The Witzard

Cresent Ridge with Mike Assatly (SOURCE: Mike Assatly) Crescent Ridge is a Stoughton, Massachusetts-based band whose music has been described as Alternative, Rock, Pop Rock, Slacker Rock, Soft Grunge, and Bubblegrunge. However, despite goofy genre labels and fabricated names, Crescent Ridge's musical output has drawn real-life comparisons to the likes of Dinosaur Jr., Foo Fighters, The Lemonheads, Pixies, Quicksand, and The Smashing Pumpkins; so, I guess we can kinda see how someone came up with the sub-genre label of "Bubblegrunge." Crescent Ridge's current line-up consists of guitarist and vocalist Derek Schepici, guitarist Aaron "Ron" Devoe, bassist and vocalist Chris Gill, drummer Kevin Merriam, and part-time guitarist Mike Assatly. Collectively, Crescent Ridge's members have spent time playing with slightly more Punk/Hardcore bands, such as BearTrap, Spirits, Clueless, Energy, and Terminal Crisis, and even our Emo/Indie-leaning favorites Little L...

ATOM DRIVER (CREDIT: C.J. Grogan) Nefarious Industries presents Is Anything Alright, the latest EP from New Brunswick, NJ-based ATOM DRIVER, uniting current and former members of Deadguy, Good Clean Fun, and more. ATOM DRIVER formed in the fall of 2016 when guitarist and vocalist Mark Segal (formerly of New Brunswick Indie Rock band Boss Jim Gettys,) bassist Justin Ingstrup (ex-Good Clean Fun,) and drummer Mike Polilli (Buzzkill) set their sights on blending classic and current Noise Rock, Indie Rock, and Post-hardcore influences with a love of Punk & Metal. The trio made their debut with the 2017 EP Slackjaw, produced by Steve Evetts (Hatebreed, Dillinger Escape Plan, Snapcase, Sepultura) and released on local label Powerbunny 4x4. Two more self-released EP's followed: In The West, later that same year, and Here They Come, The Hornets in 2019. After re-assessing their musical vision in 2020, ATOM DRIVER recruited Chris "Crispy" Corvino (Deadguy, Second Arrows) t...

Ian, Joe & Amy (CORIKY) 2019 Fort Reno, Washington, DC / CREDIT: Claire Packer Not only has Alec MacKaye returned with his first active band in 20+ years, HAMMERED HULLS , his brother, Ian MacKaye , has now re-surfaced with a newly-minted group of his own: CORIKY [pronounced: "ko-ri-kee."] Supposedly, coriky is "a dice game, like liar's poker," according to photographer Mark R. Bacon. A recent Dischord Records press release simply explains, " Coriky is a band from Washington, DC. Amy Farina plays drums. Joe Lally plays bass. Ian MacKaye plays guitar. All sing. Formed in 2015, Coriky did not play their first show until 2018. They have recorded one album. They hope to tour." In their earliest aughts, CORIKY , then-unnamed, were often billed as "Amy Ian Joe (Name Unknown,)" "Ian, Amy & Joe," and, I've heard, at one point, were even toying with going by The Odds ; an homage to husband and wife, Ian MacKaye & ...

Run It Back is one of the more infrequently published "recurring" columns here at The Witzard : honestly, I don't even know when we published one of these last... but what I do know is that the column title is inspired by a Nottz Raw -produced Asher Roth track of the same name, which expertly samples The Misfits' "Return of The Fly." Minor Threat were East Coast Straight-Edge Hardcore/Punk contemporaries of both The Misfits and Glenn Danzig 's next band, Horror Punk pioneers Samhain , which even briefly featured Minor Threat guitarist Lyle Preslar . For me, personally, Black Flag , Minor Threat, Fugazi , The Misfits, and Samhain were my bread and butter while exploring Hardcore/Punk as an angsty 15/16-year-old during the age of Napster and P2P sites. Now, I know Minor Threat/Fugazi frontman and DC -based Dischord Records co-founder Ian MacKaye —like most well-traveled Punk/Hardcore musicians—has always been part of a slew of short-lived b...

Pure Disgust by Pure Disgust "The NWODCHC [New Wave of DC Hardcore] is so powerful and on the rise. It’s great to see young kids being in the center of it all as well. It’s even cooler to see that all my friends are [getting] on bigger labels, putting the name of DC back on the map. You've got Protester putting a record out on Triple-B Records , Stand Off putting one out on Youngblood , Red Death putting something out on Lockin' Out ... I love it all. My friends are what keep me here, and I love every single one of them and what they're doing," Pure Disgust frontman Rob Watson recently revealed to DC -based publication Bandwidth ; it's fitting that Washington, DC is currently experiencing a period of musical rebirth— nearly some 40 years after 1980's Hardcore founding fathers Bad Brains , Fugazi, Minor Threat , Dag Nasty, Black Flag frontman Henry Rollins , Scream, Rites of Spring , Embrace, etc. initially burst onto the scene. Watson formed...

