Saturday, May 16, 2026

J Prozac/Space Age Zeros - split


The old school pop-punk vibes are strong on the new split 7" featuring J Prozac and Space Age Zeros, and I am here for it! Out on Critical Mass Music, this split is hitting all the right notes with me largely because so many of my favorite pop-punk records over the years have been in this format. 

It's always a pleasure to review anything that J Prozac is involved with, and Space Age Zeros are one of the best of the newer pop-punk groups out there. Sometimes the J Prozac recordings are a little different from the stuff he puts out with The Prozacs. So the twist with "Digging Holes" is that it reminds me of classic Prozacs! This is textbook Lookout! Records–influenced pop-punk with the melodic lead guitar and whoa-oh harmonies in the forefront. But what perhaps makes this more of a J Prozac song is the more mature perspective in the lyrics. I like how Jay has shown that pop-punk for grown-ups can still sound like the pop-punk we all grew up on. "Chemical Reaction" was a nice surprise. It's a semi-acoustic number that still has the spirit of pop-punk. Musically, this is a little more MTX than Screeching Weasel, and Jay really excels in this space. I love the sentiment of the song. It's a positive, feelgood number all the way, and we need more of that kind of energy in the world.  

On the Space Age Zeros side, "Cheryl Scott" gives me all the feels. This is throwback pop-punk that's melody-forward and wears its heart on its sleeve. It's got a crisp, clean sound that takes me back to a time when my musical world revolved around the Parasites. "Seasons of You" has a different feel: rougher around the edges and more melodic punk than pop-punk — but still super-catchy and full of heart. 

And so there you have it. The key to a successful split is getting two bands that go well together and making sure they can bring quality material to the table. There are no throwaways here. This could easily have been two individual singles that both would have been worth buying. Putting them on one record is a deal and a steal!

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Sourpunch - Shake Them Bones


Back with its first new release in a few years, Sourpunch lets it rip on the excellent new EP Shake Them Bones. This Rhode Island–based foursome fronted by Jenn Lombari (also of the excellent melodic punk duo Stubborn Hearts, which also includes drummer Doug Metivier) plays awesome high energy punk/pop/rock 'n roll music that will get your heart pounding and your toes tapping. "Lipstick and Black" and "Gin Buzz" are in rockin' pop-punk territory, while "Rebound n Down" is full of '50s OG rock 'n' roll spirit. The theme song "Sourpunch Stomp" is a party-starter with a touch of Devil Dogs swagger. "Dead Friends" is fast and frenzied and poignant is hell. "Going up the Country" is a rocked-up cover of the Canned Heat classic. With Jenn Lombari, you're always going to get passion and feeling in the vocals. So even though this is a fun record to put on and shake them bones to, there's an emotional depth and soul to a lot of these songs that is sometimes missing in punk rock 'n' roll world. If you like no-nonsense rock 'n' roll that kicks a whole lot of ass but can also make you laugh and cry, this EP is for you!

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Friday, May 15, 2026

Radio Days - "Flying High"


In a year in music that is looking more and more like one for the ages, the impending arrival of a new Radio Days album is yet another cause for much excitement. We are now five years removed from the last Radio Days long player, so Off The Record (due out in September) is very high on my list of 2026 albums I'm looking forward to. In advance of the album, the band has treated us to a couple teasers. The latest is digital single "Flying High," an upbeat, silky-smooth pop song with a big chorus and lots of amazing lead guitar. This tune finds Radio Days in vintage form, embracing melody on top of melody. Dario's vocals go down easier than lemonade on a hot day in July, and the song could not be any catchier. It's just a joy to hear one of the best bands to ever do this kind of music, uh, do this kind of music! It's always a good sign when you get to the end of the song and think, "That went way too fast!" 

"Flying High" was preceded by the brilliant 7" record "I Won't Give Up." The A-side finds the band living in the skinny tie glory days of power pop with harmonies and handclaps galore. And that chorus hits like a bolt of lightning! On the B-side, "Bang Bang" sounds like if glam rock and power pop made a baby. It's a perfect little slice of bubblegum pop goodness — a surefire radio hit in some alternate timeline where the cool kids still know how to groove. 

New music from Radio Days is good news for those of us who are starting to assemble our summer playlists. And once summer is done, we have a whole album to look forward to! Get your copy of "I Won't Give Up" from Wild Honey Records!

