The Witzard

We've been rockin' with DJ Ragz & Unown ever since they released a scrumptious, mouth-watering collection of beats called Pasta & Wings on San Diego-based Common Good Records in 2018. DJ Ragz is a world-class DJ and turntablist hailing from Virginia. While he's well-known for his battle appearances (DMC, Scribble Jam, Scion, Coast 2 Coast, etc.) he's also known as a member of the Hip-Hop group Jazz Addixx and as the co-creator of break record series, The Bare Bones. Ragz was most recently part of Man Bites Dog Records' 2019 yuletide Hip-Hop comp. Happy Holidays. Unown is a DC-based producer, engineer, and DJ currently traveling the world and rocking stages on the MPC as part of Oddisee's band, Good Compny. Also known as a member of Jazz Addixx, when Unown's not jet-setting across the world, he's either holed up in the studio working on tracks or DJ'ing around DC/Philly. Unown & DJ Ragz's next sonic platter, Burgers & Sliders, was...

Constant Elevation for Revelation Records (CREDIT: Julian Gilbert) Punk/Hardcore drummer, musician, and producer Sammy Siegler has been making music since about 1987-88. Siegler's more well-known projects include CIV, Gorilla Biscuits, Judge, Nightmare of You, Project X, RIVAL SCHOOLS, Shelter, Side By Side, WORLD BE FREE, and Youth of Today, but he's, also, recorded music with the likes of Glassjaw, Head Automatica, Limp Bizkit, and Tech N9ne. Supposedly, Sammy Siegler still plays basketball with Beastie Boy Adam "Ad-Rock" Horovitz, who even remixed "69 Guns" from RIVAL SCHOOLS' 2011 album, Pedals. Sammy's latest group, Constant Elevation, started out as a two-man project with Vinnie Caruana (The Movielife, I Am The Avalanche, Peace'd Out) and released a self-titled 2019 EP on Revelation Records. Constant Elevation's 2020 line-up features Siegler & Caruana, along with guitarist Mike Ireland, bassist Jani Zubkovs, and their newest memb...

"BE WELL is a new band with deep roots. Musically, it's emotionally gripping with an expertly-executed blend of Melodic Hardcore with notes of 90's Post-hardcore influence," explains their newly-minted Discogs page. BE WELL were, seemingly, formed at the top of 2020 and are signed to Equal Vision Records and released a self-titled 7-inch EP earlier this year. BE WELL's line-up consists of frontman Brian McTernan, bassist Aaron Dalbec, drummer Shane Johnson, and guitarists Mike Schleibaum & Peter Tsouras. Collectively, BE WELL's players either are or were members of Ashes, Bane, Battery, Beasts of No Nation, Biology, Converge, Daltonic, Darkest Hour, Fairweather, Mancake, Miltown, Only Crime, Ten Yard Fight, and Velocity Engine. Brian "Fury" McTernan, additionally, owns and operates his own DC/Baltimore-based recording studio, Salad Days Studio, as well as off-site locations Salad Days 2-4. Brian Fury has produced, mixed, recorded, engineered...

Liberty & Justice are a Houston, Texas-based Punk, Hardcore Skinhead & Oi! group. Their current line-up consists of frontman Ryan "Crowns" Taylor, bassist Edwin Carson, drummer Cory "Gaza" Parker, and guitarists Halston Luna & Ramzi Beshara. Since forming in 2016, Liberty & Justice have released a full-length, 4 All (2019) on Crowd Control media, as well as numerous singles, EP's, and splits. Prior to The COVID-19 Pandemic and Nation-wide shutdowns, Liberty & Justice had, apparently, been working on their follow-up to 4 All. However, it was quickly brought to a screeching halt a few months ago, along with many of Liberty & Justice's members' own small businesses. Back at the end of March, Liberty & Justice quietly released their own impassioned Punk/Oi! rendition of Robyn's 2020 Dance-Pop/Disco smash-hit, "Dancing On My Own." It was accompanied by a remotely-recorded and socially-distant music video recorded, e...

1986 Boston Globe TV38 WSBK Friday The 13th Ad (SOURCE: Bob O'Rourke) 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, ...

SPEED's 2020 Flex (CREDIT: Jay Wennington) SPEED are an Australian Hardcore band and new signees to Baltimore-based Flatspot Records. SPEED's line-up consists of mmebers only known as Jem, Dennis, Aaron, Joshua "Josh," and Kane with little else widely known. However, a press release explains, "the majority of SPEED's members are of Southeast Asian descent; drawing strength from its members' diverse cultural perspectives, SPEED makes it a point to stand up, not only against racism and xenophobia, but, also, the toxic masculinity and gender prejudices that have crept their way into Hardcore." SPEED have only been around for a few short years, but produce a very unique brand of pummeling 90's-reminiscent Metallic Hardcore. SPEED's Old School Hardcore sound evokes comparisons to greats, such as Madballs, Biohazard, and Agnostic Front. Last year, SPEED released their debut collection on Australian imprint Last Ride Records , a 5-song demo simply...

