Another Old School Pic: Duane Peters

No matter what happens in this world, there will only be *one* Duane Peters. An old school skater and punk rocker extraordinaire, how can you not love this guy!? Still making music, still skating (instead of sitting with his slippers on reading the sports pages like so many other punk 'legends'). So crank up Back to the Laundromat and let it rip!

pic taken from http://10thingszine.blogspot.com/

Hardcore Personalities - Andy Roy

Now we all know from our experience that punk rock and bad behavior go hand in hand; we also know that skateboarding and bad behavior also go together very well. But there is nothing more troublesome than a true, OG punk rock skater. Andy Roy is a testament to that, an anti-hero who has proved times and times again that the altars of madness and recklessness are situated in those two little things we all love.

Every punk kid should know who Andy Roy is; every skater should have at least some respect for punk rock (unlike many newbies I know, heh!). These are just two cultures that evolved together. Check out the following random excerpts from an interview with Jay Adams for Juice Magazine:

ON GROWING UP

I grew up with punk rock and drinking and causing trouble and going on roadtrips. I was getting in fights and trying to get black eyes and getting my teeth knocked out.

ON CLEANING UP IN PRISON

There are more drugs in prison than there is on the streets, but it's a little bit more expensive, and I didn't want to hold myself like that. I was seeing people getting stabbed over it. It could get you in big trouble if you don't pay what you owe someone. I just didn't want to do that.

ON GETTING MARRIED

Jay Adams: That's the first time you've ever made your dad cry for joy, huh?

Andy Roy: [Laughs.] Yeah, that was the very first time.

Jack Terricloth (World/Inferno Friendship Society) Speaks on TYS!

Hey everybody, my name is Jack Terricloth. I sing and am occasionally forced to play various  instruments in the popular World/Inferno Friendship Society, a gang of musical girls and boys (mostly girls at the moment actually) from Brooklyn NY! I’m here today to answer questions posed from someone I’ve never met from somewhere I’ve never been; Greece! Let’s see what he wants to know!

- Can you tell us a few things about the recording of the new album “The Anarchy and The Ecstasy”?

Sure my friendly unknown interlocutor!  We Recorded our 13th offering here in Brooklyn at Vibromonk Studios with producer Dan Shatzky who is well known for his work with many well known or at least well regarded acts, many of whom straddle the world music/rock line.  I’d list them for you but I really don’t like other bands.  They muddy up the market share and steal my musicians.  Plus I don’t want you to think that I think you are a lazy journalist and wouldn’t Google the man yourself such is my respect for your profession.  For any of our shared listeners in the know- it is also the same studio we recorded our 2^nd album ‘Just the Best Party’ ten years ago.

- What are your main musical influences?

The desire to swing, swing freely and quickly, with really loud drums and a piano skiing down a high alpine slope, with a horn section on top of the piano, chasing a remarkably good looking pair of singers who are holding hands and kicking 2 electric guitars in front of them, and the guitars are feeding back . . .

- What is special about the new album so that people have to hear it?

Ok if that’s not enough, it’s a really talented drummer, a baby grand piano, it’s the Matterhorn, the horn section are all people you would know if you googled them, the two singers are making out and I stole the guitars.

- How would you describe your sound?

YOU WOULD LIKE IT!

- You incorporate a lot of anarchy talk into WIFS.

I just gotta be me.

- What does anarchy mean to you today?

That it’s Sunday and I’m drinking in a bar doing an interview.

- And how does it translate into everyday life in the big city (or elsewhere)?

Oh that. OK, that you examine your situation, decide what is the fairest thing to do for yourself, your community that will cause the least amount of hurt or sorrow then act on it. To not be constrained by so called common sense. Believe the impossible can come true. Never give up the joke, never fall down the stairs.  Give a Hobo a quarter if you have one.

- How is working with Chunskaah?

Working with Chunksaah is like going to a Bad Brains show with the sexy substitute teacher when you are 17 and all your friends seeing you at the show with her.

- What business advice do you have to give to kids trying to become musicians on their own terms?

Don’t wait! Don’t wait for a label or a manager or anyone to tell you are good! Get your stuff out there anyway you can! No one is going to do it for you and most people will want to stop you.  Also, there is no point starting if you don’t love the whole process- touring, recording, rehearsing.  If you want to make money it would probably take less effort to become a dentist.

- Do you tour a lot?

We tour about 6 months a year, though we did take last year off to record “The Anarchy and The Ecstasy”.  We are back on the tour cycle right now.

- What are the things you hate / love about touring?

I love touring.  It is where I get to do everyday the thing I excel at.  I don’t even mind the bus- at least I’m suffering for a purpose.  ‘We share everything’ a friend of mine once wrote me about a tour she was on, ‘the sickness, the filth and the drugs’. It is like being in the perfect army in a just and kind war.

- Do you have any plans for touring Europe at any point?

