The Witzard

CREDIT: TerryTopCat "In February 2020, I was introduced to NOSAJ from New Kingdom . In a flash (three days,) we recorded a project. Hope you enjoy," reads the headline on J Fusaro aka steel tipped dove 's Projects page. We've been hearing rumblings about steel tipped dove & NOSAJ 's collaborative EP, now known as NOWNOWNOW , on Twitter for quite a few weeks. It has already been described as "Absurd Punk music" by steel tipped dove (@steeltippeddove) himself. An old Das Racist affiliate, dove has either produced, engineered, or mixed projects for a wide array of artists, including Armand Hammer , Astronautalis, Big Baby Gandhi , Darko The Super, milo/scallops hotel , safari al, billy woods , and Zilla Rocca. NOSAJ AKA Nature Boy Jim Kelly, Nosaj The Great & Jason Furlow is an emcee and producer, likely, best known for his work with 90's Psych-Rap troupe, New Kingdom . Furlow has since recorded and released music with David Byrne (Talk...

PHOTO SOURCE: Spag (photographer unknown) 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 few choice words, and st...

The Pathetx were a "transitional" Detroit-based Punk band originally, albeit briefly, active during the early 80's and were often credited with bridging the gap between Punk & Hardcore in its earliest aughts. The Pathetx 's core line-up consisted of frontman Mark Leavitt , lead guitarist Greg Kutcher , rhythm guitarist Tom McHenry , bassist Michael "Mick" Goldwater AKA Filthy McNasty , and drummer Ted Meek AKA Iggy Moon . The Pathetx quickly became infamous for their extremely fast-paced original compositions, zany covers, and spirited live shows, which were often filled with slam dancing, stage diving, and blood-drenched sweaty teens. The band frequented Nunzio's, as well as local venues, Bookie's Club 870, The Freezer Theater, and The Red Carpet. "The shows were fueled with blood and destruction. Bloodied faces, fists, broken guitars, cymbals, and limbs all became part of the show," boasts a recent Third Man Records press release...

This past Saturday night, The Carolina Hurricanes squared off against The Toronto Maple Leafs . It was a bit of a nail-biter, to say the least, and The Hurricanes ended up beating The Maple Leafs in a miraculous 6-3 victory. Although, the most astonishing attribute on the ice Saturday night might have been when, in a pinch, The Canes had to turn to 42-year-old emergency back-up goalie (or E.B.U.G.) David "Dave" Ayres to help finish out the game. Ayres was called in midway through the second period when both goalies Petr Mrazek AND James Reimer were forced to exit the game due to injury. Regularly, David Ayres is a Zamboni driver for The AHL's Toronto Marlies and on that fateful night, was the E.B.U.G. for both The Hurricanes & The Maple Leafs . A feat unto itself, Ayres, was, then, able to block eight out of the 10 shots attempted on goal, while, also, scoring a shot on goal of his own. "E.B.U.G." by The Zambonis Saturday night, Adam Gretz at NB...

William J. Sullivan is a producer, engineer, composer, and multi-instrumentalist now based out of Los Angeles, but originally hailing from Philly. He's released music, over the years, on his own label, Wreckin' Joint Productions , as/with Architects of A Broken Design , Memo, Priesticide , and Upon Creation, as well as under his own. We first heard about William J. Sullivan when he produced "Make The Sickness, Sell The Cure" from Zilla Rocca 's phenomenal 2019 album, Future Former Rapper . Sullivan's Discogs page additionally lists Technical (Engineering) work on The Harlem Experiment 's 2007 self-titled album, Leilolai, Zilla Rocca & The Shadow Boxers' No Vacation for Murder , Kanye West's The Life of Pablo , "Champions" with Gucci Mane, Big Sean, 2 Chainz, Travi$ Scott, Yo Gotti, Quavo & Desiigner, ye , and Kids See Ghosts with Kid Cudi, and ScHoolboy Q 's Blank Face LP . Architects of A Broken Design is a Metal/Hardco...

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 few choice words, and still have yet to hear from a few more. We...

James Reitano is a director, animator, graphic designer, illustrator, and devout Skinhead. No, not THAT kind of "Skinhead!" A different kind of Skinhead... one often motivated by social alienation and working-class solidarity, who could often be seen wearing their hair close-cropped or shaven and working-class clothing, such as Dr. Martens/steel-toe work boots, braces, high-rise and varying length straight-leg jeans, and button-down collar shirts, usually, slim-fitting in check or plain. Skinhead Punk/Reggae was initially popular in The United Kingdom during the 1960's and experienced a second wave of popularity through the mid-70's to early 80's world-wide. Reitano currently runs a "tradition Skin-zine" out of Santa Cruz, California called Boots N Booze (or @bootsnboozemagazine on Instagram ) which regularly posts archival photos, nostalgic show flyers, sought-after 7/12-inch covers, and Skin-centric nuggets of information. James Reitano, also, runs a ...

