Pop Punk's Not Dead: January 2011

Sunday, January 30, 2011

Game Time- 12 Hard Minutes

Wisconsin Pop Punk.

http://www.mediafire.com/?apki44cogzscoh0

myspace.com/gametime262

Star Kid- Personal Space Invader Demo

Quality Pop Punk from Nashville, Tennessee. They will be dropping their new EP soon.

http://www.mediafire.com/?mxxhoj8akeapcup

http://www.myspace.com/shutupstarkid

RockmiNi - We're Fucking Werewolves (2010)

Pop Punk/Easycore from Indonesia.

http://www.mediafire.com/?918ucdo3ibw3j8e

http://www.myspace.com/RockmiNi

Thursday, January 27, 2011

Monkey Mongo- A Trip Down Memory Lane (2010)

Pop Punk/Easycore from Munich, Germany.

http://www.mediafire.com/?vxdvnfb4w1qzdxl

http://monkeymongo.bandcamp.com

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Pop Punk/Easycore from Sweden.

http://www.mediafire.com/?77dbatfx75knz0i

www.facebook.com/tagyourtargets
www.myspace.com/tagyourtargets
www.twitter.com/tagyourtargets
www.lastfm.se/music/Tag+Your+Targets

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Everyone Everywhere- The Rookie (2011)

Great Pop Punk from British Columbia, Canada. It's now available on Itunes, support these guys.

http://www.mediafire.com/?p7culzu872c7rf9

http://www.myspace.com/everyoneeverywhereband

Defend Pop Punk Podcast Mixtape

Check out Man Overboard's Defend Pop Punk Podcast from back in October. Hopefully they'll do another one soon.

http://manoverboard.bandcamp.com/album/defend-pop-punk-podcast-mixtape-fall-2010

Sunday, January 23, 2011

Anderson Mesa- The View From Here (2010)

Quality pop punk from the Midlands in Ireland.

http://andersonmesa.bandcamp.com/

http://andersonmesa.tumblr.com/

http://andersonmesa.bigcartel.com/

Saturday, January 22, 2011

The Braces Interview

I recently interviewed Zack from The Braces.

PPND- First off, thanks for joining me for this interview.

The Braces- You're welcome, thanks for having us.

PPND- How would you describe you music to someone who has never heard it?

The Braces- Punk Rock with Pop without being pop-punk or punk-pop.

PPND- You just released your new EP "First World Problems", how did that album come to be?

The Braces- By the time we finished our full length "I'm Telling Everyone" I had already begun writing new songs, over that period of time things happened to us emotionally as a band and as people. We wrote about it.

PPND-What band is the song "Inspired by true events" about?

The Braces- haha... a shitty hardcore band.... That doesn't quite narrow it down that much at all does it?

PPND- How's the Pop Punk scene in Thousand Oaks, California?

The Braces- Growing every day. When we started, we were the only punk band in the area. Now there are more bands than I will be able to remember, but a few that are really fucking shit up in a good way are our buds in The Sheds, The Bogarts, Blackout 101, Make Your Day, Game 21, and Blind Awakening. These guys are all really talented and it is because of them that there is now a scene for this kind of music here.

PPND- What bands are you guys really into right now?

The Braces- We are eternally into: Most bands on a punk-o-rama compilation from the 90's - early 00's, most bands that have ever been on Fat Wreck.

Kyle (lead guitar) - is a student of DC hardcore and post hardcore and knows more about music than anyone else I know.

Justin (drums) - against me, the lawrence arms

Fern (bass/vocals)- hip hop, punk rock and broadcasting

Zack (guitar/vocals) - The Clash, Elvis Costello, Harry Nilsson, Bad Religion, Hostage Calm

PPND- What has been your favourite place to perform?

The Braces- Kyle's garage when we shot the music video for "I'd Rather Be Hot" it was a tuesday night on a schoolnight and somehow a bunch of kids came out and made it something special.

PPND- Do you have any plans on playing in Canada?

The Braces- Sure, know a good booking agent?

