What We Hate

Generic Insight Radio: Out Of Context

Bryne has given me the okay to do a new, semi-regular feature at WWH which I came up with today while on a Greyhound bus back from Providence, RI.

You may or may not be familiar with Punk Rock Confidential. If you aren't, basically it's Fat Mike's quarterly punk rock gossip magazine. In it they have a feature called "Out Of Context" in which they take various comments/sayings/statements from band members pulled from interviews in other mags and websites. Specifically, if it's a comment that's really bizarre or off the wall, of course its going to be awesome to read if you don't know the back story behind it. So my feature is a direct influence from this column in Punk Rock Con, except I will be taking random statements made by band members pulled directly from interviews I've done with them for Generic Insight Radio. I'll try and have a few listed and do this regularly.

So for this week's Out Of Context, I present the following gems (note: some of these may not be verbatim):

• "I wish someone would get stabbed at one of our shows. That would be killer!" - Zack, bassist of Shook Ones
• "Big straight lines that go right up my penis" - Josh Agran, guitarist of Paint It Black (Dan Yemin's reply: "You snort coke off your penis?!")
• "Supersize dat ho! You got a fry? Supersize it!" - Josh Mikel, drummer of Look Mexico
• "Shit... I'm sorry, I swear... I don't do drugs" - Franky, former bassist of Much The Same
• "Ireland... home of the world's greatest chicken sandwich" - Mike Supina, guitarist of A Wilhelm Scream

That's all for now. More soon!

Rediscovered: Big In Japan

Not to be confused with the Liverpool band of the same name, Big In Japan released two full-lengths and  a posthumous EP, calling it a day in 2006. While their Honest Don's (remember that label?) debut, Destroy The New Rock was lined with more grit and pop-punk crunch, the band's 2004 full-length Who Really Needs A Heart Anyway? was a straight-up homage to skinny-tied power-pop akin to bands like The Knack and The Records.

More words and streaming music after the jump.

Cheeky updates us on their status

Brooklyn's Cheeky have posted an update on some of their future plans:

Hey all -

We just thought you should know that after a long while, Cheeky will be back to life shortly.

We have just recorded two songs for an Art of the Underground single (which we are so stoked to do!) which is due out around the end of October. Speaking of the end of October, we will be playing THE FEST 7 in Gainesville this year!

We won't be playing many shows this fall, as Kate is going to be away for a month or so. We should be playing a New York show before then.

The band's last release was the Choke On A Cheeseburger EP in 2007 via Quote Unquote, which if you didn't know, means it can be downloaded for free. But seriously, donate something if you can.

The Gaslight Anthem

Today, the ever popular Gaslight Anthem have released their new record The '59 Sound (Sideonedummy). It's pretty fucking awesome and definitely one of my albums of the year. You can check out the stream here.

Weatherbox posts new song

San Diego's The Brian Warren Project, I mean Weatherbox have posted a song from their upcoming full-length. Cosmic Drama is slated to drop in 2009 via Doghouse and follows up the band's critically acclaimed 2007 debut, American Art.

Check out "Don't Say Nice Things" at the band's myspace page.

Jumpercable - EP

There's certainly something to be said for bands who don't fuck around, and Jumpercable fits that description with their nine song debut EP. That's not to say a little more experimentation wouldn't have been a welcome thing, but there's enough going on here to maintain interest. And shit, it's only ten minutes long anyway.

More words and streaming music after the jump.

Reverse The Curse post two new songs

Hiram, Ohio party people Reverse The Curse have made two new songs available for streaming at their myspace page. The songs come from the band's Paths EP, set to be released very soon by a to-be-determined label. Fans of loud, abrasive rock in the vein of Samiam or Polar Bear Club should definitely give these tunes a listen.

You can check out the songs here. The band also appeared on our compilation WWHCORE VOL. 1 which can still and always be downloaded free of charge at this page.

Lazy Sunday: Ninja Gun

I've been listening to Restless Rubes a lot lately, a record I gave pretty high praise in this here space. Ninja Gun's sound of country, rock and punk glazed with Americana is appropriate listening for a Sunday morning (something you'll learn more about this Friday...oh, I'm such a tease) so here's a video of the band performing "Asking Price" at 3 Kings Tavern in Denver on June 14, 2008. Check out the band's myspace page for tour dates and after the jump, check out some other videos from the same set of the band doing covers of The Beatles and Tom Petty.

No Harm Done - Escape

“It doesn’t have to be this way, we can break tradition. Change our way” – Track 7, "Tradition"

Florida’s melodic hardcore band, No Harm Done, have collected a decent amount of praise (from message boards to AP Magazine) for crafting such extraordinary melodies and technical jams for being at a young age. Sorry to tell ya: You can’t be young forever, and that alone can’t justify lack of originality, especially on your third release. And to be quite honest, No Harm Done’s new record Escape is pretty bland.

But when I say “bland”, I don’t mean it isn’t enjoyable. The second track, “I Decline”, abandons the whole Lifetime instrumentation/less-nasally Jordan Pundik (see Tip of the Iceberg) formula seen on the record for a pretty unique cut filled with above par harmonies and open stringed leads. Moreover, “Welcome to Florida”, ends with an extremely satisfying breakdown after some great “woah oh”s.

Unfortunately, many of the songs come DANGEROUSLY close to filler and DANGEROUSLY close to another pop-punk influenced “hardcore” band… or rather just pop-punk (yes, Set Your Goals isn't hardcore, get over it). So in relation to the preceding quote, they have not done much to break from the traditional techniques of the genre… And it wouldn’t kill to have some more yelling.

(Think Fast, 2008)

THE FEST 7 promo poster

This isn't the official lineup and tickets still aren't on sale (which seems weird, I could've swore Fest 6 tickets were on sale before August 1 last year) but here's a little something that might make the areas around your nether regions moist.

Holy. Fucking. Shit. So. Stoked.

By the by, you can expect WWH to roll mad deep into Gainesville this year. Photos, videos, recaps, we'll have it all while amazingly still finding time to drink a shitload, too. Scout's honor.