Tag: hardcore

The Hardest So-Cal Has to Offer, Strife Plays “In This Defiance” at The Roxy

Rob Shepyer August 27, 2018

Southern California has always been a hotbed for hardcore punk from Black Flag to The Circle Jerks but carrying on the torch into the 90’s was a band from Thousand Oaks, California called Strife. Exhibiting that classic straight edge, beat down character, Strife was a band that from the get go, had the feel like they belonged on a stage with a pit belonging right in front of them. Their second album, In This Defiance, with its many guest appearances by Dino Cazares, Chino Mareno, and Igor Cavalera, became the band’s definitive album. They were a band that could get hardcore kids to dog-pile and sing together songs so undeniably powerful and demanding of an audience, that they became essential to the Southern California hardcore canon. related content: For The Children 2017 At The Echoplex: Hardcore Is The Gift That Keeps On Giving Strife’s impact resonated beyond their sound though. Each band that would perform on this evening at The Roxy had a connection to the band. Beginning first with Fixation from Philadelphia, who even though are in the early stages of their career, played a set that was cohesive and powerful enough to make you envision a long and

New Song Premiere: The Dividing Line – “Deadbeat”

Janky Smooth Central Command August 20, 2018

We all know that special someone that drags down the group and sometimes those people need to learn their lesson the hard way, or rather in this case, the hardcore way. if there was ever a song to get someone to reform there ways it would be The Dividing Line‘s “Deadbeat”. New Age Records’ The Dividing Line create some of the most aggressive and unhinged hardcore you can hear in 2018 and their latest banger “Deadbeat” brings the pain on every level. The slam dance part is crushing and filled with plenty of bounce for you to get those punches and kicks flying. This is the kind of confrontational songwriting that gave hardcore it’s reputation as both music with balls and music for the people by the people about real shit. The Dividing Line just finished recording their 7″ to be released on New Age Records in late summer 2018 called Turn my Back on the World.

Beast from the East: Sand at Toxic Toast Theatre

Rob Shepyer July 30, 2018

There are the kinds of music nerds that collect the vinyl albums of their favorite bands and then there are the kinds that sift through the Japanese imports section looking for new favorites. Japan has always been one of the best countries to make hardcore music whether it be bands like Stalin or Loyal to the Grave or my favorite of the lot: Sand. Conceptually, Sand represents an original idea that transcends hardcore in that it makes you rethink the use of language in music. They’re a Japanese band that sings in broken English. They could just sing in Japanese but that would miss the point they’re aiming for. A foreigner might not know your language well but chances are the way he expresses it will bring new meaning to the words. Such is the case when Sand performs songs like “Poser” with unforgettable lyrics like these: Your lyrics sound like an ethics class book. A model father. Sundays in church. A Bible reading pig. I’m gonna puke. DIE! All sounds phony. What a fucking scam. Your lyrics sound like some kid slamming down cheap beers, bragging like he’s been through hell. Then through the filter of a thick Japanese

L.A.’s Best Festival is Sound and Fury (imo). Here’s Why:

Rob Shepyer July 19, 2018

There are many qualities that make Sound and Fury Los Angeles’ best festival. I will try to touch upon them all in this article and also review every band that played the festival and after shows. You will want to attend the festival after reading this and not because I’m novelizing the experience but rather, what actually takes place at Sound and Fury is so uniquely incredible that the only reason a fan of heavy music wouldn’t want to attend is because they don’t know the festival exists. So, consider this your introduction: Sound and Fury is a hardcore music festival that began in 2006 in Ventura, California. Hosting legendary sets by underground hardcore artists whether they be in warehouses or the back of a U-haul like for Trash Talk in 2009, the festival’s momentum kept growing and growing until moving to the Regent Theater in 2016 and 2017. In 2018, the festival had expanded to the point that it could upgrade to the Belasco Theater. related content: The Most Complete Sound And Fury 2017 Review On Earth Gathering bands from all around North America (and one from Finland) to perform on two stages in the Belasco or at various

One Friday Night in Hell Part 1: Show Me The Body, Twitching Tongues, and Vein at the Regent

