With a 42-day US tour slated for the fall, no one can fault ENERGY for their work ethic. In just a few short years, the band has endured a rigorous touring schedule, a lineup change, and a label transition – enough to discourage even more established bands. Despite the odds, they have proven their commitment [...]

We are creatures of habit. For almost a decade now, my “first thing out of bed” routine has consisted of the following steps: (1) Stumble to the computer; (2) check email; (3) scan the headlines on Washingtonpost.com; and (4) catch up at Punknews.org. You know you’ve made it to the big time when your existence [...]

I might be one of the few people not from BROADWAY CALLS’ native Oregon who first heard about the group after the demise their prior band COUNTDOWN TO LIFE. That band’s 2005 full-length, Govern Yourself Accordingly (New Age) was a raw slab of stompin’ metallic hardcore with a streak of REFUSED’s unorthodox songwriting. When the [...]

From a critic’s perspective, I struggled to accept ANTI-FLAG’s scatterbrained songwriting approach to the band’s 2008 full-length, The Bright Lights of America. At 50 something minutes, and carrying immaculate sound production, it was tinted with all of the excess that happens to punk rock bands with producers in their ears telling them how great they [...]

With nearly every issue, I go back and forth on whether I should keep my Alternative Press subscription. Usually the internal conversation goes something like: “You’re too old for this.” “But I like reading the reviews” “You’re almost 30, you don’t care about high school aged kids in bands who title songs like ‘Iwannaeatfoodwhilechasingapandabear” “But [...]

I remember seeing CURSIVE with FROM AUTUMN TO ASHES and THURSDAY back in 2002. I was confused by their performance. Very confused. My high-school mind half-assedly attempted to process their noisy, art-rock and big word using lyricist Tim Kasher. As they say, the band was lost on deaf ears, more pumped on massive breakdowns, and [...]

FIREWORKS is a pop-punk band from Detroit, Michigan, and their often fast and infectious music reminds me much of SET YOUR GOALS and early FALL OUT BOY. The title of their new record borrows and rearranges the line “I Have Nothing to Offer Except My Own Confusion” from Jack Kerouac’s “On The Road.” All I [...]

I remember that day that FRODUS called it quits, and the fact that their final release And We Washed Our Weapons In The Sea would be posthumous just didn’t seem fair. They were a band that had legions of devoted fans, but their high-brow “Conglomerate International” motif often turned away the less committed. How could [...]