THE METHADONES

"not economically viable"
Year:  2004
Country:  US
City:  Chicago
Label:  Thick
Format:  CD, LP
Tracks:  12
Time:  39 min.
Genre:  rock
Style:        Pop Punk

The third full-length from The Methadones and second from the solidified lineup of Dan Vapid (Screeching Weasel / Riverdales / Sludgeworth), Mike Byrne (ex-Vindictives), Pete Mittler, and Mike Soucy finds the band taking a somewhat different route than the band's past endeavors. "not economically viable", an album loosely based on the movie Falling Down (in which a disgruntled office worker takes revenge on those causing his disposition), takes cues from both classic punk (yes, they still channel the Ramones a good deal) and the mature side of 90s pop, both likely due to Vapid's past projects, and is a little more guitar-driven this time around, with scattered solos thrown about, and devoid of any post-20th century influence whatsoever. Hower, despite the album being overall a strongly solid, forty-minute chunk of pop-punk, there's some noticable filler in the early-to-mid setting, . Nearly every track on the disc is catchy, even if the record ends up suffering from "every-song-sounds-the-same" syndrome as a result. "bored of television," "mess we made" and "million miles" are three of the best examples showing off the band's inherent ability to hook you like sidestage cane antics, but to be honest, it's tough to say how much lasting value the record as a whole has. The first couple spins I found myself relatively enjoying the album, if not drifting off around the aforementioned filler parts. Flash foward several listens later, I still drift off towards the same parts, and the ones I enjoy just seem less overwhelming than they were at first. The themes the album claims to have loosely attached itself too are even then a bit abstract to be noticeable - except for "Suddenly Cool," with its comments towards "climbing the social ladder" - and don't do much, if anything at all, to reward close attention to such. "not economically viable" is a brilliant album and perhaps the band's best effort (*Review by Brian Shultz).

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THE BROKEDOWNS

"life is a breeze"
Year:  2014
Country:  US
City:  Chicago
Label:  Red Scare
Format:  CD, LP
Tracks:  16
Time:  36 min.
Lyrical themes:  politics, parody
Genre:  rock
Style:        Punk  Rock

"To describe The Brokedowns as just another Midwestern pop-punk band would be to sell the Elgin, Illinois four-piece extremely short. Yes, they are from the Midwest, and yes, there are more than enough hooks and sing-along choruses to check all of the pop punk boxes, but there's so much more too, from impassioned shouts to clever, pointed lyrics, and it's all deftly assembled on Life Is A Breeze. The record shows a band that, after a period of evolution, has figured out a sound all its own, and is now making the most of it. If you are familiar with the band's past output, then you are already aware that after starting out with a heavier sound on early records, The Brokedowns infused much more melody, to great effect, on their previous full-length, 2010s Species Bender, and on a number of subsequent split 7-inches. On Life Is A Breeze, the band sticks with that sound and seems quite comfortable doing so. The record kicks off with Joliet, the Maui of the Midwest, which serves as a sort of a tourism jingle for the band's home region. It lays an effective foundation before the record launches into a series of standout tracks. The Gospel of Mustafa, Life Is A Breeze, "murder junkie/CPA" "everything is immoral" are all as good, if not better, than anything on "species bender", and "murder junkie / CPA" specifically hearkens back to that record with its similarity to "loyal looper" (theme from renegade), which is no bad thing. Unfortunately, there's little time to come up for air, as the next handful of tracks, starting with Born on the Bayou Too, are just as strong. In fact, the quality stays high all the way through to the closer, "a child's guide to Black Metal". As a whole, Life Is A Breeze is an extremely satisfying follow-up to Species Bender, taking everything that was great about that record and building on it. The one shame is that, coming so late in the year, Life Is A Breeze is likely to miss out on a spot on many year-end lists. It's certainly an honor lost, though I'm not so sure The Brokedowns care about that sort of thing (*Review writen by Adam Eisenberg)

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WESTERN ADDICTION

"frail bray"

Year:  2022

Label:  Fat Wreck Chords

Format:  CD,LP

Tracks:  11

Time:  30 min.

Genre:  rock

Style:        Punk Rock

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 "tremulous"
 Year:  2017
 Couuntry:  US
 City:  San Francisco
 Label:  Fat Wreck Chords
 Format:  CD, LP
 Tracks:  11
Time:  33 min.
Genre:  rock
 Style:        Punk Rock

Punk? yeah, but also big doses of hard rock, garage rock or simply classic rock'n'roll. Tremulous: to display timidity or nervousness, or shake or quiver slightly. It’s an odd word, one not used commonly in the modern English language - you’re far more likely to come across it in James Joyce’s Ulysses, for example, than in your average hardcore record. But here we are, with Western Addiction’s new full-length, Tremulous, an album embodying the anxiety, dread, worry and anguish omnipresent in modern day America. "The word ‘tremulous’ just felt right,” says frontman Jason Hall. “It sums up the theme of the entire record in one word.” Hall puts a premium on the words associated with Western Addiction; every song tells a story, sometimes with uncomfortable specifics and every title and lyric is meant to resonate with the listener on a different level.

With Tremulous finally out in the world, Hall’s goal for 2017 feels surprisingly attainable while at the same time emotionally exhausting. “I want our band to be understood,” he concludes. “I don’t think we’ve ever found our people. We’re in this netherworld of punk: We’re not poppy, we’re not fun, we’re loud but we’re not a metal band, and the truly crazy hardcore bands would probably think we don’t fit in. I just want to be understood".

