NEW HED PE VIDEO

Check out Codename Colin's ska punk cover of a Feeder classic!

Sum 41's first single from 13 Voices

New video by Israeli noise makers, Kessef

Check out a new track from Brit Rock legends Feeder's upcoming album

New video from Against Me!

Spraygun War Is Buckcherry Gone Dubstep

I am seriously unsure of how to feel right now. Despite other people's views, I still like Buckcherry. I loved the self titled debut, I liked Time Bomb, they then had some hits which were "ok", in my opinion, and the more recent FUCK Ep and Rock n Roll album had them sounding more like their old material again in parts. I've even been known to admit to having a bit of a man-crush on frontman Josh Todd, despite looking like a tattooed Willem Dafoe in hindsight. Mr Todd and Buckcherry guitarist Stevie D have created a side project that goes in a completely different direction to their hard rock roots.

Spraygun War is the duo's new dubstep style outfit and no...it doesn't seem like a joke. Personally, their track OMG could be sooo much worse....but it could also be sooo much better. I don't have that much of a problem with dubstep in general but this isn't even all that creative for the genre. Josh Todd's rapping (yes, rapping!) lacks any real substance. Josh tries to tackle the tricky subject of war and religion but it comes off like a cliche activist preaching to passers by. The chorus does have a bit more bite to it but on the whole the song is pretty weak. Even the guitar stabs don't do much for the track.

OMG's video is annoyingly pretty well shot; simple yet affective. It does feel weird to see Josh Todd acting younger as time goes on. In the video for their expletive cover of Icona Pop's I Love It, the Buckcherry frontman is sporting a NWA cap. In this video, he is sporting his very own Spraygun War cap. That's right! They already have their own caps!! Along with the tattoos, the chains, the wifebeater and shooting the video next to urban graffiti, it's all slipping into Escape The Fate territory and is, quite frankly, embarrassing. 

All that being said, I respect them for attempting something different to the more traditional hard rock they normally do. It shows that they're more open minded than some "ageing" rockstars, although it could be an attempt to "get down with the kids". Spraygun War's Ep Into The Blackness is due for release June 10th. Guess what... I'm probably going to check that out purely out of curiosity.

Check out HATEBREED's new video for Looking Down the Barrel of Today

  

  After the lyric video for A.D, Hatebreed bring out a simple yet effective performance video for Looking Down the Barrel of Today. Shot in their rehearsal room in Connecticut, we see the band in their element, doing what they do best and just playing hard!
  The track speaks of pushing through adversity and opposition, as do the written messages flashing throughout the video. These include the likes of "Live it to the fullest", "Keep a positive mental attitude" and "It's never too late to make a positive change." With the addition of the messages, it all comes across a bit "after school special". Although everyone at any age could be comforted by words of positivity and encouragement, it feels as if it is primarily aimed at teens. 
 The song alone is empowering and clear enough that the written messages don't seem all that necessary. The track shows the band back on form, mixing the fast paced riffing with crashing hardcore grooves. For the first time in ages, I can say that this Hatebreed track finally has a hook. "Once had a shotgun to my head; said I wasn't worth the bullets" fits so perfectly with the rhythm of the riff in an almost rap-like fashion that it's unforgettable and anthemic. 
   The new album The Concrete Confessional is due for release on May 13th and I for one am looking forward to checking it out.

Therapy? release new EP along with new video Tides

 It's been almost a year since the release of Therapy?'s Disquiet album (see my review here), and now they release the Tides EP. The EP features the Disquiet track Tides, as well as 2 new songs and a remix of their track Insecurity. Along with the EP's release, the band release a video for the title track.
 The track takes in a little bit of influence from bands like Husker Du, with a catchy chorus and fuzzy guitars throughout. The video is a little complicated for me to fully understand, but is probably open to interpretation. It aptly takes place at a seaside, in keeping with the song and the song's back story of how frontman Andy Cairns would watch waves from a pier when in need of inspiration. 

