out about stuff from Steve Some time later that drummer turned out to be Josh.

Whatstyle. He was doing a lot of punk shows at the Josh: And for a while I was still living in Baton Rouge, American Hall in Destrehan & drawing a lot of flyers. I so I was just taking the Swift Bus back and forth to New think the first time anyone handed me a flyer, it was one Orleans for band practice. of his. The Supaflies was one of my favorite local bands Izzy: Did you use the Swift Bus to join our band? back in those days.

Josh: God bless the Swift Bus. Craig: Guys like Nozmo King – look at that sticker [still repping 90’s NOLA punk on a drum shell] Sonic Boom!: I’ve heard a lot of people describe Izzy: And Quinn Levetre, who did HiGH’s owl logo. HiGH as pop-punk, but to me that term calls up a lot of He was in Loon, who were from Destrehan. bands that I don’t think you sound like. What’s your take Craig: Supposedly Loon broke the stage at the old on that?

Abstract Café.

Josh: I agree with you, because there are so many Izzy: From there I think we all moved on to the versions of pop punk, but we’re poppy because our stuff Faubourg Center. is melodic, fast, and dynamic.

Craig: Yeah, The Faubourg, in the Marigny, over where Izzy: Yeah, I don’t know. There would have to be a lot Maison is now. more words jammed in there between “pop” and “punk.”

Craig: And studded belts!

Sonic Boom!: How did you two meet in the first place?

Craig: Well, I had a band called The Gutterpunks…

Sonic Boom!: Well, Craig, I have seen you nonWe were called that because my friend Greg Boutte’s dad ironically wearing a Screeching Weasel shirt. told us one day that we looked like gutterpunks, and we Izzy: Yeah, we’re not the best dressers. took that as our name. But then I invited Izzy to join the Craig: I guess we’re too pop for punks and too punk band, and he said that we couldn’t be called that because for your pops. [We all enjoy a hearty laugh over how clever “gutterpunk” was a thing, and we weren’t that!

Craig is] Izzy: Yeah, we should’ve been called the Ditch Punks.

Izzy: Also, we don’t really jam out at practice. We just Man, the ditch fucking ruled. All my watersports in work out our songs. Get the meat & the bread of the Destrehan revolved around hanging out in the ditch. song, a little bit of mustard, & that’s it.

[Nostalgic chuckle from Craig & Izzy] Craig: James Whitten records all of our stuff, & he Craig: So Izzy joined the band, and he was the most hates mustard… punk kid I knew: bleached hair, a fucking lock around his Josh: This is different from every band I’ve ever been neck… He looked like a mini-Sid Vicious back then. in… I finally get to play a lot of stuff that I’ve always liked.

Craig: Yeah, there’s a lot of stuff I’ve always heard about but never got into until we started this band. Izzy pushed Sebadoh, and I pushed The Replacements; Josh liked everything that we liked.

Izzy: It’s just that you can play FAST over a fat beat…

4 by 4, or whatever.

Josh: I was feeling late 80’s/early 90’s alternative, preNevermind…

it was actually happening. What do y’all remember about all of that?

Izzy: Yeah, I didn’t see a big divide happen.

Craig: Sure, it’s not like Nirvana totally knocked out hair rock, because G’n’R and Metallica were already doing it.

Izzy: G’n’R were more rootsy & rock’n’roll than those hair bands…

Craig: … and Metallica were rougher …

Izzy: I actually got more into Nirvana after I saw Guns Sonic Boom!: That’s definitely another thing I’ve heard ‘n’ Roses with Metallica and Faith No More. a lot in reference to HiGH -- some 90’s comparisons…

Craig: Izzy was the only kid I knew back then who knew Izzy, I’ve seen you wearing a Metallica shirt, and I think that Faith No More was the best band of those 3… that we’re all of an age such that we listened to Metallica Izzy: Nirvana actually got asked to play that tour, so and G’n’R when they were in their prime, right?

I know that people at least partially associated them with HiGH [in unison]: Sure! those bands… Now, later when I was a teenager I felt that there was a bit of a divide between punk and metal, Sonic Boom!: Well, I feel like the music press makes a but for me I couldn’t get it together enough to go to a big deal about there being a great divide when “grunge” store and buy a bunch of leather and “go metal”; it was a took over, but I don’t think most young people noticed or lot easier for me to go into my stepdad’s closet, cut up a cared to distinguish between Metallica and Nirvana when bunch of his shit, and be a punk!

Craig: I will say this… That’s how I found all my friends in middle school, asking “Where are the kids who like Nirvana?” And someone else would say, “Oh, go check over there under that tree…”

Izzy: Especially the kids who were cool enough to know that Nirvana was a punk band. Nirvana only had 3 albums, but I still always want to listen to them… Maybe we listen to Nirvana & end up sounding like the bands that influenced Nirvana.

Sonic Boom!: There’s a couple of HiGH songs where there’s almost an agro-rap thing happening in the vocals.

Josh: There’s definitely a certain rap cadence in the singing on a few of them.

Craig: Well rap and punk have such a parallel history…

It just always made sense to me. But I was definitely a guitar player first.

Izzy: Craig was already a songwriter at 12-13 years old, and he already knew how to run a band…

Sonic Boom!: Craig, you are quite a skilled guitarist with an impressive pedalboard, but I know that you were an M.C. some years ago with Slang Angus. Which came first?

Craig: Oh, I was a guitar player as a little kid. I became a rapper because it’s hard to get 4 people together to even make a band in the first place. That, plus I just like making fun of people, and rapping is a good platform for that.

[Said with a smile] Josh: [excitedly] I keep hearing from people what a great rapper & lyricist he is. I didn’t even know!

Sonic Boom!: Izzy, you’re a likely candidate for the hardest-working punk in the New Orleans scene, with roles in Dummy Dumpster and Mountain of Wizard as well as HiGH; and Josh, you also play with The Melters.

How do y’all find the time for this band?

Josh: Make-your-own-schedule jobs. Whenever I’m not working, I’m playing music.

Izzy: I make time. It’s written into this band that it’s just 3 people. We probably couldn’t deal with more than 3. It’s all about keeping it simple.

Craig: We all want to be here. It’s important to us.

Sonic Boom!: You play a lot of bass chords, Izzy.

Izzy: Seriously, though; we’re gonna finish this You use a non-standard tuning, right? How’d that record… come about?

Craig: Play some fest…

Izzy: I was playing a lot of bass ukulele & wanted to Izzy: Put out this record… duplicate that sound on an electric instrument, so I just Craig: We’re not very fucking careerist or anything. stuck with it.

Izzy: I would like to work on some more songs… Go on tour… Go swimming…

Sonic Boom!: And why the short-scale bass?

Craig: Bathe our bodies…

Izzy: It has to be short scale because of the tension of Izzy: Keep the ice chest stocked… the strings & the tuning. These are baritone guitar strings, Craig: Going on tour is a good excuse for a vacation. from that Bass VI instrument.

[At this point, Izzy notices my furious scribbling] Izzy: Boy, you’ve got a lot of editing to do, huh?

Sonic Boom!: What are your goals for HiGH in the [As I wrap up writing, Craig and Izzy wander back into near future? the practice space for an arm wrestling challenge as Josh Craig: Fist fight… watches on, mildly amused by the whole scene.]

Josh: All out brawl…

-Hex Windham Craig: Tag team…

THE NEW LA HARDCORE

By Kevin P. Johnson

Los Angeles, California - the shady underground club you’re looking for has just been found on your phones GPS, and you are ready to mosh to some hardcore punk rock . . . unfortunately you soon find out that you’re actually in the wrong place and you should be in the real LA . . .

Louisiana is the new destination for hardcore punk rock, and Black Kreole are going to bring it to you.

They don’t look very hardcore - they don’t really look all that punk rock, but when the lights go down and the amps fire up there is no doubt that you are in the middle of a hardcore show. With on-point drumming from Zack Cook the band takes hold, and Craig Delgrandile punches you in the face with screams and growls that are near his heart and soul.

The bass thunders as Hobie Neal (who could be mistaken for a linebacker) keeps the rhythm fast and furious, while Peyton Sadler plays a fast-paced punk rock guitar that sets themosh pit into a frenzy.

This is the music that you’d find in Los Angeles at an underground backyard party or even in New York City, but

when you come to south Louisiana this kind of thing is rare. Black Kreole play with intensity and passion and perform like this music is the norm . . . and maybe it should be. Hardcore punk is often angry and violent and has a message of changing the system. Black Kreole has a little bit of all that in their music (but let’s not push the violence these guys are nice guys.) These guys are filling a void in the local scene and giving their best to do it.

The band hasn’t been around a long time, but they have recorded a four song demo that is available on bandcamp. com, and they are playing around southern Louisiana as often as possible. I asked the band some questions and they decided to split them up amongst the members (an interesting choice).

Sonic Boom!: So Black Kreole is a hardcore punk band from small town Larose, LA. Is there a punk scene there or does the band have to travel to Baton Rouge and New Orleans to play shows?