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PROPAGANDHI

"victory lap"
Year:  2017
Label:  Epitaph
Format:  CD, LP
Tracks:  12
Time:  37 min.
Genre:  rock
Style:        Prog Punk

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"failed States"
Year:  2012
Label:  Epitaph
Format:  CD, LP
Tracks:  12
Time:  36 min.
Genre:  rock
Style:        Prog Punk

Political, yet humorous punk rock band from Winnipeg, Canada. Formed in 1989, they were one of the first bands to sign to "Fat Wreck Chords". In 1997 singer / songwriter / bassist John K. Samson left the group to pursue other interests and eventually start another band, The Weakerthans. The remaining members of the group continued to work on Propagandhi material as well as starting their own record label "G7 Welcoming Committee". First albums sounded as many pop punk or melodic hardcore bands from the 90s decade, but later Propagandhi started its own adventure into the progressive rock field without forget its usual melodies. "failed States" is frankly hard to listen for first time, but little by little you can to discover another way hardcore punk, which can to remind a bit styles such as: progressive rock, post-hardcore, sludge and more. There exist two issues, this one with twelve songs and another one with three bonus tracks, both made by label "Epitaph Records". Specially recommended for those who love to discover, to re-invent and to experiment with new sensations. Brilliant

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"supporting caste"
Year:  2009
Label:  G7 Welcoming Comite
Format:  CD, LP
Tracks:  12
Time:  38 min.
Genre:  rock
Style:        Prog Punk

"supporting caste" is the fifth full-length album by the punk rock band Propagandhi. It was released on March 10, 2009 through their own label "G7 Welcoming Committee Records" in Canada and US, "Hassle Records" in the UK and Europe. It is the first Propagandhi release with second guitarist David Guillas and the first not released on former longtime label Fat Wreck Chords. It is the third Propagandhi release on their own label. The album was recorded at The Blasting Room in Fort Collins, Colorado. In part to stop or impede the leaking of the album, the band set up a page with an option to receive two high-quality songs from the album before release, by donating as little as $1 to one of three activist organizations supported by the band. This page also links to various pre-orders of the album. The band uploaded the entire album onto their MySpace page on March 3, 2009 for fans to hear ahead of its release. The album was critically acclaimed and was voted by punknews.org users as the best album of 2009. The excellent artwork is by Canadian artist Kent Monkman, entitled "The Triumph of Mischief". And both, artwork and lyrics are charged of political messages and vindications for different causes. Musically and lyrically continue to become in complicated forms and structures closer to prog rock, symphonic rock and even some kind of heavy metal. Truly original

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"potemkin city limits"
Year:  2005
Label:  G7 Welcoming Comite
Format:  CD, LP
Tracks:  12
Time:  37 min.
Genre:  rock
Style:        Prog Punk

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"today's Empire, tomorroe ashes"
Year:  2000
Label:  Fat Wreck Chords
Format:  CD, LP
Tracks:  14
Time:  36 min.
Genre:  rock
Style:        Punk Hardcore








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"less talk, more rock"
Year:  1996
Label:  Fat Wreck Chords
Format:  CD, LP
Tracks:  12
Time:  36 min.
Genre:  rock
Style:        Hardcore Punk








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here below some works of canadian painter Kent Monkman

WHILE SHE SLEEPS

"brainwashed"
Year:  2015
Country:  UK
City:  Sheffield
Label:  Search and Destroy
Format:  CD, LP
Tracks:  14
Time:  56 min.
Genre:  rock
Style:          Metalcore

While She Sleeps are an English metalcore band from Sheffield. Formed in 2006, the group consists of vocalist Lawrence Taylor, guitarists Sean Long and Mat Welsh, bassist Aaran McKenzie and drummer Adam Savage. They are currently an independent band in the UK and are signed to SharpTone Records in the US and UNFD in Australia. They have released one EP, The North Stands for Nothing, in 2010, and three studio albums, This Is the Six, Brainwashed and You Are We. They received the Best British Newcomer award at the Kerrang! Awards 2012.

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NOTHINGTON

"in the end"
Year:  2017
Country:  US
City:  San Francisco
Label:  Red Scare
Format:  CD, LP
Tracks:  10
Time:  35 min.
Genre:  rock
Style:        Pop Punk

When Bay Area pop punk outfit Tsunami Bomb came to a close in 2005, drummer Gabe Lindeman and guitarist/vocalist Jay Northington were left without a band, but not without their desire to keep playing music. It just made sense for the friends to continue writing and practicing together, and so that's what they did in an old woodshop in Petaluma, CA. They christened the project Nothington in the spring of 2006 and posted some demos online, though at that point, they still had yet to figure out what exactly they wanted to do with the music. A few weeks later, the duo hooked up with guitarist/ vocalist Chris Matulich (whose own punk act Enemy You had been idle for the last few years), and with the final addition of bassist Mike Hicks (a vet of the local scene), Nothington was complete and ready for action. The quartet signed to Los Angeles based "BYO Records" that summer and hit the studio. Channeling acts closer to post-hardcore emo and pop punk likes: Leatherface, HDQ, Social Distortion and Tom Waits, their Southern tinged punk first appeared on wax via the "One for the Road" 7" in late 2006, released through local indie Left Off the Dial. Their full-length "in the end" dated to 2017 february and was issued through label "Red Scare Records".

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