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FROM THE EDITOR'S DESK:
Reviews by Jim Testa
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- Ted Leo & The Pharmacists - The
Brutalist Bricks (Matador)
- April Smith & The Great Picture
Show - Songs For A Sinking Ship (aprilsmithmusic.com)
- Titus Andronicus - The Monitor (XL)
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View
the complete Editor's Desk article...
A Chunksaah Good Time At Asbury Lanes with Frank
Turner and friends
Chunksaah Records hosted a night of great folk/punk
at Asbury Lanes', South Jersey's coolest venue,
featuring Frank Turner, the Architects, and Dave
Hause, with Pete from the Bouncing Souls deejaying
the night. Phil
Rainone and Tim Norek were there and tell you all
about it...
LIVE ON YOUR PC: The ScandalsNJ and David Costa
Skeleton Crew Records is a NJ label looking for
innovative ways to bring its bands to the public.
So why not set them up in a studio, set up a few
video cameras, and broadcast a concert live over
the web?
Our Deb Draisin caught the show and brings you
this report...
STAND UP, SIT DOWN, SHUT UP:
Inside The Unfunny World of Stand Up Comedy
Longtime Jersey Beat contributor Oliver Lyons
has always been funny (at least we think so;)
but did you know he actually spent a couple of
years standing on stage trying to prove it, experiencing
firsthand the cutthroat, dog-eat-dog world of
New York comedy clubs? Now, Oliver's telling tales,
spilling the beans on what it's really like trying
to make people laugh for a living. Read
Oliver's story here...
The Roadside Graves Are "Shacking Up"
Again
Autumn Tone Records is re-releasing the Roadside
Graves' first and difficult-to-find album If
Shacking Up Is All You Want To Do on February
23, so we caught up with frontman John Gleason to
find out about the reissue's bonus tracks and the
band's current and future plans. Read
Jim Testa's interview here...
TIM BARRY - Tales Of A Road Warrior
Former punk rocker extraordinare turned troubadour
folkie, Tim Barry chats with Chris Mattern about
the road, the economy, and his new album, 28th
And Stonewall.
Read
Chris' interview here...
Jersey Minstrel PJ Bond and the Year of 1000 Roommates
Lots of touring indie bands depend on the kindness
of strangers when it comes to finding a place
to crash for the night, but singer/songwriter
PJ Bond pushes that idea to the limit on his current
Year of A Thousand Roommates tour. We caught up
with PJ to find out what it's been like so far
as his tour wends it back back to his home base
of New Brunswick, where he'll perform at the Court
Tavern on Saturday, February 13. Read
our interview here...
JERSEY BEAT REVIEWS:
 Say
You Want A (45 RPM) Revolution?
Phil Rainone waxes romantically
about his generation's love affair with the 45
single, and then reviews two new examples of the
genre, new 7-inch EP's by The Dollyrots and The
Homewreckers.
Read Phil's
review here...
 TREAT
ME LIKE DIRT - An Oral History of Punk in
Toronto and Beyond, 1977-88
By Liz Worth; Edited by Gary Pig Gold
Canadian transplant Robert Barry
Francos, our Quiet Corner correspondent, reports
on this new oral history of the Canadian punk
and hardcore scene, specifically the scenes that
grew in and around Toronto and Hamilton. Overall
Francos finds it an excellent read, as he chronicles
the similarities between the nascent punk scenes
that blossomed in the late Seventies in both Toronto
and New York City.
Read Robert's review
here...
 JESSE
IAN DUNN - "The Very Best Of" (Mint
400)
Jersey singer/songwriter Jesse Ian
Dunn - raised on Springsteen, nurtured by Sinatra,
and in a love/hate relationship with the Garden
State. Deb Draisin takes a listen to this five-song
"best of" EP, culled from Dunn's DIY
releases.
Read Deb's review here...
 TIM
BARRY - 28th & Stonewall (Suburban Home)
Punk rocker turned folksinger Tim
Barry takes us on a lyrical journey, touching
on everything from ending relationships to hopping
freight trains, and ending with the tongue in
cheek “Bus Driver,” completing what
is in Chris Mattern’s opinion his strongest
album to date.
