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New compilation: Invading The Border (Faster And Louder Records/This Is Just A Record Label)

By / / Punk / Leave a Comment

Punkrock is in a pretty good place in 2023. Both in quantity and quality, there are loads of acts worth discovering. If you are looking for a quick way to check out 30 bands, Invading The Border is here for you. The compilation features 15 US bands and 15 Canadian bands, with Team USA taking the even numbers and Team Canada the odd ones. It’s a co-release by two labels with names that are selfexplanatory: Faster and Louder and This Is Just A Record Label. Zero fuss, zero pretension, max fun!

The thirty bands on Invading The Border operate in the same sonic multiverse, but plenty of punk subgenres are touched upon. Only a small portion have been featured on this site before, like Vista Blue, Ann Beretta, and Dave Strong. That leaves plenty of room to scratch that itch for new punkrock.

Streaming now on Bandcamp, CD expected September 1st.




Add to wantlist: Bandcamp || Bandcamp (Faster and Louder)

New album: The Kimberley Steaks || Big Noise

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The Kimberley Steaks have been around for over 15 years, but I must admit that I am fairly new to the band. It’s a shame really, because The Kimberley Steaks are a mighty fine pop punk band. They raise questions you never knew you had, like what the heck are Kimberley Steaks? Did Jawbreaker share some of their DNA while touring Scotland? And, how would Billie Joe Armstrong sound if he was born and raised in Glasgow? Well, the band’s excellent new LP Big Noise definitely answers one of these questions. What sticks out most though, is that this record is a blast front-to-back. Big Noise is a high five to ’90s pop punk and melodic punk rock as well as a welcoming hand to a new generation.




LP should be available sooner of later through Brassneck (UK) and Bloated Kat Records (USA).

Add to wantlist: Bandcamp

New EP: Gizmo || Buddy System

By / / Indie Rock, Power Pop / Leave a Comment

Gizmo are a four-piece indie outfit from Charlottetown (Prince Edward Island) that crashed into my bands-to-watchlist like a comet with their debut EP. On the four-song Buddy System EP, the band utilizes a winning combo of slacker vibes, crunchy power pop guitars, and ’90s alt pop sensibility all reeled in with razor sharp hooks. Fans of Fountains of Wayne, LVL UP, and 2nd Grade should take note.

Warning: some of the choruses are sticky like gum. Prisoner Functionary ah-ah. Prisoner Functionary ah-ah!



Add to wantlist: Bandcamp

New EP: Half Catholic || Art In Heaven

By / / Indie Rock, Power Pop / Leave a Comment

Half Catholic won half the battle by using the tag “power pop adjacent,” and describing themselves as a “friendly neighborhood guitar pop group from Northern Illinois.” Naming their new EP Art In Heaven and hiring Joe Tallman to create the amazing artwork did not hurt either – it made our favorite cover art of 2023 easily. To be fair, the five songs on Art In Heaven are pretty good as well. Heavenly guitar pop indeed. Amen. CD out now at Mostly Annoyed Records.



Add to wantlist: Bandcamp

New album: Diners || DOMINO

By / / Power Pop / Leave a Comment

Make a list of everything you desire in a Summer record and there is a good chance you will find it in Diners’ new LP DOMINO. Good pace? Upbeat? Classic pop melodies? Abundant hooks? Check, check, check, check!

While stylistic changes usually make me fall out of love with bands, with Diners it is the exact opposite. In all honesty, previous releases by Diners never made the cut, but DOMINO is right up my wheelhouse. How’s that possible? I found part of the explanation in an interview at the highly recommended powerpop substack Remember The Lighning. There, Blue Broderick, the human being behind Diners explains: “My baseline inspiration for Diners is always Paul McCartney, Brian Wilson, and Dear Nora. But this time around I was much more focused on The Nerves, Tony Molina, Apples In Stereo, Fountains of Wayne, Chris Weisman, and The dB’s.” Excellent picks to draw influence from, but ultimately it depends on what you create, and clearly Blue Broderick is in top form on the record. Add Mo Troper, who is a frontrunner in the modern power pop ressurgence, to the mix as a producer and you get total synergy. Together, they have created a gem of a record proving that there is always room for new great pop songs.



DOMINO is out now on Bar None Records.

Add to wantlist: Bandcamp

New album: Big Bliss || Vital Return

By / / Indie Rock / Leave a Comment

Big Bliss are a band of brothers (Cory and Tim Race, and brother from a different mother Wallace May) from Brooklyn. Their new LP is called Vital Return, and it is out today through Good Eye Records. The sound of Big Bliss is radio friendly and has elements of classic indie rock with a touch of new wave and post punk. On Vital Beturn, Big Bliss sound huge for a three-piece, and the layered instrumentation is a major strength of the band. The production by Jonathan Schenke (Parquet Courts, The Drums, Liars) makes Big Bliss sound clean and bright yet powerful. The passionate voice of Tim Race is another strength, and his voice and vocal melodies somehow reminds me of Eddie Vedder, albeit a more intelligible version. He gives the music and emotional spark and heft. A bit left of center of what I usually listen to, but there is just something about this one that gets under my skin.

