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Gizmo in the Jungle

It's this Thursday April 2 Folks!! Kenne Highland's 70th Birthday at The Jungle. Still Sedated is hosting the event. They will play along with Cherry Crisis, The Leftovers and RemoW. Kenne and Still Sedated go on at 11PM. TIX

Still Sedated is an old school original wave punk band doing mostly covers of the songs you love!! They feature Bob Martell who was in Dark Cellars, the Voodoo Dolls and Hopelessly Obscure. Kenne will perform with them for a few songs. Come down and wish Kenne an HBD and enjoy some old punk. See you there!!

Philin Phlash’s photos are legendary and now you can wear them. T shirts with his photos are being sold his new Etsy site ARKHIVE. Right now he's got some shirts with The Misfits, Kurt Cobain, Alice Cooper, Courtney Love and an adorable shot of Joey Ramone.

We couldn't make it to The Bags show at The Crystal Ballroom but here’s a review on the Takin’ A Ride Blog. They have plenty of photos too. We review their new album in our New Music section below.

They weren’t punks ... they were beyond punks .... They were The Shaggs. The group is legendary amongst fans of outlier music. Now there's We Are The Shaggs, a  new documentary film directed by Ken Kwapis ( The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants and He’s Just Not That into You ).

It debuted at SXSW and is playing at the Wisconsin Film Festival in April. " We Are the Shaggs combines contemporary interviews with the surviving Wiggin sisters, revealing and rare home movies, cover version performances of The Shaggs music by established musicians, and testimonies from the band's biggest defenders and detractors of the band. " There's a load of artciles on the film. Here's one on The Guardian. And here's an interview with Kwapis on The Shaggs and his film.

The Afghan Whigs are celebrating their 40th anniversary as a band. They've released a song titled “House of I”, their fist song released in four years. You can hear it on YouTube. They have a 21 city tour lined up and Boston is the second city they'll hit. They will play the Royale on April 27. TIX

VIDEOS......

Budget cuts threaten The Sixth Cowboy Awards show!! NO!!! but fear not Mach Bell and Kennedy save the day and disperse the awards. Favorite Radio Personality winner was Adam Signore of Mark Skin Radio. We were up for Spectacle of the Year for going biweekly. We congratulate Vinny Straggas for winning with his Life On Another Planet premiere. The Lifetime Achievement Award went to no other than Willie Loco Alexander. No argument there. See the whole spectacle with your host Mach Bell.

The Prozacs have a video for “No Way Out” the title song off their last EP. Jay Prozac is at the top of the pop punk totem pole for us. “No Way Out” is a prime example why. The video is a colorful cartoon hit. They get some better than average cartoon motion sequences of the band running.

We have become fans of Greg Norton’s (Husker Du) new group UltraBomb. They released a stream of singles from their album The Bridges That We Burn to come out on May 1. This video for the song “No Cap” is blurry from start to finish and gives us a headache but we like the song, so we’re not arguing.

There are a few things cool about this video by General Choas from Canada. First, the group are all 16 years old. And to see that they have it all together is even better. The song and performance are smooth and hit solid. No excuses for sloppy playing are needed.

Next, the video was funded by the Canadian Government and Canadian Private Radio Broadcasters – say what?! Heaven forbid there was some establishment money in any American punk project.
The video is about youthful hijinks and the song captures the youth versus life and freedom versus rules situations that one goes through. The song speeds along with urgency and the chorus has satisfying group cheers of “busted”, “silence” and “license”.

This song is part of their second album Can’t Please ‘Em All which is out on May 8 on Stomp Records. Here’s their first album Outta My Way on Bandcamp.

We liked the album Triple Threat by Toys That Kill from San Pedro, CA. Now, we get a video to see them in action. They set up on a hill overlooking the ocean and got a crowd to listen. The video was done with an iPhone. It’s a very punk affair as befits the group.

We can hear the words but still don’t know what “Dumb and Elated” is all about. The song goes from a low rumble in the bass and guitar to some indie guitar chording to a surf like guitar solo. The performance just makes us like them more.

PODCASTS......