Rob Shepyer July 11, 2018

Last Friday was when all this heatwave insanity started. I swear, bad weather in Los Angeles isn’t routine, it’s regional illness, like the flu. And with the temperature outrageously into the hundreds during the day, nighttime didn’t spell any relief for us with our without a sun to shine. A kid could be driven to do crazy things without air conditioning. They could find themselves getting into all sorts of trouble, trying to find a cooler place to hang. All the shows that were booked throughout the city on Friday ended up being havens from the boiling streets and so all the troublemakers were let indoors, to cause street havoc in the damn music halls. Weeks ago, Dillon and I decided to test ourselves on this outing and try to cover as many shows as possible. They were scheduled perfectly to hop between. The first of show of the night was fittingly hardcore at the Regent. No matter what happens there, the music would get our blood pumping to prepare us for any kind of band or audience we could come across that night. Code Orange’s sold out miniature festival of a bill featured enough amazing bands that I didn’t

Attaining the Supreme: Shelter at the Constellation Room

Rob Shepyer June 28, 2018

What is the function of music? Is it to make you dance? To emotional move you? Or is it to inform you? In Shelter‘s case, they provide a special form of information for the audience. Not of the political or personal variety, but rather of the spiritual. Spiritual information that will make your soul feel full. Attain enough of this spiritual information, through study, meditation, and yoga, and you might be rewarded with the “Supreme”. What exactly is the Supreme? It is something beyond beauty and the sublime, it is a state of being that language fails to describe, but perhaps music stands a chance in translating the Supreme into sound and performance. The first band I arrived to see was Berthold City, a band started by the guitarist of my favorite hardcore bands, Strife’s Andrew Kline. Even in their fourties, this band was jumping around wildly, with bodies that hadn’t suffered the usual damage dealt by the typical rock and roll lifestyle. The songs had a sweeping, hardcore feel and though the turnout was small this early in the evening and the audience was a bit stiff, we all felt connected to the music and each other. With songs

The New Voice of New York Hardcore: Krimewatch at Resident

Rob Shepyer June 23, 2018

The scene was Sound and Fury 2017, a stage that hosted the young, renegade hardcore sisterhood known as Krimewatch. Upon that stage I saw real punk rock potential, Emma Hendry, Shayne, Sean Joyce synched together perfectly, making fast and brutal music that acted as a vehicle for Rhylli Ogiura’s charisma, strength, and message. A year later, they returned to the West Coast to play a few dates that I knew I couldn’t miss, not because I needed to hear them again necessarily but rather because I can tell when shows will go down in the history of a scene’s landscape and development. LA hardcore will always remember the times Krimewatch flew out to inspire us. related content: The Most Complete Sound And Fury 2017 Review On Earth Krimewatch wasn’t the only act that drew me to the show, Anthony aka Anthony Anzaldo of Ceremony was gracing the Resident stage first in his signature lingerie get-up. Having seen Ceremony numerous times and Anzaldo’s other hardcore band, Ex-Youth open for Judge in San Francisco, this solo-project performance showed me yet another side of this versatile talent’s abilities. Drawing inspiration from heroes like Prince, Bowie, Robert Smith, and George Michael; Anthony’s guitar-work feels like

A Bloody Reunion: Bleeding Through At The Observatory

Rob Shepyer June 14, 2018

Back in the early 2000’s when I was a strapping young teenager, MTV2’s resurrected Headbanger’s Ball was a relevant place to get your metal fix and hear new bands. In those days, the young kings of the hill were Killswitch Engage, Mastodon, Lamb of God, Shadow’s Fall, and Bleeding Through. Unlike the other bands I just mentioned, Bleeding Through wasn’t just metal but metalcore, a genre that I always relegated to nothing more than Emo’s angry bastard child. Bleeding Through is not only the exception to this (stupid) rule of mine but they’re one of my favorite bands. related content: The Most Complete Sound And Fury 2017 Review On Earth After going on a five year hiatus, Bleeding Through is back with one of the best metal albums I’ve heard all decade. Love Will Kill All is in my opinion, the band’s best album. Every song kicks ass and is perfectly set in the track list to sculpt a greater concept of what the band was, is, and will always be. The heavy parts hit more authentically than other metalcore bands in 2018 and the melodic parts capture you with undeniable hooks. The album’s first single “Set Me Free” is