Craig Delgrandile: We pretty much have to travel, and

it is more than perfect for me. I much rather play shows out of town and come back home to where music barely to almost doesn’t exist and live my regular life as a father, husband, and a working class man. We once had a “scene” back when I was in highschool but I really wouldn’t call it a scene to be honest. We had a hand full of kids that listen to punk music, but as far as I remember metal was always the noise that was made within the Larose area.

Sonic Boom!: I’ve only seen the band perform once but have seen through your Facebook page that you are playing lots of shows. I’ve noticed that a lot of bands you play with are metal bands. Is this by choice or are you just looking to play as many shows as possible?

Craig Delgrandile: We just love to play shows, it doesn’t really matter who we share the venue with and that’s the beauty of the southeast louisiana music scene. There is no metal, punk, grunge, hardcore etc. everyone just supports music and that is how it should truly be, every genre will have there good points and bad. Even though we are known as a punk band, we are not punks in any way shape or form since we listen to everything haha. If you would hear the stuff we listen to on our way to playing a show you’d probably get a brain fart, but we will play with anyone. “Music is music.”

Sonic Boom!: You have put out a demo E.P. that is available on bandcamp.com, is this a good representation of where the band currently is musically?

Zack Cook: It’s does represent what we are, but it doesn’t capture the energy we bring live. If you really want to know what Black Kreole is, then come catch us live.

Sonic Boom!: Your music is the kind of hardcore punk that has thrived in the Los Angeles and New York City underground. How did this style of music find its way to southern Louisiana?

Zack Cook: Well when I was about 12 years old I discovered a band called The Casualties by watching a skate video then I went to our local music store KJAMS and they had a compilation CD called “Punk-O-Rama.”

The Casualties were in there plus other hardcore punk bands like Afi, NoFx, Black Flag. But The Casualties album “For The Punx” changed my life.

Sonic Boom!: What is your music trying to express?

Hardcore is usually angry and rebellious music is that the angle Black Kreole is expressing in its music or is it something else?

Hobie Neal: I feel where other bands are coming from, with nonstop anger and hatred and all that, because that’s

how a lot of people feel constantly. I think for us, there’s a good bit of that stuff, cause we’re generally pretty angry guys, but at the same time we don’t force ourselves to write from one standpoint. Some of our songs tell a story, some are about the things we love, and some are straight up pissed off. We don’t like to be limited in the music we write.

put more effort into touring and stuff like that.

Sonic Boom!: How has the local music scene taken to your music? Are bands and fans supporting you?

Peyton Sadler: The music scene in South LA has typically been supportive to every band in it. We’re no exception. Bands like The Angry 88, Blood ‘N Bourbon, Breach, Konstricted, and many other bands we’ve met and played with have helped us tremendously along the way. There’s not many negative people in the music scene down here, and that’s such a great aspect of our area.

Everyone helps each other. But it’s also not in a fake way either. I feel if they didn’t like us; if they thought we were just some shitty band that wouldn’t last, they wouldn’t take nearly as much interest in us as they do.

Sonic Boom: What bands influenced the sound of Black Kreole?

Hobie Neal: The influences we have are pretty spread out across the board. Each of us come from a different musical background, with about the only thing tying us together being punk rock. That’s about the only genre, if we’re talking genres, that we’re all on the same page with.

I think our different preferences help us write a slightly different style, because we aren’t all jamming the same Sonic Boom!: Do you have any plans to record a full music all the time. length album in the near future?

Peyton Sadler: Ironically I was finishing up an idea Sonic Boom!: As I said before the band has been for the album cover before I answered these questions. playing a lot of shows in Louisiana, are you looking to Yeah, we have a good amount of songs now, and we take the show on the road? can definitely start recording, while hopefully adding Hobie Neal: As for hitting the road with the band, one or two more songs in the process. The thing about we’re all absolutely down with that happening at some full lengths, especially in modern music culture, is that a point. We aren’t really rushing it at the moment. Our lot of bands have three to five killer songs on any given main priorities right now are making some new friends album, but they use filler songs to fill out another five to and getting people in the area to hear us first, then we’ll seven songs and be able to make it a full length. We’ve

never been the kind of band to write filler songs. Every Sonic Boom!: Is there anything else that the world word that Craig writes has meaning to him. Every riff needs to know about Black Kreole?

Hobie and I play is thought out and processed, and every Peyton Sadler: We’re coming at you fast and loud! beat of Zack’s drum is painstakingly written. We’re all trying to get the best out of everything we write.

So there you have it: A taste of Louisiana hardcore punk rock by way of Black Kreole. Check these guys out Sonic Boom!: What has been your favorite place to on Bandcamp.com and look for them at a club near you play so far and can you tell us about your upcoming show from New Orleans to Baton Rouge and beyond. with Wednesday 13?

Peyton Sadler: I have a bit of a bias here, but personally -Kevin P. Johnson my favorite place we played was The Boxer & The Barrel in Houma. I actually live in Houma (I’m the only one of the four) and ever since I was 21 I’ve been watching bands play there. Recently we had the honor of playing with punk band from Los Angeles called Thoughtcrime, and they were absolutely fantastic, as well as some of our favorite people to play with, The Angry 88 and Hex Windham.

And yes, we are opening for Wednesday 13 (formerly of The Murderdolls) on the 4th of July. That’s an extremely great honor for us as a band and we’re extremely excited to share the stage with him, as well as Once Human, Gabriel &a The Apocalypse, and Breach. We wouldn’t be doing this without our great friend Wayne Barras, who’s band, Breach, will be following us that same night.

For all intents and purposes, Hammond, Louisiana is pretty much right in the middle of the path between Baton Rouge and New Orleans. It is a small town and home of Southeastern Louisiana University. In the 1990’s, when the Alternative rock music boom happened, Hammond had its share of local bands and even a few big name bands come through town . . . that was over 20 years ago and times have changed . . . but not everything has changed a trio of punk rockers have emerged from the ruins of a lost scene and become THE ANGRY 88.

The band has brought back a style of music that may end up taking them places they only dreamed of. Imagine that Washington, D.C. style hardcore music right here in south Louisiana . . . you haven’t heard that in a while have you? Well these guys are not clones of Fugazi or Minor Threat, they just have that same spirit, and the music they play is reminiscent of that long lost brand of punk rock.

The Angry 88 (they are really nice guys but don’t tell anybody) have been playing for a few years and have had some lineup changes but now they seem to have found their final form with Brandon Seal on lead vocal and guitar, Mark Wrenn on drums and vocals, and newest member Tony John Gimmolva on bass. They have released a live E.P. and are looking to record proper

studio versions of their music in the future.

I asked the band about punk rock, how they got together, and the new guy.

Sonic Boom!: When and how did the Angry 88 form?

Brandon Seal: The Angry 88 originally formed with myself and my old roommate Erin Gerhard around the summer of 2014. Mark Wrenn would join shortly after.

Mark Wrenn: Brandon and I first started jamming in the summer of 2014. He had already been jamming with our other founding member, Cooter Bone (Rest In Peace, this shit’s for you!). I was working with Coot doing landscaping and had been drumming for a couple years in bands and he suggested I come check out what he and Brandon were up to. We jammed for a while after that. Then we broke up, got back together at an open mic night, scored our first gig from that open mic, and here we are. It’s been a wild run.

Tony John Giammolva: Brandon and one of his best friends Cooter Bone started it about 5-6 years ago. Mark joined a good while later and Cooter passed away. One of the many reasons we play is to remember our brothers who aren’t here with us anymore.

Sonic Boom!: The band has been around a short

while and has gone through a lot of lineup changes on bass guitar. Has this effected the band in a positive or negative way?

Mark Wrenn: Well, in a way, it has been negative.

There’s been plenty of time we could have spent working on new material that we have spent training new bassists.

I wouldn’t trade it for ten new songs, though. I like where we are at, and every person we’ve jammed with has played a part in the band we are now, no matter how small or large the contribution. Shout out to Archie Powell, Josh Cook, and Will Kysar!

Brandon Seal: The line up changes on bass have improved the band in positive ways. If nothing else, it made the guitar and drum relationship stronger.

Tony John Giammolva: I’ll say that every bassist that has played with The Angry 88 has brought their own style and sound, there were some setbacks here or there having to get each bassist up to speed when a new one joined the band, but the important thing is that we’re all still good friends, and I’ve learned a lot from each one of them.

Sonic Boom!: Your hometown is Hammond, Louisiana, which is located between Baton Rouge and New Orleans.

Hammond is a small town but it is close enough to two large cities that you can travel to fairly easily. Has this be a good thing for the band to find fans?

Mark Wrenn: Hammond is in a great location as far as the music scene goes. Hammond also has a rich and eclectic scene itself. There are a lot of great bands and musicians in our town and have been for years.

We’ve always suffered from a lack of venues. We play out of town almost out of necessity. I mean, we’d do it either way, but we rarely have shows around our area. We have found great reception in those areas, though, and I’m beyond grateful for that. But we will be Hammond City Punk Rock till we die.

Brandon Seal: Being located between NOLA and BR has absolutely been beneficial. We actually don’t get to play much in our home town.

Tony John Giammolva: Being between two major cities has been a great thing for us, for booking shows and getting fans. It’s nice to be able to tell someone that digs your music that you’ll be back at this place on this date ya know.

