The Witzard

The Drowns Live - CREDIT: Trude Gilman (@photography.by.trude) Our favorite raucous Rock "N" Rollers from the Pacific Northwest, The Drowns , have announced their new EP, Lunatics, and released a video for the first single, "Live Like Yer Dyin.'" Lunatics is the follow-up to the band's recently-released 7-inch, "Know Who You Are," and their previous full-length, Under Tension. For Lunatics, The Drowns once again got back into the studio with producer Ted Hutt (The Gaslight Anthem, Dropkick Murphys, The Bouncing Souls) to re-capture the magic they created for Under Tension. "'Live Like Yer Dyin'" is my love for Little Richard in one song. It gets up and goes, right from the first beat. Pure and simple Rock "N" Roll, lightning in a bottle," says frontman Rev. Lunatics showcases incredible growth in The Drowns' song-writing—revealing an array of influences the band has not showcased in their prior releases. ...

Last Friday, on New Year's Eve, while most people were either getting ready to party (or pre-gaming!) Pirates Press Records released the A-side to The Drowns' upcoming yelloe 7-inch single, "Know Who You Are," which is streaming now, as well. Said 7-inch is, also, available now on the Pirates Press Records web-store and officially comes out later this month. The aforementioned track is, of course, a cover of the legendary Slade and the B-side features a new original track called "Guidelines of Control." The Seattle Rock "N" Roll purists have never been shy to readily acknowledge their influences and, since Day One, Slade has been high up on that list. To quote The Drowns' guitarist/co-vocalist Aaron "Rev" Peters, "their energy and Rock "N" Roll sound is nothing short of pure sonic truth." The minute The Drowns started jamming "Know Who You Are" in-studio, they knew it was going to be great and FUN...

Seattle-bred Pirates Press Records signees The Drowns have quickly become one of our favorite Punk/Hardcore bands here at The Witzard. Their sophomore album, Under Tension, was quietly released earlier this year with production work throughout from Ted Hutt (Dropkick Murphys, Flogging Molly, The Gaslight Anthem.) We, actually, had the opportunity to speak with The Drowns' Aaron "Rev" Peters & Andy Wylie back in late July. At that point in time, The Drowns had released music videos for singles, "Hold Fast" & "Them Rats," as well as flexi-disc 7-inches for "Demons," "Hold Fast" (Hold Fast Demons,) "Black Lung," and "Wolves On The Throne." During this pandemic, The Drowns have stayed relatively busy with Rev & Andy Wylie both contributing remotely-recorded solo sets as part of Pirates Press' socially-distant "festival" Rock The Sofa—rather than their annual Rock The Ship event—held this p...

Victor "Vic" Ruggiero is a Bronx, New York-based musician, producer, and multi-instrumentalist, who's best-known as the keyboardist and frontman of beloved Ska band, The Slackers. Ruggiero has, also, spent time playing with Stubborn All-Stars, Sic & Mad, SKAndalous All-Stars, Crazy Baldhead, Da Whole Thing, The Silencers, The Mooks, and Reggae Workers of The World. He's released several solo albums, EP's, and singles and has, additionally, been featured on recordings by Rancid, Transplants, P!NK, Tim Timebomb, and more. The Slackers recently released their latest 12-inch/digital single, "Nobody's Listening" B/W "Sleep Outside," as well as a vinyl re-issue of 2000's Live At Ernesto's! originally a CD-only release on Hellcat/Epitaph, with Pirates Press Records. Just a few months ago, we purchased a digital copy of Lauren Napier & Vic Ruggiero's collaborative Duets, Vol. 1 EP released on Chicago-based imprint Happy As A La...

The Drowns at Pirates Press Rock The Ship 2019 (CREDIT: Robert Taylor) "I first met Rev when his band, Success, were supporting my pals, 7Seconds, on a West Coast/Pacific Northwest tour during the Summer of 2015. I was tagging along for the California dates and had the pleasure of getting to know the guys from Success over those few days. I remember, after they played their set in Reno, Rev was so excited that there was a pit during their set. They brought so much excitement and positive energy to the tour and were absolutely solid dudes all the way. I did everything that I could to catch up with Rev & The Gang anytime they were in town after. Over the next few years, I had heard that Rev was working on another band called The Drowns and when he sent me the demo for their first record, View from The Bottom, it was clear that something special was about to happen. The Drowns have their own style and sound that would appeal to any Punk & Oi! crowd and beyond. It wasn...

Not entirely unlike Wrestle/Wrassle Rap or Basketball Rap, there's, apparently, a whole sub-genre of hockey-themed Punk/Hardcore—oftentimes, referred to as "Puck" Rock or Hockey-core. Yes, I've been a die-hard fan of Punk/Hardcore for 15+ years and I, too, only first heard about Puck Rock within the last few weeks. Although, once I started diggin' around, I discovered about 10-15 bands at the forefront; this was, then, gradually narrowed down to 10 "front-line" bands, which will be chronicled here over the course of coming weeks. The "top-scoring" bands we selected include: Crippled Youth, SLAPSHOT, The Hanson Brothers/Nomeansno, Two Man Advantage, The Boils, D.O.A. THE ZAMBONIS, Pansy Division, The Hextalls, and THE RAMOMS' "Gritty Is A Punk" flexi-disc. We sent out a short 6-question interview form to all of the aforementioned bands, received some back, heard a few choice words, and still have yet to hear from a few more. We...

