The Witzard

clipping. 2020 (CREDIT: Cristina Bercovitz) Oddly enough, we've recently been re-visiting clipping.'s phenomenal 2016 EP, Wriggle . We always thoroughly enjoyed the short and sweet six-track affiar, but were recenty reminded of its sheer existence following clipping.'s unique installment of NPR Music's Tiny Desk Concert: Tiny Desk Meets SXSW . Taking the whole "tiny desk" shtick more literal than most, clipping. members Daveed Diggs, William Hutson, and Jonathan Snipes, along with drummer Chukwudi Hodge played a six-song set on miniature instruments designed by Cristina Bercovitz. Primarily playing selections from their recent albums, Visions of Bodies Being Burned & There Existed An Addiction to Blood, and self-released debut, midcity, one of the stand-outs for us was "Shooter" from Wriggle. Wriggle (Expanded) by clipping. Commemorating the five-year anniversary of their Wriggle EP, clipping. and Sub Pop have announced Wriggle (Expanded) t...

CHIXDIGGIT! at Edmonton Oilers/Rogers Place (SOURCE: K.J. Jansen) Not entirely unlike Wrestle/Wrassle Rap or Basketball Rap, there's, apparently, a whole sub-genre of hockey-themed Punk/Hardcore—oftentimes, referred to as "Puck" Rock or Hockey-core. Yes, I've been a die-hard fan of Punk/Hardcore for 15+ years and I, too, only first heard about Puck Rock within the last few weeks. Although, once I started diggin' around, I discovered about 10-15 bands at the forefront; this was, then, gradually narrowed down to 10 "front-line" bands, which will be chronicled here over the course of coming weeks. The "top-scoring" bands we selected include: Crippled Youth, SLAPSHOT, The Hanson Brothers/Nomeansno, Two Man Advantage, The Boils, D.O.A. THE ZAMBONIS, Pansy Division, The Hextalls, and THE RAMOMS' "Gritty Is A Punk" flexi-disc. We sent out a short 6-question interview form to all of the aforementioned bands, received some back, heard a ...

" Oneohtrix Point Never (0PN) teams up with longtime inspiration and Spiritual Rap guru Ishmael Butler , The Palaceer of Shabazz Palaces/Digable Planets . Listen to new track "The Rapture," below," Warp Records wrote within a 26/09/2017-published press release. " 0PN and Butler met and produced "The Rapture" on first meeting this Summer , creating the experiment of verses and spine-tingling dances of percussion. The track premieres as a unique addition to the [adult swim] singles club," it continued. "The Rapture" is actually credited to "319" —a newly-formed rapper-producer duo consisting of Ishamel "Butterfly" Butler AKA Palaceer Lazaro and Electronic producer Oneohtrix Point Never AKA Daniel Lopatin of Ford & Lopatin . It's been quite a busy year for both Butler and Lopatin with Shabazz Palaces releasing not one, but two full-length albums on the same July day, Quazarz: Born On a Gangster St...

"'The Bar Is Low," which, according to [Matt] Korvette , is "about how every guy seems to be revealing themselves as a sh*thead. It seems like every guy is getting outed, across every board of entertainment and politics and music. There’s no guy that isn’t a total creep,'" reads a fragmented chunk of Sub Pop 's latest WHY LOVE NOW-announcing Pissed Jeans press release; " WHY LOVE NOW picks at the bursting seams that are barely holding 21st-century life together," describes Sub Pop 's press release, which additionally refers to "The Bar Is Low" as a "grinding rave-up." It can only be assumed that Korvette is likely referring to one-time men of power and current American disgrace stories like Bill Cosby , Swans frontman Michael Gira , fallen Indie Rock PR heavyweight Heathcliff Berru , and our newly-elected President Trump . Pissed Jeans recruited New York No Wave pioneer Lydia Lunch , who's worked with eve...

"Don't sleep on Butch Bastard ," read a statement credited to Josh Tillman of Father John Misty and Fleet Foxes fame attached to a cold submitted message sent days after I posted my email address on Twitter , along with an open call for new music "not featured on Pitchfork ;" after reaching out to Poor Moon bassist and newly-christened Butch Bastard frontman Ian Murray himself, the Father John Misty -affiliated artist would go on to specify, "[ Josh is] my friend and I appreciate his endorsement, but I don't wish to be viewed as an appendage to his career." It would likely appear as though Butch Bastard was born when the singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, performer, producer, and director uprooted his life from Seattle to Los Angeles in 2014 and started recording tracks from the comfort of his bedroom. Murray's wonderfully titled forthcoming album, I Am Not a Man , which currently lacks a proper label or release date, showca...