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Automatic Lovers - self titled


When I first heard Automatic Lovers, my instant reaction was, "Hell yeah — we need more bands like this in today's scene!" The Madrid foursome dropped an absolute smasher of a debut single last year — warming my heart with its raw and aggressive vintage 1977 punk rock sound. The band's next challenge was to sustain the same quality and energy over a full album, which is something that's not necessarily easy to do. Sometimes punk rock bands fare better in the short format where they can hit you hard and fast and leave you wanting more. But on their self-titled debut long player (out on Wap Shoo Wap Records and Folc Records), Automatic Lovers prove themselves to be 100% the real deal. 

Over the course of 11 tracks, Automatic Lovers let it rip with force and ferocity — unleashing a heat-seeking missile of a punk rock album. Of course the inspiration for this sound is obvious. The band follows the blueprint of Slaughter and the Dogs, The Vibrators, Eater, The Users, Dead Boys, Menace, Stooges, Pagans, early Damned, etc. with the utmost enthusiasm. But while any band can emulate a style, Automatic Lovers truly have the spirit and power of this classic music coursing through their veins. They tear through these songs with reckless abandon. The drummer sounds like he's trying to pound his kit into submission. The lead guitars rip wildly. The singer spits fire and fury. You might hear a track like "Wasting Time" and surmise that the band can't possibly sustain that level of intensity for a full album. But you'd be wrong! And the tunes (complemented by a couple of ace covers) are legit good. This is a killer punk rock album in any year. You hear a record like this and remember the heart-pounding excitement of hearing punk music for the first time — when suddenly everything else in your record collection seemed super-lame by comparison. What a thrill it is to hear such a young band take up this old school punk rock sound and pull it off this brilliantly. If I had heard a band like this in the later '90s when I was obsessively collecting '70s punk records, I would have flipped my shit! Wap Shoo Wap Records is quickly becoming one of those labels whose releases you never want to miss.

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Saturday, May 09, 2026

The Speedways - "Luna"


It has been over a year since I last had the pleasure of writing about new music from one of my favorite bands, The Speedways. In advance of their forthcoming fourth album, The Magic Comes & The Magic Goes, The Speedways are releasing a pair of digital singles. Up first is "Luna," which will shortly be followed by "I Shouldn't Have Tried To Leave Without You." The two songs will then receive a physical release on 7" vinyl in June. Anyone who has been eagerly waiting for new Speedways tunes will be utterly delighted by "Luna." The song was originally slated to be a B-side due to it being rather short and simple. But sometimes a band gets into rehearsing a song and, you know, the magic comes. The whole band had a sense that the song was something special. With some encouragement and creative input from producer Jez Leather, "Luna" became the lead track for the single. Matt Julian notes that the song tells the story of the day he met his ex-fiancé at Luna Fest in Portugal. Because it was written when they were still together, the vibe is sweet and optimistic. So while the song now feels bittersweet to the band, it remains faithful to its original inspiration (a vibe the music video perfectly captures). I've long believed that writing simple songs is one of the hardest things to do in music. But when a simple song hits the mark, it's a beautiful thing. "Luna" is 117 seconds of pop perfection, and it immediately brings to mind classic Speedways. There aren't a whole lot of "happy" love songs in The Speedways' catalog, so that makes this tune stand out all the more. As a fan, I could not be more pleased. Sometimes short and sweet is exactly what we need in life!

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Drakulas - Midnight City


On their extraordinary third LP, Austin, Texas–based Drakulas take the concept they've been honing for years to new heights. Out on Wild Honey Records in Europe and Dirtnap Records in North America, Midnight City is not only the best Drakulas album to date but also the best new wave record I've heard in a couple years. From start to finish, it's all hits and no shit. 

Savage Lord Mic, Sam Francisco, and Pink Rick continue to build this wonderfully immersive world of an eternal turn-of-the '80s late night excursion into the dangerous and dimly neon-lit corners of some seedy metropolis. While not quite a rock opera, Midnight City is an album with a novel or film's ambition — it songs full of unsettling tales and colorful characters. Yet the concept never reeks of pretension or bogs down the record. If you weren't paying super-close attention, you might not even notice the connections between the songs. While the atmosphere is striking, the quality of the tunes is never an afterthought. As I listen to this record, I don't hear a band in 2026 trying to sound like a band in 1980. I hear a band that sounds like it teleported here from 1980. 

