The Witzard

Punk/Metal maniacs Chesty Malone & The Slice 'em Ups are from the bowels of New York City, USA and they've been playing their twisted brand of Rock "N" Roll up and down The East Coast & The Midwest for over 13 years. They were weened on 1980's Punk, Hardcore, and Metal, long-forgotten Rockabilly bands, and an unhealthy dose of Zombie & Slasher flicks, trashy novels, late night Sci-Fi TV. Formed in 2006 in Astoria, Queens, New York by singer Jaqueline Blownaparte and guitar mangler Anthony Allen Van Hoek, Chesty Malone & The Slice 'em Ups unleashed their debut album, Now We're Gonna See What Disaster Really Means, in 2008 on Wrecked Records. It was soon ollowed in 2011 by sophomore effort, Torture Rock. Chesty, then, released their third LP, We're Still Dead!, in 2017. They had two acclaimed 7-inch EP's drop throughout 2019 on 1332 Records, Satantic Brooklyn Scum and Destroy All Humans. My War (Black Flag cover) by Chesty Malone...

KIRA Roessler (CREDIT: Jack Grisham) Black Flag is just one of those bands—along with The Misfits, Minor Threat, Fugazi, Dead Kennedys, and more—that every young Punk/Hardcore fan cutting their teeth with the genres should experience. Kira Roessler was bassist (and the only female member!) of Black Flag during the Rollins-era between 1983-85. However, within those short two years, Roessler played on FOUR studio albums, Family Man, Slip It In, Loose Nut, and In My Head, as well as two live albums, Live '84 & Who's Got The 10½? and an EP, The Process of Weeding Out. During her now 46-year career, Roessler has spent time playing with Approximation, AwkWard, DOS with Mike Watt (Minutemen, The Stooges, fIREHOSE,) Geza X & The Mommymen, MinuteFlag, The Monsters, Puzzled Panthers, Sexsick, Twisted Roots, The Visitors, and Waxx, as well as appearances on various compilations Roessler describes herself as a "bass player first and foremost. Then, a sound editor, dog mom...

"Rarely, when formulating combinations of musicians you would like to hear play together, do you get to, actually, hear it. If Brian Chippendale & Ty Segall made a record, would you want to hear it? If the answer is "yes," read on. If the answer is "no," it's too bad you ended up canned, suspended in syrup with nothing but other peaches to keep you company. Ty 's 2019 album, First Taste , and the new Lighting Bolt album, Sonic Citadel , are easily some of the best material either entity has ever released; so, if these two happened to find themselves in the same recording studio, a fan just might entertain elevated expectation levels. In fact, some might, actually, show signs of enthusiasm, even excitement at the fact that from July 5-13th, 2018, in the air-conditioning free environs of Ty 's home studio, the duo, eventually, calling themselves Wasted Shirt , wrecked the joint as thoroughly as you hoped they would." "Prepare to ...

"Fast, chaotic songs with no frills. Heavy touring schedule and DIY ethics; if Danzig met DOOM , you'd have JE DOUBLE F ," reads a fragmented chunk of a recent press release I received from Atlantic City, NJ -based Punk rapper JE DOUBLE F . Jeff Richie has previously worked with Pittsburgh emcee Cody Jones (formerly Stillborn Identity ), fronts a Nihilist New Wave/Punk band called TUFF TURF , and was recently cited by Static Brothers' Riff Quantum & DJ DM as a primary source of influence on their latest OBSTETRIC TRASH EP . Richie readily cites his own greatest sources of influence as Glenn Danzig , Bruce Campbell, Larry David , and Bruce Springsteen . "'JAGGED EDGE" is mainly influenced by the current political and social climate in the United States . People make a choice and then complain about the result, as if someone made that decision for them. "Personal responsibility" is considered a bad term and young people seem to love ...

Pure Disgust by Pure Disgust "The NWODCHC [New Wave of DC Hardcore] is so powerful and on the rise. It’s great to see young kids being in the center of it all as well. It’s even cooler to see that all my friends are [getting] on bigger labels, putting the name of DC back on the map. You've got Protester putting a record out on Triple-B Records , Stand Off putting one out on Youngblood , Red Death putting something out on Lockin' Out ... I love it all. My friends are what keep me here, and I love every single one of them and what they're doing," Pure Disgust frontman Rob Watson recently revealed to DC -based publication Bandwidth ; it's fitting that Washington, DC is currently experiencing a period of musical rebirth— nearly some 40 years after 1980's Hardcore founding fathers Bad Brains , Fugazi, Minor Threat , Dag Nasty, Black Flag frontman Henry Rollins , Scream, Rites of Spring , Embrace, etc. initially burst onto the scene. Watson formed...

