I Breathe the Underground

Most Annoying Punk Band Ever to Release New Album

NoFx is gearing up to release Coaster on April 28, prompting cries of "Break up, already" from...well...me.

Let's take a closer look at the track list, and I'll predict what each song is about. *These are simply predictions -- I have no prior knowledge of what will be on this record. The names of the songs, however, are legit.*

1. We Called It America - A 3 minute long rant against conservative America with Fat Mike name-dropping the founding fathers.

2. The Quitter - Apathetic guy drinks, smokes, and listens to too much punk rock.

3. First Call - Half-time four-chord love song about the time Fat Mike met his wife.

4. My Orphan Year - A fictional character named Eddy is turned to the street after his parents die in a car accident.

5. Blasphemy (The Victimless Crime) - Tirade against Christianity with at least one use of every anti-Christian cliche NoFx could find on the internet.

6. Creeping Out Sara - A story of inappropriate and disgusting actions taken in the face of a stalwart Sara.

7. Eddie, Bruce and Paul - In the tradition of Liza and Louise...

8. Best God in Show - Another Fat Mike diatribe against organized religion...pointing out the aural and philosophical similarities between "dog" and "god" on multiple occasions.

9. Suits and Ladders - Fat Mike goes on yet another tirade...this time against corporate America and greed.

10. The Agony of Victory - NoFx examines the war in Iraq, talks shit about George Bush and the rest of his administration, uses impressive Iraqi jargon.

11. I Am an Alcoholic - Fat Mike denounces the evils of alcohol...just kidding. Fat Mike gets drunk and throws up on a small child.

12. One Million Coasters - Dedicated to the one million people who still believe George Bush was a good president.

The music should be equally as predictable. There, I just saved you the time and money you would have spent buying the album. Let's send a message to NoFx this time around and boycott the Gospel according to Fat Mike, please. Thx.

Download 03 - NOFX - Murder The Government

"Murder the government and then...do it again, yeah!"
- NoFx, "Murder the Government"

The Top 20 Greatest Underground Debuts Pt. 3

Part 3 of the Top 20 Greatest Underground Debuts. View Part 1 here and Part 2 here.

10. Hey Mercedes - Everynight Fire Works - Chicago indie lost a critical component when Bob Nanna's Braid disbanded. Luckily, it was to be replaced by the non-typical pop-punkishness of Hey Mercedes. While Hey Mercedes is primarily driven by Nanna's unique vocals and poetic lyrics, the music was tight, friendly and catchy. Hey Mercedes would only complete two full-lengths before breaking up, but Everynight Fire Works is, was, and always will be a classic.

Download A-List_Actress

9. Less Than Jake - Pezcore - What can one say about Less Than Jake? The band certainly has staying power, surviving two unsuccessful runs on major labels (the second much more unsuccessful than the first). Even though they continue to put out quality recordings, Less Than Jake had to start somewhere. Pezcore brought an attitude to ska reminiscent of Operation Ivy, but LTJ brought it even faster and with more fun. This is still a stand-out album in my book. Track from Losing Streak.

Download 08 - Less Than Jake - Krazy Glue

8. New Found Glory - Nothing Gold Can Stay - We all know the stigmas that come from being an NFG fan. I don't care; I'll say it loud and proud right now: I listen to New Found Glory. What's more, I believe Nothing Gold Can Stay is one of the most influential pop-punk albums of all time. The album set the pace for a generation of admittedly questionable pop-punk, but remains quintessential in the face of such criticism. Track from New Found Glory.

Download 09 Black And Blue

7. Rise Against - The Unraveling - By now, everyone knows who Rise Against is. I wouldn't be surprised if a large portion of the band's base hadn't yet delved into the awesomeness of The Unraveling. RA started off on Fat Wreck and completed an album that fit the label purposely, simultaneously making some of the label's more veteran bands sound comedic. Case in point: NoFX, who apparently want people to think they're a joke anyway. Well, at least Fat Mike has an ear for good music, whether he can create it or not.

