With the news that two of the three Punk Rock Bowling 2015 headliners – Rancid and Dropkick Murphys – will be utilizing their set times to play a classic album each – ..and Out Come the Wolves and Do or Die, respectively – it got our imaginations running wild with speculation on who else might follow the trend.
Last year, Riot Fest in Chicago had ten bands perform full album sets, and we’re ⅕ of the way there. So while waiting on more news, we turned to the Vegas music scene for their dream PRB 2015 full band sets.
And of course, if you want to see any of these bands live – full albums or no – you can head over to the PRB website now to purchase tickets.
A Wilhelm Scream – Mute Print
It’s so hard to narrow down what I’d most like to see from all the bands playing this year and it ended up being just as hard to narrow down which AWS album I’d like to hear. But at the end of the day, Mute Print is the album that got me into the band and it’s the only album of theirs I didn’t get to see the band touring for (not counting the Smackin’ Isaiah stuff). It’s also been so long since I’ve heard songs like “Brand New Me, Same Shitty You” live. Plus, the album is just 2 minutes over the half hour mark, which means the band could conceivably fit it into their opening set (and maybe squeeze in the b-sides from the Diver 7”).
Anti-Flag – For Blood and Empire
Anti-Flag is one of those bands I kinda missed the boat on. They were one of those bands my little sister discovered and got into before I did, which somehow made them less cool. And their snotty/whiny vocal inflections did not endear themselves to my younger ears. Since that time I have gone through multiple I-love-Anti-Flag phases, but I’ve never seen them live. For Blood and Empire might not contain the raw punk energy of their earlier work, but I think it represents kind of a high water mark with respect to song-writing, sentiment and production. If I only see one act at PRB it will be these guys, and I would love to hear my favorite record in it’s entirety.
THE MUFFS – Blonder and Blonder
The Muffs’ Blonder and Blonder is my favorite record, from my favorite band. Start to finish, it’s full of great pop punk songs which is no surprise since Kim Shattuck is one of the greatest songwriters in the history of punk rock.
Refused – The Shape Of Punk To Come
I can’t overstate how important this band and album is to me. Every aspect of that record is iconic, from the influence of jazz, electronic music, and hardcore punk to the poetic anger of the screamed lyrics. Refused helped me realize that anything is possible with music, nothing is sacred, and any rhythm imaginable can happen. I’ve made a drumming career thinking “What would David Sandstrom do?”
T.S.O.L. – Hit & Run
The Hit & Run album was a weird little hair metal experiment from 1987 where TSOL apparently tried to cash in on the Guns & Roses craze. The album even included a “hit” single “The Name Is Love” that would’ve fit nicely on a Motley Crue record. It didn’t work. the fans hated it. BUT now, 28 years later, I can think of nothing more punk rock than playing your dirty little cash grab record from the 80s in its entirety.
Battle Born – Stick to Your Guns
The Punk Rock Bowling line-up this year is filled with a ton of bands that I either have never been exposed to before, or have never given them a listen. AWS, is a Holy Grail scenario for PRB. But I am a huge of Vegas locals Battle Born’s first record Stick To Your Guns. It’s a solid record with great riffs, lyrical content, and fast punk pace. I would be front row singing along, playing air guitar to this whole record if I got to see it in person. It’s on my rotation list at least every few months.
A Wilhelm Scream – Ruiner
Well, being as I’ve already seen AWS play Mute Print front-to-back at The Fest in Florida a few years ago, I guess I’d wanna see em play Ruiner (my favorite Wilhelm album). I think if I saw that show I would have a constant flow of orgasms followed by a full release dump in my pants. Super awesome.
The Business – Suburban Rebels
When you grow up in Glasgow on the east bank of the river Clyde there’s one, and only one, football team you support…Celtic. As kids we would riff raff outside Paradise Park every Saturday afternoon.
One day a mate brought a boombox with a mix tape of four bands on it…Cock Sparrer, Sham 69, Cockney Rejects, and the Business. I’d never heard anything like this before, and it bloody blew my mind. The next day I went down the local record shop to give a listen to these bands. Those days, in the UK, you could listen to any record or cassette right there in the shop via headphones.
The more albums I listened to by the Business the more I noticed a theme…theses blokes are singing about football! Sorry Celtic, I’m now a West Ham supporter, they have the cooler bands! Of course, if the Business were just to play to a crowd of one, namely me, it would have to be Hardcore Hooligan. But, you can’t take away the impact that Suburban Rebels had on Oi! music. To this day songs like “Work or Riot?,” “Real Enemy,” “Harry May,” ” Loud Proud ‘N’ Punk,” and of course the title track, still get one’s blood pumping, and the pints flowing, and ready for a proper ruck on the terraces!