The Drowns are a Punk/Hardcore-leaning Rock "N" Roll band hailing from Seattle, Washington. The Drowns' core line-up consists of both current and former members of The Briggs , Coyote Bred, Madcap , The Shell Corporation, Success , and Time Again. It's believed The Drowns' players are frontman Aaron "Rev" Peters , bassist/vocalist Andy Wylie , drummer Jake Margolis , and guitarist Jonny Wade . The Drowns have hand-crafted a unique breed of Punk/Hardcore-indebted bare bones Rock "N" Roll akin to Bouncing Souls, C*ck Sparrer, The Gaslight Anthem, Hot Water Music, and Titus Andronicus. The Drowns released their first proper recordings together in 2018 as View from The Bottom on 1984/Live from The Rock Room/Bypolar/Gunner Records. Although, throughout 2019, they seem to have struck up a partnership with Emeryville, California-based imprint, Pirates Press Records ; said label released two 2019 EP's for The Drowns , The Sound 7-inch and a...

I guess, at this point in my life, on the verge of 32, I would deem myself an "aging Punk" (I know, it's an extremely un-Punk thing to do!) but I feel, as though, before labeling someone else an "aging Punk," I should, at least, own up to my own dwindling status in the community/sub-culture. I've been listening to Punk/Hardcore music for about 17 years now; so, that would mean I first discovered the genres around 15-16, which sounds about right. I guess, if my memory serves me correctly, I discovered a bunch of formative 80's punk bands like Black Flag, Fugazi, Minor Threat, The Misfits, Samhain, Bad Religion, etc. through listening to Pop Punk bands, such as blink-182, Sum 41, and Green Day, during the early 2000's. I've always felt a special attachment to the worlds of Punk/Hardcore—attending amany sweaty shows dimly-lit shows long before I was even old enough to drink!—and oddly enough, the older I get, the more of an attachment I feel toward...

"I went to Las Vegas to perform with Liberace and went [with] him to see Elvis' show. I had never seen someone boldly standing on a stage–supposedly, a heterosexual male–wearing turquoise eye shadow and grinding his hips like that. The orchestra, one-by-one, put down their instruments. They crossed their arms and refused to play. The audience started booing and they booed him off the stage. Then, a voice said to me–and I wasn’t on any drugs–"go around the side of the hotel. There's a swimming pool and you'll find someone in a canary yellow jacket." I went around and in the dark Moonless night, far away, I could see the double-doors of the casino, golden with light. They opened and a figure came into the doorway. It was Elvis, wearing a canary yellow jacket. He looked confusedly into the darkness, so I said, "I'm over here." We walked towards each other, sat down, and talked. I told him that I was a performer and that what happened was absolu...

Self-Titled by CHARGER Christian Wagner from Emeryville, California -based Pirates Press Records has been sending us digital promos and EPK's for a year or so now, via email, but within the last few months, he's been sending us physical promos, as well: Lenny Lashley's Gang of One 's All Are Welcome , Harrington Saints' 1,000 POUNDS OF Oi!, and most recently, CHARGER 's debut self-titled EP AKA "S/T" EP . Oddly enough, CHARGER 's S/T EP is the third Rancid -related release recently issued by Pirates Press ; Landfill Crew 's self-titled 2x7-inch EP features long-time Rancid frontman Tim Armstrong , The Old Firm Casuals' Holger Danske features Lars Frederiksen of both Rancid and Lars Frederiksen & The Bastards , and CHARGER features Matt Freeman (bass/vocals) of Rancid , as well as genre-shaping Operation Ivy . Just today, Friday, May 10th, Pirates Press are, somehow, releasing CHARGER 's S/T EP , Harrington Saints' 1,...

Landfill Crew is a fictional animated Punk Rock band set during the mid-80's heyday of the formative East/West Coast Punk & Hardcore scenes. Landfill Crew AKA LFC 's self-titled debut 2x7-inch EP was originally recorded on March 12, 1987 in Bagga's Basement , although, it was just properly released earlier this week on Pirates Press & Hellcat Records . According to the record's inserts, Landfill Crew consists of frontman Anthony "Hux" Campbell , guitarist & vocalist Bagger "Bagga Bullets" Russell , drummer Jennifer "Jenny" Arellano , guitarist Cliff "Pakman" Esmond , and bassist Horace "Baby" Harringtton . Its reverse sleeve denotates the 2x7-inch EP was produced by Tim "Timebomb" Armstrong , with artwork & layout by J Bonner , and sends a very "special thanks to Clarence for bringing the donuts." However, much in the same vein as like-minded animated Alternative Rock/Hip-Hop b...

Dad Brains by Dad Brains Oxnard/Ventura, California -based Punk/Hardcore band Dad Brains are, without a doubt, the epitomy of "Dad Rock" or, as they're calling it, "Dadcore." Drummer-turned vocalist Patrick Pedraza , guitarist Matt Kash , drummer John Crerar , and bassist Craig Kasamis formed Dad Brains —a tongue-in-cheek homage to Bad Brains —in the fall of 2017 around the sheer ideology of playing kid-friendly music for Punk dads and, of course, their families. Dad Brains' members previously spent time playing with No Motiv , The Missing 23rd, Creep Division (members of Sick of It All, Good Riddance & No Motiv ,) Night Demon, and The F***ing Wrath . While it appears as though Dad Brains have been playing the local Oxnard Punk circuit for a while now, they quietly released their debut 5-track self-titled EP digitally on, of all days, Father's Day 2018. Now, just three short months later, Dad Brains have effectively re-released their EP...