"Power-dirge from Pennsylvania ; Pissed Jeans are noisy as a motherf*cker and proud of it on this, their debut full-length, which sounds like a big pile of mud and broken glass ripping through your stereo speaker in the most killer way imaginable," reads a juicy chunk of Sub Pop's overtly descriptive Shallow re-issue mini-press release. Frontman and part-time music critic Matt Korvette along with his fellow Pissed Jean-ers enlisted frequent collaborator Joe Stakun , who previously directed Honeys stand-outs "Bathroom Laughter" and "Romanticize Me," to shoot a clip for "Boring Girls" from their newly-remastered nine-year-old Shallow album (2005). Not entirely unlike Stakun's former creations, "Boring Girls" is an oddly disjointed visual presentation, which perfect matches Pissed Jeans' whole self-imploding Noise-Rock aesthetic; it starts out resembling your run-of-the-mill clip, with our long john-outfitted prot...

Rat Fist are a newly-formed Punk band who you may not have heard about yet; consisting of primary members Sean McGuinness & Randy Randall from veteran Sub Pop Post-Punk bands Pissed Jeans & No Age respectively, along with part-time bandmates Michael J. Sabolick, Jelle de Cremer , and Aaron Farley . They're gearing up to head out on a three-date West Coast mini-tour with Canadian punks rockers, F*cked Up , which will double as a 7-inch re-release jaunt. Rat Fist previously self-released 50 test press copies of their debut 7-inch that were were sold exclusively at their initial run of East Coast gigs, while the second pressing has since been expanded to a batch of 500 limited records. "We will have 7" available for mail order starting next Monday 8/25. Send $7 for shipping in the USA or $10 for shipping everywhere else. Make check out to: Randy Randall 10658 Sable Ave. Sunland, CA 91040 USA... It might take a while for me to get to the orders, so please...

" Rat Fist is the result of a friendship that began over a decade ago in 2003 when [Randy] Randall 's former band Wives and [Sean] McGuiness' former band Navies played a house show together in Washington DC . It was then that the two quickly recognized they had a common love for loud, fast, heavy music," notes the newly-formed band's description on R5 Productions' upcoming events page. Rat Fist unveiled a string of six quick-strike East Coast tour dates, which are listed above, along with a righteous teaser single titled "Disrupt Yr DNA" late Tuesday afternoon. It sounds like a harshly grafted mix of both Pissed Jeans and No Age 's Noise Rock/Hardcore Punk sounds; while I'm not entirely sure who's on lead vocals, Randall's crunchy feedback-drenched guitar riffs meld perfectly with McGuiness' skull-bashing drum lines littered through out "Disrupt Yr DNA"'s nearly 2:30-minute duration. Despite the fact th...

It's pretty damn awesome that David Letterman 's people are even remotely interested in booking a disjointed post- Nirvana Sub Pop Art-Punk band like No Age to perform on national TV; following film director and special guest Spike Jonze , drummer/vocalist Dean Spunt and guitarist Randy Randall took the Letterman side-stage during the wee hours of Thursday night into Friday morning. The band had seemingly re-outfitted the set with stark white sheets, including Spunt's drum kit, and wore matching denim outfits... essentially rendering Late Night with David Letterman into a quasi-art gallery installation, while ripping through "C'mon Stimmung." Not even 5-6 hours after their Letterman performance, No Age released a brand new Oliver Payne -directed video for album track, "I Won't Be Your Generator" in true Noise-Punk Rock fashion, as well. It's an artfully weird intimate-object(s) collage, presented in stark contrast against their rec...

Daughn Gibson and director Jeremiah Rouse have essentially managed to flip the whole concept of the flashy modern-day "music video" on it's head, stripping it back down to it's primal elements: grandiose sound and tasteful film flourishes. A former Hardcore Punk drummer (Pearls & Brass) who notoriously moonlighted as a truck driver, Gibson's latest single, "Kissin' On The Blacktop" also seemingly duals as his first ever music video release. It's a gritty brew-N-smoke-soaked scene that works quite well with Daughn Gibson 's Alt. Country/Americana hybrid sound. Surrounded by a cast of shady-looking, yet deeply interesting characters, Gibson successfully weaves a Bluesy tale about a booze-fueled romance with "Kissin' On The Blacktop" while at the fictitious "Twin Willows" watering hole; We're talkin' about toothless pool sharks, whiskey-drinking cowboys, a leopard-skinned gold digger, smokin' h...