The style remains a perfect blend of the punk and new wave sounds that were both changing the game in the late '70s and early '80s — but this time, the hooks are bigger, sharper, and positively addictive. I love the way this album bobs and weaves between danceable post-punk ("Singin' with My Tongue Cut Out," "Sex," "Head in the Clods"), punky new wave ("F.A.F.O."), new wavey punk ("Is It Enough," "Garbage Strike"), haunting synth-pop ("Wheelhouse"), and punky power pop ("White Off Your Nose," "Guys Like Me, Girls Like You"). On this record, Drakulas come off a little like Autogramm's evil twins, and that's a vibe I can dig all day long. Their use of synthesizers is masterful and very old school  — as if they live in a universe where modern synth-punk hasn't been invented yet. In my old age, I've become far less enthralled with darker post-punk, but this album is dark in a way that is captivating, a little sexy, and oddly intoxicating. 

While early '80s retro-futurism often comes off kitschy, Midnight City feels less like goofy nostalgia and more like a vivid dream about a time and place you can never go back to but can never forget about, either. It creates an analog world I want to live in or at least visit often. None of these songs would have sounded out of place emanating from the speakers of a delinquent hangout arcade as you dominated on Galaxian back in the day. Although I can hear the influence of so many cornerstones of my record collection, I by no means find these songs lacking in creativity or originality. And as tunesmiths, these guys take a back seat to no one. As good as Drakulas' previous releases were, this one is at another level. Whether you approach it as a piece of art or just a killer slab of punk/new wave, this is a brilliant album in any year.

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Sunday, May 03, 2026

Rob Moss and Skin-Tight Skin and 7 Door Sedan - Split single


This is my sixth time writing about Rob Moss and Skin-Tight Skin's split single series. This series is one of the most interesting and enjoyable musical endeavors I've had the pleasure of following in recent years. Out today is the latest installment, which finds Moss collaborating with 7 Door Sedan, the Silver Spring, Maryland–based trio featuring singer/guitarist Glenn Kowalski from legendary D.C. punk band White Boy. 

As always, the format is that the two bands cover each other. I think what I like most about this series is that nobody ever settles for a straight "faithful" cover. In his vision for what these splits ought to be, Moss really seems to encourage creative interpretations of the selected songs. And we need more of that in today's music, when cover songs are too often dismissed as filler. There's real artistic value in taking someone else's song and making it your own. 

On this release, Moss, joined by Tom McNally and Steve Naff, adds a new wrinkle to that concept. He covers not one but two songs by 7 Door Sedan: the opening and closing numbers off the band's 2008 LP Killer Good. Remarkably, Moss and Skin-Tight Skin combine "Everything in The World" and "Cement Man" so seamlessly that you might not even realize these were two separate songs. As a single track, "Everything in The World/Cement Man" is not just a creative reworking of the original songs. It's also a little bit of a different sound for Moss: less sneering '70s punk and glam and more of a moody post-punk slow burn. Moss really shows his talents as a pure singer here, and I love his rather eerie guitar work. 

On its side of the digital wax, 7 Door Sedan goes big and takes on one of Moss's signature songs: "I'm On a Rocket Ship (Heading My Way Back Home)" from the album Now With More Rockets. As you would expect from 7 Door Sedan, the T. Rex vibes loom large. Kowalski played lead guitar on the original version, so he came to this song with a unique perspective. But he and his bandmates Josh Singer and Norman van der Sluys definitely transform the song here, trading the intergalactic anthemic feel of the original for a grittier, slightly Stones-ish approach. And I'm left feeling the way I don't feel enough when I hear covers: more appreciative of the original than ever but also blown away by the new rendition. 

What really hits me about all these Rob Moss and Skin-Tight Skin splits is that the two bands involved are never merely just friends — they're also huge fans of each other's music. You can sense the love for the source material and admire the effort made to do something genuinely transformative as a tribute. This latest installment involves two immensely significant figures in the history of D.C. punk rock. And the point is that neither is resting on any laurels. Moss and Kowalski are out there making vital and exciting music, and it ought to be heard.

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