punk pop Archives - Vinyl From The Vault

The Marked Men “On the Other Side”

sfilzen — Fri, 20 Dec 2024 20:36:37 +0000

The Marked Men “On the Other Side” 2018. Dirtnap Records. A punchy punky power-pop comp of all “non-LP tracks released by the Marked Men, originally released in the period between 2003 and 2010 on labels such as Dirtnap, Swami, No Idea, Shit Sandwich, and Mortville, plus 2 never-before-heard unreleased tracks” (“Disappear” and “Go Cry“). Dirtnap announced its 25th anniversary concert (festival?) scheduled for Labor Day weekend 2025 with 17 bands confirmed. I don’t think those have been revealed yet but I’m probably seeing Dirtnap Ken tomorrow night at our house so will try to get the inside scoop then. Maybe The Marked Men?? Possibly! They played at the (belated) 20th anniversary Dirtnap Fest in Madison in 2022 (video below, not mine).

According to the Bandcamp listing for On the Other Side “if there is/has been a “flagship band” for Dirtnap, Marked Men and their various offshoots are it. The band hasn’t released any new material since 2009 (the last album came out in 2008.), and they probably won’t, so this singles comp is as close to a new album as it’s going to get. Marked Men still plays a handful of shows every year, but has no plans to release any further new material.” My top picks on this comp are “Nothing’s Changed” from 2005 (on Shit Sandwich Records), the lightning fast punk’d out “Too Pretty to Fuck” and the mod-punk “Whip Myself” both from 2009 (on No Idea Records), the wicked-beated, power-chord crashing “Like Robots” from 2008 (Dirtnap) and “I Can’t Be Good” from 2003 (Mortville Records). We have several of the Marked Men’s releases (I’m pretty sure all on Dirtnap) but I think this comp might be my favorite in our collection of their material.

The post The Marked Men “On the Other Side” appeared first on Vinyl From The Vault.

Tenement “The Self-Titled Album”

sfilzen — Wed, 01 Aug 2018 14:38:09 +0000

Tenement “The Self-Titled Album” 2016. Forward Records/Deranged Records. Tomorrow we’re heading up to Appleton, Tenement’s (and my) hometown for the Mile of Music Festival for four days of non-stop performances. Tenement is not playing this year but we caught them last year (and I picked up this record and am now, finally, giving it a spin). (Photo of their performance last August at Emmett’s outdoor stage, the band had doubled in size from when The Self-Titled Album was recorded)

Tenement is described by online articles as either punk, fuzz punk, pop punk or noise pop (they were even included in a 2016 list of the 10 Great Modern Punk Bands by Rolling Stone) but I really don’t think any of the descriptions fit, or at least not this album (those descriptions DO fit their first release, Napalm Dream from 2011 on Mandible Records). When I wrote about them last year as part of the Mile of Music experience, I described one of the songs they played as “a Velvet Undergroundy freak out sonic assault that lasted about 15 minutes.” That description also does not fit The Self-Titled Album. Rather it’s got an alt-rock, laid-back vibe that recalls to my ears the Milwaukee band Space Raft: catchy, sunny, chill, melodic with some fuzzy rough edges. You can decide for yourself by listening to the entire record here.

The post Tenement “The Self-Titled Album” appeared first on Vinyl From The Vault.

The Mystery Girls “Missing In Action”

sfilzen — Wed, 28 Mar 2018 14:59:40 +0000

The Mystery Girls “Missing In Action” 1984. Casino Records. Obscure 80′s power pop/punk from Canada. That’s about as much information I could find about The Mystery Girls (not be confused with the garage punk band from Green Bay, WI, of the late 90′s/early 00′s of which Jordan Davis – currently of Milwaukee’s Space Raft – was a member). It’s a blend of new wavey power pop – the Go Go’s with less pink bubblegum – and snotty punk in the spirit of the Buzzcocks (especially on “(That’s) Rock ‘n’ Roll,” the only track to be sung by the male member and drummer, Frank Neal). The women in the band, Debbie Valenti (guitar) and Julie Innocent (bass), harmonize like a 60′s girl group to trashy guitars and snappy beats: “007 Romance” and “Bitter Love” are especially fun. The last track on Missing in Action, “Shake Me Up Baby,” is pretty wild thrashing power pop, a good closer for this mysterious 80′s release (I can’t find any links for video or audio anywhere).

