The Witzard

DOOM REgulator painting (ART CREDIT: Ryan Callisto @moonofjupiterart) Operation Ivy—often, affectionately know as simply "Op Ivy" —were only active for two years in-between 1987-89, but have remined one of the most influential Ska Punk/Hardcore eevr since their all too brief tenture. Op Ivy's Lint AKA Tim Armstrong and Matt McCall AKA Matt Freeman would go on to play in Rancid together, who are still actively recording and touring some 32 years later. Armstrong and Op Ivy vocalist Jesse Michaels briefy reunited in 2013 on a song called "Living In A Dangerous Land" as part of his extensive Tim Timebomb & Friends singles series and again in 2022 to play a rendition of "Sound System" as backed by The Interrupters at Musack's Rock "N" Roll Carnival. Armstrong & Michaels additionally co-wrote a handful of songs together for UK Punks Grade 2, which appeared strewn across Graveyard Island , Graveyard Island: Acoustic Sessions, and Gr...

Chesty Malone & The Slice 'em Ups - Torture Rock vinyl re-issue promotional cover artwork (CREDITS: Anthony Allen Begnal / Holly Neal Hawkins) Brooklyn's own Chesty Malone & The Slice 'em Ups are re-issuing their second album (originally released in 2011) on vinyl for the first time. Boise, Idaho's most evil record label, 1332 Records, is releasing Torture Rock on red/white and red/black splatter vinyl, along with classic black. The album, recorded back in the Fall of 2009 at Queens, New York studio Wild Arctic by engineer Shawn Kimon, also, features maniac drummer Angel Cotte ( Demolition Hammer ) who said recording Torture Rock was "the best experience of my life!!!" When it came out in 2011, it was only on CD and streaming, so the band is pretty excited about this release. "Torture Rock is finally coming out on vinyl, just like the devil intended!" singer Jaqueline Blownaparte said. The album's artwork was faithfully re-created fr...

Town Liar, L-R: Benny Horowitz, Nick Remondelli, Heath Saraceno & Paul Stanley from KISS(!), and Jason Shevchuk (SOURCES: Facebook & Google) Town Liar's members include drummer Benny Horowitz (The Gaslight Anthem, WAX BOTTLES, The Killing Gift, Full Circle Swing, The Low End Theory, Yellboy, Bottomfeeder, Antarctigo Vespucci, ex-Mercy Union,) guitarist Nick Remondelli (Autumn, Bound, The Break In Mile, ex-None More Black,) bassist/vocalist Heath Saraceno (Midtown, ex-Senses Fail,) and vocalist/guitarist Jason Shevchuk (Kid Dynamite, None More Black, Former Member, Bound, OnGuard, LaGrecia, The Break In Mile, ex-R.A.M.B.O.) Shevchuk & Remondelli played together in New Jersey Vegan/Straight Edge Hardcore band Bound around 1996. They briefly played together again in a band short-lived band called The Break In Mile, which Remondelli says, "never went off the ground." Lies: One Through Seven by Town Liar Shevchuck, then, formed Kid Dynamite and soon afte...

ILL COMMUNICATION (CREDIT: Matt Welch) ILL COMMUNICATION started as a few friends from the Oxnard & Tehachapi, California Hardcore scenes who had talked about making music together for over 15 years. After playing and touring North America & Europe in bands, such as THE WARRIORS, Diehard Youth, NO MOTIV, Retaliate, and Gravemaker, they named the band, wrote some music, and started playing out. Soon after, they recorded two EP's that where released online, as well as a one-sided 12-inch on Another City Records. All their release have been and will be written, recorded, and engineered by a core group of friends. Musically, pulling from classic Hardcore bands, such as Beyond, Turning Point and Inside Out, as well as well as mix of other music styles. Lyrically, addressing a variety of topics covering the state of the world to chillin' out with friends. With the aim to give back to a scene that has given them so much, ILL COMMUNICATION joined the Safe Inside Record...

Vic Ruggiero performing live music (CREDIT: Matt Kursmark) Victor "Vic" Ruggiero is a musician, singer/song-writer, producer, and multi-intrumentalist hailing from New York City. Ruggiero has been recording, making, and playing music since about 1998 with his bands The Slackers, Stubborn All-Stars, The Silencers, SKAndalous All-Stars. Sic + MAD, Da Whole Thing, The Mooks, Vic & Kepi, The Witch & The Burro, Reggae Workers of The World, and more. The last time we spoke to Vic, it was in 2018 coinciding with the release(s) of The Slackers' "Nobody's Listening" B/W "Sleep Outside" 12-inch and Live At Ernesto's! 2xLP re-issue. Since then, Ruggiero has released projects with The Slackers, Reggae Workers of The World slightly re-branded as R.W.W., Kepi Ghoulie, lauren.napier, The Mooks, and other odds, ends, and curiosities on his personal Bandcamp page that launched in 2020. Stuff In My Pockets is the latest solo project from the aways ...

Madlib x Meyhem Lauren x DJ Muggs - "Fresh Out The Water" music video still (SOURCE: YouTube) "Long story short, I was working on an album with [DJ] Muggs and I was working on an album with Madlib. When all three of us ended up in the same room, we started playing songs from each project and immediately realized that we should make a collaborative album. The other two projects are completed and still coming out in the very near future, but the first thing on the agenda is MEYHEM x MUGGS x MADLIB's CHAMPAGNE FOR BREAKFAST dropping on April 7, 2023..." Meyhem Lauren posted on his personal Facebook page Thursday morning. And we can fully attest, this pretty much echoes the same sentiment Meyhem told us when we interviewed him for UK-based publication GrownUpRap late last year. When we asked Mey, "What do you have planned for us next?" he replied, "Meyhem/Madlib LP, Meyhem/DJ Muggs LP, Meyhem/Harry Fraud LP, Meyhem/Buckwild LP, and a few comp...