Although he largely retired from competitive figure skating around 2009-10, Braden Overett has decided to make a comeback, of sorts... call it a "blaze of glory" by way of Pissed Jeans new Joe Stakun -directed music video, "Romanticize Me." While the phrases Hardcore Punk and figure skating don't exactly line up, Stanuk makes it work much better than I could've (n)ever imagined; Upon announcing his retirement nearly 4 years ago, Overett penned an insightful article for USFS SKATING magazine, which blatantly laments, "In my mind, I was different... When I was done, it would either be because I had won the Olympics 19 times and broken all possible world records. I would have reached the pinnacle of sports fame, driving a different exotic car every day of the week and buying small countries with my 900 bazillion dollars. Or, I'd walk into the rink one day and there would be a giant neon sign reading: "Braden Overett's Retiring Today!...

The Postal Service are what you could call a "guilty pleasure," a band that represents a certain phase in my life, and about as far as I ever delved into Electro-Pop/Emo , thankfully ha. It's Ben Gibbard 's side-project that released one widely-acclaimed album, Give Up (2003), which most fans, including myself, actually prefer more than Death Cab for Cutie . While swirling rumors about a follow-up and band reunion have always gone unrequited, the only thing to really materialize since Give Up is a recently re-released 10th anniversary 2-CD set. Sub Pop even managed to convince Ben Gibbard and in-house producer Jimmy Tamborello (Dntel) to finally reunite for a lengthy 36-date summer tour, along with sometime(s) members Jenny Lewis and Laura Burhenn on background vocals and additional instruments. "A Tattered Line of String" is one of 2 new, previously unreleased tracks included on Give Up: Deluxe 10th Anniversary Edition , which is currently avai...

It's pretty safe to say that No Age have effectively re-defined the all too commonly-used phrases "make a record" and "do-it-yourself." Dean Spunt & Randy Randal l have written, produced, performed, recorded, and even manufactured their upcoming fourth album, An Object . No Age physically manufactured , prepared, and assembled 5,000 LP's and 5,000 CD's along with Grammy -nominated designer/close friend Brian Roettinger ; long-time collaborator Facundo Bermudez also lent a hand during the record's production [music] phase, too. No Age 's lengthy discography includes a lot of fuzzed out weird, slightly fucked up-sounding Art-Punk EP's and whatnot, which were quietly released across a number of small label imprints: Sub Pop , FatCat Records, Teenage Teardrops , Youth Attack, Upset! The Rhythm , Deathbomb Arc, Soundscreen Design , Spunt's own Post Present Medium (PPM) somewhere in-between 2007-12. Roughly 2 months ahead of it...

Daughn Gibson is a former truck driver who looks like he could be a flannel/chainsaw model and sings kinda like a disjointed mix between Joy Division , Crash Test Dummies , and Johnny Cash . Gibson's new label, Sub Pop is gearing up to release his second album, Me Mean , this upcoming July 8-9th; It was recorded with producer, Benjamin Balcom and features guitar work from John Baizley (Baroness) and Jim Elkington (Brokeback). I really don't think that calling Daughn Gibson 's unique style of music Americana would be totally inappropriate or wrong... Sub Pop laments that "if All Hell was a gritty black-and-white movie, Me Moan is a widescreen IMAX 3-D extravaganza." Just unleashed late Thursday afternoon, "The Sound of Law" is a deep, gravely-voiced progressively dark track that makes use of a wide array of live instrumentation including drums, pedal steel, horns, house strings, bagpipes, and organs. Daughn Gibson was born and raised in Naz...

I guess since most Hardcore/Post-Punk bands play righteous live shows nearly 1/2-all year 'round, might be the reason why they usually make weird, abstract music videos. Toronto 's very own METZ recently teamed up with director Scott Cudmore to create the slightly disturbing, alternate reality that is "Wasted." It's a pretty fucked up ride through a creepy 90's mall-style photo-portrait studio, like where teenie boppers get glamour shots done. We're talkin' about some downright deranged and uncomfortably "seedy"-looking characters: a wonky-eyed/balloon-covered couple, milk-chugging goths , a family with babyface killah son, in-expert swordsmen, strangely unfazed bloody people, etc. Sonically, "Wasted" sounds kinda like a sludge-filled mash-up between Nirvana and The Jesus Lizard , being brutally beaten with rhythmic sledgehammers, and recorded in an abandoned barn by co-producers Graham Walsh and Alexandre Bonenfan t ha. Ale...

