Project X - Straight Edge Revenge (For fans of Gorilla Biscuits, Youth Of Today, Judge)

New York City's Project X's "Straight Edge Revenge" EP is one of the greatest straight edge EPs of the 1980s. Consisting of members of legendary hardcore bands such as Youth of Today, Gorilla Biscuits, and Judge, the band was incredibly short lived, and only played around 5 shows ever.

The album and band itself has a bit of interesting history behind them. Originally one of the members was just trying to release a compilation of early, unreleased hardcore songs but couldn't get the rights to release the compilation, so Project X was born to release these songs (and Straight Edge Revenge was the result).

Ok, enough history, on to the actual music. If you dig the old school youth crew bands, you'll love this, pretty much guaranteed. Some of the lyrics are over the top (and I'm technically straight edge), which makes me believe that they were actually poking fun at themselves and the whole straight edge movement. Just listen to the title track "Straight Edge Revenge" and try to tell me that it's not a joke.

Song Shutdown deals with Youth of Today being banned from CBGB's for encouraging stage dives, and Cross Me is your obligatory under 10 second fuck you song.

Definitely worth a listen if you dig classic hardcore.

MP3:
Project X - Straight Edge Revenge

THIS TIME YOU PUSHED ME TOO FAR!
Scenester 101: How to Be Hardcore in 10 Easy Steps!
Gorilla Biscuits
Ten Yard Fight

Buy:
Bridge 9

Moving Again (A Mix)

So it's that time for my yearly tradition... which is move into a new place just a few blocks away! Seriously, moving gets old really fast, but might as well have a mix about it. Moving every year since 2005 baby.

MP3:
Cloak/Dagger - Walk The Block
None More Black - Genuine Malaise and Misery
Bouncing Souls – Apartment 5F
Atom and his Package - Posession (Not The One By Danzig)
Lawrence Arms - The First Eviction Notice
Dead Kennedys – Let’s Lynch the Landlord
Toxic Narcotic – Cockroach

More Mixes To Move Shit To:
Songs to Piss Off The Personal Fitness Trainer Below Me Mix
Drunken Yuppies Breaking Into My House Mix
Your Job Sucks Mix
Every time it Rains, The Bus Is Late Just To Spite Me

Buy:
interpunk

GBH , Outernational, Violent Society (7/21/10 Live In West Chester)

Hey, you want to know the least punk rock city in the country? West Chester, PA. This show should have happened in Philly, but more on that later. Last night, I headed down to West Chester's PA The Note to catch one of my favorite street punk bands around, Philly's Violent Society play with the legendary GBH. The show was 21+, and the turn out wasn't very good, but the bands still put on a great show.

Dirty Tactics:

I got there right as Philly's Dirty Tactics started, and there were a total of 4 people actually watching them: myself, the lead singer of Violent Society, and two girls who knew the band. Shame that everyone else was in the back near the bar not paying attention at all, these dudes were tight.

I've seen them open for Off With Their Heads at the Barbary before, and this time they put on a much better show. Playing melodic punk rock that reminded me a lot of Smoke Or Fire, these guys definitely played their hearts out for us 4 people, and they get endless props for that.

Violent Society:

Next up was the main reason I came, Violent Society. Last time I caught these dudes it was with Blanks 77 in my friends living room... this was a very, very different vibe. Most people seemed content just sitting with their drinks watching. I wanted to go apeshit and start a pit with the 20 or so people watching, but everyone looked way too concerned about spilling their drinks. Adults are so fucking boring.

Regardless, Violent Society played a sick set, and for much longer than I anticipated (which was obviously welcomed). They blasted through a few new songs I was unfamiliar with, but also played classics such as I wanna Know, Disorder, It's Only Your Life, Culture Magnet, You're Gonna Fall, and a bunch others. Fuck yeah!

Outernational:

Ok, I have no idea where to pin these guys. The crowd dwindled to about 9 people actually watching (although there were about 50 in the back at the bar), but they played their hearts out regardless. Although some of the members seemed to have a bit of a rock star attitude, it was such an odd collection onstage. They had slower reggae songs, some new wave style ones featuring a keyboard, some spanish influenced trumpet songs, one military march sounding one, some straight up rock songs, and a bunch more that collectively confused me.

I was having a hard time getting really into them, but they weren't horrible by any means, just not my style.

GBH:

Ok, this is where I become embarrassed of West Chester. Dear GBH, if you happen to be reading this, West Chester is not Philly... it's a boring ass suburb where people are afraid to dance because they might spill their drink. Punk shows become like the most subdued funeral service. Please, don't play there again.

Ok, I am way too pissed off to write a good, critical review, but I'll say this. Running strong for 31 years, legendary GBH played their fucking hearts out, and the crowd mostly stood in the back while only 15 of us were up front. Even a smaller amount tried to get a pit going (including myself), but two people who were knocked over some people's drinks and then got into a fight and were kicked out.

The band killed it onstage, although were incredibly confused by the crowd's shitty, disinterested response. When they played their final song, the lead singer simply said "well this has been completely uninspired. Fuck off" and walked off stage. Next time play Philly.

MP3:
Violent Society – I Wanna Know

More:
The Unseen - Lower Class Crucifixion
The Virus - Nowhere to Hide
Violent Society

Buy:
Interpunk

Saves The Day - Can't Slow Down (For fans of Lifetime, Title Fight, Crime In Stereo)

Saves The Day wasn't always that wimpy emo band that whined about being at your funeral and propelling the emo dark ages of the early 2000s (it's cool to be sad!) Oh no, there once was a time when Saves The Day had some edge, and had many more melodic hardcore influences than emo.

