The Witzard

"I've always been a huge fan of Bracket. I love their unique sound and their catchy melodies. It all started with the idea to have them play my festival in Austria, SBÄM Fest. Every year I tried to fly them in just for the show. Without any luck so far—I still bother them and I won't give up until they play 😉 And since I'm a big fan of their music, I asked Angelo [Celli] if they have any unreleased stuff they wanna put out. The Rare Cuts songs are killer and they needed a proper release. So, Best of Würst (BOW) was born. [By the way,] Angelo came up with the title—I really love it. And here's a little spoiler... it doesn't end with BOW; we have some other plans for 2021. More news soon!" - SBÄM (@sbamrocks) Best Of Würst (2020) by Bracket 01. "[Do You Remember] Rock "N" Roll Radio" "We did this for an all-Ramones covers comp. album called Ramones Maniacs released in 2001 and played it pretty much in-line with the original,...

Nate Patrin Author Photo (CREDIT: Craig VanDerSchaegen) "So, I put together a [playlist] that comprises my favorite moments of Hip-Hop & Punk intersecting, intentionally or otherwise, from the old school to the current moment. It ranges from Downtown NYC Crossover efforts to sample flips to all-out collabos, and spans a broad range of both genres—so, it's more of a historical overview, than a cohesive snapshot of a particular sound. That said, I f**k with each and every one of these songs, 100%." With The Quickness #7: Nate Patrin's Adidas In The Pit/Punk Meets Hip-Hop Playlist 01. The Clash - "This Is Radio Clash" Samples: J. Bodewalt Lampe - "Mysterioso Pizzicato" 02. ESG - "UFO" Sampled By: The Notorious B.I.G. J Dilla, Big Daddy Kane, MF DOOM, Q-Tip, Public Enemy, Nine Inch Nails, and more 03. Liquid Liquid - "Cavern" Sampled By: Grand Master Melle Mel, Guru, Doug E. Fresh, The Notorious B.I.G. 2 Live Cr...

Los Angeles super-group/production team, Night Owls have returned with yet another pipin' hot slice of Reggae-infused Soul/Funk on wax, "Gossip" B/W "What'cha See Is What'cha Get." Just a quick refresher: Night Owls' core line-up consists of Dan Ubick (The Lions, Connie Price & The Keystones) on guitar, Blake Colie (Seu Jorge, The Lions) on drum kit, Dave "Wilder Style" Wilder (The Lions) on bass, and Roger Rivas (The Aggrolites, Jason Mraz) on organ and piano. Frequent The Witzard readers and vinyl enthusiasts alike may recall Night Owls from their previous two 7-inches, "There's A Break In The Road" B/W "Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler)" with Afrodyete and Terin Ector, respectively, or Durand Jones-assisted "This Christmas," both issued last year on LA-based F-Spot Records. Now, Dan Ubick, Blake Colie Dave Wilder & Roger Rivas have returned, again, joining forces with F-Spot Records for th...

Los Angeles Punk/Hardcore stalwarts Bad Religion have returned, as they always do, in our world's time of need with an updated version of one of their old favorites, "Faith Alone." Now, fittingly re-titled "Faith Alone 2020," this is Bad Religion's first sonic offering since their 2019 full-length, Age of Unreason. "Faith Alone" originally appeared within Bad Religion's 1990 full-length, Against The Grain , as well as re-appearing on '92 Epitaph comp. More Songs About Anger, Fear, Sex & Death, along with then-labelmates NOFX, Pennywise, Coffin Break, Dag Nasty, L7, Down By Law, Little Fingers, and Insted. Bad Religion have morphed their once raucous Punk/Melodic Hardcore track into one now complimented by acoustic piano and lush orchestral strings. Bad Religion singer and co-songwriter Greg Graffin explains, "I have always written songs on piano. Some of our earliest songs were written on my mom's piano." "I'...

