It’s time for Maximum Rocknroll #399, the August 2016 issue! This issue of the planet’s greatest punk fanzine features a revelatory peek under the mask with St. Louis rocker BLACK PANTIES, a photo essay on ABC No Rio as it faces the demolition of its current location and the construction of a new building, and an interview with PSYCHO SQUATT and Maloka Records covering 30 years of French punk history. If that’s not enough, we also have features covering the standout dark punk of Australia’s MASSES, the Pacific Northwest-based Skate Witches collective discussing projects like Skate Like a Girl and preeminent skate punk band SKITCH, Richmond hardcore ensemble FRIED EGG, Berlin punk/emo group FRIEND CRUSH, Oi!-influenced French punk from SYNDROME 81, the melodic punk of Chicago’s BOILERMAN, Virginia’s RHDP (that stands for Red Horse Drunk Punks, FYI), and Finnish punk photographer Jussi Janis. That ain’t it: MRR #399 also includes photo spreads from Total Attack Fest #6 and a special Moscow Madness edition of the MRR Presents gig series, an Australian tour diary from Singapore’s LUBRICANT, and a scene report from North Texas. All this, plus the biggest reviews section in the world of Serious Music Criticism and over a dozen reports from your favorite columnists; it’s all here, and it’s all happening.
You can also order this issue by mail by sending $4.99 in the US, $7 Canada, $9 Mexico, or $11 worldwide to: MRR • PO Box 460760 • San Francisco, CA 94146 • USA …or just SUBSCRIBE!
Still available: MRR #398 • July 2016 issue…
Ex-Yugoslavian punk retrospective special part II: featuring KAOS, BULDOŽER, KUD IDIJOTI, BESPOSLIČARI, LUBLANSKI PSI, and NIET. Also: Bay Area hardcore from TØRSÖ, Toronto’s MOLLOT, East Anglia’s DOMESTICS, RED RED KROVVY from Australia, a feature on Mabel Valdiviezo’s Prodigal Daughter (an upcoming documentary on growing up in and out of Peru’s punk scene), an Iowa City scene report, and a photo spread from Nothing Nice To Say fest.
“New Blood” is our weekly feature spotlighting new bands from around the world! See below for info on how to submit. Now, check out some killer new shit…
Band name:
MALA LECHE
Date & location formed:
El 25 de Julio del 2015 en un almacen lleno de hippies cubiertos en cuero tapados con esparragos.
Reason for forming:
Me Aburro…
What are your lyrics about?
Ansiedad paralizante, nada, frustraciones sexuales, nada.
How would you describe your sound?
Una sonrisa en la guata.
What’s in the future for this band?
nada siempre se viene.
Date & location formed:
The idea for this band was floating around since summer of 2015, but it wasn’t until October that year that we actually wrote out songs and solidified the lineup that we have today. We are from South Florida.
Reason for forming:
We wanted to make a Latino presence larger in our scene. We love Los Crudos and they have a huge impact on us, but I wouldn’t say they influence us musically. People constantly throw around the words “white boy hardcore” when they talk about hardcore in South Florida and it’s really not that way at all.
Ladrón (photo by Meline Gharibyan)
What are your lyrics about?
Most of the lyrics are about US imperialism, racism, and people rising up to face their oppressors.
How would you describe your sound?
Catchy Oi! and UK82 influenced hardcore punk. Lyrics in Spanish being shouted over melodic riffs combined with hard stomping drumming and pogo beats.
What’s in the future for this band?
More touring, more music. We’re about to tour with Klout, who you just did a feature on, to the northeast to play Latino Punk Fest in New York. We have a tape with two new songs for that. Also, in December we’re touring to Texas and Mexico with Kombat from DC. We’re hoping to put out a 7″ sometime this year also. Here are the dates/event page for the Klout tour!