Yes we do, middle of July through end of August.  www.worldinferno.com do not think we are getting to Greece sadly but there is still time.  How you guys doing over there anyway? Heard a lot about riots over in the states.

- What are your creative plans individually and musically for the remaining of 2011?

Like I said, on tour forever.  Doing some solo shows during the brief period we are home.  Not losing my apartment would be cool-you’d be surprised how creative I need to get about that. In my negligible free time I’m working on a second novel (yes, I wrote a first one. Why not look at www.jackterricloth.net ?)

- What is the message you are trying to convey with your career as an artist?

Act on impulse, don’t be cowed, don’t quit.

- I would like for you to choose a topic that you feel strongly about and tell us a few things about it. It can be music, scene, social or whatever else related! Thanks for the interview and like we said, the last words are yours.

I don’t mean this to be a cop out but you choose the topic when you invited me to talk about The World/Inferno Friendship Society. Thank you for the interest and the opportunity.

----------------------------

A note from the editor: Thanks to Talia for this interview, thanks to Jack for his time and awesome answers, thanks to you for reading this. Pics stolen from all over the web, if you happen to be the owner and want your name mentioned or something, then let us know! You can check the TYS review for WIFS's latest album here.

S.O.A. - No Policy EP

What can be said about a band like S.O.A. (System of Alert)? These guys pretty much created the old school hardcore sound that  kids still listen to and bands still copy to this day. They were only around from 1980 to 1981 but they managed to put out this gem of no frills, raging punk music. This band had a young Henry Rollins on vocals (known as Henry Garfield, before he joined Black Flag) and this sounds so pissed off and it's so fast that it's just perfect! This is real fucking hardcore!

I just believe this e.p. (hear all of it below) is so utterly important and influential for hardcore that everyone should listen to. It is what straight edge kids call "crucial", it is like hardcore punk's "Number of the Beast" or something and you should definitely check it out if this record has escaped you. When people talk about Negative Approach and Agnostic Front as early hardcore influences they don't realize it's S.O.A. who influenced these bands in the first place! Fast songs, gruff vocals, razor sharp guitars, filled with anger against drugs, against society, against everyone! Enjoy this this piece of hardcore history!

DINOSAUR JR - New Stuff ('Over It' Video)

Ahhh... Sweet Dinosaur Jr reunion. This is one of the few cases that I am actually happy to see an old band reunite. Cause Dinosaur Jr and J Mascis (vocals/guitar) are no ordinary case. This uncounsiously eccentric band, which started as an obscure hardcore outfit evolved into one of the biggest alternative rock bands (though they're still punk rock to me) of our times. They have the perfect melodies that stick in your head, they have years upon years of history on their back, they have the long-haired straight edge weirdo frontman; what else do you want? Dinosaur Jr along with Husker Du must be the two most underrated albeit influential bands in mid tempo, mellow punk rock music. Dig!

This is such a cool video... The skateboarding and bmx thing is obviously a joke! A parody of the punk loves skateboarding story, so predictable and common in punk. And the song is simply awesome. Enjoy Dinosaur Jr coolness!!!

p.s. Dedicated to Luke.

WISE WORDS BY PAUL RODRIGUEZ

To those unfamiliar with skateboarding, Paul Rodriguez is an awesome pro skater from the US. We chose to feature him on this blog cause he is down with positive thinking and this seems to create big results for him at skate competitions or elsewehere! Rodriguez is just another example which shows that skills combined with positive energy can get you anywhere you want in this world. Enjoy and take to heart some wise words by the man himself from a recent interview!!

• "If you wanna win, you have to be able to give yourself the chance to believe that you can win."

• "I always come to contests attempting to win. Otherwise I wouldn’t bother coming."

• "I’m not gonna just go to a contest just to go for no reason. I go in there with the mindstate of I can win this."

• "I always believe in myself and I always know that I have the ability to win."

• "When you know you can do something but you’re just not doing it, it’s usually all cause you’re thinking about it too much."

• "There’s never a time I don’t want to do well."

• "You always want to win no matter what. Even on the days that you’re not skating as good as you’d like to be. You always want it, you always are trying for it. Sometimes it just doesn’t show as well."

Descendents Vans - A Shoe Punx Want to Own

Now we've never encouraged people to become blind consuming machines; we - just like you - are definitely against the capitalist system and the useless crap it brainwashes us into buying. Hell, we try to spend as little of our money as possible in our daily lives, trying to save it for stuff that is actually worth buying (like vegan food, gas money for shows, cool punk music & gear). But every now and then, even the most anti-consumerist punk indulges a bit on him/herself. Which brings us to this awesome Descendents edition Vans shoe. As summer approaches and you don't want to wear those old skate shoes no more, this is what you should be looking for; old-school Vans with Milo's face imprinted all over.

Greece Today

AFI cont'd (Another Old School Pic)

A couple of days ago we did a post on Davey Havok and AFI; a TYS friend was kind enough to send us this old school flyer from a Danzig / Samhain* concert from waaaay back in the day (that's 1999!!!!) Enjoy and keep it grim!