PPND- What was your favourite album(s) of 2010?

The Braces-

The Flatliners - Cavalcade
The Wonder Years - The Upsides
Hostage Calm - Hostage Calm
Bad Religion - Dissent Of Man

PPND- What’s your favourite movie of 2010?

The Braces- We all saw Inception together but Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World was better.

PPND- Do you have any final comments for your fans?

The Braces- Don't worry about being punk or hardcore or metal, just be yourself and you will be way more punk than anyone in a studded jacket with a discharge patch sewn on the back. Come see us when we go on tour and download the EP for free and share it with everyone you think would like it.

Sky Harbor- Stronger Than Ever EP

Pop Punk from Jersey.

http://www.mediafire.com/?kv94ekc3mwnd95c

http://www.myspace.com/skyharbornj

Thursday, January 20, 2011

Hear The Sirens Interview!

I recently interviewed Scott from Hear The Sirens.

PPND- Thanks for joining me for this interview. I’m an insanely huge fan of Hear The Sirens. In 2007 I used to go to your Myspace everyday to listen to Anywhere But Home. Rebel Hearts Lost is one of my favourite albums of the last ten years.

Hear The Sirens- Wow! Thank you so much

PPND- How is the new material coming along? Musically it seems like your sound has matured with your new track “Some Sort of Stability”.

Hear The Sirens- I'm really excited for the new material and it's coming along great, we decided to record it ourselves and take our time writing and tracking. Just finished drum tracks yesterday and they sound awesome! I would say some of the songs our different and more mature, but other songs we just decided to write fast punk anthems again. It's a good mix of everything we have done!

How’s the scene in your area of California?

Hear The Sirens- The past few shows I've been to whether it's big bands, small bands, touring bands, or local bands have all been a lot of fun. It seems like everyone is more pumped on going out to shows and I run into the same people all time time, good times.

PPND- What is your favourite song to perform live?

Hear The Sirens- My favorite song to play live is probably You're A Fucking Ghost. It's slow and fast and people seem to have a good response to it. We usually play it last, I'm pretty drunk by that point so it's probably not as exciting as I think

PPND- When I first heard the song “Silence Will Keep You Alive” I thought it was a Straight Edge anthem. Could you explain what that song is actually about?

Hear The Sirens- Funny story about that song, our guitar player at the time did the artwork for the record and misplaced "Thank You David" and “Silence Will Keep You Alive” on the tracklisting. The acoustic song is “Silence Will Keep You Alive” and the ridiculously hard song is "Thank You David"

If you are talking about "Thank You David" then that song is about people who live privileged and comfortable lifestyles but still find a way to complain about their lives, when there is way worse stuff happening to people through out the world. We were young and angry screaming at the world. David from All Teeth does that guest vocal part and he was wasted so that elimates it being a straight edge anthem!

If you are talking about “Silence Will Keep You Alive” then that song is about going into a situation where you thought you were going to belong and still feeling out of place, basically me going to college.

PPND- Lyrically which song of yours is the most important to you?

Hear The Sirens- I really enjoy the lyrics to "Lets Say All The Things We Never Said Before" it's basically me telling myself to stop being a cynical asshole, I've just recently started taking my own advice.

PPND- What has been your favourite place to perform?

Hear The Sirens- We recently played our first show in 9 months in Santa Rosa, every show in the North Bay is always a lot of fun. Portland has also been a great place to play.

PPND- What was your favourite show that you’ve played?

Hear The Sirens- My favortie shows have been the All Teeth record release weekend. Both shows were packed and everyone went wild for every band. Dead To Me played both of the shows too, so seeing them two nights in a row was fun.

PPND- What was your all time favourite show that you went to see?

Hear The Sirens- Fat Wreck Tour 2005 two nights at Slims in SF.

Against Me!
Smoke or Fire
The Soviettes
The Epoxies

It was right when Searching For Former Clarity came out and my dad drove my friends and me to the shows and bought a us a bunch of beer for the drive out there.

