Agnostic Front

The American Dream Died

There are very few American hardcore bands that started at or around 1980 that have been as consistent a presence as Agnostic Front. With only a few exceptions (Bad Brains, 7 Seconds, Bad Religion), most from that era are long gone and even those mentioned have either undergone extreme style changes or long periods of inactivity. But aside from a down period of about five years in the mid-'90s, Agnostic Front have been hammering out no-frills hardcore for longer than many of us have been alive. Their latest, The American Dream Died, is a return to form for the confrontational band, as they attack state-sanctioned aggression (“Police Violence”), child abuse (“Social Justice”) and extreme gentrification (“Old New York”). With guests Lou Koller, Freddy Madball, Toby Morse and Matt Henderson, Agnostic Front have offered a startlingly fresh and impassioned return on The American Dream Died. -Tyler Barrett

Jello Biafra

A Walk on Jindal's Splinters

When one thinks of punk forefathers who are still going strong, Jello Biafra is among the first to come to mind. And rightfully so, as he's been consistently doing it, and doing it well, since the days of the Dead Kennedys. In 2015, we've seen another side of Biafra thanks to the release of Walking on Jindal's Spliters, which finds the Alternative Tentacles head honcho joining a diverse group to crank out covers of classic soul, blues and garage rock classics. It sounds like a big party, and the 57-year-old Biafra is at the center of it. -Adam Eisenberg

DRI

TBA

Crossover will always have a special place in many of our hearts. It was a magical combination of punk and metal and hardcore and thrash. No one did it better than D.R.I.. Between 1982 and 1995 the Dirty Rotten Imbeciles put out seven classic, genre-defining LPs. We haven’t heard a note of new music since. In the meantime, the band has continued to tour and founding guitarist Spike Cassidy has battled cancer. Contemporaries like Corrosion Of Conformity and Suicidal Tendencies have continued to record albums. Newer bands like Iron Reagan have also helped carry the torch. 2015 promises to be the year that we finally get some new D.R.I. songs. They will arrive in the form of an as-yet-untitled EP. This recording should introduce their music to a whole new generation, many of whom weren’t even born the last time these guys released something. 2015 should be the year that D.R.I. reclaims their rightful place as the kings of crossover. -Tom Crandle

The Dwarves

Gentleman Blag

A little while ago, the Dwarves cheekily called themselves "The best band ever." But, you know what? It's kind of true. What other band has balanced balls-to-the-wall aggressive hardcore with bubblegum pop goodness all while playing both convincingly? On top of that, they have a straight-up kick-ass live punk rock show. As their latest release Gentleman Blag proves, this is a band that knows how to polarize. Of course, if you think this band has a one-sided view of things, flip the 7-inch over to get an eyeful of a different kind of seven inch, which really "screws" with that notion. -John Gentile

Faith No More

Sol Invictus

The fact that Faith No More exists in 2015 is amazing. The fact that they’re still playing wild, unpredictable, highly entertaining shows is even more amazing. The fact that they put out an excellent new record is the third leg of the mind-blowing trifecta. Faith No More’s acrimony and infighting was the stuff of legend. When they called it quits way back in 1998, there was no reason to believe we’d ever hear from them again. Luckily, time truly seems to have healed old wounds. Lesser reunion albums tremble in the presence of Sol Invictus. It’s edgy and adventurous, but somehow familiar. It’s fresh and new, but slides effortlessly into Faith No More’s impressive discography. It’s simply a great record in any context. Many of you are too young to remember the band’s original run, but now there’s no excuse. Faith No More are a gift from the rock gods, to miss them would be a sin. -Tom Crandle

The Melvins

Chaos as Usual

The Melvins just keep doing it time after time after time after time. Every year, they release, like, seven releases and they are all hard as hell, super fast or super slow, weird as hell and basically level the place. Seriously, this is a band that continually reinvents itself and is continually stimulating. Every year they evolve. This year they brought Le Butcherettes on tour with them and closed their set with a berserk, manic cover of Bikini Kill's "Rebel Girl" with Le B's Teri Suarez on vocals. You could hear the support columns crumble as the band played. My mind is permanently melted. -John Gentile

Motorhead

Bad Magic

Trying to make a convincing argument for raising the standard retirement age? Look no further than 69-year-old Lemmy Kilmister, the famed Motörhead frontman and notorious mutton-chopped badass. The man is basically a living argument against retiring at all. 2013’s Aftershock felt like an intense refusal to get tired or worn out, with Lemmy sounding like the same brash Brit who pounded out pummeling bass lines and screamed about being your sister on 1979’s Overkill. Though Aftershock had a more pronounced blues influence, it’s highly unlikely that this year’s Bad Magic will see the band straying too far from their standard breakneck formula. And why would we want them to change? And who would even have the guts to tell Lemmy to slow down?-Keenan Novi

NOFX

Backstage Passport 2

Later this month NOFX will be releasing Backstage Passport 2. It is the sequel to Backstage Passport, a documentary series that filmed the band’s performances and their shenanigans around the world in countries that they had never played before. However during the first world tour some of the shows NOFX was supposed to play got canceled so the band decided to go back to those countries and try again forBackstage Passport 2. The first season was very entertaining and fun to watch. The live show footage was really well done and off stage the members are pretty funny, so the second installment should be something NOFX fans should look forward to watching. On top of that, NOFX is headlining the Fat Wreck Chords 25th anniversary tour and released a new track on Fat Music Vol. 8: Going Nowhere Fat. -Ricky Frankel

