Super Nintendo and Sega keeping a solid following

While many people in current times spend their time playing futuristic video games on the new Xbox One or the PlayStation 4, many still prefer the old style of gaming. This may seem unorthodox to the young gamer out there but surprisingly the old systems like the Super Nintendo and Sega Genesis are still sought after at a somewhat high rate.

            The Super Nintendo came into the gaming world in 1991 changing the whole landscape of gaming and soon after came the Sega Genesis. These two systems featured better graphics and more big name titles than any other consoles at the time. The games were usually 2D side scrolling games, puzzle games, or strategy that could usually be beaten in only hours. Unlike today where games on PS4 and Xbox basically are never ending and can take months to thoroughly master.

            But why are these systems and games still hanging around after almost twenty years of not being produced by the makers? Many contend they are nostalgic while others say they like the simplicity. Ijah Shepard, rapper from Denver, CO, said “I like the newer systems but, I still rock these games (Super Nintendo) because I grew up playing them... It just brings me back to a simpler time” While gamers like Ijah prefer to play Retro-systems just to bring back memories, many play them solely. Quinn Camp, of Fort Collins, CO says he only plays these retro-systems because there not as time consuming as the newer style of games. Many secondhand game stores still hold games for SNES and Sega Genesis, only selling the games they buy from customers.

            Anyone that grew up in the 90’s can agree that the SNES and Sega Genesis was a huge part of being a kid back then. While the companies no longer sell authentic Super Nintendo’s or Sega’s they can still be obtained through EBay, secondhand gaming stores, or unofficial models being sold by a different company. It seems people still enjoy these games enough to create a market. They tend to connect you more with friends while playing together. Like Ashley Woody, of Pueblo, CO said “When you’re playing these games with people anybody can pick it up, you don’t need to know any secrets or anything, you can just chill and play.”

New Punk Streams this week

Another week, another day, another hour. Here are some good new punk streams to get you through your week:
The punk band Cerebral Ballzy, from Brooklyn, streamed a song this week off their upcoming album, after signing to Cult Records. You can check it out here.

The California punk band All Things End are streaming their new EP called "December 5th, 1933″. You can find that right here on their bandcamp page.

And the last good band I came across was Down Goes Goodman. This band is brand new and is streaming their debut EP "Stiffy" right here on their bandcamp page.

New Album from Bad Religion in 2014?

After releasing their album True North in January of 2013, and a Christmas album this month, Bad Religion may have another album in the works for 2014, according to a recent interview with band member Brett Gurewitz.
In the interview with Diffuser.FM, Brett Gurewitz discussed many things pertaining to the bands new Christmas album, but when asked what the future looked like after this new album Brett said:
Nothing major in the works. We’ll play some shows next year, not heavily. I think 2014 will be when we start writing the next album, too.
Hopefully Bad Religion will start working on an album next year. In the mean time, check out their new album "Christmas Songs" right here.

New Less Than Jake album out this week

The ska/punk act Less Than Jake are releasing a new album this week through Fat Wreck Chords. The new album is called "See The Light" and is going to be released on November 12th. The band is currently streaming the entire album on Alternative Press.com. The Saxophonist of Less Than Jake JR Wasilewski also had this to say about the album, according to AP:
"The five of us wrote it in our rehearsal space without any outside influences, We recorded it at Roger's home studio and at the end of tracking it, we all felt we made something special. Time will tell, of course, but we feel this is the strongest collection of songs we have released in some time. Also, we are extremely excited to be back on Fat Wreck Chords and to have them backing us for this album. We hope you enjoy listening to it as much as we enjoyed creating it."
Less Than Jake is currently headlining The Fat Tour with other bands such as Anti-Flag, Masked Intruder, and Get Dead. The Fat Tour will be coming through Colorado on the 22nd and 23rd of November in Denver and Fort Collins.

Mustard Plug coming with new album

Ska band Mustard Plug revealed on their website and in an interview recently with "Punkupdates", that they are officially done with their new album. According to the bands website, the band is awaiting manufacturing details then they will be able to confirm a release date. Mustard Plug recently played at The Fest 12 and plans to release 14 new tracks sometime soon hopefully.
 Mustard Plug hasn't released an album since "In Black And White" in 2007 on Hopeless Records.To see the full "Punkupdates" interview with Mustard Plug bassist Rick Johnson click here.