Sonic Boom!: Hammond, Louisiana in the 1990’s had a pretty good alternative rock scene and the University there had a lot of on campus events that bands often played at, is this still true of the area? Have you been able to play anything near or on the campus?

Brandon Seal: Honestly no, we’ve never played on or

near campus. Only at bars and Tabfest far as Hammond goes.

Mark Wrenn: We have not played anything on or near the campus. KSLU is actually a kick ass radio station and probably my favorite in the region, but there’s not much going on that I know of. That most recent thing held on campus was actually a string of fund raisers held to raise money for a new music venue. The people with the money to own clubs don’t give a shit about original live music and the one place the radio station had for shows shut down. Maybe one day . . .

Tony John Giammolva: It’s sad to say but Hammond dosen’t have that scene anymore, Now its full of dance clubs for the collage students and that’s just terrible . . . just terrible.

Sonic Boom!: The Angry 88 play a style of punk rock music that could be labeled “hardcore.” It’s that D.C. kind of hardcore, almost a Fugazi style, which has been missing for a while in the music scene (at least from my radar). What made you decide to take this route musically?

Mark Wrenn: Well, first off: Brandon “IS” punk rock.

What makes us punk rock is his riffs and his spirit. When I think of D.C. hardcore, I think Minor Threat and Bad Brains. Those were two big bands for me when I first discovered punk rock in junior high and high school. I don’t think Fugazi. But we’ve actually been compared to them several times after shows and whatnot. I have been in a few bands and they were all very different from each other. I came into this just as a drummer wanting to play drums. That being said, I’ve never felt so apart of something like I feel within this local punk scene. But yeah, from the start, we knew we wanted to be hardcore punk. What music we’ve made as a result speaks for itself and is exactly what the fuck it is.

Brandon Seal: The original ideas for the first couple songs definitely came from my overall love of punk rock and American hardcore punk of the 1980’s. From there it evolved into what is now known as The Angry 88.

Tony John Giammolva: Well for me it’s our lyrics, we’re talking (or singing) about things that are very relative and important to us. About how we personally feel about a certain subject or just how we feel.

Sonic Boom!: Brandon and Mark share lead vocals on different songs. The vocals that both of you do are sort of a chanted almost angry spoken word non-melodic style. Is this something you are doing consciously or is it just the natural way your vocals are?

Brandon Seal: It’s a little bit of both. The vocals are almost rap/rapcore style in some songs. With some punk rock influence. But no I never meant for it to be melodic.

Mark Wrenn: I just want to be angry. We consciously write in backups where we all chant lyrics. We do that because we like it, and it’s fun. Other than that, I have no idea why they keep giving us microphones.

Tony John Giammolva: It’s kind of natural between all three of us. It comes from our passion that we put into our music and all the pent-up anger and stress that we’re releasing.

so can we consider this a permanent move?

Tony John Giammolva: . . . (Skipped for brandon and mark to answer lol.)

Mark Wrenn: It is very permanent. We’ve only had one other bassist that we considered permanent. Tony is our bassist.

Brandon Seal: Tony is absolutely a permanent member.

Tony is the only member besides me and Mark to ever have the tattoo. All I can say is good things are in store.

Sonic Boom!: You recently released a demo of 8 live recordings. These songs are pretty raw sounding and the vocals are a muffled in a lot of places however it does capture the sound of your live performance well. Is there any chance that the Angry 88 will be doing any studio recordings or a proper album in the near future?

Brandon Seal: There is a good possibility of a proper Sonic Boom!: I mentioned before that your bass play- Angry 88 album in the near future. Even a possible split er position has been filled by several different musicians with Black Kreole. but now Tony Giammolva seems to have taken over the Mark Wrenn: We are going to do a split with our position and he has even gotten the official band tattoo brothers in Black Kreole. That will be our first release.

We want studio quality recordings, but we really suck at “adulting.”

Tony John Giammolva: Live shows are where it’s at for us, that’s where we focus all our energy at but there will be studio recordings in the future.

Sonic Boom!: The Angry 88 play live often and have shared the stage with punk bands and metal bands and some others along the way. Who have been some of your favorite bands to play with and what are your favorite venues to play?

Mark Wrenn: My favorites have been Black Kreole, Scarecrow Sonic Boombox, Tomb of Nick Cage, ThoughtCrime, Deface, A Sunday Fire, Jak Locke Rock Show, Breach, Shadow Giant, Death Ed., PMD, Mother Liquor, DREAD and Mad Dog. I think I love ’em all equally. You think I’m lying, come see me. I love those people and their music. It’s hard to pick just a few.

As far as venues go, Babylon in Metairie, The Boxer and The Barrel in Houma, Tabfest and Hammond City Tattoo Shop in HAMMOND, LOUISIANA, BITCH, and Spanish Moon and Twist of Lime because goddamn the sound is good there.

Brandon Seal: My favorite Venues are The Boxer and

the Barrell in Houma, The Babylon in Metairie and The Twist of Lime. As well as the Juke Joint in Ocean springs Mississippi. Some of my favorite local bands are Black Kreole, The Tomb Of Nick Cage, Shadow Giant and Misled.

Tony John Giammolva: For me is Boxer and the Barrel in Houma where we just played with another punk band called ThoughtCrime, need to mention TOMB OF NICK CAGE! and Shaddow People as well. Those guys . . .

Sonic Boom!: Speaking of shows, you have a big show coming up opening for Doyle of the Misfits. This has to be a huge opportunity for you, are you excited?

This show has the potential to bring in new fans are you preparing anything special for the show or just going out to play your best show possible?

Mark Wrenn: WE’RE PLAYING WITH FUCKING DOYLE!!!!! Fuckin’ A! I’m excited and for several reasons.

It is a huge opportunity for us and we have some things planned for this one, indeed. However, I’d have to kill you if I told you. So just come to the show and see for yourself! June 8th Southport Hall in Metairie!

Brandon Seal: Best show possible but there might be

a few special things in store for the show with Doyle.

Tony John Giammolva: Opening for Doyle is something that we’re all excited about, and we hope to bring in new fans. We have a couple new songs we’re trying to get ready too.

of the world and our system and my everyday life all inspire me. Although my original inspiration to play and write music came from The punk bands of the 1970’s and 1980’s.

Tony John Giammolva: My influences are the old school punk rockers, If they had something to say they Sonic Boom!: Do you plan on touring outside of just said it and didn’t care if you liked it or not.

Louisiana?

Mark Wrenn: I just love music. I love playing it. I Mark Wrenn: We do plan on touring. We’ve played love writing it. I love listening to it. I love writing prose. with some bands from out of state and have been invited Inspiration comes from everywhere. And when it hits, to play in their neck of the woods. One of my goals for I try to write it down or record it. A lot of it has never this year was and still is to book a mini tour. It’s just a made it to songs that I’ve been a part of writing. matter of affording such a venture. Like I said, we suck at being adults.

Sonic Boom!: What other musicians do you consider Brandon Seal: Absolutely all in due time. Maybe by as influences? the end of the year.

Brandon Seal: The Ramones, The Clash, Black Tony John Giammolva: We want to do like a local tri- Flag and Minor Threat, Rancid, AFI and Bad Religion. state tour, The only thing is finding the time in everyone’s Amongst many others. scheduals to do that.

Mark Wrenn: As far as punk rock goes, my favorites are Anti-Flag, Minor Threat, Operation Ivy, Bad Religion, Sonic Boom!: What are your major influences for your Sum 41, Misfits, and Bad Brains. I’m a huge fan of music music? What inspires you to write a song? in general. 311 is probably my biggest influence. I’m a Brandon Seal: Love, politics, war, the corruption sucker for stoner/sludge. I’m also a prog head. Yes, Rush,

Tool, Between the Buried and Me, Opeth, Meshuggah, King Crimson. My favorite drummers are Danny Carey, Chad Sexton, Thomas Pridgen, and Blake Richardson.

Sonic Boom!: What does punk rock mean to you?

Mark Wrenn: Punk rock is a voice that shouts back at everyone and everything that I feel is wrong. It is not buying in. It is not dumbing down. It is strong and it is fucking angry. It is the expression of self. It is loving one another for the simple fact that we are all human beings and we are all getting fucked. It does not care where you have been or what you have done. It is living outside of the norm. It is about creating something to live and die for. It is setting fire to those who oppose free will. Punk rock dances by the fire of the burning civilization that once conquered all of man.

Brandon Seal: Punk Rock is about speaking the truth and inspiring people to question why. It’s about lifting people up when every thing seems hopeless. Punk Rock is the passion to endure against a F’d up system.

Tony John Giammolva: Punk rock to me means, breaking away from the mundane. Being able to be yourself and share that common feeling with your brothers and sisters at the shows. Having a feeling or opinion and voicing it to a whole crowd of people to get it off your chest.

Sonic Boom!: And finally why so Angry?

Mark Wrenn: We’re pissed the fuck off so you don’t have to be. We’re pissed the fuck off because rich people own us and lie to us. But we’re pretty happy folk. Just come to Hammond and kick it sometime. You’ll see.