8/1 – MIAMI, FL @ The Granary w/ Antifaces, No Dice, Booger, and Go! Racer
8/2 – GAINESVILLE, FL @ The Nest w/ Rubbish, Vägra, TV Set, and Flower Child
8/3 – RICHMOND, VA @ Thunderdome w/ Regulator
8/5 – PHILADELPHIA, PA @ Time Cube w/ Blackout and Horse Girls
8/6 – NEW HAVEN, CT @ Thee House w/ Big Man and Sick Head
8/7 – BROOKLYN, NY @ Aviv LATINO PUNK FEST 2016 (no Klout)
8/8 – WASHINGTON D.C. @ Smash! Records w/ Mad Existence and Pink Film
8/9 – GREENSBORO, NC @ ??? w/ Substance and Bad Eric
Date & location formed:
Richmond, Virginia. Lurch, Wilbo, and Leo started playing together in October 2015. Rachel joined in January, we played our a first show a few weeks later during a blizzard.
Reason for forming:
Seemed right/stop drinking alone/pass the winter months.
What are your lyrics about?
The lyrics mostly deal with depression, feeling disconnected emotionally, alienation and frustration.. the usual.
How would you describe your sound?
Noisy hardcore punk? Maybe “harsh” or “dark” should be in there somewhere. Loud.
What’s in the future for this band?
Continue to play out of town, trying to have a 7″ out by winter.
Date & location formed:
February 2015, McAllen, TEXAS.
Reason for forming:
We found like-minded, solid people, with the direction of bringing a different sound into our Rio Grande Valley’s punk community. That resulted in PROGRAM’s assembly with pillars, and amongst the ruins of local dissolved punk bands which helped consolidate our friendships, sound and the band’s foundation.
What are your lyrics about?
The lyrics talk about the things we experience and family’s circumstances like depression, addiction and poverty and their effects on me, on us, our friends and the people we love. Also about our community problems that prevail, but are not limited to the place where we live in the US/MEXICO border, for example: girls getting raped and slaughtered and people thrown into mass graves, the drug-war’s death toll, destruction and corruption; the unequal displacement of money. They also talk about broader spectrums that affect entire countries like war devastation, and the weapons used by systems to create and fight all these events.
Program (photo by Alicia Flores)
How would you describe your sound?
Scandinavian-Dbeat-riffage influenced hardcore punk.
What’s in the future for this band?
Play some more in Texas, finish releasing the 7″, work on an LP and then tour in the US when and to where people invite us.
Reason for forming:
We aren’t from CDMX, Lisa is from Canada and Patricio and I are from the north of the country. We became close friends, and wanted to play and do something together before we left the city. We jokingly called this whole deal “the suicidal punk mission” since we practiced, played shows, and recorded in just one month.
What are your lyrics about?
They’re about mental illness, being sick of the city you live in, sexual harassment, feeling like you don’t fit in anywhere, fighting against shit that wants to fuck you up, disdain for control freaks… pretty much how we feel about the things we hate and are against.
Viruela (photo by Víctor Arellano)
How would you describe your sound?
Scrappy, loud, dual-vocals, crusty punk with an Angry Samoans kind of vibe.
What’s in the future for this band?
We just released our EP. We’re talking about making tour dates all over the country next year, when Lisa comes back to Mexico. And of course we’re making cassettes. We’re really excited for all this!!!
Do you have or know of an awesome new band*? It’s easy to submit to be in MRR’s New Blood feature — just email us the following info, and keep keeping’ it real…
1) Band name:
2) Date & location formed:
3) Reason for forming:
4) What are your lyrics about?
5) How would you describe your sound?
6) What’s in the future for this band?
7) Links and contact info:
Along with the answers please send a band photo at least 600px on the longest side (with photo credits), and a logo if you have one, to:
*By “new band” we mean a band that formed within the past year or year and a half.
