Fighting for Scraps - Anthems From The Southside Self released 2011

I recently caught up with Jonathan Golden (Goldy) of Fighting for Scraps to get a little info from him regarding their album Anthems From the Southside.

Fighting for Scraps is are hard working blue collared punks playing a  highly aggressive Melodic/Punk/Hardcore. Heralding from the south suburbs of Chicago. Fighting For Scrap's highly aggressive sound is loud and heavy. Fueled by explosive drumming, dynamic guitar riffs, thunderous bass lines and old school, raspy vocals, Fighting For Scraps pushes the boundaries of punk.

They exploded onto the Chicago music scene in 2010, playing shows across the metropolitan area at such clubs as Reggies,The Cobra Lounge,Ultra Lounge,and numerous other venues supporting such bands as The Star Fucking Hipsters, Channel3, The Infected, Deals Gone Bad, Last False Hope, Dead Town Revival, Calling all Cars (ex-Repellents )and numerous shows for F.C.S. Soundsystem. Gaining radio play on 88.9WARG THE DOC METAL SHOW, Podunk Radio, Asgard Radio, and Stig Stench radio; keep your eyes and ears open, Fighting For Scraps is the new sound of Chicago punk.

Podunk Radio has been airing tracks off this album since we began as a station and look forward to more great music out of these guys.

It is our opinion that Anthems From the Southside is good, honest approach to melodic hardcore punk with a sound that defines the energy and intensity of the Chicago punk scene and you'd be a damn fool not to try to get a copy of this album. Check them out HERE on facebook.

PDR: What was the original release date of Anthems From The Southside?

JG: It never really had an official release. A friend of our's owns 127 Riot Studios, and late 2011 he called us up, and told us he had a few hours open if we wanted to come in and blast some tunes out quick. So we loaded our gear and shot out to his studio, and blasted 6 tunes out in about six hours. A week later he mixed and mastered it, and sent it to us. That's when we started burning, promoting, and sending it to everywhere and everyone we could. People enjoyed the music.. a lot ...and there was a very strong positive feed back from it, scoring us shows with The Star Fucking Hipster's, Punk legends Channel 3, and numerous other established Chicago punk bands. We even gained the respect of The Chicago metal scene and The Chicago Metal alliance helping land us an opening slot for Chicago legends; like Spare Change and Maggot Twat . But I think what really propelled us forward was the live show. Our live shows tend to get pretty insane; Broken bottles, pits galore, and Goldy (me) has been compared to David Yow. For an old fat guy he never stands still. 

PDR: Is it a self release or a label release? 

JG: Self release.

PDR: who are the members of the band?

JG: Jake-Guitars, Creepy-Bass, Brian- Drums, Goldy vox

PDR: where you cats from?
JG: the band hails from a south suburb of Chicago, called Alsip. But our home will always be Blue Island.


PDR: how long have you been playing?

JG: As a collective 2 1/2 years, but Creepy Brian and Jake have been together Jamming for years upon years. Goldy(me) took a break from the music scene, kinda settled and had a son. After my son turned 3, I received a call from Jake asking if I was interested in singing for his Hardcore Punk band. I told him I have been out of the game for a while, but I was willing to come out to a practice and check them out. So I went and listened to them. They started playing a tune (which is now Lonely Nights) and when I heard it I immediately had lyrics in my head. I grabbed a pen and paper, jotted down the lyrics, picked up a mic, and well the rest is history.

PDR: any upcoming shows we should know about? 

JG: Got Thursday, February 16th at the Ultra Lounge in Chicago, and the we are really excited about being part of the very first Chi Town Anarchy Fest at the Mutiny in Chicago. A free 3 day festival of some of the greatest Punk/ hardcore bands Chicago has to offer. 


PDR: plans for a follow up release?

 JG: We are currently weighing our options and looking to record. We would Love to go back to Steve Antoniazzi, and 127 Riot Studios. But our Schedule's never seem to line up. So we may be recording with a different party. But we do plan on recording and releasing a full length and having new tunes for our fans in 2013. 

The Subtitles - I Am An Animal EP Released December 2012

The Subtitles - I Am An Animal EP

There is lot of sound coming from this 2-piece garage rock outfit hailing from Leicester; over there across the big water that is the Atlantic.

 The Subtitles are Jonney Buck - vocals/guitar (Preacher & The Kings, Wild Strawberries) Chris Smith - drums (ex-Different Fish) and apparently garage rock is their expertise and let me tell you, these dudes OWN it!

 From the start of I Am An Animal the guitars just rip into throes of a dirty rhythm and do not relent and the vocals just sound like they are being piped in from outer fucking space.

 This EP has everything you expect to hear on good garage rock album. the kids really nail their cover of Can Your Pussy Do The Dog? with the drums setting a perfect beat to follow to send your lady friend into a frenzy. Buck & Smith lend their talents to many great covers on this EP and unlike many cover efforts these dudes really hold their own weight and prove that it’s still possible to play someone else's songs and still make them unique.

 This is a solid EP with a lot of great covers. These cats can do the bird, they can do the dog and they can damn sure play fucking great music!