 As a side note, this song, after listening to the Disquiet album pretty much on repeat for a good part of last year, subconsciously influenced some of my newer material for Woolly Boy. They might not be a typical punk band, but there are elements of it in there. More importantly, they know how to write a hook!

Yotam Ben Horin's new video for California Sounds

Yotam Ben Horin has been a very busy bee the past couple of years. He's managed to get an album out for his hardcore band Spit, do extensive solo touring, work on new material for legendary Israeli punk band Useless ID and put out his latest solo album California Sounds. 

The catchy and beautifully crafted title track of the album is now accompanied by a simple yet poignant video which sees Yotam playing guitar and singing by the hotel sign that the record's front cover was shot, as well as taking in a few local sights.

The song might be in a slightly different direction to what Useless ID fans would expect, but Yotam has been able to show his proper song writing chops for quite some time now. Also, sometimes you just got to slow things down a bit. 




Yotam is currently on a massive European tour as part of Joey Cape's (Lagwagon) Stitch Puppy tour. The tour is in its final week which sees them in Austria, Italy, Switzerland and back in Germany.

New single and video from Israeli drum and sax duo, Malox

When It comes to Israeli bands, there tends to be the odd gem here and there that incorporates more traditional music in a creative way that comes off sounding incredible. Amongst acts like Boom Pam and the internationally known Balkan Beat Box, Malox, made up of Eyal Talmudi (saxophone/bagpipes) and Roy Chen (drums), bring us fun blasts of experimental jazz, Gypsy music and ska with punk aggression, a la acts such as Acoustic Ladyland, Gogol Bordello or even Madness. I witnessed them for the first time randomly at a show at the Rogatka and was simply taken in by how simple yet fun it was. 

The track, Natanya, is the second single after their Walk Like An Egyptian cover to come from the new album Gaza Trip. For those, like me, who love both drums and saxophone and the idea of both together is almost sexual, this should not disappoint. It's not too crazy or long like some experimental music but is still fun and frenzied.  

The video, directed by Ben Tversky of Zaga Zaga/The Driers etc.. and shot by local show-filming legend Liran Rehana, is simple but suits the vibe of the track. It also features some familiar faces from the Israeli punk and alternative scene. 

If this interests you, Malox are having a release show tonight, 31st March, at Buscula, in Tel Aviv. Tickets are ₪43 in advance here. 

New video from noisemakers HECK (ex Baby Godzilla)

I'm a bit late on Baby Godzilla as it is, despite having liked a few songs/videos. Having had to change their name to HECK by the Japanese monster franchise, the Nottingham four piece are due to release their first album, Instructions, under the new name on 11th March. 

Good As Dead is a noisy and fun ball of angst, as is now typical of the band. The video starts off as a fairly standard white set performance video but we soon get a taste of a Single Ladies type dance routine. The video is so simple that it almost seems as if it is purposely meant to symbolise a new beginning.

If you like crazy, noisy hardcore like RETOX, Dangers and Zaga Zaga, and even a bit more melodic like Million Dead and Let's Talk Daggers, then you need to check out HECK.

Reef cover Aretha Franklin on new single

True - this blog is called Punkalovich. True - I mostly write about punk and hardcore. However, every now and then I will just write about something I want to write about. Maybe a band close to my heart for whatever reason. Brit rockers Reef are precisely one of those bands.

Like many people of my generation, and actually a little bit older, I was blown away by Reef's Place Your Hands; a hard rock song with a gospel flavour. That Glow album was just my favourite record for ages. Their debut Replenish and the soulful Rides also got excessive play on my cd player back in the day and I also got to appreciate Getaway in its entirety quite a bit later in life. They've just always had something about them that I found refreshing yet also familiar at the same time. They're basically RHCP meets Black Crowes and I've always dug it.

