The Witzard

"Strictly Covered: Big D usually writes an EP in-between writing LP's, so that you can get the gears moving and begin your creative process. This time, however, we decided to do a covers record for fun. These are a collection of songs we have been inspired by though out the years." - David "Big D" McWane (@david_mcwane1) Strictly Covered by Big D and the Kids Table 1. "Dr. D" (The Mighty Mighty Bosstones) "I believe, "Dr. D" is the best example of fast, fun, spastic Skacore. It's a blast! The Might Mighty Bosstones began to play a Swing-style [version] of this song live, so we added parts of that at the end of the original. The Doped Up Dollies joined us for the Swing bit. I love this tune and it was prefect for the first track, as it has all the elements, later, found through out the record." Strictly Covered by Big D and the Kids Table 2. "Yellin' In My Ear" (Operation Ivy) "Operation Ivy would,...

For the latest installment of The Witzard's Punk/Hardcore On Wax , we're covering an upcoming split album from Richmond, Virginia-based Hardcore/Punk band Bleach Everything and Belgium/US-based Metallic Hardcore Punk band Integrity . Said release is entitled SDK x RFTCC , which stands for Septic Death Karaoke x Rocket from The Crypt Covers with a side each from both Integrity & Bleach Everything . SDK x RFTCC is, actually, based around a 1992 Japan-only 2x7-inch split from Septic Death & Rocket from The Crypt fittingly titled Two Seven Halves , which was limited to somewhere between 85-100 Pushead Fan Club-only copies. Integrity have previously covered a number of Septic Death originals on a handful of 7-inches and CD's including Integrity, Change, Taste of Every Sin, and Walpurgisnacht. INTEGRITY "SDK" x BLEACH EVERYTHING "RFTCC" by Integrity " Dwid [Hellion] & I first got to know each other many moons ago over sharing storie...

G-Pek & Brycon have returned with the latest spook-tacular installment of their annual Halloween mix series, There's No More Room In Hell . This year, Brycon & G-Pek recruited producer buddies Yelir, B.I. Lectric, The Architect & Baghead to join in on the ghoulish festivities. G-Pek & Brycon Present: "There's No More Room In Hell" (1) was quietly released on October 30, 2015 and only featured the production talents of series founders G-Pek & Brycon . For 2016's "There's No More Room In Hell II," DJ Eons One AKA Dan Lactose from SPAZZ was brought into the fold; then, 2016's "There's No More Room In Hell Part 3" boasted contributions from G-Pek, Brycon & Eons , along with newly-added beatsmith Yelir . Last year's submission, "There's No More Room In Hell Part 4" featured G​-​Pek, Brycon, Eons One, Yelir , and new-comer, B​.​I. Lectric AKA Big Shawn from Bored Stiff . For There'...

NO MOTIV were an Oxnard, California-based Punk/Post-Hardcore band originally active from 1995-2014. NO MOTIV were early pioneers of the sub-genres of 9second generation) Nardcore, Sadcore, and Emocore with five full-length releases issued on Vagrant Records/The Edge Recordz between 1996-2004. The band's primary line-up included guitarist/lead vocalist Jeremy Palaszewski, guitarist/vocalist Max McDonald, bassist Roger Camero, and drummer Patrick "Pat" Pedraza. Camero shifted from bass to drums, when Pedraza parted ways with the band to form his own group, From Satellite, around 2004. Jeff Hershey joined as bassist/vocalist at the time of the Pedraza/Camero shift with Dave Brandon contributing bass duties at one point or another, as well. Since releasing their "last" proper release, a 2011 EP entitled, Winterlong, NO MOTIV's members have been largely inactive ans assumed to be on an indefinite hiatus; their solo/side-projects include Monster Hand, Sea Greens,...

The Bruce Lee Band , who have now, seemingly dropped the "The," are a long-standing San Jose, California-based Ska/Punk band. Its longest standing member is Asian Man Records founder and one-time Skankin' Pickle, Mike "Bruce Lee" Park and former members have spent their time playing with Less Than Jake, RX Bandits, Classics of Love, Kitty Kat Fan Club, and Rehasher. Bruce Lee Band 's current iteration includes Mike Park , along with Jeff Rosenstock, Dan Potthast & Kevin "The Guch" Higuchi . Since 1990, they have collectively played within a multitude of Punk, Hardcore & Ska-adjacent bands including Skankin' Pickle, The Chinkees, Bomb The Music Industry!, The Arrogant Sons of B*tches, MU330, Sharkanoid, The Brownies, and Whiskey Avengers. Frequent Bruce Lee Band contributors, also, include trombonist Gerry Lundquist of MU330 & Skankin' Pickle fame and bassist John DeDomenici of Bomb The Music Industry!, who both often appear...

