The Witzard

Honestly, at this point in time, Run The Jewels (RTJ) should require absolutely no introduction... but, just to be safe, here's a brief/obligatory introduction: RTJ consists of rapper/producer and Definitive "Def" Jux co-founder El-P and emcee and OutKast affiliate Killer Mike . Legend has it, El & Mike first met on the set of Mr. Muthaf**kin' eXquire's "The Last Huzzah" (Remix) music video shoot. Soon after, [adult swim] Senior Vice President/Creative Director Jason DeMarco—then, at Williams Street Records—connected Killer Mike with El-P , who would produce his phenomenal 2012 album, R.A.P. Music. Mike , additionally, appeared alongside El on his own 2012 Fat Possum Records album, Cancer 4 Cure, on stand-out track, "Tougher Colder Killer." R.A.P. Music & Cancer 4 Cure were released weeks apart, so fast friends Killer Mike & El-P decided to tour together behind their then-new albums. After the widespread success of said tou...

Liberty & Justice are a Street Rock "N" Roll/Punk/Oi! band hailing from Houston, Texas, whose current line-up consist of frontman Ryan "Crowns" Taylor , drummer Cory "Gaza" Parker , bassist Edwin Carson , and guitarists Halston Luna & Ramzi Beshara . Collectively, Liberty & Justice 's members either have played or currently play with Black Coffee , Darkbuster, Fm359 (ex-Dropkick Murphys,) Fun Haunts, The Killer Hearts , Peloton, Poizon , Roger Miret & The Disasters, Thug Boots , Trash Magz, and tWeezer . Liberty & Justice self-release their self-titled demo/debut EP in 2017-18, followed by a 2018 split EP with The Abductors entitled Short Haired Rock n' Roll on Arrest Records, their full-length debut, 4 ALL , on LA-based imprint Crowd Control Media , and, most recently, a single-sided limited edition 2019 cassette tape (re-released digitally as Just Us ) on sister sound. Now, amidst the global Coronavirus/COVID-19 Pandemic...

EPIC BEARD MEN (CREDIT: Steve Mitchell) Exactly one year ago today (well, actually, this weekend,) Sage Francis & B. Dolan released their proper full-length debut together as EPIC BEARD MEN entitled This Was Supposed to Be Fun. EPIC BEARD MEN, or just EBM, put together what many, including us, considered one of the strongest and most fun albums of 2019; for the festivities, B. Dolan & Sage Francis brought along a few friends, including Slug from Atmosphere, Blue Raspberry (Wu-Tang Clan,) Vockah Redu, Eligh, and Yugen Blakrok. We were fortunate enough to speak with both Sage Francis & B. Dolan around te time of This Was Supposed to Be Fun's wide release for an exclusive interview here at The Witzard. Today, in honor of said one-year anniversary, Sage Francis' label imprint Strange Famous Records released a special Name-Your-Price remix of EPIC BEARD MEN's "Man Overboard" to help commemorate the occasion. Not exactly a blink-182 remix, as some of you...

Fake Names is a Punk/Hardcore super-group consisting of vocalist Dennis Lyxzén (Refused, INVSN, SAMURAI,) guitarist/vocalist Brian Baker (Minor Threat, Bad Religion, Dag Nasty,) second lead guitarist/vocalist Michael Hampton (Embrace, The Faith, S.O.A.) bassist Johnny Temple (Girls Against Boys, Soulside, New Wet Kojak,) and, sometimes, drummer Matt Schulz (SAVAK, Holy F*ck, Enon.) "I'm in a new band with some friends from elementary school(!) and a sharp-dressed revolutionary from Sweden," Brian Baker (@brianbakers) posted on Instagram Wednesday morning; of course, referring to Hampton, Temple, and Lyxzén, respectively. Again, it appears as though Schulz is a part-time members of Fake Names , having played live with the band in their early aughts, although, their newly-launched website adds, " Matt [Schulz] played the drums. No synthesizers," within, what appears to be, digital liner notes. Guitarists Brian Baker & Michael Hampton first started j...

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...

Don't Panic are a Rock "N" Roll/Power Pop band hailing from Northeast, Pennsylvania and founded in 2009. Don't Panic 's current line-up consists of guitarist/frontman Ted "Panic" Felicetti , bassist Keith Slader , drummer Anthony Paesano , and guitarist AJ Larsen . I believe, I saw Don't Panic at one of their first shows at Hangar 84 right here in Vineland, NJ around 2009-10 on a tour behind their debut EP, My Fairweather Friend . It appears as though Don't Panic were active for a little while longer, released a follow-up crowd-funded demo EP called The Fix , a 2-track EP entitled Why The Fifties Were Better , went through some line-up changes, and broke up... but have no fear, Don't Panic have since re-formed and are back in full-force!!! From what we can gather, it sounds like Don't Panic will be self-releasing a series of singles, which will, eventually, be re-released as a more full-length project later this year. Don't Panic...