Brandon Seal: Life is full of bullshit and some of that BS is unfair that’s why. So let’s start a pit and scream our lungs out and hopefully will all feel better tomorrow.

Tony John Giammolva: I’m angry because Brandon called me ugly. (He’s just jelly though) Tony John Giammolva: I need to add Black Kreole to that “what local bands do you like” they will beat me up if I don’t mention them LMAO! The Angry 88 are the new oldschool in hardcore punk, they play often all around southern Louisiana. Get out there to a show these guys would love to show you their anger on the stage and hang out with you after that.

-Kevin P. Johnson

Photo by Kevin P. Johnson

Geographic Tongue,

The Pests

and Reserving the Right to Be Impolite – An Interview with Chuck and Steve From DEATH ED.

By Melissa Crory

All images and photos courtesy of the Chuck Diesel and Steve Halprin collection unless otherwise noted.

Chuck Diesel and Steve Halprin are iconic to many of us in the New Orleans punk and rock scene as the embodiment of unbridled emotion, uncontrollable rage, disregard (and open disgust) of follower mentality as well as having a knack for getting into plenty of trouble.

They are our imps and tricksters - a staple of disorder wherever they go. While certainly not the cup of tea for the more “polite” and easily offended members of the musical community, they offer a controlled chaos in their music.

They have a nihilistic approach to life and art that is frightening at times, exhilarating at others. They have always gone their own way both musically and physically - a dual embodiment of the Id. Though “punk” keeps trying to claim them, it’s not quite accurate. Chuck and Steve write for themselves and what serves the song. They don’t write for their audience because that feels unnatural to them. They both love the Beatles and popular music. Steve stresses that, “If it’s good, my ear has got to give it credit.”

Their songs (predominately due to the uncannily “hooky” pop sentiments of Halprin) have never been aesthetically without thought or compositional control.

He has a natural ability to write a catchy song so frequently that it’s hard to imagine that anyone would leave a show remembering less than three at their first listen.

So memorable were the Pests shows, so incendiary, that their seemingly sudden disbanding came as a shock to many of us that had followed the band for so many years.

I knew a retrospective was in order. The story demanded it. What I didn’t know is that I’d see and hear a complete rebirth with their new project, DEATH ED., or that their story would take well over three hours to tell.

I met Chuck and Steve at their Metairie studio (still named Pestland, though the band is now permanently and irrevocably defunct) and sat down with them over massive quantities of Bacardi, and as the story unfolded I knew I was hearing an account that was not just an interview but a cathartic experience – a different kind of purging for Chuck and Steve. They were typically raucous as ever, but the interview held an introspective quality. On occasion they would jump up, say things in unison, reminisce between the two of them (occasionally disputing dates or names) and generally be, well, Chuck and Steve.

Steve was the most animated, still looking almost eerily identical to when I first met him in the early 90s - his head shaved, and kept generally under a ball-cap paired with a t-shirt and jeans. I reminded him every so often that “OO EE OO EE OO EE OO OO OO!” describing the new, upcoming DEATH ED. track “Bird Enthusiasts”

would be impossible to transcribe and to just stick to linear thought, but after a while the most intriguing (and often unprintable) responses were best left to immediacy and emotion.

Chuck, slimmer than he’s ever been in his life, his always perfectly coiffed hair now sprinkled with grey, spoke not only with an urgency, but also a focus as he refilled their rum and cokes on the regular - the ice clinking around in their glasses as they opened up about the last 25 years.

They threw bottles, danced, sang and generally were everything I have loved about them over the years – spontaneous and childlike, rash and emotional, filled with rage and laughter, and all around pure infectious energy. What follows is only a small part of what the history of what Chuck and Steve are, and what they have accomplished, but it’s certainly anything but dull.

Chuck and Steve met for the first time in fourth or fifth grade - though they didn’t really speak until after high school. Steve was already pursuing music, and after an unsuccessful six months in California at the end of the

hair metal years, he returned home to start a cover band in 1990 called “Skull Mickey.” The pair had a mutual friend in neighbor and drummer Eric, and immediately hit it off.

From that time forward they became friends, drinking buddies and general troublemakers -but they didn’t start playing in a band together until two years later.

“Much to the chagrin of the rest of the other band members of Skull Mickey,” Steve grinned, “I insisted that Chuck come to all the shows. Everybody hated that I brought Chuck everywhere.” At this point Chuck chimed quickly that it was “a tradition that carries on to today.”

From then on they were inseparable, travelling on whims and generally living free, drunk and reckless.

Perhaps the most notable event that came from one of Chuck and Steve’s mad road-trips happened on a journey to Shreveport in an attempt to meet up with a girl Chuck liked. They hopped in Chucks’ Blazer armed only with his father’s Shell credit card as a source of money and hit the road. Eventually, Steve stopped to check in with his girlfriend, dialing her up on a payphone in a Domino’s

Pizza parking lot. It was at that moment that Suzie told him she was pregnant. Unable to know the future, Steve could have no idea that in a little over two decades that tiny baby, born on April 26th, 1991, would one day grow up to be the drummer of the last musical project he and Chuck claim they would ever start - DEATH ED. That same year, Steve admits going through a transformation of sorts - he shaved his long hair into a Mohawk and began writing in earnest for his new project.

The band was comprised of drummer, Brad Davis, with Steve handling vocals, guitar and bass in the studio for their first 3-song EP. Unable to find a live bassist, he turned to best friend Chuck and asked if he would handle the duties. Chuck, though having no prior experience, immediately agreed. He bought a bass, Steve showed him how to follow along with him, and in 1992 the official lineup of Geographic Tongue was formed.

Chuck mentions at this point, “I can only play bass

with one person. It’s Steve Halprin. Anybody else I don’t know how to play with them.”

In March of 1993, the band played their first show at Jimmy’s Uptown in New Orleans. Chuck initially fed off of, and eventually flourished under Steve’s lead and over the subsequent years the trio completed three releases – a full length eponymous album that year, a second EP entitled “Green Machine” comprised of four tracks in 1994, and were nearing completion on a third album in early 1995 when Brad Davis unexpectedly left the band.

Regrettably, this album never enjoyed an official release.

Both Chuck and Steve were enraged.

Steve had notebooks upon notebooks of material to choose from for upcoming songs. “I had insomnia during Geographic Tongue. I wrote around the clock – in my sleep. All I cared about was those songs.”

They felt that the energy and reception toward the band was primed for success.

“I think people that knew music and had any kind of vision – I think – knew there was something special about it,” Steve says.

“Geographic Tongue should have done something.

It should have carried over,” said Chuck, “We were absolutely furious – which begins the era of ? The Pests.”

It didn’t take long for the pair to get back on their feet. Dino Mazzone, the former front man of the locally popular rap-rock group, Bodybag Slam, began drumming for the group. His drumming style was dramatically different from Brad’s, and significantly changed the sound of the band so much that they scrapped the name “Geographic Tongue” and became “The Pests” (almost named the Pessimists) in March of the same year.

They were in the mode to keep going at full speed. The new sound reflected their rage and urgency in a way that fueled an energy that was all electricity and incandescent fury. A friend once told them that he “had never seen so much venom come off of three people in his life.”

Steve mused on the new “personality” of the band.

He felt Chuck had now come into his own as not only a bassist, but also a stage presence. His new drummer, who also happened to be a Jiu Jitsu enthusiast, was a force to be reckoned with. “Dino is a bigger guy physically than us, he plays incredibly on drums.”

He was known for playing these crazy orange North drums and had the unique habit of hitting his cymbals with one arm back and forth in a manic, frenzied, sweeping motion.

Steve mentions that a reviewer once called the imposing man an “octopus on amphetamines.” So impressed with the charisma of his band members, Steve took an intentional back seat on stage to let the other guys shine during live performances.

Their off-stage antics were just as unpredictable as their shows, from breaking a toilet in a local rock club right before their set with a beer bottle (how does that even happen?), to the following account remembered by Backwash bassist, Tex Ramone.

Tex recalls, “The best part about hanging out with

Photo by Kevin P. Johnson

Steve and Chuck in the Pests days was that once you got enough drinks in them, they would just leave a trail of destruction wherever they went. One night I was at a bar with them, and Steve picked up a plastic ashtray off of the table. Chuck was talking to me about something, and Steve-without saying a word-calmly squeezed the ashtray in his hand until it cracked in half. He set it down, and then picked up another. Squeezed it, broke it, set it down, picked up another. The whole time, Chuck is just talking to me as if he doesn’t see this happening, even though Steve is standing literally right next to him.

Chuck is still talking and Steve is standing there with an ashtray cupped in his hand, and I see one of the bouncers walk up to the table where we were standing.

There is a small mountain of broken ashtrays on the table.

The guy starts walking toward the three of us and yells, “HEY. DID YOU BREAK ALL THOSE ASHTRAYS?” Steve calmly looks at the guy, still holding the ashtray (and not holding it like a normal person would, mind you; holding it like he’s about to break it) and just says, “No.” The guy looks at him, and clearly wants to say something, but he is so confused and pissed off that he doesn’t know what to do, so he walks away. The second he turned around, Steve crushed the ashtray in his hand.”

