The Thermals / The Gossip / The Distance

Scott: While I was in Seattle last week, I had the pleasure of catching two awesome shows - the first being the reunited Presidents Of The United States Of America playing a sold out show at the Showbox. The second was a bit more low-key, but still just as fun - The Thermals at the Vera Project. The band's high energy, politically-charged garage punk anthems had the small room rocking and rolling like there was no tomorrow. I was hoping to feature one of the band's new songs that will appear on their upcoming sophomore album, but sadly, the only one available is from their first disc, More Parts Per Million [out on Sub Pop]. It's still good:
The Thermals - No Culture Icons
For more info on the Thermals, head to TheThermals.com.

Adam: Entirely by coincidence here's more love for the pacific northwest. Olympia, WA's The Gossip released their second full length Movement last year. The band plays an infectious mix of gospel, riot-grrl, punk and garage blues. Shake your ass to "Fire/Sign":
The Gossip - Fire/Sign
For more info head over to Kill Rock Stars. Aubin: This band sounds a lot like Ensign to me, but I like Ensign so I won't hold that against them. It's fast, it's scornful, it's angry, and it's good. They just put out their first EP on Bridge Nine and it's worth checking out.
The Distance - An If (The Lucky Ones)

A Wilhelm Scream / Balzac

Adam: There's quite a buzz building around New Bedford, Massachusetts' A Wilhelm Scream and with good reason. The band that was formerly Smackin Isaiah recorded in 2003 with Bill Stevenson (Black Flag, Descendents) and Jason Livermore (Good Riddance, Rise Against producer) and the resulting record Mute Print finally comes out on April 20th. These songs have been online for a while but if you haven't checked them out, sample the goods below:
A Wilhelm Scream - The Rip A Wilhelm Scream - Famous Friends & Fashion Drunks
For more information head over to Nitro Records Aubin: Japan's premiere horrorpunk outfit, Balzac, went beneath my notice for some time, but as I was browsing through a nearby indie shop, I found a copy of their US-released disc Beyond the Darkness and took a chance. I'm glad I did. At the core, it's a modern version of the classic Misfits sound, complete with cartoonish horror imagery and a healthy amount of "whoahs" in accordance with what Danzig and Jerry laid out two decades ago. Check out this track for a nice example of their sound:
Balzac - The Black Light Shines in '99
For more information, drop by their official Japan, Europe or American websites.

Gunmoll

Because YOU, the humble Punknews reader, requested it: Gunmoll. "Less Than You Hoped For" is first track on the band's new long player Board Of Rejection, which we reviewed here. While this Florida trio is currently on a hiatus, there's been whisperings of a return to action later this year. We'll keep you informed on that front, but in the meantime don't hesitate to partake in the pre-recorded rock below.
Gunmoll - Less Than You Hoped For
For more info, hit up GunmollRock.com or No Idea Records.

Cougars / The Lashes

Scott: I saw the Chicago octet known as Cougars on Friday night, with about 20 other people. Cougars absolutely killed. Their sound was that of the Blue Meanies getting into a fistfight with Drive Like Jehu, then drinking into oblivion with Rocket From The Crypt until Fugazi called a cab for them. You need to check this band out, and there's no better way than sampling these tracks off the band's 2003 effort Nice, Nice [review], out on Go-Kart Records:
Cougars - Duke's A Champ Cougars - She Can Wear Gold Cougars - Slow Pants Changer
For more info on Cougars, go to CougarsRock.com.

Adam: Lookout! signed this Seattle based band in late January, namedropping Elvis Costello and The Cars in their description of the group's power-pop. Here's a sample of the goods, it's the b-side from the It's Your Party 7" that was released on Sonic Boom Recordings:
The Lashes - Death By Mixtape
For more info hit up TheLashes.org.

Alkaline Trio

While Valentine's Day is a celebration of love for many worldwide, it is also a chance to reminisce about love lost. No one does it better than Dan Andriano, via this acoustic track off Alkaline Trio's first album Goddamnit, on Asian Man Records:
Alkaline Trio - Enjoy Your Day
For more info on Alkaline Trio, go to AlkalineTrio.com.

Braid

Earlier this week, Cloak And Dagger Media posted a wonderful feature on Bob Nanna, frontman of Hey Mercedes. In it, Bob discusses the meanings behind not only Hey Mercedes and City On Film [his solo project] songs, but also three of my most favorite Braid songs ever. I present those songs for you to download, courtesy of the fine folks at Cloak And Dagger Media:
Braid - (Strawberry Ann) Switzerland Braid - What A Wonderful Puddle Braid - Forever Got Shorter
For more info on Braid, click here, and to buy Movie Music, Volume One, the singles collection these three songs are taken from, click here.

