There’s a new melodic punk/emo band emerging out of Cleveland called see you. Featuring Van DeFilippo (ex-Dead Leaves) and Justin Vaughn (Low Morale), this band’s got a fun style that compares to a younger The Get Up Kids, less sad Saves the Day, and even hint at some Strike Anywhere.
They recently dropped “Doom or Bloom” and I have to tell you all, this is great. The track was recorded with Dave Piatek (No Pressure, Light Years) and is streaming everywhere.
Sometimes a band from your past does the ultimate awesome and puts out new material 14 years after their last release. Chicago’s Bollweevils surprised many, including myself, and dropped an incredible album called Essential on the possible world-famous Red Scare Industires records.
The album title is a strong nod to the actual professions of the members of the band. No lie, aside from Dr. Daryl Wilson (yes, a real doctor who saves lives), there are first responders and educators who make up the Bollweevils.
This band has always resonated with me well because they had a few albums on Dr. Strange Records back in the 90s which I listened to frequently. They called quits in 1996 and came back into the scene around 2006 when they played Riot Fest but kept a low profile and clearly took the time they needed to get back at it without missing a beat.
“Predisposition” kicked things out as if the band never stopped. What a powerhouse of an opener. Wilson and crew sound better than ever and I hate to say this, but I was pleasantly surprised about this. Like I should have even carried that thought.
Following up was “Galt’s Gulch”, a well put together track similarities gravitating towards an Ayn Rand novel. The fact they repeat “who’s John Galt”, which in the novel was about the sad current state of affairs much like today. “Atlas Shrugged” is the book I speak of, and if you ever read it, you’ll understand more.
One of my favorites on this album was “The Cutting Solution”. This track was well supplied with some insane drumming that just kept the energy high. Wilson’s singing was just so on point here.
“Theme” was just that. If the Bollweevils had their own show like the Aquabats do, this would certainly be the song that played at the start. Certainly, this a tongue and cheek track, but goddamn this was so fun.
Then there was “Bottomless Pit”, another banger. The entire band came together so well on this one. Fast and to the point, it was exactly what I would expect from these guys.
The track that just won me over was “Resistance.” In true punk fashion, this track had me wanting to memorize the lyrics so I could play it over and over while singing along. Loved the breakdown as well as the group vocals. It was not a complicated song yet got the job done.
“Liniment and Tonic” should be the old punker anthem moving forward. All the old punkers who are reading this with their arms crossed in the back, this one is for you. Enjoy.
The Bollweevils are timeless in my book. They have definitely put in their time years ago and Essentials has no indication of a break ever with their sound. They are still energetic and catchy as ever. Fair warning though, this album clocks in at just over 22 minutes. I assure you there is no lull in this release and there are plenty of playback opportunities.
As I find myself closer to 50 these days (punk is dad), it is beyond refreshing to hear a band from your teenage years still killing it. In a day and age when most punk rock does not even rest on the edge of the genre, it’s the punk rock veterans who continue to remind me why I adore this kind of music.
Available on CD and LP, the album is out there for you to obsess over. Do not sit on this one. Trust me.
There’s nothing quite like a song that catches you off guard and just has you getting all sorts of emotional. That’s exactly what the new song “Everything To Me” by Teenage Bottlerocket did to me.
As a father of two, this song kicked me right in the feelings and pretty much had me tearing up something good.
Check it out and maybe you’ll feel the same:
Seriously, this Ramones-esque dad rock track was the best goddamn thing I have heard all year. I can not wait until their new album Stay Rad drops later thing month. By the sounds of this song though, they should have called it Stay Dad.
Big changes going on in the personal world of Broken Headphones as of late, so I apologize I have not been around as much.
Wanted to take a minute though and share a music video by Blowfuse. These punkers hail from Barcelona, Catalunya and really reminded me of the 90s punk rock I grew up with.
They have a new album coming out titled Daily Ritual in a couple of weeks on Paper & Plastick. After hearing “Angry John”, I am pretty stoked to hear the rest of the album.
[It’s been a while since one of my pals has guest blogged on this here ol’ site, but when Frank reached out to me recently with something he wrote asking me to check it out, I just had to share it. Great read by a great dude. – Brian]
As we gingerly step into 2018, our world has become consumed by politics. Our news are politics, our “Funny-Shows” are politics, our comedians are politics, and with all of this, our world has become a house divided. Before all this though, there was an even greater divide happening in a much more important arena, the music arena.
