The Witzard

Earlier this week, Philly-based rapper, producer, and resident weirdo Darko The Super announced the sheer existence of his new album available for pre-order. Cruising with Darko & The Jets will be released this upcoming Friday, September 3rd (the next Bandcamp Friday ) through his friends at Cold Rhymes Records. Along with the album announcement and pre-order, Darko shared the first single from Cruising with Darko & The Jets, "Loner." It's been described as Darko The Super's Ghostface Killah-inspired homage over a Philadelphia Soul classic by The Nu-Ron's. Darko was seemingly exposed to said sample by Peter Maxwell "Max" Ochester at Brewerytown Beats/Records. Max's imprint, Brewerytown Records, recently released a digital collection titled All My Life (The Songs of Manny Campbell) featuring, amongst other dusty stand-outs, The Nu-Rons' "I'm A Loner," as sampled by Darko The Super throughout "Loner." Cruising...

Roughneck Jihad (or Jihad, The Roughneck MC) is a Los Angeles-based underground artist and veteran emcee and Awkward is a beat-maker, producer, emcee, and artist hailing from Bristol, UK. Definitely two unlikely collaborators separated by an ocean. Jihad & Awkward first met when Awkward contributed a handful of beats to Jihad's group, Third Sight's then-new album IV (2016.) Awkward & Roughneck Jihad have worked together a number of times since, but always in a fairly limited capacity, including Awkward mastering Jihad's 2018 project, Red Herring Mixtape, and producing the title/opening track for Jihad's 2020 effort, The Red Sentence. All the while, however, it appears as though MC Roughneck Jihad & DJ Awkward have secretly been working on a proper full-length project of their own. It all started to come to light when The MC & DJ released a neck-snapping digital single consisting of two infectious tracks, "RAWK" and "DROMEDARY" bac...

DRAIN are a ruthless Santa Cruz-based Hardcore/Crossover band. Last year, they released the absolutely phenomenal California Cursed on Revelation Records. It's one Hell of a ferocious-sounding album, however, I would venture to say DRAIN lean a bit more towards the Crossover/Thrash (Metal) end of the spectrum rather than Punk/Hardcore. Just a matter of days ago, DRAIN mysteriously returned with the first post-Califonria Cursed single, "Watch You Burn," out of nowhere with no prior online announcement. They've moved from Revelation Records to Hardcore heavyweights Epitaph and appear to have recruited a new bassist welcoming new member Mike Durrett into the fold. For "Watch You Burn," DRAIN have joined forces with California Cursed engineer and producer Taylor Young (God's Hate, Militarie Gun, NUDIE MAG) once more for another pure face-melter. Watch You Burn by DRAIN "'Watch You Burn" is a p*ssed off and in-your-face song that I wrote ...

2Minute Minor (2MM) is a Old School-style American Hardcore Punk Band heavily influenced by 80's Hardcore and the Working Class Oi! sound. Mixing in a message of positivity and unity. They are advocates for human rights. Formed in Chicago, Illinois. 2Minute Minor's current membership includes Wiley "Murder" Willis, Bob Shields, Jeff Hostetler, Marko Karacic & Larry Passenier. Now, an ex-member of 2Minute Minor, Zach Bridier—otherwise, known as Captive Portal , amongst other things—functioned as 2MM's drummer from 2016-18, as well as 2020-21, their in-house mixing engineer from 2017-21, their "merch guy" from 2017-18, and explains to The Witzard, he "also, did other minor various things and was, also, their wacky idea guy." One of these so-called "wacky ideas" seems to have been formulated as a pseudo-parting gift to his fellow 2Minute Minor bandmates upon Bridier's departure from the musical unit: 8-bit Remixes. It's ...

STRONG BOYS are a mysterious Queercore/Hardcore band hailing from Dublin, Ireland. It's unclear who exactly is in the band itself and their memebrship doesn't appear to be clearly listed anywhere online. STRONG BOYS have now returned with their first release in six years with the Homo EP. With about as much subtlety as a pub fight spilling onto the street, these four tracks vent against the church, dated attitudes, predatory creeps with wandering hands, and more. It's still defiantly Gay Hardcore—as should be expected—with no meat on the bone. Static Shock Records share STRONG BOYS' Homo EP is suggested for fans of 86 Mentality & Negative Approach. Homo by Strong Boys The record comes housed in a fold-out sleeve with new artwork from legendary Gay Manga artist Gengoroh Tagame and lettering created Nicky Rat (STRINGRAY.) First pressing is 350 copies on blue vinyl and 150 on white for mailorder-only. Homo EP is STRONG BOYS' first proper release since their ...