A Few Punk Rock Freebies For Ya

While the week of Halloween was pretty slow for punk and ska news, here are a few up-and-coming punk bands who are throwing their music into cyberspace for us to listen to.
Flirting With Disaster streamed their cover of Millencolin's song "Penguins & Polar Bears" on SoundCloud and you can access that here. The band is currently working on their debut album.
A great punk band out of SoCal called Gasoline Kills are giving out three songs on their bandcamp page from their upcoming untitled album, which they will be releasing slowly throughout the next few months. I seriously recommend listening to these guys. Listen to it here.
The ska/punk band Maxwell's Dead are streaming their new album "On the Floor" in its entirety. Access it here.
And last but not least, Florida punk/ska label Pinhead Records, released a Halloween Compilation with bands such as The Moguls, 4 Aspirin Morning, The Blendours, Alex Retro, and more. Check it out here.

 

Russia's Prison Service makes statement on whereabouts of Pussy Riot member

The Interfax News agency released a statement made by Russian Federal Penitentiary Service, saying that Nadezhda "Nadya" Tolokonnikova, Pussy Riot member, was being sent to another prison facility. Russian prison services also said that her family would be notified of her whereabouts within 10 days of her arrival. This statement comes after there were numerous reports from her family that she had gone missing during the prison transfer.
Tolokonnikova, 23, was moved after beginning a hunger strike to protest the conditions of the prison system in Russia. Tolokonnikova's husband and father told BuzzFeed that they last knew her whereabouts on October 21 when she was abruptly moved with no explanation. Petya Verzilov, Tolokonnikova's husband, told BuzzFeed “This is basically the only way they have to punish Nadya — ‘let’s cut her off from the outside world,’” he said.
  Nadezhda "Nadya" Tolokonnikova, is serving a two year sentence, along with her bandmate, for “hooliganism motivated by religious hatred” after participating in a protest against Vladimir Putin outside of a Moscow church in February 2012.
If you are interested in the Free Pussy Riot movement there is a Facebook page and Free Pussy Riot website for more information on global action.

Black Flag to release new album Nov. 5th

After recently suing his former Black Flag band mates, Gregg Ginn and current band mates plan to release a new album on November 5th. The band officially released, on iTunes, the cover art (seen elow) and track listing for their upcoming release. The album will be released on SST records, and will feature 22 songs
.According to Dying Scene.com, Black Flag reunited earlier this year to perform at Hevy Fest in the UK. The newly assembled band includes only two members from the original Black Flag lineup. The original Black Flag split up in 1986, and has since reunited here and there with various lineups of bandmembers.

Bujie and The Highrise new EP available for stream and download

The young and diverse skacore band Bujie and The Highrise released a new EP called "Metal Skunk" earlier this week on their bandcamp website. Bujie and The Highrise is out of New Orleans and is known for the blending of Ska,Punk,Reggae,and Metal music into a very distinct sound. The band is releasing the new EP on F.Y.C. Record Collective, which is a New Orleans based label.
The EP "Metal Skunk" features two new songs from Bujie and The Highrise, that the band says dabbles in punk,ska,and metal. "Metal Skunk" can be streamed or downloaded on Bujie and The Highrise' bandcamp page.
This is their second release following the bands self-titled full length album in 2012. Bujie and The Highrise, on their bandcamp page, say that a full length is in the works for Summer 2014 as well.

Don't Forget, Bad Religion Day on Nov. 9th

Well it looks like Bad Religion Day is set this year for Saturday Nov. 9th. According to the Bad Religion Day facebook page, the online event will be held from 9am-9pm EST. If you want to attend BR Day, you do not need to go far. BR Day will be streaming a live broadcast of the event via uStream.
According to the BR page, Bad Religion Day originated from the bands Mailing List in 1999, when numerous fans expressed their hunger to meet each other on a certain day. Nov.5th was chosen to be BR Day originally but has obviously changed over the years.
Bad Religion Day is a fundraising event and all proceeds go to Doctors Without Borders. The musical artists and special guests have not yet been determined for BR Day, but last years guests included  Pete Finestone, Jay Ziskrout, Jay Bentley, Greg Hetson and musical performances such as Paulo Pilha of Brazil and Irreverend James and the Critical Mass Choir from Canada. For more information about the event click here.

