TPStank • Thursday, May 17, 2012 • 12:37 PM

Sleeping Mikey ala Ben Funke

This month, Andrew takes the reigns and we chat recap via Skype about Dishonour Dan's memorial show, a recent West End Crooks spotting, Way Out West Fest 2, Trunk Space's 8 year anniversary and what his band {pic} is up to. I also profess my love for Nick Other as well as ramble on, as usual.

In the podcast, you will hear me mention that our vinyl AZPunk banner sheltering Mikey in the top photo has seemed to come up missing after this year's WOW Fest. If anyone out there happens to know where that thing is, we would really like to have it back. There's an address on the back side of it where you can send it. Not saying anyone stole it or anything like that, but it's out there somewhere, and I'm sure it misses it's home.

Real quickly, Andrew's band {pic} (aka Partners In Crime), will be playing this Saturday at The Missouri Room in Glendale for Adieux/River Of Oblivion CD Split Release. The show posting states, "Donations accepted to keep the power going in the house. First show in a long time. We’re planning a lot of things for the westside since nothing that is truly focused on music exists over here." - Somerthing worthy of a little trip to the West side.

Big thanks to some of our awesome friends who are addicted to local punk rock (we're talking to you Monypunk, Kody the Roadie, Billy B. and Ben Funke!), we managed to gather together up some videos and photos from some of these events. (Edit - we're actually still in the process of getting that stuff together. We'll be posting those later.)

Also, the Trunk Space recently celebrated their 8 year anniversary, and wrote this eloquant post about a little venue that's made such a huge difference in our little dysfunctional music community. Taken from their Facebook page:

Stephanie asked me to say something, regarding our 8 year anniversary of business.

Unfortunately I’ve felt so overwhelmed as of late that finding peace, and collecting my thoughts enough has been nigh impossible. The ideas in my head are like individual industrious bees, and collectively they’re a swarm trapped in my head, trying to get out. But a couple of ideas are loudest and I will talk about those.

Before Trunk Space was here, we helped out at a DIY place called The Paper Heart, it was on Van Buren and 5th Ave. That's where I met Steph, and a lot of other people who are still part of my life today. Before there was The Paper Heart, there was a place called Modified Arts which hosted art and music and performance art and was a lot like Trunk Space. I saw some of the most amazing touring bands ever there, and some phenomenal local bands--the Colorstore CD release comes to mind, and Georgia Geis' 'Take Out' shows.

Willow House on 3rd Ave and McDowell, it was the first place I ever read a poem aloud. Willow House was a really amazing place, It was the first place Andrew Jackson Jihad played a live show. (I believe it was the heart of this town, and without it, we're still searching.)

Before both Modified and Paper Heart and Willow House, there was a a place called Metrophobobia, and it moved all over the place like a midnight arsonist.
Before Metrophobobia there was a place called Gallery X.
And CRASH Studios
And there was a place called Scorchy Dome.
There was a place called Four White Walls
and the Phix: spelled P-H-I-X

Phoenix is a lonelier place without all of them. But, loneliness is the basis for togetherness.

There's a few ways to handle loneliness: You can get bitter and resentful that no one in the world understand you, and hide in your house and maybe the best you can hope for is to become an internet troll.

You can go out and look for the secret signals that tell you, you've found the right spot. That's why I move to Phoenix.

I did both those things (... except maybe be an internet troll ... they didn't even have livejournal when I went thru that phase.)

And then Stephanie & I did the next thing. We stood in one spot, and held a torch in the air, and we hoped it would attract people. And it has.

It's done it for 8 years going now, and the best part is that everyone it attracts, they become a torch holder too, they've stood alongside us and helped make our dream bigger and brighter.

• Continue Reading »

TPStank • Friday, April 27, 2012 • 1:52 PM

Prepare accordingly.

HORSE • Monday, April 23, 2012 • 11:57 AM

Ross Wincek, the 47 year-old owner and bartender of the legendary Mesa watering hole Hollywood Alley, suffered a stroke recently leaving him to deal with the medical bills and mounting debts. He's lent a hand to nearly every band in town over the past two decades, and some of those bands hope to return the favor this Saturday with an event that starts at 11 AM and ends at last call.

• Go to RossRox.com to donate!
• Join the Reddit thread

The lineup includes:

• 11:30am - Page The Village Idiot
• 12:15pm - Cait Brennan
• 1pm - The Vellum
• 1:45pm - Serene Dominic
• 2:30pm - Enirva
• 3:15pm - JJCnV
• 4pm - Gypsy Militia
• 4:45pm - French Girls
• 5:30pm - Unemployment Party
• 6:15pm - Asses of Evil
• 7pm - The Father Figures
• 7:45pm - Fat Gray Cat
• 8:30pm - Scorpion Vs. Tarantula
• 9:15pm - Grave Danger
• 10pm - Via Vengeance
• 10:45pm - Blanche Davidian
• 11:30pm - Hillbilly Devilspeak
• 12:15am - Chappelle Des Morts
• 1am - Greenhaven

Ten bucks gets you in the door, and all proceeds go to Ross. There will be auction/raffle items and T-shirts. Fun Bobby and Eric Braverman are the masters of ceremony. Let's pull together for a great guy who has been a pinnacle supporter of local music since the dawn of Man!

• Go to RossRox.com to donate!
• Join the Reddit thread

HORSE • Tuesday, April 10, 2012 • 11:24 AM

Join us to Honour Daniel "Dishonour Dan" Howard on 4/20 @ Conspire
featuring Family Secret, 80*D, Reburn and the Skidmarks,
Unemployment Party and special musical guests.

It's hard to believe that it's been almost two years since we said goodbye to our good friend, Dishonour Dan. He would have been 32 next Friday on April 20, so we're getting together with family and friends and throwing him a birthday party. Come tip a 40 with us at this BYOB event, as we celebrate the life of our good buddy. There'll be a lot of familiar faces.

Musical performances by:

• Family Secret
• 80*D
• Reburn and the Skidmarks
• Unemployment Party

With surprise guests that I personally am really excited about, while at the same time very frustrated that I'm not allowed to tell you who they are. Trust me, you'll be happy you came.

We've got a group show in the gallery, featuring some of Dan's favorite local artists, as well as a few faces we think he would have loved.

Visual artists include:

• Brandon Adamson
• Ralph Michael Brekan
• Tom Deadstuff
• Shannon Dillon
• Jim Fury
• James B. Hunt
• Graeme J. Lithgow
• Melody Lopack
• Champ Styles
• Travis Vallance
• Charles Wilkins

And an NXOEED Art Hunt, featuring three hidden paintings that are yours to keep, should you happen to find them. Clues will be posted at the well.

This event is free and open to the public. Conspire is located at 901 N. 5th St in Downtown Phoenix. Head Down roosevelt, turn south on 5th street, and look for the crazy, colorful little house with the stage out front.

• View show posting on the AZPunk.com calendar
• Join the Reddit thread

TPStank • Sunday, April 8, 2012 • 10:14 PM

In this month's episode of our Pub Crawl podcast, we meet up with Corey, Eric, and Chad of Seas Will Rise at the Sun Up Brewery in Central Phoenix for a little microbrew time-off. It was my first time at Sun Up Brewery. Corey had recommended it, and any microbrew is a good microbrew, especially when it has a killer vanilla stout.

Last month we found out a little bit about their latest record Disease Is Our Refrain off Man in Decline Records, but with the podcast, we wanted to dig a little deeper into some of their inspiration behind the album, and their involvement in this year's Way Out West Fest in Tucson. Seas Will Rise, along with fellow companions, Come On Die Young, will be heading South this weekend along with about 60 other local bands traveling from Arizona, California, Portland and beyond to explore the boundaries of live music, insomnia and alcohol tolerance April 13th, 14th and 15th.

• Buy Disease Is Our Refrain from moshpittragedy.com now!

This year marks the 2nd installment of Tucson's 3-day punk rock fest, and after having a chance to talk to Billy B., the genius behind WOW Fest, it sounds like this year is going to be bigger than ever. Luckily, this year's WOW festivities come equipped with a pre-show this Thursday at the Meat Market Garment Factory. That's a solid 4 days of DIY, independent punk rock for your arse that you should not miss. Seriously. Cancel your plans this weekend. This is one DIY event that you need to support.

Check out the podcast streaming here, or you can click over to our iTunes page to check out some of the past Pub Crawl episodes. Whatever you do, get out to the pre-show on Thursday, and then high-tail it South for Way Out West Fest 2 this weekend in Tucson. You can find the full band list and event details on www.wayoutwestfestaz.com and find out how to pick up your three day pass for a measly $30. While you're there, check out their bandcamp page and download two free comps featuring a shit ton of punk rock bands that will be playing the show.

• Join the Reddit thread
• Listen on iTunes

TPStank • Saturday, March 10, 2012 • 9:35 AM

In the spirit of attempting to get things moving on this damn website again, we're going to continue experimenting more with our AZPunk Pub Crawl podcasts this year. Previously, we only scratched the surface by interviewing local music geeks like Mikey Wretch from Rumspringer (among many other bands) and the talented participants in our Thrash of the Titans 2 event back in late 2010. This year, we plan on digging much deeper and trying to pump out one of these once a month. In short, what we do with these podcasts is we grab a creative individual who is somewhat involved with the punk rock community, hit a bar, crack open some drinks and switch on the recorder - whatever happens after that is audible entertainment for your earballs.

• Join the Reddit thread
• Listen on iTunes

Some of you may know Migrant (aka James B. Hunt) from back on the old messageboard days. It's been years since we've touched base with him, and we wanted to catch up and find out what what's the happs in Downtown Phoenix. Lately he's been working close with Conspire coffee house doing some mixed punk and art shows. As you'll hear in the audio, James has a new-founded drive to do more with the local music community, and with that, we are very happy to have him on board with the AZPunk crew to help with writing reviews, event happenings and just keeping a general ear open for cool shit happening around town. We're working on getting a Soundcloud stream up, in the meantime, you can listen to the stream below, or check us out on iTunes.

Speaking of shows, you can catch one of James' collab gigs at Conspire tonight, March 10th with locals Bomb Threat, Unemployment Party, Awful Noise, Requiem, the return of Cut Throat Freak Show, Fourth Wave, Lovesong, Grandpa Muck and ofcourse, visual stimulation by the man himself.

Podcast playlist:

• Melted Cassettes - Select is Optional
• Lovesong - Boy Girl Song
• Fourth Wave - Boner
• Melted Cassettes - New Age Demon
• Melted Cassettes - Waiting to be Gutted
• Grandpa Muck - Avoid

• Join the Reddit thread
• Listen on iTunes

TPStank • Wednesday, February 1, 2012 • 10:35 AM

What's up AZ punks! Long time no post! Even tho we've been laying way low over the past year or so, we've been keeping tabs on some of the great local punk rock that continues to trek through the desert of social, political and personal turmoil. It would seem that when our little pocket of dust and sun reaches a tipping point, the aggressive creativity of our local talent tends to boil over. Case-in-point; the dark lovechild of heavy hitters, Said Gun, Landmine Marathon and Cagematch (three of my personal favorites from the past several years) - Seas Will Rise!

Here's a little snippet from their press release, and their track Tihs Teardown Town from their first albun, Disease Is Our Refrain, to wet your pallet:

DJ Johnny Volume's weekly Delinquency show played host to a listening party for the band last night at Yucca Tap Room. Guitarist Corey Rial tells us about superstar bassist, and upcoming house party DJ, Chad Knapp's wild night.

C: Chad had work obligations today, but he has been dying to play DJ in front of people. So he burnt the '10'oclock oil' and had a huge grin on his face and was manning the turntables like he was a skinny white Kool Herc. I think his highlight of the night was playing TSOL, which he accidentally played one whole side of when he went outside to smoke.

We contacted Chad to see if he would speak to us on-record about these allegations, but the only response we received exclaimed "Eldorado! Eldorado! El Dor Ado!". Corey continues,

My highlight was the records David our drummer brought, Sacred Reich, Van Halen, Anthrax and the Ace Frehley solo KISS record. It was a fun night.

That's great. We're glad to hear Chad is reaching for the stars. But what about the album?

C: Listening to our record over a PA like that lent itself to a discovery of shorts. The A side of the record is a blazing exercise in anger while the B side is menacing moody collection of pounding songs. So to tie it to our name in an incredibly corny way Side A is the seas rising and flooding out and wiping away everything and side B is the aftermath of sitting there watching everything become decayed and fucked and even more shitty then it all ready was. But peacefull in a way. Plus the record ends in a really cool Death Waltz composed by our friend Shay. I sound like a dickhead talking about my own record like this... but it was cool just sitting and enjoying the record, instead of critically thinking about it.

Seas Will Rise is having their AZ album release show on February 10th @ Yucca Tap Room. They're still squaring away some of the bands, but check the AZPunk calendar for the details.

Also, if you missed it, New Times' Up On The Sun did a piece on Seas Will Rise this week. Check it out here. Keep your eyes and ears peeled for these guys in 2012. If the end of times doesn't tear us apart, Seas Will Rise surely will.

TPStank • Saturday, February 19, 2011 • 1:41 PM

Unless you've been holed up in an underground bunker preparing for Arizona's race war, you've probably been hearing a little bit about the 3-day punk rock W.O.W. (Way Out West) Fest hitting Tucson in April. This massive festival of loud music, possible drunken and disorderly conduct, really really good friends, and a whole bunch of fuckin fun has been an idea that's been brewing for two of Tucson's local punk rock show-goers, Cameron Combs and Billy Brooks, since last summer.

In September of last year, Cameron and Billy began gathering music from punk bands across the West Coast and putting together compiltion albums to help promote the awesome sounds that travel in and out of their home town of Tucson. This was something of a concept that was near and dear to AZPunk's collective hearts, so we wanted to catch up with Cameron to pick his brain about these W.O.W. Fest compilation albums, and the upcoming 3-day W.O.W. Fest happening in Tucson on April 8th-10th. If you haven't done it already, you can pick up your 3-day event pass for $26 at their website, wayoutwestfestaz.com. Hurry up while tickets are still available!

Cameron Combs: 1/2 the genius behind the W.O.W. Fest

Excerpt taken from wayoutwestfestaz.com:

"Last summer, while dreaming about the amazing weather that Tucson has to offer in the Spring, we had an idea. Let's invite a ton of great bands and a bunch of people out for a shindig. Six months later and countless hours of organizing, Way Out West Fest is born. On the weekend of April 8-10th, it all comes to a head. 60+ bands are bringing the jams and we want you here for the party. This entire event is a not-for-profit endeavor, all money generated is going to the bands and any overhead we encounter. This promises to be an amazing weekend chock-full of friends, sing-a-longs, cheap drinks and awesome weather. So plan on bringing your party pants, cutting em into shorts and wearing em all weekend. This is gonna be a celebration you won't want to miss."

AZP: So this is the 4th W.O.W. Fest compilation album and the first show. We've been helping promote local punk rock for 9 years now, how come this is the first time we're hearing about this awesome album and shindig?

CC: Yeah, this is the first year for Way Out West Fest. We just posted a new comp (vol.4) to our bandcamp page a few days ago. We started doing the comps as a way to get the word out about the fest and to give folks a chance to here some of the bands playing. So far, they have been well received. We've been fortunate in having bands offer up songs. Not all bands are comfortable doing stuff like that. This latest one actually has an unreleased track from Summer Vacation that rips. All the comps are free and available for download only, here. If you hear a band that tickles your fancy go buy their record(s) or donate some cash to them. Downloads are cool and everything but having a physical copy is way better. Early on, a majority of the promoting was done through all the major social networking sites. Since then we've launched our website and started selling passes, printed some really cool posters and flyers, done a few interviews with local papers and AMP magazine and run some ads with AMP and Razorcake. So, hopefully the word is out and people are making plans to spend a weekend in Tucson. I just want to point out that this event is completely not for profit. All money is going to the bands and any overhead we encounter. In fact, we're paying for our own passes. The success of this entire event rests on people showing up. Passes are available on the website and only cost 26$. If you don't have a paypal account, you can buy passes directly from Billy or myself for 25$. We had to add a dollar onto the price due to the cost of doing transactions via paypal. If you don't live in Tucson or don't know Billy or I, just send an email or contact us via FB and we'll work something out.

AZP: Why Tucson?

CC: Tucson is our hometown. We both grew up here. So naturally we're going to have our fest here. AZ has a great music scene and more folks should know about it.

AZP: Organizing a 3-day event is no task for the faint of heart. How did you two come up with this idea, and what kind of madness did you guys have to endure to make it happen?

CC: So far, we haven't had much in the way of problems. We've had a few bands that had to drop off but for the most part it's been smooth sailing. I guess the idea came from going to other fests in other cities.

It's always a blast hanging out with friends, seeing bands and partying all weekend. It's a foolproof recipe for good times. It seemed like a good idea to make it happen in our hometown. I'm sure there's some headaches on the horizon but we'll deal with them as they come. It's just under 2 months away and it's been going pretty good. The only upsetting thing that has happened is dealing with the so called "punk venues". Oddly enough a lot the venues that claim to be supportive are really just money-centric fronts in my eyes. That could just be me getting old and jaded though.

AZP: This is one hell of a lineup you guys have here. It looks like you've got at least 64 bands playing ranging from local heavy hitters like Casket Life and Good Men Die Like Dogs, to national acts like Toys That Kill and The Underground Railroad to Candyland. How did you guys go about gathering this massive collection of bands? Did you mainly want to focus on Arizona bands, or were your trying to reach out all over the southwest?

CC: Yeah, we're really excited about the lineup. We have some really great bands coming out. If all goes as planned, we'll be announcing a few more that are gonna put the lineup over the top. We definitely wanted to showcase AZ bands but also get a good mix of bands from all over. For the record, URTC had to drop off but Stoned at Heart is coming in their place and Toys That Kill is still gonna make it out. Going about booking bands was actually pretty easy. We've manged to meet a lot of band members by just going to shows, hanging out partying and putting them up when they come through town.

There's been times where my house turns into a flop house for touring bands. So, knowing a few people has come in handy. We've also gotten some help from guys like Tim Neilson aka Johnny Volume, Party Marty from The Party's Over Productions and Chris Mason from Dirt Cult Records. You've heard of The Seven Degrees of Kevin bacon right? We've been calling this Three Degrees of Paddy Costello. Now, neither of us know Paddy but we probably know someone who does and if they don't, then they know someone who does. Folks involved in the "punk scene" are usually pretty accessible. For a little bit we tried getting some really big names out but bands like that want huge guarantees and we simply don't have the resources to pay a band 1500$. The upside is that we've had to deal with very few booking agents and that's a good thing.

AZP: So, what can show-goers expect to find at this first W.O.W. Fest?

CC: Shows are taking place at The Hut, O'Malley's and Skrappy's. Now anyone familiar with Tucson knows that The Hut and O'Malley's are not the typical punk type venues but I assure you, they know what to expect and have done an amazing job accommodating our needs. They'll also be running be food and drink specials all weekend for fest goers. Skrappy's will be doing all ages/donation based shows on Friday and Saturday night. This is a community oriented youth collective so I ask that people attending shows at Skrappy's be respectful and not drink on the premises. They do a lot of great things here and the last thing I want is for them to come away from this fest with a bad taste in their mouth. That's pretty much the gist of the weekend. We're gonna start working on the schedule in the next few days, so folks will have a better idea of who's playing where. Just keep checking the website for updates.

AZP: Who are you guys looking forward to seeing play the most this year?

CC: O boy, I can't even begin to answer this question. There's just too many bands to list. Hopefully I won't spend the whole weekend running from venue to venue trying to keep shit running smoothly. Shark Pants.

AZP: You have 4 volumes of music people can download from your bandcamp page for free. Any chance you guys will be pressing some comps in the future that people can buy, or are CDs pretty much irrelevant to you guys these days?

CC: At The moment, we don't have any plans to release any physical copies of the comps but who knows, crazier things have happened. I can't speak for Billy on this one but I prefer vinyl. A huge majority of the music I have is either vinyl or digital format on my ipod. I love buying records with digital download cards. If it plays on my turntable and my ipod , I'm stoked.

AZP: Any plans for a W.O.W. Fest next year?

CC: I'm not even thinking about next year yet. If everything goes well this year I don't see why wouldn't do it again next year.

For more details about this year's W.O.W. Fest and up-to-date schedule info, keep your potatoes peeled to wayoutwestfestaz.com. And if you haven't done it already, download the 4 W.O.W. Fest compilation albums below, and then go buy your tickets for the raddest punk rock event to hit the desert this year.

TPStank • Saturday, January 1, 2011 • 4:45 PM

Happy new year, Arizona punks! Well, it's been a long time since our first announcement of the Thrash of the Titans 2 event at the beginning of 2010, but finally, after the long months of organizing, practicing, performing, interviewing, recording, post-production, and the countless other steps it took to reach this point, we are proud to (finally) present the lot of AZPunk's Thrash of the Titans 2 documentation.

The multitude of talented and dedicated minds involved with this project from start to finish was staggering. The turnout at the show on September 25th was awesome, and finally, we've got the sights and sounds to show off.

The video above is the lovechild of a trio of AV students at the Art Institute of Phoenix. Anthony Morrison, Daniel Mater and Elias Roat came down to the show to shoot some footage for one of their school projects, and ended up producing a pretty sweet mini-documentary. A couple months ago, they asked Chris and I to come in for a post-show interview. I think Chris had some family in town, so he wasn't able to make it. Not living too far from the school, I cruised over to sit down with interviewer, Corey Lamb, and talk about the entire Titans process a little. After a couple months of post-production, and a lot of anticipation, we finally have it to show to you. Along with the video, our media compadres, Andrew and Kris, recorded some memorable podcast interviews and took some great shots. There's a whole bunch more raw footage I have to sift through, and thanks to Brian over at Hollywood Alley, we've got the audio recordings of the whole night that just needs some mastering. So maybe at some point later we'll have some more to show off. But for now, enjoy the fruits of everyone's collective labor.

• Listen on iTunes

This year's Titans 2 show was a lot of fun for us, and another great success story for the AZPunk.com history books. Tremendous thanks to everyone involved, everyone who helped and came out to the show, and everyone who supports and appreciates raw, homegrown talent. Here's to an eventful 2011. Cheers!

TPStank • Sunday, September 26, 2010 • 6:12 PM

Thank you everyone for all of your help and support for the AZPunk Titans project. You guys were all absolutely incredible last night!!! We got the whole thing recorded/videotaped/photographed/and podcast'd. Everything's getting edited, and will probably be in post production for a couple weeks, but keep your eyes peeled for our word on that in the upcoming weeks.

Thank you to the audience who came out to support your friends in this unique musical experiment. Your participatrion and excitement was the final step in this almost year-long planned out project. It was a VERY close competition this year, but your decision etched Double Fisted Cunt Punch (aka DFCP) into the AZPunk history books as 2010's Titans!

Thank you Ross, Will, Brian and everyone at Hollywood Alley for allowing AZPunk to transform your establishment into Mt. Olympus for a 2nd time. There's a reason why we wanted to include Hollywood Alley in this project again, and it's because you are some of the greatest people in the business AZ has to offer. Your creative inclusion of the "Double Fisted Cunt Punch" shot special was a touch that makes you as unique of a venue, as you are genuinely great people at heart. We can't thank you enough for being a part of this project again.

Thank you Samuel, Danny, Tony, and Alias from the Art Institute of Phoenix (and Kenyatta for introducing us!) for coming down and documenting everything on video for this momentous battle royale. We appreciate all of your personal creative approach, and we can't wait to see what you guys come up with!

Thank you to our podcast boys Kris and Andrew for sticking with us thru another podcast. We're stoked that you guys have joined the AZPunk team and your hard work with both the kick ass photography and the tireless audio work, we couldn't have asked for a better group of dudes to continue working with. Thanks for both of your hard work.

Thank you to the Bro-Loaf boys for the awesome entertainment last night. Your spontaneous creativity kept the show rolling better than I ever expected, and I knew exactly the kind of party you guys have to bring. You continue to embody the true spirit of this Titans project, and we were honored to have you back to drive the thing.

But most of all we wanted to thank the incredibly talented, and utterly dedicated musicians for believing in this project and your bands. Your tireless dedication to this thing for the past few months is the heart and soul of what this project is about, and is deeply appreciated. You all completely blew us away with your skills, and we encourage you to keep having fun with your music and the people you've worked with. We hope that this experience has created new musical ideas for you, and forged some new friendships. We couldn't have done any of this without your incredibly dedicated and tirelessly hard work.

Thank you all so much again for being a part the kick ass outcome of the AZPunk Titans 2 project. Keep your eyes and ears peeled for more upcoming AZPunk endeavors in 2011. AZPunk ain't going anywhere, bitches!!

TPStank • Sunday, September 5, 2010 • 6:44 PM

Welcome to the end of Summer 2010. The heat has been relentless for what seems like 95% of the year, and it always appears that there's no end to it in sight. But we've survived till September, and noone's been feeling the heat more than our 26 contestants as they reach the home stretch of AZPunk's Thrash of the Titans 2 battle at Hollywood Alley on Saturday September 25th.

Last month, I met up with a bunch of our Titan participants at the Q & Brew in Tempe for a pseudo pub crawl podcast (editor's note: this is actually podcast #3. #2 with Said Gun had to be postponed due to technical difficulties). With a month already down the drain at this time, I wanted to see how everyone was getting along, or if anyone had killed each other yet. Everyone seemed to keep with their aura of suspense, clamming up when asked about their band's style and what they were going to be bringing to the battle. Armed with my trusty new Droid X, I did manage to get some cool pictures, and a couple musicians to chat a bit. Just a friendly family warning, these interviews are all raw audio made from a guy who with otherwise pushing the record button, has no idea what he's doing.