CREDIT: Spencer Chamberlain (Ngagency) Choice to Make is a Hardcore band from the ever-growing Wilkes-Barre/Scranton scene, which consists of WORN, One Step Closer, Cold World, Final Descent, Heart Out, Frostbite, True Identity, and more. Choice to Make is made up of members of One Step Closer, Strength for A Reason & WORN; consisting of vocalist Nate, guitarist Caleb, second guitarist Ryan, bassist T.K. and drummer Adam. Nate, Caleb, Ryan, T.K. & Adam previously released a self-titled demo in 2018 on 12Forty Records and a Promo 2019 EP (boasting a Dracula cover!) through Street of Hate fan'zine. Now, they're returned with a new EP entitled Vicious Existence through Baltimore-based Flatspot Records. We recently received a press release from a firm managing Flatspot Records, which readily compares Choice to Make's sound across the EP to "early Biohazard, late 80's Agnostic Front, and Underdog." It does have a bit of an underlying Thrash Metal vibe, co...

"Luke Sick is, also, working with Toronto beat-maker Andrew Nolan AKA WOLFAGRAM (Intensive Care, Column of Heaven) for a full-length tape release through IRON LUNG Records. The working title is: Yegg War..." read a blurb in the June 2019 installment of 36CrazyFists . 36CF is a digital/emailed 'zine run by SPAZZ's Dan Lactose AKA DJ Eons One. In addition to SPAZZ, Lactose has recorded and released music with Superbad, Funeral Shock, DANK GOBLINS, Deny The Cross, Grand Invincible/Collab, Underbucket, and CCCRRCCSSLLRRKKRRSSS, as well as a gaggle of other bands and runs his own label imprint, Tinted Windows Record Co. A few of the aforementioned groups have been with Megakut Records & Gurp City's own Luke Sick AKA Clell Miller & J. Luke Oakson. Earlier this morning, some additional details and release specifics concerning Yegg War have been properly announced to the masses: LUKE SICK & WOLFAGRAM's Yegg War project will be released on cassette and di...

Ian, Joe & Amy (CORIKY) 2019 Fort Reno, Washington, DC / CREDIT: Claire Packer Not only has Alec MacKaye returned with his first active band in 20+ years, HAMMERED HULLS , his brother, Ian MacKaye , has now re-surfaced with a newly-minted group of his own: CORIKY [pronounced: "ko-ri-kee."] Supposedly, coriky is "a dice game, like liar's poker," according to photographer Mark R. Bacon. A recent Dischord Records press release simply explains, " Coriky is a band from Washington, DC. Amy Farina plays drums. Joe Lally plays bass. Ian MacKaye plays guitar. All sing. Formed in 2015, Coriky did not play their first show until 2018. They have recorded one album. They hope to tour." In their earliest aughts, CORIKY , then-unnamed, were often billed as "Amy Ian Joe (Name Unknown,)" "Ian, Amy & Joe," and, I've heard, at one point, were even toying with going by The Odds ; an homage to husband and wife, Ian MacKaye & ...

CREDIT: Eric Palozzolo, 2019 (Left) & Tim Piumarta, 1987-ish (Right) DRAIN is a Santa Cruz, California-based Metal-tinged Crossover/Hardcore Punk band, who are, seemingly, obsessed with sharks; particularly, late 90's crime-fighting half-man/half-sharks and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles knock-off, Street Sharks . DRAIN first commissioned Raul Cruz to design some Street Sharks-like characters to be featured across the cover for their 2-track Promo 2018 EP , which was, later, slightly modified as the Default picture for the band's Twitter profile, drain831 (@drain831.) Behind the bloodthirsty sharks, DRAIN consists of vocalist Sam "Sammy" Ciaramitaro , guitarist Cody "Codster" Chavez , bassist Justin Rhode , and drummer Tim "Timmy" Flegal . Now, DRAIN have returned with a new single, "Sick One," from their full-length debut, CALIFORNIA CURSED , which, also, boasts shark-laden artwork. It's an adorable little "Baby"...