Agent Orange gets robbed outside of their own show

According to the Hamtrack Reviews Crime Log, the SoCal punk band Agent Orange was robbed last week while hanging out outside of Paychecks Lounge in Hamtramck, Michigan. Apparently, the band was outside of Paychecks Lounge, where they were playing a show that night, when they were confronted by two men.According to the Hamtramck Review, the two men approached the punk band with a gun, asking for their belongings I assume. However, the band did not take much of a loss due to the holdup. According to the punk news site Dying Scene, nobody was hurt and the band only lost out on $12 cash and bassist Perry Giordano's iPhone.
The incident takes place only a week after stopping to play a show here at Hodi's Half Note in Fort Collins, Colorado. Agent Orange is currently touring the U.S. with Guttermouth and various other punk bands.

Is Punk Music/ Scene Dying?

Punk rock came on to the music scene in the mid-1970s with many iconic punk bands such as Crass, The Ramones, The Damned , and The Sex Pistols. According to a book published by DK called “Punk: The Whole Story”, punk rock started in 1976 with the emergence of The Sex Pistols and The Clash. However, many debate the fact of where and when punk rock started. Currently, the punk genre of music is at a standstill with no really good punk bands emerging since the 1990s. My question is, “Will the punk scene die in coming years?”

 Punk rock is known for its fast, and hard sound, and its anti-establishment attitude. After 1976, the world saw a new subculture develop that dressed differently, rejected mainstream music, was anti-authoritarian, and took on a “Do It Yourself” mentality. This non-conforming subculture became to be  known as the punk scene, riddled with rebellious, angry young people .Nowadays, every single one of these traits are slowly disappearing from the punk scene that exists today.

 While real punk music has not been relevant to the majority of people recently, many still contend that the punk scene is alive and well on a local scale. Like Lee Gonzalez said, former drummer of the ska/punk band The Insecurities, “The punk scene is definitely not dead. When we toured the West Coast last year, every show was packed with tons of punkers…. The problem is nobody is making real, new punk music, now it’s all watered down with punk sub genres like emo, hardcore, etc. The scene exists though, for sure.”

While many, including myself, agree that punk and its scene are not dead, there are still folks that think the punk genre is dead and the scene will soon follow. For instance, a person with the user name “FlipChillson”on debate.org said “Punk rock has gone the way of the dinosaur. Honestly, the pop music genre has completely taken over and is the reason behind the fall of punk rock. There may be a select few that still listen to punk rock but still, it's kind of like what cassettes did to records and CD's did to cassettes. As we go further along, we hunger for something different and what we clung to in the past gets lost in the shuffle.”

Most of us can agree that the punk scene is dwindling in today’s modern society, compared to the strong following it once had in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Nonetheless, there are still people who continue to listen to and seek this rare sound that early punk bands such as Crass, Black Flag, and The Dead Kennedys established in their heyday. Punk rock has and will always attract those who are rebellious and anti-establishment. Steve Hacsi, a punk enthusiast from Pueblo,CO, said “Punk music will always be important to me. As a young man, it gave me a sense of individuality and awareness and still influences my way of thinking, even to this day.”  

So will the punk scene die off in the next few years? I would say no. While the number of local bands seems to have declined, there are plenty of good bands still touring around the world, that give punk rock, and its scene, hope that this genre will survive todays dreadful onslaught of pop and mainstream music.