Distort Sweden
DISPENSE – Mass Genocide
SKIT SYSTEM – Martens Murar Rasar
ASOCIAL – The Nightmare Arrives/Goodbye
DISKONTO – 3 Fragor Till Makthavarna
BLACK NATION – Bomben
Distort Brazil
INOCENTES – Garotos Do Surburbio
RATOS DE PORAO – Parasita
COLERA – Gritar
FOGO CRUZADO – Desemprego
OLHO SECO – Lutar, Matar
Distort Australia
THE VICTIMS – Television Addict
THE NEWS – Chop, Chop, Chop
THE SCIENTISTS – Shake (Together Tonight)
LEFTOVERS – Cigarettes & Alcohol
POSITIVE HATRED – In Tune With Living
ROCKS – Migraine Headache
ROCKS – Kamikaze Twist
JOHNNY DOLE & THE SCABS – Living Like An Animal
VIGIL-ANTI – Reality, It’s Laughing At You
Distort The Rest Of The World
E.A.T.E.R. – Kriget Cancinne
RATTUS – Reaganin Joululanju
SLIPS & SPERMA – Caos Final
BGK – Computer Control
DEZERTER – Spyta Milicjanta
RAW POWER – Fuck Authority
Outro song:
TZN-XENNA – Dzieci
Maximum Rocknroll Radio is a weekly radio show and podcast featuring DIY punk, garage rock, hardcore, and more from around the world. Our rotating cast of DJs picks the best of the best from MRR magazine’s astounding, ever-growing vinyl archive. You can find MRR Radio archives, specials, and more at radio.maximumrocknroll.com. Thanks for listening!
“New Blood” is our weekly feature spotlighting new bands from around the world! See below for info on how to submit. Now, check out some killer new shit…
Band name:
OLVIDO
Date & location formed:
Formally on February, 2016 in Mexico City.
Reason for forming:
We wanted to have fun with our friends on stage, play the music we wanted to hear, and sing about things we had on our heads for a long time.
What are your lyrics about?
We try to talk about our feelings in an honest way and also aim to address topics that concern –and sometimes– harm us.
Olvido (photo by Eli Bonfil)
How would you describe your sound?
Punk with popish melodies to tap your feet to.
What’s in the future for this band?
We are writing new songs that we are gonna record sometime later this year and put some tapes out. Also, we’re looking forward to play a lot in and out of Mexico.
Date & location formed:
We’re from South Florida and we actually started this band about two years ago, but we were really disorganized and didn’t know what we wanted to do, so we didn’t actually release anything until February of 2016.
Reason for forming:
We just wanna play some badass hardcore punk rock music and stray away from what most other bands from down here are doing.
What are your lyrics about?
My lyrics all draw a lot from personal experience, so everything I talk about is shit I actually see and deal with either in my personal life or in the hardcore scene we come from. They’re all just about shit I think fucking sucks.
How would you describe your sound?
We’re just a hardcore band and nothing else. We have tinges of punk, rock n roll, d-beat. There’s a lot of elements but at the end of the day it’s just no bullshit hardcore music.
What’s in the future for this band?
We just put out a promo tape, actually. It’s a promo for a 7″ we’ll probably put out later this year. We’re also going on tour in August with another band from South Florida that I’m also in, which is a Latino punk band called Ladrón. Here are the dates for that:
8/1 – MIAMI, FL – w/ Antifaces, No Dice, Booger, and Go! Racer
8/2 – GAINESVILLE, FL
8/3 – RICHMOND, VA
8/5 – PHILLY – w/ SMART HEARTS and BLACKOUT
8/6 – NEW HAVEN, CT
8/7 – LATINO PUNK FEST – BROOKLYN, NY
8/8 – WASHINGTON, DC
8/9 – GREENSBORO, NC
Date & location formed:
We started about a year ago around May in Moreno Valley, California. Since no one usually knows where that is, we usually just say Riverside to make it easier.
Reason for forming:
We had another band for a little while but a member moved away and then we just sorta lost touch with the other member so we reformed as SUNK and our vocalist of our last band learned to play bass as I was showing them the songs I made for the demo and then he eventually learned to play the bass well enough by the time we had our first show.
SUNK (photo by Maui Olivares)
What are your lyrics about?
Being happy and skipping through happy rays of sunshine.
How would you describe your sound?
In person? Loud and probably annoying.
What’s in the future for this band?
Playing shows and hopefully putting out something that doesn’t sound too terrible.
Date & location formed:
We seriously formed together in late summer 2015, after our first drummer left the band.
Reason for forming:
We are classmates and we started to listen to punk bands together. We feel disgusted about what we don’t like, and one day we had the idea to focus all that hate and anger into forming a band. None of us really knew how to play any instruments, so we practiced and finally pumped out all of this shit.
What are your lyrics about?
Our lyrics are about what whe hate, what we belive, what’s happened to us, and what we need.
How would you describe your sound?
