By 1981, the Red Rockers were famously branded "The American Clash" by Lester Bangs -- a tag that carried both the weight of massive expectations and the raw power of a band exploding out of the New Orleans humidity. Decades before they became MTV fixtures with the polished pop hooks of "China," they were fueled by the absolute grit of the underground West Coast punk scene and the mentorship of 415 Records' Howie Klein. The missing puzzle piece of that legendary trajectory has always been the feral energy of their live sets. Enter It's in Our Blood: Live at Tipitina's, the new archival release from Liberation Hall Records. Capturing the band's blistering 2023 reunion show, the album serves as the definitive companion piece to the newly recovered and remastered Condition Red master tapes, delivering a dry, natural, effect-free gut punch that strips away the over-processed gloss of the 1980s. Scene Point Blank sat down with Red Rockers bassist Darren Hill to dig into the forensic history of the band, from signing a record contract on Keith Morris' back to recovering lost two" masters from an estate sale and setting the record straight on their legacy. Scene Point Blank: How influential were The Normals to the Red Rockers in those early days? Darren Hill: Huge influence. John, James, and I would go see them every time they played. Because of them, we decided to start a band. Our first show was opening for them. We covered “Almost Ready” at the 2023 … Read more
I was about 4 years old and in preschool. It was a “meet and greet” day and my dad took … Read more
LA’s Art-Punk Pioneers Who Bridged Continents and Genres In 1978, Vivabeat emerged from Los Angeles with a sound that defied … Read more
There are a lot of misconceptions about the life of a musician. Most musicians have day jobs – and not … Read more
I grew up listening to the acoustic side of onelinedrawing. Those stripped-down Jonah Matranga songs had a way of making everything else disappear, often needing little more than a guitar, a voice, and an honest melody to completely pull you in. That's still the version of onelinedrawing that immediately comes to mind for me, so with Matranga having been relatively … Read more
ALBUM HIGHLIGHTS – “Brand New World”, “12 Strings and Tambourines”, “Adams Street”, “Temple of Madness” It’s rare to find these days. A band (or maybe supergroup, in this case) that defies all genre boundaries and just…creates. Alfie Agnew (Adolescents, D.I.) and Sean Elliott (D.I., Mind Over Four) are familiar names from Orange County’s early 80s hardcore and psych-punk scenes, but … Read more
If Chat Pile were a film, they would be a dark thriller. The kind that builds tension until the end and, once we reach the third act, still might not ever show the killer. It's plodding and intense and, while I just pulled out a genre reference, the best thing about the band is how much they defy conventional musical … Read more
On the tail end of Autogramm’s 2018 tour of Mexico (what little I remember of that week now is a lot of pulque and not a lot of sleep) I visited the one punk record store in CDMX that I found via googling where to buy bootleg punk t-shirts. I’d already visited Venas Rotas Discos earlier on the trip and … Read more
I feel like this may be the first 12", 10-song release in my collection from Real Numbers, a dreampop meets jangle-indie rock band from Minneapolis. I'm not going to fact … Read more
The one-man band of Alien Nosejob continues to crank out short, angry hardcore in quick bursts. I've lost count of how many records Jake Robertson has now released under the … Read more
ALBUM HIGHLIGHTS – “Bright Eyes of Gold”, “Give Me Dirt”, “Long Tooth”, “Fools Like You” Almost exactly two years ago, on 8th August 2024, Cancer Bats played Conne Island in … Read more
When I saw The Dead Milkmen at Toronto’s Diamond Club back in the late 1980s, the floor was a volatile, beautiful mess of colliding subcultures. It was like different species … Read more
I never got very into Screeching Weasel and the extended family tree. Ignoring the politics of the matter, the music never really hit that sweet spot for me either. But … Read more
Rating: 🍸🍸🍸🍸🍸🍸🍸🍸🚬 / 10 (8 Tipped Martini Glasses and a Cigarette) Remember that movie Fantastic Voyage, where a miniaturized submarine gets inserted into a person's bloodstream on a mission to … Read more
Sliimo returns to earth with a brand new record, a self-titled (2026) effort that expands on the band’s sludge/stoner space metal. Described as “a sci-fi space metal band from the moon of Nar Shaddaa, but way of Providence, RI,” the mission is “to show that goofy freaks have a place … Read more
The reinvigorated and revived Neurosis has announced fall tour dates, following the release of An Undying Love For A Burning World (Neurot Recordings). Steve Von Till recently shared a collaboration … Read more
Tami Hart returns with a solo album, announcing the scheduled released ate of Nov. 13 for a self-titled album on Don Giovanni Records. Produced by Ted Leo, the album explores … Read more
Fresh from Riot Fest over the weekend and with a fall tour scheduled, including dates in Australia and the US, Less Than Jake released "Another Hostage Situation," a b-side form … Read more
First released in 2012, Deafheaven and Bosse-de-Nage's Split has been both re-mixed and re-released. It's available digitally now, via The Flenser, with an LP/CS coming at a later date. Long … Read more
Charlotte, NC is home to Bible Belt, a hardcore band who shared a 4-song Demo EP on Self Aware Records on Friday Sept. 18. This loud and extremely angry with … Read more
Marvin Heemeyer, a hardcore/punk band out of France, just shared the new single "Old Stuff" this week. The single comes from their debut LP, A New Low, out on Oct. … Read more
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