The Pests performed their first show at Marley’s on the North Shore on May 6th, 1995 as an opener for Acid Bath. (As an aside, Steve has never forgotten a date. If he asks you your birthday once, he will always remember it – and tell you the significance and any auspicious meanings behind it.) After playing countless shows in the New Orleans area, and recording quite possibly (in my opinion) the world’s most unrecognized album in 1995, “Simplified,” the band was suddenly approached by Hollywood record producer and cult novelty performer, Kim Fowley, who was best known for managing Joan Jett’s breakout band, The Runaways in the 1970s.

Fowley had somehow gotten his hands on Geographic Tongue’s music, even though it had been mis-wrapped in the case of Davis’ new project, the 117’s. The producer

traveled from California to New Orleans after hearing the tapes, intent on signing the band. Upon hearing Davis’ new act, he knew it wasn’t the same band he had heard in the recording. He demanded Geographic Tongue. He set out to sign the previously defunct act to brand new label, St. Roch Records, which Fowley had formed with Gary Attardo of Red Rockers fame.

The Pests were put on hiatus and Geographic Tongue immediately reformed as Mazzone willingly left to pursue other projects. Davis returned on drums. Chuck makes it clear (because, admittedly, a lot of the Pests’ fan-base, myself included felt a bit betrayed by the abrupt departure) that “we weren’t killing The Pests.” After years of trying to get a break, the encouraging and flattering words from Fowley were understandably seductive, but from the beginning there were problems.

The record company disliked the name “Geographic Tongue” and after several suggestions landed on the name “Blowtorch.”

(The original Fowley idea for a band name was “Fast Food” with the working title of the album being Unhappy Meal - so there’s that.) During the recording process, things went wrong on a variety of levels, including a delay in recording, censorship of certain words to not offend potential markets (most notably changing the main hook of “Meat Market” from “this rhythm is so good I got a boner” to “this rhythm is so good I feel the power.”)

To further complicate things, both Chuck and Steve had fallen ill, causing discontent with the final recording results. By this time, Fowley’s attentions seemed focused elsewhere, so they approached Attardo about getting out of the contract, and they were graciously set free.

Here, the history becomes fast and fragmented. They had a few false starts in 1997 and 1998 reforming The Pests with Dino, and Chuck was so soured by the Blowtorch experience that he just didn’t have his heart in it.

At this point, Steve and Dino moved forward with a new bassist to form The Bullies who released one album, “Up For Anything.”

In 2000, this incarnation ends and Steve forms “Gang

of Creeps” immediately. By this time, all three had lost touch which each other for one reason or another. Dino moved on to mod rocker act, Radionation, and Chuck was still retired from music. Gang of Creeps changed lineup over and over, though they impressively released two albums and a three song EP over the span of the band’s history.

GOC lasts for a good seven years until a fateful meeting with bassist of Dino’s current band, “Kill City Rebels” brought the band back together one more time. Attending a Wayne Hancock show at Rock and Bowl, Steve told him in passing, “Tell Dino I said, ‘Hi.’” It was less than 24 hours later that the Pests had an instant resurrection. Though Steve hadn’t talked to either Dino or Chuck in years, the pull of the friendship and the band was like a magnet. Dino called him immediately the next day wanting a reunion and Chuck was back on board within two additional hours. In September 2007, the trio were official once more.

That SAME YEAR the prolific act released “We Reserve The Right to Be Impolite” and two E.P.s on vinyl – “Rockabilly Ruined My Life” and a split with local band, W.A.S. In 2012, Dino moved to New York City but began pushing the band in earnest and they began touring once again in 2013.

By late 2014, the band released the album, “A Damn Fine Mixture,” had professional management, organized tours, top-notch videos, radio play, copious press and even a tour documentary in the works.

Emboldened by the progress, Steve begins work on the next Pests album when Mazzone suddenly leaves the band in December 2015 to remain in New York permanently, and dedicate his time to playing drums in Hip Hop group, Panda City.

“The Pests thing was great. The problem was, much like the punk movement, The Pests couldn’t last. That anger couldn’t last as that band. And unfortunately it did cave,” Chuck mused. “Dino was instrumental to the Pests. His ferocity made it what it is. Without Dino there is no Pests.”

Chuck continues, “When the Pests died, I was like, ‘What am I going to do? I’ve been this guy for 20 years.’

Then I realized I’m Chuck “Fucking” Diesel. I don’t need that band. I need Steve’s songs and to be on stage. End of story. If that happens then everything comes over like a lava flow. A visceral fucking lava flow of fucking love.”

At this point Steve brought in his son, Bradley Halprin (the baby from earlier who is now 26 years old) to fill the hole, but as “The Pests” it just wasn’t working. Even

though they had garnered name recognition and a level of respect under the name, they knew it wasn’t right. It reminded him of when Dino tried to fill the shoes of Davis in Geographic Tongue.

“There is a lot to be said about chemistry. Chemistry is an intangible thing. When The Pests ended this last go round, my first thought to Chuck was that we gotta come up with something new. Nobody can pull off Chuck Diesel but Chuck Diesel. Nobody can play like Dino. I’m not going to try to bastardize Pests songs.”

They changed the name to represent the new, and to Chuck and Steve, the final chapter in their musical career with Bradley and became DEATH ED. The Pests may have ended, but one can’t minimize Bradley’s own success and talent. He had already played drums with the Melville Deweys then spearheaded the dreamy, Beatles-esque and technically forward, Dr. Halprinstein, His work in the latter project

is so lush and mature for someone so young that it’s mindboggling.

“Bradley for the most part gets it and appreciates it, He knows us; he knows what to expect of us. He appreciates the music and he’s a smart enough kid for this fucked up generation.

He’s got a good musical sense. He loves The Pixies. He loves David Bowie. He loves good shit,” his father chimes in.

Chuck also appreciates his contribution. “He’s unwavering. He’s like a metronome. Me and him need to stay tight which is a bizarre thing for me.”

At this point, Steve put The Pests material on the back burner and started writing from scratch for the newly formed DEATH ED. They have recorded a four song EP, but they don’t feel as though it truly represents the band and now are hard at work on an eight-song album of new material.

Their live show continues to be a singular experience,

and as a fan of over two decades I see people responding to DEATH ED. in a way I’ve never seen them respond before. There used to be a visceral, “punch each other” reaction, and now I see younger people actually listening and paying attention. People are smiling and enjoying themselves.

There is participation, and a desire to interact. Instead of seeing the band and their music through the lens of other people or how “the scene” saw them, their audiences are reacting on an individual, participatory level that is really, really exciting.

“We’ve gone backwards. Maybe now 25 years later, it will react with people – the new stuff. It’s very Geographic Tongue,” says Chuck.

“It all comes back to being authentic. What I like about us live - it seems to me that it’s 100% spontaneous,” said Steve.

Chuck agrees. “Authentic songs. He makes fun of me I make fun of him. We fucking goof on each other. There’s no scripts.”

They prepare and take their performances seriously – a fact that may shock a lot of people.

Photo by Kevin P. Johnson

“We do our booze, we do our goofing, but were dedicated. I got a full time job; I have kids.

I wait till everyone is asleep at one o’clock in the morning and I got my notebook. I’m writing,” says Steve.

He does vocal warm-ups in cars and alleyways. “I’m not holding anything back. I want to play every single show like it’s my last. Two old drunks up front put a lot of work in this. We do what we need to do to be awesome. I refuse to go on stage and suck.”

At the end of the day, Chuck and Steve are here to stay and are inseparable - just as they were 25 years ago. Chuck bemoans the fact that there is tons of music we will never hear, all lost to time and it makes me wistful for what never was, but also extremely excited about the new chapter in this story. I can’t wait to hear more from DEATH ED. They let me listen to a bit of what they are working on currently, and I felt like I was in my early 20s

again. Chuck gestures to his friend as he looks at me and says, in typical Chuck fashion, “Without Steve Halprin there is none of this. There is none of this. Your entire interview is stupid.”

-Melissa Crory

The Official Pestering Time-Line of Something Chuck and Steve become friends, drinking buddies and trouble makers (but not yet band mates) early 1990.

June of 1996 Kim Fowley (Joan Jett and Runaways fame) hears of Geographic Tongue... comes from Hollywood, CA to New Orleans hoping to sign the band. Kim forms Steve forms Geographic Tongue with drummer Brad St. Roch records with Gary Attardo of the Red Rockers.

Davis in 1991.

Pests split up because of this and Geographic Tongue Geographic Tongue puts out a three song EP with Steve reunites for the record deal, but the record company covering vocals, guitar and bass. hates the band name.

Songs are Slum Sweet Slum, So Irrational and Ligament Twist.

After months of trying to find a bass player (and failing miserably), Chuck Diesel (who at the time was not a musician) offered to be the bass player.

After hundreds of band name ideas, Geographic Tongue becomes Blowtorch in July of 1996 and sign a one-year deal with St. Roch Records.

Shortly after signing , things go horribly wrong on a variety of levels, so The Pests flirt with the idea of reuniting.

The official Geographic Tongue lineup, with Chuck Diesel on bass, was formed 1992.

