The Witzard

CATBITE & Brian Fallon Are The Slacures (CREDIT: MO @phobymo) "We never got to make it to the legendary Chris Gethard Show, so we decided to create our own Goth alternate reality and create The Chris Gothard Show!," CATBITE (@catbiteband) shared within an Instagram post earlier this morning. The four-piece Philly-based Ska band had been teasing something called The Slacures for a number of days; posting "coming 6/9 😈. Subscribe to or YouTube channel for first dibs, link in bio," a number of days ago. Alright, so all of this finally materialized together earlier this morning as a CATBITE & Brian Fallon (The Gaslight Anthem, Molly & The Zombies, The Horrible Crowes) together as The Slacures covering The Slackers' "Yes, It's True" written by vocalist, multi-instrumentalist, and producer Vic Ruggiero from their 1998 album, The Question . So, CATBITE & Fallon created The Slacures—see what they did there, The Slackers + The Cure =...

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 ...

Robert Smith has been the long-time smeared lipstick-wearing frontman of The Cure since 1978. Aside from his beloved body of work with The Cure, Smith has released a limited number of outer-band recordings on his own. Those including collaborations with, but not limited to, Siouxsie & The Banshees, The Glove, Cult Hero, Crystal Castles, The Twilight Sad, blink-182, The Stranglers, KoЯn, and Junkie XL. Robert Smith has, additionally, released a number of solo recordings including "Pictures of You" (Paul Mac Remix) from the One Perfect Day Soundtrack, a cover of Kathryn Beaumont's "Very Good Advice" from Almost Alice, a cover of John Martyn's "Small Hours" the Johnny Boy Would Love This tribute comp. and lastly, a cover of Frank Sinatra's "Witchcraft" from Frankenweenie Unleashed! (Music Inspired By The Motion Picture.) It was announced earlier this week Smith would be appearing alongside Gorillaz, the long-time "virtual...

BODY HEAT by TUFF TURF JE DOUBLE F is a self-proclaimed "Nihilist Punk-Rap" emcee and producer based out of Atlantic City, NJ . If you read his recent Beat-maker Bedrock #2 column published right here at The Witzard , JE DOUBLE F (AKA Jeff Richie ) you'll remember he's equally influenced by Gravediggaz 's 6 Feet Deep as he is by Glenn Danzig -fronted Samhaim 's Final Descent and Nine Inch Nails' Pretty Hate Machine . "Fast, chaotic songs with no frills. Heavy touring schedule and DIY ethics; if Danzig met DOOM , you'd have JE DOUBLE F ," reads Jeff 's press release accompanying his latest album, HUMAN RITES . JE DOUBLE F has been making his own unique brand of Nihilist Punk-Rap since 2011, most of which has been released on his own Atlantic City -based music/film/book imprint, American Scream Records ; his discography includes, but is not limited to PAGANOMICS (demo sessions #1,) LOSE​/​LOSE split cassette, HALF-MAN , SONGS FO...

"MCDONALD’S, MAN MCDONALD’S, MAN THE FRENCH FRIES HAD A PLAN THE FRENCH FRIES HAD A PLAN THE SALAD BAR AND THE KETCHUP MADE A BAND 'CUS THE FRENCH FRIES HAD A PLAN THE FRENCH FRIES HAD A PLAN MCDONALD’S, MAN MCDONALD’S I KNOW THEM FRENCH FRIES HAVE A PLAN I KNOW THEM FRENCH FRIES HAVE A PLAN THE CHEESEBURGER AND THE SHAKES FORMED A BAND TO OVERTHROW THE FRENCH FRIES’ PLAN I ALWAYS KNEW THEM FRENCH FRIES WAS EVIL, MAN SMELLING ALL GOOD AND SH*T I DON’T TRUST NO FOOD THAT SMELLS GOOD, MAN I DON’T TRUST IT I JUST CAN’T MCDONALD’S, MAN MCDONALD’S, MAN MCDONALD’S, DAMN THEM FRENCH FRIES LOOK GOOD [THOUGH] I KNEW THE DIET COKE WAS JEALOUS OF THE FRIES I KNEW THE MCNUGGETS WAS JEALOUS OF THE FRIES EVEN THE MCRIB WAS JEALOUS OF THE FRIES I COULD SEE IT THROUGH HIS ARTIFICIAL MEAT EYES AND HE ONLY BE THERE SOME OF THE TIME EVERYBODY WAS JEALOUS OF THEM FRENCH FRIES EXCEPT FOR THAT ONE SPECIAL GUY... THAT SMOOTH APPLE PIE" - TEXT BY KANYE WEST.

