The Witzard

DOOM REgulator painting (ART CREDIT: Ryan Callisto @moonofjupiterart) Operation Ivy—often, affectionately know as simply "Op Ivy" —were only active for two years in-between 1987-89, but have remined one of the most influential Ska Punk/Hardcore eevr since their all too brief tenture. Op Ivy's Lint AKA Tim Armstrong and Matt McCall AKA Matt Freeman would go on to play in Rancid together, who are still actively recording and touring some 32 years later. Armstrong and Op Ivy vocalist Jesse Michaels briefy reunited in 2013 on a song called "Living In A Dangerous Land" as part of his extensive Tim Timebomb & Friends singles series and again in 2022 to play a rendition of "Sound System" as backed by The Interrupters at Musack's Rock "N" Roll Carnival. Armstrong & Michaels additionally co-wrote a handful of songs together for UK Punks Grade 2, which appeared strewn across Graveyard Island , Graveyard Island: Acoustic Sessions, and Gr...

The Attitude by WORDS HURT THE ATTITUDE EP is the latest release from ALASKA & Lang Vo 's group, WORDS HURT . Although, it consists of 9 tracks, the EP only clocks in at just under 11:30 with the longest track lasting a frantic minute and 55 seconds. As many of you may remember, Lang Vo , actually, mentioned WORDS HURT 's then-unnamed EP within The Witzard 's December 2017 interview with both ALASKA & Lang : "I think, this time around, we were mostly dealing with fresh-ish material, on both ends. We actually made a whole EP and were going to release it for fun, but scrapped it and started over and made SOUL MUSIC FOR THE SOULLESS . We are still going to release that EP for free soon..." As Lang Vo mentioned, WORDS HURT in fact, recorded THE ATTITUDE EP prior to their 2017 full-length, SOUL MUSIC FOR THE SOULLESS , and initially, intended to release it before or in place of the album. While you may not hear it right off the bat, THE ATTITUDE EP was...

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 (...

Oh, Tom Breihan , you've done it again!; After reading, watching, and ultimately rejecting Redd Kross ' new music video for "Stay Away from Downtown," which was just released online late yesterday afternoon... I have somewhat hastily re-considered my initial opinion on the whole thing. Since reading Breihan's STELLAR album review of Researching The Blues [released today], I've realized that what I thought was it's biggest drawback is actually the album's greatest strength - That undeniably thick layer of Pop Rock sheen! Redd Kross are quite arguably just as Pop -driven as the music of Britney Spears , Katy Perry , or even Justin Bieber . But the fellas of Redd Kross have been earnestly practicing and improving since middle school, when the opened up for Black Flag @ a graduation party (1978). Researching The Blues is the band's first album in some 15 years and honestly, it isn't trying to represent/become anything that they aren't le...

[First Four EP's] makes me want to rip my arm off and beat myself in the head with it. It makes me want to destroy my teeth and replace them with live sharks. Keith Morris (Black Flag- Circle Jerks ) on vocals, Dimitri Coats (Burning Brides) on guitar and Goldilocks -gone-wrong hair, Steve McDonald (Redd Kross!!! wow) on bass with super awesome style, and Mario Rubalcaba (Rocket from The Crypt) on drums - He beats the shit out of them elegantly) ... This is a band from LA and they are on their own trip. Fast, furious, no bullshit Hardcore . As much as I loved the Circle Jerks this is the brass ring. It's Keith at his best and as a band they literally make me want to get the fuck up and go. Listen - these songs are tiny nuclear bombs for your brains. They take less than a minute and half each to destroy your humility. If you ever get a chance to see them live you will either restore your faith in the power of Rock "N" Roll or convert you to some form of evange...