The Witzard

Jumbled watering his pumpkins (SOURCE: John Bachman) So, by now, anyone who regularly reads this site should know we are long-time, supporters, and fans of anything our beat-making friend from Baltimore, John Bachman (otherwise known as Jumbled) creates and releases to the masses. With that said, Jumbled is back with his latest seasonal EP, Project 138. Yes, this is a project primarily featuring samples from New Jersey's own Horror Punk pioneers, The Misfits, and, maybe, even some Samhain & Danzig, too. It's hard to tell, though, because Jumbled layers samples and creates his beats so well, but Glenn Danzig and company are sampled throughout; Project 138, also, incorporates audio soundbites about The Misfits and their genre-altering rise to fame like bats out of Hell. Project 138 by Jumbled Bachman describes his inspirations behind creating the ghoulish project as, "there have been a few "inspired by..." Rap projects lately, but I feel like they haven...

The Misfits (CREDIT: Eerie Von) Art Inhuman is a collaborative effort between Artificial Intelligence (A.I.) artist Dan Schenker and writer Matt Horowitz. Dan takes band names, lyrics, and song names and with the help of an A.I. manipulates them into what he feels best represents them visually. If you have a suggestion for an upcoming addition to this series, Tweet Matt at @SharpChedder856 and/or Dan at @heydanschenker and Tag the band or artist you'd like us to feature next. This project spawned from Dan's decades-long love of music. Dan had been a fan of the band FOLLY since early high school—for the blend of Punk, Ska, and Hardcore they seamlessly wove, for the energy their music made him feel, and for the almost disproportionately poetic lyrics and topics they covered. So, when Dan thought to input some of his favorite lyrics, song titles, and album titles into Midjourney, the results were staggering. He posted them to Facebook, which caught the attention of the band, w...

So, as many of you may well know by now, my wife and I are first-time parents of a now 4-month-old(!) baby and while I'm still trying to find a healthy balance between writing here on The Witzard, as well as a handful of other sites, and hanging out with my growing family, it admittedly isn't always easy. So, while I ran a bunch of Halloween-centric features over the course of the past two weeks or so, I didn't exactly have time to cover everything that came out on or around Friday for Halloween after our last post before the weekend. However, with that said, there were a bunch of ghoulishly great Halloween jams—both originals and covers—released this year. Now, with all that said, I'm proud to present to you A Pumpkin-punchin' Post-Halloween Punk/Hardcore Playlist. I've included Bandcamp links for most of these, as that's my preferred steaming platform (in addition to Spotify) and some of these picks selected are available as Bandcamp-only exclusives and ...

"The world needs more Ska songs about skeletons and ghosts and stuff. 666th Wave Ska," reads the Bandcamp Bio of Berkeley, California-based Ska band, Grave Danger . Technically, Grave Danger have forged an entirely new genre for their releases: "Skath," which combines elements of both Ska & Goth, as well as Punk, Hardcore, and Rock. "The idea of a "Skath" band stems from a strange place: what would a Goth/Ska band sound like, one [that] combined The Misfits' aesthetic with Reel Big Fish's goofball schtick?" explains a Grave Danger press kit. Grave Danger is the brainchild of high school buds, David "Dave" Schwantes & Dane Erbach , who "spent the bulk of their gym class brainstorming fake bands with their friends, in an attempt to avoid whatever physical despair their P.E. teachers had in store for them that day." A selection of these faux groups included a "Death Metal" band called Throbbing Re...