The post The Mystery Girls “Missing In Action” appeared first on Vinyl From The Vault.

NOFX “All of Me”

sfilzen — Thu, 01 Feb 2018 20:41:43 +0000

NOFX “All of Me” b/w “The Desperation’s Gone” 1996. Fat Wreck Chords. Limited edition turquoise vinyl. Side A is a cover of the swinging jazz standard “All of Me,” probably less know by NOFX than by other recording artists like Billie Holiday, Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald…the list goes on and on. It was originally co-written in 1931 by Gerald Marks and Seymour Simons and its first recording was by Ruth Etting. NOFX’s version has very little swing and definitely no jazz. Instead it’s an irreverent poppy punk cover, short and snotty. The B-side “The Desperation’s Gone” is by singer/bassist Fat Mike (Michael Burkett) who also owns Fat Wreck Chords, an California indie label that has released albums from Descendents, Screeching Weasel, Rise Against and of course NOFX, among other punk and anti-establishment bands. “The Desperation’s Gone” appears on NOFX’s 1997 album So Long & Thanks for All the Shoes. It too is snotty and mixes the beat of hardcore with the melodic sounds of pop punk.

The post NOFX “All of Me” appeared first on Vinyl From The Vault.

Buzzcocks “Modern”

sfilzen — Thu, 07 Sep 2017 17:50:27 +0000

Buzzcocks “Modern” – this is the first (and hopefully last) time I’m posting a CD rather than vinyl (or cassette) but – 1. Modern was released on this date, September 7th, in 1999 (on Go-Kart Records) 2. I was not willing to spend $199.98 for a copy of out-of-print vinyl and a CD was my only option and 3. my excuse for not getting it on vinyl in ‘99 was that we had just gotten married and bought a house. I really like Modern, even though many old die-hard Buzzcocks fans were put off by its, well, modern sound – lots of electronic elements and its tendency to lean hard toward the pop end of power-punk-pop, mirroring the radio-friendly punk revival sound of the 90′s (i.e. Green Day). Yes, Modern is very accessible and many of the songs catchy as hell: “Soul on a Rock,” “Speed of Life,” “Runaround” and “Turn of the Screw” are dancey, hook-filled and full of harmonies but also snotty and packed with three-chord power.

We saw the Buzzcocks while they were on tour for Modern in November of ‘99 in the basement of the Rave in Milwaukee. At that time I was writing album and show reviews for The Shepherd Express and I wrote about the concert for the Nov. 11th edition. As I note in the article, the Buzzcocks were less interested in capitalizing on the resurgence/emergence of punk in the mainstream music market than they were in evolving their sound to acknowledge and embrace new technologies and trends.

The post Buzzcocks “Modern” appeared first on Vinyl From The Vault.

Generation X “Generation X”

sfilzen — Mon, 30 Nov 2015 16:43:41 +0000

Generation X “Generation X” 1978. Today, November 30th, is Billy Idol’s birthday (b. William Broad 1955): Idol co-founded Generation X with other ex-Chelsea bandmates in ‘76 and released this debut album in 1978.

Unabashedly glammy pop-punk, the album is rocking melodic with lyrical “whoo-wee-oohs” liberally sprinkled throughout, a decidedly more New York Dolls meets Buzzcock-ish punk sound than The Clash or Sex Pistols. They even give a tease to future 80′s hair metal bands (with a very British punk sneer) on the power ballad “Kiss Me Deadly.” Generation X reached #29 on the UK charts, the single “Ready Steady Go” made it to #47 in March of ‘78. “One Hundred Punks” is a great power-pop track, probably one of my favorite songs on the album. This is the US release which has a different track listing than the UK version, including a cover of John Lennon’s “Gimme Some Truth.”

The post Generation X “Generation X” appeared first on Vinyl From The Vault.