Rat Fist are a newly-formed Punk band who you may not have heard about yet; consisting of primary members Sean McGuinness & Randy Randall from veteran Sub Pop Post-Punk bands Pissed Jeans & No Age respectively, along with part-time bandmates Michael J. Sabolick, Jelle de Cremer , and Aaron Farley . They're gearing up to head out on a three-date West Coast mini-tour with Canadian punks rockers, F*cked Up , which will double as a 7-inch re-release jaunt. Rat Fist previously self-released 50 test press copies of their debut 7-inch that were were sold exclusively at their initial run of East Coast gigs, while the second pressing has since been expanded to a batch of 500 limited records. "We will have 7" available for mail order starting next Monday 8/25. Send $7 for shipping in the USA or $10 for shipping everywhere else. Make check out to: Randy Randall 10658 Sable Ave. Sunland, CA 91040 USA... It might take a while for me to get to the orders, so please...

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: ...

No matter, how old I get, Black Flag and The Neptunes (N*E*R*D) will always be amongst my first favourite artists. While I deeply love and appreciate their separate outputs, Pharrell & Henry Rollins are 2 of the last guys I'd ever figure would get along. With that said, Rollins and Pharrell get along like a couple reunited long-lost friends; Reserve Channel & Noisey recently uploaded a 2-part sit-down interview/conversation between the 2 prolific artists. Born and raised on the East Coast between DC and Richmond , Henry Rollins (52) and Pharrell (40) quickly bonded over the shared D.I.Y. nature of their Hip-Hip/Punk roots and early projects. Part 1, hosted by ARTST TLK , covers everything from Black Flag , weight lifting, the advent of Grunge , Regan -era tattoos, spoken word, sobriety, etc. Prenatal Hardcore fans should start out with Rollins' first Black Flag album, Damaged right on through to their sixth and final album, In My Head (1986). Might as we...

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 (...

"Nice New Outfit" (Track 01) by Chris Lawhorn (1.) What really compelled you to edit a bunch of Fugazi tracks together in the first place... and how'd you go about picking which parts to use? Chris Lawhorn: I love the band. I thought it would be an interesting project and an excuse to listen to their catalog in a new way. I used all of the songs in their discography -- apart from those on the Instrument soundtrack . (2.) Did you have to pay constant attention to stuff like pitch, tempo, rhythm, timing etc. When mashing the tracks together? Yes. With the whole album, I tried to group the tracks by tempo -- so that I wasn't mixing fast tracks with slow ones. And with the individual tracks, it was a matter of keeping each instrument in time with those from the other tracks by manually moving beats around. (3.) Do you have a background in Punk and/or Hip-Hop (even just as a fan)? Cause parts of it really remind me of both genres! In the late 90's...

I think I'd have to honestly say that Black Flag, Misfits, Minor Threat (Fugazi) , and Beastie Boys were the first 3-4 1980's Hardcore bands that I really got into @ the tender [aggressive] age of like 15-16. Always having a few "cool" older cousins, Hardcore Punk was the first type of music that I really discovered on my own! While they're all pretty great in the own ways, Black Flag still remains one of my favoutite bands, all these years later... particularly Rollins era Black Flag , of course. They were so much more than just another Punk band - Seamlessly mixing in bits & pieces of spoken word poetry, Blues-Jazz , Sludge/Doom Metal , Rhythm & Blues , Prog. Rock, Breakbeat , Contemporary Classical (1970's), and intricate guitar solos. Vice Records' music channel, noisey recently too a trip "across the pond" to play some tunes for a few young critics. My best guess is that most of these kids are roughly 6-12, all of whom have ...

For all intensive purposes, writer/director Scott Crawford was roughly 12-years old during the height of "Reaganomics" (1981-89) and of course, the rise of Hardcore Punk forming adjacent to the nation's capitol: Washington, DC . D.I.Y. fanzine publisher, Crawford was a fairy instrumental player attached to DC Hardcore 's initial burst in popularity. Around the same time, young Hardcore bands like Misfits, The Ramones , and Beastie Boys were making waves on the nearby coasts of New York and New Jersey ... Now, some 30+ years later, he's piecing together an end-all-be-all documentary to properly tell the story of the genre and city that he knows best! Salad Days: The DC Punk Revolution is scheduled for a 2013 wide release and interviews are still being conducted, but we already have 2 short "teaser trailers" to help whet your appetite. In an earnest attempt to fully convey the passion-filled story of DC Punk , Scott Crawford is currently re-intervi...

30 years ago today way back in 1982 - a greatly unique, [w]reckless, and promising young man passed away @ the hands of one last fatal "speedball:" John Belushi . He was an up-and-coming comedian, who really only revealed a segment of his many talents to the word while briefly on top. Belushi was a member of the inaugural Saturday Night Live cast (1975), along with buddies Chevy Chase & Dan Aykroyd . SNL -bred John Belushi characters which present-day audiences might recognize include: Jake E. Blues & Kuldorth [Conehead] . Following his 1979 departure from the popular sketch comedy show, Belushi appeared in a number of successful movies and assorted TV shows: National Lampoon's Animal House , The Rutles, 1941 , The Blues Brothers , and lastly Neighbors (1981). At the time of his sudden death, Belushi was working on a number of projects, which were ultimately cancelled. A little known John Belushi -related factoid is that he was an avid Hardcore Punk fan and ...