Jesse Michaels is most widely known as the frontman of seminal "East Bay" Ska Punk band, Operation Ivy, which featured both Tim "Lint" Armstrong & Matt "McCall" Freeman, who would later go on to form Rancid. Operation Ivy (or Op Ivy) were only active from about 1987-89, but their '89 debut, Energy—later, re-packaged as Operation Ivy in 1991 and 2007 with additional EP and compilation tracks—helped shape the 90's Ska Punk genre and is often cited as one of the most influential releases across the genre. Michaels would go on to expand his creative talents across art, painting, and literature, as well, and went on to form a number of bands, including Big Rig, Common Rider, and Classics of Love. Jesse Michaels, additionally, guested on a wide array of albums, EP's, and releases by other artists in recent years, including Screeching Weasel, The Bruce Lee Band, Leftöver Crack, One Time Angels, Rise Against, and one-time bandmate Tim Armstrong...

Mr. Bungle 2020 Line-up (CREDIT: Eric Livingston) Mr. Bungle was Mike Patton's pre-Faith No More band, originally active from 1985-2004 and covered a gamut of styles ranging from Experimental Rock to Alternative Metal, Avant-garde Metal to Ska Punk, Thrash Metal to Jazz Fusion, and more. Mr. Bungle's core members from 1985-2000 (when they played their last live show) included Patton, along with guitarist Trey Spruance and bassist Trevor Dunn with additional members including Theo Lengyel, Jed Watts, Luke Miller, Scott Fritz, Hans Wagner, Danny Heifetz, and Clinton "Bär" McKinnon. In the 20 years since their initial dissolution, Mr. Bungle's members went on to form and play with Tomahawk, Fantômas, Dead Cross, Lovage, The Dillinger Escape Plan, Peeping Tom, Secret Chiefs 3, Faith No More, Weird Little Boy, Trevor Dunn's Trio-Convulsant, The Melvins (Lite,) Melt-Banana, Link Wray, UMLAUT, and many more. The Raging Wrath Of The Easter Bunny Demo by Mr. Bungle...

It's been 27 years since the world first heard Beck Hansen's Slacker Rap anthem, "Loser." Although, I would have been six at the time, I can vaguely recall hearing it just a few short years later. To be completely honest, Beck was the first White/Jewish rapper I had ever heard, aside from Beastie Boys Adam "MCA" Yauch, Michael "Mike D" Diamond, and Adam "Ad-Rock" Horovitz, of course. Beck would eventually recruit The Beasties' Paul's Boutique producers, The Dust Brothers, to helm his own cult classic, Odelay (1996) and a couple albums later, 1999's Midnite Vultures. Beck has always managed to effortlessly teeter the lines between Hip-Hop, Indie Rock, Folk, Alt. Country, Dance-Rock/Pop, etc. and even won Album of The Year GRAMMY for his 2014 effort, Morning Phase. Strangely, in stark contrast to Folk-leaning Morning Phase, Beck's two albums released since, Colors & Hyperspace, have been a bit more Mainstream Dance Roc...

Victor "Vic" Ruggiero is a Bronx, New York-based musician, producer, and multi-instrumentalist, who's best-known as the keyboardist and frontman of beloved Ska band, The Slackers. Ruggiero has, also, spent time playing with Stubborn All-Stars, Sic & Mad, SKAndalous All-Stars, Crazy Baldhead, Da Whole Thing, The Silencers, The Mooks, and Reggae Workers of The World. He's released several solo albums, EP's, and singles and has, additionally, been featured on recordings by Rancid, Transplants, P!NK, Tim Timebomb, and more. The Slackers recently released their latest 12-inch/digital single, "Nobody's Listening" B/W "Sleep Outside," as well as a vinyl re-issue of 2000's Live At Ernesto's! originally a CD-only release on Hellcat/Epitaph, with Pirates Press Records. Just a few months ago, we purchased a digital copy of Lauren Napier & Vic Ruggiero's collaborative Duets, Vol. 1 EP released on Chicago-based imprint Happy As A La...