PPND- You guys are definitely my favourite band that I’ve never seen live. Do plan on ever playing in Toronto?

Hear The Sirens- I would love to, after we are done recording we are for sure going to be hitting the road hopefully we can make it up to Toronto. I really want to go to the hockey hall of fame and drink maple syrup whiskey!

What bands are you guys really into right now?

Hear The Sirens- Frank Turner, Bedouin Soundclash, Dead To Me, The Hold Steady, The Flatliners

What was your favourite album of 2010?

Hear The Sirens-
Against Me!- White Crosses
Hostage Calm- Self Titled
The Flatliners- Cavalcade
The Riot Before- Rebellion
Make Do And Mend- End Measured Mile

What’s your favourite movie of 2010?

Hear The Sirens- Star Wars episode 1-6

PPND- What band do you dream of sharing the stage with?

Hear The Sirens- NOFX

PPND- Do you have any final comments to your fans?

Hear The Sirens- Thanks for all the support, can't wait to put out the new record! Hopefully we can tour soon.

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

The Braces- First World Problems (2010)

Pop Punk from California. For fans of Borderland.

http://www.mediafire.com/?4z466zv0r6m8jct

http://thebraces.bandcamp.com/

Rust Belt Lights- These Are The Good Old Days (2010)

Buffalo Pop Punk/Hardcore. Catch them on tour with Kid Liberty.

http://store.paperandplastick.com/products/6634

http://www.mediafire.com/?qa3qnxdxvt67cuy

http://www.myspace.com/rustbeltlights

Crucial Dudes- 61 Penn (2011)

Amazing Pop Punk/Melodic Hardcore from Jersey. Donate.

http://jumpstartrecords.bandcamp.com/album/61-penn

http://www.mediafire.com/?o7m088ulxxx4ad2

http://www.myspace.com/crucialdudesnj

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

The Glenn Robinsons - Lava in the Living Room (2011)

Old School Pop Punk from Rhode Island. For fans of The Ergs, The Mooks.

http://www.mediafire.com/?b5ewdpoc5w767bv

http://www.myspace.com/theglennrobinsons

On Call Heroes- Brotherhood (Sampler)

Pop Punk from Victoria, BC.

oncallheroes.bandcamp.com

http://www.mediafire.com/?8gkyz0l287fic0p

www.myspace.com/oncallheroes
www.facebook.com/oncallheroes
oncallheroes.bigcartel.com

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Spraynard Interview!

Recently I had the opportunity to interview Pat from Spraynard.

PPND- First off, thank you for making your brand of positive, emotional pop punk. It's inspirational and comforting. Also thanks for taking part in this interview.

Spraynard- Dude, thank YOU. The fact that someone cares enough about our band that they'd be interested in doing an interview leaves us speechless.

PPND- How is the new album coming along?

Spraynard- The new record is coming along awesome. We've never spent so much time dissecting our own songs and trying to make them as rad as they can be. We're really excited to be trying some new things while still emulating all of our favorite bands.

PPND- I think you guys are one of the most underrated bands in Pop Punk. Who would you say is quite underrated in the scene?

Spraynard- Dag! You really know how to stroke an ego! Thanks so much for the kind words. I think the most underrated band in the scene right now Sundials from Richmond, VA. While it's not technically released yet, their upcoming LP is literally the most incredible thing to come out of the DIY punk scene in years. Not only are they the sweetest dudes on the planet, but they write totally innovative punk songs while keeping them politically minded (which is lacking in punk these days).

PPND- What bands are you guys really into right now?

Spraynard- I personally have been listening to Superchunk non-stop lately. I think I snoozed on that band a little bit, but daaamn... great band. Dos has been listening to nothing but the new Snowing and Tigers Jaw records lately, as well as always blasting the newest Roots album. Mark has been listening to Vacation (AMAZING band from Cincinnati who play fast paced chaotic pop punk that sounds like the Ramones on speed) 24/7 as well. He also talks to me about the new None More Black record every day... still have yet to listen, though.

