The Witzard

Titus Andronicus, L-R: R.J. Gordon, Patrick "Paddy Stacks" Stickles, Chris "Big Steve" Wilson & Liam "The Younger" Betson (SOURCE: Big Hassle) Not entirely unlike Bob Dylan and/or Bing Crosby & David Bowie long before them, New Jersey's own Heartland Rock stalwarts Titus Andronicus are cranking up the festive mood yet another notch with the release of their first-ever stand-alone holiday single, "Drummer Boy." Having released one of the year's most celebrated Rock albums with The Will to Live and dazzled ecstatic fans across America, Titus Andronicus have much to celebrate. Plus, they're sharing plans to ring in The New Year with additional tour dates across The United States, Canada, The United Kingdom, and Ireland. "Drummer Boy" lifts the musical components from Billy Joel's timeless 1973 anthem, "Piano Man," and retrofits it to tell The Nativity Story from the perspective of "The Little Dru...

Titus Andronicus (ILLUSTRATION: Nicole Rifkin) Esteemed East Coast Rock titans Titus Andronicus have announced the long-awaited release of their seventh studio album, The Will to Live, out via Merge Records this September. It was produced by Titus Andronicus singer-songwriter Patrick Stickles and award-winning Canadian producer Howard Bilerman (Arcade Fire, Broken Social Scene, Godspeed You! Black Emperor) at the latter's Hotel2Tango Recording Studio in Montreal, The Will to Live is heralded by today's premiere of the stirring first single, "(I'm) Screwed," listen now at all streaming services. An official music video from director Ray Concepcion—which finds the band performing on a flatbed truck during The Independence Day Parade in the band's hometown of Glen Rock, New Jersey. Stickles elaborates, "in "(I'm) Screwed," we are introduced to the narrator of The Will to Live at the moment he realizes the walls are closing in. Be it real or ...

Earlier this morning, Titus Andronicus posted a rather cryptic video on their band YouTube page simply entitled "TITUS ANDRONICUS - 2020 TEASER." It came packaged along with this block of text within the Description section: "On March 9th 2010, Titus Andronicus released their landmark album The Monitor . On March 9th 2020, Titus Andronicus released this cryptic video. What does it mean? Stay tuned to find out..." along with the cryptic hashtag #MON1T0R . The monitor was, of course, Titus Andronicus' sophomore album and follow-up to Seinfeld-referencing The Airing of The Grievances . It included soaring contributions from frontman Patrick Stickles and a who's-who of 2010 Indie Rock musicians, family, and friends, including Brett Bondar , Ian Graetzer, David Bentley , Eric Harm, Greg Farley (Conor Oberst,) Andrew Cedermark, Dustin Wong (Ponytail,) Pete Feigenbaum, Kevin McMahon (Diarrhea Planet,) Ian O'Neil (Deer Tick,) Jenn Wasner (Wye Oak,) Li...

HAMMERED HULLS at Dischord House / CREDIT: Jim Saah Not only will Alec MacKaye forever be immortalized as the iconic "cover model" for multiple 7+12-inch releases for his older brother, Ian's bands, Minor Threat & The Teen Idles, he has, also, been in countless Punk/HarDCore bands of his own: Untouchables, (The) Faith, Ignition, The Warmers, and Bells Of.. MacKaye has not been part of a band, let alone any musical project, for 20+ years, following the demise of The Warmers with Amy Farina & Juan Carrera in 1997. After an extended self-imposed musical sabbatical, Alec MacKaye has finally returned with a new band. HAMMERED HULLS, featuring an array of Punk/HarDCore mainstays: Mark Cisneros, Mary Timony & Chris Wilson. Together, Cisneros, Timony & Wilson have played with Acquaintances, American Hearts, Autoclave, Chain & The Gang, Deathfix, Des Demonas, EX HEX, The Firebird Suite, Green 4, Helium, Hound, KID CONGO & THE PINK MONKEY BIRDS, Led Byrd, ...

Hammer Hulls are a Washington, D.C./harDCore -adjacent band I've been hearing rumblings about for at least a year or so now; I always knew it involved Alec MacKaye —younger brother of Minor Threat & Fugazi frontman, Ian MacKaye —but wasn't exactly sure who else, but knew they had been playing shows both in and around the D.C. area. It has now been revealed that, in addition to MacKaye, HAMMERED HULLS , also, consists of bassist Mary "T$" Timony , guitarist Mark Cisneros , and drummer Chris Wilson . Hammered Hulls' members either are or were once active as part of bands such as Acquaintances , American Hearts, Autoclave , Chain & The Gang, Deathfix , Des Demonas, Ex Hex , The Faith, The Firebird Suite , Green 4, Helium , Hound, Ignition , KID CONGO & THE PINK MONKEY BIRDS, Led Byrd , THE MAKE UP, The Mary Timony Band , Medications, Mind Science of The Mind , Open City, Shake Ray Turbine , The Spells, Titus Andronicus , Ted Leo / Pharmacists, The Wa...

Over the years, Patrick Stickles -helmed Titus Andronicus have unleashed quite the expansive, genre-eschewing back catalog-worth of music; for me, personally, it all started with 2012's Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band-evocative Local Business . Titus Andronicus —often, affectionately referred to as simply "+@" —have since released a cascading 29-track "Punk" Rock Opera, The Most Lamentable Tragedy , a 2016 live album, S+@dium Rock: Five Nights at The Opera , and most recently, Folk Rock/Acoustic opus, A Productive Cough . In-between said releases, +@ have meticulously trickled out a gaggle of official/"unofficial" non-cannon releases, such as their mail-order SEVEN SEVEN INCHES series, Titus Andronicus, LLC Mixtape, Vol. 1 , Lil' Wayne-referencing +@ LLC MIXTAPE, VOL. 2A: SORRY ABOUT THE DELAY , Titus Andronicus Mixtape, Volume III: A Reductive Scoff , and spook-tacular "Home Alone (On Halloween)" 12-inch. Titus Andronicus ...

Home Alone on Halloween by Titus Andronicus Alright, ladies & germs - now, first and foremost, I don't generally post press statements in full, but this one was, honestly, just too good to pass up: "With Home Alone on Halloween , noted Rock band Titus Andronicus celebrate the spookiest of the seasons by staring into the abyss and confronting the bone-chilling terror, which lies at the haunted heart of our human experience. Bearing the justly feared catalog number "MRG666," the 12-inch EP spans 31 minutes and features three tracks recorded concurrently with the group's most recent full-length, A Productive Cough , offering an Autumnal tableau of dread and decay to complement its LP companion's Springtime visions of re-birth and new possibilities." Essentially, beloved Brooklyn -based Alternative/Hardcore/Punk/Folk quintet, Titus Andronicus (or +@ for short) have returned with their latest seasonally-appropriate offering titled Home Alone On ...