Tag Archives: 7″

Bluegrass, Music, Music News, New Release, Pop, Punk, Review

7″ Review: Old Man Markley – Stupid Today

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Old Man Markley - Stupid TodayI am sure I am not the first to say how much I enjoy it when Old Man Markley (OMM) decides to cover a song.

There’s just something so great about OMM throwing down their own bluegrass/punk rock style into a song.

Case in point, the OMM is dropping a 7″ next week called Stupid Today and the B side is a cover of NOFX’s “Reeko”, a track on the infamous Punk In Drublic.  Can I tell y’all how awesome this cover is?

It’s awesome folks.

I especially appreciated the cover that was hidden inside the cover with a quick spoken word-type  rendition of “Perfect Government”.  That is correct, I said a cover within a cover.   OMM is clearly a bigger fan of NOFX than you think.

The title track on side A, “Stupid Today”, revolves all around the ups and downs of being in love.  It’s a punk rock ho down with plenty of opportunity to swing your partner or knock them down.  I loved the harmonies throughout as much as the quick-plucking of the banjo and fiddle playing.  It’s safe to say this song just adds further proof why they are so damn amazing.

Head on over to the Fat Wreck site and pre-order yourself a copy of Stupid Today.

Old Man Markley

Music, Music News, New Release, Pop, Punk, Review, Rock, Vinyl

7″ Review (of sorts): Teenage Bottlerocket – American Deutsch Bag

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Teenage Bottlerocket - American Deutsch BagJust in time for the holidays, your favorite pop-punk band Teenage Bottlerocket has announced an upcoming 7″ titled American Deutsch Bag”.  

Featuring tracks like “Ich bin Auslander und Spreche Nicht Gut Deutsch” and “I’m the One Smoking Marijuana Motherfucker”, this album is sure to be a family favorite.  At just under 4 minutes long, I think it is safe to say that TBR have put together a masterpiece.

Actually, the songs have nothing to do with the holidays, but everything to do with Germany.  Well, sort of.  The band, after falling in love with Germany, decided to pay their own homage in a humorous way.   I know I enjoyed their new tracks.

The band also threw on their appropriate cover of the late Tony Sly’s “Via Munich”.  This is the same track found on the Tony Sly tribute that dropped just last month.

TBR’s very own Ray had this to say about the idea of the German friendly tunes:

On Teenage Bottlerocket’s last tour in Europe, we made friends with a dude in a Lethal Weapon 2 hat. We referred to him as a Deutsch bag. He was a good sport and found the insult endearing. I’ve always loved Germany. I took German in high school and we sang alot of songs. One of the songs was entitled “Ich bin Auslander und Spreche Nicht Gut Deutsch”. This is roughly translated “I’m not from here and my German sucks”. We decided to make it a pop punk song. If I screw up any of the pronunciation it’s because my German sucks, it’s a pretty good excuse to fuck up the words. We also included a new song about smoking reefer and a song by our dear friend Tony Sly called “Via Munich”. We recorded the 7″ at the Blasting Room with Andrew Berlin. Everything seemed to fall into place. The 7″ will be available on our upcoming European tour with VOLBEAT and ICED EARTH. Guten tag.

Wait.  Did Ray just say they were touring with Volbeat and Iced Earth in Europe?  Bad ass.

American Deutsch Bag drops on November 27th, but you can preorder a copy over at Fat Wreck Chords right now.

Folk, Music, New Release, Review, Vinyl

7″ Review: Emily Barker & The Red Clay Halo – Fields Of June Featuring Frank Turner

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There is nothing in the world quite as mysterious as a relationship.  From the start until the end, however it may conclude, we have all been there.  There are easily a million songs that have been written over time  about relationships and love.  Some are positive tunes that end happily ever after, and then there are the ones that are straight up depressing with no light in the future for a resolution.  We all know these songs, and honestly almost all of them were written because of love and heartache.

Emily Barker & The Red Clay Halo may have written one of the sadder love songs I have heard in my time in regards to the departure of love.  The chamber-folk song, “Fields Of June”, is just depressing as hell.  Considered a murder ballet duet by Barker, it actually was written back in 2007.  The song became even more poignant once the song was re-recorded and the male vocal duties were taken over by a good friend of Barker’s, Frank Turner.   The original duet is nothing compared to the re-released single on Xtra Mile Recordings.  Barker and Turner are perfect in trading verses, no matter how run down they may be.

To make things even more melancholy, the two made a music video, or should I say filmed a silent movie, to accompany said track.  The result is a clip I have watched over and over now.  It hits the heart hard and can cause a laugh or two as well.  Turner has proved quite the performer in the video.

