Song of the Day

**2/3/10

The Dead Milkmen - Punk Rock Girl

--------------Happy humpday, everyone! Hope you're all enjoying whatever abysmal or wonderful weather is floating around your stratosphere at the moment. 'Round these parts it's surprisingly sunny, which prompted me to break into some sunny punk rock to gear up your rears for the weekend to come.

The Dead Milkmen may have been around for three years or so, but any fans of cute little punk rock ballads the likes of The Ramone's "I Want You Around" and Blink's "Rock Show" will love "Punk Rock Girl." Jumpstart your weekend-itis with The Dead Milkmen album, Beelzebubba, from 1988.

http://www.myspace.com/joejackofdmm

Song of the Day

**1/18/10

Gray Matter - Burn No Bridges

-------------Most of us hear about music from other people (like this blog, for an obvious example). Allowing a genius or Pandora to create a playlist is only a secondary recommendation to word of mouth. Sure, the digital playlists are great and I frequent these tools often if I'm too lazy to throw a mix together on my own. Getting a recommendation from a living being, though, is even better.

Found out about Gray Matter from a forum in one of my music classes. The guy who recommended this band is the type of guy who says "don't listen to that screamo-crap!!!" at the end of the post. If you agree with this guy, Gray Matter is for you. "Burn No Bridges" is fast, furious, frantic, and furrowed in ambition. Get it from Food For Thought/Take it Back.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wMYHJsoz3yE

Song of the Day

**12/26/09

Drive A - Can't Sleep it Off

-----------Hope everyone had a magical Christmas, filled with tasty fudge, loved ones and a pony underneath the tree. Personally, I'm thrilled to finally have an ipod that can fit all of my music, and I've been re-checking album after album to get on my 160GB Titanic of mp3 storage.

Welcomed to my library is Drive A, a snarly bunch of punks that revive my faith in dirty, pissed-off SoCal punk. After a listen to Drive A's "Can't Sleep it Off," you won't be able to quash the impromptu rush of anger that made you break a lamp or table or something made of glass. Who doesn't want to hear a band that has melody AND impulsively commands you to disrespect your surroundings?!

Get ready for Drive A's tour with The Used, taking off in San Diego for a January/February circuit. Get "Can't Sleep it Off" from Drive A album, Loss of Desire.

Key Tracks for Breaking Furniture with a Smile on your Face:

Everyone's Alone, Are You Blind, Out of Focus

http://myspace.com/drivea

Song of the Day

**9/24/09

Vivian Girls - The End

-----------------Take The Ramones, throw in a dash of spunky and adorable charm, and make each song over two minutes, and you have Vivian Girls. With Cassie Ramone, Kickball Katy, and Ali Koehler representing the ladies of the Brooklyn punk scene, one can look forward to pouty-lipped yet seriously good-time, old-school punk from the trio's new album, Everything Goes Wrong. Recorded in only six days, Everything Goes Wrong has Blackheart-style surf punk, coupled with a few brokenheart tracks like "The End" and the sedated swoon of "Can't Get Over You." Get Everything Goes Wrong for the tough girl, mushy heart inside you.

http://www.myspace.com/viviangirlsnyc

Song of the Day

**7/20/09

The Velvet Underground - Sweet Jane (Version 2)

-------------Though the Velvet Underground aren't necessarily classified as a punk rock band, any Fugazi, Ramones, or Buzzcock fan would find their subcultural status and unconventional lyrics a foreground for ushering in the future of America's punk scene. "Sweet Jane" is less F*ck the System and more I-Want-You-Around, with a melodic pop-hooked chorus, "Heavenly wine and roses" lyrics, and floating guitar chords reveal a squishy, heart-melting center to the Velvet Underground's set list. Get "Sweet Jane (Version 2) from The Velvet Underground: Live at Max's Kansas City.

Song of the Day

**7/2/09

Clutch - (Notes From the Trial of) La Curandera

---------------Amid a smoke and beer-filled Tremont Music Hall, I saw the southern dirty rock band Clutch when I was the tender age of fifteen. The show was eye opening (I discovered how creepy the male population of Charlotte's rock scene is) to the outlaw rock that pisses on power chords and expells the usual rock resume. Clutch's "La Curandera" channels a mysterious muse through pounding drums, intense guitars, an the muscled-up, growling voice of Neil Fallon. Clutch has been called funky, bluesy, and even hardcore punk over their nineteen years together. There's something for every ear in this band, particularly "La Curandera" from their 2004 album, Blast Tyrant.

Song of the Day

**3/16/09

Suburban Anthem - Don't Drag Me Down

------------Elton John. No, Suburban Anthem isn't a one-man piano band, but they are fond of Sir Elton's keys, covering his classic "Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting" swimming with punk revelry. The trio from Portland, Oregon does so much more than covers, however, and "Don't Drag Me Down" is the more I'm talking about. Rollicking guitars and a Ramones-esque chorus make you want to crowd surf and enthusiastically bob your fohawked head. Suburban Anthem is excited to announce their recent signing to Horns Up Records, and pledge their allegiance to the flags of punk in their album, Greatest Hits.

" Punk is an attitude that is bred in to you. It cannot be learned, practiced or preached but something that is pure, something you live on a daily basis. A punker can have a desk job and work 9-5; he can be a poet, a painter, a CEO, anything...All are welcome with Suburban Anthem."

www.myspace.com/suburbananthem

Song of the Day

**1/18/09

Whats My Age Again?-Blink 182

-------------Enema of the State, ooh yea. Back in the middle school days before Angels and Airways and Travis Barker's hard rock rendition of Soulja Boy Tell Em'. What's my age again reminds the converse-donning, Britney hating, Hot-Topic shopping rebel in all of us why punk lives on and now matter how old we get, being an obnoxious twerp kicks ass. Enjoy this one. I know I did!