Read Chris' review here...
 MOTION
CITY SOUNDTRACK - My Dinosaur Life (Sony)
Motion City Soundtrack has always
stood about the day-glo skinny-pants clones in
the power pop scene with strong songriting and
exciting performances, and they do not disappoint
here. Maybe the songs do no more than make you
happy; but hey, doesn't everyone want to be happy
anyway? Recommended. Read
Damien Ellinghaus' revew here...
 ALESANA
- The Emptiness (Fearless)
Damien Ellinghaus reviews the latest
release from emotionally-charged metal rockers
Alesana, a concept album revolving around the
visions of a disturbed sketch artist.
Read Damien's
review here...
TRIS McCALL - Let The Night Fall (Melody Lanes
Records)
From school yards and summer camps filled with
not-so-innocent children, to the cigar-smoke choked
backrooms of old-school ward politicos, to the
basement storerooms at Newport Mall to the burger
joint that used to be a Jack In The Box before
it was a Lucky Wong's, from improvised studios
in Brooklyn to venerable Water Music in Hoboken,
and right into the office of the Mayor, Tris McCall
takes us on a musical exploration of Jersey City
that examines its culture, politics, and people
with both a jaundiced eye and an unmitigated sense
of pride.
Read Jim Testa's review here
JERSEY BEAT COLUMNS:
 THE
QUINLAN CHRONICLES
by Rich Quinlan
Lots of noise with surf rock overtones is how
Rich describes the Florida band Tubers,
then struggles with the indie soundscapes of Vinca
Minor and screamo outfit Pianos
Become The Teeth, the "orchestral
metal" of Judgement Day,
and the guitar/double drums cacophony of Snacktruck.
Read
Rich's column here...
 THE
WORLD ACCORDING TO WAWZYRNIAK
by Joe Wawzyrniak
Joe delights in the Feelies-like indie rock
of NJ's Shrubs, as well as new releases by Javelin,
Jen Olive, Sirs, Earl Greyhound, and The Burning
Hotels. Rock out to the crunchy good time rock
n roll of The Fletchers, delight to the sweet
'n' sassy pop of April Smith, and groove to new
tunes from New Brunswick's Nymphomatics, Standard
Fare, Post Harbor, and Fyfe Dangerfield.
Read
Joe's column here...
POP VULTURE by Phil Rainone
Phil checks out the new releases from
The Workers, Dirty Sweet, Brian
Goss, Rebel Inc., Jeff Riddle, and The
Graves Brothers Deluxe. The exciting
alt-rock of NJ's Red Flag Fleet
wins a big thumb's up, plus Phil reviews new albums
from The Plain Truth, Galactic,
and Brewtal Thirst. Phil raves
about the psychedelic garage punk of Shannon
& The Clams, the bubblegum power
pop of the Yum Yums, the fun
pop punk of the Cute Lepers,
and the Irish punk of Neck.
Read
Phil's column here...
 MATTERN
OF FACT: By Chris Mattern
Chris is amazed to discover Landlord, a band
out of his home base of Bloomington Indiana that's
actually not half bad. Of course they're only
half good, but that's better than what he usually
hears. Also reviewed are new releases by the Street
Eaters, Torture The Artist, The Ex Gentlemen,
Knife The Symphony, Droids Attack, Dan Webb &
The Spiders, Hello Shitty People, and a big shout
out to the excellent charity compilation, Protect
2, which features tracks from the Dopamines, the
Copyrights, Be My Doppelganger, and others. .
Read Chris' column here...
METAL AS ALL HELL by Dan Siano
Dan finds the comprehensive 3-disc Grind
Madness At The BBC absolutely essential
and gives you a track by track rundown of its
contents, but has little use for The Official
Heavy Metal Book of Lists, which gives
you lists but has a very fuzzy understanding of
what heavy metal is in the first place. The self-titled
release from Hatebreed gets a
big thumbs down for its generic swipe at breakdown
metal, while Dan does highly recommend Strike
Anywhere's Iron Front.
Read Dan's column here...
LOOSE THREADS by Chris A.