Roughly 10 years and 4 albums deep into their career now, "Bathroom Laughter" is only Pissed Jeans' third music video!; Not too far behind behind Thrash Jams like "False Jesii, Part 2" and "I've Still Got You (Ice Cream)" (2007-09). Matt Korvette, Brad Fry, Randy Huth , and Sean McGuiness unleashed Honeys , which was recorded @ Milkboy Studios (Philly) with producer Alex Newport , on Sub Pop this past Tuesday, Feb. 12th. For you un-familiar slackers, Pissed Jeans kinda sounds like late 80's experimental Black Flag , complete with fuzzed out guitar licks and 1/2 sung-shouted vocal fragments. It's director Joe Stakun 's demented riff a late night knife set-selling info-mercial gone terribly wrong, which somehow morphs into a bloody rotten mess! We're talkin' about VMA -worthy performances from Mark Proksch (The Office), nerdy My Life As Liz [Lee] dame, up-and-coming actress Leigh Myles , and Philly wrestler Dragon...

Pissed Jeans are probably the most sobering, un- Rock "N" Roll Hardcore [Noise-Rock] band since like... Straight Edge pioneers, Minor Threat/Fugazi . Weasel-voiced frontman Matt Korvette is an insurance claims adjuster by day, for Christ's sake! "Bathroom Laughter" and "Cathouse" (released Monday) chronicle relate-able, everyday mis-doings that the average Middle American can easily relate to; I mean, we're talking about "crippling pert allergies," hallway screaming/kitchen crying, a "blistering fear of going to the doctor," and unrequited rhapsody with saucy women. "Cathouse" is most likely gonna be our last FREEBIE 'til Sub Pop drops the band's fourth studio album, Honeys , this upcoming Feb. 12th. Former Japanther director/graphic artist, Joe Stakun supposedly made [filmed] a music video for the band, which @PissedJeans' Twitter feed says should be unleashed to The Inter-web sometime dur...

One of the great things about Punk Rock is that it hasn't really progressed/digressed much sound-wise since it's late 1970-80's inception. I mean, most 21st Century Punks honestly don't sound all THAT different than pioneers like Iggy & The Stooges or Black Flag . So, I think it's all about sprinkling in personality and a dash of slight progress [style]. Allentown -based Pissed Jeans are kinda a hard band to label... Like is it Hard Rock ? Hardcore? Sludge Metal ? Indie Rock? Pigfuck? My insanely knowledgeable buddy, Jason Morroni basically coined the term "Power Thrash" through text earlier tonight and I'm just gonna go a head and run with that ha. The Jeans took about a 5-year break to "live life" a little bit and then re-formed over the summer to record Honeys with Alex Newport , which'll be out Feb. 12th on Sub Pop . "Bathroom Laughter" is out first LEGIT taste of the album, a collection that Sub Pop fitti...

For starters, Daughn Gibson 's voice kinda sounds like an oddly appropriate mix between Johnny Cash , Barry White , and a bowl-full of coarse gravel; a style which is more than likely a direct result of teenage years spent drumming with assorted Philly and New York -area Hardcore Punk/Metal bands and the 10 years' time traveling cross-country in a BIG empty mac truck, blasting radio-transmitted Country music. When Daughn Gibson moved from his childhood town of Narazeth, PA to Carlisle in late 2010-11, he recorded what eventually ended up being All Hell ... simply created because "there weren't as many like-minded musicians to start a band with." Gibson's close friend Matt Korvette from Pissed Jeans pressed up a limited LP release of All Hell on his home-grown Indie label imprint, White Denim . Daughn Gibson then decided to follow that up with a 2-track 45 and Bandcamp digi-single simply titled, "Lite Me Up" in conjunction with Dull Kni...

"Father John Misty" is the newly-adopted nom de plume of former Fleet Foxes drummer, J. Tillman . While it's not exactly a "Hip-Hop" album by definition, Tillman's story evokes repeat run-ins with 3 of the genre's most commonly employed [de]vices: bitches, drugs & money . Father John Misty's upcoming debut full-length, Fear Fun (May) essentially chronicles one man's journey as he lets his guard down for the first time and takes some risks... "weird-ass songs about weird-ass experiences [written] almost in real-time" and then re-recorded with a handful of local LA -area musical friends. Josh Tillman has been recording and releasing music under his given name since about 2003, but just now feels as though he's finally coming into his own as a singer-songwriter. Fear Fun will eventually be followed up with a companion J. Tillman -penned novel, which was written during the same spontaneous coastal roadtrip that spawned th...