The Witzard

Surfin' Turf by Franks & Deans I've been, personally, mulling over something recently: what's the most creative Punk/Hardcore band name? I've since come to the conclusion that it's either The Mr. T Experience (MTX,) The Tony Danza Tapdance Extravaganza (TTDTE,) or Franks & Deans . MTX is American Punk Rock/Pop-Punk band formed in 1985 in Berkeley, California , while TTDTE is a now-defunct American Mathcore/Grindcore band from Murfreesboro, Tennessee . Las Vegas, Nevada 's Franks & Deans —a homage to Frank Sinatra & Dean Martin , of course—have deemed themselves the "world's first Rock "N" Roll Rat Pack band tributing Sinatra and his boys of The Rat Pack ." Franks & Deans are currently signed to SquidHat Records and consists of Robert "Rob" DeTie on vocals/4-string, Mike "Pip" Ullemeyer on drums/backing vocals, Jordan "HOSS" Hoss on guitar/vocals, Ryan "Sampson" Sa...

INTRODUCTION: Maybe, it's in the gray hairs that I've started finding in my thinning hair. Maybe, it's that dreaded third decade of life that seems to have been rearing it's ugly face around every corner. Maybe, it's a quarter life crisis, but something has been keeping me up at night. I sometimes, stay awake into the early hours of the morning spinning records and fumbling with CD jackets from high school, grasping hold of my youth for dear life. I search out elusive first presses of albums I'd somehow, lost to time, hoping that they'll somehow, tighten the thread leading from middle school to adulthood. To be clear, I'm not fishing my torn band T-shirts or bondage pants from the depths of my closet, but as I make the transition into my 30's, shedding roommates and getting oil changes at regularly scheduled intervals, I can't help ruminating on where these albums came from and how they've shaped me. I can't help begging the question,...