Although still touring every so often and having side projects (front man Gary Stringer and bassist Jack Bessant's acoustic duo, StringerBessant, and their sister band, Them Is Me), Reef finally return with some new music, first single being a cover of Aretha Franklin's version of the Clara Ward penned gospel song, How I Got Over.

 I'll admit, I was not initially aware that this was a cover if it wasn't for reading a YouTube comment, so I had to look it up. This version is a tad less "gospel" in lyrical content as the original, omitting "Jesus" and "God" to make the song a little more relatable to all, but the musical structure is practically exactly the same. The real difference is Stringer's unique voice. It would have been nice for it to have been a lot more different but sometimes there are songs that don't need to be touched and just played as they are, which Reef do perfectly. It's the same with their I Just Walked In (To See What Condition My Condition Was In) cover, although their cover of The Jam's That's Entertainment had more of a Reef bounce and their energy to it which makes it more interesting.

When looking at the YouTube comments, there are a few people saying that it's a "different direction" for Reef. I think these people may not have actually listened to them before. Even their biggest hits had a gospel feel. Judging by some of the other songs they have previewed in live shows (that I've seen online, as I haven't seen them live since 2010), they've got other material which sticks to a more stoner rock-like sound as heard on Replenish and parts of Glow. Being a hard rock band, they're always going to have that blues/soul influence in them. It is certainly interesting to hear how soulful a few white West Country blokes can be.

All in all, I am still stoked they are back and I will certainly be checking out the new album. The single will be released on 11th March, as will the Live at St. Ives album which features new songs Just Feel Love and Ball & Chain amongst a mostly Glow filled set.

New video from punk rock "supergroup", Holy Fever

Now and again, someone is going to post something to your Facebook or Twitter wall that they think will interest you. I tend to get the odd music video or anything puppet/muppet related. This week, an old friend decided to post this new video for hardcore punk supergroup Holy Fever, which features the band performing in paper bag puppet form and getting killed in some strange ways.

The band, made up of former members of American Nightmare/Give Up The Ghost, The Hope Conspiracy, The Explosion and Suicide File, finally release their debut album, The Wreckage, on 8th April. From it, they have dropped a video for the song Find Your Fame. The band's style is less like their previous hardcore bands but more inkeeping with the more rock n roll punk styling of bands like The Bronx and Against Me! With dual female/male vocals, Holy Fever are just that little bit more interesting than your average punk rock band and this song itself is catchy pure rock. 

If you're not tapping your feet to this, there might be something wrong with you.    

Welsh lads Houdini Dax release new video

Some years back (roughly 6-7), my old London band, Ghostnotes, played a show at the Windmill in Brixton, London. I can barely remember that show. Not because of too much drinking or anything (at least I don't think so), I just have a really bad memory for these sort of things and I don't know why. Small moments I can remember of this particular show is getting to play and sing my sex song Sweating In The Alley for the first and last ever time and getting to check out and chat with these Welsh lads.

Cardiff's Houdini Dax have been rocking the UK circuit for years yet are still pretty much unknown. Basing their music heavily on the likes of classic acts such as The Beatles and Beach Boys, they  manage to make music which is still current.

This latest single, Found Love In The Dole Office, is catchy, coherent and just unashamedly British (Welsh is still British..you know what I mean). It's a bit dreamy, like some of the stuff Arctic Monkeys have done in recent years. It might not be breaking massive ground but it's a song which could almost fit into any decade. That's actually quite a feat. Same could be said about the video itself which, compared to other Houdini Dax videos, is kept a little bit simple with just the band in the studio with some lights and projections. Seeing as the song pretty much tells the story of meeting a girl at the "dole office" (British slang for "Job Centre" or "Social Welfare Office"), it could have been very cheesy to have that played out in a video, so they certainly went the right way.

Ghostnotes may not have lasted as long as we hoped but I am glad that Houdini Dax is still going. They seem to be getting success in their native Wales but surely the time has come for that to spread?