As for our 6th band, Hand-Dick Coordination, we have no clue what's up with them. They were a no-show. Hopefully this elusive crew has something awesome to bring to the competition on the 25th. So far, we haven't heard a peep from these kids, and the showtime clock is ticking! The lineup is set, nerves are running high, and we're 20 days away! Mark your calendars for September 25, because AZPunk's Thrash of the Titans 2 battle will tear down the walls of Hollywood Alley!

TPStank • Thursday, August 12, 2010 • 11:26 PM

Ian Benton Lawson

If you were to rewind the clock back to year one of AZPunk, and you were to ask skinny little TPStank who he thought the first one of us it would be to have a kid, I probably would have said Bryan... maybe even me. But definitely not Chris. I'm really glad I never put a bet on that, because on Wednesday, August 11th 2010 at 11:43pm, the First Couple of AZPunk, Chris and Kelly Lawson, welcomed their special little punker Ian Benton Lawson to the world. Clocking in at a whopping 8 lbs 4.8 oz, this 20-inch little trouble maker is ready to start making way with the ever expanding next generation of little AZ punkers. Kelly's pretty much still out cold, but I did manage to get a few words from Chris about his new little man...

Congratulations Chris and Kelly for a healthy baby boy! Help me wish this happy new family the best of luck and love for the loooooooooooong road of pee faces, poopy pants, probably some occasional vomiting, and a whole lotta Ian.

TPStank • Monday, July 19, 2010 • 11:20 PM

Well, it's been a busy and trying couple of months since we announced our search for local musicians to take part in our Thrash of the Titans 2 show. Registration was a little slow to start off at first. This year seemed to take a little extra convincing to get people to sign up, but remembering how pressed for time I was in finding musicians for the first Titans show, I made sure that I started searching a little earlier this year. But after two months of fancy talking, three dropouts, several bribes, and multiple headaches, we're ready to announce the six new bands lined up for AZPunk's Thrash of the Titans 2!

First off, pop open your calendar and mark down Saturday, September 25th, because the T2 show is going to destroy the Hollywood Alley. Big thanks to Will & Ross for securing this day for us way in advance. Now for the bands! We're proud to announce the next batch of Titans contestants for 2010!

Hobophobes

• (v) Lise Johnson
• (d) Yami - (Hum Drum Drones, I Fuckin Hate You, MasterDroids)
• (g) Trevor Fairbanks - (Lack of Interest, Scalpwalk, Peter Mangalore)
• (b) Hadji Manhattan

Blue Waffle Anarchy

• (v) Talia Fuentes - (Beatnik Bombers, Radio Drag)
• (d) Beau Barthel - (Zombeast)
• (g) Adam Schafhauser - (The Meat Department, The AZ Beats)
• (b) Josh Hensley

Double-Fisted Cunt Punch

• (v) Mandie Smith - (Synthetic Human Pictures)
• (d) Rob Markham - (ATM, Point 9 Percent)
• (g) Kolby Waters - (West End Crooks)
• (b) Aaron Church - (Die Ignorant

The Staff Infection

• (v) Cris Mulvihill - (ATM)
• (d) Brian 'balls' Paulson - (Slime and the Boobytramps, Christfucker)
• (g) Oscar Anthoney Holmes - (Three Park Drive)
• (b) Kenyatta Turner - (Nunzilla, GunFuck)

Sarcactus

• (v) Matt Felix
• (d) Jim "Fury" Hesterman - (80*D, The Jerk Officers)
• (g) Kelly Carcinogen - (These Charming Men, Slime & The Boobytramps)
• (b) Steve Morales - (80*D)

Hand-Dick Coordination

• (v) Kelly Ehley - (Lost in the Sun)
• (d) Chad Martin - (Batter the Drag, Pezz, Sam the Butcher)
• (g) Brad Cole - (Fivespeed, DonkeyPunch, Seatbelt)
• (b) Nolan Thompson - (Bullet Train to Moscow, The Liars Handshake)

Keep your eyes posted for more details on the upcoming Thrash of the Titans 2 show at Hollywood Alley on Saturday, September 25th. There's alot more suprizes to come! In the meantime, here is a small collection of videos from local punks who are pretty awesome people. Enjoy, bitches!

Plus! If you haven't noticed, Chris busted out a brand new kick ass calendar. Go check it out and add some shows!

Chris • Saturday, July 10, 2010 • 6:11 PM

My new IDE of choice

With my sons due date vast approaching many people have prophesized for me a life filled with sleepless nights and zombie-like days. If any new enhancements were to be made to AZPunk I knew I'd needed to do them before Ian arrived. So, I've spent the last month or so coding after work and on weekends typically into the wee hours of the morning to spruce the site up just a bit. Call it preparation for what's to come with parentdom and the lack of sleep.

Here's a bit of a behind the scenes story that brought me to this point. If dreams of keyboard shortcuts and recursive functions wake you up at night continue reading....okay not really....okay maybe. Just read!

I was attending a free session on CSS for Layout at a recent Desert Code Camp. I'm more of a backend (get your mind outta the gutter!), server code type guy so I'd been putting off the whole CSS Zen Garden thing. But lately I'd been focusing more time on the client side with jQuery/AJAX and it's use of CSS selectors. So when this free code camp session came up I knew the time to embrace the ominous div tag was finally here.

It was the first session of the morning and right off the bat I was completely lost. It was an uneasy feeling that I typically don't do well with especially when related to computer stuff. But then, about half way through the presentation the light-bulb went off and I finally grasped the concept that had eluded me and all my previous attempts at CSS layout. The presenter was talking about floats and margins and all this stuff that I'd always related to the entire page and not elements of a page. "So wait a minute...every element on a page has a margin? and a border? and padding?". She was explaining the Box Model and it was just the catalyst I needed to set the wheels in motion.

At that point I was eager to start practicing what I'd learned so I came home and plowed through The Guide that the presenter had put together for the session. I'd visited all the resource sites she cited at the bottom of the guide and at that point I was hooked and needed more. I downloaded an e-book copy of CSS: The Missing Manual and started going through it. The Missing Manual is a book series that's just a step above those Doing Shit for Dummies books. Regardless of the pride I had to swallow that book explained things so well that I went out and bought a hard copy so that I could take it with me and read on the go.

After tinkering around with examples from the book and various websites I needed to put my new found knowledge to use on something that I could relate to. It's okay doing the whole Hello World exercise but I find I need to apply what I've learn to the Real World to get the synapses purring. So, it was time to tackle a few of the AZPunk projects that I'd been neglecting.

I created a new branch of our production code and fired up my old standby Notepad++. But as I stared at the screen my excitement to get started was quelled by the blinking cursor and the vast Notepad emptiness that surrounded it. Yes, I've been coding in the non-IDE dark-ages for far too long. See, for years I've been in search of a decent PHP IDE and for years have been disappointed. I've tried Eclipse (barf!), PHP Designer, PHPEdit and the list goes on and on... Nothing in the PHP world had ever came close to the elegance I've enjoyed in the .NET world with Visual Studio and Resharper.

Tools of the Trade

Coincidentally, just prior to the CSS wake-up call I'd been teaching myself Ruby on Rails and had been using the excellent RubyMine IDE created by the fine folks at JetBrains; the same company who brought Resharper into my .NET life. I was amazed at what Ruby on Rails had to offer out of the box. It was on par with most things I was already doing in .NET and was light years ahead of PHP. So I fell and fell hard. Not to mention that the RubyMine IDE allowed me to use a lot of the keyboard shortcuts and functionality that had already been infused in my brain with the use of Resharper at my 9 to 5 gig. So RubyMine made slinging Ruby code a breeze.

Had the AZPunk re-write come a year later it would have been done in RoR instead of PHP. But, at this point I had far too much time invested in the current 2.0 PHP code and too little time before the stork paid its' visit to rebuild it the Rails way . I realized I needed an IDE for PHP that was on par with RubyMine if I was to glean any enjoyment from this process.

I was pulled back into my PHP reality and I once again continued on my journey to find a decent IDE. I looked at the ones I'd previously mentioned again and a few new ones but none were appealing. They all just seemed foreign and not like anything I was used to. I didn't want to have to learn to use a new tool especially one that uses a different keyboard map for the same functions. Nothing is more frustrating when you're neck deep in code and the trusty CTRL-D or CTRL-/ don't work as expected. Instead you have to press CTRL-Q or some silly nonsense.

For whatever reason I'd paid a visit to the JetBrains site...probably to read the RubyMine forum or something. That's when I saw JUST RELEASED PhpStorm - IDE for HTML, JavaScript and PHP. Are you kidding me?! They had just released a new IDE for PHP THAT DAY and like RubyMine and Resharper it did the same, cool stuff I'd longed for in a PHP IDE like code completion, function lookup, super easy navigation, jQuery support, easier refactoring not to mention all the other super cool stuff. It even supported Smarty! the templating engine which I chose over the one built into the CodeIgniter MVC Framework that AZPunk is built on top of, but that's another story. So cool!

So, it had been written at that point. CSS was under my belt and I had my shiny new IDE. These new features just had to happen. The gods willed it...and so did Kelly (Thank you BTW!) So with a little help from a few jQuery libraries here and a few Google lookups there I put my nose to the keyboard and got to work.

And so I present to you the new changes...I hope you enjoy them. Just keep in mind that the site is still in "Beta" (READ: excuse for any bugs you encounter :-P)

Beers all around!

Improved Calendar

Next up is the new and improved show calendar. The previous one wasn't very useful and made it was nearly impossible to find out what was going on beyond the current week. I can't take full credit for this one though. I got by with a little help from a few jQuery libraries but it did take a lot of jQuery/AJAX/CSS code, configuration and integration on my part with this one. The result makes it well worth the time I put into it.

For all you AZPunk 1.0 oldtimers this calendar works fairly similar to the old AZPunk calendar. It shows a snippet from the title of the show on each day. Be sure to use concise titles when posting shows and list the headlining band first.

Despite the title snippets you can hover over a particular title and get a more detailed view of the show you're interested in. You can also click directly on the title to be taken to the full show details where you can comment and do other cool stuff.

If you click on the day number as shown above the actual show listing on the page will refresh with that days shows.

The final feature to showcase is the ability to navigate the calendar with the buttons in the top header. You can use the forward and backward arrows to navigate to different months. You can also click the Week button to narrow in on what's happening that week as seen below. This is pretty handy if there are a lot of shows happening that month. To get back to month view just click the Month button.

Article RSS

Just a minor feature but still cool nonetheless is the new Articles RSS feed. If you're at work and want to risk blazing the red and yellow you can do all your AZPunk Article reading in your RSS reader of choice.

That's it for all the stuff you'll see. I did a lot behind the scenes work to clean up code that's been a mess since the launch and added some things to make administration a bit easier. I'm on a roll now so stay tuned for more things after my boy gets here and we both adjust to our new lives.

TPStank • Tuesday, June 15, 2010 • 12:04 AM

Nate shows off the goods

It's hard to believe that 7 AZPunk comps have come and gone already. It seems like eons ago when Chris, Bryan and I were frantically trying to gather as much new local punk rock as we could, and cram it all into volume 1. One thing is for sure, AZPunk's collection of compilation albums documents a solid diverse collection of the growth (or diminishment - whichever way you tip on the full/empty meter) of local punk rock in Arizona over the last eight years, and our latest evolved installment, the Personality Disorder 12", although is a complete divorce from the standard template of the old "AZPunk comps" of lore, it doesn't stray from it's delivery of the awesome sounds of some of the bands tearing up pubs and house shows around the Valley today. On Tuesday, June 8th, we celebrated the release of our first record with the help of some of our good friends.

Naturally, being 1/4 of the guys involved with putting the record together, you could call me biased. That's fair. But being one of the dudes that is lucky enough to work with and get to know the awesome people in the bands that we've been involved with for these comps over the years, I can tell you for certain that these compilation albums we continue to pump out year after year aren't about AZPunk.com at all. They're about the bands that work tirelessly to do what they love to do. Bands that aren't here to be rock stars. Bands that, regardless of if their Faygo truck shows up or not, will still play the show. Everyone has their own opinions on the bands and songs we fill on these albums, both good and bad. But really, what else would one expect out of a compilation album? The AZPunk comps are not produced to heal the world's view of local music, nor dictate a political stance on what is and isn't considered "punk rock". What the comps are here to do is present a collection of current bands that are willing to work with us, and donate their music and time, so that you can make up your own mind about who you're gonna go catch at a gig, and who you'd sooner pass on by. These comps are about how Arizona punk rockers have fun. And after last Tuesday's Personality Disorder 12" release party, it's apparent that the fun hasn't stopped.

Our good friend Wesley Allen from The Plainfield Butchers and Erratic! Radio, invited us to host our release party on the air at his usual Tuesday nights at The Rogue in Scottsdale. A Tuesday? Yes, Tuesday. Apparently it's the new Thursday, because the turnout was a hell of alot better than I was expecting. Good ol' Bryan showed up to lend his killer lens and trigger finger to take some shots for us. The original lineup included The Impossible Ones, but to to their resent demise, Casket Life was cool enough to pop on at the last minute. Regardless, it was awesome to see Neil Impossible there showing his support. Another great band that wasn't able to make the lineup on the date we planned was The Father Figures, but seeing the smiling, attractive faces of bass player Tom "Phnart" Reardon and "drummer extraordinaire", Bobby Lerma, made my little heart go pitter patter.

The night kicked off with heavy hitters, and good compadres of ours, Casket Life. Always a great bunch of guys to hang with, even better to check out live. Fresh off their recent CD release, Building A Better Disaster, Casket Life wasted no time jumping right into business. I was stoked these guys had the time to hop on the show at the last minute. If you haven't heard the new album, jump over to InterPunk.com and pick it up. It's their best album yet, in my opinion.

After a little lineup switcharoo because Chad and David were out past their beddy-bye time, Cagematch hit the stage next. Now, as far as I'm concerned - and for the record, outside of the Star Wars universe, I've never actually claimed to know anything in life - but these guys personify the cutting edge of "plaguecore" punk music. This is a sub-genre that I just made up sitting here right now. It's a convergence of demon spells, crippling dark riffs, hopelessness, and the hardcore musical composition that when applied to the brain, causes internal hemorrhaging and sudden fits of head thrashing. Sounds scary, I know, but trust me, you gotta try it. Hands down, my most favorite band right now. Hard as FUCK!

This was the first time I had a chance to see Said Gun live, and I gotta say, they exceeded my expectations. Recently, they released their demo album SouthWestern Songs of the Arizonas to download for free on their BandCamp page, and although it sounds great, it doesn't compare to their live energy. Guitar player, Cory Rial, was a super trooper at the show, rocking the strings for both Cagematch and Said Gun that night. Another newer band over the years that you should make a point in catching live.

One of the more surprising artists you will find on this new comp, and one in which we were lucky enough to have play our release shows for the first time, Jason DeVore of Authority Zero played a solo acoustic set. A complete separation from anything you may be thinking, DeVore brought a rabid style of country acoustic punk to the stage, and from the sound of applause after he finished, caught every one in the room off guard. Personally, When we were orgainizing the music for the comp, I was kinda surprised when Nate brought DeVore's song Crooked Path to the table, but after the whole thing was done, and listening to the comp over and over for the past 3 months, I'm really glad he was included. Crooked Path is one of my favorite songs on the comp.

And as always, saving the best for last, the lo-fi rock n' roll of The Plainfield Butchers closed out the night on an awesome note. Lead singer/guitarist Wesley Allen was pulling double duty playing in his band, and hosting his weekly radio show, Erratic! Radio on KWSS 106.7 FM. It was pretty cool having a remote radio show broadcasting live during the show, unfortunately, Wes informed me that they don't archive the remote shows, so if you didn't catch the live show, I guess you're S.O.L. Wah wah :/. Anyway, they still kick ass live, and their lo-fi brand of rock sounds perfect on the album. I was thrown for a loop when I noticed that their new drummer, Justin, just so happened to be a friend of mine, and the drummer for the little Jazz band my friends and I organized for my wedding. He's a fantastic drummer, and it was cool to see him stretching his skills into a different style of music than the stuff I had been used to hearing him play before. I don't think the sounds of the night could have gone out any better than having the Butchers close out another memorable AZPunk comp release show.

Overall, the night could not only be considered a success, but probably the most fun I've had going out on a Tuesday night in a long time. It was great to see everyone who came out, and we appreciate the continuous support from the friends we've been lucky enough to gather over the years. Huge thanks to everyone involved and who came out to show their support. Before the night was over, Nate pulled me aside and told me that he's already getting hit up from bands who want to be on "the next AZPunk comp", even though at this stage, there's no real plan on making a new one. I guess it's up to you guys to tell us. Jump over to ShopAZPunk.com and buy a copy of AZPunk's Personality Disorder 12" before the quickly diminishing 250 copies are gone forever!

TPStank • Saturday, May 29, 2010 • 4:36 PM

Featured interview: Mikey Wretch

Welcome to the very first attempt at an idea I've had since the early days of AZPunk. Nothing cutting edge, really. Just a couple of dudes siting around a table, and mixing beer, whisky and rum with some chatter about local punk rock happenings. I guess you could say this is our new twist on the old "Featured Bands" segments we used to do, but rather than typing out a bunch of stupid questions for someone to answer, it seemed it would be a cooler idea to ask the stupid questions in person, toss in an unhealthy mixture of alcohol, and just hit record.

So here it is, AZPunk's first Pub Crawl Podcast. The general idea of this project is to grab a local band, pick one of the many local punk-friendly bars and pubs on our list, and just talk about whatever the alcohol tells us to talk about. Helping me along with this project are two long-time friends to AZPunk, Kris "D-Frag" Jonson taking photos, and Andrew "Rustyshackleford" Roesch recording and editing the audio. Hopefully this will be the first part in a long series of Pub Crawl podcasts for AZPunk. We had a lot of fun doing this for the first time. Originally, the plan was to host this podcast on iTunes, but it apears their review process takes a minimum of a million years, because I still haven't gotten the confirmation email. (Full podcast now available on iTunes!) So, in the meantime, we'll be sharing the track via Sound Cloud.

• Listen on iTunes

As you listen to the audio, from time-to-time you may hear an older, wiser voice from our pirate bartender chime in to give his two cents. This would be my father. Yea, my dad was at this thing. You see, when I called Mikey Wretch to inform him that he was going to be my first lab rat for this new audible experiment, I presented him with a huge list of local bars that he could choose from. Any one of the local punk-friendly establishments (that we know of) from Phoenix to Prescott and everywhere in between. Did he choose any of these? No. Instead, Mikey wanted to record at the small bar located in the back yard of my parents house. Right. Check. Parent's house. Ok, Mikey. This won't be awkward at all...

• Listen on iTunes

TPStank • Sunday, May 16, 2010 • 11:32 PM

Congrats to local lucky-ass, Tori Flint, for winning the dual Comic Con weekend passes! Hook me up with something signed by Stan the Man!

It's been a somber week here at the AZPunk studios (my laptop/a park bench), remebering and celebrating the life of our friend Dishonour Dan. He was a true friend, and he'll be missed deeply by many. Come and help us in raising our collective pints to his memory at the next installment of the traditional AZPunk comps, the Personality Disorder 12" Album Release Party on Tuesday, June 8th at The Rogue Bar in Scottsdale. Westley Allen and Erratic! Radio will be there broadcasting live on KWSS 106.7 FM and tearing it up with The Plainfield Butchers. May Cause Dizziness Records and Johnny Volume will be there with us selling the brand new AZPunk comp 12", featuring 14 local punk rock tracks for $12. Come down for good times, cheap drinks, and the soothing sounds of:

• The Impossible Ones • 9:00-9:30
• Said Gun • 9:40-10:10
• Cagematch • 10:20-10:50
• Jason DeVore • 11:00-11:30
• The Plainfield Butchers • 11:40-12:10

Millions of Dead Cops @ Chasers (5/17)

Texas hardcore legends, Millions of Dead Cops will be rolling through Scottsdale on Monday, May 17 packing Chasers full of some awesome heavy punk rock. Parkway Wretch fans will want to check this show out, as Mikey's new band Avon Ladies will be hitting the stage for the first time.

with:

• M.D.C.
• D.S.C.
• Restraints
• Nightgaun
• Avon Ladies (first show)
• No Other Option

A Benefit Show for Erratic! Radio @ Yucca (5/19)

Our friend Westley Allen and Erratic! Radio are holding a free benefit show at Yucca Tap Room on Wednesday, May 19th. Enjoy some drinks at Yucca's new craft beer and whiskey lounge while supporting D.I.Y. local Rock n' Roll radio.

with:

• Kirkwood Dellenger
• The Plainfield Butchers
• Robot Tank
• The Jitters

Good Men Die Like Dogs 10" Release @ Trevor (5/22)

As the post-Parkway Wretch virus spreads throughout the valley's music scene quickly, fans will definitely want to catch this house show at Trevor. Good Men Die Like Dogs will be releasing their 10" record, and Rumspringer will be saying goodbye to the 480 as they take off for their East Coast tour. Go buy an album, and wish some sweet dudes a bon voyage.

with:

• Good Men Die Like Dogs
• Rumspringer
• That's Life

Tin Can's first show @ The Wok Star (5/22)

My good buddy, Kris (DJ D-Frag) will be rocking out with his new band, Tin Can, at the Wok Star in Scottsdale with some old familiar friends.

with:

• Tin Can
• The Fed-Ups
• Family Secret

An "Absolutely Fabulous" Tribute To Black Flag featuring Black Fag @ The Rogue Bar (5/22)

As if there wasn't already enough to do on Saturday the 22nd, Mimosa Beach's own Black Fag will be back in the Valley tearing shit up with some of our friends at The Rogue Bar.

with:

• Black Fag
• Bro-Loaf
• The Hollowpoints
• Bomb Threat
• The Jerk Officers

AZPunk Contest: Win 2 Free Tickets to Phoenix Comic Con (5/27-5/30)

Ok, now onto contest time. Comic book geeks, listen up! Our friend, and APWithdrawal board operator, Jeremx, has hooked AZPunk up with TWO free tickets to Phoenix Comic Con happening over Memorial Day weekend, May 27th-30th at the Phoenix Convention Center. Since the Con is next weekend, it's gonna be a quick contest. We'll be drawing 1 contest winner on Monday May 24th to with a pair of Comic Con tickets, and mailing them off you you ASAP. Click the link below and fill out the form for your chance to win!

TPStank • Sunday, May 9, 2010 • 6:18 PM

Only the good die young.

It is with a heavy heart that we have to say goodbye to a true AZ punk friend. Daniel "Dishonour Dan" Howard was more than a friend that you would see out at shows, or would talk shit with on the old AZPunk message board. He was part of a family. A family that has spent that last eight years riding the roller coaster of life branded with the title "those AZPunk kids". A brand that from the outside perspective of a jaded and segmented music scene has been viewed as a clique, but for those of us who have spent these awesome eight years together thrashing, drinking and laughing, we know it better as a family. Daniel was a huge part of that AZPunk.com family. Daniel has always been a good friend to AZPunk.com, lending a hard working hand whenever we needed the extra help, and was always ready to enjoy the good times with good friends at the drop of a hat. We raise our glass to you today, Dishonour Dan. You are sadly missed by many of your AZPunk brothers and sisters. You went much too fast, buddy.

Services will be held at 5pm on Saturday, May 15th at Greenwood Memorial Lawn Cemetery - 2300 W. Van Buren St. Phoenix, AZ 85009.

After the service, there will be a gathering celebrating Daniel's life at 3640 East Park Avenue, Phx, AZ 85044. All of Daniel's friends are encouraged to join.

TPStank • Wednesday, May 5, 2010 • 12:29 PM

Behold! The second coming of the infamous AZPunk.com Thrash of the Titans battle will descend upon the masses towards the end of 2010. In the meantime, there is MUCH for us to accomplish. If you missed the first round of TOTT in December of '07, you missed out on the greatest battle of the bands-type event Arizona has ever seen. I know what you're thinking, "battle of the bands shows are for leprochauns and babies" (I know that's exactly what you're thinking, too). BALDERDASH! This isn't your run-of-the-mill collection of random crappy local bands, desperately seeking relevance and a quick $1000 prize. NO! This is you're complete UN-run-of-the-mill collection of random artists from crappy (j/k) local bands desperately seeking fun times and a quick prize of a personal sense of accomplishment, and maybe even the possibility of creating an entire new band out of nothing! Still sound stupid? Tell that to our last Titan winners, BroLoaf. Three years, 2 EP releases, an upcoming full length album, multiple member swaps and an spot on this year's San Diego's North Park Awesome Fast event, BroLoaf is still raging stronger than they day they first hit a beer bong on stage.

In the immortal words of Nice Guy Eddie, "Ok, first things fuckin' last." Here's the general breakdown of how this thing goes:

1. You go to the Titans Registration page and sign up on the left column form for a chance to be placed in either vocals, guitar, bass or drums. You only need to sign up once.
2. We gather registration entries for two months. Once we've gotten enough entries to fill six 4-piece bands, we randomly select entries from a hat, and contact the musicians selected.
3. In July, we'll be making the announcement of everyone selected. These chosen 24 musicians will then be given instructions to attend an AZPunk meet-up, where they will be randomly placed in a band, select a band name out of a hat, and then will have two months to create completely new, original music, learn one cover song, and be prepared to perform at the next Thrash of the Titans 2 show (date TBA) under harsh scruitiny of their punk rock peers and drunken audience members for a measly 30 minute set.
4. These bands need names, and these names will be created by YOU! If you think you can come up with the wierdest, craziest, most abnormal or obscene name for a punk rock band, then hop over to the right column form on this page and enter as many new band names as you like. All band names submitted will be placed in a hat for the new Titans bands to choose from.