Fierce Fiesta: Scum’s 2 Year Anniversary W/ Limp Wrist At The Echoplex

Rob Shepyer March 28, 2018

There was something queer about March. Even the month’s name conjures up the image of boys with chiseled jaws in uniforms and leather boots. Or maybe it was the number 3 that was symbolic; of a third chromosome? A third gender? Or a third nipple or partner? Whatever it was, this merry month’s man-on-man madness began with me seeing Fischerspooner at the Fonda, where myself as a straight, life-long fan of queer cinema and music, got to see a myriad of males half naked on stage, sweaty and throbbing. Then after attending sCUM’s 2 year anniversary show at the Echoplex with Limp Wrist headlining, I got the sense that East Los could be the new Weho and that LGBTQ punks have ideas to express, verbal and non-verbal, that straight punks can neither access nor fathom. With Lethal Amount’s Sex Cells Divine Ball approaching on the 31st, who knows, I might start behaving in ways I never thought possible in February. I don’t think I’ll be going cruising but hell, I might try to suck my own. related content: Los Crudos Play The Echoplex Right When L.A. Needed It Most sCUM is a party for queerdos of color at Club Chico created

Midnight Massacre: American Nightmare At The Echoplex

Rob Shepyer March 18, 2018

Like a long, dooming swing of the reaper’s scythe, death rock and hardcore rained down upon us as if by the hand of Death itself. Since the headliner was hardcore, one might not expect two death rock bands opening up the show but when you consider the history of American Nightmare, it’s not so strange at all. American Nightmare has always highlighted the darker, more gothic side of the human experience to the point that Wesley Eisold, the band’s singer, evolved into Cold Cave, a goth, dark wave sensation. Never straying too far from his roots though, Eisold always kept American Nightmare in his back pocket. Perhaps now he’s wearing those pants back-side front. It’s too sides of the same coin, anyway. A sad, depressed crooner making music you can dance your sorrow away to and a rage-filled banshee that inspires blood-lust, violence, and anarchy in mosh pits that flood onto the stage. American Nightmare was the first band in the hardcore scene to really delve into emotional, darker lyrics and tones while not straying from true hardcore and the scene. The first band to open up the evening was Death Bells, a young death rock outfit from Sydney, Australia that

Nature World Night Out At The Regent: Building Bridges Between Hardcore and Hip Hop

Rob Shepyer March 3, 2018

Nature World Night Out is musical proof that there is more variation within the groups we separate ourselves into than between those groups. On the surface, Hardcore music and Hip Hop may seem on opposite poles of the musical spectrum but after a little bit of inspection, you realize they both have similar bounce, fashion, and both originated from the streets. Whether you’re black, brown, or white; male or female, there were artists in the Hardcore or Rap categories performing at this festival for you to project yourself onto. I remember my first Nature World Night Out, two years ago back when it was a one night event at Union Nightclub with Trash Talk and Soulja Boy co-headlining. The night was also my introduction to Antwon, Hip Hop’s ambassador to Hardcore and one of the festival organizers. Needless to say, that first NWNO was amazing and to this day, I still regret missing the second NWNO with Cam’ron… these guys booked Cam’ron to play on the same stage as Jesus Piece and No Warning for God’s sakes. related content: Trash Talk, Ratking, and Pangea: Slam Dance 101 At The Echoplex This year’s third annual installment migrated downtown to the Regent

Take This: Nature World Night Out Ticket Giveaway

Janky Smooth Central Command February 13, 2018

Like hardcore? Like hip hop? If you said yes to both then boy, do I have a giveaway for you! Nature World Night Out rolls out to the Regent Theater for three days and nights of underground hardcore, rap, and punk rock. Whether you want to sing to Angel Du$t, slam to Hatebreed, or twerk to CupcakKe, this festival has it all. Straight up, and I’m saying this from experience, I can’t think of a festival that gets more turnt up and this year they’ve moved the operation from Union to the Regent, so it can only get crazier. Janky Smooth is giving away two three-day passes to one lucky winner. Or you can also purchase tickets here: Contest Rules: Share or retweet this post on Facebook or Twitter or repost the flyer on Instagram. Then tag @Jankysmooth and @Nature WorldNightOut in your post to enter for a chance to win 2 three-day passes. Winner will be announced Sunday 2/18/2018