Rochester, New York native, Greg Townson, recently released his new album, Off & Running! on Hi-Tide Recordings. With a rotating cast of featured musicians, including members of Los Straitjackets, NRBQ, The Hi-Risers, and The J.D. McPherson Band, the new album takes a fresh look at 14 classic songs from the 50's and 60's, all written or co-written by women. On his new album, Townson shares, "Off & Running! is full of fun and unique arrangements of familiar and unfamiliar songs. All the musicians bring the dedication they have for their craft to their spirited performances." Greg Townson either currently or has previously played with Los Straitjackets, The Hi-Risers, The Hillbilly Moon Explosion, The Essentials/The Salamanders, and The Locusts. Additionally, Townson and his bandmates have been featured on recorisngs alongside Nick Lowe, El Vez, The Reverend Horton Heat, Mike Campbell (Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, The Blue Stingrays,) Eddie Angel, The Tr...

STINGRAY performing live at The Grove D.I.Y. 8/22/21 (CREDIT: Oscar Reynolds) STINGRAY is a newly-minted Punk/Hardcore/Metallic Punk band hailing from London. They've signed to UK-based imprint LA VIA ES UN MUS DISCOS, who has previous issued releases from Los Crudos, S.H.I.T. Limp Wrist, HARAM, Arms Race, Chain Cult, The Chisel, and F*CKED UP. STINGRAY's line-up consists of Nick Sarnella (Arms Race, The Chisel, Asid, Crown Court, etc.) Nicky Rat (Arms Race, Subdued, Annihilated, etc.) Tin Savage (Asid, Mankind,) Rich Clarke (Asid, Chain of Flowers,) and Luca Selvaggio (Gutter Knife, Never, Iradei, sometimes, The Chisel.) STINGRAY played their first-ever gig just this past Sunday. STINGRAY picks up right where Asid left off. Nick Sarnella, Nicky Rat, Tin Savage, Rich Clarke & Luca have re-emerged once more to play savage, filthy Hardcore. Feeding Time by Stingray "Chaos and punishment battle for supremacy in the battlefields of Albion once again, as the unyieldi...

"Up until this point, AIR CREDITS have brought back many warnings from the near future. After endless ricochet between timelines, the band has found themselves aligned with the present one. The moment is now. BELIEVE THAT YOU'RE HERE," reads the Artist Description/Bio found on the Bandcamp page for Chicago-based AIR CREDITS. Initially consisting of Aaron "ABX" Brink & Steve "STV SLV" Reidell from production/mash-up duo The Hood Hood Internet and emcee/producer SHOWYOUSUCK around 2016. Brink has seemingly parted ways with AIR CREDITS (but remains one half of The Hood Internet) in the years since forming and their current line-up consists of Reidell & SHOW. AIR CREDITS have released a number of critically-acclaimed albums, EP's, and singles over the years, but have been relatively quiet since 2018's Artería Verité with Doomtree members SIMS & ICETEP. Although, now, we are happy to inform you the wait is over... as AIR CREDITS dro...

"Connect with real life and ditch the Palm Pilot," KID ACNE invites Jaz Kahina & Vandal Savage to power-up. No need to fear Friday The 13th when KID ACNE gets to testing "TRANSISTORS," the first single taken from his new album, NULL & VOID. Joined by East London firebrand Jaz Kahina and Nottingham's Vandal Savage of the infamous VVV syndicate (alongside Juga-Naut & Cappo,) "TRANSISTORS" has Chicago producer Spectacular Diagnostics tuning up bouncy, horn-lead Funk, perfect for the triumvirate to pump out a posse cut applying "higher science to the microphone appliance." Don't believe the hype? Check the opening sample of The Green Eyed Bandit, veteran emcee Erick Sermon, setting The South Yorks agenda. NULL & VOID, KID ACNE's fifth album and his first for London behemoths Lewis Recordings, promises a continuation of Hip-Hop delivering the mind-bending with unique everyman knowhow. TRANSISTORS (feat. JAZ KAHINA and V...

