The Witzard

DIVIDED HEAVEN in Baltimore, Maryland (photographer unknown / SOURCE: Facebook) We're one day away from the official start of summer, so let's kick things off with a cover of one of the greatest Descendents songs ever written. DIVIDED HEAVEN and German singer-songwriter Matze Rossi have just released a stripped down version of "Clean Sheets" that will leave you feeling a bit more tender. Rossi's raspy howl plays wonderfully with DIVIDED HEAVEN founder Jeff Berman's voice as they belt out a song that has become part of the pantheon of Punk music. Said cover really captures the spirit of singing your favorite songs with all of your friends. You know, the moment at a party or a show where everyone knows every word and can't help but sing at the top of their lungs. It's a special kind of moment reserved for a special kind of song and "Clean Sheets" is just that kind of song. Divided Heaven · Clean Sheets (feat. Matze Rossi) Just this past...

NOT, L-R: Kyle Whitmore, Brendan Scholz, Davey Warsop, and Jarred Cooper (SOURCE: Earshot Media, photographer unknown) Descendents/ALL are now bands that have strongly infleunced and heavily affected generations of youthful, angsty fans. So, this si where it may get a bit confusing: Descendents & ALL are esentially the same band featuring slightly different, albeit similar line-ups. Descendents' most well-known and longest-standing line-up is singer Milo Aukerman, bassist Karl Alvarez, guitarist Stephen Egerton, and drummer Bill Stevenson. While ALL is Alvarez, Egerton & Stevenson with a rotating cast of beloved frontmen: Dave Smalley, Scott Reynolds & Chad Price and briefly functioned as TonyALL with the addition of bassist and song-writer Tony Lombardo (ex-Descendents.) For obvious reasons, Descendents, ALL & TonyALL have rarely ever ALL consistently functioned at the same time. It's safe to say Descendents' fourth and then-final 1987 album, aptly-title...

The Fiendz's 1987-96 line-up, L-R: Joey Darone, Jerry Jones & Jimmy Joyce (ART CREDIT: Joe Darone) Now, let's just be completely honest here: in an ideal world, who (on The East and/or West Coast) wouldn't wanna be down at the shore over Memorial Day Weekend!!? I mean, I could personally do without all the related traffic, mobs of people, noisy neighbors setting of random fireworks, and hullabaloo, but being down at The Shore—well, the REAL Jersey Shore, Ocean City, NJ—is the best place to be during the summer! So, it makes complete and total sense that New Jersey-based Punk/Pop-punk band The Fiendz just recently unleashed a new song, fittingly titled "Down The Shore." It's the second single from their forthcoming album titled Dummy. Dummy will be the first proper Fiendz's full-length since 2011's Commit to Memory . "Down The Shore" was delivered to radio and released ahead of Memorial Day Weekend just in time for the unofficial "s...

"Happy one-year anniversary to the @jonsnodgrass & His Buddies 7-inch record. To celebrate the occasion, we decided it was time to finally release the songs for download. LINK IN BIO. As a bonus, Snodgrass, also, threw in a few unreleased demos of "Vannen, The Friend" & "Destroyers of Sleep" that are only available at @Bandcamp! Six songs total for only $5. Thanks again to everyone involved (@StayFreeRecordings, @ChrisShary, @VannenWatches, Billy, Miles, Frank, Julia, Conor, and Jaybird) and, also, a massive thanks to ALL of you out there who bought the 7-inch. THANK YOU. Stay sweet. ⚾🐊⏰💜," VANNEN (@vannenwatches) wrote within an Instagram post earlier this week. Yes, you read that right; the now-completely sold out 2021 Jon Snodgrass & His Buddies 7-inch is now available digitally for the first time ever exclusively on Bandcamp . Jon Snodgrass himself explains, "I wrote about 52 little jingles in 2020. They were ALL pretty much wri...