So, as a record collector myself, I can safely say, one of the most sought-after records for most record collectors to "dig" up would be a coveted Bob Dylan & Johnny Cash bootleg. Said fabled bootleg has been released under numerous titles over the years, including The Dylan Cash Session , The Nashville Tapes, Nashville 1969 , and Partners on both unofficial LP's and CD's. A few years ago, I was, actually, lucky enough to unearth a copy of 2009's pseudo-yellowed The Nashville Tapes in a crate at a record/antique store up in Mullica Hill, NJ, I believe. Now, it appears as though those infamous 1969 Dylan/Cash sessions will finally be officially released in full on Bob Dylan (Featuring Johnny Cash) - Travelin' Thru, 1967-1969: The Bootleg Series, Vol. 15 . As seen within 2005 Joaquin Phoenix-starring biopic, Walk The Line, Johnny Cash & Bob Dylan were both, seemingly, long-time fans and mutual admirers of each other's work; then, suddenly, one fa...

The Grand Scheme are a Los Angeles-based "SOUL POWER" band, who, according to their Facebook About (Me) section, make "Soul for your mouth." Self-described "World Travelers & Explorers," The Grand Scheme have functioned as the backing band for American musician, singer, songwriter, record producer, philanthropist, and emcee Aloe Blacc FKA Nathan Yell. The Grand Scheme have been backing Blacc ever since his career-securing break-out with 2010 single, "I Need A Dollar," if not longer. The Grand Scheme 's current line-up consists of drummer Te'Amir "Yohannes" Sweeney , bassist Joseph "Joe" Gonzales , trumpeter Chris Bautista , guitarist/producer/musical director Joel Van Dijk , saxophonist Randal "Randalio" Fisher , and keyboardists Peter Dyer & Farmer Greif . The Grand Scheme 's players have collectively contributed to recordings for artists as varied as Blu & Exile , Breakestra, The Velve...

Audio Karate were a Southern California-based Latino Punk/Indie Rock band originally active from 1995 until about 2007-08. It's members included four Mexican-American musicians: Arturo "Art" Barrios (vocals/guitar,) Jason Camacho (guitar,) Justo Gonzalez (bass,) and Gabriel "Gabe" Camacho (drums.) They had affiliations with both Kung Fu & Bullion/Underground Liberation Force (ULF) Records and toured across the world with the likes of The Ataris , Pennywise, Social Distortion , Something Corporate, Thrice , and The Vandals. Audio Karate AKA "AK" recorded and released two full-length albums, 2002's Space Camp produced by Trever Keith of Face to Face and 2004's Lady Melody produced by Bill Stevenson of Descendents/ALL fame. Audio Karate played upwards of 250 shows between 2004-05 in support of Lady Melody and were, of course, a bit spent by year's end, but still owed Kung Fu Records one more album under the terms of their c...

Mike Park is a Korean-American Punk-adjacent musician and founder of Asian Man Records , Dill Records, and Fun Fun Records . Park either currently is or was, at one point, part of Psychiatric Disorder , Kitty Kat Fan Club, Maguma Taishi , Ogikubo Station, Shaken 69 , Skankin' Pickle, The Bruce Lee/B. Lee Band , and The Chinkees. Mike Park has toured the world countless times since the 1980's, although, has recently been forced to scale back a bit due to Tinnitus and general hearing loss. In addition to a gaggle of releases with the aforementioned bands, Park has recorded and released three largely acoustic solo albums between 2003-11: For The Love of Music , North Hangook Falling, and a children's album called SMILE —plus, a self-titled CD-R exclusively "produced for (and sold on) Mike Park 's UK tour in 2009 with Classics of Love." It appears as though Park has recently been going through the Asian Man "vaults" and has managed to re-discover som...

Honestly, while often used, the notion of a "super-group" is basically, a moot point in the world of Punk/Hardcore. According to LEXICO Powered by OXFORD, a "supergoup" is defined as "An exceptionally successful Rock group or one formed by musicians already famous from playing in other groups." But, again, this oft-used notion doesn't really exist in the worlds of Punk, Hardcore, and their related sub-genres; I say this because, nearly every Punk/Hardcore band goes through a rotating cast of musicians, who have, more times than not, previously played in other mildly successful/revered groups. For example, Glenn Danzig's post-Misfits/pre-Danzig Horror Punk band, Samhain, famously included, at one point or another, members of The Misfits, Agnostic Front, Warzone, Murphy's Law, Ministry, Reagan Youth, Minor Threat, Black Flag, Circle Jerks, and Run-D.M.C. Although, regardless, it's always fun to do a little digital sleuthing and dig into t...