 

Voodoo Glow Skulls to tour Europe after US tour

The ska-punk band Voodoo Glow Skulls annouced recently ,via their website, that they will be doing a lengthy European tour later next month. This will come after the US tour the band is currently doing. The Voodoo Glow Skulls have been touring lately with The Toasters and Left Alone on Hellcat and Smelvis Records "Dale la bota" (Give 'em the Boot) tour. On this tour the Voodoo Glow Skulls will be performing their classic 1995 album "Firme" in its entirety along with additional songs. The "Dale la bota" tour will be coming to Fort Collins' Aggie theater on the 27th of October.
The bands latest release was "Break the Spell" in 2012 on Smelvis records. They also re-released a 1994 album on Asian Man Records. For European and US tour dates click here.

Black Flag's Gregg Ginn Loses Lawsuit against former bandmates

According to SPIN.com, Gregg Ginn has pretty much lost his lawsuit against the recently formed FLAG. FLAG has been touring and playing shows as a spinoff band of Black Flag. Gregg Ginn Claims that there is only "one Black Flag" and that his former bandmates should not be using Black Flag to promote their new band, such as the iconic Black Flag logo (seen below). Ginn also accused former band mates Henry Rollins and Keith Morris of abusing the bands legacy and trying to secure the rights to the band by selling bootleg records and T-shirts.
However, a court judge ruled, earlier this week, that Ginn's SST records has no rights to Black Flag's copyright, also that Ginn has no special rights to any of the trademarks. The judge also determined that Henry Rollins never left the band since its original split in 1986. Hopefully, this will be the end of the battle so both these legends of punk rock can get back to playing music. 

Reminder: Guttermouth/ Agent Orange performing tomorrow night in FoCo

If you live in the Fort Collins, CO area and didn't already know, two of Orange County, CA best punk bands will be performing here in Fort Collins Monday night. That's right. The bands Guttermouth and Agent Orange are scheduled to play with Pinata Protest at Hodi's Half Note tomorrow night, Monday October 7th, in Downtown Fort Collins. The doors to this show will open at 8 p.m. and the pre-sale tickets are going for $12 a piece, which is quite a steal for the quality of talent.
Guttermouth, the headlining band for this event, has not released a full length album since "Shave the Planet" in 2006. However, they did release a split-7 inch with the band The New Threat. Their side of that 7" is available for download here.
Although Agent Orange has not produced an album in many years, they have still been touring and performing better than ever. Agent Orange has been together since 1979, when they founded the band in the Orange County, CA. They can be credited for contributing to the creation of a punk genre, that was once so strong. So come out and support your local punk scene FoCo, I'll see you there 

NOFX to put out new EP by the end of this year

The 25+ year old punk band NOFX will not leave there many fans empty handed this coming fall season. NOFX recently tipped off their fans about the new EP they plan to release by the end of this year. The new EP will be called Stoke Extinguisher! and will feature a brand new song, along with the b-side tracks from various 7" and EPs from last year (track listings below). The band also revealed that the cover art for this new EP (which can also be viewed below) was hand-painted by Jason Cruz, the vocalist for the band Strung Out. The EP Stoke Extinguisher! is expected to be released in late November via Fat Wreck Chords, the bands record label. NOFX will also be touring the U.S. this December with bands such as, Dillinger Four, Masked Intruders, and Implants.

Track list:
1. Stoke Extinguisher
2: The Shortest Pier
3: I Believe In Goddess (Demo Version)
4: My Stepdad’s a Cop and My Stepmom’s a Domme
5: Wore Out the Soles of My Party Boots (2012 Version)
6: New Year’s Revolution

Suicidal Tendencies release winter tour dates

The Suicidal Tendencies recently announced that they will be touring North America this coming fall/winter. They will begin the tour on November 27th in San Luis Obispo, CA and tour most of the United States, including Boulder, CO. The band is currently touring France on their French "Slam City" Tour which will end on October 26th.

The Suicidal Tendencies recently released the album "13" last March, which is their last studio production since 2000. It will be interesting to see this iconic punk band take the stage this winter considering they have been making music and touring since the 80s. For more information on the Suicidal Tendencies and their tour dates click the links.