Vital Return is out now on LP at Good Eye Records
Add to wantlist: Bandcamp

New album: The 1981 || Move On

By / / Indie Pop, Power Pop / 1 Comment

Dandy Boy Records is constantly on my radar. The label releases some of the finest bands in indie pop and power pop. Just type in Dandy Boy in the search bar of our site and you’ll find some of our personal favorites. It’s one thing the label’s head honcho Bobby Martinez has a talent for scouting, organizing and bringing excellent music out of the underground into the airwaves, it’s another to selfcreate music that is worth an audience. And yet, that’s another trick up his sleeve. Martinez previously did exactly that with Circuits and currently plays in The 1981 with his Circuits buddy Adam Widener, another scene veteran who you may know by his solo stuff or his work with Plexi 3, The Jet Set, Pure Material and The Zygoteens.

Today, the duo release their debut LP Move On, which follows several singles and EPs. In fact, the LP includes several songs that were flying around in past years like the particularly fine Mona Lisa and Nelson’s Camera. Those two songs alone tell you that this is not a vanity project, but a project of skill, labor and love. Move On is a pleasant and warm record with a nice ebb and flow to it. While it can be enjoyed on a song-by-song basis, it offers an extra layer of telling the (fictional)story of a relationship falling apart – a theme that has always been fuel for memorable power pop records. There definitely are melancholy undertones simmering, and listening to the record invites your mind to wander, making Move On a perfect record for your next commute or aimless beach stroll at sunset.


Move On is out now on Dandy Boy Records.
Add to wantlist: Bandcamp || Discogs

New EP: Devon Milley || Big Shot

By / / Garage Rock, Punk / Leave a Comment

Devon Milley has always been explicit about his love for Jeff Burke (Marked Men, Radioactivity). Milley’s new solo EP is definitely build on a Burke foundation, especially the first Radioactivity record. It has that similar infectious highly energetic, highly melodic straightforward charm that Jeff Burke makes sound effortless. I’m talking about Burke’s sheer talent that infatuates fellow musicians and also drives them green with envy. Which Doctor and So Close are probably the closest Milley comes to transitioning to Jeff Burke. Naturally, the Big Shot EP has a foundation that goes deeper than Burke worship. It has a garage-y ramshackle charm, a bit of Joey Ramone, some Terry Malts, some old school rock’n’roll oohs and ahs for added fun. The chorus of the eponymous track has an irresistible combination of a super catchy guitar lick, two word lyrics (Big Shot!) and high pitched woohooo. After this strong start, Milley hits hard and often on the six-song EP.

Devon Milley does about everything on the Big Shot EP with only the technicalities outsourced to JJ Samson (recording and mixing) and Greg Obis (mastering), and the artwork to his young daughter Karmen. Great job by all parties involved!




Add to wantlist: Bandcamp

New album: Noise Violations x sprgrs || PAINSCALE 004

By / / Punk / 1 Comment

Painscale Records is a cassette label operating out of Newcastle (Australia) that rocks out crosscontinentally. Their ongoing PAINSCALE series connects an Australian band with a band from a different country. Installment #4 features Melbourne punks Noise Violations and sprgrs out of Granada (Spain). Noise Violations fill Side A with twelve truly exciting punk slabs. The average Noise Violations track is around 60 seconds short, but packed with intensity. The recordings are the definition of lo-fi, but underneath the noise and hiss, the strong sense of melody of Noise Violations shines through. On Side B, sprgrs invite you into a mutant punk world that is playful and full of easter eggs, weirdness and deviation. This split tape comes highly recommended.




Add to wantlist: Bandcamp

New album: The Vapids || Revenge Therapy

By / / Punk / Leave a Comment

If you still need proof why The Vapids have been synonymous with punkrock goodness over the span of their career, look no further than their new LP Revenge Therapy. The Canadian quartet of Jimmy Vapid (James Reed), Matt Ellis, Eric Felgner and Scott Johnston sound like a particularly tight unit on the record, bashing out ramonescore blasts with an urgency that is commendable for a band that started out 30 (!) years ago. To be fair, there’s been streches of silence in those three decades. I mean, their last record was released in 2016, and the one before in 2007. But I’ll take quality over quantity anyday. Revenge Therapy is The Vapids at its hungriest and most inspired. This one rocks!




Add to wantlist: Bandcamp || Discogs

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