Radical-era Every Time I Die (CREDIT: Michael Watson) Buffalo-based Hardcore heroes Every Time I Die [ETID] have just announced their highly-anticipated ninth studio album, Radical , out October 22nd, via Epitaph. Produced by Will Putney (A Day to Rememeber, Anti-Flag, Body Count, Four Year Strong,) Radical is the follow-up to 2016's acclaimed Low Teens. Every Time I Die is Keith Buckley (vocals,) Jordan Buckley (guitar,) Andy "The Butcher" Williams (guitar,) Steve Micciche (bass,) and Clayton "Goose" Holyoak (drums.) Today, the band shares "Post-Boredom," a mixture of the Nihilistic realism and persistent irritated optimism that powered Punk Rock in the late 70's and Post-hardcore in the early 90's. "'Post-Boredom" was the first song I ever wrote that gave me the feeling of real truth," explains vocalist Keith Buckley. "I wasn't hiding any secret confessions in metaphors; I was very much fed up with living an...

Fire Sale was formed during The Pandemic and their first songs were made entirely from their home studios during isolation. The band includes Matt Riddle, as well as members who have spent time playing with Ann Beretta, Fun Size, Making Enemies, Protest The Hero, Pulley, and ShotClock. "I like to take inspiration from stories from a historical point of view and use them as a theme," says guitarist and founder of Fire Sale, Christopher "Chris" (Swiss) Swinney, who previously played with The Ataris. "Then our singer, Pedro, takes it all and formulates a great lyric!" The Mercy Brown Vampire Incident, a well-known story here in The US: a whole family was killed by tuberculosis around The 19th Century, but one of the daughters, Mercy Brown, still had blood in her heart, which was enough for the medical examiner to eviscerate the body and label Mercy Brown as a "vampire" responsible for the disease that took out her entire family. "I like to...

FATFUK are a New Jersey-based Fastcore/Power Violence/Glizzy Violence(?) band consisting of members from Jersey greats GEL, SICK SH*T, and School Drugs. It's Bobko/Bobby (@cloud_god_1) from GEL, SICK SH*T, and School Drugs on drums, Anthony/Tony (@drydog_) from GEL on guitar/vocals/bass, and Edgar (@thicc_an_tiredd) from School Drugs providing vocal effects. Zach Miller at NOISE WAR SOUND —who's, also, in GEL, SICK SH*T, and Brackish—recorded, mixed, and mastered FATFUK's debut release, ALL YOU CAN EAT, at Landmine Studios in Ewing, NJ. ALL YOU CAN EAT by FATFUK We, actually, first heard about FATFUK when our friend and artist @simpsonsXcore posted about them in their Instagram Story, gushing, "Holy sh*t this rules. Fastcore/powerviolence from members of @schooldrugsnj, @gelhc, etc." along with the ALL YOU CAN EAT cover. Late last night, we got a chance to speak with Bobko himself, who shared a bit of information about FATFUK, via Instagram Messenger: ...

Seasoned Punk singer-songwriter Dan Andriano is a man of many talents and a vast array of influences ranging from Melodic Punk to Americana. He is most known for his role as bassist and co-vocalist in Chicago Punk Rock band Alkaline Trio with whom he has released nine studio albums to date. He has, also, previously released two solo records under the name Dan Andriano In The Emergency Room, as well as material with Matt Pryor (The Get Up Kids.) In addition, Andriano has played bass in the Rock super-group The Damned Things along wth members of Fall Out Boy, Anthrax, and Every Time I Die since 2019. Plus, Dan has done stints over the years in Ben Weasel & His Iron String Quartet, Flowers, Slapstick, The Falcon, and Tuesday. Just yesterday, Dan Andriano announced the sheer existence of his new band, Dan Andriano & The Bygones. It features brothers Dylan & Randy Moore from buzz-worthy San Jose, California-based Punk/Rock band, Get Married. Along with the announcement of ...

L-R: Metallica's James Hetfield with Mike Davenport & Donald Spence from Versus The World at Soundwave 2013 (SOURCE: Mike Davenport) We've Got A Flyer On You will (hopefully!) be a new recurring column here at The Witzard. It's set to feature, examine, and re-visit mixed bill/genre, once-in-a-lifetime, iconic, and otherwise noteworthy Punk/Hardcore show flyers and their corresponding line-ups. As often as possible, we plan to speak directly with the promoters, bookers, flyer artists, soundmen/women, show attendees, and, most importantly, the artists themselves. If all goes well, we’re even hoping to, eventually, cover a handful of shows we attended ourselves in years past, as well. For this slightly re-vamped edition of We've Got A Flyer On You, we'll be spotlighting a noteworthy musician, rather than an infamous show. Mike Davenport is a veteran Punk bassist and vocalist who has played with The Ataris, Versus The World, and Cave Mummy, and served as Antifr...