Scott Reynolds with Anti-Flag at The Friffid, Australia, 2016 (SOURCE: AAA Backstage) New York-based artist Scott Reynolds has become something of a legend amongst underground Punk/Hardcore die-hards. Reynolds is widely known and beloved for his grizzled tone, acrobatic-like vocal abilities, and short time spent with Descendents' off-shoot ALL from 1989-93. Scott "Ratchet" Reynolds has intermittently performed and/or recorded with the likes of The Bonesaw Romance, Fastgato, Goodbye Harry, The Pavers, Scott Reynolds & The Steaming Beast, Three Car Pile-up, TonyALL, and, most recently, cover band Wuttin Tarnation with members of Just Like Them & Fuzzy Dustmite. For his latest solo effort, Chihuahua In Buffalo , worked with his former ALL bandmate Bill Stevenson, who produced and engineered the album, along with Andrew Berlin & Jason Livermore, at his own The Blasting Room. It's the first time Reynolds & Stevenson have worked together on an album since ...

The Blasting Room is an iconic studio based in Fort Collins, Colorado co-owned by legendary Punk/Hardcore drummer Bill Stevenson and his engineer counterpart Jason Livermore. Additional engineers and revered staff members at The Blasting Room include Andrew "The Silent Assassin" Berlin, Chris Beeble, and Jonathan Luginbill. Stevenson is, of course, best known for his work with Descendents, Henry Rollins-era Black Flag, ALL/Tony All, and Good Riddance frontman Russ Rankin's side-band, Only Crime. However, over the course of his storied career, Bill Stevenson has additionally spent time playing with Elevator, Higley, The Last, The Lemonheads, Minutemen/Black Flag super-group MinuteFlag, The Nig-Heist, October Faction, and Rise Against. Legend has it, ALL used the advance they received from their record label to secure a location for a studio and practice space, which, eventually, became The Blasting Room. In addition to Bill Stevenson's own bands and passion pr...

FLAG. Black Flag. FLAG. Black Flag . Flag Black. Flack Blag. It does get confusing, no? Well, not for me. Black Flag was a band that changed my life. It was like entering a portal and I would never be the same ever again afterwards. The band dominated over everything in my little universe. No matter how many line-up changes, no matter how many drummers, no matter whatever stylistic change the band went through, I liked ALL of it. And it wasn't until the very end of their career that I realized that something was wrong in my perceived Punk Rock paradise. Black Flag were the band that almost broke up in time. With a major emphasis on the word "almost." Also, I had decided that Black Flag founder Greg Ginn must have lost his marbles. And this was BEFORE he broke up his own band. Here is why: The month is January. The year is 1986. Black Flag are playing their first big show with yet another new line-up at The Stardust Ballroom in Los Angeles ... D. Boon of The Minut...

Forget about aging gracefully; Life-time Punk Rockers Greg Ginn, Ron Reyes, Gregory Moore , and Dale Nixon Dave Klein (Screeching Weasel) are still as angst-filled, rebellious, and aggressive as they were way back in 1979. Coincidentally and much to their dismay, another sect of former Black Flag members AKA FLAG fronted by Keith Morris are actively touring this summer, too. Greg Ginn & Black Flag are prepping a currently untitled 22-track "new Black Flag " album for release on SST Records later this summer; Track titles are rumored to include "Honey, I Shit My Pants (Again)," "Viagra Blues," "Hair Down The Drain," "A Little to The Left," etc. "Down In The Dirt" was quietly uploaded online late Friday afternoon, along with a tastefully honest note from the band: " SST Records is proud to announce a free download of the first new Black Flag song in many years, "Down In The Dirt" ... ***NOTE: ...

Re-assembling Black Flag without righteous frontman Henry Rollins (1981-86) is like if Ford just suddenly decided to release their 50th anniversary Mustang sans that iconic, silver-plated pony emblem. But I'm sure founding guitarist Greg Ginn thinks differently, which is probably why Rollins isn't being included in EITHER Black Flag reunion . Whether or not Ginn realizes it, Henry Rollins is basically the sheer genesis of Black Flag ! ... It was announced late Friday afternoon that 6 of Black Flag 's 16+ assorted members are planning to re-form and tour the nation/across the pond as part of 2 separate groups. Greg Ginn , Ron Reyes , "Dale Nixon," and drummer Gregory Moore are playing 3 summer festival dates @ the moment, supposedly putting the "finishing touches on a new album," and are plotting a " BLACK FLAG US Tour Fall 2013." FLAG , on the other hand, includes Keith Morris, Chuck Dukowski, Bill Stevenson , and Stephen Egerton (...