That's basically all you need to know right now. We'll be releasing more details as the months go on, but this is the first step, so go register and submit some band names!

Important Links:

• Thrash of the Titans Registration & band name entry forms
• AZPWithdrawal announcement thread
• TheShizz announcement thread
• BlatantLocalism announcement thread
• ArizonaSka announcement thread

We want to give a HUGE thanks to local artist, Jason Gonzales for another year of great TOTT artwork. You the man!

totallydeprived • Monday, May 3, 2010 • 12:54 PM

Guest Writer: Josh Rodriguez

Being a promoter, I rarely get the opportunity to see a lot of the bands I would like to see, unless I'm working with them that night. Of course, if the situation arises efforts can be made, but that's not something that I would ever want to make habit out of. I've become familiar with forcing myself to believe that I will see them (whatever band it may be) the next time they come around. This is one of the many reasons I've decided to slow down, and to only do shows for bands I like.

The older I'm getting the less I want to help out people who I cannot artistically understand. For that, my personal effort(s) to come out to shows or the desire to do shows is decreasing. Some call this "elitism" and other call it "getting old in the scene", but I like to call it what it really is... lack of finances to support music I feel should and could be supported in Arizona. Regardless of what may exist in my bank account, I've come to terms with a couple of things in my life... we are all creatures of habit, and I have an addiction.

So here's a list of some events you'll see me at, not because I have to be there but because I've made time out of my calendar to be there, and I think the bands are worth coming to Phoenix. If you see me and I'm drunk enough, I'll probably buy you a drink and if not, then get me there.

Fucked up @ Chasers (5/6)

What to expect: Heavy distortion projected through loud amplification, sweaty dudes, fat dudes, hot dudes, stoned dudes (maybe a couple of stoned girls too), friends, old assholes, young assholes, a couple of flipped billed hats with clever one word phrases, everyone speaking in music and movie references like some sort of foreign language, merch, records you'll probably want to buy before someone else buys it and sells it on eBay for more than what it was being sold for.

with:

• Fucked Up
• Landmine Marathon
• Cagematch
• Elders
• The Chandails

• Buy Tickets
• Facebook Event Page

The Beets/Naïve/The Chandails @ YOBS (5/12)

What to expect: It's at YOBS, done.

with:

• The Beets
• Naïve
• The Chandails

• Facebook Event Page

Brilliant Colors @ Trunkspace (5/25)

What to expect: A night of incredibly catchy, raw and unpolished pop.

with:

• Brilliant Colors
• Grass Widow
• The Chandails
• Mangled Men
• Naïve

Abominable Iron Sloth @ The Rogue (5/26)

What to expect: Loud noises, beer... I really shouldn't have to elaborate on that.

with:

• Abominable Iron Sloth
• Drone Throne
• Addisons

Job For A Cowboy @ The Clubhouse (5/27)

What to expect: We all know exactly what to expect, or some don't but say their not going because they have a higher understanding of this genre of music. Regardless Cattle Decapitation never disappoints.

with:

• Job for a Cowboy
• White Chapel
• Cattle Decapitation
• Revocation

• Buy Tickets

Goatwhore @ Nile Underground (5/29)

What to expect: Metal! Metal! Metal!

with:

• Goatwhore
• Creatures
• Revocation
• Nails
• Swarmed

• Buy Tickets

X (Australia) & A-Frames @ Rhythm Room (5/29)

What to expect: A legend status punk band from Australia that started in the 70's play in Arizona for the very first time. A-Frames, who rarely tour will also be playing accompanied with 2 of the better locals in this city.

with:

• X (Australia)
• A-Frames
• Earthmen And Strangers
• Pigeon Religion

• Buy Tickets
• Facebook Event Page

Bastard Noise @ Trunkspace (6/13)

What to expect: Bastard Noise features Wood, Connell, and Nelson of Man Is The Bastard. The closest to a real Man Is The Bastard show, that most of us never got an opportunity to see.

with:

• Bastard Noise
• Landmine Marathon
• Magnum Force
• Gay Kiss

• Facebook Event Page

TPStank • Friday, April 16, 2010 • 12:51 PM

Congrats to the two winners of Casket Life's Building a Better Disaster CD, Terry Albin from Mesa and Sean Stroud from Phoenix. Thanks for playing, guys! We'll be sending out your CDs real soon.

First off, we want to send out a huge thanks to Dario and RadioPhoenix.org for having us by for a couple hours last night, and giving us an opportunity to play some tracks from our brand new AZPunk comp, Personality Disorder. This comp isn't like the usual comps we've done in the past. We figured that with a new rethinking of the website, the comps could use a good restructuring as well. So, if you haven't spent a measly $3 to buy one of our original AZPunk.comps vols. 1-6, then hop to it, because once they're gone, they're gone forever.

Personality Disorder is AZPunk's first vinyl 12" record featuring 14 tracks of some killer and (somewhat) diverse local punk rock. Instead of sending out the usual comp S.O.S., and calling out for people to submit songs, we joined forces with Nate from May Cause Dizziness Records, and D.J. Johnny Volume, and personally selected some of our favorite bands. The end result is a mixture of street, hardcore, pop, garage, lo-fi and post-punk rock music that portrays a great sample of the awesome diverse tastes of punk rock that Arizona has to offer in 2010. We're real proud of this new comp, and stoked that we got to work with our friends Nate & J.V.

We'll be releasing more details about the upcoming release show soon, but if you wanna get your ass on a roll early, you can head over to May Cause Dizziness' order page and sign up for pre-orders. This is on blue wax and limited to 250 copies. In the meantime, here's the album's track listing, and some other local music you can get your greedy paws on.

Side 1:

1. The Impossible Ones - One More Drink
2. Japanese Monsters - Sea Monster Song
3. Casket Life - And Now... A Public Service Announcement
4. Streetside Prophet - Hours
5. Hotdog! - Wayne's World Three
6. The Father Figures - No Guarantees
7. Automatic Erasers - All Mine

Side 2:

1. Good Men Die Like Dogs - Spilling On The Floor
2. Lenguas Largas - Lost Twin; Found Twin
3. Cagematch - Like Fangs
4. The Plainfield Butchers - If You Want It For Free
5. Said Gun - Stone Shitting Dogs
6. BroLoaf - Bro, Don't Call Me Bro!
7. Jason DeVore - Crooked Path

Casket Life Building a Better Disaster CD Release Show

Casket Life is back with their brand new CD Building a Better Disaster, which will be kicked off with the help of some some of their close friends, and even the resurrection of a local favorite, The Smoky Mtn. SkullBusters! Return of the beardzzzzz!

with:

• Casket Life
• Rumspringer
• The Smoky Mtn. SkullBusters
• The Liars Handshake
• The Dames

Contest time again, kiddies! Click the button below and send me an email for a chance to get your paws on Casket Life's new CD Building a Better Disaster before any one else does. Two lucky winners will be chosen Friday April 30th. Enter now!

Lead singer, Ben "Fuckin" Barnes gave AZPunk a rundown on how the process of making this album went.

Since the last record, we have collectively had just about all the problems any band could incur: drug and alcohol addiction, rehab, jail, a near-fatal OD, many hospital visits, multiple lineup changes, 3 busted ass vans, evictions, homelessness, car wrecks, DUIs, STDs, nasty breakups, broken hearts, and mostly just being broke.

A quote from fellow fan, D.J. Johnny Volume, about the album:

Building A Better Disaster... is disaster in of itself that began more then three years ago. Picture it, a band that had tirelessly been putting in the work of touring, recording, rehearsing, writing, putting out records, printing merch, etc... All on their own, rarely with any outside help, implodes. Near fisticuffs on stage opening for their heroes Avail. Not one member of the band wanted to talk to another, and they all lived together! But there was a problem, this band couldn't be over, too many people wouldn't let them. A long time band friend and recent San Francisco resident Danielle Mora called at the critical time to offer an opportunity to record at Fat Wreck Chords' label studio, Motor Studios. So the band did what they always had done to get to SF, played a couple of shows and sold merch at discounted prices to raise the money to go record. Breakdowns, tensions, and fights arose, and ended with one member departed. The band returned home feeling good about the sounds, even if the van making some new noises. So being broke, with a rattling van and two balled tires, complete with expired tags and no insurance, they did what any sensible band would do and went on tour! The aptly nick named Rubber Bands and Duct Tape Tour, as that seemed to be what was holding everything together. Once one member had been bailed out of jail, and one got back from rehab they headed out for a stint across the mid-west, part of the south and through Texas. CL returned on a high note, with some new fans, zero merch, and during the highest gas prices of 2008 even, some money in pocket! They took the little bit they had, and headed to Vegas for the annual Punk Rock Bowling Tournament and bet it all on black! They invaded people's rooms and took their beds, drank everyone else's drinks, and won enough to pay for what you hold in your hands! This is just a snapshot of what it took to get this recording out, and the bottom line is that it was all done out of love. And on a personal note I would just like to thank them for doing so, thank you for picking this up, listening to and reading, and to anyone who gave this circus a show to play, a floor to sleep on, a drink to be stolen, a mixture of drugs they shouldn't have taken, for some of this we apologize, but you were Deuced!

Good Men Die Like Dogs 10"

Along with being featured on our Personality Disorder comp, Good Men Die Like Dogs has released their own vinyl. Taken From BlatantLoacalism:

"8 song 10" ep out now on tortilla chip. featuring nastyd from the chortys. get it from the band, @ the dude brothel, mailorder, and soon @ the record store. sorry its not a tape, dudes."

New Prosthetics album Bad Intentions

""Our new 12 inch Bad Intentions is now available! It comes with a digital download code. You can pick up the LP at Eastside Records in Tempe, through our website, or at one of our shows. It has 10 tracks and costs 10 bucks.""

As an added bonus, here's a pretty awesome collection of local bands that are giving away their music for free. Have at it!

• The Tightholes - The Early Years As Told By Producer Fuksplat
• Partners in 818 - A Well Lit Place For Shady People
• Our For Revenge
• The Necronauts
• Emperors of Japan
• Vanguard Party - Demo
• Bolt! - Seed
• Bolt! - Honey
• Skinwalkers
• The Dionysians - Demo

TPStank • Thursday, April 8, 2010 • 11:11 AM

When my good buddy, Dario Miranda, isn't balls-deep into rocking out to some random indie or jazz band in the Downtown Phoenix art scene, or slingin' records over at Stinkweeds, he's hosting a weekly local music radio show on RadioPhoenix.org. The other day, I got a text from him, "Call me, fool. We gots business to discuss". Dario invited AZPunk down to talk shop on his radio show next Thursday April 15th for two whole hours from 6pm to 8pm. The timing for this couldn't be better, because Nate from MCD Records just sent me the mastered tracks from the upcoming Personality Disorder compilation album we're releasing in the next couple months (more details to come on that). So, with a nice block of two hours to kill, I'm pretty sure its a safe bet that we'll be playing some selected songs from this 14 track, all-new AZPunk compilation record. Tune in to RadioPhoenix.org on 4/15, and listen to the broadcast streaming live online to hear some brand new local punk rock!

TPStank • Tuesday, April 6, 2010 • 12:04 PM

Congrats to Jody Kregelka from Green Bay, WI! Wow, thanks for checking out AZ's local music scene and playing the contest!

Grace from Landmine Marathon photographed by Manny

Local metal brethren, Landmine Marathon, recently returned home from a SxSW, where they got the word from their label, Prosthetic Records, that they had less than two weeks to get a video shot. "We were made aware of an end of March deadline WHILE we were on tour until March 22nd." says guitarist, Ryan Butler. BlatantLocalism.net got a heads up from Ryan a week before their Monday deadline to try and draw as many people as possible.

"CASTING CALL: no joke, we are filming a music video on Monday 3/29 and would love to get some help from our friends as extras... It's gonna be a house show vibe... Come party with us! Food and drink provided. It will be Monday March 29th in central Phoenix from 6-8pm... For ALL the details and to be on the list you MUST email and Matt will send you all the details and release form etc. We'd love to have you there and to have people going apeshit."

Mission accomplished. Below are some personal experiences from some who attended the video shoot, and some fantastic photography by Manny which was shot on his Canon Elan 7 with a 50mm f/1.8 lens using Walgreens film. To check out some more of his awesome photography, visit www.publicaffection.tumblr.com.

Ryan Butler

The video was a blast. Turned out really awesome and is totally "us". I can't wait to show it, but we have no idea when that will be. Just saw the final cut and have to wait for approval etc. David Brodsky did a fabulous job and really got what we were going for! The video is absolute chaos!

Manny

What I loved about this video shoot is that it was in the middle of Phoenix in the middle of a really quiet neighborhood. So, imagine a bunch of punk and metal kids going insane at this house in the middle of it all. We had to do about 8 takes of the video which consisted of filming each member and then eventually the video guy filming the crowd going insane for which we will get some screen time.

It was VERY hot in there. Imagine the hotness of a house show but throw in some bright lights and me wearing all black. I felt like I could have passed out. Everyone seemed to be real into it, and despite us being tired I think we got something great. Lots of people were there that are involved in the Arizona punk/metal community.

Danny NSK

The room was so hot it was almost foggy. Imagine like almost 50 people, gear included, stuffed into a 8x10 room with no air. The director was moving with all the kids dancing taking hits while getting good shots on each take. The guy was a trooper. He looked like a buff long haired Robin Williams.

The neighborhood was shady, some dudes walked by and threw us a gang sign. This weird little Mexican kid that looked like an Ewok was starring at us all in the driveway not talking for like 40 minutes. I gave him a slice of pizza and he bolted. Guess he was hungry.

But the room was packed with girls and guys and it was a house show vibe. Grace was on top of the crowd raging punching the ceiling. I even danced once or twice! I cant really tell you who was there cause though I recognized a bunch I'm bad with names. I went with Jay Fotos. This dude Joe Distort twisted his ankle.

Jay Fotos

We showed up around 5:30, The video was shot at one of the guitarists house. Waited around for other people to show up until around 6:30. Butler ordered a nice stack of Papa John's Pizza for everyone.

By the time we showed up they have already shot the band members, they needed "crowd shots" that we (about 25-30 people) squeezed into a 10x10 room (remember there was a drum kit/lighting/amps in this room as well). They ran thru the the song about 7-10 times, each take focusing on one member of the band with the crowd. It was grueling, for the house had no AC and they had to keep all the doors/windows shut for the noise (it was LOUD), with all the people thrashing you can guess that room heated up like the surface of the sun, but with the sweat of long haired, pimply faced metal kids! I lasted for about 3 takes, was just to hot! Danny was a trooper, stayed in that room the whole time, he probably lost 10lbs.

It was funny to see after about 1 or 2 takes they would let everyone out of the room to get some air/drink water... like they all stepped out of a sauna, at the last few takes the room was so hot it was "foggy".

Joe Distort

"ALRIGHT-NO ONE STANDING STILL! EVERYONE MOVING!"

And with that basic instruction, we had to fake being at a TOTALLY! CRAZY! HOUSE! SHOW!, while watching LANDMINE MARATHON play along to their own song six times in a row.

Honestly, I thought it would be odd and awkward to get a bunch of the Phoenix kids together in their guitarist Dylan's house with a video 'crew' (XXXX and I think two spotters? They were very serious about us not hitting lights.). So after getting kinda lost in a neighborhood less than a mile from home and finding the spot, myself and the esteemable Miss Distort got to said house at the last minute. As soon as the music started, it lost a lot of the awkwardness as shit got REALLY rowdy quick. The first take was probably the craziest as no one was exhausted from the heat yet. I'm pretty sure Grace got thrown into the ceiling? And I may have thrown Brad of local beard fame on top of a bunch of people. So we do that three more times doing separate focus on separate areas for editing when I totally eat shit, getting nailed trying to, y'know, bring some sick mosh and shit brah. Awesome. My ankle rolled under itself and felt all crunchy so I power hobbled into the kitchen where all around humanitarian Jonathan Peters did some ghetto field dressing with a bag of ice and magic.

There were a few more takes, but I had to chill in the back standing on one foot and acting all metal. Well, as metal as a dude who can't put weight on a foot can look. After an hour and a half or so in the hot box, I totally ate half a pizza. A bunch of people left to go see DOOMRIDERS. I went home and soaked my foot.

Highlight: This 'show' was way crazier than the actual record release show
Lowlight: I'm still kinda hobbling
Pizza: four slices, plain cheese
Thumbs: up

Wanna get your ears on the new Sovereign Descent album by Landmine Marathon? Click the button below and fill out the email for your chance to win! One winner will be chosen and notified on Friday, April 16th. Huge thanks to Mike over at Prosthetic Records for hooking this up!

Ludicra & Landmine Marathon @ Nile Underground 4/28

Also, if you haven't had a chance to catch Landmine Marathon yet, you can see them at the Nile Underground with Ludicra, Black Hell and Nightgaun on Wednesday, April 28th. Word around the sandbox is that this is Black Hell's last show, so cough up $10 for these local hardworking metal heads and go see this show!

with:

• Landmine Marathon
• Ludicra
• Black Hell
• Nightgaun

And now herer's the video!

TPStank • Friday, March 26, 2010 • 2:16 PM

Chris, Sarah and Micah on Blaze Radio 1330AM 3/23

We wanted to send out a HUGE thanks to Sarah Ventre and the whole Blaze 1330AM team for inviting us over the guest DJ the radio show this last Tuesday. Unfortunately, if you missed it, you're pretty much in the same boat as us being s.o.l., because their computer fried destroying all of the recordings of that day, so no MP3 copy for us. Wah wah :/. That does, however, mean you're off the hook for not listening. But if you did happen to tune in, you would have heard us play some killer local punk rock, and talk a little bit about some of the pretty cool things AZPunk has in store for 2010.

One of them, is that we have teamed up with local vinyl freak, Nate from May Cause Dizziness Records, and everyone's favorite country punk, D.J. Johnny Volume to create a local compilation album titled Personality Disorder, our very first 12" vinyl record that will feature 14 tracks of what? You guessed it. Local punk rock! The album's been mastered and is in the prep stages of getting pressed. It's a departure from our usual AZPunk.comp volumes we've released in the past. We're real excited about this album, and to have worked with two of our good buddies on organizing everything.

The other super awesome bit of news that you missed, is that late 2010 will see the return of AZPunk's coveted Thrash of the Titans 2 Battle. If you missed out on either seeing or participating in our first Thrash of the Titans show in December of '07, you're gonna get a second chance. TOTT1 was a huge success, and we got such a great response from everyone, we just had to throw another Thrash blowout this year.

There's a whole shit load of details that need to be squared away before we start throwing out the gritty info for both Thrash of the Titans 2 and Personality Disorder 12", so keep checking back with AZPunk.com to find out the steez on these and everything else that's going on in AZ.

Oh, and in case you were wondering, here's the track listing of songs we played on the radio. It's all local punk, because we forgot our Gorge Strait albums at home. Just kidding. We don't actually own any George Strait. Cizmar bought them all up.

1. Cagematch - Down The Sky
2. Parkway Wretch - Andrew Lawson
3. Big Vinny And The Cattle Thieves - Sunday Morning
4. Where Eagles Dare - Despite The Casualties
5. The Wongs - Nothing To Me
6. Swing Ding Amigos - Pinokaik
7. The Impossible Ones - Unlucky Me
8. Mob 40s - Never Gonna Run
9. JFA - Preppy
10. Labor Party - Beat, Bored, Broken and Burnt
11. Casket Life - I'm not an Addict
12. Zany Guys - Hardcore

Speaking of everything else going on in AZ, here's a brief recap of shit going down.

May Cause Dizziballs competing in Punk Rock Bowling

Nate, Johnny Volume, and all of the kids with May Cause Dizziness Records got a team together to compete at this year's 12th Annual Punk Rock Bowling competition in Las Vegas May 6-9. Our resident AZPunker (and Chris' lovely wifey) Kelly Lawson (aka udontknowme) threw together this logo for the league's jerseys. Nice work Kel! Word has it that the May Cause Dizziballs team mitght even be writing a recap for us when they get back (*nudge*nudge). Hopefully after all the drinking, gambling, not to mention bowling and all the freakin bands, they'll be coherent enough to take pictures and remember everything. We're rooting for you guys! Just remember, if Fat Mike offers you a shot, don't take it. Trust me.

AZKaos Issue #11

The kids at AZKaos have pumped out the 11th issue of their awesome zine, and it's already on the streets, ready for you to consume. Here, they tell us a little bit about what you'll be able to find in this latest issue;

Welcome to another jam packed full of awesome edition of AZ Kaos! In this month’s issue we’ve got an interview with Cottonwood’s very own SKA band, The Braskies, a look at Burlesque Troupe, The Pretty Things as well our own local tassel-laden ladies, a scene report from our friends at Eloy Unified, Calabrese, Contradiktion, BYO Records, The Iron Lady, The PHX Am, tons of reviews and all the schizophrenic rambles you’ve come to know and love us for! It hits the streets in PHX this weekend and everywhere else next week, so be sure to pick up a FREE copy at most record stores, venues, coffee shops, and DIY establishments state wide!

Wanna get your hands on a copy? Click here to find a list of where you can get one. Keep up the great work on this, guys. These economic times are not easy on D.I.Y. ziners, so show your support by picking up a copy, and checking out their myspace page.

Landmine Marathon video shoot & contest

Our local metal brethren, Landmine Marathon, just got back from tour, and have all kinds of shit lined up including a video shoot happening this Monday. Taken from blatantlocalism.net:

CASTING CALL: no joke, we are filming a music video on Monday 3/29 and would love to get some help from our friends as extras... It's gonna be a house show vibe... Come party with us! Food and drink provided. It will be Monday March 29th in central Phoenix from 6-8pm... It will end in time for the doomriders show at rhythm... For ALL the details and to be on the list you MUST email landmine_marathon@yahoo.com and Matt will send you all the details and release form etc. We'd love to have you there and to have people going apeshit.

Also, they're having a pretty rad contest. Enter for your chance to win a sweet ass guitar case with the cover art from their debut album, Sovereign Decent on Prosthetic Records. This isn't an AZPunk contest, so check out the details on the flyer for info on how to enter.

Locals confirmed for North Park Awesome Fest 4 Sept 3-5

This is a pretty far notice in advance, but four AZ locals have been confirmed for this year's 4th Annual North Park Awesome Fest in San Diego. No clue on what date's they're playing, but if you go, you'll be able to catch Lenguas Largas, Shark Pants, Rumspringer and our boys BroLoaf! Wow, BroLoaf? Our little Titan title holders are all growd up! Thanks Rial for planting my eyes on this info!

For more info on NPAF4, visit myspace.com/npaf.

Johnny Volume & Jooly Beam Birthday/Getting Hitched Party @ Yucca 3/27

We wanted to wish our buddy D.J. Johnny Volume and his soon-to-be wifey, Joolie Beam a happy birthday(s) and congrats on their engagement. you can help them celebrate tomorrow at the Yucca for free with a grip of awesome local bands:

with:

• Rumspringer
• Casket Life
• Ready The Jet
• Chortys
• Good Men Die Like Dogs
• Slow Death

Out For Revenge Black Market Status cover art

A little late addition to the article, but relevent none-the-less. Everyone's favorite local hardcore little engine that could, Out For Revenge is finally pushing forward with their awaited album Black Market Status, and has released the awesome cover art drawn by Craig Holloway. There's also a pretty decent review of the album on StereoKiller.com.

TPStank • Friday, March 19, 2010 • 3:16 PM

Micah, Bryan, Sidney (R.I.P.) & Chris enjoying the good times @ Jugheads.

Many moons (and roughly 3500 gallons of alcohol ago), I had this idea for AZPunk. It was to make a list of all of the punk-friendly bars I could find throughout the state, and start a re-occurring segment called the "AZPunk Pub Crawl", where we would travel to one of these listed bars with a local band, kick back with a trough of drinks, and just bullshit about local music and whatever else a trough of drinks happens brings about. Each segment would feature a different bar, and a different local band. Kind of like an upgrade to the "Featured Bands" of AZPunk lore. Well, that idea never really got much further than the inside of my skull, but it did get me off my ass to start making a list of the right bars and pubs you should be supporting all throughout Arizona. With a lot of help from the boardies over at The Shizz, and some meticulous HTML coding, I've busted out a pretty comprehensive list of some great places for you and your friends can go to get away from everything, just have some drinks, and in some cases, a bite to eat. By no means is this list complete, so if you think I've missed something, gimme a holler and I'll add it to the list. As for the "Pub Crawl" segment, we haven't completely given up on the idea. Maybe given a little extra time in the future, we can start knocking some of these bars off the list.

(Now with new improved layout!)

East Valley (Tempe, Mesa, Scottsdale)

Central Phoenix

Downtown Phoenix

North Valley

West Valley

Tucson

Flagstaff

Prescott

Did we leave something out? Email me in our contact section and let us know.

TPStank • Tuesday, March 16, 2010 • 1:46 PM

They live!

With all the hooha on the big 2012 apocalypse scare and people freaking out over the end of the world, AZPunk is here to let you know that we're all going to die. We have difinitive proof that we are all nearing the end of days, because the dead are definitely clawing their way back up through their graves in this state. The weekly spelunking of local shows has unearthed the fact that punk rock is anything but deceased in our broad, dysfunctional little local music scene. Throughout the months of March to May, Arizona old school punk rock is back on track and playing shows all over the place. From National acts like Bad Brains, to classic Arizona Oi like Fatskins, and as always, new local and traveling acts trudging their way to and from SxSW, if there was ever a list of shows that should get you to you grab your friends, gas up the ride, and head out of town for some good ol' punk rock fun times, this is it.

