The Witzard

Alright, full disclosure: I've been in top secret email transmission with Baltimore -based Noise-Rock band Dope Body since around mid-April and I've been fully aware that they were planning to drop an album's-worth of new material around September/October, too; that album, now titled LIFER , is currently slated for an October 23rd release on Drag City Records . While I'm not entirely sure if I discovered Dope Body 's last album, Natural History (2012) or drummer David Jacober 's solo cassette, Water Karaoke first, I guess my initial interaction with the band was a fateful 14-question interview conducted with Jacober a few years ago. LIFER was recorded back in January 2014 after roughly 19 months of non-stop touring behind Natural History , following a brief hiatus to work on the members' outer-band outlets: Nerftoss , Player Press, Holy Ghost Party! and frontman Andrew Laumann 's gallery-displayed visual art exhibits. Drag City further describ...

It's pretty damn AMAZING that Dope Body are prepping their sixth EP-LP release, considering the sheer fact that the band was initially assembled for a one-off gig @ Baltimore 's Natural History museum (2008). Drag City will unleash Saturday 7" tomorrow, March 19th; It's positioned to out-sell Justin Timberlake 's return to form, The 20/20 Experience ha. Serving as a quasi-follow-up to last year's Natural History , "Leather Head" was plucked straight off Saturday (Side A) . Four horsemen Andrew Laumann, David Jacober, Zachary "Zeke" Utz , and new bassist John Jones star in "Leather Head"'s stark black-and-white music video. Director Sheena Callage did her best to harness the band's righteous Black Flag meets Rage Against The Machine Hardcore/Noise-Rock vibe. Callage managed to create a very simple, yet highly effective treatment: Dope Body rockin' out in an empty performance space inter-spliced with face-mo...

Call Me Maybe Acapella 147 Times Exponentially Layered by Dan Deacon Anyone still remember that game from grade school called Telephone , where you'd be like "Psst... Pass it on!?" The game would start out with a certain long-ish phrase, travel down a line of kids, and end up being something completely different by the time it got down to the last guy. I guess Baltimore -based art collective Wham City plays a similarly-styled drawing game, which Dan Deacon 's latest video, "True Thrush" is actually based around and mildly re-tweaks. While prepping the release of his new album, America (August 28th) and getting ready to head out on a MASSIVE nation-spanning tour through December , Dan Deacon somehow had spare time to write up this very press release: "Deacon's concept for ["True Thrush"] is loosely related to the lyrics, and mirrors his use of asymmetrical repetition and evolving patterns. For the video, Dan Deacon and Ben O'Brie...

(1) Do you dig much Hip-Hop? If so, what were a few of your favourite new artists/albums of 2011? I really like that new-ish Young Jeezy [-feat. André 3000 & Jay-Z] track, "I Do" and lately that has kept me waiting for it to come on the radio again. I also like that new song by Cash Out called, "Cashin' Out." I wasn't too excited about any new Hip-Hop artists this past year, much less could I tell you about an entire album from 2011. For the record, Lil' Wayne is the rapper that I am most impressed by currently (he is insanely prolific) and I do have all of the Baltimore Hip-Hop stations saved as presets in my ride. 92Q is what's up. (2) How would you describe the overall sound of the new Dope Body record, Natural History? Cause "Lazy Slave" is pretty Hardcore, dude! It's a little difficult to try to describe an overall sound of Natural History because of it's wide range of moods and styles. Some songs are more Sunburst...

As cliche as it sounds, Punk Rock is NOT just a mere fad; Angst-filled youth rebellion is something that will never go out of style! But let's face it, even today's finest Hardcore bands are way less "threatening" and society-damning than they used to be. Then again, it seems as though we're currently experiencing a "Hardcore Punk Revival," of sorts... with fresh, new bands like Fucked Up, Diarrhea Planet, WEIRD WIVES (Surfer Blood) , Pissed Jeans , Death Grips, PARTY ANIMAL , and Odd Future popping up every so often. But on the other hand, the sum of all these musical parts don't even begin to stack up against the single greatest Hardcore band of all time: Black Flag ! Dope Body are an aggressive young bunch of D.I.Y. musicians, hailing from Baltimore , MD. Andrew Laumann, Zach Utz , and David Jacober have been creating mashed-up Noise Rock together as part of the city's "Wham City" scene since roughly 2008. John Jones was ...