Pissed Jeans are probably the most sobering, un- Rock "N" Roll Hardcore [Noise-Rock] band since like... Straight Edge pioneers, Minor Threat/Fugazi . Weasel-voiced frontman Matt Korvette is an insurance claims adjuster by day, for Christ's sake! "Bathroom Laughter" and "Cathouse" (released Monday) chronicle relate-able, everyday mis-doings that the average Middle American can easily relate to; I mean, we're talking about "crippling pert allergies," hallway screaming/kitchen crying, a "blistering fear of going to the doctor," and unrequited rhapsody with saucy women. "Cathouse" is most likely gonna be our last FREEBIE 'til Sub Pop drops the band's fourth studio album, Honeys , this upcoming Feb. 12th. Former Japanther director/graphic artist, Joe Stakun supposedly made [filmed] a music video for the band, which @PissedJeans' Twitter feed says should be unleashed to The Inter-web sometime dur...

Blink-182 were my [first] favourite band through most of middle school and high school. while I own nearly all of their 8-10 CD's and rare pressings, the "Blink-182" section on my iPod is fairly short and sweet, cause their music's just engrained in my head! Take Off Your Pants & Jacket is HANDS DOWN one of my all time favourite albums, Cheshire Cat/Dude Ranch are late 90's Hardcore classics, and The Enema Strikes Back is quite arguably the best recorded live album since KISS ALIVE ! (1975). Mark, Tom & Travis turned me onto great bands like Black Flag , Rancid , Misfits , Fugazi, Fall Out Boy , and Motion City Soundtrack through their well-written liner notes and interviews. I can vividly remember talking about Blink-182 (Untitled) during Gym class either junior or senior year; Like most of Blink 's albums and side projects, it was released right on the cusp of spring/summer. It was a "perfectly progressive" Punk Rock album, writ...

"Nice New Outfit" (Track 01) by Chris Lawhorn (1.) What really compelled you to edit a bunch of Fugazi tracks together in the first place... and how'd you go about picking which parts to use? Chris Lawhorn: I love the band. I thought it would be an interesting project and an excuse to listen to their catalog in a new way. I used all of the songs in their discography -- apart from those on the Instrument soundtrack . (2.) Did you have to pay constant attention to stuff like pitch, tempo, rhythm, timing etc. When mashing the tracks together? Yes. With the whole album, I tried to group the tracks by tempo -- so that I wasn't mixing fast tracks with slow ones. And with the individual tracks, it was a matter of keeping each instrument in time with those from the other tracks by manually moving beats around. (3.) Do you have a background in Punk and/or Hip-Hop (even just as a fan)? Cause parts of it really remind me of both genres! In the late 90's...

I think I'd have to honestly say that Black Flag, Misfits, Minor Threat (Fugazi) , and Beastie Boys were the first 3-4 1980's Hardcore bands that I really got into @ the tender [aggressive] age of like 15-16. Always having a few "cool" older cousins, Hardcore Punk was the first type of music that I really discovered on my own! While they're all pretty great in the own ways, Black Flag still remains one of my favoutite bands, all these years later... particularly Rollins era Black Flag , of course. They were so much more than just another Punk band - Seamlessly mixing in bits & pieces of spoken word poetry, Blues-Jazz , Sludge/Doom Metal , Rhythm & Blues , Prog. Rock, Breakbeat , Contemporary Classical (1970's), and intricate guitar solos. Vice Records' music channel, noisey recently too a trip "across the pond" to play some tunes for a few young critics. My best guess is that most of these kids are roughly 6-12, all of whom have ...

Seems as though White Denim's primary singer-songwriter, James Petralli decided to partake in one of Middle America 's most cherished pastimes over the weekend: "Spring Cleaning." Like all too many of us, Petralli was rooting through his Austin, TX garage and quickly dug up a lost treasure... Tascam Portastudio fully in toe, Petralli then took to Facebook , asking White Denim 's trusty fans to submit classic songs that they'd like to hear covered. By late Friday evening, James Petralli re-emerged complete with a 6-track zipfile, Fun Friday : Elvis Costello , Ween, Neil Young, Stevie Wonder , King Crimson, and White Stripes' "WEAReGOinGTObefriENDs" (2002). Arguably a tad bit more laidback than White Denim 's usual rapid-paced, Jazz-Fusion output, Fun Friday was recorded straight to Petralli's handy Tascam Portastudio over roughly 5-6 hours... further topped with a few Austin Jenkins -crafted guitar riffs. It should also be of pa...

For all intensive purposes, writer/director Scott Crawford was roughly 12-years old during the height of "Reaganomics" (1981-89) and of course, the rise of Hardcore Punk forming adjacent to the nation's capitol: Washington, DC . D.I.Y. fanzine publisher, Crawford was a fairy instrumental player attached to DC Hardcore 's initial burst in popularity. Around the same time, young Hardcore bands like Misfits, The Ramones , and Beastie Boys were making waves on the nearby coasts of New York and New Jersey ... Now, some 30+ years later, he's piecing together an end-all-be-all documentary to properly tell the story of the genre and city that he knows best! Salad Days: The DC Punk Revolution is scheduled for a 2013 wide release and interviews are still being conducted, but we already have 2 short "teaser trailers" to help whet your appetite. In an earnest attempt to fully convey the passion-filled story of DC Punk , Scott Crawford is currently re-intervi...