The Sonic Overload show for 3/16 was the 26th Anniversary of the show.!! WOW!! Al Quint initially broadcasted on Allston Brighton Free Radio. The first song he played was “Public Opinion” by Urban Waste. The whole Free Radio thing was short lived as a phenomenon. Since 2005 the show has been web based.

For this anniversary show Al featured songs from each decade after the beginning of punk. The second set had “Into the Wayside Part 1” by Ceremony that was on the Bridge Nine label which has been in the news lately because of the book about it. The set closed with a strong hardcore tune “It’s Murder” by Hank Wood and the Hammerheads. We have those songs streaming below.

Al also played “Mouth Breather” by Jesus Lizard (out 35 years ago), SSD “Fight Them”, Sorry “My Word”, Unseen, Public Enemy, There was a set for the bands that played the Dropkick Murphys' St. Patrick’s Day shows. Including the Murph’s current song “Citizen I.C.E.” a protest song with bite. There was a punk set that had “Brakes on You” by Tracks. The rest was Slaughter and the Dogs, Lurkers, Dogs, Sham 69 and Magazine. Lots of worthy material for your listening pleasure.

On the 3/23 show ….. An early song on the 3/23 Sonic Overload show was “Outciders” by the Outciders. They are local but we can’t find anything on them. Nice hardcore though, we have it embedded below. There were some other local tunes.
Al played “Loose As a Goose” from locals Ruffian Dick of their She's Hypnotic album. Later it was Pajama Slave Dancers with the song “No Dick” off the album Cheap Is Real from 1985. That sounded excellent, time to pull that album out and listen to it again.

They have a new album out now, but Al played The Bags song “Trapped” from the 1987 Rock Starved album. Another throwback was “Third Generation” by the Rings (off the self titled album 1981). They were a sharp group and still sound interesting today.
We have Outciders and the Rings below. There were several two-tone tunes and a mod song, but like always it had plenty of loud music that will leave your ears ringing.

You can hear the Sonic Overload shows on the web blog.. Al has logged all the shows since 2009.

Punks in the Garage podcast (from WAIF Cincinnati) put the spotlight on The Customs (Boston connection = Peter Greenberg). They had three songs from the group. You can’t hear “Long Gone” enough.

In the rest of the show was some good punk by groups you would know: The Vapors, Alternative TV, Wreckless Eric and the Users, and less known like: The Essentials, Berlin Brats and The Stroke Band. For new songs they played a song by France’s Alvilda which we are big on. There was a fuzzed up psyche song by Thee Allyrgic Reaction. It’s a lot of good music in an hour.

NEW MUSIC/CD’s ......

After releasing 8 singles The Bags finally give us the whole Go Deep album. If you thought 8 singles was too many, be informed that the album has 17 songs. There are albums you hear sometimes, like this, and you just want to say, “everybody can you just stop and listen to this.”

After an almost 20 year gap a band gets back together and are in top form and full of creativity. You've got to stop and cheer. There aren’t many cases like this. We think of one other, the Nervous Eaters who have had a longer career and are staying vital too.

The group has also been out there promoting their new career and album. That’s nice to see too. If you've been keeping up with the pre-releases you know the new material is right up there with their classic material. To keep up that quality over 17 cuts is amazing for any group. Just the pre-released singles would have been a mighty album. This was recorded at Woolly Mammoth and the production is top notch, but there is no denying the songwriting and group dynamics that fashioned the album.

One of the features of the whole album is that you can hear all the words and they are worth catching. Bags are always making a point with bullseye accuracy. They are observers of life and they make their comments and judgements with humor touched with memento mori moments to keep things meaningful.

The guitar solos are noteworthy. You can tell they were crafted to give variety and be appropriate to the song. It’s not just rock riffing. The solos go through heavy metal, hard rock, two simultaneous solos, shredding and tapping in harmonics. In the song “Funnel Cloud” the guitar (bass and drums) tries to mimic catastrophic swirling wind. There is 40 seconds of it. “Never the Same” has speedy synchronized guitars a la Zappa (contrasted with sections of smooth sweet vocals).