Flogging Molly After Show w/ The Freeze @ Rogue East 3/17

You know your state has great local music when the after show is a million times better than the headliners'. Case in point: The Freeze. Liar's Handshake. 80*D. My advise for St. Patty's day is this: skip the Flogging Molly brofest and the $35 price tag, and get over to Rogue early to prepare yourself for the greatest non-Irish drunkfest you've ever seen on a Wednesday.

with:

• The Freeze
• Liars Handshake
• 80*D
• Moovalya

SpasmFest 2010 @ Vaudville 3/20

Back from the dead, old schoolers Bloodspasm return for a night of insane Tucson punk rock at Vaudville Cabaret on Saturday March 20th. Local degenerates Flying Donkey Punch and Blue Collar Criminals will be along for the ride with a couple other friends.

with:

• Bloodspasm
• Flying Donkey Punch
• Blue Collar Criminals
• Limbless Torso
• Inoculara

Bob Spasm's 50th Birthday @ Surly Wench 3/23

As an apparent two-parter of Bloodspasm's return to the living, Bob Spasm's new band will be playing with Texas Terry, and they'll all be celebrating Bob's coming-out-of-the-womb-day. Here's to you, Bob, and all of us at AZPunk.com hope that you don't leave the house without your Life Alert bracelet!

with:

• Texas Trash And The Hangovers
• Bob Spasm and the Gods of Rock

JFA/The Father Figures @ Scrappy's 3/26

This show is so awesome, it needs to be mentioned twice! Even tho I featured this in the last LSYSK#11 article, JFA & The Father Figures are playing an all ages gig over at Skrappy's.

with:

• J.F.A.
• The Father Figures
• Retard Riot
• First Offense

Trash: 70s Punk Rock Show 3/26

When you're done with JFA & The Father Figures, cruise on over to the Rialto Theater, and for $3 you can listen to DJs spinning the vinyl that started it all, as well as the dirty sounds live of Texas Terry, Shark Pants and others.

with:

• Texas Trash And The Hangovers
• Shark Pants
• Leila Lopez
• Robin Graves
• more...

JFA/Dephinger Apache Split Release 3/27

JFA & Dephinger are heading out to the Rez for a skate competition/record release blowout with AZPX Skateboards. For more details on their 7" split, check out the interview I did with Rob from AZPX last week, and sign up for your chance to win a copy of the record. Otherwise, gas up. You'll need it for this trip.

with:

• JFA
• Dephinger

Atomkinder @ Creephouse 3/27

This was a random show I ran across, old school grindcore band, Atomkinder, is playing a low-key house show in downtown Phoenix on the 27th. I used to love these guys when I was a kid. Good to see that they're still up and running.

with:

• Atomkinder
• more...

Bad Brains @ Celebrity Theater 4/10

This show has brought on something of a weird response, but here is the good and the bad news: good, it's only $13. The bad: it's at Celebrity Theater. Yea, you heard that right. Not sure how well Bad Brains are gonna go over at Celebrity Theater, but at least we know there will be plenty of... seating? (No word on a Tucson show yet.)

with:

• Bad Brains
• The Goat and the Occasional Others
• Bad Shit
• Via Vengeance

Sundown Showdown 2 Festival @ Yucca 4/9-10

Basically Metro-Phoenix's own SxSW, the 2nd Annual Sundown Showdown Festival at the Yucca Tap Room will feature all kinds of local garage and experimental acts from all over the state and abroad.

Day 1 (4/9):

• Glass Heroes
• Lenguas Largas
• Cat Party
• Becky Lee And Drunkfoot
• Stalins Of Sound
• more...

Day 2 (4/10):

• Earthmen and Strangers
• Gospel Claws
• Tri City Thundercats
• The Kabbs

Fatskins @ Chasers 5/28

Arizona Oi Godfathers return for a night of hooligan good times at Chasers with their buddies Rotten Youth and Tucson's Bricktop. Fatskins have been laying low for years. If you're any fan of old school Oi punk, this is one show not to be set aside.

with:

• Fatskins
• Rotten Youth
• Bricktop
• The Impossible Ones
• more...

TPStank • Friday, March 12, 2010 • 11:25 PM

I've been noticing on some of the design websites and blogs that I frequent, webmasters have enabled the ability for visitors to connect via social networks likeFacebook. Well, after a little mining and pillaging on the good ol' innerwebs, I found out how. It's pretty simple, actually. So we're gonna test drive this Facebook comment thing for a bit and see how it all works out for the time being. So go ahead, sign in via your Facebook profile, and comment away on any of the articles or show postings. Like I've said before, AZPunk is a social web experiment, so we're always testing out new gadgets and web shits. If something doesn't work, or you have any ideas or desire to help out, hit us up. In the meantime, this seems like as good of a place as any to start!

Oh, we also set up a new Facebook "Fan" page which can be found here.

TPStank • Thursday, March 11, 2010 • 11:46 PM

Congrats to winner Allen Dougherty!

Featured interview: Rob Locker from AZPX Skateboards

For eight years, AZPX Skateboards has been thrashing across the desert from border to boarder spreading the gospel according to griptape. AZPX Owner, Rob Locker - the brains behind the board, is continuing his mission on Saturday, March 27 at San Carlos Apache Boys & Girls Club Skatepark with AZPX's 5th Annual Apache Skate Blast and JFA/Dephinger Apache Split Release Show. This day-long skateboarding competition will complete with a good ol' fashioned Rez punk party featuring JFA, Dephinger and some of their friends celebrating the new Apache Split 7" record. I sat down with Rob over the innernets to ask him some hard hitting questions about the record, geriatric skating and when the hell I'm gonna get my hoverboard.

AZP: From what you tell me, you've been sitting on this recording for over a year now. What's taken so long to get this rolling?

Rob: Actually, the idea for it came about in 2008. JFA was already working on another compilation project and had some extra tunes. Dephinger was writing songs for their next full-length release and had a lot of material too. The timing was just right. Not to make excuses, but 2009 was one shitty year man. Fear of being laid-off, a death in the family and being inflicted with a serious illness really fucked my shit up. Besides, AZPX Recordsain't no full-time gig or nothin ' and there is NO cash whatsoever to throw around on projects. The bands were gracious enough to pay for their own recordings but everything else but we had to get creative and raise the money ourselves. Playing lots of shows in this towndoesn't raise shit towards a release. We turned to our roots for some help. Cowtown Skateboards really stepped up and became a major sponsor of the project, basically just giving us cash and saying "run with it". It will be available at all Cowtown's 3 valley locations and on their website. Thanks a million Laura, Trent, Ed and all the CT family!

So yeah, it's taken a year to pull it all together, but hey, it's AZPX Record's very first vinyl release and it's gonna be a banger at that. Besides we are know as "Arizona's Worst Record Label", always choosing to go skateboarding than to work on making records. Basically it exists just for projects like this one.

AZP: The album release show is going to be at The San Carlos Apache Rez. I've noticed that AZPX does a great job expanding the borders for all of your events. Why is this?

Rob: From the beginning our only marketing strategy was to participate in every skate event and punk rock show that we possibly get to. By participating in these events means donating a lot of product and time to the folks putting them on. We came around when the skatepark build boom was in full effect and our original team rider, Brian Pino, just so happened to be the project manager on a lot of these builds and would always mention that his sponsor would be happy to put on a grand opening event for them. A lot of small communities around the state were building so we just followed wherever the next one was. Over the years, these people would remember AZPX and call us back to do other events for them involving theirskatepark.

AZP: Do you get a better draw in the outskirts of the state?

Rob: It's not necessarily a better draw on the outskirts, but yeah, kids really appreciate it more when you take your time to come hang out and skate with them. We hold a yearly to bi-yearly event at the Wickenburg skatepark called "The Battle of Sickenburg". The Battle is basically just an open BBQ with a little contest going on. The only prize is a beer cooler on skateboard trucks and wheels. It goes to whoever ripped the hardest that day. The winner from the last one brings it back to the next Battle, re-stocked with brew. What I am getting at is that at this thing we have kids coming from all over the state as far as Parker and Show Low just to come and skate with us for the afternoon. Getting back to the Rez, which is one of the poorest communities in Arizona, the kids don't have shit to do but get in trouble. They look forward to this event all year. It means a lot to them.

AZP: Why not just hold them at skate parks around the valley?

Rob: Local municipalities such as Phoenix pretty much won't event talk to you about throwing your own event at a park, and they certainly don't want to throw any of their own events. (There are exceptions: Goodyear, Glendale, Peoria). Common practice among the local skate companies is just make a flier for an event a week ahead of time and just go and do it at said park and hope you don't get shut down.

AZP: No Apache Split commemorative board to go with the split?

Rob: That's a good idea, Micah. I think I will go hand paint some decks and donate them to the Apache Skate Blast Contest with the JFA and Dephinger logo on it. As far as a commemorative board, I don't think that's a go. We make decks to be destroyed. Sure we have some models that are worthy wall-hangers but that's the owner's choice. Making a deck just to commemorate something and make it an instant collectible kinda ruins the cycle in the skateboard deck 'circle of life' or whatever you want to call it. Occasionally though, if it's for a worthy cause I will create a one-of-a-kind commemorative board to donate.

AZP: JFA has been pretty busy lately playing shows around the Tucson area. Anything we can expect to see more from them in the near future? I head something of a new studio recording in the works?

Rob: JFA has been busy as hell. Last year they released their first proper live recording called To All Our Friends, they played a ton of shows mostly around Southern California and Brian managed to knock himself out into the third song of their last Phoenix gig at the Sets. You just can't count on old guys to catch you for a stage dive anymore. As far as the recent Tucson gigs go, they came out last September to do an Arizona music showcase at Club Congress that blew the roof off the Hotel. The vibe was so killer they wanted to play Tucson again for the underagehomies this time instead of Phoenix. If only Hollywood Alley could do all-ages shows. Five years ago AZPX produced JFA's 25th Anniversary show at the Alley. It was their second biggest liquor sales night in their history and the Fire Marshall showed up freaking the fuck out. The thing is, JFA is all about playing gigs that can reach all age audiences. They will opt for a smaller all age gig over a larger 21 and over show any day. Besides the Apache Split, JFA is presently recording new tracks for an upcoming full-length release. Details coming soon!

AZP: Whats up with Dephinger these days? We haven't heard from them since the V6 comp. I see they often play on the west side lately over at Copper State Tavern. Anything new in the works for them?

Rob: The question should be "What ISN'T Dephinger up to these days?" Since the V6 Comp they've gone on two North American tours, one making it all the way to Ohio's Skatopia, leaving it in more ashes. We've been busy around the Valley, but just in an underground sort of way carefully picking local public performances, opting to play many private backyard and desert parties. Since Dephinger basically owns its own production company, have teamed up with AZPX Records and have been DJing lots of events and skatepark demos. On the horizon, Dephinger is working on recording their own upcoming full-length release.

AZP: How many bands do you actually have under AZPX Records now?

Rob: Technically, we have one band officially on AZPX Records... the mighty DEPHINGER! Yeah, we are doing a project with JFA but they are really not on our label, per say. Other bands have went ahead an put our logo on their recordings like Vacation to Kill the Nation and Greenhaven but they are more our bros who we support and promote because 1) We dig their music, and 2) That's what skate homies do for each other. Don't get me wrong, I would love to release something officially by each of these bands, maybe in the future. Also, we did put a release out by AZ Skate Rock legends Junior Achievement which was a re-release of the original 1984 vinyl re-mastered with added live tracks. Does that count as being a band under AZPX Records? I don't know.

AZP: Where's your favorite place to skate & why?

Rob: This is a great question. I grew up skateboaring in a time where the only places to ride your skateboard were places you either trespassed or you made your own terrain to skate. It was way more renegade back then and you spent more time looking over your shoulder than actually skateboarding. Running from the fuzz, getting knives and guns drawn on you, being chased by dogs was all part of skateboarding. Nowadays, things have changed and the cities have built parks all over just to skateboard in. Although this is great, the new generations of skateboards have no idea how to appreciate what they have to skate. I feel bad for them because the way I came up gave me an appreciation for ANYTHING I have to skate, be it an insane 11 foot bowl with tile and pool coping at the Goodyear Skate Complex or an old fucked up parking curb a down the street from home. So, I guess my answer is my favorite place to skate is anywhere I have the opportunity to skate with some good friends.

Nose grab pivot on the tombstone

AZP: I've always loved skating, but I wouldn't dare refer to myself as a skater. My expertise doesn't stretch much further than a Pop Shuvit. Being the old fart that you are, what's the craziest trick you've ever performed, and would you be able to do it again without busting your hip?

Rob: The other day I did a switch 540 McTwist up a sidewalk wheelchair ramp on my way to the liquor store. C'mon, Micah! You puttin' me on the spot here or what? Let's see, I am 43 now, I started riding a skateboard seriously about 1984-never quit (slowed down a bit when the kids started showing up) - and I still suck!!! I mean, I can hold my own in any session on anything with anybody, but I wouldn't say I'm a heavy hitter in any session. My 9 year old son has now surpassed my in skate gnarlitude . What's more important would be some of the many many adventures seeking out skateboarding and making it happen-the people, the places, the situations-be it epic or horrific all adds up to quality skateboarding. This question could be a whole other interview if you want more details.

AZP: Not to get off track, but something has been troubling me for quite sometime, and as a skateboard maker, maybe you can shed some light for me. It's 2010. By any standards our generation grew up with, we are living in the proverbial "future". In this "future" we were promised ahoverboard, yet here I am, 32 years old, and I have no hoverboard. Why don't I have a hoverboard, Robert? When will I get the hoverboard I've been promised since Back to the Future 2?

Rob: Micah, you would make a perfect skateboarder because you are such a fucking nerd bro! I can certainly tell you that there will never be a hover board in the AZPX catalog. Right now there's all kinds of 'deck technologies' and 'green' manufacturing techniques-mostly just marketing campaigns. AZPX skateboard decks will always be just 3 things: wood, glue & pressure. We try to keep it as simple as possible by using the most ravaged old-forest depleted wood, the freshest horses for our glue right from the horse track. (settle down all you PETA freaks, I'm kidding!!) Getting back on track here Micah, it sounds like you really want a hover board man. Embrace the skateboarder ethos and make one yourself. I'll take it for a test ride for ya!

AZP: Did you know that AZPunk and AZPX are twin bastards from Hell?

Rob: Yes, I was aware of that. I saw that in a vision when I was hallucinating last summer from skateboarding when it was 113 degrees out. Little AZPunk and AZPX chupacabras were chasing me around Tempe Skatepark . Did you know that AZPX owes it's name to AZPunk? You guys started up just a couple of months before AZPX did. Our original name was AZPunx which was to be azpunx.com (funny how that links takes you somewhere suspiciously familiar...) Well, I thought the name was just too close to this other music driven website and confusion would occur so I just took some letters out of our name and ran with it. Over the years I got to know you guys pretty well and we have worked together on some pretty epic projects, and hope to do more. Plus, I think AZPX has put a little dent in Chris' mortgage payment with his awesome punkit.com service.

AZP: Any last requests?

Rob: I want to say thanks and give a shout out to everyone who has supported AZPX over the last eight years. Our little company has beaten the odds in the brutal skateboard industry environment and has outlasted a lot of other brands. I'm notsayin' that we're major players now and we don't want to be. The mission is to provide quality skateboarding to my home: Arizona. See you at the skatepark!

Click flyer for more details.

TPStank • Tuesday, March 9, 2010 • 5:07 PM

This morning, we received an email from Sarah Ventre, the music director of ASU's student radio station (KASC The Blaze 1330 AM) asking if AZPunk would like to take part in their guest DJ program running throughout the month of March. Our response was quick and firm; "HELL YES!!!" Chris and I are stoked to help out with this great opportunity for us to play some new local punk rock (and most likely some old favorites), and also be given a chance to talk about some big things in the works with AZPunk for 2010. And what IS it exactly that AZPunk has in store for the local punks of Arizona this year? A new compilation? New website features? Some massive musical rematch? We're not telling! Well, at least not until March 23rd at 1PM. If you're not by a radio, then you can listen online at blazeradioonline.com. Tune in punk!

AZPunk Flashback

Ashley Harris, the DJ at the Blaze prior to Sarah, hit me up on Facebook, and reminded me that this was the 2nd time AZPunk has been on the air at Blaze Radio. She sent me this photo of me and Bryan. I couldn't remember why Chris wasn't there. I think he was out of town. At any rate, you can see that the years have not been kind to poor ol' Bry. He used to be a looker. As for me, I always maintained my dapper style, although I'd kill to drop back down to the belt size I was wearing in this photo. Thanks for the memories, Ashley!

TPStank • Wednesday, March 3, 2010 • 10:43 AM

Everybody is different when it comes to organizing the ins-and-outs of your band. For me, I've always been the detailed oriented guy who likes to keep info within arms reach (who said that drummers were the laziest people in the band anyway?). Luckily, the glorality of the innerwebs offers some kick ass tools for you to use for free. Sure, you already use the standard social networking websites like Facebook, Twitter and MySpace (does anyone even still use MySpace besides us?), but what if you need to design a flyer and can't afford Photoshop? Or if you want to record a simple demo and don't have the cash to pay an engineer? Don't worry, AZPunk's got you covered. We've comprised a seriously resourceful list of 10 web tools that have been huge help to AZPunk in the past, and will no doubt make your band life a hell-of-a-lot more organized.

Aviary

All your graphics needs

Need to design a flyer for a upcoming show, or a logo for a t-shirt, but can't afford the measly $1,300 price tag for the Photoshop/Illustrator bundle? Aviary is your new God. This website has every design angle you're ever going to need covered. Best of all, it's completely web-based. You don't need to download and install any bulky software on your machine (just a flash-enabled browser). Avery is an absolute must for any kind of graphic design you'll need, and it's super easy to use. Thanks Danosaur on the Shizz board for bringing this one to light.

Groovehouse Templates

Album design templates

Chances are, at one point or another, you're gonna want to record a CD or vinyl album, and being the DIY'er that you are, you're probably going to need some design templates. Groovehouse has you hooked up. I've come across a few good template sites, but this one seems to have everything you'll need, with a real simple way to find it.

Rapid Share

Send huge files

Rapid Share is a real simple way for you to transfer huge files. Whether you have video, a complete album, or hi res promotional art you want to send someone, upload it here, and it spits out a link you can send to anyone. I personally prefer Rapid Share to YouSendIt.com, because it gives you twice as much data transfer to work with; 200 megs. Plus it allows split archives. Pimp.

MP3 Locker

Store music online

Need a place to store your mp3's online? MP3 Locker is basically an online 2 gig iPod. Upload your video and music one-by-one straight from the browser, or download their LockerSync3 to upload a bunch of music at once. I've been using this for a while. It's a great place to keep the good stuff backed up. If you're a millionaire, for $40 you can upgrade to 50 gigs.

Dropbopx

Share important files

This is my personal favorite. Dropbox pretty much owns my life. Dropbox is basically a shared folder on your desktop connected directly to the Dropbox mothership online. It's like a digital janitor that maintains and backs up your files as you work on them, and automatically syncs them to your Dropbox account. They give you a gig of free space to start off with, but there are ways to earn up to 3 gigs. This is an awesome way for band members to share files instantly between computers. They've also developed mobile gadgets for your phone. Serious must have.

Audacity

Record yourself

Audacity is a free cross platform sound recording and editing program. Convert your tapes and records into digital recordings or CDs, splice samples into your songs, or just record band practice. Audacity has all the recording and editing features your band's gonna need, all wrapped up in a nice, free package.

Sound Cloud

Send, receive & distribute easy

Sound Cloud is a music based social media exchange website. Basically like a facebook for music. Send, receive and distribute your music easily, and best of all, there's no file size limit. Go ahead, record that 23 minute punk rock opus that's been playing over and over in your head. Now you have an easy way to bore everybody to death.

Blogger

Make a band website

This is the quickest and easiest way for you to get a functional band website up, without having to deal with the headache that usually comes with finding a reliable web designer who will probably charge an arm and a leg. Post blog updates, gain followers & fans, customize your layout and receive comments. If my wife can set up her own website here, you won't have any problem. Plus it's part of Google's grid, so if you already have a gmail account, setup is cake.

Big Contact

Embed your music anywhere

The Big Contact system is a great way to embed audio and video playlists on any website. 602Radio.com uses it to stream their podcasts, and it's a great tool for people who are in multiple bands with multiple recordings. Create different channels for different bands. Each channel creates a virtual website for each band with blogs and comments and all the fun bells and whistles. Only set-back about Big Contact, is that they don't host your mp3 files for you. Check out the demo page I set up in roughly 10 minutes.

Gmail

Good ol' Gmail

This may be the most obvious of the list, but in my opinion, it's definitely the most important. Signing up for a simple gmail account gives you access to some of the coolest organizing tools the web has to offer. All of which are easily shared with your other band members, and even have the ability to work on the same document at the same time.

• Google Docs - All of your word processing and spreadsheet needs simplified and sharable. You'll never open MS Word again.
• Google Notebook - A personal favorite, organize your online bookmarks and create notebooks for song lyrics, or share and collaborate ideas with band members. It's like a digital Trapper Keeper. They stopped development on this a while back, but it still works great.
• Google Calendar - Share and organize practice schedules with band mates. Never miss or double book a gig again.
• Picasa - A free downloadable photo organizing program, or you can use the web service to upload your images and flyers to post everywhere online.

While you're at it, and if you haven't done it already, you might want to upgrade your browser to something more secure. We recommend any of the following: FirfeFox 3+, Chrome 4+, Opera 10+, Safari 4+, or if you must, there's IE 7+.

For more cool stuff you can find and use on the innernets, check out our always-growing resources page.

D-Frag • Monday, March 1, 2010 • 5:14 PM

The night was Friday February 26th and after an exhausting week at my job I was ready to let loose and have some fun. Thankfully I ditched out on the Pigeon John show at the Hidden House (I love hip hop, but the venue didn't seem fitting for such fine talent) and headed to Chasers to see mainly 2 acts. Bro Loaf and Cut Throat Freakshow's DVD release. Upon arriving, Chasers was filling up, I counted roughly 45 people around 9:45pm. I showed up kinda late with my good friend Funky Monkey. We caught the last 4 songs of the opening band, and due to last minute changes in the line up I have no idea who they were, but I think it was Canyon Animals. They did, however, have a piñata in the middle of what would have been the pit if the place had been packed. Inside the piñata was your normal, every day punk rock shenanigans. Some penis pills, rubber eyeballs, candy and other assortments. As for the band, they were alright, mostly screamo/metal with hints of punk, I am pretty sure at one point they covered a Misfits song, but I could be mistaken.

As I am outside getting my camera gear out of my trunk I see 5 kids standing outside chasers talking about some of the "freaks" that were attending the show. I walked up and introduced myself and they told me their band name (I am 83.46% sure they were called DIM) aside from me forgetting their name I do remember them telling me they were a hip hop group. I double checked with them just to make sure they were at the right venue and they assured me that they were going on next. Now I was intrigued, 3 white kids rapping at a freak/punk show. Sure enough, these guys get on and I can honestly say I was impressed. They flowed like a gentle stream and so was the beer. I managed to grab a couple slightly blurry images of them before meandering back to my seat with the Monkey.

It's getting later now and after the young Eminems stepped off stage a band called Melted Cassettes takes the stage. People are looking around as a high pitch squeal echoes through Chasers. Not just any squeal, this is a noise that can only be made by altering electronics gear...and it is being done on purpose. I make my way to the stage only to see 2 people dressed in what can only be described as something out of a Mad Maxx movie, or other apocalyptic terror, and their music wasn't that far off. Maybe I just don't "get" industrial, or as I like to call it, annoying ass noise. But hey, everyone has a nitch, and I proceeded to spend the rest of the set outside as I couldn't take much more of screaming over noise. Maybe I’m jaded, maybe I’m just old, but it was not my forte. Interesting line up so far, and I continue my quest for more booze.

After the epiphany of Melted Cassettes, Cut Throat set up his film projector and proceeded on with his debut of his new 3D DVD. The bar literally rushes to the stage to get good viewing spots. I really enjoyed the DVD, it is a mixture of bizarre animal stuffings (can you say 3 headed baby chicks?) with some off beat shenanigans, as well as the Cut Throat Freakshow displaying their very best in freakish nature. The DVD was amusing and def worth a buy. More booze and me pestering when Bro Loaf is going on.

As the DVD ends, Bro Loaf sets up behind the projector screen. Screen rises, enter epic Jock band. Let me just start off by telling you that I was at the birthing of the first Bro Loaf show, the Thrash of the Titans show at Hollywood Alley back in 2007 and I highly recommend seeing this band. So I am a very partial fan. I had seen them a week earlier with Liars Handshake at the Rogue East and was excited to get my fill of PBR and punk rock. Although they were missing a couple members of the band (Mostly stage prop people) they still pulled off an excellent show. I even gave my camera to a patron to snap a shot of me partaking in the PBR beer bong. Yes, more booze, and this time FREE! Confetti is flying around, cheerleaders on the stage, fake cocaine plastered all over the front of the stage (thrown out in bricks as they played "No Snow, No Show") and yes, this night was already becoming one to remember. Thank god for cameras, or this review would have been about 100 words long. Bro Loaf plays their usual jock filled fun set, and they leave the stage in an utter disaster. It literally looked like a whole fraternity had come through, minus the egos and puke.

And then came the part of the night I was most looking forward too. Yes, a freak show! By this time my memory is fading as it has been a long night, we are nearing 1:00am and I am utterly drunk or exhausted from working too much...I honestly can't tell. Cut Throat comes out with full on fire breathing as their first act. Something I know is banned by law, which excited me even further! The heat rises, my hair singes as I take pictures and I look at the Funky Monkey who is clearly enjoying the show. The fires are put out and Jeremy takes the stage with what appears to be an 8" long steel nail. He then proceeds to nail said spike up his nose...the entire way! As a spectator pulls it out of his nose, with their teeth, "Oooohs and Ohhhs" are heard throughout the bar.