Refused – The Shape of Punk to Come
Wow where do I start with this band? They blew my mind. My friend Adam Rushfield took me for a drive around town specifically to listen to this record. I was 13 at the time. Adam was six or seven years older than me. I looked up to him as a “senior musician” figure, so any music he showed me I knew it was gonna be great, but REFUSED was amazing. For me, there is no hardcore punk band better. The songs are sick, sonically it sounds incredible, and even now when I listen to it, I just get filled up with youthful rebellious excitement and energy! I kind of wanna go into the pit now.
The Murder City Devils – In Name & Blood
Besides Rancid who I’ve been listening to since I was 12 and have never seen, The Murder City Devils is by far the band I’m most excited to see at PRB this year. They have the perfect blend of badass pirate-party rock n roll and punk rock. It was hard to pick an album because so many of my favorites are spread across there discography. I would love to hear In Name & Blood sprinkled with “Boom Swagger Boom,” “Dance Hall Music,” and their cover of The Kinks’ “Alcohol.” I really wish they were playing a club show instead of the festival stage, but seeing them will still be rad.
Anti-Flag – Underground Network
The choice was easy for me despite awesome newer bands like Wilhelm Scream, Pears, & Success, and the roots like Bad Manners, Sick of It All, and The Business. Underground Network was one of the first albums to get me really turned on to punk. Shit was loud, fast, and (most importantly to my pretentious 14 year old self) it was informed. It demanded the listener to be educated and precise in directing their rage, it had a call to action. Whether they or I still stand by every lyric on that album, now I’m not sure, but I do know that it promoted growth in the right direction.
Sick of It All – Blood, Sweat, and No Tears
For some reason, SOIA was one of the bands I just couldn’t get into when I dug deeper into the NYHC canon. Bands like Agnostic Front and Gorilla Biscuits resonated with me immediately, but SOIA stuck out like a sore thumb. Thankfully I stumbled upon Cro-Mags’ The Age of Quarrel which displayed the heavier side of NYHC…and with that, I finally got into SOIA. Blood, Sweat, and No Tears is the perfect bridge between the styles of hardcore in the late 80s and early 90s. It’s crazy to see how the insanely heavy “Pushed Too Far” could be placed alongside the Gorilla Biscuits-esque “Friends Like You.” But they somehow managed to pull it off on the record and live. I managed to catch the band during one of Revelation Records’ 25th anniversary shows and believe me, these songs still sound fresh in 2015, you suckas.
Refused – The Shape of Punk to Come
Never before has there been a record that was able to simultaneously revolutionize multiple genres, while still being uniquely and distinctly “punk.” Refused was able to nail that on their legendary 1997 release The Shape of Punk to Come. Not only did it combine equal parts post-hardcore, post-punk and metalcore elements but it also added a subtle electronic feel as well, which has yet to be duplicated with the same amount of style and finesse. It is also defined by having the anthemic “New Noise” which became a strange crossover hit that opened up the eyes of new listeners and encouraged a brand new fan base. Which was only further supported by heavier tracks such as “Refused Are Fucking Dead.” The album is nearly an hour long, but would undoubtedly keep Refused fans glued as the band ripped through their set with that trademark Refused intensity.
T.S.O.L. – Change Today?
The easy and immediate answer for me would be Sick of it All’s Blood, Sweat, and No Tears. I love the album, the band, and I especially like the revved up, modern take on those classic songs (see Non-Stop). However, I have seen S.O.I.A. play most of that record live throughout the years, so…
I’m going with a more obscure (and most likely controversial) pick with T.S.O.L.’s Change Today? This is the third proper album from the band, and it was released after original singer, Jack Grisham, and original drummer, Todd Barnes, quit the band in 1983 (Grisham has since reunited with T.S.O.L. while Barnes passed away in 1999). Their replacements were Joe Wood on vocals/guitar and Mitch Dean on drums; two members that brought a more straight forward rock influence to the band’s goth-punk sound.
Unfortunately, the Joe Wood fronted T.S.O.L. would eventually become a full-on glam rock band (please avoid the 1987 release Hit and Run altogether), but Change Today? is one of those intriguing albums from an established group that was caught in a transition between members, sound, and style. In my opinion, the ten songs that comprise this third LP are a perfect storm of punk, hard rock, and goth that would not be recreated on any of the following T.S.O.L. records. And while I do like the Jack Grisham era of the band, I would much rather hear “Flowers by the Door” than “Code Blue” at this point in my life.
Change Today? also reminds me of skating a rickety launch ramp on a blazing summer day in the 80s, which is another reason it holds a special place with me.
Photos of Emily Matview, John Brown, Tyler Newton and Chris Duggan by Aaron Mattern. Photo of The Civilians by Mozzchopz. Photos of Micah Malcom, Jesse Pino, Alexander Higgins, Daniel Henrriquez and Ian Caramanzana by Emily Matview. Photo of Justin Fornof by Krook9 photography.
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