PPND- What has been your favourite place to perform?

Spraynard- Not to toot our own town's horn in any way, but I honestly love playing our house's basement more than anything. It's such an incredible feeling to have all of our closest friends crammed in our basement having a good time and spreadin' duh love. Not to say that we don't love going on tour and meeting new buddies, though!

PPND- What is your favourite song to perform live?

Spraynard- I think all of our favorite to play live would probably be The "Z" Sealed It for Me. Our goal as a live band is to play as fast as we can, and considering that's one of our fastest songs I think we all love to push through it. Also, the end of that song always ends up being a really fun singalong, which is always a plus for a pop punk band.

PPND- Lyrically which song of yours is the most important to you?

Spraynard- The song that is most important to me as of now is Say What You Want About Jesse. While it's not a particularly stand-out song or anything, its lyrics are really important to all of us. While I won't get into the nuts n' bolts of it all, it basically looks at the struggles women face in feeling equal in the punk scene. We feel like not enough men empathize with this struggle and brush it under the table when it should be brought to the absolute forefront of the scene.

PPND- What band do you dream of sharing the stage with?

Spraynard- Bouncing Souls. No questions asked. Best. Band. Ever.

PPND- Do you have any plans on playing in Canada?

Spraynard- Absolutely! We all always say how silly it is that we haven't played there yet since it's so close and it's an entirely different country. We have a bunch of friends who have toured up there and said nothing but great things. Actually, we were supposed to play there on our most recent tour, but Dos spent the entire night before we left for the tour looking for his passport... to no avail.

PPND- What’s the strangest thing that has ever happened on tour?

Spraynard- While this never seemed anything but hilarious to us, we got called "strange" on our last tour thanks to a tour game we came up with. The game ran on a point system, and the goal was to pee on each other without the "person getting peed upon" noticing. You got 1 point for peeing on someone, 2 points for peeing on a stranger, 3 points for peeing on whoever set up the show, 4 points for peeing on someone in line at The Fest, 5 points for peeing on someone while they are playing a set, and finally 100 points for peeing on someone with a visible gun. I think our buddy Luke from the UK won by peeing on our friend Ed like 10 times. Oh, and women got bonus points strictly because it is more of a challenge for them to secretly pee on someone.

PPND- Who would win in a fight? The Ultimate Warrior or Henry Rollins?

Spraynard- While Dos would say The Ultimate Warrior, I'm going to stick to my "Henry Rollins is God" standpoint and say the H-man.

PPND- What was your favourite album of 2010?

Spraynard- We've been arguing about this ever since all those lists started showing up on the interwebz. After much deliberation and self-searching, I'm going to go with Everyone Everywhere's Self-Titled LP. Good friends of ours, so I was foaming at the mouth to hear this record to say the least. I was beyond psyched when it turned out to be as insane as it was.

PPND- What’s your favourite movie of 2010?

Spraynard- Jackass-3D. It brought me back to my high school years and reminded me that you can never be too old for poop jokes and self-inflicted pain for the sake of humor. It's also always cool watching anything those guys do and being like "Hey! There's my hometown in the background!"

PPND- Do you have any final comments for your fans?

Spraynard- Literally all I can say to anybody who listens to our band or comes to shows is thank you. Like I said before, it's unreal that anyone gives any sort of shit about our band. We've been playing music for years and really really love it, but the fact that people outside of our immediate group of friends are into our music makes us feel like we're actually accomplishing something. Luckily, being involved in punk rock means that our "fans" become way more than just kids who are into the music. In the community we find ourselves in, a kid who buys our record or sings along at a show is on the same level we are. Through playing and going to shows I have met some of my best friends, many of whom live in other states and countries. Meeting rad people and making new homies is one of the main reasons what we do is worth doing.

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

Run For It

A great band from Pennsylvania, features Tony from Bangarang! on vocals.

http://www.mediafire.com/?w003pr6cpz4lz6u

www.stereokiller.com/runforit

http://www.myspace.com/runforitrock