In January of 1997, the band plays a one time show at The Angel and then actually reunites April 1997.

3/10/93 first Geographic Tongue gig at Jimmy’s uptown.

Pests break up shortly after on July 28 1997.

First, self-titled full length album put out in 1993. Songs: Slum Sweet Slum, Bending the G, Big Fat Man, Zero Avenue, Museum of Emotion, Concussion, Throw Me A Rib and Ten Cent Smoke.

Pests reform yet again on April 29, 1998.

Four song EP titled “Green Machine” put out in 1994.

Songs: Fly Paper, Meat Market, Brad Got a Bike and What a Friend.

While Geographic Tongue were working on the third album early 1995... Brad Davis unexpectedly quits before completion and the album is never released.

Dino Mazzone (former front man for Bodybag Slam... but also a drummer) joins Geographic Tongue. His drumming style is dramatically different than Brad Davis’ and the band no longer sounds very much like Geographic Tongue... on top of that, the songs were becoming faster and more aggressive. Geographic Tongue was scrapped and The Pests were formed March 1995.

First Pests show... opening for Acid Bath at Marley’s on the north shore 5/6/95.

The Pests play countless shows in the Nola area and begin recording the album Simplified on 12/8/95.

Not sure why or when the Pests broke up again, but Steve

The Pests start playing NYC and the northeast in June of 2013.

Late 2014 the band released the album “A Damn Fine Mixture” and follow it up with several videos and tour dates.

While Steve is writing material for the next Pests album, Dino shockingly leaves the band December 1, 2015 and stays in New York City to play drums with the hip hop group Panda City.

Chuck and Steve jam with Bradley Halprin in an attempt to keep the Pests going, but it just wasn’t working (similar to when Dino joined Geographic Tongue). Chuck and Steve spend a few months doing nothing musically.

Steve puts the new Pests material on the back burner and starts writing from scratch for the newly formed DEATH ED. Four song EP and first DEATH ED. show both happen in December 2016.

jammed with former Geographic Tongue/Blowtorch drummer Brad Davis in early 1999... but it was short lived.

The Bullies, which were Steve and Dino with a new bassist (Chuck was soured from the Blowtorch experience) formed in 1999 and the first show was 4/3/99. The Bullies, put out one album “Up for Anything”, played around Nola with a few line up changes and officially end 9/9/00.

Steve forms Gang of Creeps (GOC) immediately after the bullies break up.

Dino plays with Radionation for the next several years and Chuck retires from music.

GOC has a ridiculous amount of line-up changes (mostly drummers), puts out two full length albums and a three song EP , plays tons of shows and finally ends, while simultaneously the Pests reform in September of 2007.

The Pests pick up where they left off years earlier, playing around Nola and releasing the album “We Reserve the Right to be Impolite” and two EPs on vinyl.

DEATH ED. is currently in the studio finishing up an eight song album of all new material.

-Melissa Crory

Tomb Of Nick Cage

Limited Advance Release, E.P., 2017 Independent So if you have been waiting as long as it seems that I have for The Tomb of Nick Cage’s full length album The Pharoah Of New Orleans to come out, you really needed this very limited edition EP. This is also a CD that I had the pleasure to do the last minute design of, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

What we have here are three songs that are not in their final versions but still rock the house. “They Live” is the fastpaced rocker based on the movie by the same name. This song is a crowd pleaser live with fist-raising “HEY” chants and the screams of Kym Trailz “Obey! Reproduce! Consume!

Conform!” setting you off into a frenzy of conspiracy and alien takeover. Get your special Tomb Of Nick Cage glasses to see the truth behind the hidden messages everywhere.

Look for the video of this song on YouTube.

Next we have the traditional show opener for the band “Ballad of Ripley” based on the movie “Aliens.” This song has been a live favorite of mine for a while, and I think it was meant to be part of my everyday life. Ever since I saw “Aliens” back in 1986, I’ve quoted the Newt character saying “They mostly come at night . . . mostly.” Tomb of Nick Cage change it slightly by leaving out the first “mostly,” but nevertheless, it is a delight to shout those words out to a song in the car or at the show.

Finally the Tomb gets a little weird on the heavily dance influenced track “R’lyeh.” I’m told that this song is part of a longer story that the band will talk about later on an upcoming E.P. The thing about this song is that it grows on you. It’s got that dance “Unn Tiss, Unn Tiss” drum beat that might drive you crazy, but then the vocals and guitar parts kick in to something heavier and interesting.

This release is limited to 100 copies and is currently not available on iTunes or anywhere else, this will be a true collector’s item someday.

For more info on the Tomb of Nick Cage check them out at www.facebook.com/thetombofnickcage -Kevin P. Johnson

Keep Flying

Follow Your Nightmares, E.P., 2016 Independent Ska/Pop-Punk from the New Jersey/Philadeplhia/Long Island areas of the Northeast, United States. On “Follow Your Nightmares” you get a taste of that pop-punk sound of the late 1990’s mixed with horns bringing some of the Ska sound back.

The songs on “... Nightmares” brings me back to a time when I was discovering a lot of new music and sounds.

This would have fit in perfectly with the pop-punk I grew to love so much.

Pink Cloud 9 is the opener that starts out fast paced rocker and then breaks down into a bit of that ska sound the band adds to the mix. The song is fun and would fit in with bands like MXPX, and early Brand New. Safety Harbor (the third track) plays up the horns a bit more and the drums and guitars are blazing on this one.

A Pop-Punk anthem for the summer road trip.

The E.P. finishes with its best track: A song of pain and hope of a better life to come. Follow Your Nightmares is the teen angst coming of age song that you latch on to at a time when you think the world is against you.

The disc comes in a digipack and is very nice with beautiful photos and nice design . . . simple but effective.

For more information about Keep Flying go to www. facebook.com/keepflyingband -Kevin P. Johnson

Rude-A-Bagaaa!!!!

Rude-A-Wakening, 2016 Independent

Nine songs in 13 minutes of pure unrelentless hardcore punk rock. The music is fast and the vocals are fast as well, but after a few listens you can start to understand the words, which is a huge plus for me.

This album is great for the ride home from work when you might want to choke a few people, namely the nine second long track that says pretty much everything about this album: Fuck Y’all (All Y’all) a quick little song about letting your anger out.

The songs have a bit of humor as titles and subject matter range from My Nation Is Urination to Revenge Of The Mummy (I’d Like To Fuck). These guys rip through almost all of these nine tracks quickly with only Brewed From The Best Of The Bottom Of The Barrell having a breakdown in the middle of the song. It is the longest at 2:30 long.

The odd song on the album is The Throwback which is a little different where the lyrics are clearly spoken and the song is slower-paced. This song is may be my favorite one on the album.

The final song Boozerker is another fast one. After a slow intro the song and my second favorite. It tricks you into thinking it’s 3:01, but we get about a minute of silence before the “secret” sound of what I guess is thirty seconds of shoveling.

It’s 13 minutes of hardcore punk rock. If you blink you will miss it but if you keep your eyes and ears open you might find a pretty cool CD to let your frustrations out with.

Available on bandcamp at rude-a-bagaaa.bandcamp. com/releases

Okay, I’m going to be completely honest. When it comes to the Mississippi Gulf Coast punk rock scene, I don’t know much about it and I know even less on how this band spells its name. The Facebook page says Rudebega . . . this disc says Rude-A-Bagaaa!!! a show poster says The Rudebagaas, so I’m not really sure.

The disc comes as a CD-R in a nifty self-folded sheet of paper with all of the art and info printed on it. Quite a different approach to packaging and is definitley a cool Find Rude-A-Baga at www.facebook.com/Rudeabaga item to have in the collection.

-Kevin P. Johnson So what’s the music like?

DEATH ED.

Bombflower

If you’ve read the article about the Pests earlier in this issue, well this is the new band they started. DEATH ED. is a four song E.P. that shows the band’s early sound, and it’s a really good sound (but they changed it a bit).

Yeah Ooh starts it out as this huge rocker that is infectious to your ears. You might find yourself singing “Yeah Ooh, Ooh, Ooh!” out loud.

Parked Car is another hard rocking song that will get your head moving and your butt shaking. In a song about a one night stand (in a car), this song does something for the first time ever as far as I know . . . It describes a girl’s skin, “I was young like 23, her skin was white like Clorox Bleach.” This song has a great riff and keeps rocking all the way through. This song has no real chorus aside from “Misty wanted to kiss me, true story” and the story is what makes this a great song.

I Like The Milk . . . ok this is just a funny way to say that these people like to have sex together. “I like the milk, she likes the meat.” another great track on this very well recorded and produced E.P. The E.P. finishes with the most punk sounding song on the disc: “Fun While It Lasted.” is a faster song than the rest and is probably where the current sound of the band is trying to go. This one sounds a little old school . . . I approve.

Bombflower is a lot of things . . . punk, ska, reggae, hip hop and everything else Waukegan, Illinois has to throw at you.

Their style is unique. On Organic Mood Elevators we get everything, and it’s beautiful. The songs on this album sound like ska without the horns, covered in reggae, and plowed over by punk rock . . . and some hip hop for good measure.