Just about a month ago, Bearded Gentlemen Music scribe and Twitter personality Dane Jackson (parody) ( @almightydanish ) alerted his oodles of trusty Followers, and I paraphrase, they "should totally check out The Pomps' "Ska-ellar" new album, Bottom of The Pomps." So, we obviously dropped everything we were doing and immediately went and checked out Bottom of The Pomps and, indeed, totally loved it! It was released on rapidly-growing Alameda, California-based Ska/Ska Punk label Bad Time Records , who has very recently issued albums and EP's from We Are The Union, CATBITE, JER, The Suicide Machines & Coquettish, DISSIDENTE, Joystick!, FOLLY & The Best of The Worst, Eichlers, and Abaskadabra. Then, one thing led to another and soon enough, we had gotten in direct contact with The Pomps' founding member, vocalist, and guitarist Alex Stern (Big D & The Kids Table, The Inevitables, The Sterns ,) via email transmission. Stern and I got a chanc...

10 Minute Major, L-R: Eric Perry, Pete Figoni, Nick Yulico, and Bart Ostrowski (CREDIT: mëdusa @rand0mbella) 10 Minute Major is a new Alternative Rock, Post-hardcore, and Indie Rock-leaning band hailing from Huntington, New York consisting of four seasoned Punk/Hardcore vets. 10 Minute Major's current line-up is vocalist/guitarist Nick Yulico, guitarist/backing vocalist Eric Perry, bassist Bart Ostrowski, and drummer Pete Figoni. Amongst them, these Long Island Hardcore vets have spent time making and playing music with Glass Jaw (an early iternation of Glassjaw,) The 2 Minutes Hate, and Breadless Circus. 10 Minute Major dropped their debut single together, "Everyone Lies," back in February 2022. It was a fitting precursor for 10 Minute Major's debut EP , simply titled EP, which dropped right at the tail-end of last year in October 2022. Over time, we got to know 10 Minute Major frontman and guitarist Nick Yulico, strictly online, and once he began following our ...

Bad Blood (CREDIT: MArk Miller) We've been hearing rumblings about a new Hardcore/Punk super-group from Scott Vogel (Buried Alive, Cinderblock, Despair, Fadeaway, Slugfest, S.O.S., TERROR, WORLD BE FREE) for at least a couple months now... "hol' up, hol' up, hol' up;" nah, scratch that, actually! Scott Vogel is part of a new Hardcore/Punk super-group behemoth powerhouse called Bad Blood. In addition to frontman Vogel, Bad Blood's membership, also, includes guitarists Eric Ellman (Still Ill, Team Chocolate, THEY LIVE, Violent Way) and Mason Hutchins (The Elite, Exhibition , Violent Way,) bassist Greg Vinal (Exhibition,) and drummer Nick Terlecky (Clear Focus, The Elite, Exhibition, Violent Way.) "No-nonsense Hardcore with a punch and a pulse," is how Scott Vogel introduces Bad Blood, formed alongside members of Buffalo, New York-based Hardcore legends THEY LIVE and newcomers Violent Way & Exhibition. After years spent talking about making ...

Human Animal is an Erie, Pennsylvania-based Hardcore Punk band consisting of Eric Michael Schauffele AKA E.M.S., Robert Williams AKA Bob/Bobby, Ryan Zimmerman AKA Baby Boy, Adam Salaga AKA Firefly, and newest addition Kyle Bull. Amongst them, Human Animal's members have previously played, made, or recorded music with Brother's Keeper/Sumthin' to Prove, Empty Promises, Smoke & Mirrors, The A.K.A.'s, Thick As Thieves, Pray for A Fallen Angel, Deadhorse, Phases, Anchor, xDisciplex A.D., Jesus Wept, Bushido Code, xRepresentx, Domestic War, Shockwave, and Stretch Arm Strong. Human Animal seemingly formed within the early months of 2012, as they issued their inaugural release, "Swine Flu," on CD/CD-ROM with initial five-person line-up of frontman E.M.S., bassist Ryan Zimmerman, drummer Bob Williams, guitarist Adam Salaga, and now-former second guitarist Nate Black. Soon after, Human Animal released "Swine Flu" as part of their debut EP, Dark Days, o...

LIILY live on Miley's New Year's Eve Party, L-R: Sam De La Torre, Maxx Morando, Dylan Nash, and Charlie Anastasis (CREDIT: photographer unknown) Dylan Nash, Sam De La Torre, Charlie Anastasis, and Maxx Morando are the four fundamentals that make up ambitious buzzworthy LA Rock band Liily . Liily have a lot of things going for them: drummer Maxx is currently dating Miley Cyrus, they're managed by Peter Bauer of The Walkmen , they played Miley's New Year's Eve Party on the cusp of 2022-23, and they just have a cool, raw, unadulterated sound. Summed up as an "Angeleno quintet... pushing the Rock genre forward and into a new era of raw tension and passionate fire..." by Atwood Magazine, the band gained momentum quickly. After forming in 2016, early on, Liily took stages by storm, creating notoriety for themselves through their manic energy displayed in their frenzied live shows, but that's not all they had to offer. Bringing that same domestic chaos from...