After some bare foot jumping on glass, and lifting heavy weights with his eyelids, the show comes to the grand finale. Jeremy Cut Throat literally drops his pants, buts his twigs and berries in a metal coffee can filled with fireworks... and yes, he ignites the fuse. I first saw him do this stunt at TPStank's house for his 30th Birthday party. One cannot describe the thoughts going through my head every time I see Jeremy perform this. It's like watching a bad car accident, but at the same time you are cringing at the very thought of your own balls being ignited by hot gunpowder.

Cut Throat ends the night with that stunt, and I meander over to the bar where I run into an old AZP message board buddy. Sam (aka: 25cents) decides it would be the perfect time to buy me shots. Probably one of the worst mistakes I made that night, and apparently for Sam as well. Last I heard he was talking to a cop about being drunk in public. Ahhhh good times at Chasers. The night was a mixture of cool shit, some crap and a whole lotta fun. Make sure you check out the new DVD and go see Bro Loaf while they are still riding that jock wave!

Check out more of D-Frag's photos on his Flikr page.

TPStank • Tuesday, February 16, 2010 • 4:28 PM

Congrats to contest winner Renee Unfricht! Enjoy the 3D DVD and enjoy the show!

Enter to win this shit!

The recent scouring of the innerwebs and additions to our shows calendar have pointed towards some seriously awesome local shows coming up. And by seriously awesome, I'm talking about opening your fucking calendar and marking this shit down in red right now. Hardcore pioneers, sideshow freaks, local favorites, and controversial house shows that will destroy lives and create more scrutiny than your mom's sex video we've been glued to all week.

To start things off, we're tossing out another contest for the lucky few who actually decide to read this article. AZpunk and the Cut Throat Freak Show are teaming up to give one lucky ass a copy of the new Cut Throat Freak Show 3D DVD with super-fashionable 3D glasses included, and one free ticket to the Cut Throat Freak Show 3D DVD Release Show at Chasers on Friday, February 26th. We'll be drawing one winner on Thursday, February 25th, and the one chosen will have to actually get off their ass and go to the show to get the prizes, so if you're entering, clean your calendar for the 26th. (This show is a 21+ event, so that means this contest is only available to the adult table. Sorry kiddies.)

CutThroat tells AZPunk, "For me to get to see the show I want to see, I have to throw it myself. So this show will have a 3D film screening, pinatas, teen girls wrestling in a swimming pool of slime and octopi, the silliest dj I could find, and a shenanigans coordinator by the name of Fiasco. We've got some fun fucking bands too, BroLoaf, Melted Cassettes, Canyon Animals, DIM and of course a performance by the Cut Throat Freak Show. Oh, and wait till you see what she does with a carrot!" Here's a preview of what you can expect to see from this mangy group of freaks.

Now onto the upcoming shows you need to be aware of, starting with these freaks...

Cut Throat Freak Show 3D DVD Release Show @ Chasers 2/26

3D dvd release! All sorts of shenanigans, including pinatas, pillow fights, sexy octopus wrestling, phallus juggling, mutant taxidermy, games, prizes, give-aways, and of course, booze! Adults only!

with:

• Cut Throat Freak Show
• BroLoaF
• Melted Casettes
• Canyon Animals
• Dim

House shows live @ Judy 2/26

Not enough controversy in your life? Well then, head on down to Judy (Yes, Judy), the new spot for house shows in Downtown Phoenix on 2/26 to check out some the bands that are basically unstoppable right now.

with:

• Lenguas Largas
• Elders
• Magnum Force
• Addisons

The Dames return @ Joe's Grotto 2/27

Girl rockers, and all-around awesome chicks, The Dames hop back into the grind @ Joe's Grotto on February 27th. Big ups to Dames drummer, Smashley, and NSK guitarist, Luke 40, for prepping that proverbial knot as its about to be tied. Congrats you two!

with:

• The Dames
• Casket Life
• J.O.A.
• The Father Figures
• Scorpion vs. Tarantula

I Hate You When You're Pregnant @ Mia's Lounge 3/4

If you don't know why we've added this show to our "must see" list, then that pretty much solidifies the fact that you are missing some of the crazy shit local music has to offer. IHYWYP doesn't play too often these days, so if you haven't caught them before, grab your mittins and plan a roadtrip to Flagstaff.

with:

• I Hate You When You're Pregnant
• Fell Free

Landmine Marathon Record Release @ Chasers 3/6

For the grind fans, local favs Landmine Marathon will be releasing their album Sovereign Descent on March 6th @ Chasers. If you want a taste of this new awesomeness, head over to brooklynvegan.com to download their new track Exist for free.

with:

• Landmine Marathon
• Red Son
• Vektor
• The Prosthetics
• Cagematch
• Sorrower

Cro-Mags @ Clubhouse 3/10

That's right. Cro-Mags. NYHC at its most supreme finest will be penetrating ears and dropping heads at the Clubhouse on March 10th with L.A.'s Alpha Omega and locals. Wear a helmet for this one.

with:

• Cro-Mags
• Alpha Omega
• Life In Chains
• Out For Revenge

Cizmarch Maddness @ YOBS 3/13-3/15

Can't make it to SXSW this year? Don't sweat it. Luckily for AZ, we tend to get some great runoff flow thru these parts during the month of March, and from the 13th thru the 15th, Ye Old Bike Shop (YOBS) in Tempe will be hosting the house show of house shows featuring a massive collection of touring bands. Based on the name of this event, I anticipate to be sitting back and reading several months worth of great innerwebs poo slinging.

with:

• Sewn Leather
• Tracey Trance
• Moment Trigger
• Taterbug
• Pigeon Religion
• Death Sentence: Panda!
• Devon Williams
• Lazer Zeppelin
• Blessure Grave
• Twin Crystals
• Random Cuts
• Ovariesy
• more...

Truck Stop Rock Fest @ Hollywood Alley 3/13

Antique Scream returns for Truck Stop Rock Fest at Hollywood Alley. They will be joined by Greenhaven, Hogjaw, Adam Lee Cogswell. Also, PBR is supplying us with limited edition 32 oz. Trucker Travel Cups. They come filled with Pabst for $5 and each refill is only $3.

with:

• Greenhaven
• Antique Scream
• Hogjaw
• Adam Lee Cogswell

JFA/The Father Figures @ Scrappy's 3/26

Yet another chance for you to check out one of Arizona's punk rock pioneers in action, J.F.A. will be joining forces with The Father Figures and other locals in Tucson for one hell of an old fart punk rock fest. Roadtrip!!

with:

• J.F.A.
• The Father Figures
• Retard Riot
• First Offense

Bonus! Some videos I keep forgetting to post. Enjoy!

TPStank • Monday, February 1, 2010 • 10:15 AM

Congrats to the contest winners Steven Cosand, Jessica Mendez, Roberto Moreno & Josh Jennings! Thanks for playing!

Enter to win this awesome shit!

And what an 8 years it's been, eh? A little more low-key, but still D.I.Y. & dedicated to local punk & hardcore; love it or hate it, if you're any fan of the music, there's a chance AZPunk's played into either some part of your show-going experience, or online entertainment at one point or another. And in celebration of the good, the bad, and the fugly, the old, and the yet-to-come of this giant dysfunctional AZ underground music website, AZPunk is gathering a shitload of local stuff, packaging it up in a brown paper bag, and giving it to you. We're digging into the stockpile of comps, cds, stickers, and other random shit that we just can't stand looking at anymore, and putting it up for grabs.

Wanna win one of these AZPunk birthday grab bags? All you gotta do is fill out this email, and send it off to us (Contest winners chosen!). Next Monday, February 8th, four random entries will be chosen and contacted for an AZPunk birthday grab bag full of all kinds of local punk rock stuff.

Cheerts to all of you, and the last 8 years (including the one where we disappeared) of AZPunk. We appreciate the continuous support.

AZPunk grab bags now with 100% MORE Cagematch! S/T debut album now included! Check out their EP Release show @ The Manor Friday February 5th!

Cagematch EP Release Show @ The Manor 2/5

mantoothGroup • Monday, January 25, 2010 • 1:18 PM

One flight of stairs below the historic Nile Theatre there is a basement but not just any basement, a basement that helped shape the state of live music in the valley for almost ten years. "The Nile had been one of the local staples for quite some time when I started performing as a wee young lad, and I was quite stunned when the place shut down. To hear that it's reopening is great news for the city of Mesa, and the state of Arizona. Not kidding. Some amazing bands have played there, and I'm positive that with the great promotion companies out there in Phoenix, many more bands will come wanting to play there for years to come," commented Wes Volcom of former local band Rondo Vega.

After the owner of the Nile decided to close the doors in 2002 the Faith Harvest Church took over the building for seven years until this past week. The church has decided to move out and local promotion company, The Mantooth Group has decided to move in. "Every day when I ride past the Nile on my way to work, I’d check to see if by some miracle it was available. That morning it was. After a day at the City of Mesa permits office and a couple of short stacks of pancakes, everything basically fell into place. It was like it was meant to be." explained Erin Peters of The Mantooth group. The Nile Basement will reopen as "The Underground" on February 12, 2010 with Vinnie Caruana & Sharp Sticks.

The Nile Basement did a lot to help shape the music scene in the valley as well as its patrons. "Being one of the very few kids in my high school that went to shows the Nile basement became part of my growing experience at a younger age. It opened the opportunity to meet new people, learn about new music and express and receive new ideas and ways of life. There hasn’t been a place like it since and I hope that will continue to happen once again," commented Josh Rodriguez, a local promoter and former patron of the Nile Basement.

There has not been a show in the Nile basement since November of 2002 but starting on February 12th bands will start to grace the stage of the Nile basement once again.

The first show schedule is local band This Century, and infectious pop band that recently was signed to Creative Artist Agency.

For a list of other concerts coming to the Underground (formerly The Nile Basement) check out www.mantoothgroup.com.

broloaf • Wednesday, January 20, 2010 • 5:04 PM

Back in late 2007, local punk geezer, and Father Figure, Tom Reardon, came to us with an interesting show challenge; can several randomly picked local musicians organize a punk band, write a 30 minuteset's worth of songs, and work together with musicians you hardly know, all within 2 months? The answer to this challenge would be played at the Hollywood Alley on AZPunk's Thrash of the Titans show. 24 musicians from local punk bands all around the Metro-Phoenix area took two months to organize six separate punk bands to compete for the title of AZPunk Titan and a spot on the AZPunk.com Volume 6 album. The battle was bloody and long, but as the night drew to a close, there was no doubt in neither the crowd, nor the judges that the undisputed AZPunk Titan was the frat-boy brohamness of BroLoaF.

But that was two years, 4,287 kilos, 12,355 beer bongs and 38,826 bitches banged on toilet stalls ago. There may or may not have even been a Space Docking or two. We're not sure, the film is still being analyzed. Point is, it's been a long road for BroLoaF. Frontman, Ben Brah, gives AZPunk and insight to what the fuck they've been doing since the dust settled from the epic battle.

A couple years back, the bros got together. One show, one night, one goal. So I had a shitty day at work followed by dealing with some crazy bish. Then I check the voicemail on my blackberry, and it's drunk Johnny Deuces exclaiming, "We're in a band motherfucker! We are BroLoaf!" and I thought to myself, "What the fuck is a BroLoaf?"

First time the crew met up, it was at Yo Kevin Bro's warehouse in the Industrial part of South Scottsdale. Buffy had to drive up from Tucson, and that was no bullshit. Before we even wrote any songs, we all agreed to win this fucking thing. Knowing who and what we were up against, we know it was going to be a challenge. But in the end, the only challenge was getting a drink at the crowded bar. Beating these, what you would call "bands", was as easy as getting an ASU freshman to take her panties off. People got pissed, jealous, angry, and some even cried. The BroLoaf crew even brought their own trophy, cause we knew the cheap bastards at AZPunk would have no actual trophy, and they also had their precious servers and websites to pay for... not too mention making it our own CD Release show, releasing Shits Tight... a real CD. Not some crappy homemade CDR bullshit that you made on your moms computer.

After that, we had several requests to play shows around town but flat out refused. Until TK asked us to play his birthday party that wasn't even really his birthday. Not knowing it wasn't his birthday, we made it a CD Release show for the Weakend Warrior EP. Then we got really drunk, and I think he was turning 54. Junior, from Arizona Joe and the Methadone Three, jumped from that sinking ship to roll with the bromega dudes.

This other band, Basket Knife, had to cancel a show, so the Bro's filled in and played with Mustard Plug for a bunch of money that was spent on strippers, blow and 2 kegs of Bud Light. Yo Kevin Bro got stranded in Tijuana, and we aren't really sure which town in Arizona Buffy was currently residing. His Name is Steve was erroneously accused and jailed by the California Highway Patrol. Irr Roy Sponsible (The Disasters, Morninglory) gave up college and a steady job only to pick up his 4-string and join BroLoaF.

Once His Name is Steve was release from the Los Angeles County Jail, he returned home and joined back up with the band. Searching for a new guitar player, we hooked up with Tod tha Bodd (Warzone, North Side Kings, Vision) and played a show with Valient Thorr for Ben Brah's Bday Bash. This was the definitive line-up now finally in place:

Johnny Deuces

Former child star who had a one time guest appearance on the hit TV show, ALF, JD lost it all to online porn addiction, only to make a huge comeback all by the time he was 13. Now shredding without regard for personal safety in BroLoaf, Johnny Deuces enjoys guyliner, hairspray, and nailin young hotties.

SoCal Steve aka His Name is Steve

3 time World surf champ and 2 time downhill jam contest winner, SoCal Steve had been kicked out of every reformatory school and military academy across the greater southwest region. After doing some time at San Quentin for felony misuse of a law enforcement vehicle, he joined up playing the drums with the rest of the bros. He is also the owner of a winery in the hills of Hemet, CA.

JR aka Drughead Jones

Born on the beach in Jamaica, this rasta currently owns, operates, films and stars in his own line of adult films, Juggs n Drugs featuring barely legal girls and lots of cocaine. After winning the Masters several times he quietly retired from the world of professional golf, and as luck would have it ran into the rest of the Bros at a keg party. After several nights of sin in Vegas, JR joined the band with a mic in his hand to spread the loaf across the land.

Roi Boy aka Irr Roy Sponsible

Former bass player for Asian Persuasion and The Mexican Connection, this latin Grammy award winning superstar has wowed the crowds from Tokyo to Tijuana banging sluts and pounding brews along the way. After a frat party with the Alpha Bromega dudes, Roi was forced into captivity as the new bass player for BroLoaf.

Todd the Bodd

Ex New York arm wrestling champion who was banned in Brooklyn for "excessive use of force with a fist", "attempted manslaughter" and who was later acquitted for accusations of steroid use. After a storied career as a personal bodyguard for John Madden, he picked up his guitar and joined up with the dudes.

Ben Brah

After winning the highly coveted "roid rage in the cage" heavyweight championship, BB was arrested for a number of serious charges including "possession of a dangerous drug with intent to overdose, attempted date rape, excessive use of alcoholic beverages, stalking, and driving without a license, insurance, or pants". Now he spends his time getting pussy, partying, and singing sweet jams about shit.

This lineup is currently recording a new full length album Champions on Parade at Villain Recording with Byron Filson, and it is due out spring/summer 2010. Our next show is Feb. 13th Valentines day Pajama Jam!

TPStank • Monday, December 14, 2009 • 5:04 PM

Congrats to the contest winners Kris Jonson & Sean Stroud! Thanks for playing!

Enter to win this shit!

May Cause Dizziness Records and Sacramento punk rockers Boats! are bringing teh rock to your doorstep with an AZ tour through Scottsdale, Tucson and Flagstaff, and a chance to win a trifecta-colored vinyl collection of their 7" with fellow Southern Cal buds, The Enlows. Brag to your friends and bulk up your punk cred by a whole 3 points by entering this super radtastic contest. Now you'll have an actual reason to buy a record player! Maybe you'll even love it so much that you'll get off your ass and go see something new for a change! The possibilities are endless if you choose to accept the challenge at hand.

All you gotta do is click this super hot ass link (Contest winners chosen!) and send me an email with your contact info, and a picture of a boat attached to the email. Just a boat. Any boat will do. It can be a friggin cheese boat for all I care, there just has to be a boat somewhere in the picture, or your entry doesn't count. Two winners will be chosen at random on Tuesday, December 29th by means of our patented (pending) scientific contest-winner-choosing-process. It's very intense stuff, so start flexin those Google skills and enter for the Boats!/Enlows 7" trifecta now!

Among the contest organizing and other various secretive matters of business with MCD Records, I talked a little with members of Boats! about their meddling in local affairs, and their trials with Phoenix don't stray too far from those of other touring bands through the valley.

"We've Played AZ before with BOATS! and other previous band's we we're in. Phx has honestly "ALWAYS" sucked for us. We could never get an all ages show, and we could never get a decent turn out... Always feel a lil lonely when we come out to Phx. Like we're the only humans around."

Can't say it's the first time I've heard that from a touring band. However, things change from border to border.

"Tucson has treated us a little better, more all ages shows, but still a lack of turn out. Enough to be happy with, but could always be a little better. Flagstaff though has been our favorite. It's like the Portland of Oregon. Its rad. Kids come out, the shows are fun. More house shows... seems like more is going on. Maybe it's cause its a college town."

From a guy who lived there, I can tell you that it's because the only alternative to catching a punk show in Flag is either blacking out on a substance binge, or getting arrested. Great place to visit, not much of a social mecca.

So obviously Nate from May Cause Dizziness Records can vouch for them, and everyone knows he isn't in the business of dealing with shitty music. So how did a Sacramento punk band end up hooking up with a Tempe-based record label?

"We got involved with MCD when we got a deal with No Front Teeth Records. They we're gonna put out our 7' but we're only paying half... Since we're cheap wads we wanted another label to buy the other half. Nate Bought our cd off us. We asked if he'd be into putting the other half out and he was down! Since then, we've gained more of a relationship with him than No Front Teeth, and now he's putting out our 2nd 7" split with our other band The Enlows, and our full length! Way appreciative we came across paths with Nate."

Hopefully these guys will get a better turnout in the 602 this time around, because they're a nice group of guys and their music definitely doesn't suck. If you wanna catch one of their three AZ shows, here's where you'll be able to catch them.

Boats @ Rogue East (Scottsdale) 1/3

with:

• Said Gun
• Good Men Die Like Dogs
• Sharp Sticks
• Punk Bunny

Boats! @ Dry River (Tucson) 1/4

with:

• Sabertooth Snatch
• Busted Bearings

Boats @ Studio 111 (Flagstaff) 1/12

with:

• The Blissins
• Acous Ticks
• Downplay

TPStank • Tuesday, December 1, 2009 • 2:51 PM

Congrats to the contest winners Humberto Avila & Tyler King! To see our cutting-edge contest winner choosing process, click here. It will blow your freaking mind!

Grab your speedos and clear your calendars, because on Friday December 11th, The Vandals are bringing their annual Christmas show to the Clubhouse, and Psyko Steve is kicking AZPunk down 2 free pairs of tickets to pass on to you! Next Thursday we will be drawing two names to each win a pair of tickets to be picked up at will call the night of the show. All you gotta do is click this link and shoot us an email. (Contest winners chosen!) Your email address will be processed through our super scientific nuclear facility, and chosen at random by our underpaid AZPunk holiday elves. If you're chosen, we'll email, you to let you know. Otherwise, buy your tickets from psykosteve.com and come deck your halls with AZPunk and Psyko Steve! Speedos optional.

And it wouldn't be the holidays without some of our own local food drive and New Years Eve shows. I'm still on the lookout for more events that I may have missed, so expect updates.

Update: Now with updates! Consider yourself updated!

Toy Drive Benefit Show @ Firehouse 12/12

with:

• The Video Nasties
• JJCNV
• Nunzilla
• Dephinger
• Shark Pants
• Ultramaroon

2009 Christmas Formal @ Yucca Tap Room 12/18

with:

• Liar's Handshake
• Mergence
• What Laura Says
• Matthew Revels
• Dry River Yacht Club

Bring a canned food donation for a free glass of champagne.

Hell City Roller Girls Winter Clothing Drive For The Homeless @ Rogue East 12/19

with:

• Die Ignorant
• Whorchatas
• Corky & The Mongoloids
• Man About A Dog

All those cool bands, a spanking booth, raffles, winter clothing drive... its like Christmas, before Christmas.

6th Annual Joe Strummer Benefit Show @ George & Dragon 12/19

with:

• Glass Heroes
• Symbol Six
• The Plainfield Butchers
• Labor Party
• Automatic Erasters
• DJ Nate Dog

Kinch Christmas Party @ Rhythm Room 12/22

with:

• Dear And The Headlights
• Kinch
• Black Carl
• What Laura
• Rajiv Patel

Trunkspace Reunion Fest & Tumbleweed Fundraiser @ Trunk Space1506 NW Grand Ave Phoenix, AZ 85007 12/26

with:

• Budget Sinatra
• The Shaving Party
• Uncle Sku's Clubhouse
• Chinacat Sunflower
• Djentrification
• The Cullens

On December 26th, The Trunk Space, in order to "right its ship" will throw a fundraiser featuring reunions from some of the Valley's most loved bands of the decade. Additionally, because we realize there are people with deeper, more extreme problems, Trunk Space is also asking attendees to take a look at all the stuff they've accumulated this past year--especially in the cloths, electronics, and necessities category--and bring those items to, so that they can be given to Tumbleweed Teen Service for Homeless Youth. Adult/teen size cloths, backpacks, even bikes, food and personal electronics are needed and will begraciously accepted.

New Years Eave @ Hollywood Alley 12/31

with:

• Grave Danger
• Robot Tank
• The Cosmeticators
• Janitors of Anarchy
• D.J. Johnny Volume

Adventure Jukebox NYE Boogie Down Extravaganza @ Crabby Donn's 12/31

with:

• Adventure Jukebox
• 80-D
• The Meat Department

And remember, when donating food this year, don't be an asshole. That old jar of prunes and carrots from 1965 tastes about as good to someone starving as it would to your privileged ass. Reach a little deeper this year. Next time your at the store, toss a couple extra jars of the fresh and tasty shit in your cart. You'll sleep better knowing that you did at least one thing right this year.

Mitch • Monday, November 9, 2009 • 1:11 PM

Featured writer: Mitch from The Tightholes

The word "punk" gets thrown around a lot lately, a lot of the time when it probably has no business being used. It seems like often someone will tell me about some supposedly great punk band and it turns out that they basically have the tendencies of a rock band, but just sped up. Now that's fine, but that's not what attracted me about the genre, and I really don't know when punk turned into sped up Guns N' Roses riffs without the wank. I am not an elitist of any sort, but I can offer you a replacement for the played out whiskey rock camouflaged as punk that seems to be running rampant these days. I've been playing punk for about 14 years now, so I have seen local punk take many shapes. I have seen its ups and downs, maybe perhaps, I have even reached "old guy" status. Maybe I am not far from standing in darkened corners alone at shows talking about how I once saw Dystopia in the Nile basement. Uh, excuse the digression, my point is that currently the local scene is looking pretty promising. So without further ado, I now offer you a couple of local bands that capture what I know and love about punk.

The OSS

The OSS

I refer to the OSS as pros of punk, only I never say it out loud, only at home alone in my boxers. They have a mature approach to their songs, the musicianship shows here, but not flamboyantly. These guys bring intensity and melody at the same time, which should happen more often. The OSS features an all-star roster consisting of members from Bullyrag, George Moshington, and the legendary MK-ULTRA. It would be a hard feat for them to end up sucking, luckily it's good shit. Not typical, yet far from gimmicky and from what I've heard so far this band shits out memorable material.

Elders

Elders

Manor house band, Elders, reminded me that expensive gear is definitely not needed to blast faces off. It took me back to the age of 14 putting a crappy Crate amp in a shopping cart because we couldn't drive. The guitarist of Elders runs through a shitty old PA head which is still better than anything Crate makes. Last I checked it wasn't even his PA head though, but not only does it get the job done, it's loud and violating the way things should be. These dudes play hateful, angry, hardcore punk. The song structure and riffs are honestly nothing new, the appeal lies simply in the intensity and energy Elders are able to capture. If a band can make hardcore punk sound refreshing in 2009 something right is being done. Really this shit will punch you straight in the balls and you'll like it. Solid line-up. The drummer is a madman, the singer goes ape shit live, the guitar will make you puke on your flannel, and the bassist once ate a hamster(fact). Lastly, I enjoy the band name the Elders because these dudes are far from it, most of them are barely over 21. You little bastards.

The Tightholes

The Tightholes

Lastly, Micah suggested I write about my own band. As to stray from any doucheness I'll be as honest as I can about it. We've been a band for 3 years and pretty much have done nothing. We don't have albums, merch, or even a logo. It's not cool...we just suck as people I guess. I'd say we are weird punk that crosses over to thrash and metal at points, but never committing to it. It's definitely not for everyone, and that's what we aim for. When we play live we are either drunkenly butchering our songs, or Sean(vox) is punching Sonny(bass) in the face. We have gathered some weird ass "fans" over the years. We seem to only attract hobos, junkies, queers, weirdos, losers, and at least probably one juggalo. We are pretty much the Palo Verde Lounge's house band, we love playing there, and love drinking there.

If you have a list of local punk shit that you want to share, hit us up in our contact sectionAZPunk needs your participation! and let's talk. We definitely can't cover all these angles alone.