Following a 3-4 year self-imposed sabbatical period, Travis Mills has made his triumphant return to music with his new band, girlfriends. Consisting of Mills on vocals/guitar and drummer Nick Gross, girlfriends have premiered their first fun-loving music video for "California" on YouTube, following a sneak peek on MTV's Friday Livestream last week. Fans might recognize Travis "T. Mills" Mills from his stint on MTV's Catfish spin-off, Ghosted, his popular Beats 1 show, or numerous acting gigs. Nick Gross is the founder of Big Noise, Gross Labs, and Find Your Grind and was once part of an unnamed "Pop-punk band featured prominently on Laguna Beach: The Real Orange County," according to a recent press release. Produced by the legendary John "Feldy" Feldmann (Goldfinger, blink-182, The Used, Good Charlotte) "California" is the perfect introduction to girlfriends. "Getting to shoot this video for "California" was an e...

Last time we featured graphic designer, self-described "crafty veteran Punk Rock curator," and producer Justin Mayer, otherwise known as Old City, he had constructed a mash-up EP fittingly titled BL_CK B_ST_RDS . Old City juxtaposed MF DOOM's villainous rhymes against the musical backbone of English Crust Punks, Doom for a double-dose of... Doom! We've been hearing rumblings about a similarly-minded Old City for the last few years, which would seamlessly meld together Punk/Hardcore & Hip-Hop. Said album has since been billed as "a Punk Rock Paul's Boutique," which, as The Witzard regulars will well know, is right up our alley! Old City has been gradually rolling out what, at the time, appeared to be stand-alone singles since October 1, 2019; it was, then, when Old City unleashed his debut single, "Get Sued" Feat. Tre Marsh & Olmec, which, somehow, managed to sample Green Day a whopping 32 times. Get it? "Get Sued," which, in...

Late last year, Los Angeles-based Punks Touché Amoré shared a mysterious new stand-alone single entitled "Deflector" in both physical and digital formats. It was a blood-churning chunk of three and a half-minute Post-hardcore/Screamo produced by Ross Robinson, whose credits include At The Drive-In, Glassjaw, Korn, Limp Bizkit, and Slipknot. "We need to take a chance with the unfamiliar. Someone who would take us out of our comfort zone. Enter: Ross Robinson, a man who knows no comfort zone. I followed his career all through my youth to being a young adult. When we returned from our recent Midwest tour, we entered the studio to record a song with Ross and see if there was chemistry," frontman Jeremy Bolm shared within a "Deflector"-era press release, at the time. Right around the same time, Touché Amoré released another non-Ross Robinson produced stand-along single, "Green," as well as a newly re-recorded version of 2009 debut full-length, ... T...

Tom Fec is a Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania-based musician, experimentalist, and label owner of his own imprint, Rad Cult. Fec is the frontman of Experimental/Psychedelic Pop band Black Moth Super Rainbow, sometimes, known as Satanstompingcaterpillars. Since about 2008, Fec has released a plethora of music as TOBACCO , as well as Sbarro Hottopic. Tom Fec has, additionally released music as Demon Queen with Zackey Force Funk, The Allegheny White Fish with his brother, Ken Fec, and most recently, as Malibu Ken with long-time collaborator Aesop Rock. Fec's beloved recordings as TOBACCO have often featured a crew of unlikely collaborators, including Beck, emcee Beans, Felt (Slug & MURS,) The Flaming Lips, High Tides, The Hood Internet, Notrabel, Serengeti, and sole & The Skyrider Band. Now, TOBACCO has announced a new album, Hot, Wet & Sassy—Fec's first proper album since 2016's Sweatbox Dynasty—to be released on Ghostly International this Fall. Earlier this morning, TO...

"Beastie Boys + James Brown = Beastie Brown. Music is the sonic version of a person's soul. You can hear it in the vibes they create. If it hits you on the positive tip, you'll definitely Shake Your Rump. You might be head-bopping on the train caught up in the commuter headphone zone or be a B-boy up rocking on linoleum in the park while a DJ does his thing. Regardless of the situation, the Body's Moving to a Funky Drummer. You can't fight that emotional connection, so don't try. The rhythmic arts are an Ill Communication, no doubt about it. What you have right here is a labour of love mixed up with true passion from the Brooklyn icon, Jazzsoon. He's the living embodiment of all that's authentic New York City and that shines through in all his endeavours." "Serious biz. It's a beautiful combination of The Three Bad Brothers That You Know So Well and The Godfather of Soul. A sonic enterprise like you've only ever dreamed of. It's...