Mr. Bungle were an Experimental Rock/Funk Metal/Avant-Garde Metal/Ska/Jazz Fusion/Art Rock/Progressive Pop/Surf Rock/Thrash/Death Metal band hailing from Northern California, who were originally active from 1985-2000. Its final line-up consisted of Mike Patton (Faith No More, Fantômas, Peeping Tom, Dead Cross,) Trey Spruance (Secret Chiefs 3, Faith No More,) Trevor Dunn (Tomahawk, Secret Chiefs 3,) Danny Heifetz (Link Wray, Secret Chiefs 3,) and Clinton "Bär" McKinnon (UMLAUT, Secret Chiefs 3) with past members, also, including Theobald Brooks "Theo" Lengyel , Jed Watts , Luke Miller , Scott Fritz , and Hans Wagner . Mr. Bungle released three albums between 1991-99, Mr. Bungle, Disco Volante, and California on Warner Bros. with at least four demos released prior between 1986-89. Since their split in 2000, Mr. Bungle 's sound and overall style has influenced everyone from Incubus to Slipknot with Korn, most notably, utilizing what they have dubbed the ...

I. Atom Age Industries: MISFITS ENAMEL PINS WAVE 2 (@atomageindustries) Atom Age Industries is a Bellflower, California-based clothing company and store-front. They re-produce and sell goods from artists such as AC/DC, Blondie, The Cramps, D.O.A. Dead Kennedys, FEAR / Lee Ving, Hüsker Dü, The Misfits, The Police, and Suicidal Tendencies. Atom Age primarily sells T-shirts, records, and enamel pins and carries a host of limited edition capsule collections for the above-listed artists, as well as countless others. Etched beer mugs/glasses, letterman jackets, enamel pins, patches, can & bottle cozy's, skateboard decks, button packs, CD's, silk-screened posters, and other assorted items. These newly-released Misfits Wave 2 Enamel Pins are now available... just in time for the next (fingers crossed!) Original Misfits show! Wave 2 features 6 glossy "BULLET," "FIEND EYES," "HALLOWEEN," "EVIL NEVER DIES," "DIE, DIE, MY DARLING" ...

Dennis "80HRTZ" Faria is a musician, beat-maker, producer, and multi-instrumentalist hailing from Fall River, Massachusetts . 80HRTZ has been playing with local Southeastern Mass area bands since about 1995; from '95 to around 2004, Faria played bass with a variety of bands including, a 7-piece Hip-Hop crew called Nyhilistx and female-fronted Rock band, Eryss . Since halting his career as a bassist around about 2004 due to severe carpal tunnel, 80HRTZ has largely focused on making music by himself from behind his computer. 80 has either produced or contributed to Portland, Maine emcee BRZOWSKI 's New England Gothic , General Surgery, Blooddrive Vol. 1 , 2017's ENMITYVILLE, and most recently, his DIG 2 GRAVES split with MC Homeless . Dennis Faria was part of The Witzard 's comprehensive Round Robin -style interview in support of BRZOWSKI & MC Homeless ' collaborative split, DIG 2 GRAVES on I Had An Accident/Milled Pavement Records . 80HRT...

"I'm Jeff Richie from New Jersey . I make Punk-Rap under the name "JE DOUBLE F" and New Wave under the name "TUFF TURF." First of all, I've never considered myself a "beat-maker" or a "producer." I've never considered myself much of anything. Nothing specific, at least. I write songs, I record them; sometimes, with sequenced instrumentation à la Rap/New Wave , sometimes not. No bullsh*t, no claim to be part of any specific "culture" or "scene." In fact, I think music culture and scenes are a complete waste of time. With that said, here are three albums that f**ked me up permanently:" I. GRAVEDIGGAZ - 6 FEET DEEP (1994) "I had been listening to a lot of traditional Hip-Hop around the time that I first heard 6 FEET DEEP . I was probably 16-years-old. This album proved to me that you can make " Rap music" that's not about intercity violence and drugs—two things that I had (an...