HNIC • Wednesday, November 4, 2009 • 1:09 PM

This Saturday, November 7th, author Stewart Ebersole and a four-person editorial team will be stopping by Jugheads in an effort to document the legacy of Black Flag via their iconography in tattoo art. The band's logo, four staggered, parallel rectangles known simply as "The Bars", is one of the most enduring and vivid symbols of youth subculture, and lends its name to the title of his forthcoming book, Barred For Life. Ebersole and his team will be taking photos for his book while you and your friends beat each other to the sounds of Black Fag, and locals The Tightholes, and JJCNV. The following is the Barred For Life press release.

Punk rock. The term once conjured images of angry youth, nihilism and wanton destruction.

But that was when punk was an upstart subcultural phenomenon over thirty years ago. As the angry youth of the late 70's and early 80's grew and changed into the adults, parents, workers and business owners of today, punk changed also, going from a youth culture feared and disdained by parents, police and the rock music establishment to a social niche found in nearly every high school across the country and a respected musical influence that left its mark on FM radio staples like the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Nirvana.

Dez & Chuck

In the process, the facts and history of punk and its uniquely American spawn, hardcore, have been consumed by the media-ready myth machine that has made punk and its legacy an affectation rather than the conscious reaction that it was to a stagnant culture wearied by the upheavals of the 1960's and bloated by the self-absorption of the 1970's. It is now hip to name-check acts like the Sex Pistols and Ramones for their style rather than their substance, while the true workmen of American punk and hardcore-the bands comprised of middle- and lower-class youth that eschewed professional management and record industry backing-languish in obscurity.

This is most true in the case of the Hermosa Beach, California, band Black Flag. Near legendary in many musical communities, Black Flag is perhaps best known as the former band behind TV personality Henry Rollins. What is generally unacknowledged is their massive influence on not only a slew of contemporary, radio-ready artists, but upon the greater musical culture itself. In an era before cell phones, personal computers and the Internet, Black Flag garnered an international audience, released eight albums and countless EPs and singles on its own label, and established touring routes through the United States and Canada that were capitalized and expanded upon by such bands as Soundgarden and Sonic Youth, all of it done in the face of scorn from the established music industry and Reagan-era American culture.

Barred For Life is a photo-driven documentary highlighted and counterpointed with a compelling narrative which addresses the facts and fantasies associated with growing up a punk in the early 1980's and how Black Flag pervaded the scene's rumor mill like a mysterious specter all across the country and the world. Revealing quotations supplement the austere black-and-white photography of Jared Castaldi, Barred For Life's visionary photographer. Rounding out the crew, Matt Smith's DIY fanzine-style layout and typography are tied together tightly by editor Todd Barmann's dogmatic adherence to both irony and sarcasm in telling the tale of growing up a punk rocker at a time when being a punk rocker was anything but cool, and at times was extremely dangerous.

Former Black Flag players have signed on to tell their story as well. Completed interviews with Dez Cadena, and slated interviews with Robo, Chuck Dukowski, Kira Roessler, and numerous people who were both close to the band and had seen Black Flag play throughout their many manifestations, bring a myth busting element to a situation that has glamorized the legend of Black Flag, when addressing it at all. In the process, Barred For Life goes beyond documenting the history and legacy of Black Flag to depict them as an allegory for American punk in general, examining all its flaws as well as its accomplishments and idealism.

The Barred For Life crew has planned an ambitious 45-date "information gathering" tour of the US and Canada between October 1st and November 20th of this year, and will spend the early part of December documenting diehard fans in Germany, Italy and the UK.

The Barred for Life photo/interview tour will be stopping in your town and would like for you to help out in any way that you can. Barred For Life is a fully self-funded venture, so an advertising budget is beyond the scope of operations. Therefore, we are depending on your interest in the project, and your interest in our decidedly DIY efforts, to find some ink in your publication and help make each and every shoot an awesome experience for everybody involved. Dedicated fans of the project are busily setting up the shoots, and we are just trying to help them spread the word in order that together we reach the maximum number of people in your area with The Bars, or other Black Flag tattoos, and get them out to the shoot. We thank you for your help.

For details on this weekend's Barred For Life event @ Jugheads, visit the calendar listing.

chadk • Friday, October 30, 2009 • 12:33 PM

On October 10, 2009 at the Trunk Space and Sweets & Beats in Phoenix, 20 bands performed on 3 stages throughout the evening in a festival of local sounds celebrating different bands in the Phoenix area at the semi-annual concert event, Shizzfest 2, presented by TheShizz.org, a local music messageboard.

So there I was waiting in the Jugheads parking lot. I had been there since 4:45 even though Tyler told me he would be there at 5. I had ants in my Dickies and basically wanted to drop off the new Cagematch shrit for Tyler and pick up flyers for the following Wednesday's Accused show we were playing. I was planning on handing them out at ShizzFest 2.

6pm rolls around. Yea, I actually waited that long. I took off to load our gear figuring that Tyler was at Casey Moores or something. Since I had drank 2 red bulls I was kinda fidgety, ok really fidgety and I was also anxious to get to the show and relax before we (Cagematch) played. Got to the practice space, picked up the gear and bolted down to the show. We got there and it was about 7:15. Parked the truck up on the sidewalk as all the band spaces were claimed, unloaded, while running into a million friends, "hey what's up dude", "nothing, how it been, good gotta load" et al.

Snow Songs by IJW Photo

Moved the truck to a parking space, had to guard the gear, well, we took breaks to grab drinks next door at the Bikini Lounge, then back lined after Snow Songs finished their set. Snow Songs was great, watched them from out side Sweets & Beats, the best record / candy store I've ever been to. Snow Songs have a female vocalist, (Yolanda) who has been in punk type indy bands in town for a long time.

Once we had everything straight, I head back to the Bikini Lounge to chat it up with one of my favorite bar tenders in the valley. Her name is Wesley. Ran into Joe Distort and counted to 3. Had a shot of milk to calm my nerves, and decided to play a game of pool.

Kathrine who runs 513 Analog Recording was there, albeit sick as a dog. Knew some dude I hadn't seen in like 7 years so I played a game with him. 513 is a great place to record if you want to do stuff suited for vinyl by the way. Which brings me to where I will most likely disappoint people, as I for some reason I was playing the best pool of my life. Maybe it was the paced out milk bomb, but I was shutting people down on the table right and left, well ok I only played 3 games but seriously I was stoked.

So after clearing the table with this dude who hit the ball only once I scratch on the 8 and call it quits. I walk around back of the Trunk Space and check on Anthony, Donald's, (the dude on the sticker) cousin to see how he was doing, as he was watching our merch, (ie. t-shirts). No sales so we packed up and I bought him a ham sandwich. See there was this guy cooking up eats at the outside stage, I think his name was Mario, which was also great.

Cagematch by IJW Photo

By this time we had to get ready to play, and man, it had to be one of the most fun shows I have played. No candy was flying but damn it we didn't try our hardest. This whole time I was messing around bands were playing at each stage, they were timed precisely so that once one band finished the next band would play at the next stage. Great for "touring" the acts. Tony from the Shizz really did a great job making sure everything went smoothly. There was really something for everyone.

Rumspringer by IJW Photo

Crap, I forgot I did see a brief moment of Peachcake's set somewhere in there. Those guys crack me up. Ok, so after we play, we go next door to see Said Gun, a great newer band with siren guitars. And then lastly my boy Mikey's band, Rumspringer, that just takes me back to 1994. Which makes me quasi old but nonetheless, a poor writer and a bad show go-er.

Also I would like to add if I didn't name drop enough folks I am sorry and you can give me a hard time about it next time we meet. Later that night I learned that this dude called WizWars played a gameboy fixed up to play chip tunes owned the night.

Benny • Thursday, October 15, 2009 • 12:21 PM

Featured writer: Ben N. from Said Gun

So economically, times are pretty damn tough for all of us. But our local charities and non-profits are really feeling the pinch. What's really frustrating is that this economic downturn is having the worst effect on our most vulnerable community members. The Tumbleweed Center for Youth Development, a local non-profit for homeless and at-risk youth, is on the verge of losing some really great programs. The drop-in gallery, which features the artwork of local teens, is facing closure. So is Tumbleweed's outreach program, which provides food, clothing and other personal necessities to homeless teens all over the Valley.

So this is where we, as a community, come in. The band I play in, Said Gun, is throwing a benefit show November 7th at the Ice House Tavern to raise some cash for Tumbleweed. Ice House is donating every dime of the $5 cover to the organization. Emperors of Japan and Former Friends of Young Americans have also signed on to play. Plus, there's a new punk band packed with some familiar faces scheduled to make their debut appearance, Good Men Die Like Dogs featuring members of Fuck You Ups , Parkway Wretch and more. I guess what I'm trying to say is that we'd all probably go to this thing anyway.

There's been a lot of people stepping up to help out so far and it's fucking rad that we are keeping our money where it belongs -- in our community. So let's hang out and have some beers and know that our own eyes on our own streets will see the impact we make. Let's be our own fucking bailout plan.

I'm guessing a lot of us on this site have either been homeless or a paycheck away and sleeping on the streets can really suck. We're all punkers here, plain and simple. We've given our hearts to those who fall through the cracks and we've fallen through plenty of cracks ourselves. Let's keep building our community.

Here's some info about some of Tumbleweed's services:

• Emergency shelter
• Transitional living
• Counseling
• Skill development
• Education and employment assistance
• Family reunification using Functional Family Therapy (a Best Practices counseling model)
• Independent living skills training
• Street outreach and drop-in center resources in Tempe and Phoenix for homeless youth
• A community Learning Center – a certified school, vocational and work placement center
• Tumbleweed also partners in five collaborations that provide prevention and early intervention to at risk youth and their families primarily in the Greater Phoenix Area.

Check out the website at tumbleweed.org if you want to learn more. They help out more than 3,000 local teens every year. For more info on the benefit show at the Icehouse Tavern, visit the AZPunk calendar posting.

TPStank • Monday, September 28, 2009 • 2:47 PM

Kimber Lanning and Mayor Phil Gordon (stolen from flikr)

With the recent demise of The Sets, and the creation of a much needed all ages venue 23 West to take its place, I think it's safe to assume that big changes are happening for local music out here. Case in point, Kimber Lanning of Stinkweeds and Modified Arts fame took some time from her incredibly busy schedule working with Local First Arizona and SilverPlatter.info, to talk about some big upcoming changes with Modified Arts.

"I am pleased to introduce you to Kim Larkin and Adam Murray, a husband and wife team who will be the perfect people to carry on the Modified banner without me. I am overwhelmingly happy to have found a solution to a difficult situation. I will never give up that building, but I didn't want to place a business in there that wouldn't actively contribute to the neighborhood, and in particular to Roosevelt Row. Kim and Adam will be able to advance Modified in a way that I am unable to do with my current work load."

Kim goes on to explain the downtime Modified Arts will see in the near future.

"We will be closing Modified Arts as it exists right now the second weekend in December and re-opening with a new look for Third Friday in January. The stage and green room will be gone, giving way to a cleaner look that will better suit the artwork.

I know some of you will have a hard time with the change but I am asking you to embrace it the best you can and recognize that for almost 11 years we did something no one thought we could do. We ran in independent music venue and art gallery with volunteers from the community and kept the rent at $160 so that bands could play and make some money, and promoters could still bring the small bands and make ends meet. We provided the stepping stones for most of the bands playing at the Rhythm Room today. In fact, some of the bands playing at the Marquee or Cricket Pavilion got their first show in Phoenix at Modified. If you were there for one of those shows, please hold the memory dear."

If you want to read Kim's entire post or join in on the discussion, hop over to theshizz.org. Kimber has also responded to some comments at the Phoenix New Times blog.

Update: Following the release of this news, Martin Cizmar of New Times wrote an article claiming, "Downtown is ovah". This article sparked not only a response from Ben Collins of Modern Art Records, but a "Downtown is ovah" t-shirt. You can purchase it online for about $15 ($21 after tax/shipping), and all sales profits go to local charities. Pick one up and give a big "fuck you" to Cizmar and all the haters of local music.

Dillinger Four @ The Manor

D4 @ The Manor 10/26. Photo by Mihio Manus.

Unless you are living in a bunker eating spam for nourishment, you heard something of the Dillinger Four/Riverboat Gamblers debacle that happened this last weekend. The show was originally supposed to be held at the new closed Sets, but thanks to the combined efforts of people like Will Anderson, Tyler King and the guys from distort-phx.co.nr, the show was split into an all ages matinee at The Manor, and a 21+ night show at Jugheads. Below is some video from the matinee house show of D4 playing A Jingle For the Product.

For more videos and pictures, check out the D4 posting at arizonahardcore.net.

Erratic Radio Tuesday nights on KWSS 106.7 FM

Hey all you fans of garage, lo-fi and new-wave, there's a new FM radio show on Tuesday nights made just for you and your eclectic tastes. Erratic Radio with Westley Allen of Plainfield Butchers has his own FM radio show from 8pm-10pm (MST) on 106.7 FM. Not by a radio? You can also hear it streaming live @ www.kwss1067.com. Missed an episode? Download archives here and listen to them on your own time. Could a live FM radio show that plays G.G. Allin be any more accommodating? You are so lucky to live here.

If you have a list of local punk shit that you want to share, hit us up in our contact sectionAZPunk needs your participation! and let's talk. We definitely can't cover all these angles alone.

vilvodka • Wednesday, September 23, 2009 • 5:34 PM

Featured writer: Vil Vodka

I have been obsessed all year long. Obsessed with a history I was never a part of...and one that I am barely qualified to write. It all started after the Super Bowl party in early February. My best gal-pal Denise from The Cosmeticators invited a few of us over to her pad to watch the video she shot during The Lustkillers show at Jamie Monistat's WokStar Bar the night before. The video was part performance/part shenanigans, starring yours truly as a liquored-up volunteered fool being decorated with toilet paper by some of my friends.

After we watched the Lustkillers vid, Denise told us of a DVD that she received a few copies of from an old friend. She gave me one of the copies. It was an early 1983 show at the famous Mad Gardens in Phoenix featuring TSOL, Grant & The Geezers, and JFA. By now, I reckon more people around town have this bootleg.

This is where my obsession began. From that point in early February, Denise and I emailed several bits of information back and forth. Some of which was what she remembered being involved in the Phoenix Punk Scene 1983-86 and some of which I had researched on the web. We discussed bands, people, venues - including the exact location of the Mad Gardens (apparently there were more than one). She gave me names of people she knew from 1983 that she still talks to today. We exchanged stories on how we both got involved with the Phoenix punk rock scene.

See, I was born 1970 in Joliet, Illinois and moved to Mesa, AZ in June of 1988, right after high school graduation. Growing up in rural Illinois (about 50 miles south of Chicago), my exposure to hardcore punk was limited while my interest and curiosity was abundant. Not realizing that I would ever grow to move and live in Arizona, the names of Phoenix's elite really didn't make an impression on me at first. The Meat Puppets were one of those bands I've always read about in the SST catalogs that I would get in the mail but I wasn't sure if they were hardcore-supreme like Black Flag or an experimental art-damaged noise jam band like Gone. As far as I was concerned, JFA were just one of those crazy initial-bands that all the punk kids at school etched into the front cover of their notebooks next to TSOL, MDC, and DI. The Feederz were too soon considered a San Francisco band in the same vein as the Dead Kennedys and Flipper without the faintest hint that they ever had roots in Phoenix. I wouldn't ever say I grew up in, or was part of, an actual scene while living in Illinois. The big Windy City had a punk and underground scene that revolved around two entities: Naked Raygun and Wax Trax Records. The stories surrounding the punk and industrial scenes in Chicago created an element of mystique to 15 year old degenerates like myself whose neighborhoods were surrounded by corn fields and wide green pastures. Chicago might as well had been in Europe let alone 50 miles north. However my friends and I did know that - whatever was going on in Chicago - it was happening within our current lifetime and that it would be a beautiful thing to be a part of. We especially knew this to be true when a few of our older, automobile-equipped friends would come back with stories about the shows that they were attending at the Cabaret Metro, The Exit, and Medusa's. So I didn't know what to expect when I moved to Mesa. However I learned quickly that, while the Chicago scene was at it's peak in 1988, the glory days of the Phoenix scene had passed. Slow to make new friends, I didn't get a taste of the Phoenix punk scene until Spring 1989 when Johnithin Christ (RIP), who I had been trying to start a new band with, took me to Time Out of Mind in south Phoenix (near Sky Harbour) to see ALL with Victory Acres. As a newbie, I always thought the history of Arizona punk rock was not for me. A few years later, I turned my attention to performing and promoting new music coming out of the Phoenix area. I regretfully passed up rare opportunities to see JFA, Mighty Sphincter, Meat Puppets, and the Sun City Girls. I sensed their best days were behind them and I would just be lost among the nostalgia of others. However, as I met more and more people over the past 21 years here in Phoenix, I desired to make a connection to the scene that came years before I moved here - if only a spiritual one through the memoirs of others.

Although many names have disappeared through death or relocation, some marvelous things happened a few years back that has triggered nostalgia for a handful of people here in Phoenix. First, In The Red Records had released the Consumers album All My Friends Are Dead on CD (a vinyl version years earlier sold out). The Consumers album proved that punk rock existed in Phoenix, AZ not in 1984, or 1982...but in 1977! Some knew, some heard the legendary tales, but In The Red gave us absolute proof. Second, The Feederz returned to Phoenix for two shows (Jugheads and Modified) in 2003, marking the first time they had played in the desert since the mid-80s.

And that is where I wanted to take this particular article; the days of The Consumers and the earliest days of The Feederz, as well as a host of other pre-Mad Gardens bands and venues. They way I look at it, there is enough people still alive who were around the Phoenix golden era of punk and hardcore to tell the story correctly. In fact I just discovered a Facebook group called Mad Gardens to Party Gardens which captures that era (1981-1987) through memoirs and photos posted by hundreds of Facebook members.

However 1980 and before is more fragmented when it comes to Phoenix punk rock history. I wanted to piece it all together and create some sort of timeline with a fair amount of continuity. Once I publish my first draft, I would like to email a few people who I hear were around during the early years and invite them to comment, possibly fill in some of the gaps, suggest corrections, etc.

Note: It's important for me to get this right. So important that, at times, ambiguous dates and timelines just won't do. Because so much happened in so little time. Trips to the periodical archives at the ASU library has brought me very little. The few stories on the web often contradict one another and often within the same article from the same source. One would have to believe someone like John Vivier would have had to be in two places at once to accomplish all that he did in 1978. When 1980 comes around, the stories get a little clearer. Then again, it's hard to argue with dates on fliers and the stories told within the grooves of the first wave of vinyl recordings. But even as it concerns to things that happened as late as 1980, a researcher like myself is starving for more details and artifacts. When you consider we are living in a day and age when you can view videos of The Ramones performing in 1974 on YouTube and gig fliers from Suicide made in 1971 on a fan site, it's a shame that more Phoenix punk rock from the 70s wasn't documented. In fact, most of the pictures taken of the Feederz and The Consumers in 1978 were done in San Francisco and Hollywood respectively. It's as if no one in Phoenix had access to new media tools in the late 70s.

The Mighty Sphincter bio written by Sam Atakra (based on transcribed correspondence he had with several people including Mighty Sphincter founders Doug Clark and Joe Albanese) is a mess. Which is too bad because there is so much good information in what Atakra writes. I don't fault Atakra at all, as he was obviously dealing with alot of retired and abused minds when constructing the Mighty Sphincter story. However, there is atleast one notable chronological error; a short paragraph about Doug Clark forming the Skeletones with JFA's Brian Brannon in 1976(?). I am sure that is suppose to be 1986 as Brannon would had only been 10 or 11 in 1976. Besides the Sphincter article, there are several interviews with Phoenix punk pioneers Don Bolles and Frank Discussion transcribed on the web. When reading, you cant help to feel compelled and lost in the nostalgia. However it is important to keep the perspective that men like Bolles and Discussion are older and probably can't remember what they ate for breakfast a few days ago let alone recall if a particular band or incident in Phoenix happened in 1976 or 1977. Add in the insane ramblings of Bart Bull, the thoughtful retrospective of Derrick Bostrom, a few good posthumous articles about the scene from the Phoenix New Times and various interviews with 45 Grave and Feederz from the pages within MRR & Flipside that reference the birth of Phoenix punk, and you can imagine how there can be plenty of date discrepancies; 1976 or 1977? 1977 or 1978? Sometimes December 1977 appears January 1978 when lost in someone's memories and when referencing an event by only the calendar year, the discrepancies can mislead us by a whole year. We all know how quick five calendar years goes by, so maybe you can understand by anal-ness as it pertains to chronological correctness within a small time period; 1976-1980.

Some may ask why I didn't interview key people first. I eventually do want to interview any willing minds from this scene, but was hoping my time and effort to collect and consildate all the info out there can serve as an ice breaker to those I have yet to meet. Plus, I know that people, by nature, are more eager to contribute if they have read discrepancies that they feel the need to correct.

So, now, I attempt to document history... by borrowing it from several; sources, properly credited, and inserting it all in some sort of timeline. I will update this in the future, when more information becomes available and others chime in.

• Continue reading at Anti-Snob.com

See something missing? If you've got some history you think needs to be added to this local punk timeline, hit up Vil Vodka at vilvodka[at]yahoo.com and let him know!

mantoothGroup • Friday, September 18, 2009 • 4:42 PM

23 West @ Southern & Mill in Tempe

Two independent companies are joining forces to open an all ages, alcohol free venue in Tempe. 23 West is set to open in late December or early January.

After months of planning and red tape 23 West was approved for its special use permit this past Tuesday. Over 25 members or the music and media communities showed up in support of the new venue and only a handful of detractors spoke against the venue. Now that the city has signed off on the venue, the remodel of the building located at 23 West Southern Ave in Tempe is scheduled to begin in the next few weeks. "I'm really excited about having an opportunity to have an all ages venue in the east valley. It really gives us a chance to bring art/music culture to the area. Especially, when there isn't anything like this currently around her," commented Rodney Hu of the Yucca Taproom.

23 West will be a 250-300 capacity all ages venue without alcohol. However, the venue will have other amenities such as a soda and snack bar, video games and more. Besides the usual concerts, the venue plans on hosting all kinds of events ranging from music lessons to arts shows. "We don't just want to open a venue that we can bring national acts into, we want to create a home for local musicians and fans that they can trust and where they feel welcomed," remarked Erin Peters of the Mantooth Group.

"The supply and demand for this type of venue have finally met. Now that the kids have it, I only hope they realize what it means both to them and us. Good things can happen if the desire, the intent, and the hard work are in place," commented Ben Talty of the Mantooth Group.

More details, and an interview with Rodney can be read on phoenixnewtimes.com.

23 West is now taking holds for events scheduled in 2010. For more information on the venue, pricing and avails email michellemantooth[at]gmail.com or rodhu[at]yahoo.com

TPStank • Friday, September 4, 2009 • 5:34 PM

When In AZ Music Compilation

When we first started the AZPunk comps in '02, we had an idea to have local punk bands cover their favorite local punk bands. Unfortunately for AZPunk, that idea never really got off the ground (although we never say never...), so when I heard about the new When In AZ Music Compilation, which features 55 local artists paying musical homage to their fellow local artists, I was ready and willing to drop $8.66 for three-and-a-half hours of local music. The album wouldn't necessarily be classified in the "punk" genre, but it does include The Liar's Handshake, an artist who was featured on our Volume 5 Comp, as well as longtime local Indy rockers, The Necronauts covering local punk favorites, Bolt!. Way I see it, regardless of the albums lack of "punk music", organizer Nick Kizer and all the local bands involved get a big thumbs up from this AZPunker.

The album's press release explains how your ears aren't the only ones that will be benefitting from the purchase. "When In AZ Music Compilation is a socially minded music compilation that is utilizing the talent and the passion of the Metro Phoenix music scene to raise money for local music nonprofits, Ear Candy Productions and Phoenix Conservatory Music. This project will get much needed musical equiptment and training directly into the hands of children and adults throughout the valley."

With a collection of local musical talent like this, one would only assume that there would be some huge blowout release show. One would be correct, only you could multiply that show by 6...

For me, I got my redeem code for downloading, (genius idea using dropcards.com, guys) and as I write this article, I'm little less than half-way through. This is a collection of a lot of local artists I've been wanting to check out for a while, but just haven't had time to do, and so far, I'm really enjoying it. If you want to purchace the album, or just want to check out some of the tracks featured, head over to www.wheninaz.com and take a listen. Whether or not you believe its possible for multi-genre bands to work together or not, my advice is to just shut up, put the headphones on, take a listen to how creative shit can get when people like these guys care enough to give it a try. One thing is definitely for sure, there's an assload of great music happening in Metro Phoenix alone. Do yourself a favor and and bust down those "too punk for anything" walls and check some of it out.

TPStank • Friday, August 28, 2009 • 12:20 PM

Red Son causing a panic

Monsoon season usually sucks balls out here in the desert. We're lied to for several weeks about getting rain that either only finds its way to remote locations of the state, or doesn't even come at all, the temperature jumps 2 degrees every day, and usually the only comfort we have is knowing that we only have to suffer about 2 more months of constant daily "excessive heat warning" reminders. But don't sweat it, bitches!, the beginning of the last 2009 quarter has given us a much better kind of hotness to look forward to. September and October alone will have you braving your oven of a car, and possibly several freeway trips, to check out some of these awesome national/local combo punk shows that will be coming up like Agent Orange, The Accused, J.F.A., D.I., and a hell of a lot more. Check it out!

AZRockabilly.net Presents The Quakes 8/29

The wolfman of AZRockabilly.net has been busting his hump bringing out some kick ass national rockabilly acts to the valley for years. Lucky for you, there doesn't seem to be an end to that in sight. This Saturday, August 29th, The Quakes will be busting into Chasers in the NE valley, and they'll be bringing along their buddies The Grims, Death Valley Drifters, Riff Raffs, Kats of Horror and more. Show starts around 7, but your best bet would be to get there early. The last show took over a small district.

