The Witzard

We've been rockin' with DJ Ragz & Unown ever since they released a scrumptious, mouth-watering collection of beats called Pasta & Wings on San Diego-based Common Good Records in 2018. DJ Ragz is a world-class DJ and turntablist hailing from Virginia. While he's well-known for his battle appearances (DMC, Scribble Jam, Scion, Coast 2 Coast, etc.) he's also known as a member of the Hip-Hop group Jazz Addixx and as the co-creator of break record series, The Bare Bones. Ragz was most recently part of Man Bites Dog Records' 2019 yuletide Hip-Hop comp. Happy Holidays. Unown is a DC-based producer, engineer, and DJ currently traveling the world and rocking stages on the MPC as part of Oddisee's band, Good Compny. Also known as a member of Jazz Addixx, when Unown's not jet-setting across the world, he's either holed up in the studio working on tracks or DJ'ing around DC/Philly. Unown & DJ Ragz's next sonic platter, Burgers & Sliders, was...

Constant Elevation for Revelation Records (CREDIT: Julian Gilbert) Punk/Hardcore drummer, musician, and producer Sammy Siegler has been making music since about 1987-88. Siegler's more well-known projects include CIV, Gorilla Biscuits, Judge, Nightmare of You, Project X, RIVAL SCHOOLS, Shelter, Side By Side, WORLD BE FREE, and Youth of Today, but he's, also, recorded music with the likes of Glassjaw, Head Automatica, Limp Bizkit, and Tech N9ne. Supposedly, Sammy Siegler still plays basketball with Beastie Boy Adam "Ad-Rock" Horovitz, who even remixed "69 Guns" from RIVAL SCHOOLS' 2011 album, Pedals. Sammy's latest group, Constant Elevation, started out as a two-man project with Vinnie Caruana (The Movielife, I Am The Avalanche, Peace'd Out) and released a self-titled 2019 EP on Revelation Records. Constant Elevation's 2020 line-up features Siegler & Caruana, along with guitarist Mike Ireland, bassist Jani Zubkovs, and their newest memb...

"BE WELL is a new band with deep roots. Musically, it's emotionally gripping with an expertly-executed blend of Melodic Hardcore with notes of 90's Post-hardcore influence," explains their newly-minted Discogs page. BE WELL were, seemingly, formed at the top of 2020 and are signed to Equal Vision Records and released a self-titled 7-inch EP earlier this year. BE WELL's line-up consists of frontman Brian McTernan, bassist Aaron Dalbec, drummer Shane Johnson, and guitarists Mike Schleibaum & Peter Tsouras. Collectively, BE WELL's players either are or were members of Ashes, Bane, Battery, Beasts of No Nation, Biology, Converge, Daltonic, Darkest Hour, Fairweather, Mancake, Miltown, Only Crime, Ten Yard Fight, and Velocity Engine. Brian "Fury" McTernan, additionally, owns and operates his own DC/Baltimore-based recording studio, Salad Days Studio, as well as off-site locations Salad Days 2-4. Brian Fury has produced, mixed, recorded, engineered...

Liberty & Justice are a Houston, Texas-based Punk, Hardcore Skinhead & Oi! group. Their current line-up consists of frontman Ryan "Crowns" Taylor, bassist Edwin Carson, drummer Cory "Gaza" Parker, and guitarists Halston Luna & Ramzi Beshara. Since forming in 2016, Liberty & Justice have released a full-length, 4 All (2019) on Crowd Control media, as well as numerous singles, EP's, and splits. Prior to The COVID-19 Pandemic and Nation-wide shutdowns, Liberty & Justice had, apparently, been working on their follow-up to 4 All. However, it was quickly brought to a screeching halt a few months ago, along with many of Liberty & Justice's members' own small businesses. Back at the end of March, Liberty & Justice quietly released their own impassioned Punk/Oi! rendition of Robyn's 2020 Dance-Pop/Disco smash-hit, "Dancing On My Own." It was accompanied by a remotely-recorded and socially-distant music video recorded, e...

1986 Boston Globe TV38 WSBK Friday The 13th Ad (SOURCE: Bob O'Rourke) 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, ...

SPEED's 2020 Flex (CREDIT: Jay Wennington) SPEED are an Australian Hardcore band and new signees to Baltimore-based Flatspot Records. SPEED's line-up consists of mmebers only known as Jem, Dennis, Aaron, Joshua "Josh," and Kane with little else widely known. However, a press release explains, "the majority of SPEED's members are of Southeast Asian descent; drawing strength from its members' diverse cultural perspectives, SPEED makes it a point to stand up, not only against racism and xenophobia, but, also, the toxic masculinity and gender prejudices that have crept their way into Hardcore." SPEED have only been around for a few short years, but produce a very unique brand of pummeling 90's-reminiscent Metallic Hardcore. SPEED's Old School Hardcore sound evokes comparisons to greats, such as Madballs, Biohazard, and Agnostic Front. Last year, SPEED released their debut collection on Australian imprint Last Ride Records , a 5-song demo simply...

The Clash - Combat Rock "Punk Note" Cover By: John Yates for Stealworks (@stealworks) I've, admittedly, been on a Clash kick lately during quarantine... well, pretty much all things even remotely Clash-related: I've recently re-visited 1977's The Clash, as well as Combat Rock, Big Audio Dynamite/Big Audio Dynamite II's sample-laden discography, Joe Strummer & The Mescaleros' early 2000's Hellcat Records albums, 2018 career-spanning comp. Joe Strummer 001, and, of course, Johnny Cash & Joe Strummer's "Redemption Song" cover/duet from CASH UNEARTHED. It's pretty amazing to me, while primarily Punk Rock/New Wave-based, how much sampling exists within The Clash and its members related projects' music. For example: "Rock The Casbah" features an electronic sound effect beginning at the 1:52-minute point of the song. This noise is a monophonic version of the song "Dixie." The sound effect source was generat...