Last year, Los Angeles emcee Alex Ludovico continued his ongoing #MedicineMondays weekly singles series and this year, he's doing something similar with #RewindWednesdays. His Bandcamp page explains, "Drugs, sex, and Hip-Hop. Alex Ludovico, born in Gary, IN and created in Chicago, is the living embodiment of that credo." One of our personal favorite moments from 2019's #MedicineMondays roll-out was Ludovico's collaborative EP with fellow Chicagoan Jason Griff entitled SCARF TISSUE. Upon returning from our honeymoon to Italy, we immediately linked up with Griff & Alex Ludovico, via email, to talk about their phenomenal SCARF TISSUE EP. They were kind enough to help us assemble a comprehensive track-by-track (All-around) Breakdown for SCARF TISSUE. Now, following a string of one-off singles, Alex Ludovico & Jason Griff have returned with the first proper EP of #RewindWednesdays, THE RED MAN IS HERE. RUN. For THE RED MAN IS HERE. RUN. Griff & Alex Lu...

KOYO 2020 Promo - CREDIT: Tyler Andrew KOYO is a new Long Island Hardcore (LIHC) band hailing from Suffolk County. KOYO—which appears to mean "come here" in Japanese—consists of Sal Argennto, Joey Chiaramonte, Harold Griffin, Mike "Marazzo" Marazzo, TJ Rotolico, and 21-year-old pro wrestler Stephen "Steve" Spanos. Collectively, five of KOYO's six members have spent time playing with Adrenaline, HANGMAN, Rain of Salvation, SeeYouSpaceCowboy, Soul Provider, and TYPECASTE in recent years; arguably, some of the most frantic, guttural, ear drum-shattering Punk/Hardcore bands active in the scene today. KOYO make a very specific brand of early 2000's Emo/Melodic Hardcore that harkens back to, according to Chiaramonte, Taking Back Sunday, The Movielife, Silent Majority, Glassjaw, Crime In Stereo, Brand New, and Capital. Exclaim! compares KOYO's sound to Title Fight & Lifetime and I would even go as far as to list Vinnie Caruana's new band, C...

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...

HARD FOUL at KFJC 89.7FM's "Wall," 2020 (SOURCE: @DanLactose) HARD FOUL is a new Punk/Hardcore band consisting of bassist/vocalist Frank Ripple , guitarist Dan Lactose , vocalist Kurlee Daddee , and drummer Cris R. Collectively, HARD FOUL 's members have spent time playing with Agents of Satan, Deny The Cross, Elephantman, Kalmex & The Riff Merchants, Plutocracy, Radioactive Lunch, Redacted, CCCRRCCSSLLRRKKRRSSS, Dank Goblins, Funeral Shock, Grand Invincible, Happy? Shadow People, Shed Dwellaz, Sheep Squeeze, SPAZZ, Three Wheel Motion, Torture Unit, U.S.F. Underbucket, and DEADPRESSURE. However, with that said, HARD FOUL is Kurlee Daddee 's first time ever participating in a band as an official member! HARD FOUL recently played their "quarantine compatible" live debut on Los Altos Hills, California radio station KFJC 89.7FM this past Saturday, March 14, 2020 from 3-6:00pm with These Bastards . HARD FOUL 's 10-minute set included a select...

John Morrison Diggin' for Records (CREDIT: D1L0) John "Liberator" Morrison is a self-proclaimed "Writer/DJ/Sample-flipper" hailing from Philly. Morrison is the host of Serious Rap Sh!t & Culture Cypher Radio and lists NPR Music , okayplayer, The Wire Magazine , and Bandcamp amongst his writing credits. John Morrison , additionally, functions as a Hip-Hop emcee and producer with remix credits on Lushlife 's MY IDOLS ARE DEAD + MY ENEMIES ARE IN POWER and Career Crooks' Thieving As Long As I'm Breathing . Morrison's debut full-length project, Southwest Psychedelphia was released on Deadverse Recordings in 2016 and there's currently a slew of remixes, flips, and non-album tracks uploaded to his Bandcamp page. However, in recent years, John Morrison has been on a bit of a hiatus/medical leave... as Morrison himself puts it, "on March 3, 2018, I was hospitalized with Flu-like symptoms and a searing headache. After nearly two weeks...

At this point in time, Jay Electronica and his long-rumored debut album have both become something of an enigma... although, with endless false start-ups and album "announcements," early this morning, 13 years after dropping Act I: Eternal Sunshine (the pledge) Jay Elect has finally dropped his debut album, A Written Testimony. Timothy Elpadaro Thedford or Elpadaro F. Electronica Allah, better known as Jay Electronica, first burst onto the Indie Hip-Hop scene in 2007 with "Act I." As its title suggests, Electronica primarily rhymes over the Jon Brion-scored soundtrack to Jim Carrey's award-winning film Eternal Sunshine of The Spotless Mind and features soundbites throughout from Erykah Badu & Just Blaze. Since then, Jay Elect has, technically, only "officially" released a handful of tracks, including, "Exhibit A," "Exhibit C," "Letter to Falon," "Shiny Suit Theory," "A Prayer for Micheal Vick & T.I....