Guts of The Ice - An Exploration of "Puck" Rock/Hockey-core #1: Crippled Youth - Join The Fight 7-inch (New Beginning/Revelation Records)

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'll be running those interviews, as well as features, profiles, etc. in the coming weeks. EDITOR'S NOTE: be warned, while I'm a casual hockey fan, I DO NOT claim to be an "expert" on the sport, nor will I EVER claim to know "everything" about hockey-themed Punk/Hardcore. Now, let's just try to have some fun and learn more about the sub-genre together!

This week's inaugural band is Crippled Youth, which seems to have been a very short-lived band and later, morphed into BOLD. Unfortunately, we didn't get a Response back from anyone in Crippled Youth/BOLD... but Revelation Records' owner and co-founder Jordan Cooper was kind enough to send us a couple pertinent REVHQ FUN FACT installments concerning both hockey-themed Punk/Hardcore and Crippled Youth's iconic 1986 7-inch, Join The Fight. While it isn't exactly "Puck" Rock, it's been stressed to us, by numerous people, that this 7-inch EP/cover was very important to the sub-genre, as well as the genres as a whole. You can learn more about Crippled Youth, Youth Crew Hardcore, and the so-called "Jock Punk" look at Rolling Stone. Special shout-outs are due to Dan Lactose, Dave "Zamboni" Schneider from THE ZAMBONIS, "Captain" Jeff Kaplan from Two Man Advantage, Jordan Cooper, Adam Lentz & David "Igby" Sattanni at Revelation Records, Christian Wagner at Pirates Press Records, Dave "Sausage" Walling from The Boils/Six Feet Under Records, and John Bachman, who helped coordinate this fine mess! Enj-Oi! our latest column, Guts of The Ice - An Exploration of "Puck" Rock/Hockey-core, and stay safe out on the ice, my friends! 💀🏒⛸️

Sincerely,

Matt "The Witzard" Horowitz
Puck Rock/Hardcore Purveyor

5/2/14
---------------------------
REVHQ FUN FACT
---------------------------
If you've seen the Crippled Youth - Join The Fight 7" cover and aren't steeped in sports history, you may have wondered what the origin of the hockey photo was and how it ended up on the cover of the record.

The photo was taken by Roger St. Jean after the 1952 Stanley Cup Semi-Finals with The Bruins & The Canadiens. During the seventh game at The Montreal Forum, Maurice "The Rocket" Richard of The Canadiens was bleeding from a concussion suffered earlier in the game, when he returned in the Third Period to score the winning goal. In that play, he skated end-to-end, weaving through The Bruins players, out in front of the net, and put the puck behind startled [Bruins] goaltender "Sugar" Jim Henry. After the game, Henry shook hands with Richard in what became one of the most famous sports images of all time.

We asked Crippled Youth bassist Tim Brooks about it and this is what he had to say: "as for the hockey player image, my father is a huge hockey fan and sports memorabilia collector. He has a 2' x 3' print of the [picture] hanging on the wall in his home office. Matt, Drew & I liked the idea of these rivals coming together at the end of a brutal game and shaking hands." Check out the Crippled Youth cover and original image here.

[W]reckless, Topless American Youth: Lana del Rey - "Born 2 Die" (Britney Spears Birthday 30)

Lana del Rey [Lizzy Grant] effectively became 2011's "It Girl" with the release of her phenomenal debut single, "Video Games" (Stranger) . Like many struggling singer-songwriters, Grant has been signed, dropped, and significantly changed her public image since bursting onto the scene (2009). With that said, it can be assumed that Lana del Rey has collected just as many "haters" as she has avid supporters. To be perfectly honest, the only other artist I can think of that made this much commotion... garnered so much wide-spread buzz/hate and critical acclaim -- right out of the gates -- with just one track is Britney Spears . And maybe in this post- Mike musical era, that's the true synthesis of Pop Culture: Britney Lynn Spears . After months of repeated teasing and speculation, Lana del Rey 's major label debut, Born 2 Die will [finally] be released this coming Jan. 30-31, 2012. Pitchfork reports that it will feature "Off to The Ra

"Let Me Shine for You:" Lindsay Lohan for Playboy (Winter 2011-12 Leak)

Lindsay Lohan essentially embodies exactly "What NOT to Do In Hollywood :" Fame, fortune, success... sex, drugs & Rock "N" Roll . Within a fairly short period of time, Lohan somehow managed to obtain a plentiful helping of POWER @ a very young age. This gradual rise-downfall was captured on film; Between 1998-2010, she portrayed a wide array of roles across the silver screen in movies including: Mean Girls, Bobby , Herbie Fully Loaded , Georgia Rule, Machete , and Freaky Friday . Between rapid-paced film shoots, Lindsay Lohan also found time to record 2 Pop Rock albums for Casablanca , Speak (2004) and A Litter More Personal-Raw (2005). Needless to say, Lindsay Lohan has gotten roped up in a lot of troubles and woes with the law over the last 3-5 years... a vicious cycle of drugs, arrest, court, rehab, "daddy issues," jail time [Repeat]. That's the pure basics of it - But Google that shit for additional info, if necessary. Towards the end of

Ex-Rufio Guitarist Clark Domae Talks New/Old EP with Scott Sellers As BigCity (The Witzard Interview)

Fontana, California-based artist Clark Domae was a driving force behind the success of early 2000's Pop-punk/Emo pioneers Rufio. Domae played lead guitar and sang back-up vocals across Rufio's four critically-acclaimed albums, as well as a handful of singles and EP's, released between 2001-10. Domae was part of Rufio's initial run between 2000-07 and reunion stints held in 2010-12 and 2015. During their heyday, Rufio toured alongside of bands like Alkaline Trio, Brand New, Less Than Jake, Relient K, Senses Fail, and Taking Back Sunday. Since Rufio's 2007 disbandment, Clark Domae has started a family, gone back to school, maintains a "normal" job, and still plays guitar from time to time after his kids go to bed. Clark played guitar on "Drugs" from his one-time bandmate Scott Sellers' 2018 solo EP The Judge and most recently, revitalized an old band with Sellers and Aaron Fernandez. BigCity's awesomely-titled The Quest for Power EP con

The Witzard

Search This Blog