The music shows that this band is definately a proponent of marijuana, and they make a point of showing that on a chilled out song “Outsmoked.” I assume “Bombflower” is slang for it as well. (Sonic Boom! has no opinion on that.)

“Your Death” is one of my favorite tracks on the album.

It’s a smooth laid back song that has a sexy danceability to the sound. This song would be great as the backdrop to an opening scene in a vampire movie.

“Commodity Fetish” sets the tone up to a hardcore punk style (yet keeping all the elements mentioned before) that is relentless in its attack. The song breaks down into ska/ raggae parts but it establishes itself as the song the pit is going to explode for from the start and those parts are to just pick up the bodies.

The final track “Jihad Broadcast,” starts out with that jangly ska guitar sound that will have the crowd skanking and dancing around the floor.

Organic Mood Elevators is twelve tracks of uniquely great music that you don’t get to here every day.

DEATH ED., E.P., 2017 Independent

Find out more about DEATH ED. at www.facebook.com/ deathed.nola/ - Kevin P. Johnson

Organic Mood Elevators, 2015 Independent

Find Bombflower at bombflowermusic.bandcamp.com -Kevin P. Johnson

Sharkanoid

Have A Great Summer, 2014 Community Records I came across this album when checking out the Community Records page, and it was probably the happiest pop-punk accident I’ve had since 1998. This is pure pop-punk that doesn’t pretend it’s anything else and I love every second of it.

Does it have songs about girls? Yep. Does it have songs about nerdy stuff? Yep. Does it have songs about nerdy girls who hoard cats?

You better believe it.

Would it be cool to see them play live with Nerf Herder?

Super Yep. This album doesn’t have a bad moment on it for me but the songs about girls really are the best. “Michelle,” is a fast paced song asking the question “Michelle, Michelle, what are you running from?” This is where I got hooked on this album. It’s one of those catchy kind of songs that bands like MXPX and Nerf Herder made famous, but not a rip off.

Next comes “Olivia” another great pop-punk song about a girl that is waiting for the pain in her life to change . . . from the point of view of the guy that might want to change that.

The hits just keep on coming with “Pillow Fight” with it’s chorus “It’s easier to go down hill, but the view from the top is better” I’m ready to make a mix tape with this one on it.

Did I say the best songs were about girls . . . well, “Bradley” is a super fun song about Bradley getting a job and moving up in life “Check it out Bradley did alright for himself he’s got a job . . .”

Wait, there’s another song about a guy “Phillip.” It’s a song that all of a sudden features a female voice and becomes a duet. It’s a breakup song between Phillip and Rebecca and it’s super fun.

The songs on “Have A Great Summer” are wonderful because they all are songs that tell little stories that could have happened to just about any of us and it’s infectious.

My favorite song on the album is “Seriously Sarah” another duet with the girl that played Rebecca on “Phillip.” This is the only song I’ve ever heard about being a cat hoarder and I love it. “Hey Sarah that’s too many cats, they call that hoarding I think you need help, Oh hey Sarah they should eat cat food and not just cereal” “But I’m following my heart, they all need love, I’ve got so much to give and they all need love” . . . hook line and sinker. I fell for this song the best thing I’ve heard in a while. The song goes back and forth between the two about the smell and how she doesn’t do drugs and how she’s all about love . . . I wish I had known about this when it was released.

The album finished with a nice mellow song about life and how it all went wrong . . . “My Life” is a bit of a country sounding almost like a song by The Refreshments and it’s really a great way to wrap up the album.

Get Sharkanoid’s Have A Great Summer album digitally at communityrecords.bandcamp.com/album/have-a-greatsummer -Kevin P. Johnson

Cavaverman

Women, monsters & cazzottis E.P., 2017 Undead Artists Records

Did you ever wonder what punk rock from Monza, Italy sounded like? Well here’s your opportunity . . . but I’ll tell you, they sound just like American punk bands and they sing in perfect English . . . who would have guessed?

The music is horror punk and the E.P. is described as “Vampires, a bionic woman and a lot of cazzottis: a new Cavaverman epic mini adventure!” on their bandcamp.com page.

“Deadly Touch” (featuring Irene Viboras) starts out the E.P., and it is a fast paced punk song that rocks. This one is oldschool straight up punk rock that get’s the energy flowing. Backing vocals by Irene Viboras are a nice touch (not sure if she plays guiar on this one though) and I hope to hear more from her as well as Cavaraman.

“Jaime Sommers” a song about the “Bionic Woman,” is a bit of a slow paced song that almost touches on Rock-abilly yet Goth stylings. This one sounds a little darker and Sal Champion’s voice has that goth punk sound that will make the vampire girls swoon.

The final track on “Women, monsters, & cazzottis” is “King of Cazzottis” I have no idea what a “Cazzotti” is but this is a great sounding song. I’m walking around my apartment singing “King of Cazzottis, King of Cazzottis, King of Cazzottis.” This song is the most radio friendly song on the E.P. as it has a slightly pop-rock sound, and it’s my favorite song on the E.P. This band is on my radar as someone to keep an eye on. They have more releases available on bandcamp so we may get another review soon about these guys.

I got an e-mail asking to review this band called Skully Caps. They don’t have a physical CD release out or anything that I could hold in my hands, all that they have to offer is two singles that they posted on bandcamp.com as separate entities. Lucky for them, it happens to be great New Orleans style 1st Wave Ska-Punk and I loved it.

“Conspiracy Theory” is a great dancable song that will have the crowd skanking in the pit. It talks about the longest bridge over water in the world (The Causeway) and the Pontchartrain Monster in the waters below, we hear about Bigfoot and the Rugaru and the story teller let’s us know “I gotta stop in the gift shop, I gotta stop in the gift shop, I gotta stop in the gift shop man, and buy into this conspiracy.” Complete fun.

“Mother Dumpster” continues the party with more skaflavored dance beats and a really fun sound. This song is so upbeat and fun it almost seems unfair that it is about a homeless person that’s going to lose his place to sleep because the city has to cut the grass. The chorus sounds fun and is very catchy “Like the homeless people under the bridge, you’re gonna get it, Mother Dumpster! Mother Dumpster!” but the underlying message of the song may bring you down . . . nah it sounds too fun.

This is over way to quicklyand I look forward to a full length album hopefully in the very near future.

Cavaraman can be found at cavaverman.bandcamp.com -Kevin P. Johnson

Bombflower

Skully Caps

Conspiracy Theory/Mother Dumpster, Singles, 2017 Independent

Get these two tracks at skullycaps.bandcamp.com -Kevin P. Johnson Sweeteater, 2016 Independent I picked up the newest album from Bombflower “Sweeteater” at the same time as “Organic Mood Elevators” (see previous review) I liked them so much I had to get this review in this issue as well.

“Warp” the opening track is infectious with it’s guitar playing the same riff over and over and before getting stale it turns into a ska-punk dance along but wait not it turns into a hardcore song . . . and then it goes back . . . and back again . . . amazing!

Bombflower stepped it up a bit on this album, and I couldn’t be happier. “Coozehound” is a jangly ska song with rappid paced almost rap vocals from Liza. And this continues straight into “Silent While They Profit” with the addition of co-vocals by I believe guitarist Tic. This band defines cool with drummer Tim and Bassist Jeffdro just making the rhythm so laid back and almost funky on “Song Burst Through The Sky.”

“Sweeteater” is an album that takes you on a musical journey.

It is based in Ska but you get so much more: rap, raggae, hardcore punk and even some politics if you’re into that (“Justice For Some” will give you some for sure).

“Share Your Throne” is one of those 2 Tone Ska songs that feel good and harken back to a time when the classic Specials song “A Message To You Rudy” was released. This band knows its influences and honors them very well.

“Surveillance” is the skanking song that will make the audience move all over the room. It’s a little bit heavy and a lot bit danceable.

“Look Around” is a slow paced haunting song telling a tale of waste and being replaced.

The final track is “Sweeteater” a good old fashioned punk rock shredder that when it’s done you will feel like this album was a complete success.

The CD jumps right into this hardcore band’s “Missing Time” which is what immediatelty puts them for me into that DC Hardcore style made famous by bands like Minor Threat and Fugazi (hopefully these guys will get to have the success of bands like that.)

“Fight” is the band’s battle cry anthem of sort, it’s a fast paced song that the vocals are shouted at the audience with the chant “FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT!” giving you the feeling of belonging to something bigger than the immediate surroundings.

“Stright Jacket” is the song where when I first heard it I immediately thought these guys were DC Hardcore. It has some different style than in your face rock. It’s laid back and angry at the same time. And reminds me of some of the stuff Fugazi did on “Repeater.”

“We The Infamous” has almost a spoken word feel to it with droning guitar that repeats itself over and over Find Bombflower at bombflowermusic.bandcamp.com again to the point that you can feel the anger this band is -Kevin P. Johnson expressing in their music.

As I said, this demo is raw, it’s nowhere near perfect, but The Angry 88 it captures the band for what they are and when they do Live Demo, 2017 record some of these songs professionally I believe they Independent will be a force to be reconed with in the punk scene.