Check out the new video from Israeli hardcore newcomers Eternal Struggle

  It's interesting for me to discover new names in hardcore and even punk that don't just pop up from the same group of people from within the "scene". Some months back, I decided to check out a private show and video filming for Tel Aviv hardcore band Eternal Struggle and I was heavily surprised by how heavy and "my sort of thing" this band is.

  My first encounter with Eternal Struggle was their support slot with Biohazard. Whether it's exactly the same band, I'm not entirely sure. There was definitely male/female dual vocals for that show, whereas now there's just Ori, who has good gruff vocals. I also wasn't all that impressed. They came off as a very weak attempt at hardcore and did a sub-par rendition of Sick Of It All's Take The Night Off, although I still "got my mosh on".

  Now, their performance and this video/track has converted me into being an Eternal Struggle fan. Lost has a tough, bouncy groove, heavy riffs and some solid beatdown parts. If you watch carefully (and know what I look like), you can just about make me out, nodding my head in pure HC style. The camera-work might be a little bit shaky, but overall, it's a pretty cool video that reminds me of some videos from the early 2000s like Raging Speedhorn etc.

  Out of all the hardcore bands in Israel, including my favourites like Dust, Kids Insane and 03, Eternal Struggle, especially on this track, really take me back to the hardcore I grew up listening to, such as Biohazard, Madball and even Knuckledust. I actually find it quite depressing that Eternal Struggle seem to be in a whole different scene altogether from the other "hardcore" bands out here. It's because of this that they end up not doing a lot of shows that I get much notice about and mostly having a more "metal" crowd.

For everyone out there who likes groovy and heavy hardcore, Eternal Struggle are not something to ignore.

Knuckledust give a little something different on new track Life Struggle

  During my teens, I was discovering new bands and new genres year by year, maybe even day by day. Having liked the more Brit pop, Brit rock and alternative acts that I saw on shows like Top Of The Pops and The ITV Chart Show, to then discovering more nu metal acts through Kerrang magazine, I then discovered the likes of Terrorizer magazine and even RockSound who opened me up to more "hardcore" bands. Somewhere along the line, hardcore came into my life and I was blown away by UK bands such as Stampin' Ground and now London HC heavyweights, Knuckledust. With the help of some friends at school, I started attending small London hardcore shows at around the age of 14, pretty much seeing Knuckledust at least every month for what has to be a good 10 years straight.

  This year finally sees the release of Knuckledust's newest offering, Songs Of Sacrifice. Despite also having released many split cds and Eps, this is the band's 6th (I think..) full length within their 20 years existence, the first since 2012's Bluffs, Lies & Alibis. Although always staying true to their original sound, Knuckledust were not afraid to experiment a little bit on the last record. Life Struggle, their latest video and first song to be previewed from the new record, shows that the boys have gone that little bit further this time around.

  Starting quite iconically Knuckledust, with Pierre's growling vocals accompanied by the fast and hard musicianship of Wema (guitar), Nicky (bass) and Ray (drums), the song takes an unexpected turn when, for what I am pretty sure is the first time ever, Wema takes over vocal duties. He's, of course, done the odd back up shouting now and again, but here he actually does clean vocals, bringing a bit of sensitivity into the song. Again, a first for Knuckledust. I have absolutely nothing wrong with clean vocals/singing in hardcore, although I do remember when most of the people from this "scene" were badmouthing Your Demise for experimenting and suddenly singing and being more melodic and therefore find it interesting to hear it from Knuckledust. That said, it was probably more the "Americanising" of their sound that irritated everyone. Luckily, we don't get that here and you never will with these guys. 

  The track goes between their fast tough guy hardcore and the more H2O/Wisdom In Chains thumping hardcore punk with a sing-a-long chorus and a classic style solo thrown in. The video also cleverly fits the changing moods of the song, with Pierre battling with himself one moment, Wema wandering around talking to himself the next and then a massive pile-on as the band play to their people.