 You can follow them on facebook here 
at twitter here 
and on tumblr here  

Download this EP on bandcamp here during the name your own price offer. GO ahead and give it a listen, then download it for yourself! 



 I enjoyed listening to this one and foresee it being played many more times in the future!

 ji*
the podunk punk

The PoDunk Radio 2012 Year in Review DigiZine is out NOW!!!

Yes, yes, I know, it took me long enough! This thing is a trainwreck and had it not been for some of the amazing contributors it would have been a total shit on!

i think i enjoyed making this and might just make it a monthly.. not sure.. read it for yourself and tell me what you think!

ji*
the podunk punk

Open publication - Free publishing - More podunk

Check Out PunkGlobe.com

+Punk Globe

The Slieone Show says goodbye to 2012 ( Wes Hoke episode)

The Slieone Show

Dec 21st

8 PM Eastern time Friday night on http://podunkradio.com/

We say goodbye to 2012 and give you a variety of music from different Genres and scenes

Featured artist Wes Hoke 

8 PM Eastern time Friday night on http://podunkradio.com/

We say goodbye to 2012 and give you a variety of music from different Genres and scenes 

Featured artist: Wes Hoke 

WesHoke.com
Facebook.com/WesHokeMusic

Band/ Songs

Kobanes - Homo X Mas
Smiley Foot - Mommy loves everyone
Wes Hoke - Mr Brownback
Wes Hoke - Wishing Well
Wes Hoke - A Devil on both sholders
Guilford Blackouts - Indifferent
Bumpus Hounds - Figured out
The Queers - Fuck the world
Caseys Trunk - Caseys trunk
SEX WITH THE SLIEONES - Heather and Justin 
Groovie Ghoulies - Running with Bigfoot
Thomas D'Amour - Spike Vein
Wes Hoke - Hurry Hurry
Wes Hoke - Living Large
Tommy Mills - dont cry
**The show moves from PG-13 to R rating**
Evil OBrians - Sheckies Tribute - Knucklehead
Worthmores - Luke I am Your Stepfather
The Connection - It's Alright
The Scarecrows Curse - Succubus
Johnny Five - Cougar Hunter
Bloody Muffs - Drunk tank
4 Past Midnight - Nobody Wants to be Lonely on Christmas Day

As always, you can watch any past videos on my YouTube Channel at:http://www.youtube.com/user/SlieoneMoFo?feature=mhee

The Hairlips - Self Titled - Self Released - March 2012

The Hairlips - Self Titled 

Claiming Chicago as their home, The Hairlips play a powerful pop punk style of music that heavily influenced by the sound of yesteryears 50's doo-wop with a just a touch of surf rock mixed in to added ear pleasure.

These tracks are tight and will keep you hopping, yes even my half-crippled ass.

The music is reminiscent of a simpler time, a happy time in American music history. A time when radio was real and bands were genuine but they add a unique modern twist and touch of a devil may care punk rock attitude that I feel is best displayed on the track Fuck You Darlin' 




These kids have their shit together and I believe that this album is the best display of their abilities to date.  The first track off the album, Always Loved You, lets you know right up front that this isn't your typical pop punk album and each successive track reiterates that fact.

This album is a great mix of bubblegum and spit and will help to round out any music collection. The only thing negative thing I have to say about this release is that it's not on hot pink vinyl, or any vinyl that I can tell. Priced at just 5 bucks for immediate download it's a great deal and sure to provide you with many hours of enjoyment.

This release is solid, not a dud on it. 

Preview the tracks right here and then do these guys a good up and spend the mere 5 to own this for yourself.









The Hairlips are:
Eric Stutson- Guitars / Vocals, 
Johnny Wabich- Vocals / Bass,
Nick Rivets- Guitar / Vocals,
Ron Capiz- Drums

Bush League - Discography (Re-Release) - Little Heart Records - April 2011

Bush League Discography (Re-Release)

Bush League's entire discography of songs before their 2010 reformation is available on this disc. Tracks off  Fetor 7" (Better Days Records), Sicko 7" (Better Days Records), Smut 7" (Better Days Records) is now available as a re-release from Little Heart Records. 

To be perfectly honest; I had never heard of Bush League until I got this cd in the mail so I did a little research on the band and discovered that they hail from the Louisville  KY area and have been performing since the late 80's and releasing records; starting with Fetor since 1991 and that they have been likened to other Louisville  bands such as  Maurice, Kinghorse, and Fading Out.I popped the cd into the laptop and my first thought was "Oh, shit, here's a Metallica rip-off band."  I almost ejected the disc and tossed it right then but had second thoughts and let it continue to spin. Good fucking thing that I did. Once i got beyond the initial mid 80's style intro riffs the band began to sound more like something I'd like to hear more from. A word of advise kids; DO NOT LET THE SLUGGISH RIFFS FOOL YOU! There's a lot more to this band than just deep crunching guitars. Black Flag starts to come to mind, John the Baker's band Fucktard comes to mind. Each E.P. has it's own distinct sound and style to it that just gets better with each progressing track. I went from "Fuck this" to "This is a keeper" really quickly and i promise you that you will hear few hardcore punk rock guitar solos better than the ones in Close. Genius fucking guitar work on this one. Polluted Sky brings the heavy riff back and just makes me want to be a teenager on a skateboard again. 