Subjects go from hurricanes, funnel clouds, a house on fire, to ants and a flea market ashtray. Even then, you get to cut number 15 and it’s “Pliny the Elder”. Could it really be about the Roman philosopher (circa 78 AD)? Yes, it is. The Bags make the point that Pliny wrote 37 volumes about all that was known of the natural world, but about LOVE… not a word, and that makes a song. It ends with one ripping metal solo that falls into a sonic basket at the end.

We keep listening and finding more things to like, but hey you should do that too. We like that the final song “Hurricane Gloria” starts like a typical Bags song. It’s loud with some death imagery but in the middle gets slow and low key. The lyrics get reassuring. Now they sing “Hurricane Gloria” and cradle it with their vocals. They soothe with “it’s alright we’ll get where were going in the end.” It’s such a nice ending and even better because it was unexpected. The Bags do unexpected things, lucky for us.

Sound Cove is spotlighting “Head Full of Holly” by Corin Ashley from his EP #1, and for good reason. This is typical top notch arranged pop that Corin was born to do. He’s truly a local treasure.

He plays guitar, keys and sings as Matt Burwell plays the drums. The result sounds like studio full of musicians. When the track fades out you can hear that there is a bank of keyboard/synths that thicken the track.

The very beginning of the song pops out. The instruments have such presence. Soon the bass drops in and it has a gripping loop to it that takes your attention. That really never stops, the bass does a lot of work in the recording. The singing and lyrics are another whole world. Holly is the woman that befuddles the protagonist. This requires repeated listens.

Smitt E. Smitty & the Fezztones are back with a new song that is not shy, not shy at all. “Big Ass American Car” has a loud marching beat that seems to want nothing more than to mow you over, like the Big Ass car it triumphs. The commanding riff that marks the song is much like “How Many More Times” by Zeppelin. Coupled with the drums, it's a monster. They only break the riff three times to emphasize, “Big Ass American Car”.

It also has humor. We cracked on “it’s just down the block/I can easily walk/but I drive to the store”. Then there was a mind warp at the two minute mark where there is a group chorus on the “Third Rock From the Sun” by Hendrix melody.
The song was written by Trick Wallace who died in January of 2023. This is a nice salute to Trick.

We don’t think we will ever get used to the effect of Actor/Observer’s musical onslaught. Sonically, lyrically and emotionally they are full bore. They will not be denied in any way.

In the song "Meanswell",the lryics tell you a similar point. Anyone ever tell you that someone “means well” after a hurtful comment was made? A/O wants you to know “Means well, means nothing to me”. Another reminder, “Inaction still bring consequence.”

This song is on a split album with Godseyes from Long Island (4 songs each) out soon. You can pre-order on Break Through Records.

We reviewed The Hedge song “Ice Rink” a while back. It's now part of the six song EP Freeze Frame High Five. Hedge are located in Western Mass. and their main influences are Dinosaur Jr, Buffalo Tom and The Lemonheads. All those groups are mentioned in the first song on the EP “Hey, Dude”. The song is a nostalgic look back at the singers early days listening to his musical heroes. It’s appropriate because you can hear the similarities.

The one cover on the EP is Guided by Voices’ “My Valuable Hunting Knife”. Hedge beefs up the sonics here. That’s very noticeable if you listen next to the original. Guided By Voices version on YouTube. We love their overall punk sound that’s very much a modern version.

Stupidity has a new song “Carolina”. This is from their new album Beyond Stupidity out on June 19. It’s a straight ahead garage rocker. Two chords never sounded so good. They have this down pat. This song is an illustration of how to use attitude and swagger.

We came across Yea-Ming And The Rumours’ album Residue thought the record label Dandy Boy Records. The one song, “Paper Doll”, that is streaming immediately gave us a Velvet Underground vibe. There’s also some post punk indie influence in there also.

The Bandcamp notes mention lead singer Yea-Ming’s ‘Nico-esq’ voice and low and behold their previous release was a cover of “Pale Blue Eyes”. The performance is mesmerizing. The Residue album will come out in June and can be pre ordered on Bandcamp.