Outlaw Country Brunch w/ DJ Johnny Volume 8/30

Can you think of a better way to celebrate a fucked up Saturday hangover than listening to Tempe's favorite punk DJ Johnny Volume spinning outlaw country records while you gorge your growling stomach with breakfast specials and $3 Bloody Marys & Mimosas? Of course not. Then drag your lazy ass out of bed at noon and hop down to Lucky Devil @ 1212 E. Apache in Tempe this Sunday and pay your respects to your new version of church... heathen. Also, check out Volume's new music blog, because he probably knows more about music than you.

Cherry Poppin' Daddies @ Rhythm Room 9/2

Remember these guys? They had a swing hit that pigenholed them as a one-hit-wonder, but allegedly they're getting back to their ska roots. Taken from a recent press release by the Daddies, "The Daddies plan to reconnect with a ska audience that is largely aware of the band as merely a swing band. 'We toured with many of the iconic ska bands when we were coming up,' Perry says, 'like the Mighty Mighty Bosstones, Fishbone, Reel Big Fish, The Specials, No Doubt, and Madness, but at that time, we were really touring behind Zoot Suit Riot, so we didn't play a ton of ska in our sets. Now we will.'" They'll be playing with Captain Squeegee and the whole shindig is sponsored by ArizonaSka.com.

Old School AZ Punk Rock Reunion @ Club Congress 9/4

If you're anything of a fan of 80's/90's Arizona punk music, then grab your teddy bear and wake up mommy and daddy, because it's fucking Christmas time. Celebrating some of Arizona's most prominent punk rock acts of the last 20 yrs, the HOCO Fest @ Club Congress on September 4th will feature a collection of old school local punk rock bands like J.F.A. , Blood Spasm, and much more. Big thanks to our myspace friend, Father Larry, for giving us a heads up on this one! Check out out calendar listing for all the details.

Red Son EP Release @ The Phix 9/11

Red Son has been working hard touring and getting their new EP, Forget the Rhetoric, ready for their album release party at The Phix on September 11th. They'll be playing with friends My Science, Run with the Hunted, Move Forward and Days of Awe (formerly Antietam). Front man Jason Anthony tells us, "This will be our 3rd release if you're not counting the demo. I don't think we could be happier with this recording, Byron at Villain (Villain Recording Studio) pulled out all the stops to make this an amazing EP without sounding over produced. These are the first set of songs that we've written with our new drummer Jesse Mitchell (ex- 5-on-1 and Sparrow) and he really has taken us to a new level of sing writing. The new songs are fucking furious with equal parts fast, heavy and punch-in-the-face, a little bit of epic, plenty of social commentary hopefully without being too preachy and a little metaphor for poetic expression. Definitely a new chapter for Red Son."

Punk Rock Legends D.I. @ Club Red 9/12

Southern CA punk rock old schoolers, D.I., head to the valley in a couple weeks to fuck up your weekend. They'll be at Club Red in Tempe September 12th lending some riffs to the celebration of locals Atomatic Self Destruct's debut album, Deceleration Trauma. Along for the ride are other locals Reason Unkown and Drunk on Tuesday.

When asked about setting up the show, Rick "Fish" Stevens from Pi Records told us "Me and ASD sat down and talked about bands that we really liked growing up. Many names were brought up in the conversation. The guys from ASD brought up D.I. and said that they have played with them before, and they were super cool and down to earth. Over the period of years D.I. has always been one of my fave bands but i have never seen them live. As the days went by J the bass player got the info and contracts together and made the deal to bring them to town. I think this will be the best cd release party of the fall."

Dillinger Four & Riverboat Gamblers @ Jugheads 9/26

Now that all the dust has cleared about the closing of The Sets, bands and promoters have been frantically trying to find new venues to house their shows. With that said, let us raise our glasses to Tyler and the kids at Jugheads for making room for this one. Dillinger Four and Riverboat Gamblers will once again tear the roof off a motherfucker with The Arrivals and Parkway Wretch on Saturday, September 26. Get there early, because this is guaranteed to be wall to wall.

The show's been extended to an ALL AGES gig.

After pro-actively working with agents, bands & AZ Liquor board for the better part of the week we will be able to do both an All Ages (20 & under) matinee & the original planned 21+ night show. Both shows will feature the touring bands, DILLINGER 4, RIVERBOAT GAMBLERS & The ARRIVALS, only the 21+ show will feature local support PARKWAY WRETCH. Heres the rundown, the matinee show will not have any alcohol of any kind on premises, including for the bands. No one over 21 will be let in as this is an under age event and will be strictly enforced. So if you are under 21 you will be able to see D4, if your over 21 you will be able to see D4 & drink. Stressfull week but hopefully this option will work for everyone. Thanks for bearing with us as we got this all sorted.
-Tyler King

The Queers @ The Clubhouse 10/6

The rad kids over at MantoothGroup are notorious for bring out some of the best national acts to the Valley. Case in point, The Queers will be drifting through Tempe on October 6th @ The Clubhouse on their "The Queers Go Pop Tour", and from what fellow Mantoother, Michelle Donovan, tells us, "They are playing all of their pop songs they never play live." Along for the ride will be The Leftovers, and TA 80. As always with mantooth shows, you can get tickes online at Tix @ mantoothgroup.com, or stroll into Eastside & Hoodlum Records to pick them up.

The Accused @ Jugheads 10/14

A couple months ago, a punk band from Illinois, Slow Form of Suicide, hit me up looking for a show out here around mid-October. I figured, it'd been a while since I booked a show, so I hit up locals The Tightholes, Cagematch, and E.C.V., talked to Tyler over at Jugheads, and short of double booking the date, these guys will be lucky enough to be playing with The Accused and Javelina on Wednesday October 14th. Make sure to bring a raincoat, this one's gonna get messy.

The Pogues (original lineup) & The Aggrolites @ Marquee 10/21

Believe it or not, The Pogues are back on tour with their original lineup. Not too sure if there are any local opening acts for this show, but they'll be rolling through the Marquee Theater on Wednesday, October 21 with The Aggrolites. Interested? If you're keen on shelling out a whopping $55 for advanced tickets, hop over to luckymanonline.com and spread em' wide. Hopefully for the sake of those willing to drop the cash, MacGowan can keep it together long enough to get thru a full set. Just one word of advice, don't stand in the front row.

Agent Orange @ Jugheads 10/24

Here is yet another chance for you to catch Agent Orange, if you haven't seen them yet. Still touring, and playing with locals Garage Shock, Blue Collar Criminals, Thee Oh No's, and Beatnik Bombers, these old school surf-punkers will be playing Jugheads on Saturday, October 24th. Make sure to pick up your $10 tickets early at Eastside Records or any of the bands playing, because the price goes up to $12 @ the door.

The Freeze & G.G. Elvis @ Jughead's Monster Mosh 10/30

Southern MA hardcore pioneers, The Freeze, return to Jugheads again this Halloween's Eve with Satan's half-breed cousin-in-law, G.G. Elvis and the TCP Band. Locals NunZilla and AZPunk Titans, Bro-Loaf will be along for the debauchery. If you're sitting there thinking (and I know you are), "What's really missing from my life is a place where I can go drink until my penis and/or vagina reverts into my body, while watching lewd and vile acts of human behavior which may or may not result in several misdemeanor arrests, and possibly partake in an anal bongs and/or vodka tampon or three that seem to be all the rage.", well my freaky friend, this is a show you will not want to miss. If your the visual type and need some afternoon stimulation, or you just can't wait till Hallow's Eve, check out one of G.G.'s NSFW shows here to see the kind of night you're in for.

In no way did I even get to the mountain of other killer shows happening out here in the next couple of months. You're gonna have to keep your eyes peeled on AZPunk.com, because shows are added daily. If you've got something coming up that you want to promote, sign up and post it on your calendar! Who knows, maybe we'll pick it up for an article feature. It's impossible for us to get to everything, so AZPunk always needs help from the local punk bands, fans and promoters out there to keep show and local punk rock info up to date! Thanks for checking back!

If you have a list of local punk shit that you want to share, hit us up in our contact sectionAZPunk needs your participation! and let's talk. We definitely can't cover all these angles alone.

mantoothGroup • Thursday, August 27, 2009 • 12:41 PM

Local band softball tournament is back for a 3rd year. Organizers are hoping to raise more toys than ever before Sunday, November 8, 2009 at Daley Park.

What would be a better way to spend a Sunday afternoon in the fall than playing softball, hanging out with the local music community and most importantly, raising donations for Toys For Tots? The Local Band Charity Softball Tournament is back after a long hideous and is ready for action. On Sunday, November 8th several softball teams consisting of local bands, promoters and fans will take the field in an effort to raise money and toys for the local Toys for Tots chapter.

Each team will pay a registration fee to participate in the event. That fee will be donated to Toys for Tots as well as all of the unwrapped toys that onlookers will donate during the course of the day. In years past thousands of dollars worth of toys have been donated and organizers are hoping this year trumps the previous two.

All teams must consist of at least 9 members but no more than eleven.

For more information or to sign up, contact Michelle Donovan from Mantooth Group at michellemantooth[at]gmail.com or call at (480)228-3151.

DesertPunkPromotions • Monday, August 17, 2009 • 4:14 PM

Thanks to the non-stop hard work driven punks over at Desert Punk Promotions and AZKaos, this Saturday at the Sets is where you're going to want to be to see a collection of some of Arizona's great punk rock bands.

The Desert Punk Slamboree is a gathering of Arizona's best local talent (The Glass Heroes, Rotten Youth, My Doll, etc) the most dedicated supporters (AZ Kaos), and the most die-hard fans (you). In short, it is THE event showcasing the strength and relevance of the Arizona punk, hardcore, and rock scene. The Desert Punk Slamboree show is a celebration of what all these people have done with the scene and what they will continue to do in the future; create good music and a place and time that people will remember years from now and wish they were there to witness. It will feature the aforementioned bands in addition to The Plainfield Butchers, Die Ignorant, The Video Nasties, Automatic Self-Destruct, Awful Truth and Contact Yourself and is sponsored by AZ Kaos who will be giving away cd's and other merch from local bands at the show. The tickets for this massive event are only $5 from any of these local artists and can only be purchased from them so if you know them, buy from them, if you don't, look them up. The cover will go up to $8 at the door the day of so get them beforehand. This show was organized to prove the scene isn't dead and in fact, is only just beginning so come out and show the world what AZ is made of.

Come to The Desert Punk Slamboree @ The Sets, Saturday August 22nd, doors @ 5pm. $5 presale tix, $8 at the door. Click here for more info.

AZKaos • Wednesday, August 12, 2009 • 6:08 PM

Welcome to the August edition of AZ Kaos! This month we have a few new writers and, of course, all those overly opinionated old writers that drink and bitch far too much.

The summer has been quite the busy one around here (and hot as fuck) but it's not over yet. There are still plenty of awesome bands with shows coming up and, of course, plenty to do if you just get out of the house. Now onto AZK stuff - we've been running around like mad for a while now, but are constantly amazed at how much help we've been given or offered from everyone out there! We really couldn't keep this running if not for all of you out there!

July proved for a ton of really great shows and I think everyone out there (especially all of us on staff here) have been having a blast rocking out to some of our favorite bands that happened to come through this month - local and national. There were lots of fun drunks, strange stories, a band tearing up the stage completely naked, tons of great music, some typical scene drama, more pits and glorious pile-ons than we've seen in a long time, and some stuff that we could've gone our whole lives without seeing. August is going to be even better! Don't forget to come out to the Desert Punk Slamboree on 08/22 at The Sets. We've been talking about it around here for months now and it's quickly coming up. You're really not going to want to miss it.

You'll notice that we have a few new contributors this month and we're really excited to have them on board. We've got a little more statewide coverage now and hoping to get even more because we certainly don't want to leave out any of the cool shit happening outside of Phoenix and Tucson.

So, as always if you have something to say, a band you think we should check out, shows coming up, want to help out in any way, or just want to send some naked photos, you can do so via myspace, or just catch one of us out at a show!

AZ KAOS Zine: where to find us!

AZ Kaos

Check out the zine online in our picture section or pick it up at the following stores. Additional locations coming soon, so please check back. And if you notice that any of these locations are out, please let us know so we can restock!

Phoenix Area

Eastside Records
217 W University Dr Tempe, AZ 85281
(480)968-2011
Open Mon-Thu,Sun 10am-10pm; Fri-Sat 10am-12am

Headquaters
219 W University Dr. Tempe, AZ 85281
(480)966-6093

Cowtown Skateboards
215 E University Dr. Tempe, AZ 85281
(480)379-3605

Zia Records
Dobson Rd. & Chandler Blvd.
Sunday through Thursday 10 AM – 10 PM
Friday & Saturday 10 AM – 11 PM

University & Maple
Monday through Sunday 10 AM – Midnight

Thunderbird & 25th Ave.
Monday through Sunday 10 AM – Midnight

Trails
24 W 5th St. Tempe, AZ 85281
(480)968-6970

Greasers Pizza
31 W Southern Ave. Tempe, AZ 85282
(480)967-5522

Coughing Canary Smoke Shop
33 W Southern Ave. Tempe, AZ 85282
(480)557-6653

Musicians Choice Studio
2155 E University Dr. #101 Tempe, AZ 85281
(480)966-8742

Atomic Comics
1120 S Country Club Dr. #105 Mesa, AZ
(480)649-080

4537 E Cactus Rd, Phoenix, AZ
(602)923-0733

Jugheads
5110 E Mcdowell Rd, Phoenix, AZ

Copper State Tavern
5060 W Bethany Home Rd. Glendale, AZ 85301

Trunk Space
1506 NW Grand Ave. Phoenix, AZ 85007
(602)256-6006

Conspire
901 North 5th St. Phoenix, AZ 85004-1912
(602)237-5446

Thrifty Joes Records and Books
6020 W Bell Rd. #E104, Glendale, AZ (602)547-2540

Tucson Area

Dry River Radical Resource Center
740 N. Main Ave. (University & Main)

Toxic Ranch Records
424 E. 6th St. (4th Ave. and 6th St.)

The Grill
100 E. Congress St. (next door to vaudeville)

Zia's Record Exchange
3370 E. Speedway Blvd.

If you have a list of local punk shit that you want to share, hit us up in our contact sectionAZPunk needs your participation! and let's talk. We definitely can't cover all these angles alone.

TPStank • Thursday, July 16, 2009 • 12:00 PM

Trying to keep up with the sheer awesomeness that splatters this state from border to border is a full time job. There is so much going on in the Arizona punk scene on a daily basis, that since we relaunched in April, there's maybe been one day that has been empty on our show calendar. And despite the daunting task of scanning the innerwebs for shows to populate the calendar with, there's a chance that something was going on that I just missed. That being said, it's hard for us to get EVERY show posted. If you know of something coming up that you don't see on the calendar, please post it! If you've got something you want to promote, let us know! We're still working on making comments possible, and tons of other stuff, but the promotional capabilities on AZPunk is alive and well! If you want to help, or if you've got shit you want to promote online (and we know you do), just shoot us an email and let's get it rollin!

Ok ok, enough with the begging. Let's get on with the real reason we're here; a very brief list of some of the local things you should know about...

The Father Figures

Good Ol' Tom Phnart of Pinky Tuscadero's White Knuckle Assfuck & Hillbilly Devilspeak fame (as well as part genius behind AZPunk's Thrash Of The Titans show) has a brand new band lined up, and from what he tells me, it sounds like a whole lot of awesome...

"The Father Figures is a brand new band with Michael Cornelius (commonly referred to as Chicken Butt from JFA) on guitar and vox, me (Tom) on bass and vox, and Bobby Lerma (who has played with the Captives, Jeff Dahl, Grant and the Geezers, the Voice, Sticky Thang, and many others) on drums and vox. It is a very different kind of band for me, at least, and also, I think, for Michael. It post-punky, fugazi-ish, pixies-like, with some definite Phoenix underground flavor. At least that is what I hear in it. We started out by talking about our love for bands like Gang of Four and Wire and then we decided to jam."

They've got a couple gigs coming up within the months, but you can check out their first performance this Saturday at The Ruby Room on 717 S. Central Ave. in Phoenix, in celebration of Michael's 50th old fart birthday party. Go check it out and give him some special birthday spanks.

Northpark Awesome Fast features AZ Locals!

Northpark Awesome Fast

Our resident awesome dude, MikeyWretch from Rumspringer, Hotdog! & Japanese Monsters, pointed me towards an out-of-state events that will be showcasing some of Arizona's great underground talent. The Northpark Awesome Fast in San Diego, CA will for certain make one kick ass road trip on the weekend of September 4th-7th. If the enticement of checking out local bands like Adrew Jackson Jihad, Shark Pants, Rumspringer & Japanese Monsters, don't get your adult parts tightening up, maybe the best commercial in the whole world will:

Mikey's posted an entire blog about NAF on theshizz.org. Peep it for all the details.

Golden Rule Tattoo

Golden Rule Tattoo

Earlier this month, Golden Rule Tattoo presented it's Grand Opening event as a perfect addition to Roosevelt Row and First Fridays. Jason Anthony from Red Son heads up the place with some friends and they're part of a rapidly growing collective of artistic thinkers in the Downtown area who play a massive part in keep shit real in this city. Head over to Golden Rule Tattoo located at 120 E. Roosevelt St. in Phoenix and treat yourself to a well applied and planned out tattoo that you will love for years to come. To see some pictures from the Grand Opening event, skip on over to the Phoenix New Times site.

Art by Jason Anthony

Speaking of Red Son, they have a big show coming up with Royal Monsters for their EP Release/Tour Kickoff @ Green in Tempe this Friday, July 17. Go check out the show posting on our calendar for the gritty details.

602 Radio OWNS!

Matt Spastic from 602 Radio

602 Radio is a bullet train of awesome. Matt Spastic and the guys running the show over there pump out one awesome and crazy recording session after another. Since I last mentioned them in Local Stuff You Should Know #1, they've been hard at work on recording all kinds of local punk bands linke Scorpion Vs. Tarantula, Automatic Erasers, Nunzilla, Necronauts, My Doll and more. If you hven't heard of 602 Radio, drop what your doing, turn up your speakers and check them out. These guys produce a precious local resource, and we give them 100% respect! Don't ever stop what you're doing, guys.

As an added bonus, here's a video of Nunzilla in their latest 602 Radio session.

P.S. If you haven't noticed, you can listen to every 602 radio session for free at the bottom of this website. Just scroll down to the footer, choose a playlist, and don't close your browser!

DJ Don Miguel spins Punk Vinyl in Tucson

DJ Don Miguel

DJ Don Miguel from Tucson is spinning punk rock vinyl from all over the board weekly on Wednesdays from 6-10 pm. He's been hopping from venue to venue spinning records for a while, but for now, you can catch him at Club Congress at 11 E. Congress St. in Tucson. Head over there, grab a beer, and kick back while Don Miguel spins the shit you wanna hear. Best part is, it's free - except for the beer part.

KWSS features The Impossible Ones

The Impossible Ones

Wes from The Plainfield Butchers (formerly Big Vinny and the Cattle Thieves) runs the boards on The Driving With Gass Show on KWSS 106.7 FM on Mondays from 4-7. Wes has been diligent about getting locals involved with this show, and recently has featured bands like Authority Zero and The Impossible Ones. Speaking of which, here's a video of their song One More Drink off their upcoming album Blood, Death and Glory on May Cause Dizziness Records.

Fuck You Ups cover The First Single (The Format)

Fuck You Ups

Do you like the Format? Fuck You Ups do. Go listen to their cover of The First Single and tell them what you think.

ICanSmallYourBrains.com Free Fright Rags Shirt Giveaway Contest

ICanSmallYourBrains.com

Our gory brothers over at ICanSmallYourBrains.com are giving away free shirts from Fright Rags. All you have to do is sign up on the ICanSmallYourBrains.com message board, and post a reply in this thread telling them how much you want it. Here's a little clip taken from their promo message:

"In honor of a super sweet interview that Kirby did with Fright Rags owner Ben Scrivens, I Can Smell Your Brains and Fright Rags are teaming up to give away free shirts from Fright Rags kick ass line of horror shirts! Oh wait... There is more. every single person who enters will get a discount code to get 10% off shirts from Fright Rags! Now that is truly awesome! Winners will be announced on August 1st, post now to win!"

While you're over there, go read the interview with Fright Rags.

High School Football Records Showcase @ Jugheads

The Necronauts are not only back in action playing shows around the Valley, but they are all hopped up on their new record label, High School Football Records. Infact, they're throwing a record label showcase @ Jugheads this Friday featuring a grip of local bands on their label like Skinwalkers, The Tightholes and Bolt!

As an added bonus, skip over to the High School Football Records website and download free tracks for your listening pleasure from all of the bands on their label.

If you have a list of local punk shit that you want to share, hit us up in our contact sectionAZPunk needs your participation! and let's talk. We definitely can't cover all these angles alone.

ValleyoftheScum • Tuesday, July 14, 2009 • 10:27 AM

I used to walk in to East Side Records every week, and anxiously ask "Do you have any local zines yet? Anything about local music?". The answer was always a disappointing "no". So T-Bird and myself said "Fuck it" and put out issue # 1 with the Love Me Nots. Since that first issue, a spark was lit. Now there's hordes of great things happening for Phoenix. More coverage, more zines, more websites, more everything! And here we are now about to put out our 4th issue for the month of July. People all over town have been asking "When is the next issue coming out? Where can I get it? Are you guys still around?". To all of those questions, here are the answers;

During the month of June we were searching for a better means of printing and distributing our zine. We came upon someone with a printing press, that is taking the time to teach us the art and the craft of using a real ink & water press. It's taking many hours of hot, sweaty, work putting this all together and I must say, the proof is in the paper. This issue for July is going to be hands down our best issue yet! This month, we also see our distribution increase, putting zines in places none thought possible until now. And to top it off we are in the process of developing an application that will allow you to view a 'digital copy' of each month's issue, absolutely free!

Valley of the Scum will continue to be the fore running, informative resource for local music and everything Rock 'n' Roll. You won't find cookie-cutter punk groups, or cliche' riddled articles in our pages, rather we report on the dark underbelly of Arizona in each and every issue. From the wildest band you've never heard, to the local legends who's stories have yet to be told, we want to create a real history for Phoenix Music and we hope you'll join us in the great tradition of Rock 'n' Roll Rebellion!

Check out Valley of the Scum's myspace page!

All this and more! Git it! You can pick up an in print version of Valley of the Scum at the following locations:

• East Side Records (our main drop spot): 217 W University Dr, Tempe - (480) 968-2011
• Greasers Pizza 31 W. Southern Ave., Tempe - (480) 967-5522
• Zia Records: 105 W University Dr, Tempe - (480) 829-1967

TPStank • Thursday, July 9, 2009 • 4:44 PM

Nobunny from CA @ the Manor

Since the dawn of Man, house shows have been the lifeline of true underground punk rock music. If you've never heard of them, or if their name is certain to generate some interest, chances are the bands playing at any given local house shows are worthy of your attention. Case in point, The Manor in Tempe is the left ventricle of the Arizona punk rock house show circulatory system. The guys who run/work/live at The Manor are also members of local punk bands like Higher Love, Lower Love and Standards, who coincidentally also populate some of the shows held there.

"For the past few years now, The Manor has played host to hundreds of bands and performance artists, ranging from every genre and style of music you can imagine. In those same few years, we've had a countless number people move in and out. Currently, we have four people living here, all of whom book and play shows all over phoenix (and the country I might add). This really works to our advantage, because all of the Manor residents are experienced in what it takes to book, promote and run a show, as well as all of us being very proactive people in general. This makes for an awesome show, regardless of what bands are playing or what day of the week the show falls on." - Neutral Words

Preston sitting in with Lower Love

The guys from Distort-Phx & CitySlaang Presents have been hard at work shipping in bands in from all over the place to entertain you restless degenerates. Shows at the Manor are advertised as donation driven, but that doesn't mean you get in for free, cheap-ass. Donations are suggested to help the touring bands and fix whatever holes or clogged toilets the guys have to take care of once the party ends. So how about this, go check out a show at The Manor, bring $7 for the touring bands, and try to respect the house a little, huh? These guys gotta sleep in whatever shit you may be dragging in.

"The place is pure fun. It's how punk shows should be really. ...No stage, lighting, or superb sound system. Just an old PA, bands, and sweaty kids in a living room going ape shit." -oh shit (part 2)

Check out some of the upcoming shows happening at The Manor:

• Coconut Coolouts @ The Manor 7/14
• Fag Cop @ The Manor 7/22
• Born Bad @ The Manor 8/5
• The Cysts @ The Manor 8/8

AZKaos • Friday, July 3, 2009 • 3:35 PM

Taking our cue and a page from the original SLASH magazine at the birth of the L.A. punk scene, AZ KAOS focuses on but not limited to Arizona bands, shows, films, photos, cd releases and music related concerns or topics. Our goal is to publish one issue a month. We are not attempting to "cover" the scene. Instead, AZ KAOS will give focus to bands and artists that we feel need attention, criticism or debate. This will not be a kiss ass "I like your band, you like mine" fanzine. Instead, like SLASH years ago, AZ KAOS will inject attitude, philosophy, criticism and belief in what we feel passionate about.

AZ KAOS can and will benefit all of those actively involved. We are not out to make friends or enemies, as you can never please everyone. So we will not try to. In an attempt to give balance and have unbiased views, AZ KAOS will ask for support and input from what we cannot review ourselves, as we can’t be in several places at one time. If you are asked to contribute please consider the big picture and help us out by giving it your all. The more that contribute to AZ KAOS, the more it will be a reflection of you and all of us, LET’S MAKE IT THE BEST!

In this Issue! (Now! with more hate!)