The Clash - Combat Rock "Punk Note" Cover By: John Yates for Stealworks (@stealworks) I've, admittedly, been on a Clash kick lately during quarantine... well, pretty much all things even remotely Clash-related: I've recently re-visited 1977's The Clash, as well as Combat Rock, Big Audio Dynamite/Big Audio Dynamite II's sample-laden discography, Joe Strummer & The Mescaleros' early 2000's Hellcat Records albums, 2018 career-spanning comp. Joe Strummer 001, and, of course, Johnny Cash & Joe Strummer's "Redemption Song" cover/duet from CASH UNEARTHED. It's pretty amazing to me, while primarily Punk Rock/New Wave-based, how much sampling exists within The Clash and its members related projects' music. For example: "Rock The Casbah" features an electronic sound effect beginning at the 1:52-minute point of the song. This noise is a monophonic version of the song "Dixie." The sound effect source was generat...

For this week's installment of Guts of The Ice, we decided to do something a bit different: have THE ZAMBONIS' mascot, The Hockey Monkey, interview Eddie Crossczyk, Slewfoot Foose, Mark Wrecky, Donny Brook & Andhe Scores from Light The Lamp! Light The Lamp (LTL) recently released three music videos from their debut EP, TILLY TIME: "Bring Back The Whale" & "Playoff Beard" remotely-recorded from Quarantine and "2 Minutes." If interested, you can read our previous Guts of The Ice interviews with both The Hockey Monkey AND Light The Lamp right here . Anyways, take it away, Hockey Monkey... "I watched and enjoyed the videos! The first one, "Bring Back The Whalers," would be a perfect match for a split single with THE ZAMBONIS. We, also, have a song about losing The Whalers (and other teams.) We could do it on Whalers Green vinyl! Also, love the footage of Pucky The Whale. Hence, my inspiration for the mascot question. The secon...

Adam Schlesinger was a prolific musician, songwriter, composer, record producer, and co-owner of Stratosphere Sound . Unfortunately, Schelsinger passed away this past April due to complications from COVID-19 at 52 years of age. Adam Schlesinger was most notably, a founding member of Fountains of Wayne , as well as Fever High , Ivy, Rogue Oliphant , and Tinted Windows. Additionally, Schlesinger contributed to a number of soundtracks, including Crazy Ex-Girlfriend , Tom Hank's That Thing You Do! There's Something About Mary , Me, Myself & Irene, Josie & The Pussycats , Scary Movie, Fever Pitch , Orange County, and Two Weeks Notice . Adam Schlesinger even produced and mixed records for America , Dashboard Confessional, Fastball , Ben Lee, The Monkees , Motion City Soundtrack, Led Zeppelin 's Robert Plant , They Might Be Giants, The Verve Pipe , and more. Saving for a Custom Van by Rachel Bloom Since his passing, Fountains of Wayne reunited to perform "Stac...

First time we ever saw/heard was at a Greedhead Records showcase at a Das Racist concert held at Union Transfer in Philly around 2012-13. Prior to Das Racist 's headlining set, attendees were treated to sets from signees to Himanshu "Heems" K. Suri 's now-defunct imprint, Greedhead : SAFE , LE1F, Lakutis , and Weekend Money. Das Racist 's set, from what would be their final tour, was pretty great, as expected... but the opening acts were equally phenomenal! Weekend Money (W$ ) were hands down, our personal favorite! Honestly, I don't think NE$$ & Baghdaddy had even released their debut EP, Naked City , at the time. Since, W$ self-released their full-length, Freddie Merkury (2014) and have been teasing a proper follow-up ever since. It has been referred to as both The Death of Pablo , 8-Ball Emoji, and The Emperor Wears New Clothes during various stages of completion between 2014-20. While a number of singles from said third Weekend Money project ...

"At a combined weight of 845.6 lbs, The No-gimmick Hardcore Champions hailing from Buffalo, NY... PURE HEEL!!!" First formed in 2016, PURE HEEL play their own unique take on wrestling-influenced Hardcore/Punk. They're currently signed to Irish Voodoo Records and feature ex-members of Buried Alive, Despair, Kid Gorgeous, and Slugfest. PURE HEEL's current line-up includes frontman Eric "Doughy Ramone" Borawski, guitarists Jay "Captain Annoying" Galvin & Jesse "The Claw" Muscato, a bassist known only as The Mangler, and drummer Rob "The Boy" Ohlenschlager. PURE HEEL readily cite Black Flag, Circle Jerks, Suicidal Tendencies, and Youth of Today as major sources of inspiration and influence; in fact, PURE HEEL recently covered "Damaged I" on a 5-way split/tribute comp. to one-time Black Flag frontman Dez Cadena entitled Damaged By Dez. We've recently been communicating with PURE HEEL frontman Eric Borawski AKA Doug...