Death Grips have remained virtually silent and largely inactive for a few months, until deathgrippin uploaded a mysterious YouTube video over the weekend; Zach Hill ferociously drumming for 10+ minutes, sometimes filmed in hyper-speed, all the while being handcuffed! It was recorded during band rehearsal just the other day (07/05/13) and captures what seems to be a fragmented portion of Death Grips' blistering Proto-Rap live set. Hill unexpectedly bailed on a recent European tour , remaining in the states to actively work on an untitled film that he's writing and directing... Death Grips are planning to soundtrack the adventurous film, while they're simultaneously recording a new album. It's a little hard to follow and the band's work is always cloaked in mystery, but it's worth noting that @deathgrippin's Twitter handle is currently co-named "hushed aug13." The Witzard Conspiracy Theory: Death Grips are planning to unleash either Zach ...

Oh, Tom Breihan , you've done it again!; After reading, watching, and ultimately rejecting Redd Kross ' new music video for "Stay Away from Downtown," which was just released online late yesterday afternoon... I have somewhat hastily re-considered my initial opinion on the whole thing. Since reading Breihan's STELLAR album review of Researching The Blues [released today], I've realized that what I thought was it's biggest drawback is actually the album's greatest strength - That undeniably thick layer of Pop Rock sheen! Redd Kross are quite arguably just as Pop -driven as the music of Britney Spears , Katy Perry , or even Justin Bieber . But the fellas of Redd Kross have been earnestly practicing and improving since middle school, when the opened up for Black Flag @ a graduation party (1978). Researching The Blues is the band's first album in some 15 years and honestly, it isn't trying to represent/become anything that they aren't le...

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 ...

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...

30 years ago today way back in 1982 - a greatly unique, [w]reckless, and promising young man passed away @ the hands of one last fatal "speedball:" John Belushi . He was an up-and-coming comedian, who really only revealed a segment of his many talents to the word while briefly on top. Belushi was a member of the inaugural Saturday Night Live cast (1975), along with buddies Chevy Chase & Dan Aykroyd . SNL -bred John Belushi characters which present-day audiences might recognize include: Jake E. Blues & Kuldorth [Conehead] . Following his 1979 departure from the popular sketch comedy show, Belushi appeared in a number of successful movies and assorted TV shows: National Lampoon's Animal House , The Rutles, 1941 , The Blues Brothers , and lastly Neighbors (1981). At the time of his sudden death, Belushi was working on a number of projects, which were ultimately cancelled. A little known John Belushi -related factoid is that he was an avid Hardcore Punk fan and ...

Wavves were always that obnoxious Indie band that just irked me. To be completely frank, I think that Wavves (2008) and Wavvves (2009) sounded like complete and total shit... and their instant success/immense mass media cover-age simply dumbfounded me. I'm open to nearly all forms of music, but theirs just seemed like musically-backed noise. So, when King of The Beach -related tracks started leaking online back in 2010, I was pleasantly surprised with what I heard! It seems as though head Wavve Nathan Williams is staying true to his reckless roots, while toning it down just a tad but @ the same time, in an effort to become a little more "mainstream" commercially viable . In the months since, Wavves have managed to pick up Jay Reatard 's old band, "The Reatards," performed on national TV with GZA , released follow-up effort, Life Sux EP ... and inked a licensing deal with MTV ! Nathan Williams' official title @ the music television network is ...

"Diarrhea Planet" may very well be the most memorable, ambiguous juxtaposition of random phrases [band name] since "Foo Fighters" 1994 inception. Diarrhea Planet 's 4 lead guitarists ( Jordan Smith, Brent Toler, Evan Bird , and Emmett Miller ) without a doubt add depth to their already dense, Balls-to-the-Wall Rock "N" Roll sound. Drummer Casey J. Weissbuch and jungle-stompin' bassist, Mike Boyle round out the band's extensive 6-man team. Jordan Smith dually acts as "leadsinger," but all of the guys are able to contribute vocal riffs when needed. Diarrhea Planet was originally formed in 2009 as a 2-piece Noise band and with a few changes/additions, this current line-up was recently solidified on record. After self-releasing 2 EP's-worth of material and "endlessly" touring the Nashville area, Diarrhea Planet were signed to JEFF The Brotherhood's hometown label, Infinity Cat Recordings . Philly label, Evi...