Poison Idea

Confuse & Conquer

Poison Idea is not a band that was built to last. Hedonism, nihilism and Darby Crash worship are hardly traits that scream longevity. Somehow Jerry A and a revolving cast have endured for 35 years. The band even delivered a new LP, Confuse & Conquer, in 2015. It’s their first album since the death of longtime guitarist and key member Tom “Pig Champion” Roberts. It’s not as fast as their early material, but it’s still dark and claustrophobic. In other words, it’s vintage Poison Idea. It must be noted that the band has broken up many times over the years. Even earlier this year they announced they were going on indefinite hiatus. Apparently, they replaced their drummer and are soldiering on. With Poison Idea, past performance is no guarantee of future results. Catch them while you can, before they self-destruct again. -Tom Crandle

Public Image Ltd.

What the World Needs Now

When John Lydon reconstituted Public Image Limiteda few years back, most thought it was nothing more than a cash grab. That attitude changed after hearing 2012's This is P.I.L., which stripped away some of the bloat that plagued later P.I.L. albums and captivated listeners with a sound more reminiscent of the band's early, influential work. Fast-forward to 2015 and the band is about to release What the World Needs Now, the follow up that few expected would happen. If it's anything like its predecessor, it'll show that Lydon and co. are still very much rocking, even at the ripe old age of 59. -Adam Eisenberg

Screeching Weasel

Baby Fat Act 1

Before Ben Weasel became punk rock’s grumpy old man, he amassed what may be the greatest body of work in all pop-punkdom. Over the course of almost 30 years, Mr. Weasel and a frequently changing cast have delivered tons of really great music. In 2015, Screeching Weasel gave us Baby Fat Act 1, the first installment of a two-part punk rock opera. This is the most ambitious work of his career and for that he should be applauded. The current version of Screeching Weasel is also the best the band has ever been live. As much fun as those wonderfully sloppy shows in the '90s were, they could be hit or miss. This line-up delivers the goods every night. We should also appreciate the fact that Ben Weasel does not issue a fake apology for every fake outrage. There’s far too little FUCK OFF! in punk rock these days. The fact that you don’t get the joke doesn’t mean it’s not funny. Screeching Weasel, we need them now more than ever. -Tom Crandle

Slayer

Repentless

There are the attendees of the old school, and then there are the architects. Count Slayer among the latter. The band were pioneers in the early '80s metal scene, adding youthful energy to the evil influences of their European heroes Mercyful Fate and Venom, while their L.A. contemporaries were busying themselves with Aqua-Net and power ballads. Fast forward to 2015, and Slayer soldiers on while others fell by the wayside. The lineup is different, with returning drummer Paul Bostaph (Testament, Forbidden) and guitarist Gary Holt (Exodus) now playing alongside founding members Tom Araya and Kerry King, but the power of Slayer still remains. September 11 sees the release of Repentless, the band’s first release since Jeff Hanneman’s untimely death in 2013, and from all indications it’s a worthy addition to the Slayer discography. They just wrapped up the Mayhem tour, and show no signs of slowing down in the near future. -Mark Little

The Sonics

This is the Sonics

After reuniting in 2007 with a series of blistering gigs including SXSW, The Sonics, four garage punk legends in their 70s, did the unthinkable and cut a new album in 2015 after 49 years of no output. This Is The Sonics is an incredibly energetic rock n’ roll record with careening sax blasts, violently horny songs and the ripped up but raring vocals of Jerry Roslie reflected in the rattled, nasty murk of “I Don’t Need No Doctor” and covers of Bo Diddley and more. The Sonics thought about what it’d look like to be garage senior citizens, decided they didn’t give a fuck, and made an LP that’s as chaotic and just as fun as their output as young men seeing what they could bash out in three minutes . -Connor Crockford

Wino

Freedom Conspiracy

Scott “Wino” Weinrich has been making top-notch heavy music for nearly four decades now with doom metal pioneers like Saint Vitus and The Obsessed, and more recently in a solo capacity as a more folk-influenced singer-songwriter. The man himself and his music have always been synonymous with drugs, but his recent arrest and deportation from Norway for possession of 11 grams of methamphetamine still came as a shock to many. His first release since his arrest is Freedom Conspiracy, a collaborative project with German singer/songwriter Conny Ochs, their third LP together in three years. It’s a classic folk record in the tradition of Woodie Guthrie, and as always, Weinrich’s hard living comes across vibrantly in his weathered vocals. It’s a quieter project than the groups that made the man a legend in metal circles, but no less arresting. Here’s hoping Wino can stay clean enough to keep gracing our ears with his many projects for years to come!. -Tori Pederson

Yo La Tengo

Stuff Like That There

25 years after the release of their landmark record Fakebook, Yo La Tengo is releasing a sequel of sorts. On the new record, the ever eclectic band finds themselves covering moody stalwarts The Cure, spaceman/jazz pioneer Sun Ra, fellow indie rock lifers Antietam and a handful of their own songs, Anyone familiar with Fakebook or the band’s incredible live shows can attest to the fact that Yo La Tengo has the uncanny ability to open up, contort and breathe life into any song they get their hands on. So with Stuff Like That There, don’t expect straight covers and a band going through the motions. More than 30 years into their existence, Yo La Tengo know how to keep things vital and interesting. -Keenan Novi