Dirty, noisy and riotous; only with that sound we can express ourselves.
What’s in the future for this band?
We will be recording a second demo soon, full of hate and noise, and also a possible split with our friends’ band Nervios.
Date & location formed:
We formed around a year ago in Saint-Petersburg, Russia.
Reason for forming:
Me and my buddy just moved to Saint-Petersburg from a small northern town and felt the urge to play some gnarly tunes.
What are your lyrics about?
Our lyrics are about insane people, the passion of human flesh, and about being locked up in the only decent city in Russia.
How would you describe your sound?
A quickly escalating fistfight between old drunk people on Sunday night in a gutter with the floor covered in piss and puke
What’s in the future for this band?
We are going to make some tapes with our last record, have a small Russian tour with our friends from Petrozavodsk, and hopefully film a short trash movie.
Do you have or know of an awesome new band*? It’s easy to submit to be in MRR’s New Blood feature — just email us the following info, and keep keeping’ it real…
1) Band name:
2) Date & location formed:
3) Reason for forming:
4) What are your lyrics about?
5) How would you describe your sound?
6) What’s in the future for this band?
7) Links and contact info:
Along with the answers please send a band photo at least 600px on the longest side (with photo credits), and a logo if you have one, to:
*By “new band” we mean a band that formed within the past year or year and a half.
Maximum Slaps
THE CLEAN – Slug Song
SANG – Hem Perdut La Vida
HONEY BANE – Girl on the Run
G.L.O.S.S. – Lined Lips and Spiked Bats
This is My Best Friend’s Band, and more
KAMIKAZE PALM TREE – Doctor Wax
AISLERS SET – Mission Bells
POW! – Here Comes the Spade
COLD BEAT – Wave
Recommandé à moi
POT POURRI – The Sink
DORY TOURETTE – The Independent Science Doctors
MEGAFLORA – Anxious
CRIMPSHRINE – Free Will
4 Lydia + Adam
SUBURBAN LAWNS – My Boyfriend
THE DICKIES – Fan Mail
FUGAZI – Break
45 GRAVE – Evil
WIRE – Outdoor Miner
Outro song
MAGAZINE – Shot by Both Sides
Maximum Rocknroll Radio is a weekly radio show and podcast featuring DIY punk, garage rock, hardcore, and more from around the world. Our rotating cast of DJs picks the best of the best from MRR magazine’s astounding, ever-growing vinyl archive. You can find MRR Radio archives, specials, and more at radio.maximumrocknroll.com. Thanks for listening!
“New Blood” is our weekly feature spotlighting new bands from around the world! See below for info on how to submit. Now, check out some killer new shit…
Band name:
KRIMINAL
Date & location formed:
Berlin, May 2015.
Reason for forming: Laessie: To keep ourselves off the streets. After 4 of us formed the “one gig only” Discharge and Shitlickers coverband “Shitcharge” which turned out to be lots of fun we decided to keep on playing something d-beat related together. We started in may 2015 with Janne Mannio on vocals, who sadly had to leave us after some months since he moved back to Finland. Luckily Rob wasn´t afraid of spending lots of time in a small room with 4 morons and joined
on vocals the same day Janne left
so we could keep the whole thing going.
What are your lyrics about? Rob: Lyrically the content of our songs is varied between abstractions of personal/scene politics and a dystopian perspective of the future. Topics range from: the rise of the far right-wing around the world and its effect on people caught in the middle of rhetorical infighting, the phenomena of younger generations being controlled and distorted by social media, the tendency for elements of the punk community to become isolationist and devolving into elitism.
How would you describe your sound? Laessie: Heavily d-beat/Swedish HC influenced punk with occasional rock´n´roll riffs.
Kriminal (photo by Per Thunell)
What’s in the future for this band? Laessie: More recordings in the next couple of months, touring Europe next year and finally getting our pyramid scheme started!
Date & location formed:
September 2014- San Gabriel Valley.
Reason for forming:
We were already talking about starting a project and it just so happened to be around halloween time and thought it’d be cool to cover X for a couple LA Halloween shows. Started on original stuff shortly after and the guys broke my heart by vowing to never cover X again.
What are your lyrics about?
