The Witzard

One Step Closer (CREDIT: Spencer Chamberlain) Ahead of an expansive 20-date cross-continental tour, Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania's own One Step Closer have shared their first new single since their 2021 full-length, This Place You Know . "Dark Blue" finds One Step Closer leaning into the most Melodic Hardcore/Emo elements of their sound without sacrificing an ounce of energy we know and love them for. The song launches into a towering chorus that pushes the band into even more anthemic territory and offers hints at new potential directions in their sound. "Dark Blue" is the start of a compelling new chapter for One Step Closer and listeners should keep an eye out for more from the band in 2023. The group will be on tour for most of the winter with upcoming shows in the US, Australia, Southeast Asia, Japan, and more through 2022-23. "Earlier this year while driving through The Pacific [Northwest], I was struggling with how much we were about to be touring t

GAMETIME L-R: Kyle Devlin, Nick Pickrell, and Gabriel Hancock (SOURCE: Kyle Devlin) Kansas City, Missouri's own GAMETIME have released another new single after reuniting at the end of 2021. The Melodic Pop-punk band was initially only active from 2002-04. GAMETIME's recorded output from their initial two-year stint as a band includes a self-released self-titled EP from 2002 and Let The Games Begin released on Minor League Recordings. Both EP's were later re-collected and re-released together as a 12-track version of Let The Games Begin now appearing on streaming services. Swedish imprint A Song In My Heart Records issued their own even more expansive 22-track compilation simply dubbed Gametime in 2019; it boasts selections from GAMAETIME and Let The Games Begin, as well as tracks that originally appeared on various compilations, assorted demo recordings from different sessions, and two previosuly unreleased acoustic cuts. GAMETIME's latest single, "Just Sta

Sulu & Excelsior "Run & Hide" video still (SOURCE: Steven E. Mallorca) Long-time friend, collaborator, and one of our favorite artists here at The Witzard, Steven "Steve" E. Mallorca AKA Sulu has returned with the first single from his latest solo project/band, Sulu & Excelsior's third album, So Ends The Honeymoon. "Run & Hide" is the first piece of the musical puzzle that will soon be revealed to be So Ends The Honeymoon and So Ends The Honeymoon is the final album in a what has become a three-part sonic trilogy; directly preceeded by The AntiMatter Suite (2019) and E ddie Romero (2016.) In-between Eddie Romero/The AntiMatter Suite and So Ends The Honeymoon, Sulu has graciosuly gifted us a couple non-canon projects including 2017's "The Over Under" holiday single, Refinished (Remix Album) featuring new, slightly updated versions of all of your favorites from both Eddie Romero & The AntiMatter Suite, and XLCR Ins

The Sound of Animals Fighting (CREDIT: Porter McKnight) The incubation is complete; re-emerging from the dank ooze of the early 2020's, The Sound of Animals Fighting (T.S.O.A.F.) returns with their new EP, APESH*T, their fourth release and first new music in 15 years. "APESH*T is equal parts renewal and the culmination of all that came before. A revival of spirit while maintaining the integrity of the key ingredients and processes that have always made this project a rewarding outlet for us. It is our best work," says The Nightingale. Masked Rock collective The Sound of Animals Fighting started in 2004. Core members The Nightingale AKA Rich Balling (Hospital Gown, ex-RX Bandits,) The Skunk AKA Anthony Green (Saosin, Circa Survive, F**kin' Whatever, L.S. Dunes,) The Walrus AKA Matthew "Matt" Embree (RX Bandits, Biceratops,) The Lynx AKA Chris Tsagakis (RX Bandits, Technology,) and a super-mysterious character known only as The Koala... APESHIT by The Sou

Bloomington, Indiana's genre-eschewing own A Vulture Wake (A.V.W.) recently unleashed their second EP of the year! Animal is a progressive powerhouse of hooks and riffs—five songs continuing the band's ongoing movement to "Do No Harm; Take No Sh*t," while taking aim at the powers that be, inner demons, and a bleak future on this dying planet. A.V.W. now offers solutions to the issues raised in their previous releases—commit violence, give in, leave the planet, sleep? The choice is ours. Animal follows the critically-acclaimed and fan-embraced Kingdom EP—also, produced, engineered, and mixed by Mike Kennerty (The All-American Rejects, Direct Hit!, These Enzymes.) Just this past Friday, both the Animal EP and its predecessor, Kingdom, were collectively packaged together as the 11-track One.Kingdom.Animal album. Available on colored vinyl through Thousand Islands Records and limited to 500 LP's, it comes with a lyric sheet insert and black inner-sleeve and featur

Little Low, L-R: Mike Assatly, Eric Pocock, Christine Atturio, and Kris Moya (SOURCE: Facebook) Little Low hails from The Bay Area, formed by guitarist and vocalist Christine Atturio (Save Ends,) drummer Mike Assatly (Spirits, BearTrap,) guitarist Eric Pocock ( Discourage ,) and bassist/vocalist Kris Moya (Jabber, Long Knives.) While we would attest Little Low sound something like a musical menagerie falling somewhere in-between Paramore, Weezer, and Cults, yes, their members have collectively played with Punk/Hardcore greats BearTrap, Discourage, and Long Knives. Originally started as a solo project in Boston by Atturio, Little Low released a self-titled EP of acoustic songs in 2020. After a move across the country in 2021 and missing the comradery of a full band, Atturio & Assatly asked Pocock & Moya to join and Little Low was born anew. With each member bringing their unique set of musical chops to the table, Little Low melds together driving Hardcore drums, sparkly Em