Download 01. Alive and Well

6. Catch 22 - Keasbey Nights - What can you say about New Jersey's Catch 22 except that the band has seen better days. Before Catch 22's remaining members decided to release a couple of shitty Reel Big Fish rip-off albums, ska visionary Tomas Kalnoky led them to create one of the (arguably) best ska albums of all time. Although Kalnoky's later project, Streetlight Manifesto, went on to re-record the entire album, there's nothing like the first time. Sorry about this one -- I have both albums, but neither are loaded onto my computer. Check out this Streetlight Manifesto track, as its the closest band to Catch 22 I have readily available.

Download 01-streetlight_manifesto-we_will_fall_together

The Lawrence Arms Working on New 7" Series?

The Bouncing Souls and the Lawrence Arms have quite a few similarities. I'm not just talking about a stubborn adherence shared by fans to use the article "the" when stating their band names. There's something deeper, some sort of poppy instinct within the body of each band's work that shines through in a sonic onslaught on listener's ears.

You can't really hear the similarities between the two bands quite as clearly on their recordings, but I had an alcohol induced revelation at this past weekend's Riot Fest. TLA and TBS are perfect bed...err, stage-fellows...?

The House of Blues is really an extraordinary venue, but a surprising place for a punk show of this calibur. Simply put, the HOB is pretty well kept and clean in terms of Chicago venues, and the audience that attends Riot Fest is generally...not. So it wasn't exactly a surprise to see the pop-sensible punk rock fans had a dominating "one-up" status on the old school punkers.

When TBS took the stage, I was pretty excited for their set, as I'd seen them at Warped a few years before and absolutely loved them. Still, although I'm decently knowledgeable when it comes to TBS' repetoire of songs, I found myself fidgeting throughout the hour-plus set. I got mad love and respect for TBS, but one word I would not use to describe them is "versatile."

So what did I learn? There might be a few other bands I've only seen play at Warped Tour that I should avoid going to see in a regular concert setting.

When you get fidgety at a show, you turn to the bottle for support, which made at least half of the crowd a little jazzed for the Lawrence Arms by the time it was their turn to rock the HOB.

And then it was their turn.

As usual, Brendan Kelly kept the crowd laughing with his drunken antics, Neil Hennessy was a blur of hands and fingernails, and Chris McCaughan brought the ladies to their knees with his sexy pot-voice. They played songs from every album and even surprised the crowd with "Quicentuple Your Money," a fan favorite that doesn't get dragged off the shelf too often. The energy level was amazing and the crowd was slightly out of control.

Take it from a guy who has been to a lot of shows: the Lawrence Arms have some of the best fans in Chicago.

Oh, you were dragged in by the headline and you're waiting for the point, huh?

When my attention started waning during the Bouncing Souls set, I ran into Hennessy and chatted things music. Kelly's wife just had a baby, which has pushed plans for a new album off into the unforeseen future. So, from what I gathered, it appears talks with Fat Mike have developed the possibility of a 7" series, in the tradition of other Fat bands. Hennessy mentioned that, since the band members have been busy with other things, Fat Mike suggested that they record songs as they write them. Then, he'll release a few here and there as 7"s.

Hennessy didn't mention that there was anything specific in the works as of yet, but that it was an idea being bounced around. Let's hope something gets moving shortly, huh? I feel like I'm starved of new Lawrence Arms material.

"I never tried that / I never tried that / I never tried that / but I know I don't like it."
- Brendan Kelly, "The Devil's Takin' Names"

The Original Pop-Punk Gangstas Divide the Nation

I always feel like I'm sitting at the bar of some small club sipping a whiskey when I listen to Dillinger Four. Albeit you could draw that conclusion directly from each album's production quality -- but I really meant how the music makes me feel. It's like the band has something wiser behind it than the pop-punk powerhouses spewing out the same catchy chord progressions and hooks, yet something more playful than a lot of today's political punkers. The band succeeds in blending the raw with the - for lack of a better term - marketable.