" ["It All Comes Back to You"] has a miles-deep atmosphere of layered synths and drum machines that sucks you in while the love and empathy of the lyrics bubbles to the surface. It's enveloping and all-encompassing, sending you deep in the same way The Church 's "Under The Milky Way Tonight" sends you into orbit,'" Philly 's WXPN The Key enthusiastically wrote about Pink Skull founder Justin Geller 's latest 80's New Wave -leaning project, Remote Places . Geller's debut solo endeavor, Nights and Weekends EP , has already drawn early stylistic comparisons to The Cure , New Order, and The Smiths , as well as a bit more contemporary artists like The National , Washed Out, and Wild Nothing ; or even more befittingly self-described as sounding "like the soundtrack to a modern day re-make of The Breakfast Club . (Sometimes)." Justin Gellar recruited a gaggle of local Philadelphia area friends and musicians for his 5-s...

"Apple of My Eye" was one of those songs that when I first heard Vicious Lies & Dangerous Rumors , almost instantly made me say to myself, "Why the fuck isn't this a single!?" It's a weirdly AWESOME blend of Southern -fried Hip-Hop , smooth Pop -driven melodies, and mid-80's Jazz horn-assisted The Cure , kinda like "Lovecats" or "The 13th." While on indefinite hiatus from OutKast (2007-presnt), Big Boi has really established himself as a viable solo artist and released the second of 2 albums in just 2 short years; Fresh off an 18-month tour, he's supposedly already 9-10 tracks into writing-recording his currently untitled third studio album with long-time production team, Organized Noize . "Apple of My Eye" kicks off with an innuendo-filled skit starring Big Boi , a cornrowed buddy, and an Epic Meal Time [food truck]. During the final pre-scene, Big Boi 's handed a shiny red apple, which smoothly t...

Vex Ruffin releases his second EP today entitled Eulogy , which we're currently making available as a free download. The new work is a follow-up to his debut effort, Crash Course EP . The 6-track Eulogy EP picks up with the minimalist Pop of "Secret Weapon," Post-Punk "Perfect Congestion," and Goth, Dark Wave title track. Like Crash Course , all of the tracks on Eulogy were written, performed, and recorded solely by Vex. Stones Throw plans on releasing a vinyl edition of Eulogy EP as well as a third, as-yet Untitled EP this Summer followed by Vex Ruffin 's full-length debut in the Fall... - Stones Throw (Staff) Vex's live band will be playing a series of shows in Austin @ SXSW music conference, including the official Stones Throw showcase on March 13th. With the addition of drummer Liv Marsico , the four-piece band brings to life songs that were previously only performed solo by Vex Ruffin in his [home] studio. The band will also be pl...

Romy xx, Jamie xx & Oliver Sim are currently isolated - hard @ work on the untitled follow-up to their highly successful debut album, "xx" (2009). The xx plan to release the set ahead of a string of Summer 2012 festival appearances. Jamie xx has said that his production style is now inspired by Club music and is "party-motivated." Since bursting onto the UK music scene, Jamie xx has worked with [remixed] the likes of Florence + The Machine , Drake-Rihanna, Gil Scott-Heron, Adele ... Shakira, Kwes , and Gorillaz . Later on in 2009, second guitarist-keyboardist Baria Qureshi parted ways with The xx due to "personal differences;" Qureshi was one of the band's 4 founding members - All of whom met in 2005, while studying @ Elliott School (London) . The first demo from "xx2," "Open Eyes" was released over Christmas Holiday . A sparse, feedback-drenched piano/guitar-based piece, you can tell that "Open Eyes" is a...