Deeply submerged in the indie rock underground of
San Francisco, our latest correspondent brings a
myriad of tools to his task of being Jersey Beat's
newest writer - impressive tools to his new assignkment
as our West Coast Bureau Chief, including a cell
phone programmed with the number to Jello Biafra's
hottub phone and a crumpled membership card to Gilman
Street tucked into his wallet. This is a man who
knows both Coasts, and we're very happy that he'll
be bringing his unique perspective to Jersey Beat.
Read his first column here...
 BROWSIN'
WITH DAVID BROWN
David digs the pop-punk anthemtic goodness of The
Roman Line, but finds the Dodos to be "faux-emotive,
Keane-lite indie pop for those cooler than thou
kids who wear scarves and shit." He sort of
likes the alt-rock of Ultra Violent Lights and reviews
releases by The Drums, Nakatomi Plaza and Finn Riggins.
Read
David's column here...
 THE
SILVER LINING by Paul Silver
"Lo-fi for listenable indie-pop" is
how Paul Silver sums up Blunt Mechanic,
as he ponders the long-awaited return of 19-year
punk veterans C.D. Truth - "equal
measures of Dead Kennedys, Mission of Burma, and
Alice Donut [with] a definite early punk influence,
loads of crunchy guitar, very tight musicianship,
and a definite sense of fun and humor."Paul
also reviews new releases from The Farmers,
The Gilded Palace of Sin,
Girl Loves Distortion, Hey Young Believer, Kill
Paradise, MV & EE, Patrick & Eugene, The
Show, Systems Officer, Terminal Lovers,
and You Scream I Scream.
Read
Paul's column here...
 EL
EXCENTRICO:
By Jonathan Peter Sutcliffe
Always up for some verbal fisticuffs, Jonathan
Sutcliffe
considers himself the good European and also claims
to hail from the depths of anti-fascist clean
living.
Jonathan is awed - quite a feat - by Wavves,
and casts his critical eye on Philip Glass'
1995 masterpiece, the Mishima soundtrack
album.
Read
Jonathan's column here...
 THE
QUIET CORNER
by Robert Barry Francos
Robert Francos's Winter 2009 round up includes
releases by Antenn's Up, Black Water Rising,
Jim Basnight, Blue Race, Annie Crane, The Dry
Spells, Kung Fu Grip, Tamara Hey, Cary Judd, Ben
Mallott, Ian MacLagan, David Moore, Vanessa Peters
& Ice Cream On Monday, Keith Reid Project,
Margo Reymundo, Ruby Throat, Pamela Ruby Russell,
Jon Snodgrass, Randy Stern, Rosetta Swain, Brett
Terry, Tower of Power, John Watts, and White Rabbit.
Read Robert's column here...
 JOHNNY
PUKE SAYS SO...
Johnny gives his honest opinion of NOFX's
"Cokie The Clown" EP - hardly crucial
but certainly collectible? There's no doubt that
Operation Ivy changed punk rock forever, but what's
frontman Jesse Michaels done lately? His new band
is called Classics Of Love and
Johnny says that classic, it's not. Johnny also
reviews the re-issue of a real classic, Hot
Water Music's No Division.
Read
Johnny's reviews here...
 LET'S
PARTY WITH NOAH WK
We've got an absolutely encyclopedic update from
Noah with a slew of new reviews. Check out with
our party animal thinks of new releases from Deep
Sleep, Into It Over It, Le Face, Mac Blackout,
Stigmata, Fed Up!, Transit, CarCrashLander, Franktenstein
3000, The Cold Beat, Sea Sick Music, The Ghost
Is Dancing, Burning Image, Dredg, The Blackout,
The Sorely Trying Days, Only Thieves, Goonies,
Rich White Males, Gateway District, and
Dan Webb & The Spiders.
Read Noah's column here...
 WOWIE
ZOWIE:
Psychedelia & Beyond by Rick Kutner
Rick Kutner and Wowie Zowie brings you the best
in psychedelia, power-pop, and glam. In this column,
Rick reviews new releases by Deastro, Empire of
the Sun, Historics, Roger O'Donnell, Phoenix,
Sleepy Sun, Stardeath & The White Dwards,
We Are Hex, and Welcome Wagon. Read
Rick's column here...
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