Missed on both melodic hardcore and Saves The Day fan's radars, their debut 1998 release "Can't Slow Down" is one of the greatest Saves The Day releases, period. On Can't Slow Down, New Jersey's Saves The Day plays melodic hardcore in the veins of Lifetime.

I don't really know any of their albums very well after "Through Being Cool", so I can't compare it to their recent stuff, but I can guarantee that Can't Slow Down is the heaviest release these guys ever did, and will probably ever do.

If you dig melodic hardcore, this is an album that can't be passed up on regardless of what the band eventually became. If you're a Saves The Day fan, check out their roots, you'll be surprised.

MP3:
Saves The Day - Deciding

More:
Saves The Day - Through Being Cool
Static Radio NJ “One For The Good Guys
Static Radio NJ - An Evening of Bad Decisions

Buy:
Equal Vision Records

Dead Kennedys - Fresh Fruit For Rotting Vegatables (For fans of Black Flag, Bad Brains, Fear)

Alright, I'll admit it. If you asked me years ago who the top 5 most overrated punk bands are, I would have thrown The Dead Kennedys on that list (along with Rollins era Black Flag). Sure, I like the Dead Kennedys (and Black Flag), but it seems like everyone has a huge circle jerk over them (see what I did there?) Well, in my older and wiser years, I officially retract my statement (Rollins-era Black Flag though is still waaaaay overrated).

Truly one of the most influential punk of the 1980s, the Dead Kennedys took the punk world by storm with their debut "Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables" and created an instant punk classic. The album is brash, political, and hard hitting. Jello Biafra's urgently spits out his sharp witted lyrics with a sound of impending mental breakdown in his voice.

I'd try to pick a favorite song off the album, but seriously, there are way too many that are really damn good. Kill The Poor, Drug Me, Holiday In Cambodia, etc... impossible to fucking pick.

MP3:
Dead Kennedys - Kill The Poor

More Fresh Fruit:
Witch Hunt
Christ on Parade
Millions Of Dead Cops

Buy:
Alternative Tentacles

Vacation!!! ( A Mix)

So Housewives homies, I'm going to be out on vacation (heading out to Puerto Rico) until next week sometime, so you won't be seeing any updates for the next week. But I'll be back soon, and hopefully not getting my ass beat for sharing the only spanish I know (i can say "your mother is a whore"), so here's a little beach mix for you guys!

Mp3:
The Vapids - Monkey Beach
Bouncing Souls - Shark Attack
The Boils - Skinhead Reggae Beach Stomp
Subb - LA Beach Bum
Mustard Plug - Summertime
Atom and His Package - Mission #1: Avoid Job Working With Assholes
Bomb The Music Industry - Jobs Schmobs
Chixdiggit - Quit Your Job

Buy:
interpunk

Trash Talk - Plagues EP (For fans of Ceremony, Bracewar, Outbreak)

Yeah, we get it. You were stoked for the new Ceremony album "Rohnert Park", and while you could respect them for what they did, you just can't dig it *yawn*. And there are only so many times you can listen to Violence Violence (note: the number is somewhere between infinity and infinity +1)... So what's a strapping young hardcore kid like yourself to do?

You go listen to some fucking Trash Talk is what you do. Formed back in 2005 in Sacramento, California, Trash Talk brings the brutal hardcore on their 2007 EP "Plagues". Very much in the spirit of Violence Violence, the ep is short but incredibly brutal. Only 6 songs long, and you could probably have been done with the first half of Plagues by the time you read this (maybe the whole thing for you speed readers out there.)

MP3:
Trash Talk - Kill The Snakes

More:
Ceremony - Rohnert Park
Ceremony - Violence Violence
Ceremony - Scared People EP
Ceremony - Still Nothing Moves You

Buy:
Trash Talk

4th Of July Mix

So it's that special time in every American's life where we celebrate our victory over the motherland of England by showing a patriotic display of chinese fireworks. Oh, and listening to punk rock.

MP3:
Champion - 4^th of July
Give Up The Ghost – Fuck What Fireworks Stand For
The Unseen – Goodbye America
Anti-Flag - America Got It Right
Aus-Rotten - American Ethic

More Mixes:
A Ramones Core Mix For The Shorties
Songs to Piss Off The Personal Fitness Trainer Below Me Mix
Drunken Yuppies Breaking Into My House Mix

Buy:
Interpunk

The Muggers - Self Titled (For fans of Rancid, Anti-Flag, The Peacocks)

The Muggers were an incredibly short lived side project located in California back in 2004 that apparently not many people have heard of, but they did produce one solid Self Titled album.

There's honestly not too much to say about The Mugger's Self Titled, except that they play solid slightly garage-tinged punk rock that sounds like a mixture of Rancid, Anti-Flag, and the Peacocks. All of the ten songs are really solid, with some of the standout tracks being Wrong Side and Standing Back.

Again, there's nothing here that hasn't been done before, but if you're just looking to listen to some solid punk rock, The Muggers are a good choice.

MP3:
The Muggers - Turncoat Kid

"Hey, Wanna Hear The Most Annoying Sound In The World?"
Have Nots
NOFX - So Long And Thanks For All The Shoes

Buy:
Interpunk