Barker and Turner make for one hell of a duet act on “Fields Of June”,  and it would only make perfect sense that collaborate again in the future.

The song is available for download on iTunes as well as was released on a white 7″ in the UK with another Emily Barker & The Red Clay Halo track “Nostalgia” that came from their album Despite The Snow.  The second track may not have been infectious to me as the first, but was really an amazing listen.

After hearing both songs, I must say I am really interested in hearing more of this chamber-folk that Barker and company creates.

Check out the video below for “Fields Of June” featuring Frank Turner:

Music, Music News, Pop, Punk, Rock

Ex-Suicide Machines Frontman Jay Navarro Continues With Break Anchor

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I used to love the Suicide Machines and I am sure a lot of you out there did too.  I was stoked to learn today that Jay Navarro has decided to try his luck at a new band called Break Anchor.  Sure, the Suicide Machines have played a couple of shows here and there since their 2006 break-up, but nothing has been released and there really have not been any talks about new material.

Break Anchor is straight up blue collar punk rock out of Detroit.  I’ve only heard one song so far and am really looking forward to their debut.

Streaming on AOL Spinner is the song I speak of, “A Failure of Epic Proportions.” The song will be featured on Break Anchor’s first release, a three-track, 7” vinyl EP called Blackhearts and Blackouts.  I need me a copy of this in my collection.  The artwork alone is killer!

Navarro had this to say about why he started a new band as well as what happened with the Suicide Machines.

“People don’t really know the whole story of the end of the Suicide Machines…in short, I had decided to either to call it quits or just play shows once and awhile. I wanted to get a job and raise my children.”

“Things just ended up badly between Dan and myself. Six years have passed since then. A job with medical insurance and a 401k, not a ton of money but steady scraping by. The American Dream, right? It’s a brutal job working in a 10 below freezer, lifting heavy ass cases 60 hours a week. I come home tired and sore as fuck like most blue collar people. My high school education doesn’t qualify me for much. But then again I work with plenty of guys with college degrees and amazing credentials who can’t score a job. Now they can’t pay back their student loans and many of my friends and their families have lost their homes to banks. Some are just squatting till the police kick them and their children out. Michigan is at its worst. Like many, i’m so tired when I come home from work I want nothing to do with my wife or kids. Which was the whole reason I quit touring in the first place. I’m so sore I can’t sleep, so I drink and pop pills. I wake up in pain. I’ve watched, as i’m sure many of you have, the corporations rule and control the world…our system has completely failed us. I feel I have failed my kids, my wife, and myself. I have failed all those who have believed in me. American Dream? This isn’t living. So one drunken, frustrating night I wrote this song. It’s not a song about feeling sorry for myself or anyone, and it’s not an apology. It’s just me saying, ‘You know what world?….with my last dying breath, I will spit Hell at thee.'”

Look for the 7″ release by Break Anchor to drop March 20th on Paper + Plastick Records.

Acoustic, Music, New Release, Pop, Punk, Review, Rock, Vinyl

7″ Vinyl Review: Roll The Tanks – Goodnight Jimmy Lee

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If it looks like cake and smells like cake, it must be cake right?  Not in this case.  This cake-looking and smelling thing I speak of is the birthday cake scratch n’ sniff 7″  titled Goodnight Jimmy Lee by LA rock act Roll The Tanks.  The two song 7″ was released on Sabot Productions in early October.

The threesome, who have toured already with Against Me!, have have sparked the interest in many and not just because they recruited Mighty Mighty Bosstones’ Joe Sirois to play drums.  They have rubbed elbows with the right people and played their asses off making sure the world noticed them.  Their determination and hard work has paid off as the band will be dropping a full length debut titled Broke Til Midnight.

Title track “Goodnight Jimmy Lee” is a catchy-sounding yet brutally honest tribute written about the late Jimmie Lee a.k.a. Jay Reatard.   “Now he’s gone and I’m no Jimmy Lee” bounces over catchy guitar playing that screams 90s alternative rock.  As fun as the song is, the deeper meaning pays homage to an artist who left this world far too early in his career.  The b-side, “Pistolero”, is a cross between that twangy country rock all the kids seem to be getting into these days with indie rock of the 90s.  The acoustic-driven song almost carries a nice Fake Problems feel, but far more upbeat.

I am looking forward to hear what Roll The Tanks can dish out on their debut.  Until then I have the feeling I will be listening to these songs on a regular basis as well as scratching and sniffing the cover smelling the goodness that is birthday cake.  Did I mention that the cover smells like cake?  Yes, I may be a little excited about this.