A Soundtrack For Real Justice: A Fundraiser For The Philadelphia Community Bail Fund by hectic zeniths hectic zeniths is the "mixed media collage time travel film score justice reform trip-hop music video comix shoegaze lo-fi art horror solo piano loop pedal synth pop hip-hop project" of Philly-based producer and multi-instrumentalist, Adam Prince . It appears as though hectic zeniths has been active since about 2011 and Prince often records and releases music as amplifya , as well. hectic zeniths produced two tracks included on Darko The Super 's 2018 album, Bogus Poetry In The Dizzy Age and has also, recorded with Seattle-based emcee sketch lightly as said the starling . Now, hectic zeniths has returned with his first proper release since 2017's layercakes remastered, A Soundtrack for Real Justice: A Fundraiser for The Philadelphia Community Bail Fund . A Soundtrack for Real Justice... is a fundraiser/benefit comp. with 100% of proceeds raised being donated...

Secret Sidewalk is an Oakland/San Francisco, California-based "Organic Electronic" quartet consisting of Alex "Pu22l3" Abalos, Mike Boo, Michael Reed & Marcus Stephens . While they've been a band since about 2010-11, Secret Sidewalk are just now releasing their debut full-length, Primal Dap , on their own imprint, Primal Dap Sound . Their aforementioned album, Primal Dap , will, actually, be released tomorrow, Friday, October 11, 2019. We've already posted about Secret Sidewalk 's first album single, "Common Core" and now, the Electro-Acoustic quartet have returned with their next string of pre-album singles: "HARP" and "D E S C R A M B L E R." Secret Sidewalk 's "HARP" music video was uploaded a matter of weeks after the "Common Core" preview clips. It appears as though "HARP" was filmed at a Secret Sidewalk gig with videography by Daniel Miramontes & Heroic-Dose.com, live...

Dream Team: A Stokely Hathaway Joint by Griff/Scorcese Dream Team: A Stokely Hathaway Joint is a project that's long been in-the-works from Chicago-based producer Jason Griff and Philly emcee Scorcese Lorde Jones , here, known together as Griff/Scorcese . Dream Team... was originally pitched as a mixtape in celebration of the independent wrestling circuit, as well as Hathaway's unique, Hip-Hop indebted approach to the artform. However, it eventually evolved into a full-fledged album based around the ideals and inspiration of the esteemed 1996 Source Award Winner, publicist, and manager, Stokely Hathaway —now signed to WWE/NXT as Malcolm Bivens . Dream Team... is entirely produced by Jason Griff (Alex Ludovico, Zilla Rocca) and primarily performed by Scorcese Lorde Jones AKA Scorcese FKA Scorcese Shells (2-Man Power Trip... Gods Know) with cinematic interludes and embellishments from Stokely Hathaway AKA Malcolm Bivens himself. Dream Team... is, indeed, Wrestle/Wra...

I guess, at this point in my life, on the verge of 32, I would deem myself an "aging Punk" (I know, it's an extremely un-Punk thing to do!) but I feel, as though, before labeling someone else an "aging Punk," I should, at least, own up to my own dwindling status in the community/sub-culture. I've been listening to Punk/Hardcore music for about 17 years now; so, that would mean I first discovered the genres around 15-16, which sounds about right. I guess, if my memory serves me correctly, I discovered a bunch of formative 80's punk bands like Black Flag, Fugazi, Minor Threat, The Misfits, Samhain, Bad Religion, etc. through listening to Pop Punk bands, such as blink-182, Sum 41, and Green Day, during the early 2000's. I've always felt a special attachment to the worlds of Punk/Hardcore—attending amany sweaty shows dimly-lit shows long before I was even old enough to drink!—and oddly enough, the older I get, the more of an attachment I feel toward...

Bayside are a Punk/Hardcore-adjacent Pop Punk/Emo band initially formed in Bayside, Queens, New York-based in 2000. Steadily approaching their 20th year playing together, Bayside 's current line-up consists of Anthony Raneri, Jack O'Shea, Nick Ghanbarian & Chris Guglielmo . Now, I in no way intend to unintentionally age myself here... but, "back in the day" (the early 2000's,) I was fortunate enough to catch Bayside live in support of, I believe, in support of both Senses Fail & Taking Back Sunday; somewhere, I still have a black-and-yellow "IT'S ALWAYS SUNNY IN BAYSIDE" concert T-shirt from one of said gigs. Just about two weeks ago, Bayside announced the sheer existence of their eighth studio album, Interrobang , which was released this past Friday, October 4, 2019. Interrobang is quite easily Bayside 's loudest, most riff-heavy album to date juxtaposed against extremely catchy, melodic hooks on nearly every single track. As crazy...