It’s 2013. A new year signifies new beginnings, a blank slate, a new state of mind… and… another year older. Argghh..now I’m depressed.
Well this should cheer you up.. there is just a plethora of new, good punk and underground music out right now.
THE “OLD” GUYS:
Pennywise – 25 years in 2013
2012 saw some kick ass new releases by some of my favorite bands like Pennywise. Their new CD “All or Nothing” is a 20 song strong CD that simply inspires and gives strength. I’ve had several months of listening now and can honestly say I’ve never heard such a solid string of encouraging, “we have the power and we will change things” kick ass songs. This might be my favorite CD of all time for this band. Favorite tunes include “Waste Another Day”, “Let Us Hear Your Voice” and “X-Generation” but to be honest, you’d be hard pressed to find a bad song in the bunch. The whole CD is worth a listen.
GREEN DAY:
Green Day
If you’re a big Green Day fan and even if like me, you are not, then I’m sure you know they released their three release set, “Uno”, “Dos” & “Tres” in late 2012. I haven’t heard all 3 completely but my favorite single off the sets are so far “Let Yourself Go” from Uno . In my opinion, Uno at least is a better effort than Green Day’s had in a while, (I think the songs are better than “Know Your Enemy”). Looking forward to Dos & Tres in 2013 to see if they can keep it going.
BAD RELIGION:
Bad Religion
Speaking of punk legends, Bad Religion’s “True North” is coming out later this month on January 22nd and available now by pre-order. Like Pennywise, I’ve seen these guys a few times in concert and I’ll definitely be listening to that and reporting back to you.
THE NEW GUYS:
Now we don’t have a specialty, but if we did, it would be punk music from around the world from bands that may or may not be well known outside of their home country.
MOSCOW, RUSSIA – Samati
Here is a female fronted rock band that reached out to us from Moscow, Russia called Samati. Samati fuses punk with some old fashioned rock n roll and I really dig a couple of their tracks, especially tracks #1 “Louder” (below) and #2 “Who You Are” which have a little more aggressive punk sound to them.
Give Samati’s new CD a free listen HERE and let me know your favorite track.
BOGOTA, COLOMBIA – PaniKo, SataniKo
Now if you’ve been reading this blog for a while, you know that I know there is a massive punk and hardcore scene down in South America and in particular in Colombia. In all my travels to Colombia, I can’t recall having met the girls and guys from PaniKo, SataniKo but I gave their tunes a listen on Sound Cloud and I have to say I’m indeed impressed. They have a nice little cover from the Misfits’ “Hollywood Babylon” but their originals are really what impressed me with a little psychobilly influence in there somewhere.
Check them out and see what you think about these guys from Bogota.
PITTSBURGH, CALIFORNIA – Malicious Dismemberment
Now for all you hardcore fans, we’re bringing back to the state wherefore I type this little entry from tonight, California, where punk is still alive and well and bands like “Social Distortion” can sell out the House of Blues for weeks at a time. I don’t know much more than you about Malicious Dismemberment, but you gotta love the sound of the name and if you’re into hardcore punk, the sound of the music. They have about as aggressive a sound as I’ve heard in a while in the normally mellow, melodious West Coast. Give a listen and let me know what you think.
Don’t forget to check out our sister site for punk music from around the world. We’re doing a little update to the site but by the end of the month, everything should be up to date and rolling. In 2013, we’ll have new music out from Russia as well as a psychobilly compilation if things go as planned, plus whatever other surprises may come our way.
Well there you have it.. new music to get your 2013 kicked off just right. Thanks for tuning in to us during 2012 as we traveled the globe in search of some fresh punk sounds for you and reporting that from South America to Southeast Asia (getting there soon, I promise) to Eastern Europe to NYC, California, Florida and all points in between, punk is very much alive.
We’ll leave you with a video of Malicous Dismemberment that they have featured on their band page. Pretty cool. Wishing you a very punked out 2013.