Against Me! / The BellRays

Scott: So after all the insanity [and all the bad electronic music], Tom of Against Me! finally made it to his acoustic performance on WKDU. Sadly, most of us didn't get to hear it, but the awesome people at PunkUnited.com were able to record it and they passed it onto me. Now it's not the best quality [if anyone has a better recording, get in touch ASAP so I can post it!], but it's still a pretty cool 4-song set, including a brand new, as-yet-untitled song. You can download the whole set here. Enjoy!
UPDATE: We got a better set of MP3s from the show, thanks to users entrancedwedance and Greg Chaisson. If you've already downloaded, do it again, and if you haven't - what are you waiting for?!?

Adam: New to my list of "rad bands that have been around for years that I've been completely oblivious to": The BellRays. Musically inspired by MC5 styled garage punk coupled with the soulful vocals of Lisa Kekaula, the most amusing description I've found is "like a bus full of Motown recording artists being steamrolled by Black Flag." Last year the band released a singles collection titled Raw Collection on Uppercut Records. In the UK they've just put out an album titled Red, White & Black which as far as I can tell has not yet been released domestically. Here's a track from 2001's Grand Fury:
The BellRays - Fire On The Moon

The Exploding Hearts

Adam: They were in the top 3 on my Best of 2003 list yet I neglected to ever feature them as our MP3 of the Week. Here's a pair of demos from our tragically departed Exploding Hearts. The full length these ended up on was titled Guitar Romantic and was released last March by Dirtnap Records. RIP.

The Exploding Hearts - Rumours In Town (Demo) The Exploding Hearts - Throwaway Style (Demo)

Colossal

And the mistakes continue. When deciding upon what EPs would make my Top 5 EPs of 2003 list [viewable here], I forgot to include what was one of the best of the year. Chicago's Colossal put out a stunning debut EP last January. The first two MP3s below are taken from that EP [reviewed here], and the last is taken from the Mailorder For The Masses comp, both on Asian Man Records:
Colossal - Embers Only Colossal - Brave The Elements Colossal - Table Settings

Rx Bandits

We all make mistakes. This time around, mine was not acknowledging the Rx Bandits' incredible new album, The Resignation, on my Top 20 of 2003 list at all. It was an enormous error on my part, and one which I hope to correct now. MP3s of "Sell You Beautiful" and "Falling Down The Mountain" have already been made available here and here, but instead of using those, I bring you my personal favorite track off the record:
Rx Bandits - Never Slept So Soundly
For more info on Rx Bandits, go to RxBandits.com.

Happy New Year!

Last week, I brought you a treasure trove of Christmas and holiday-themed punk rock songs. This week I have tried to duplicate the idea, by compiling as many New Years-related songs as I can possibly find.

There are not nearly as many.

But I still got a good baker's dozen or so, including tracks from Dismemberment Plan, The Lawrence Arms, Thursday, Death Cab For Cutie, Further Seems Forever, Cursive, The Casket Lottery, Waxwing, The Arrivals, and more! Download all of them for a primo New Years party mix at this link right here. And Happy New Year, from everyone at Punknews.org!

NOTE: If I'm missing any songs, please post them below and I'll do my best to find them and upload them. Posting more all the time, so keep checking it out!

Merry Christmas!

Okay, here's the deal: For your Christmas/Chanukah/Kwanzaa/Festivus/whatever present, I am giving to you, my Punknews.org brethren, the largest single collection of punk Christmas songs in one place. Available for download are songs from Jimmy Eat World, Weezer, Atom & His Package, Brand New, The Vandals, Less Than Jake, Thrice, Flaming Lips, The Ataris, Goldfinger, Bad Religion, Josh and Eli Caterer [of Smoking Popes/Duvall], Dashboard Confessional, Gatsbys American Dream, Blink-182, and dozens more [including your new favorite holiday song, "Santa's Dead" by Gestalt]. To access these songs, simply click here and download to your heart's content. All the songs are uploading as we speak, but I didn't want to wait until the last one finished, so you can begin checking them out now. Keep checking back for more throughout the day!

NOTE: While a lot of these songs are random one-off compilation tracks and/or out of print, there are some full albums up here. I didn't make these available to screw over any artist's sales, so please, if you like what you hear, go out with your holiday gift cards you're accumulating or your Christmas bonus and pick up an album or two by the artist to keep supporting them.

NOTE 2: I didn't post all these MP3s up here to anger bands or labels, either - I'm simply trying to spread some cheer. If you are in or represent a band whose song I've made available for download and you object to it being there, please email me and I will remove it ASAP.

NOTE 3: Lastly, I must graciously thank Brad at Musatcha.com for the copious amounts of free webspace and Punknews.org user Scott for supplying me with the majority of these tracks. Please check out their websites and support them in whatever way you can, as well.