Brad Marino has another single pre released from his upcoming Agent of Chaos album. “Devil May Care” has an early sixties feel to it with a little country touch. There is a steel guitar adding some tasteful accompaniment. The song is tidy and self-assured which is Brad making it seem so easy. Of course it’s not, it’s the craft of it.

Red Rockers are from New Orleans. They started in 1979. We remember their song “China” that was a new wave tune. Earlier they were more punk and were known as the 'American Clash'. They have a live album It’s In Our Blood recorded in 1981 coming out. On that they cover the Clash’s song “I’m So Bored With the USA”. The one streaming song “Peer Pressure” is some hot blooded vintage punk. We have that below. The album can be ordered on their Bandcamp page.

Bed are from Palmdale, CA. They're going on tour and will be playing Warehouse XI on April 16. They sound like an interesting band to catch at that venue. They have an indie/alternative sound with a touch of goth. The've remastered the song “From Above” off their Bed’s Self Titled album. (That’s their joke. The album in not titled Bed, it’s actually titled Bed’s Self Titled. ) Give it a listen and see if you want to catch them live.

The Arturos are a punk band from Australia. Their EP Rewind has five punk covers. The recordings are loud and the performances are in your face which make the remakes a good listen. If you play the original next to the cover you can see how well The Arturos have done.
One of our all-time favorites “Where Eagles Dare” by the Misfits is included. They have two Ramones songs, a Turbonegro and “Possesed to Skate” by Suicidal Tendencies.

Here's some good shows coming up ....

April 2, 2026 (Thursday) KENNE HIGHLAND BIRTHDAY BASH with Still Sedated, Cherry Crisis, The Leftovers, Remo W - Kenne will join Still Sedated at 11PM for a few songs! at The Jungle

April 3, 2026 (Friday) Osis, Tension Scale, Static Friction at Moon Base1 in Salem, MA, 24 New Derby St.  https://www.moon-ns.org/. 

April 4, 2026 (Saturday) Graveyard of the Atlantic, Bad/Verb, Phantom Ocean at The Jungle

April 4, 2026 (Saturday) The Black Souls, Thee Sonomatics, The Starlings at Underbones

April 5, 2026 (Sunday) Pledge Pins, Hambone Skinny, Cryin' Caleb at The Jungle

April 11, 2026 (Saturday) Baabes, Astral Bitch, Jewel Thief, Weatherless at O'Briens this is a 2PM MATINEE

April 11, 2026 (Saturday) Crank-tones and The Fathoms (Record Release) at The Midway 4PM matinee show

April 11, 2026 (Saturday) Backpedal, Tj Welch & The Wasted, Beantown Boozehounds, The Hellionaires at The Midway

April 11, 2026 (Saturday) Sidewalk Driver, Silver Screams, The Wynotts, Duck and Cover at  Faces Brewing, Malden

April 11, 2026 (Saturday) Spackles, Jay Allen and the Archcriminals, The Mesos at The Square Root

April 12, 2026 (Sunday) We Are Space Horses, The Freqs, Strawberry Coffin, At the Hands of Man at  O'Briens -this is a 2PM MATINEE

April 12, 2026 (Sunday) The Cynz, Little Billy Lost, Stop Calling Me Frank at Worthen Attic, Lowell, MA, 4PM matinee

April 15, 2026 (Wednesday) Chameleons, The Veldt, Lovina Falls at Crystal Ballroom

April 15, 2026 (Wednesday) First President of Japan, Bedtimemagic, Linnea's Garden, Diane Young at The  Silhouette

April 17, 2026 (Friday) KCUF, Leisure Boys, Even Defeat, Time & Place at  O'Briens

April 17, 2026 (Friday) Slamdinistas One night only at the Square Root with  Sado Domestics- FB page

April 18, 2026 (Saturday) Lonely Leesa & The Lost Cowboys, Mad Painter, Poster Colors at The Jungle - 4 pm to 7 pm MATINEE

April 18, 2026 (Saturday) Hotel Saturn, Cold Expectations, Tiger Bomb at Underbones

April 18, 2026 (Saturday) The Regular Casanovas, The Daylilies, Devil Love (Release Show!), Tad Overbaugh and The Late Arrivals at The Midway 8PM

April 25, 2026 (Saturday) Cock Sparrer, Haywire, Lower Class Brats, Yellow Stiches at  Roadrunner

April 26, 2026 (Sunday) Screening of "Life on the Other Planert", and Nervous Eaters at The Cut, Gloucester, MA  4PM TIX!!