If you are looking for and angry style of punk rock The Angry 88 released an eight song live demo just recently. look no further than Hammond, Louisiana’s own The It is only available on CD-R (no cover art, I just made one Angry 88 “they are angry so you don’t have to be.” for the review) and possibly they have it online by now. AlCheck out the article about them in this issue. though the tracks lack production value and are really raw versions of the songs, the CD captures what the band are To find out more about the Agry 88 go to www.facelive quite well.It’s raw angry punk rock purity from three book.com/theangry88punkrock/ guys that want to make music matter again.

-Kevin P. Johnson

Black Kreole Demo, 2017 Independent

This is LA Hardcore . . . no not L.A. but Louisiana hardcore. I recieved this four song demo as a CD-R with no cover, just BLACK KREOLE written on the disc . . . that’s pretty punk rock, but thankfully they had a bandcamp page up with the song titles and a cover image.

The songs on “Black Kreole” sound like they came from the Los Angeles underground punk scene with fast and furious guitars and drums topped with screming lyrics. The songs have the fury and intensity of something that should be angry but it’s not all that. On the opening track “Outlook” the band is at full force when Craig Delgrandile screams “There is hope, take a look at me, the possibilities are endless, trust me wait and see, this is love, their is hope.” that is the positive message music needs.

The songs are typical to hardcore in length all under three and a half minutes but all really good.

“Anti-Vider” is the most metal sounding song of the four. It’s a slow sludgey sounding song that broods on for a whole minute and twenty-two seconds.

The last track is another hardcore gem “When Hell Chose Me.” . . . it sounds cool but I still haven’t figured out the lyrics on this one ha, ha, ha . . . but that’s hardcore for ya, you can’t win them all. I know there is an F bomb in it and a cool machine gun drum part.

These guys are great and really nice people. Check out the article about them in this issue and find the music on bandcamp at blackkreole.bandcamp.com/releases -Kevin P. Johnson

Mary Bell

Mary Bell LP, 2017 Danger Records/Le Turc Mécanique Mary Bell, is a French band that sing in perfect English and that’s the least you need to know about them. Mary Bell’s second effort simply called “Mary Bell LP” as opposed the “Mary Bell EP” we reviewed last issue is a Riot Grrrl punk classic. This band is on the level of bands like Bikini Kill and The Gits and they should be taking over the speakers of as many stereos as possible.

This isn’t mainstream, and the guys who are tougher than tough won’t like it but it’s raw, energetic and well played punk rock.

The songs are catchy and fast paced. “Please, No” starts it off with a fist pumping and mosh pit enducing yet danceable pop that continues right into “Empty Puppet.”

This music doesn’t quit, so you boys out there better be ready to keep up with the girls, because they mean business.

The songs are short, as punk rock songs should be, so you will need to get your energy up and out in about twenty-eight minutes.

“The Plague” is a dark sounding song that drones over you in a seductive sexy way . . . well for the first minute and then the angry punker girl rears her head and rips yours off.

“Fire Fire” the shortest song on the album may be my favorite. At just over one minute long it is an angry punk song that just rips from beginning to end.

Mary Bell have captured the punk rock mood and style

but are great pop song writers even if the lyrics don’t fit in as such. The music sounds like what pop music should sound like in my head with a touch of wait maybe not that’s a little too wild for the radio.

“Bitmolette” has that otherworldly sound that they played around with a bit on the “Mary Bell EP” that is reminiscent of the Pixies, and it’s a nice edition as the next to last track.

The final track “Not For You” won’t let you forget why you came here, fast paced Riot Grrrl punk rock that will punch you in the mouth and kick your teeth behind the dumpster you’re gonna end up it for pissing off the metal guy in the leather jacket for listenting to angry chick rock.

Get this album now! It’s free on bandcamp.

Mary Bell can be found at marybellftw.bandcamp.com -Kevin P. Johnson

come crashing down from a softer swifter pace, the chord progressions remain uplifting and fun.

Things probably get their heaviest in the final track, a cover of Jane’s Dream’s “I Won’t Stop Wondering Until I Stop Breathing.” The track features abrasive drums, flaring guitars, and Harrison’s angst-fuelled, screaming vocals in all of their guttural glory. At first, it seems like an intense juxtaposition to the rest of the album, but it eventually struck me as being emotionally in tune with the sentiments of Harrison’s other songs.

Harrison takes on some serious topics from start to finish of this short but sweet record, and he does so with continuously rich-sounding instrumentation that constantly flows from one interesting progression to the next. Acoustic guitar work and light drum and bass backing often give songs a unique tone that crosses folk, emo, and punk. Between this distinct sound and the relatable messages of the songs, this is definitely a record worth picking up, especially for the Bonus tracks that come with the CD version of the album.

Get more Farseek at farseek.bandcamp.com -Austen Krantz

Farseek

May, 2017 Independent Cameron Harrison has some brutally honest things to say in this latest album, but he breaks them all down in a beautiful way.

Crisp twangy guitar hooks weave through anthemic vocal croons to soften the blow of Harrison’s darkly humorous snark throughout the whole record. Whether Harrison is laying out misogynist losers in “Jackass” or reflecting on battles with depression in “Just Being,” His music is constantly warm and welcoming to listeners. Even when the guitars grow gritty with heavier distortion, and drums

Tomb Of Nick Cage

The Pharaoh Of New Orleans, 2017 Independent As a personal friend of this band and probably their number one fan. I have been waiting for this album since the day Kym Trailz gave me the “T.O.N.C. E.P.” a week or two before their first show . . . I waited so long, it seemed that I started calling this “Chinese Democray 2.” It really wasn’t that long of a wait. I just wanted it. and I was greedy . . .

but hey I’m the number one fan! NUMBER 1!

So if you read the first review in this isuue of Tomb Of Nick Cage’s, “Limited Advance Release, E.P.,” (that thing is sold out so good luck finding it) you will know it has three songs on it that are all on the new album with the acception of the “Ballad of Ripley” having a new version on the “Pharaoh” album. So with all that being said and without the fact that I am personal friends with the band I’m going to give my honest review.

The album starts out with a brand new song called “Pharoah of New Orleans” this is a dark tale of what I am assuming to be a Vampire that crawls out of the cemetery to wreak havoc on the city. “He’s a vampire, wickerman, vigilante, con-man, Ghost Rider, Super-Man, alcoholic, everyman . . .” wait this is about Nicholas Cage . . . “All Hail The Pharoah, All Hail The Pharoah, All Hail The Pharoah of New Orleans, All Hail The Pharoah, All Hail The Pharoah, All Hail The Pharoah of New Orleans!” This song is kind of heavy punch to start out the album.

The new version of “Ripley” is next and it turned out better with the addition of a new intro . . . this song is fast and furious punk rock joy and it’s all about the movie “Aliens” . . . this is the awesome!

“Obey! Reproduce! Consume! Conform!” the first chorus from “They Live” is so contagious that you will be chanting it as you are at your miserable job not knowing what the alien overlords are doing to you with subliminal messages . . . you’ll need your “inner special glasses, And you’ll see the truth.”

“All From One” is a brand new track that is the heaviest and takes chances that the band hasn’t attempted before.

This song features co-lead vocals by Kym Trails and guitarist Aaron Maguire . . . and holy shit it is so right. I want to push and shove things when I hear this (but I’ll pick them up after). This song rocks so hard and then that crazy guitar solo melts your face off. The bass by Sean Mooney on this song and album is exactly what the man does live and he does it so well. Some think he made a blood pact with a witch queen and gained his powers . . . we don’t know for sure.

“Tub of Blood” is another reworked tune that is doesn’t miss a beat.

“Chalk Marks” was originally released on a split E.P. with Jason and the Kruegers. This version is a bit different with Taylor Suarez’s insane guitars on the song and Edward Joubert’s pounding of the drums makes this great song a lot heavier and adventurous than the original. If you ever want to hear an awesome song about the Howling 5 this is the one for you . . . it’s so good y’all!

The next three tracks are from the debut “T.O.N.C.”

E.P. but have been re-recorded with the full band and they sound so much fuller than the original. On “Wickerman” the drums are bigger and guitar parts that weren’t there before slip in to guide the dancy feel of this song into a punk rock dream. “Vampire’s Kiss” is a little different from it’s original form. The vocals are less raw (and that’s ok,) the intro is now played on guitar and the backing vocals are more masculine and in your face. The song seems like a more mature grown up version and I love them both. “Nightbreed” is a little diffrent and much the same as “Vampire’s Kiss” this song sounds less raw and more mature (which is kind of silly to say about a song based on the movie “Nightbreed.”) It rocks its but off though.

The final song is R’lyeh . . . ohhhh this song is soooooo weird for me. I love the vocals and lyrics are great, but the repetitive dance beat just kills me “Unn Tiss, Unn Tiss” . . . the crazy insane guitar parts are what keep this song together for me, it’s a weird song but it grows on you . . . “Unn Tiss, Unn Tiss.”

Overall this is a great album you’ll want to check it out as soon as possible.

Tomb Of Nick Cage can be found at www.facebook. com/thetombofnickcage -Kevin P. Johnson

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