I came across an artist the other day named Dallas Green who has a solo project he calls City and Colour. The thing is, I have heard the voice before but could not pinpoint where… After a minute of research I was amazed to find out that Dallas Green is also the lead vocalist for the post-hardcore act Alexisonfire.
Crazy. I am so out of the loop.
I admit it. I am not hip to everything so you can imagine how I felt considering I am a fan of Alexisonfire…a fan that does not necessarily know all the band members by name.
It seems that all of these punk rock / hardcore artists are doing solo albums lately and it appears it might be the new “in” thing to do, but before I continue I need to state that Dallas Green has been doing his solo project for a few years now. Also “in” or not if an artist can pull off an amazing solo album, more power to them.
I have yet to check out the entire album called Bring Me Your Love as well as the rest of Dallas Green’s solo catalog. Funny thing is that I have seen this CD before on the shelf but didn’t even give it a chance. Looks like I was the one missing out. If you like meaningful folk rock material you should check out this CD like I intend to do so…
This site is awesome if you are a fan of the history of the Cleveland punk rock music scene:
I just spent about an hour on this site reading about long lost venues, old punk rock bands, personal stores from random punkers from back in the day. Very interesting read and worth checking out.
One of my buddies sent me an email the other day asking for me to give him a name of a band that he might have overlooked in the past. Between him and I we have always appreciated all types of good music, punk being the favored. He was looking for something to listen to, something good and I knew the perfect band for him to check out, the problem was I could not remember the name of the band for the life of me.
Am I really getting that old that I can not remember the name of a band? In my defense there is tons of music out there for your listening pleasure…
Well I did remember the CD had a blue cover. That is a start. Not a good start, but it was something.
All last night I thought good and hard what the hell this band name could be. I kept thinking the band was called Bender or Bekker but nothing would come up when I searched online. I eventually just gave up and went to bed.
This morning I woke up with a record label stuck in my head. The label was aimed towards the punk rock bands and was called Hopeless Records. One thing led to another and soon I was on the Hopeless Records website and was searching for the catalog of CDs. I was not expecting to find anything on the site but suddenly my eyes focused on a blue covered album. Just when I was about to give up I found what I was looking for.
So Kevin, this is the band I was trying to tell you about and if you have already heard of them you should check them out again for the sake of me stressing out trying to figure it out.
Heckle was a east coast hardcore/punk rock band from New Jersey formed in the mid-nineties. The bands first release was a split release with their friend’s band called AFI. They released their first full length under the now defunct Wingnut Records in 1996 and not even a year later were picked up by Hopeless Records and released their second and final CD called Complicated Futility of Ignorance.
The thing I loved about this band is that they sounded like all of the SoCal punk rock I was getting into at the time. One of my friends told me to buy it randomly one day and I was glad I did. It more more melodic punk rock over a hardcore feel and was just easy to get hooked on. It was perfect for a guy like me who was addicted to Face To Face and Bad Religion.
I have to say I am stoked my friend asked me to find him a band to listen to otherwise I may not have found Heckle again. They were one of those bands that disappeared unknowingly from my music collection but will once again be reunited into regular play.
I was unable to find any videos for your entertainment but if you want to hear more about this band you can check out the following links:
While checking out Punknews.org this evening I could not help but get excited for the Van’s 2009 Warped Tour. The successful punk rock festival created by Kevin Lyman looks to be getting back to it’s punk roots this year. This will mark the 15th year the festival has been running.
Can you say awesome? WIth Bad Religion, Flogging Molly, NOFX, and Shooter Jennings listed I am going to be there for sure. In fact I may try to hit the Cleveland and Columbus shows… maybe even Pittsburgh!
I have has the pleasure of reviewing and photographing the Warped Tour in 2007 and 2008. I hope again to be able to cover the festival as each year is all so entertaining.
Something that got my attention too was the announcement by Kevin Lyman on NotMTV.tv that there would be some changes at the next installment of the Warped Tour including 40 minute sets, less stages with only one major stage, and ticket prices staying hopefully around the same price. By the looks of the line up too it looks as if he is making a point to actually have a more punk oriented festival in 2009..
Here is an interview with the creator of the longest running festival ever thanks to NotMTV.tv:
