The Witzard

Just in time for this glorious Bandcamp Friday, James Kochalka Superstar has shared a brand new recording of a song he first wrote in 1985 with Eric Bradford on a couch at The University of Vermont for their college band, Jazzin' Hell. This newly-updated 2022 version of "The Mummy's On The Loose" was recorded with Kochalka's friends, ROUGH FRANCIS , with guest vocals supplied by his teenage hero, Jello Biafra (Ex-Dead Kennedys, The NO WTO Combo) and mixed by GRAMMY Award-winning producer and Jazzin' Hell keyboardist, Peter Katis. All of this was collectively wrangled, coordinated, and produced by Neil Cleary. "Whenever I get that first rumored taste of Fall, my soul starts to yearn deeply for Vermont & Burlington. So, watching a new Neil Cleary-directed video of ROUGH FRANCIS backing James Kochalka on a 40-year-old song of his about a mummy is the kind of sentence that means everything to Burlingtonians and very little to most other folks and it...

Last time we featured graphic designer, self-described "crafty veteran Punk Rock curator," and producer Justin Mayer, otherwise known as Old City, he had constructed a mash-up EP fittingly titled BL_CK B_ST_RDS . Old City juxtaposed MF DOOM's villainous rhymes against the musical backbone of English Crust Punks, Doom for a double-dose of... Doom! We've been hearing rumblings about a similarly-minded Old City for the last few years, which would seamlessly meld together Punk/Hardcore & Hip-Hop. Said album has since been billed as "a Punk Rock Paul's Boutique," which, as The Witzard regulars will well know, is right up our alley! Old City has been gradually rolling out what, at the time, appeared to be stand-alone singles since October 1, 2019; it was, then, when Old City unleashed his debut single, "Get Sued" Feat. Tre Marsh & Olmec, which, somehow, managed to sample Green Day a whopping 32 times. Get it? "Get Sued," which, in...

Last week, we saw an Instgram post by Scott Crawford (@saladdazed) which read, "Not sure who's doing these beautiful Blue Note-inspired Punk Rock album cover re-imaginings, but I love them," along with a blue-hued image of Hüsker Dü's Flip Your Wig. Crawford added the hashtags #bobmould, #granthart, #gregnorton, and #flipyourwig, along with the additional commentary, "looks like it's art by @stealworks." So, with a little bit of our own digital sleuthing, we learned @stealworks was, in fact, graphic designer John Yates. Stealworks: THE DESIGN PORTFOLIO OF JOHN YATES further details, "Stealworks is the nom de plume of graphic designer, trouble-maker, and tea drinker, John Yates." Yates owned and operated his very own label imprint, Allied Recordings and a sub-label, Dakota Records, between 1990-99 and served as the in-house graphic designer for one-time Dead Kennedys frontman Jello Biafra's Alternative Tentacles. John Yates has designed ic...

Self-Titled by CHARGER Christian Wagner from Emeryville, California -based Pirates Press Records has been sending us digital promos and EPK's for a year or so now, via email, but within the last few months, he's been sending us physical promos, as well: Lenny Lashley's Gang of One 's All Are Welcome , Harrington Saints' 1,000 POUNDS OF Oi!, and most recently, CHARGER 's debut self-titled EP AKA "S/T" EP . Oddly enough, CHARGER 's S/T EP is the third Rancid -related release recently issued by Pirates Press ; Landfill Crew 's self-titled 2x7-inch EP features long-time Rancid frontman Tim Armstrong , The Old Firm Casuals' Holger Danske features Lars Frederiksen of both Rancid and Lars Frederiksen & The Bastards , and CHARGER features Matt Freeman (bass/vocals) of Rancid , as well as genre-shaping Operation Ivy . Just today, Friday, May 10th, Pirates Press are, somehow, releasing CHARGER 's S/T EP , Harrington Saints' 1,...

Run It Back is one of the more infrequently published "recurring" columns here at The Witzard : honestly, I don't even know when we published one of these last... but what I do know is that the column title is inspired by a Nottz Raw -produced Asher Roth track of the same name, which expertly samples The Misfits' "Return of The Fly." Minor Threat were East Coast Straight-Edge Hardcore/Punk contemporaries of both The Misfits and Glenn Danzig 's next band, Horror Punk pioneers Samhain , which even briefly featured Minor Threat guitarist Lyle Preslar . For me, personally, Black Flag , Minor Threat, Fugazi , The Misfits, and Samhain were my bread and butter while exploring Hardcore/Punk as an angsty 15/16-year-old during the age of Napster and P2P sites. Now, I know Minor Threat/Fugazi frontman and DC -based Dischord Records co-founder Ian MacKaye —like most well-traveled Punk/Hardcore musicians—has always been part of a slew of short-lived b...

Dead Kennedys were a controversial San Francisco, California -based Punk/Hardcore , who were originally active from 1978-86; within said 8-year span, Dead Kennedys self-released four albums and an EP on their own independent record label, Alternative Tentacles . Dead Kennedys critically-acclaimed and widely praised releases include Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables , In God We Trust, Inc. EP, Plastic Surgery Disasters , Frankenchrist, and finally, 1986's Bedtime for Democracy . Dead Kennedys abruptly disbanded—arguably, at the height of their "fame"—in December of 1986, prior to their career-spanning 1987 compilation , Give Me Convenience OR Give Me Death . However, following a 15-year period of inactivity, Dead Kennedys re-formed in 2001 following a number of legal disputes, royalties lawsuits, and disputes between members. Unlike the recently re-formed Original Misfits with Glenn Danzig , this is, unfortunately, not the original incarnation of Dead Kennedys . ...