I'll tell ya, the more I listen to this disc, the more I appreciate it. I find something new that I didn't hear before. The lyrics just make better sense and I find myself wanting to pack my bong and take a trip into space with these songs. The twists from riff to hooks, the throaty, strained vocals, the flawless bass lines and ball shaking drums just combine to make some god damned good music.

I really hope that this re-release is an indicator that the band has reformed and working on touring (I know they recently performed live with the Lickers and Stealing Volume) and a new album sometime in 2013.

This is a great discography and priced at just 10 bucks for the physical copy or $9.99 on iTunes. Trust me kids, this is money well spent!

Give them a listen and hear it  for yourself!

Jacks Insanity
PoDunk Radio

Animal Train - Zebra Crossing - Released 2012 on BHJ Records

Animal Train - Zebra Crossing
cover art by: Kez Bizzare

I recently reviewed a 7” record from Animal Train titled Steel Rail Rider. Apparently the kids in AT were so happy and impressed by my lackluster style of review that they invited me to review their latest album released on BHJ Records titled Zebra Crossing. 

This full length contains 12 tracks; a couple of which (N.R.A, and Drunk, Punk & Pissed Off) can be found on PoDunk radios first free compilation digi-release (as well as the Steel Rail Rider 7”) and are both quality fucking tunes. 

Missed Adventures and Off the Tracks were both on the Steel Rail Rider 7” as well and as previously reported these two songs are great listening. 

The remainder of the tracks on this CD are right on par with the aforementioned tracks. AT has a way of throwing a bit of dirt and grit onto a pop-punk sound and coming up with something that’s well, just plain raw, punk rock goodness. 

CJ covers the vocals on this one, Rich does his guitar thing (he makes it seem easy) while Jeremy bangs out the drums and offers up backing vocals, and Chris keeps the steady bassline bumping along while throwing out the occasional backing vocal as well.

I’m beginning to think that AT isn’t capable of putting out a bad release and the guys at Spitshine Studios did a great production job on this one. 

Thanks for another great album Animal Train. I look forward to many, many more.

Track Listing:

1. Mad Dash
2. E.P.G.
3. Pharmaphobia
4. N.R.A.
5. Off The Track
6. Board On Wheels
7. Global Market
8. Can’t Take That Away
9. Summertime
10. Drunk Punk & Pissed Off
11. Missed Adventures
12. Evil Behind The Wheel

Pick this one up for just $10 bucks here
Find out more about Animal Train at their new website



ji*
podunkradio.com

Album Review - Kramer - Here We Go

Self Released September 1, 2012 There’s these 3 kids out of the Tacoma/Olympia WA area named Brandon, Travis, and Spencer in a band called Kramer. They recently sent me a sweet little nugget of vinyl titled Here We Go; a 6 track E.P.

Kramer - Here We Go E.P. Cover art

Here We Go is the second release for this band; it is a follow up to their full length self-titled album that was released in 2011. Being familiar with the bands music and raw rock and roll sound I was happy as a pig in shit when I got this new E.P. in the mail.

From the get-go the title track of this record starts with big sound and only gets bigger and more dynamic as it plays along. Despite the bands disdain for being labeled, it is clear that these kids are a formidable garage-punk band. You just can’t have out of this world reverb and custom crafted vocals like these kids do without recognizing the influence behind it.
I LOVE this record! It’s just not something that you can sit still while listening to it; it implores you to get up and move. The guitars jangle appropriately, the cymbals crash just when you need them to, and Travis has that bass guitar smoking fucking hot!  

If you’re like me as soon as the closing track of the record, a surf inspired instrumental piece, is over you’ll be flipping this record over to have another go at it.

Overall opinion of this record is that it is damn fine piece of rock and roll with each song complementing the others. Everything just fits on this one. Nothing sounds out of place, It’s just a damn good, fun record to have.

I have just one problem with this record. It just isn’t long enough! I can’t wait until the next full length comes out!

You can pick this E.P. up for free (as well as their full length) over at bandcamp but I  tell ya, this is something you will WANT to pay for! Do yourself a huge favor and order a copy on vinyl! At just 5 bucks you can’t go wrong and they throw in the digital download along with the price of the vinyl - it’s shit like this that makes for a real stand up kinda act!
Give these guys a like on their facebook page and tell them that PoDunk Radio sent ya!

Kramer, Live

ji*
PoDunk Radio

Getting Caught Up

It happens around here more often than it should, we get behind on things. We get WAY behind on things. Well, today we are working hard to get caught up. New songs are being added to the Auto DJ, little things about the look and feel of the station are changing. We are in the planning phases of our next comp. which will be released in February. We just put our last comp. up on Bandcamp. Some albums have been reviewed in the last couple weeks. We really dig the response and feedback you kids toss at us and always your comments to our blogposts and suggestions are always welcome. Got something to say that you don't want to air out in public? shoot me an email.

ji*