Over the past five years, rock ‘n roll has been the passenger on a downward trend, taking it further and further from the main-stream, and closer to obscurity. Some would debate that the greatest reason for this is the general malaise and declining quality of the rock ‘n roll form, while others place their bets behind the “Only Big Enough for One of Us” philosophy regarding the rap vs. rock debate. Despite all the bluster and hot air one thing is quite factual, that as of last year, it is documented that hip hop has taken over the head of the pack in the music world.
With this seismic change in the musical landscape, artists that should have been on the fast track to super-stardom and all that entails have been pushed down into what was characteristically deemed the “independent” group. Artists that should get the elusive radio play and playing to thousands of people at a time are lucky to get on college radio and play the back rooms of the established venues. Those that should be in the limelight, have transitioned into unknown or the tombstone title of “niche”.
One artist that doesn’t belong in any of these secondary groups, one artists who stands on musical talent rather than glitz and bling, the most underrated artist in recent memory is The White Buffalo.
The White Buffalo, aka Jake Smith, can undoubtedly be placed at the top of the list of underrated artists in the shrinking rock genre of today’s musical society. With vocals that range from haunting, as heard in “The Whistler” and “Come Join the Murder”, and travel up the spectrum to romantic, spotlighted in “Love Song #1” and “Come On Love Come On In”, all the way to a tone that could be called soulful and introspective, divinely illustrated in “Oh Darlin’ What Have I Done”, or upbeat, like “Avalon”.
Smith’s music cannot be classified and gently placed into a nice tight fitting box. It can go from straight rock ‘n roll to a little bit of twang, from bordering country to in your face melodic yelling. And maybe there’s the rub – because with the push he’s gotten, it doesn’t make sense that he’s being pushed down into the lands of obscurity.
Case in point, ask the average, run of the mill, rock ‘n roll fan, what is the most popular show that they have watched in the last 10 years, that they still watch on Netflix, the show that had one of the best soundtracks ever, that they owned the t-shirts, the hoodies, the hats, and the merch, that they watched or recorded or DVRed EVERY TIME IT WAS ON TELEVISION, and most of them will say the same thing: Sons of Anarchy. And this juggernaut of a show, Sons of Anarchy, was the first introduction for the White Buffalo to the masses.
Smith’s music accompanied some of the most disturbing, some of the most poignant, some of the most influential, and some of the most powerful scenes of the entire show. When Clay gets his back tattoo blacked out in shame, enter “The Whistler”, or when Tara, Jax’s wife realizes her negative transformation and pulls a gun on Jax and then leaves him, scored by “Oh Darlin’ What Have I Done”, or arguably the most powerful moment of the show, when Jax rides his bike to certain doom in the series finale, there was only one song that could properly usher this show out and push the main character off of this mortal coil properly, and it was “Come Join the Murder” by the White Buffalo.
Smith had a spotlight shone on him from one of the most heavily watched shows of the decade, his music led in scenes that there was no going back from, and his music was the prototype for the entire soundtrack, and yet for some reason he is not shining his Grammys or counting his movie credits. And there is no reason for that. Other than the fact that he has been criminally underrated by the powers that be in the music industry, and this fact is in fact, a crime.
Since his contributions to SOA, he has not rested on his laurels, nor has he let the show define him. He has put together three stellar albums: Shadows, Greys, and Evil Ways, Love and the Death of Damnation, and most recently Darkest Darks, Lightest Lights, which illustrates his stunning mix of the rock ‘n roll, deep, deep blues, and outlaw country.
Smith continues to prove that he is actually the preeminent musical story-teller in music today. The White Buffalo’s music gives listeners a constant reminder that although one might look brash and gruff on the outside, the inside can be a cauldron of emotions and feelings and thoughts and ideas. Every album is a different trip to a different place, exploring different roads to get to the destination.
The masses are missing some of the greatest rock ‘n roll that has ever been produced, and what is ever more disappointing than that fact, is that they don’t even know it. The White Buffalo entrusts personal stories to the listener, that many people could relate to and enjoy. The White Buffalo is the everyman, with a badass growl, a tender soul. He’s someone you’d have a beer with anytime and the most underrated rock ‘n roll musician in recent history.
Seek him out, watch him, listen to him, go to his concerts – just do yourself a favor and enjoy his work.