19 NOTES ON A BROKEN SYSTEM: A BENEFIT COMP. FOR AMISTAD LAW PROJECT & PHILADELPHIA COMMUNITY BAIL FUND is a benefit compilation organized by Derik Moore (Grey C.E.L.L. Citizens Arrest) and a bunch of his musical friends from in and around Philly. It was entirely coordinated, arranged, and released on both cassette tape and digital formats in just under two weeks as a direct result of the May 25, 2020 death of George Floyd, as well as "the institutionalized racism and brutality that has been perpetrated by police throughout American history." As its title suggests, 19 Notes On A Broken System boasts 19 tracks from artists located in and and around the Philadelphia area. Said comp. showcases contributions from DARK THOUGHTS , Crossed Keys, Interloper , Open City, Grey C.E.L.L. The Brood, Nightfall covering Discharge , L.M.I. Honey , Disappearances, Ungodly Hour , Ritual Earth, Solarized , The Ire, Swath of... Nothing Wrong, Erin Incoherent , THE RAMOMS, and The Dead...

The Very Best of Antichrist Decomcore 1" SOURCE: Antichrist Demoncore (@acxdc_666) Slap A Ham Records was a Hardcore Punk, Thrashcore, and Grindcore label from San Francisco, California owned and operated by Chris Dodge from 1990 until about 2007. Dodge himself either is or was part of Ancient Chinese Secret, Angry White Boys, Bacteria Cult, Burn Your Bridges, Despise You, Duh, East/West Blast Test, Electro Static Orchestra, Hellnation, Infest, Lack of Interest, Legion of Doom, Low Threat Profile, Marxbros, No Use for A Name, Pig Heart Transplant, SPAZZ, Stikky, To The Point, and, most recently, Trappist. Across their 17 years of operation, Slap A Ham released a number of novelty records 1-2" in size that were released as non-playable "toy" records; most notably, SPAZZ's own Funky A$$ Lil' Platter 1" Noise E.P. (1996) and legendary Tokyo Power Violence crew Slight Slappers' Very Best of Slight Slappers 2" (1998.) Now, in tribute to both of t...

Ever since nation/world-wide self-quarantines and and state-mandated stay at home orders, many bands, musical artists, comedians, etc. have been releasing remotely-recorded performances and music videos from their homes to ours. Two Minutes to Late Night (2M2LN) co-creators Jordan "Doctor Mayor" Olds & Drew "Diet Hellboy" Kaufman have been releasing their own brand of remotely-recorded covers; most times, featuring Olds in his Gwarsenio Hall hosting alter-ego backed by a band of merry misfits. 2M2LN's quarantine specials Metal-inflected boast covers of "Weird" Al Yankovic, Steely Dan, Ozzy Osbourne, Cher, Boston, Danzig, AC/DC, White Zombie, Guns N' Roses, and Kate Bush. All of these, collectively, featuring contributions from members of Mutoid Man, Cave In, Old Man Gloom, Converge, Khemmis, Thou, Spirit Adrift, High On Fire, The Dillinger Escape Plan, ROUGH FRANCIS, Baroness, Clutch, Wear Your Wounds, Fit for An Autopsy, Sleigh Bells, Poison...

Thou are a Sludge/Doom Metal band hailing from Baton Rouge, Louisiana formed in 2005. Their current line-up consists of guitarists Matthew Thudium, Andy Gibbs & K.C. Stafford , bassist Mitch Wells , drummer Tyler Coburn , and vocalist Bryan Funck . Thou have previously released music in conjunction with a wide variety of labels, such as Deathwish , [adult swim], Vendetta Records , Gilead Media, Thrill Jockey , Sacred Bones Records, and Get Better Records . Although, Thou 's latest effort was surprise-released this past Friday on Bandcamp Friday with Olympia, Washington-based imprint Robotic Empire . Blessings of The Highest Order consists entirely of Nirvana covers; featuring everything from Incesticide B-side "Aneurysm" to "In Bloom" from Nevermind all rendered in a Sludge Metal/Grunge style. In fact, most of the compositions from Blessings of The Highest Order have been previously released on past Thou recordings, aside from "Dive." ...

Tribute to George Floyd for @mic By: Dewey Bryan Saunders (@deweysaunders) This is a very rare occasion, but I'm at a loss for words... but, in all seriousness, these are very strange, upsetting, and uncertain times. Not only re we all grappling with separation anxiety, cabin fever, Fear of Missing Out (FOMO,) and extreme uncertainty amidst this global COVID-19/Coronavirus Pandemic, but, as you may have seen on the news, we're dealing with a whole other crisis now, as well: racial injustice. We're in no position to speak on behalf of The Black & Brown Communities, but anyone who was raised with any sense of morals, values, etc. knows whats going on right now across The United States, and, I'm assuming across the whole world everyday, is completely unjust and wrong. No one deserves to die based solely on their race, sexual orientation, religious beliefs, ideals and values, etc. and we, as an entity, stand in solidarity with The Black & Brown Communities. Today...