LIFE OF A SALT QUEEN/POINTING FINGERS/BURNING BRIDGES/TAKING NAMES.
How would you describe your sound?
Like loose change in a dryer.
Butcher Boys (photo by Desilu Munoz)
What’s in the future for this band?
We have a few upcoming shows: 7/16 with Busted Outlook/Primal Rite/Ex Youth/Drop In @ The Crate (Oakland) 8/7 with Wet Brain @ E. 7th warehouse (LA) 8/9 with Vanilla Poppers @ 5 Star Bar (LA) 8/13 with G.L.O.S.S./Pure Disgust/Firewalker/Thee Guillotines @ Union (LA)
Date & location formed:
We formed in the summer of 2015 in Jackson, MS.
Reason for forming:
Nathaniel, the guitar player, had some riffs and lyrics that he’d been sitting on for about a year and he really wanted to do something with them. Mississippi has very few punk bands so he asked a few friends who weren’t already in other bands to start one.
What are your lyrics about?
Southern white conservatives, hypermasculinity, being punk, being not punk.
The Limbos (photo by Andi Harman)
How would you describe your sound?
Hardcore punk with Japanese hardcore influenced melodies.
What’s in the future for this band?
We’re releasing a second and final tape soon. One of the members is moving and we don’t want to be a Frankenstein band.
Date & location formed:
Denton, Texas early fall of 2015.
Reason for forming: Jenn: We wanted to make music that people could move their bodies to and dance! The guys had been jamming these songs for while before they came to me and said, “you’ve gotta sing on this.” I loved the tracks from the get-go. Since then, we’ve recruited two pals from Hattiesburg, MS to play with us live… so we consist of members of Ritual Order, Baghead, Big Bleach, Dumspell, Common-
Ignorance, and Elix-R).
What are your lyrics about? Jenn: The lyrics for the demo, where do I start? The tracklist basically guides you through a young adult dealing with recreational drug use turned habit, abortion, peer pressure, friends that don’t take your advice… or ever shut up, and conscience themes. There will be a lyric zine available soon that will depict the lyrics in multiple perspectives. I had a great time writing the lyrics and recording this demo, its definitely the funnest thing I’ve ever done.
How would you describe your sound? Jenn: We think it was best described in a youtube post from our pal Jimmy: “garage-tinged rock n’ roll with bits of pop punk influence sprinkled graciously throughout.” It’s practically everything I could possibly want from a band of this nature: melodic, catchy as hell riffs and bass lines (often times sound like they’re playing a different song entirely with how dynamic they can be), some of the best drumming in the business, and reverbed female vocals layered on top of one another to give the illusion of legitimate vocal harmonies. And, of course, with there being added touches of delightfully sharp chords added into the mix in the first two tracks. They’re eventually abandoned for the last three tracks, instead sticking to more-straight-forward garage rock melodies as opposed to the poppy, chromatic-chord laden stuff displayed in the first two tracks.”
What’s in the future for this band? Jenn: Since recruiting our new members there has been talk of a first show and a possible tour later into 2017, we are so stoked to play live shows and continue writing more music!!
Do you have or know of an awesome new band*? It’s easy to submit to be in MRR’s New Blood feature — just email us the following info, and keep keeping’ it real…
1) Band name:
2) Date & location formed:
3) Reason for forming:
4) What are your lyrics about?
5) How would you describe your sound?
6) What’s in the future for this band?
7) Links and contact info:
Along with the answers please send a band photo at least 600px on the longest side (with photo credits), and a logo if you have one, to:
*By “new band” we mean a band that formed within the past year or year and a half.
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Out now! MRR #399 • August 2016
BLACK PANTIES from St. Louis, ABC No Rio photoessay, PSYCHO SQUATT and Maloka Records from France, Melbourne’s MASSES, Pacific Northwest skate collective Skate Witches/Skate Like a Girl/SKITCH, Richmond’s FRIED EGG, Berlin’s FRIEND CRUSH, BOILERMAN from Chicago, France’s SYNDROME 81, Virginia’s RHDP, Finnish photographer Jussi Janis, Singapore’s LUBRICANT presenting an Australian tour diary, photo spreads from Total Attack #6 and the Moscow Madness MRR gig, and a North Texas scene report.
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