Knuckledust may be bringing in influences from different bands and even other genres like Oi and hard rock, but, unlike other bands, they somehow still manage to stay them. They are basically reinventing what the Knuckledust sound is on every record and I can't wait to check out the new album.

New video from all girl punk band, MAID of ACE

MAID of ACE hail from the East Sussex (UK) town of Hastings. Made up of sisters Alison, Anna, Abby and Amy, all with the cool initials of ACE (hence the name, I'm guessing), they've technically been rocking out together since their first gig at school in 2005 but only released their debut self titled album in 2014 and have slowly but surely been making a name for themselves in the punk circuit.

I believe I discovered the girls through their video for Bone Deth, which sees the girls cycling around town while shouting along to the song. The video is incredibly well shot and, although I may just be stupid, it took me a while to notice the trickery involved. Comparisons to bands like Civet and Distillers are obvious but still valid. As well as that raw, female punk rock style, the song itself was ever so slightly reminiscent of the punkier side of Japanese band Mad Capsule Markets. MAID of ACE don't really do the electronic/digital hardcore thing but there was something in it that made them stick out from straight up punk rock.



Stay Away comes off the new album due for release in the new year. It mostly has that straight up punk rock feel but also has a crushing groove in the chorus. The video is a little simpler than that of Bone Deth, with the band playing their track in what seems to be an abandoned house/squat.

For those who like dirty punk rock, MAID of ACE will not disappoint. They've got some European dates in the new year and will also be playing the magnificent Rebellion Fest in Blackpool in August (4th-7th).

CHECK THEM OUT!

Killswitch Engage drop video for new song, Strength Of The Mind

  I personally have never been as big on Massachusetts metalcore band Killswitch Engage as most of my friends are, despite having given out stickers and lanyards around the time of Alive or Just Breathing as a young street teamer for Roadrunner Records. I never even listened to that album all the way through, despite liking My Last Serenade and a few other tracks.

  Since that era, original vocalist Jesse (Leach) was replaced with Howard (Jones) only to return again in 2012. I may have lost my way with this band, and it was certainly nothing personal against Howard, but I might start to go through their suff again if the new track is anything to go by.

 Strength Of The Mind is a taster of what is to come from the eagerly awaited next album, due March 2016. It's still a pretty trademark KSE sound, with Adam's (Dutkiewicz) mix of heavy and melodic riffs and the contrast of harsh and beautiful clean vocals. The song is also lyrically very positive and and empowering. Personally, I feel like the song's meaning gets lost amidst the music. It's lyrically quite hardcore and doesn't really fit their melodic metalcore. Nevertheless, I respect the concept and the band still do what they do best.

Skunk Anansie go clubbing on new track and video, Love Someone Else

In a similar vein to some other acts I have written about on here, such as Incubus, Alanis Morissette and Republica, my fondness for Skunk Anansie goes way back to first hearing the song Weak. It was really when I saw the video for All I Want that I knew this was a band for me.

Over the years, the band has experimented with styles and kept more of a leaning to their softer side than that of their heavier, groove-based material. The bass lines are still there and Skin's strong vocals might never ever fade, but I personally haven't been able to connect too much with more recent material, such as the Wonderlustre and Black Traffic albums, despite still having beautifully well written songs and the odd uptempo rock out number. 

Love Someone Else comes from the forthcoming album, Anarchytecture, and incorporates that rave feel, that has been present in the band's later years, which is supported by the video being set in some sort of squat party. Normally, the electro pop would be mixed in with some heavy parts, but this track is pretty much a straight forward dance track and very MTV friendly. Skin still belts out the chorus which is sure to be able to get a crowd going, but it makes you wonder if this would have been better as a Skin solo track, if she was ever to go back to that.

With enough publicity, this song has the potential to get the band's name out into the UK charts again, which they have failed to do in recent years compared to in the rest of Europe. I'm still intrigued to check out the rest of the album, hoping to hear a mixture of styles, funky bass lines and Skin's unmistakable high notes.