Fort Collins Band "Elway" to play at The Fest

The Fort Collins punk band Elway is scheduled to appear at The Fest this year along with many other punk bands. Elway started their music careers here in Fort Collins, CO and obtained a pretty big following here in Northern Colorado. After releasing their new album in July and touring all throughout the U.S. and Europe, Elway plans to play in Gainesville, FL at the much anticipated punk rock festival "The Fest".
The Fest is a music festival 12 years in the running. The festival will last 4 days showcasing somewhere around 400 bands. The Fest is held every year in Gainesville, FL, and has, in the past, featured many great bands in the punk rock genre. This year The Fest will start on Halloween 10/31 and go on until the 3rd of November. For more information concerning The Fest 12, visit the link.

New Trailer for Fat Wreck Chords Documentary

Fat Wreck Chords, a popular punk record label, recently released a trailer to the documentary they are producing about the history of their music making. The documentary will be called A Fat Wreck, and will likely tell the story of the origin of the record label starting in 1990 up until 1999. Fat Wreck Chords has been a staple in the punk scene since the early 1990s, signing many influential and legendary punk and ska bands. This documentary is a "must-see" for all the Fat Wreck fans out there.

New album for Comeback Kid

The Canadian hardcore punk band Comeback Kid seems to be on their way to creating another album according to their Facebook page. This comes after the bands last release "Symptoms+Cures" in 2010 on Victory Records. Although the band has not yet set a release date for the record, they have been giving some insight to the making of the record on their Facebook page. Here is what Comeback Kid posted recently:
“We started recording for our new album yesterday with producer Kyle Black. Doing the drums at Ocean Studios Burbank. Day 2 so far and it’s sounding sick. We’ll be posting a bunch of photos and updates along the way.”

 

Former Crass singer to join Paranoid Visions for album

The Irish punk band Paranoid Visions has announced recently that they have recorded a new album with Steve Ignorant. The new album is called "When?....." is scheduled to release this November via Overground records. Steve Ignorant, the co-founder of anarcho-punk, has collaborated with many bands over the years such as Conflict, Schwartzeneggar, and many others. Ignorant was originally in one of the first anarcho-punk bands, Crass, and is now ready to release a new album with another legendary punk band out of Ireland. Ignorant and Paranoid Visions will also be performing a record release show for "When?..." on November 9th, 2013 in London.

Bad Religion has New Album for the Holidays

It seems that the well-known punk band Bad Religion will come out with a new album this fall for the Christmas season. The album will be called "Christmas Songs" and will contain popular Christmas songs that are widely known for their holiday spirit. Considering the bands religious standpoint these songs will most likely be done in a satirical manner. Nevertheless, the band is planning to release this album in late October of 2013.

 According to MusicTAP the new album will contain these holiday favorites:

Hark! The Herald Angels Sing
O Come All Ye Faithful
O Come, O Come Emmanuel
White Christmas
Little Drummer Boy
God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen
What Child Is This?
Angels We Have Heard On High
American Jesus (Andy Wallace Mix)

Great bands to come through Colorado in the Fall

While Northern Colorado isn't necessarily known for its punk scene, many great bands plan to pass through this area in the fall of this year. Venues such as The Aggie, The Marquis Theater, and Summit Music Hall are scheduled to have a great fall lineup for punk rock enthusiasts. On October 5th, Guttermouth is scheduled to play with Agent Orange at The Aggie Theatre here in Fort Collins. Another great tour scheduled to come to both The Aggie and Summit Music Hall is The Fat Tour, which consists of bands such as Less Than Jake, Anti-Flag, and others. However, the show that will be the most anticipated will be The Subhumans at The Marquis Theater on November 7th. This fall will bring many other punk bands as well. Hopefully, we see more of an appetite for this genre here in Northern Colorado due this exciting fall schedule.

Warped Tour speculations begin for '14

The Vans Warped Tour ended a little more than a month ago, touring all over the United States and Canada. While the tour just ended there is already speculations as to who may be on the 2014 tour. Although nothing is official quite yet, there have been some rumors circulating on recent blogs as to who will be appearing on the 2014 summer tour. Hopefully this next coming year there will be some REAL punk bands on the tour instead of the hardcore/emo bands that have appeared on it in recent years. While there are always surprises concerning bands on the Warped Tour there are a few bands already being somewhat expected to perform such as NOFX, Andrew W.K., and Bring Me the Horizon.