A Wilhelm Scream

How does one gauge the success of a band pushing the envelope of a genre that receives little to no credit by the mainstream media? In the case of A Wilhelm Scream, the answer is “Who cares?” – As a band playing punk rock for over a decade, members Trevor Reilly, Nuno Pereira, Nick Angelini, Brian Robinson and Mike Supina haven’t focused on success, image or whatever bandwagon a group can jump on to get their music into the ears of listeners: It’s the ideal of music from an honest place, playing to the kids who want to hear more than a simple love song, or want an opinion rammed down their throats.

Despite operating just below the radar A Wilhelm Scream have carved out a reputation as one of the best live bands around, bolstered by their staggeringly rich albums of ultratechnical melodic punk rock firestorms. Playing 250+ worldwide shows each year, the band posses a work ethic best described as ‘heroic’.

Dig It Up

Since 2008, Dig It Up has been turning strangers into best friends, dead cities into great adventures and created thousands of memories (some good, some not so good) of the shit show we like to call DIG IT UP.

DIG IT UP is made up of a bunch of old friends who value the good times, all the while trying to ensure that they put out interesting, engaging and hard hitting music. This band has always been about “what can we get away with next?”, a mentality of keeping the party going, expanding on their experiences together and trying to get the entire world to head bang with them. Since the first practice in a basement until their last show together, they will always strive to bring out the “I’m going to have a crazy night!” in everyone, the band included.

With only a few releases under their belts (EP, split 7″) Dig It Up has been fortunate enough to share the stage and tour in the US and Canada alongside greats like 7 Seconds, A Wilhelm Scream, Frank Turner, None More Black and The Sainte Catherines. In addition, they were invited to perform at both FEST 8 and FEST 10 in Gainesville, Florida. In 2012, Alternative Press featured them in their annual 100 bands you need to know issue. Deciding that it was time to record a proper release, the boys enlisted the help of producers Jon Drew (Fucked Up, Alexisonfire) and Marc-Andre Beaudet (The Sainte Catherines) to help make said record. After pulling some levers and turning a bunch of knobs and then bleeding and sweating all over those knobs and levers, Dig It Up’s first album, Manners, is the masterful result of that incredibly intense session.
Manners is a collection of 11 diverse songs that need to be played loud and fast. They’re songs that were written to be experienced live at a sweaty show in a bar or basement and were recorded with that in mind.

Rebuilder

Since their beginning in 2013, Rebuilder has refused to follow the rules. Their first show was at a bar playing to no one. Their second show was playing to a sold-out crowd with The Dropkick Murphys – That’s definitely against the rules.

So what has Rebuilder been up to since the release of their debut full length “Rock and Roll in America”? Well they’ve been doing just that. The self proclaimed gnarly-punk band from Boston has piled into their van, and brought their brand of never-say-die Rock & Roll to the people. Tireless travel up and down both coasts, throughout the Midwest, and even crossing the occasional boarder into Canada and Mexico, Rebuilder has put the pedal through the floor since their inception.

Their newest release on Panic State Records, an EP entitled “Sounds from the Massachusetts Turnpike” ,is a fervent and rambunctious follow up to ‘RNRIA’. With power and intensity, this record widens and solidifies Rebuilder’s sonic footprint in the landscape of rock and roll, re-thinking the traditional three chord punk song and developing their own unique style. ‘Sounds from the Massachusetts Turnpike’ comes out Sept 1st and was recorded, mixed and mastered by Jay Maas at Getaway Studios in Haverhill, MA.

Rebuilder will continue to pick up the pieces of a broken scene, and cast aside a broken system. They will soldier on, and rebuild the community of sounds that has given them so much to be thankful for.

Refuse, Rethink, Rebuild.

Red City Radio

If, as the saying goes, life is less what happens to you and more how you deal with it, RED CITY RADIO have succeeded in spades, insatiable in their heart and singular focus.

Since forming in 2009 in Oklahoma City, Red City Radio have proven their punk-rock proficiency, turning in beloved albums (2011’s The Dangers of Standing Still and 2013’s Titles) and winning over fans around with the world with a sweat-soaked, raved-about live show honed by years of touring along acts like Strung Out, New Found Glory, and Anti-Flag.

But the band— Garrett Dale, guitarist Ryan Donovan, drummer Dallas Tidwell and bassist Jonathan “Jojo” Knight—are evolving, both professionally and personally: Red City Radio marks the group’s first album for Staple Records (after years spent with Paper + Plastick)

The new contrast between Dale’s gruff tenor (now the sole lead voice) and an increasingly rock-based musicality gives Red City Radio an innately fascinating dynamic. As such, songs like the power pop-leaning “Two Out Of Three Ain’t Rad” and slow-burning, country-tinged “… I’ll Catch A Ride” showcase the band’s newfound versatility and expand the definition of just what a Red City Radio song can—and should—sound like.

It’s this nuance and nimbleness that makes Red City Radio such a stirring listen. Named one of the most anticipated albums of 2015 by Fuse and VICE – hailed by outlets like PunkNews, also receiving 4 out of 5 stars from Rolling Stone, the album isn’t wholesale change, but rather the sound of a band expanding its influence and stepping outside itself to keep pushing forward. A sound once reminiscent of punk stalwarts like Hot Water Music has now swelled to include hooky rock á la Foo Fighters and Jimmy Eat World, and even Dale’s love of country.

Tim Barry

The first time one of his friend’s fathers saw singer/songwriter Tim Barry perform, he summed up his thoughts with a Yogi Berra-worthy declaration: “You’re old-timey in a modern way.”

That’s a near perfect description for the artist who sums up his latest solo release, Lost & Rootless in a single word: WOODEN. “That’s the feel that I was going for when I picked the songs,” says Barry. “There’s violin, voice, a wooden resonator guitar…there’s a very subtle electric bass on one track, but otherwise I wanted to do a wooden record.”