CREDIT: Katie Neuhof (Pure Noise Records) Spanish Love Songs are a five-piece Los Angeles-based Punk/Indie Rock band consisting of guitarist and vocalist Dylan Slocum , guitarist Kyle McAulay , bassist Trevor Dietrich , drummer Ruben Duarte , and keyboardist Meredith Van Woert . Initially formed in 2014, Spanish Love Songs have released two fill-length albums and an EP on Wiretap Records, Bearded Punk Records, Uncle M Music, and A-F Records. Spotify and Bandcamp, also, list an additional Name-Your-Price album-length collection entitled LITTLE GIANTS from 2016, which appears to consist primarily of acoustic/demo recordings. Currently abroad on a three-week UK/EU tour supporting The Menzingers , Spanish Love Songs just released their third highly-anticipated album, Brave Faces Everyone , this past Friday, via Pure Noise Records . Brave Faces Everyone was preceded by three pre-album singles/music videos, "Losers," "Kick," and most recently, "Beachfront Pro...

Late last night, I noticed a Tweet from Roughneck Jihad (@roughneckjihad) which read, "Check our this continent-spanning Hip-Hop collaboration with the beat and cuts by @AwkwardUK and the rhyme by yours truly, Roughy Rough ." It included a mysterious YouTube link labelled "MC Roughneck Jihad and DJ Awkward "Dromedary."' Bay Area emcee Roughneck Jihad and Bristol, UK-based producer Awkward have, in fact, collaborated before, but, seemingly, not to this degree. Awkward mastered Jihad 's 2018 Red Herring Mixtape and years prior, produced "Amen" & "Barbarian" from Third Sight 's 2016 album, IV . Within a 2018 All-around Breakdown for his Red Herring Mixtape , Roughneck Jihad told The Witzard, "in addition, [ Awkward ] is remixing a narrative/comic book album, The Red Sentence , for me." Supposedly, according to Awkward , "DROMEDARY" is "just a taster and there will be more to come. Perhaps, so...

CREDIT: James Grottola (Flatspot Records) TYPECASTE is a "Long Boston" (Long Island/Boston)-based 90's Metalcore-leaning Punk/Hardcore band. As of February 2020, TYPECASTE is signed to Baltimore imprint, Flatspot Records , and consists of frontman Dylan Carlo and additional members, Sean, Joey, Ray & Marazzo —yes, it's nearly impossible to find their last names online! Following a self-titled 2017 DEMO EP and critically-acclaimed creature of habit EP (2018) TYPECASTE have returned with their third consecutive EP entitled BETWEEN LIFE . Late last month, world-renown Heavy Metal magazine, KERRANG! ran an exclusive premiere of pummeling BETWEEN LIFE EP track, "Traverse," and now, The Hard Times & Pure Noise Records' HARD NOISE has run their own "ALBUM PREMIERE" of the full 4-track EP. Although, it clocks in at less than 12 minutes total, BETWEEN LIFE really is a skull-crusher, honestly, more so indebted to Metal/Metalcore than...

Jade Hairpins quietly released a 12-inch/digital single on Merge Records back in October 2018 consisting of two 7+ minute-long tracks, "Mother Man" & "Gracefully." Discogs list their Genre/Style as Electronic, Rock, Pop, Synth-Pop, and Indie Rock and Jade Hairpins themselves label their genre as "Alternative" on Bandcamp. I'm, personally, reminded a bit of the bleeps and blips of The Bravery, The Cure, Four Tet, LCD Soundsystem, and New Order. Seemingly, out of nowhere, Monday afternoon, Merge Records (@mergerecords) mysteriously Tweeted , "~ t o m o r r o w ~," along with a 9-second video and a glowing Jade Hairpins logo. As promised, the following day, Tuesday, February 4, 2020, @mergerecords Tweeted, "Hhhhhaayyyyyeeeeelllllloooo! Back in 2018, Jade Hairpins emerged mysteriously like a pair of cranes from a tall grove, shared their immediately danceable debut 12-inch single, "Mother Man" B/W "Gracefully,...

Monday morning, self-described "Rap singer, song-writer, beat-maker, and pal" Donovan "ialive" Phillips quietly announced he'll be releasing his fourth (fifth?) solo studio album, I'LL WAIT FOREVER , later this month. It will be his fourth consecutive release with Baltimore-based Cold Rhymes Records run and operated by Dan "Height" Keech & MISTER AKA Cool Guy Bry . We first heard about ialive through an interview posted by John "Jumbled" Bachman on his blog a few years back with both Donnie & Darko The Super , together, billed as The Hellhole Store . ialive 's Height Keech -produced TIMEWAVE ZERO (2017) and self-produced follow-up, DON'T DO NOTHING (2019) were, easily, two of our favorite Hip-Hop albums of the last few years. I'LL WAIT FOREVER is the direct follow-up to ialive 's Odds & Ends-style 2019 EP, ODD ORTS , which boasts remixes from both Juan Cosby & Unsung. Now, it appears as though this...