I've been a huge Dillinger Four fan since the first time I listened to them -- back when they were the centerpiece for Hopeless Records' Hopelessly Devoted to You compilation series. Those comps were truly historical collections for 90s punk, showcasing respected now-veteran scenesters like Mustard Plug, Against All Authority, Guttermouth, the Queers, Funeral Oration, the Weakerthans and Samiam; defunct or still unknown but truly spectacular bands like 88 Fingers Louie, Digger, Fifteen, and Scared of Chaka; even Thrice, Avenged Sevenfold, Break the Silence and Atom and His Package on more recent compilations. Ever since I first heard those comps, Dillinger Four became a band whose track record I've followed religiously for several years.

Dillinger Four hasn't shown a significant musical progression over the years, but the quality of their tunes hasn't diminished either, which is something only the finest punk bands can demonstrate. Let's be honest; punk rock isn't really about complicated riffs and musical progression anyway.

The band's newest recording, C I V I L W A R, stays true to Dillinger Four's hook-laden chord progressions, formulaic but catchy. You can feel a slightly different quality to the music; in an interview posted on AP.net, Erik Funk summed it up nicely:

"Now that it's done, I think it's more heavy on the pop side than our other records."

Which isn't to say that D4's signature rawness is gone -- it's just a little more subtle. After all, Fat Wreck Chords wouldn't promote a band that had gone soft, would they?

There's not much else to say about this recording. I love it. You either love 'em or hate 'em. D4 is straight-up, in-your-face pop-punk. They've got nothing to hide. So if you dig D4's other recordings, you're sure to like this one. If you don't like the old stuff, then stop reading this damn post.

Oops, too late. It's already over.

"I am not unforgiving / but I won't take the fall / Let the ashes surround us / I am not gonna crawl through / broken glass and razor wire."

- Dillinger Four, "Noble Stabbings!!"

When Superheroes Try to Share One Cape

LAGWAGON. Did I catch you off guard? I bet you haven't heard that name in awhile. Fat Wreck's first officially signed band seems to pop up on my map every few years, but their soon to be released EP, I Think My Older Brother Used to Listen to Lagwagon, has caught me with my pants down and forced a pang of guilt on me, as I've rarely even thought about this band over the past three years. I think the guilt is slightly based on my status as the "Older Brother."

Let's take it back about seven years. In 2000, following five full-length albums, Wikipedia has told me that Lagwagon took a hiatus! Umm shit, had no idea. When 2003's Blaze hit shelves, it seemed to me they must have ventured out on a five year tour co-headlining with No Use for a Name. Seriously though, Lagwagon isn't a very forgettable band, but it seemed only natural that a few Fat Wreck nineties punkers were about due to hit the dust. All the bands signed to Fat Wreck seemed far too happy and complacent for it to be a real record label.

When Bad Astronaut came out with its first release, Joey Cape's eternally recognizable vocals had seemed to follow his heart in a musical evolution that only seemed natural at his age. They were too old to be punk rockers anymore...weren't they?

Au contraire. It seems I saw Lagwagon at Warped Tour, shortly before this supposed hiatus, and everyone in the crowd left the stage area with a smile on his or her face. Short of a heroin binge or the development of fatal heart diseases, the band couldn't have done that much to slow themselves down.

Blaze and Resolve (2005) appeared to pick up right where the band had left off, blasting out charming, melodic punk anthems at breakneck speed. I picked up both releases, and there was a defiant pleasure in them, but the band failed to do anything noteworthy since these albums.

Lagwagon fans -- rejoice! For it turns out Bad Astronaut was not so badass after all and has not withstood the test of time, and ITMOBUTLTL has been sent to fill the gap in your safety-pin closed hearts. The EP, which drops August 19th, does not disappoint the avid Lagwagon fan. Holding the title of an "Avid Lagwagon Fan," as well as having attained the release before it shall be let loose on the starving masses, I fully endorse this album. It isn't a deviation from their last umpteen albums, but that Lagwagon charm is still intact and churning at full speed.

"I'm old school / I'm played out / osteoporosis, glaucoma and neurosis / the vultures circling above our balding heads."
- Joey Cape, "Falling Apart"