The Witzard

The return of Death Punk: Love Equals Death is about to release a career-spanning compilation of their material, including B-sides, on Halloween. The California Death Punk cult band will release a new album called The Hour of Resurrection on October 29th and are releasing a single entitled "At War (with Myself)" today. In sunny Petaluma, San Francisco Bay Area, California, four Punk Rockers founded a band that would be anything but sunny: on Halloween 2003, Love Equals Death was born, blending 90's Skate Punk with The Misfits-style Horror Punk. Their 2006 album, Nightmerica , produced by Bill Stevenson (Descendents) and Jason Livermore, was released on Fat Wreck Chords. Following Nightmerica, Love Equals Death relentlessly toured across the world with kindred spirits AFI, Avenged Sevenfold, The Distillers, No Use for A Name, Pennywise, The Suicide Machines, Tiger Army, and, of course numerous Warped Tours. Founding member of Love Equals Death included Tsunami Bomb's...

Child Actor is an Indie/Dream Pop duo consisting of Max Heath & Natalie Plaza. Child Actor was formed in 2012 by Heath and his cousin, Sedgie Ogilvy, whom released two EP's together, Partner & Window, that same year. Ogilvy parted ways with Child Actor by the end of 2012 and Natalie Plaza took her place within the group. Child Actor have since released three full-length albums, Victory (2012,) Never Die (2014,) A Perfect Cloud (2016,) as well as a number of EP's and singles. Child Actor's overall sound generally flirts with Indie/Dream Pop, amidst elements of Electronic, Rock, Experimental, and Contemporary R&B stylings. However, it appears as though Child Actor have been dipping their collective "toe" into Hip-Hop production work more recently. Child Actor and/or Heath have contributed production work, vocals, instrumentation, etc. to the likes of Armand Hammer, Blue Sky Black Death, Busdriver, ceschi, Dark Time Sunshine, Deniro Farrar, Green Ova...

SOURCE: Big Hassle Media (CREDIT: Rosie Matheson) Beloved English Ingie Rock band alt-J have announced their eagerly-awaited fourth album, The Dream , set for release early next year. The band's extremely catchy revelatory new single, "U&ME," is out now with a companion music video. "U&ME" was produced by long-time collaborator, Charlie Andrew, and is the band's first new music since their acclaimed third album, RELAXER, released in 2017, and its accompanying 2018 Hip-Hop remix album, REDUXER. Directed by band member Gus Unger-Hamilton's brother, Prosper Unger-Hamilton, "U&ME"'s video is the first ever to feature the full band. It's an evocative video that recalls summer memories and was inspired by frontman Joe Newman's experiences at a festival in Melbourne, Australia. The Dream is an album wherein True Crime-inspired stories and tales of Hollywood & The Chateau Marmont rub shoulders with some of the band's m...

School is back in session across the Nation and our favorite teacher, husband, father, beat-maker, and dish-washer, John "Jumbled" Bachman has shared a new 7-track EP for your communte to and from work/school. Bachman is back with JUMBLED'S JUKEBOX, a collection of Doo-Wop inspired Hip-Hop. Jumbled describes it as "a project inspired by Tuesday night trips to the grocery store—jumping in the car and hearing the Doo-Wop radio show on 90.5 WKHS, out of Kent County, Maryland." JUMBLED'S JUKEBOX makes good use of "songs that have been long-forgotten by most, but are still cherished by some." It showcases a selection of vocalists over Jumbled's bare-bones instrumentation that harken back to simpler, times. This brief collection contains a varied assortment of beats with Jumbled choosing to not just sample Doo-Wop harmonies, but, also, include songs (samples? beats?) that maintain that vibe, as well. Jumbled's Jukebox by Jumbled Guests hear...

Prolific LA-based emcee, producer, lyricist, mixing engineer, etc. Blu has left a lasting mark on the Indie/Backpack(?) Hip-Hop scene, crafting an impressive catalog instilled with the essence of the vibrant city he calls home. Johnson "John" Barnes, III—better known as simply Blu—has recorded and released a staggering amount of (largely self-released) albums, EP's, and singles since about 2006. Aside from his self-produced body of work, Blu has worked entensively in collaboration with artist like Bombay, Damu The Fudgemunk, Exile, Fa†e, Shafiq Husayn, Madlib, Mainframe as Johnson&Jonson, M.E.D. Nottz, Oh No, Ta'Raach as C.R.A.C. Knuckles, and Ray West. Now, the gifted lyricist has returned with a new album, The Color Blu(e) . Among Blu's most conceptual projects to date, The Color Blu(e) is an artistic thesis statement, celebrating and reflecting on a remarkable creative journey. The Color Blu(e) by Blu The word "Blu(e)" is featured in every ...