May 2, 2026 (Saturday) Eric Knopf's 50th Birthday with The Manglers, Larseny, Box of Records at The Midway for a 3PM Matinee

May 2 & 3, 2026 (Saturday & Sunday) The Oddities & Curiosities Expo Boston -Hynes Convention Center- 900 Boylston St, Boston- 10AM - 5PM - the world's largest traveling oddities event showcasing hand selected vendors, dealers, artists and small businesses with all things weird. You'll find items such as: taxidermy, preserved specimens, original artwork, horror/halloween inspired pieces, antiques, handcrafted oddities, quack medical devices, creepy clothing, odd jewelry, skulls/bones, funeral collectibles & much more. We truly have something weird for everyone at our shows. All items you see at our shows are legal to own and sustainably sourced. Outside of our curated vendors, we host sideshow performers on stage all throughout the day. Check the Website and FB page for more info and TIX

May 9, 2026 (Saturday) Whyte Lipstick, Puke Pisstols, The Lithophones (ex-spits ex-Tampoffs) at The Square Root.

May 9, 2026 (Saturday) Restless Collective, Dayes, blindspot, Moonshot at The Jungle

May 9, 2026 (Saturday) The Long Wait, WORM, Catching Hell, The Ungraded, A.P.E. Mark Martin (Marko Bruiser Acoustic Set) at Ralph's Rock Diner Worcester

May 10, 2026 (Sunday) Blowing Smoke with Twisted Rico 7th Anniversary with Black Helicopter, The Long Wait, Hammered Saint, The Black Souls at Sonia TIX.

May 14, 2026 (Thursday) TRAITRS, Pilgrims at The Middle East Up

May 16, 2026 (Saturday) SkyTigers, Farewell Drugs, Ruffian Dick at FACES Malden

May 16, 2026 (Saturday) The Dogmatics and The Gypsy Moths at Boston Harbor Distillery, Boston, MA, 8:30p

May 21, 2026 (Thursday) Kerosene Heights, Dear Maryanne, Ogbert The Nerd, Blame it on Whitman at The Middle East Up

May 24, 2026 (Saturday) Crow Follow, Connor Storms & His Bouquet (release show!), Coffin Salesman, Lou Mace at The Midway for a 3PM MATINEE!

May 30, 2026 (Saturday), Is Malden Porchfest! Huck 2 will be on the City Hall stage at 2:45! We recommend everyone spend the day in Malden checking out all the great bands! Lots of friends will be playing that day. Gretchen & The Banshees, Crow Follow, Warthog, Hey Blondie, Captain Easychord and many others!

June 11, 2026 (Thursday) Echo & The Bunnymen at Roadrunner TIX

June 11, 2026 (Thursday) The Gruesomes with Muck and The Mires at The Burren, Somerville, MA, 6pm

June 13, 2026 (Saturday) OH THE HUMANITY!, Dead Cats Dead Rats, A Minor Revolution, The Digs, The Hideout at Faces Malden

June 14, 2026 (Sunday) Wreckless Wreck Chords Presents: The Long Wait, Incendiary Device, Scumbari, WORM, Pledge Of Allegiance- this is a 3PM MATINEE at The Midway

June 20, 2026 (Saturday) Stop Calling Me Frank, Girl With A Hawk (release show!), Tad Overbaugh & The Late Arrivals at The Midway 8PM

June 27, 2026 (Saturday) Silver Screams, Still Sedated, Past Life Crisis at The Jungle - this is a 4PM MATINEE

July 31, 2026 (Friday) Jonee Earthquake, In Shreds, BAABES, Typhoid Mary at Koto Salem

September 28, 2026 (Monday) The "Sex Pistols" at The Royale

CONTACT US AT....misslynbgn@yahoo.com