The Witzard

Guardrails 2022 promo, SOURCE: Caleb Good (@calebgoodphotos) Jesse "Jetski" Brinkley (@jetski_brinks) is the frontman of rising Richmond, Virginia/RVA Hardcore Punk band Guardrails. They've been on the RVA Hardcore scene since about November 2020 aligning with the release of their single "Flag of The Enemy." Guardrails' line-up has always included Jetski (awesome nickname, right!?) and a rotating cast of characters, including guitarists Cotie Brown & Jesse McDaries, bassist Corey Dodson, and drummer David Webster. Guardrails are still independent and don't seem to be currently signed with Fullerton, California-based Punk/Hardcore label powerhouse Irish Voodoo Records (yet!) but if nothing else, seem to be closely aligned with their camp. Irish Voodoo are doing some sort of unspecified 7-inch vinyl/CD/cassette tape re-release of Guardrails' proper debut EP, If You Please, which their Bandcamp page says is "COMING SOON." As recentl...

It should be no secret by now that Buffalo Wrestle-core bruisers PURE HEEL are one of our favorite rising Punk/Hardcore-adjacent bands here at The Witzard. HEEL's current line-up consists of Eric Borawski AKA Doughy Ramone AKA Sweaty Vedder AKA Thick Neilsen AKA Bad Borawski, Jay Galvin AKA Captain Annoying, Jesse Muscato AKA The Claw, Rob Ohlenschlager AKA The Boy, and Joey Simmen AKA The Mangler. Amongst them, PURE HEEL's members have collectively spent time playing with The Bonesaw Romance, Buried Alive, Despair, Ghosts of War, Heavy Hearted, Kid Gorgeous, Lewd Dwedz Phased Out, P*ssing Match, Slugfest, Worse Things, and Wreckage. PURE HEEL have been together since 2016 and started dropping music online with Demo '16, soon followed up by King Kong Bundy EP (2017,) and Crime Spree (2019) all self-released on their Bandcamp page. PURE HEEL signed with Fullerton, California-based Irish Voodoo Records in 2020 and shortly dropped a self-titled 2-track lathe-cut/digi...

@pureheel 🐃 Buffalo Hardcore 💪 (SOURCE: @irishvoodoorecords) PURE HEEL makes feverish, brashly unfiltered, unadultured, unapologetic, unabashed Wrestling-inspired Punk/Hardcore music. Not unlike SPAZZ, Los Crudos, Ultramantis Black, The Ultimate Warriors, God's Hate, F*CKED UP, The Mountain Goats, Open Mike Eagle, Andy "The Butcher" Williams of Every Time I Die, Conway The Machine, Westside Gunn, Action Bronson, KŌYŌ, Fozzy, The Mighty Jabronis, Hulk Hogan, Cyndi Lauper, KUARANTINE, John Cena, The Miz, The Misfits, Smoke DZA, Mega Ran, Griff/Scorcese, Code Orange, Weezer, and Zoogz Rift before them, HEEL often take stylistic cues from the WWF/WWE. "Listen up, milkmaids. PURE HEEL is here to make your insurance rates go up, your property value go down, and your dreams crumble. I, The Captain have assembled the finest crew of mutant bruisers to dominate all oncomers, big or small..." "Whether it is by the big-backed brawn of Doughy Ramone or the 190-p...

Pissing Match was formed in the fall and winter of 2013-14 by guitarist Aaron Adkins (Everything Falls Apart, Able Danger, Lewd Dewds,) who had wanted to start a Hardcore band that borrowed from his latest obsession: the short, frantic start-stop frenzy of the Swedish Hardcore duo Pusrad and wed it with the sounds of USHC alumni D.R.I. Koro, and Negative Approach with a splash of toilet humor for sh*ts and giggles. After recording all of the instruments and vocals for a 10-song demo tape clocking in at just over three minutes, Adkins enlisted vocalist Jay Galvin (Slugfest, Face The Panic, PURE HEEL,) who suggested the young pisspot Rob Ohlenschlager (PURE HEEL) on drums and veteran bassist Joe Villella (KDC, Fledging Death, Bleed for Me) to round out the yellow-eyed line-up. After the release of the aforementioned demo tape in 2014, followed by the 6-minute 16-song Break The Seal 7-inch in 2016; the gang quickly marked their territory on the US Hardcore scene. The quartet subseque...