* legendary, awesome goth / punk band, reunited during the late 90s/early 00s. Members of Samhain went on to create Son of Sam with Davey Havok on vocals.

Such Gold Such Gold Such Gold Such Gold

I mean, really... Can these guys get any more perfect? Such Gold seem to be spearheading the whole melodic hardcore / pop punk movement that is getting increasingly popular by the day. Stabbings, festival cancellations, member replacements or whatever else cannot stop this band from getting their awesome music out there and getting their well deserved respect in today's punk. Can you hear the power and desperation in these fast, melancholic punk tunes?This is melodic NY hardcore / pop punk at its very BEST!

Where Emo Meets Straight Edge: Davey Havok (AFI)

LAST NIGHT I was watching a bunch of AFI videos, and was reminded what a unique combination of straightforward punk ethos and emo aesthetics their charismatic - yet weird looking - frontman, Davey Havok is. 

Undoubtedly, Davey has done lots for the hardcore punk scene through AFI's 3 first albums which were instrumental in forging that more melodic US hardcore sound (in a scene that was definitely more metal oriented). Moreover, they have contributed to and have influenced the whole skatepunk and popunk genres with their classic The Art of Drowning album (2000). Changing their musical direction and becoming more easy listening through the years is not such a huge surprise; after all, lots of bands do it as they grow up and mature musically. It is logical to want to evolve and attract bigger success through your music.

What is actually interesting to observe is that even though Davey and AFI have transformed into a fully fledged, corporate-value rock band, they have maintained their hardcore punk mentality and values since their inception in 1991. Davey himself has stuck with straight edge and veganism since the early days, and is not afraid to talk  against drug abuse and meat eating with every chance he gets.

Moreoever, Davey Havok has also largely influenced the modern punk scene in another way: he has carried the flag for the horror punk style that the Misfits created in the 80s (he even had an offer to become their singer in 2000). We could really say that with his ongoing output throughout the years, Davey has become the ambassador of horror punk and has really helped this genre develop further.

One could ask whether Davey uses punk to stay cool and get the punk kids on AFI's side, or if he actually uses his long lasting punk values to influence and corrode the shit-filled mainstream music industry. We think that the case is actually the latter, while I don't think Davey even cares as he keeps making awesome music spreading punk, horror, straight edge, romanticism, and moshing alike to the world.

Last but not least, if you just watch the following video, you'll get a picture of where exactly Davey & AFI stand: the perfect amalgam of hardcore, pop and goth!

The Acacia Strain - The Hills Have Eyes (Video)

OK! So we had quite a bit of punk rock, pop punk, whatever the last few days; now it's time to get real and tune in to some crazy-ass, perfectly exectuted downtuned deathcore. Or actually it should be death CORE cause TAS are one of the few deathcore bands who actually draw from hardcore as an influence. There are not many bands who can do this style better than The Acacia Strain. This video has made the rounds quite a bit but it is pretty funny and it is full of mosh so there you have it (let alone these guys are pretty much unknown here in Greece - no shit!). And if this is too metal for you, go find Cockpunch 'Attack' (awesome straight edge hardcore with TAS members). Enjoy you fuckers!

Hockey Meets Punk Rock (Another Old School Pic)

All-time favorite Canadian hockey player Scott Niedermayer and a young Russ Rankin of Good Riddance (Russ is a well-known hockey enthusiast). Who said punk rock and sports don't mix, again?

Unwritten Law - 'Swan' Review (2011)

What a nice surprise it is when one of your favorite bands drop their new album out of the blue, without you having heard anything about it! It's like seeing a good old friend on the street--always nice, always got lots of things to say.

And for me Unwritten Law is such a band when it comes to clean cut punk rock. Scott Russo must be one of the best singers in punk right now (or hell, in all of punk's history), while UL always had great musicians adding their own extra elements, and not just "playing their instruments" as part of another punk rock band. Pat Kim; definitely an exceptional bassist. And on this album, Dylan Howard is doing a really great job on the drums.

So what is Swan all about and what should we expect from this old school yet always fresh punk rock outfit? Well, to be honest, some more of the all around goodness they've showed in the past: mainstream flirting, catchy punk rock (just like it used to be!), with lots of melancholic overtones and excellent musicianship. The lyrics are - like always with Unwritten Law - quite sad and grey, but show the strength of a person who goes all out and makes moves, a person who takes risks in life and is not afraid to lose.

Swan has its mainstream moments for sure, but it really is punk rock. Mainstream music lacks bands like Unwritten Law right now. I don't know if Swan means that this will be their swan song, their last album, but I surely hope that it's not. It's been six years since UL offered us anything and we'd hate to see them go now. Thanfully they're on 2011's Warped Tour so let's hope they're here to stay.

Hell yes! Time for punk rock and summer's always on the way!