Sunstroke is a Melodic Hardcore band from Philly consisting of frontman Sean Farlow, lead guitarist Ian Strang, and drummer Brandon F. Wallace, as well as three additional, rather mysterious members, simply known as bassist Mikey, and second/third guitarists Justin & John K. Gillin has spent time playing with [This Is Not for You.], Spoiled Brat, and Waller; while Wallace was once the touring drummer for American Nightmare and has previously played with Damage, I HATE YOU. Knives Out, and Memorial Day, as well as countless other bands. Farlow, whose previous credits are unknown, tells us both Justin & John K. are, also, part of newly-minted New Jersey-based Punk/Hardcore band THOUGHT CONTROL . It appears as though Sean Farlow is a barber on staff at Pennsport Barbershop located in South Philly. Sunstroke have been active since about 2018, when they released their debut EP, Second Floor / Seven on multi-colored vinyl through a partnership with Coin Toss Records & New Moral...

We are very excited to introduce SAVE IT ANYWAY and their debut single, "Moments," which was released just this past Friday, September 10th. The band features frontman Kristian Richards of one of The UK's best Pop-punk bands, SAVE YOUR BREATH, and four members of THE RUN UP ; between them, they have collectively played 400 shows with heavyweights such as New Found Glory, The Wonder Years, Neck Deep, Spanish Love Songs, and The Story So Far. Their debut single is as good as you'd expect from a band with such background and experience. The band formed during the summer of 2021, after Laurence "Loz" Nelson, Charlie Parsons, Daniel Baker, and Stu Lloyd's previous band, THE RUN UP, came to an end... having just returned from a three-week tour of The USA and a week in Japan, the COVID-19 Pandemic hit and drew a close [to] THE RUN UP's future plans. After a period of reflection, it was decided it wasn't to be to just pick up where they had left of...

PHOTO CREDIT: Brent Broza (ARTWORK BY: Jim Lindberg) Most well-known for his role as primary song-writer and lead singer of Punk Rock band Pennywise, Jim Lindberg has been making inspiring, thought-provoking music since the 1990's. Musically, he is influenced by a wide array of genres from Punk & Folk to old school Country & Americana stylings. Lyrically, Jim takes inspiration from relatively anywhere, from transcendental philosophers to real-life events; always seeking to tell a story or find the answers to life's "big questions." Lindberg has shared the first glimpse of his debut acoustic solo project with "The Palm of Your Hand" produced by Ted Hutt (The Gaslight Anthem, Lucero, Flogging Molly.) It boasts a band featuring David Hidalgo, Jr. (Social Distortion) on drums, Joe Gittleman (The Mighty Mighty BossToneS, Gang Green) on bass, and Marc Orrell (Dropkick Murphys, The Black Pacific) on guitar. Lindberg began writing "The Palm of Your H...

Tanya Morgan is a Hip-Hop group hailing from Concinnati, Ohio and Brooklyn, New York. Its current line-up includes emcee, producer, and DJ William Donald "Donwill" Freeman (Don) and emcee and producer Devon "Von Pea" Callender (Von.) Tanya Morgan has remotely recorded and released four full-length albums, an online mixtape, and countless EP's and singles since their formation in 2003. Now, Don & Von are back with their fifth full-length album, simply titled Don & Von. This time, the duo steps out from behind the odd moniker to show listeners that they exist in a world that's all their own. The 12-track album tackles a wide range of topics, including their tenure in the Hip-Hop game, police brutality, and being Black in America. For Don & Von, Tanya Morgan recruited a handful of their old collaborators from back in the day when they first met in the okayplayer Forums. Don & Von features guest vocals from Miss Jack Davey (J*DaVeY,) Kooley ...

Adam "Atom" Goren pictured with Good Clean Fun in Akko, Israel (SOURCE: Adam Goren) 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 a singular infamous show, for each installment. Adam "Atom" Goren is an Oreland, Pennsylvania-based musician, singer-songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist. Goren is best known for his one-man...

Late last night, right after midnight, we recieved a rather mysterious Bandcamp Notification email out of the blue. It arrived on behalf of Mello Music Group and said, "Greetings, Matt Horowitz, Guilty Simpson & Gensu Dean just announced EGO, check it out here." "Here's what they say about it: "Detroit's Guilty Simpson and Boom-Bap producer Gensu Dean combine for a new album arriving Oct. 8th feat, Marv Won, Black Milk, Georgia Anne Muldrow, Yarbrough, and Skyzoo," said early morning email continued. Along with the announcement of 12-track EGO , Mello Music Group additionally shared an initial preview of the album with "Don't Pull." Boasting Gensu Dean's dusty SP-1200 & MPC3000-aided production style and Guilty Simspon's grizzled tough-as-nails rhyming style, "Don't Pull" is definitely a head-banger and we're excited to hear the rest of EGO. EGO by Guilty Simpson & Gensu Dean Gensu Dean & Gui...