The Witzard

Alright, full disclosure: I've been in top secret email transmission with Baltimore -based Noise-Rock band Dope Body since around mid-April and I've been fully aware that they were planning to drop an album's-worth of new material around September/October, too; that album, now titled LIFER , is currently slated for an October 23rd release on Drag City Records . While I'm not entirely sure if I discovered Dope Body 's last album, Natural History (2012) or drummer David Jacober 's solo cassette, Water Karaoke first, I guess my initial interaction with the band was a fateful 14-question interview conducted with Jacober a few years ago. LIFER was recorded back in January 2014 after roughly 19 months of non-stop touring behind Natural History , following a brief hiatus to work on the members' outer-band outlets: Nerftoss , Player Press, Holy Ghost Party! and frontman Andrew Laumann 's gallery-displayed visual art exhibits. Drag City further describ...

It's pretty damn AMAZING that Dope Body are prepping their sixth EP-LP release, considering the sheer fact that the band was initially assembled for a one-off gig @ Baltimore 's Natural History museum (2008). Drag City will unleash Saturday 7" tomorrow, March 19th; It's positioned to out-sell Justin Timberlake 's return to form, The 20/20 Experience ha. Serving as a quasi-follow-up to last year's Natural History , "Leather Head" was plucked straight off Saturday (Side A) . Four horsemen Andrew Laumann, David Jacober, Zachary "Zeke" Utz , and new bassist John Jones star in "Leather Head"'s stark black-and-white music video. Director Sheena Callage did her best to harness the band's righteous Black Flag meets Rage Against The Machine Hardcore/Noise-Rock vibe. Callage managed to create a very simple, yet highly effective treatment: Dope Body rockin' out in an empty performance space inter-spliced with face-mo...

As cliche as it sounds, Punk Rock is NOT just a mere fad; Angst-filled youth rebellion is something that will never go out of style! But let's face it, even today's finest Hardcore bands are way less "threatening" and society-damning than they used to be. Then again, it seems as though we're currently experiencing a "Hardcore Punk Revival," of sorts... with fresh, new bands like Fucked Up, Diarrhea Planet, WEIRD WIVES (Surfer Blood) , Pissed Jeans , Death Grips, PARTY ANIMAL , and Odd Future popping up every so often. But on the other hand, the sum of all these musical parts don't even begin to stack up against the single greatest Hardcore band of all time: Black Flag ! Dope Body are an aggressive young bunch of D.I.Y. musicians, hailing from Baltimore , MD. Andrew Laumann, Zach Utz , and David Jacober have been creating mashed-up Noise Rock together as part of the city's "Wham City" scene since roughly 2008. John Jones was ...