Bands you should know about:

Bricktop/The Plainfield Butchers

Tucson's finest Bricktop. Don't know them? Go check out their myspace page.... dig em?? July 18th @ Jugheads with The Boils! Tempe's ex big Vinny and the cattle thieves...The Plainfield Butchers! Mix a little devo a little buzzcock and you got a mature big vinny sound! dig it!

Featured bands:

Youth Brigade/Andrew Jackson Jihad

Youth Brigade! that's right kiddies, these legends took time out of their schedule to talk to us about all kinds of cool stuff... not gonna spoil it here... pick up the issue! Local featured band: Andrew Jackson Jihad - these guys have been on tour all over the states and are starting to get big....their shows are crazy! good fun for all the family.

AZ KAOS Zine: where to find us!

AZ Kaos

Check out the zine online in our picture section or pick it up at the following stores. Additional locations coming soon, so please check back. And if you notice that any of these locations are out, please let us know so we can restock!

Phoenix Area

Eastside Records
217 W University Dr Tempe, AZ 85281
(480)968-2011
Open Mon-Thu,Sun 10am-10pm; Fri-Sat 10am-12am

Headquaters
219 W University Dr. Tempe, AZ 85281
(480)966-6093

Cowtown Skateboards
215 E University Dr. Tempe, AZ 85281
(480)379-3605

Zia Records
Dobson Rd. & Chandler Blvd.
Sunday through Thursday 10 AM – 10 PM
Friday & Saturday 10 AM – 11 PM

University & Maple
Monday through Sunday 10 AM – Midnight

Thunderbird & 25th Ave.
Monday through Sunday 10 AM – Midnight

Trails
24 W 5th St. Tempe, AZ 85281
(480)968-6970

Greasers Pizza
31 W Southern Ave. Tempe, AZ 85282
(480)967-5522

Coughing Canary Smoke Shop
33 W Southern Ave. Tempe, AZ 85282
(480)557-6653

Musicians Choice Studio
2155 E University Dr. #101 Tempe, AZ 85281
(480)966-8742

Atomic Comics
1120 S Country Club Dr. #105 Mesa, AZ
(480)649-080

4537 E Cactus Rd, Phoenix, AZ
(602)923-0733

Jugheads
5110 E Mcdowell Rd, Phoenix, AZ

Copper State Tavern
5060 W Bethany Home Rd. Glendale, AZ 85301

Trunk Space
1506 NW Grand Ave. Phoenix, AZ 85007
(602)256-6006

Conspire
901 North 5th St. Phoenix, AZ 85004-1912
(602)237-5446

Thrifty Joes Records and Books
6020 W Bell Rd. #E104, Glendale, AZ (602)547-2540

Tucson Area

Dry River Radical Resource Center
740 N. Main Ave. (University & Main)

Toxic Ranch Records
424 E. 6th St. (4th Ave. and 6th St.)

The Grill
100 E. Congress St. (next door to vaudeville)

Zia's Record Exchange
3370 E. Speedway Blvd.

If you have a list of local punk shit that you want to share, hit us up in our contact sectionAZPunk needs your participation! and let's talk. We definitely can't cover all these angles alone.

TPStank • Friday, June 5, 2009 • 1:22 PM

Danny NSK needs your help!

Recently, a very good friend of the AZPunk.com family, and all-around awesome dude, Danny NSK of North Side Kings tragically lost his house and all of his possessions to an accidental house fire. Miraculously, no people or pets were harmed in the fire, but their lives were complletely devastated. But with his horrible loss, brings and opportunity for you to finally do something selfless for once in your life. If Danny ever entertained you in any sort of way, whether you've thrashed out to a live NSK show, whether you've shared a kindly laugh while he was checking your ID at the door, whether you've wasted any amount of time reading his genius horror movie buff ramblings on his site ICanSmellYourBrains.com, or whether you've simply been left speechless after watching him put Danzing in his fucking place, now is your chance to do the right thing and donate any amount you can to help him and his family get back on their feet. One dollar, five dollar, or fifty cents, it doesn't matter. Give back a little during a time when you've just realized that things really aren't as bad as you've thought they've been. Danny has ALWAYS been there for AZPunk, and we'll be damned if AZPunk isn't there for Danny. Please keep him and his family in your thoughts, they've got a rough road ahead of them.

There are several benefit shows popping up this weekend to help raise as much money as possible to help out. If you can't donate, then please try to make it out to one of these upcoming fundraisers.

• Saturday June 6 @ Chandler Cinemas: Fire Sux Fundraiser for Danny NSK
• Sunday June 14 @ Jugheads: Benefit for Danny NSK

Give your online donations here!

Greaser's Pizza

Greaser's Pizza

Who said punk rock resides solely in music? Believe it or not, pizza has it's own little genre in the lifestyle too. Greaser's Pizza is conveniently located right next to the Yucca Tap Room at 31 W. Southern Ave., on the SW corner of Southern and Mill Ave. They've got a 2-4-1 lunch special; two 6" one meat and cheese subs with all your favorite toppings, or two 10" one topping pizzas 2-4-1 from 11-2. Can you beat that? I've been seeing these guys tossing out lunch specials around, and they seem to have a pretty cool thing going on here. I personally haven't been down there yet, but from what I understand, they have a pizza named after the notorious DJ Johnny Volume, and really, who wouldn't want to wrap their lips around a slice of that? Hubba Hunbba!

Update: Sad news! According to John, Greasers Pizza is closed for business. We wish Josh & Rodney the best of luck, and hopes that we'll see Greaser's doors open again someday!

Punk Show in Chinle, AZ?

And for any of you with the insaciable desire to see a punk show in the middle of fucking nowhere, hop in your all-terrain vehicles and head Northeast towards the four corners direction to check out a plethora (oh yes, eet ees a plethora) of punk bands from Tuba City, Window Rock, Kayenta and even a place called Lukachukai. If you're looking for something different in local punk, this show will definitely make for an awesome roadtrip this weekend. Check out the details for this event listed on our calendar.

Also, we wanted to give a shout of "Kick some ass, guys!" to some of the local bands that are out on tour right now. Hurry the hell back!

• The Limit Club
• Pigeon Religeon
• Rumspringer

If you have a list of local punk shit that you want to share, hit us up in our contact sectionAZPunk needs your participation! and let's talk. We definitely can't cover all these angles alone.

TPStank • Friday, May 29, 2009 • 5:13 PM

Once upon a time, AZPunk.com had a vast resource page, where users could submit links to local recording studios, music stores, and other businesses or organizations that could assist a local punk in finding the right kind of info for stuff they really need to get their hands on. Well, we haven't gotten around to getting that resource section back up on the new site yes, but we still have plenty of local and national resources that could possibly help you out at one point or another. Below, you can browse through our current list of resources that we've been both gathering since the relaunch, as well as some old classics that managed to find their way over from the old site. Let it be known that this list is nowhere near complete, as we're still looking for local links to add. If you have a resource that could help out your local AZ punkers, shoot us an emailAZPunk needs your participation! and we'll add it to the list. Hope this stuff helps!

• Activism

  • ¡Alto Arizona!
  • Amnesty International
  • Anarchist Black Cross
  • Animal Rights Websites
  • Arizona Animal Welfare Leaque
  • College Activists
  • Compassionate Cooks
  • Cop Watch
  • Democracy NOW!
  • Feminists Majority Foundation Online
  • Food Not Bombs
  • Info Shop
  • People v. Joe Arpaio
  • Prisoners of Greed
  • Protest.net
  • Responsible Shopper
  • Sea Shepherd Conservation Society
  • Turn It Down
  • Underground-Resistance
  • Unite Union
  • Veg for Life
  • Vegan Outreach
  • WM3.org

• Art & Design

  • Car-Tooner Illustrations
  • James B. Hunt
  • Jason Frieling
  • Josh Gargalione
  • Jsn Anothony Illustrations
  • Landau Artwerx Illustrations
  • Ransom Apparel
  • Studio 1134

• Blogs

  • Anti-Snob Meida
  • Beer PHXation
  • Brut Scoot Boogie
  • Electric Mustache
  • The Feathered Bastard
  • DJ Johnny Volume's Music Blog
  • Punk Rock '77 thru Today
  • Phoenix NewTimes Music Blog
  • Tucson Punx

• Comics

  • All About Books & Comics
  • Ash Avenue Comics
  • Atomic Comics
  • Black Marker Comics
  • Drawn To Comics
  • My Comic Shop
  • Samurai Comics
  • Underground Publishers Convention

• Culture

  • Arizona D.I.Y.
  • Artlink Phoenix
  • AZ Rocky Horror
  • Drunken Hillbilly
  • Eloy Unified
  • Flagstaff Live
  • Local First
  • Metromix Phoenix
  • Phoenix 411
  • Roosevelt Row
  • State Side Presents
  • Táala Hooghan Infoshop
  • The Blunt Club
  • Tucson Arts Community
  • Tucson Hardcore
  • Tucson Underground
  • Tucson Unified Ska
  • Tuscon Scene
  • WxSW
  • Yuma Punk Shows

• DJs (punk)

  • DJ Don Miguel
  • DJ LaRue
  • DJ N8Ball
  • DJ Johnny Volume

• Film

  • Arizona Underground Film Festival
  • Brain Damage Films
  • Chandler Cinemas
  • Critter Teeth Film
  • Femocracy!
  • Fork & Spoon Films
  • Horror & Sci-Fi Film Festival
  • Killing Time Productions
  • Midnight Movie Mamacitas
  • Off Tatum Productions
  • SyntheticHuman Pictures

• Insturments

  • Central Music
  • Guitar Center

• Magazines & Zines

  • AZ Kaos
  • Desert City Death Distro
  • Java Magazine
  • PoolBoy Magazine
  • Punk Magazine
  • SKAT zine
  • Slam Magazine
  • Valley of the Scum Zine
  • Xerox Zine

• Manufactoring & Distribution

  • 101 Distrobution
  • K u n a k i
  • Morphius
  • US Digital Media

• Merch Production

  • Anticonformity
  • Bootleg Screenprinting
  • Chaos Printing
  • Drop Cards
  • Good Fellas Merch
  • Hello Merch
  • Octo-Bot
  • Punk-It Buttons

• Message Boards

  • AZPunk's Reddit Page
  • ArizonaSka.com
  • BlatantLocalism.net
  • The Shizz

• Music

  • Grooveshark
  • Interpunk
  • Lala
  • Last.fm
  • Mosh Cam
  • Pandora
  • Record Nerd
  • Spotify
  • The Train Tracks

• News

  • AZ Central
  • College Times
  • East Valley Tribune
  • Get Out Magazine
  • Phoenix New Times
  • Tucson Weekly
  • The Nation

• Photography

  • Andy Hartmark Photography
  • Arizona Photography
  • DRC Media
  • Ed Hartmark Photography
  • Furious Ideas Photography
  • IJW Photography
  • Kristen Wright Photography
  • Mike Hancock Photography
  • Vestige Photography

• Piercing

  • Halo Precision Piercing
  • HTC Body Piercing
  • Mastodon Piercing

• Printing

  • Acme Prints
  • Think! Graphics
  • PS Print

• Promotions

  • 13th Floor Entertainment
  • Select Shows
  • AZ Rockabilly
  • Devil's On My Side Promotions
  • Distort Phoenix
  • ETC. Promotions
  • Gnarwhal Inc.
  • Hillgrass Bluebilly
  • Horns & Halos Productions
  • Low Gun Booking
  • Lucky Man Productions / AMJ Concerts
  • The Mantooth Group
  • Psyko Steve Presents
  • Scene Hero
  • Silver Platter
  • Stateside Presents
  • The Good Shows

• Radio

  • 602 Radio
  • AZ Overload Radio
  • Dry Heat Radio
  • I Can Smell Your Brains Radio
  • KWSS 106.7 FM
  • Last FM Radio
  • Mohawk Radio
  • NPR Radio Streams
  • Pandora
  • Radio Phoenix
  • The Blaze 1260 AM
  • Vegan Freak Radio

• Record Label

  • Bad Stain Records
  • Dagger Sight Records
  • Dirt Cult Records
  • Going Ape Shit Records
  • Highschool Football Records
  • Liberal Squid Records
  • May Cause Dizziness Records
  • Sounds of Battle and Souvenir Collecting

• Record Stores

  • East Side Reords
  • Hoodlums Music and Movies
  • Revolver Records
  • Stinkweeds Records
  • Thrifty Joe's Records
  • Toxic Ranch Records
  • Zia Recods

• Recording Studios

  • 513 Analog Recording
  • AF Studios
  • Arcane Digital Recording
  • Audioconfusion
  • Avalon Audio Recording
  • Bordur Studios
  • Chaton Studios
  • Desert Vista Studios
  • FC Studios
  • Flying Blanket Recording
  • Full Well Recording Studio
  • Overeasy Studios
  • Session27 Recordings
  • Suitcase Recordings
  • Vault Mastering Studios
  • Villain Recording

• Rehersal Studios

  • Musician's Choice Studios

• Reviews

  • AZ Local Review
  • I Can Smell Your Brains
  • Phoenix Indie Music Examiner

• Roller Derby

  • Arizona Derby Dames
  • Arizona Roller Derby (AZRD)
  • Hell City Roller Girls
  • The Renegade Roller Derby

• Shopping

  • 4-HATE-0 Screetwear
  • Black Eyed Saint
  • Cat Nap Clothing
  • Go-Kat-Go
  • Kill Street Clothes
  • Lila-Jo Clothing Accessories
  • Lucky 11 Dice Jewelry
  • Lowbrow Colthing
  • Metal Devastation
  • Pink Mink Mafia
  • Shop AZPunk
  • Trashville USA Clothing
  • Vanity Exposed Clothing

• Show Flyers/History

  • Kill From The Heart
  • Shaved Neck
  • Tucson?

• Skateboards

  • Apache Skateboards
  • AZPX Skateboards
  • Cow Town Skateboards
  • Pulse Skateboards

• Tattoos

  • Americana Tattoo
  • Diablo Tattoo
  • Electric Haven Tattoo & Barber Shop
  • High Noon Tattoo
  • Immaculate Tattoos
  • Incision Tattoo
  • Inkbomb Tattoos
  • Inkenstein Tattoo
  • Lady Luck Tattoo
  • No Regrets Tattoo Parlor
  • Phoenix Tattoo Co.
  • Rebel Art Tattoo
  • The Golden Rule Tattoo

• Templates

  • Disk Makers
  • Groovehouse Templates
  • Oasis Disk Manufacturing

• Video

  • Mill Avenue Inc. Documentary

• Web Tools

  • Audacity
  • Aviary
  • Band Camp
  • Blogger
  • Big Cartel
  • Big Contact
  • Dropbox
  • FanBridge
  • Gimp
  • Google Docs
  • Google Notebook
  • Imageshack
  • Inkskape
  • Media Fire
  • Mega Upload
  • MP3 Cut
  • MP3 Tunes
  • Photo Bucket
  • Picasa
  • Podomatic
  • Rapid Share
  • Stereo Killer
  • Sketchpad
  • Sound Cloud
  • Tinypic
  • Tumblr
  • Wix
  • Wordpress
  • You Send It

Got something to add? If you have a local or national resource that you want added to our list, hit us up in our contact sectionAZPunk needs your participation! and we'll add it up.

ValleyoftheScum • Tuesday, May 19, 2009 • 1:38 AM

Valley of the Scum is a local zine based in East Mesa. We provide coverage of the local Rock'n'Roll music scene here. Punk, Garage, Rockabilly, Psychobilly, Rock'n'Roll, anything you want. If you're a local band, that can't get coverage from The New Times or any of the other non-existent music press ... holler at us! We don't care how cool you look, how many 'roadies' you have, or who did you hair. We want to Rock'n'Roll. Bop and shout. Plain and simple. Move us and we'll move you. In the pants. Mesa! Tempe! Phoenix! Scottsdale! Glendale! Peoria! Even Apache Junction! If you're in the local Metro-Phoenix area, hit up Valley of the Scum Zine if you want your band's album reviewed, or have some local punk rock news!

Kevin Daly, the brains behind local powerhouse, Grave Danger sits down with us and lays it all out. From drunken orange fights with T.S.O.L., to touring in a Cadillac Ambulence with a keg, and even getting banned from The Marquee Theater, nothing is off limits. Kevin has seen a whole lot of shit go down, in 20 plus years of playing in the Valley culminating in an interview, that you shouldn't fucking miss.

Slime & The Boobytramps are one of the most unique bands playing around Phoenix. Being the true underdogs that they are, we just had to take a closer look at this band! They're rockin' all over town to a very different beat; you'll see what we mean.

A group that has seemingly come out of nowhere, The Naughty Things are working their way up the ranks of the Valley's hottest bands. We had a few beers and a shit load of laughs with Spaz & Kate. What transpired is beyond description; neo-nazi drummers, a name change, local scumbags, and tons of frustration come together to make up an interview unlike any other before.

You can pick up an in print version of Valley of the Scum at the following locations:

• East Side Records (our main drop spot): 217 W University Dr, Tempe - (480) 968-2011
• Zia Records: 105 W University Dr, Tempe - (480) 829-1967
• Stinkweeds: 12 W Camelback Rd, Phoenix - (602) 248-9461

Acecentric • Monday, May 18, 2009 • 11:50 AM

Acecentric from ArizonaSka.com

Many American ska bands, both past and present, have been majorly influenced by punk. In fact, the music of some of the "ska" bands that have been more widely accepted has been considerably more punk than ska (think Less Than Jake, Mighty Mighty Bosstones, etc.). Historically, Arizona has had one of the better ska scenes in the country, believe it or not. In the mid to late 90s, ska bands could be seen at venues almost every night of the week. One of the more popular weekly ska events being Moonstomp Wednesday's at Boston's in Tempe. This was the epitome of ska's thriving metro-phoenix scene in Arizona during the late 90s. While the popularity of the music has waned over the years, and the size of the local ska scene has diminished, bands continue to record and perform the music all over Arizona.

2 Tone Lizard Kings

2 Tone Lizard Kings

Formed in 2004, this "keg party with horns" has rapidly become a fixture in the AZ ska scene. The 7-piece group from Tempe, AZ has shared the stage with many of the legendary bands that have influenced their music including The Toasters, The Slackers, and The Pietasters, just to name a few. 2TLK plays regular high-energy shows and regular parties. The incredible performances always please even the toughest crowd. To follow up their 2008 release Bombs Away, the 2 Tone Lizard Kings are working on a new album and planning a west coast tour.

Ska City One

Ska City One

If you're looking for roots music in Tempe, AZ, this is your band. Ska City One is a traditional ska ensemble made up of members of The Upsteadys, Kongo Shock (remember those guys from back in the day?), Soulafide, & the 2 Tone Lizard Kings. Complete with upright bass, Ska City One's traditional sound is a breath of "fresh" air to the Arizona ska scene. For those wanting to purchase music by this band, you're out of luck. The band has recorded music at various points, but they have nothing available for purchase. Ska City One's performances are always a treat, but sadly, the band's performances are rare.

The Braskies

The Braskies

Hailing from Cottonwood, AZ, The Braskies are fairly new on the scene. With only a couple years under their belts though, they just might play the most shows of any AZ ska band. Not limiting themselves to the not-so-bustling town of Cottonwood, the band frequents the Phoenix-area, and it's not uncommon for their show schedule to contain performances in both southern and northern Arizona. In a very short amount of time, the Braskies have built up an impressive following, and they have found their way onto some impressive bills. Their current schedule has the band sharing the stage with such acts as The Aggrolites, The Aquabats, and Mustard Plug.

And just in case you're looking to expand your music selection, you should check out these non-AZ bands too:

• La Banda Skalavera (SoCal)
• Monkey (Cupertino, CA)
• Starpool (Anaheim, CA)
• Westbound Train (?)
• The Debonaires (Riverside, CA)

Check out and ArizonaSka.com for the latest ska-related happenings in AZ.

If you have a list of local punk shit that you want to share, hit us up in our contact sectionAZPunk needs your participation! and let's talk. We definitely can't cover all these angles alone.

TPStank • Friday, May 8, 2009 • 1:12 PM

Sometimes, my daily mining of the innernets unearths small pieces of gold that must be shared with the rest of the world. Here's a live clip from what looks like a public access TV show called the Twit Show (why can't we have nice shit like this anymore?) filming on location from the Tucson Western International Telethon recorded in the Fall of '84. While I was busy picking my nose and finding creative new ways to destroy my Star Wars figures, downtown Tucson was bombarded with hundreds of bored and creative costumed freaks looking for a good time. The video features clips of Useless Pieces of Shit (UPS) performing live.

I found this clip yesterday when I ran across the myspace page of a guy named Dylan who lives in Chicago, but runs an online radio station that plays only 100% Arizona Punk and Experimental called Dry Heat Radio. Turns out, for 2 hours on Sunday nights @ 8pm (GMT), you can tune into punkandbeansradio.com and listen to old school Arizona punk rock as well as current bands and special guests from all over the state. Dry Heat Radio takes requests and accepts local punk rock submissions to play on the air. How does cool shit like this fly under the radar? If you're interested in getting your music played on what really sounds like an awesome radio show, hit up Dylan on his myspace. We'll definitely be tuning into this. Keep up the great work, Dylan!

UPDATE: additional info from Dylan!

That can was his best friend.

I really appreciate the AZPUNK bump! Just to be clear I don't run the station just my show, Steve from Steve's Half Ass Punk Show bought all the equipment and got PnB Radio going long before I was in the lineup. We have some great shows on the station, we have an outlaw country show that is very cool, absolutely no FM radio shit on that one, we got Dope Sick Radio, he has guest like NOFX, No Use For A Name, Strung Out and so many more big time dudes. We just added a really cool Ska/Dub/Reggae show called Steel Toed Sundays from Radio De Paul here in Chicago and we have Jashie P's Street Rock Hour right before me on Sunday, so we like to think we're making a little dent in the side of the corporate music monster! One more thing, UPS just put out their 25th anniversary Box Set including their whole disco and three live shows on DVD, I got mine early, its an amazing look into the origins of the Tucson punk scene! More info at uselesspiecesofshit.com or to see what other old school shit Slug has in the works for later this year, Corporate Whores Box Set, Opinion Zero Discography and more check disillusionmusiclabel.com

Thanks Again!
dylan

MikeyWretch • Monday, April 27, 2009 • 10:03 AM

Featured writer: Mikey Wretch

This city is huge and filled to the brim with great music and all it requires for you to find it is to have an open mind. I have been in bands and around this town since about 1997 and I will never say that those were the good ole days because right now punk music in the valley and in the world is still alive and kicking ass. Here in our city I have been so sad to see so many people that are afraid to let in a new and younger generation of "Punk". This will not sound like the music you grew up on; they will not look like the dudes in that band from you childhood, but the heart is the same. Getting stuck in a rut is something a lot of us do. We get used to one venue and one group of certain bands, and we stay in that little circle. This is not a bad thing, but can only lead you towards not being able to find what else is going on in the rest of the city when it comes to local music. If you really are a person that cares about the local punk scene and not just some one that wants to be seen at the cool hip places, then take a night to go to a show and see some music and people that you have never met or seen. We need to tie this all together. We need to not be separate anymore. We need to realize that there is a lot more going on outside of what we think is going on.

The Trunk Space

The Trunk Space

What an amazing local venue in the heart of downtown Phoenix. The Trunk Space likes to promote unique and avant-garde music, so no matter how weird your project is you're likely to find a supportive audience there. All ages all the time, and for those of you that like to drop your pay checks in bars, there is the equally awesome Bikini lounge right next door.

The Ruby Room

The Ruby Room

The Ruby Room is a nice hidden spot with one of the best atmospheres, as far as bars go. Its right smack in downtown Phoenix. Awesome staff and great owners that are always down to help out any local acts. If you have that band you know from out of town and they need a show then I would definitely hit these folks up!

Muff Mondays

Muff Mondays

Muff Mondays take place at The Ruby Room every third Monday of every month. It's a variety show featuring music, dance, performance, videos, standup, various forms of audience participation, sketches, improv, etc. Local ladies Jacki O. Ronnie D. and Amy Jean Page host it. Lots of weird crazy funny stuff. It's free! No cover ever. There is also the muff exchange which is a table that people put stuff they don't want anymore on and you can take or leave what you want and the rest gets donated to charities and organizations that help women and girls (shelters, rehab centers, etc.). It's very cool.

Bands from here that I have been all about!

• Vanguard Party (Tempe)
• Bangarang (Phoenix)
• Jay Jay Sea Envy (Mesa)
• Bolt! (Queen Creek)
• Rumspringer (Tempe)
• Emperors of Japan (Phoenix)
• Yukon Ho (Tempe)
• Art For Starters (Mesa)
• SaidGun (Phoenix)
• Ds Yancy (Phoenix)
• Earthmen and Strangers (Tempe)

You may not like this addition but to me it's the most important part. If bands from outside of AZ don't come here then we have nothing. Bands from states that touch AZ that are also awesome!

• Turkish Techno (Riverside, California)
• Dan Padilla (San Diego, California)
• Shang A Lang (Las Cruces, New Mexico)
• Sunnyside (San Diego, California)
• Hairdos on fire (Las Cruces, New Mexico)
• Vena Cava (San Diego, California)

If you have a list of local punk shit that you want to share, hit us up in our contact sectionAZPunk needs your participation! and let's talk. We definitely can't cover all these angles alone.

TPStank • Thursday, April 23, 2009 • 1:12 PM

Yesterday marked the 3rd anniversary of a fallen friend to AZPunk.com. Sidney Copeland was an incomparable part of Arizona local music and the entire AZPunk family. His passion for music and generosity towards everyone he met generated an entire community of people who loved him and made the local punk rock scene what it is today. He was a father and friend to all of us. He will be missed deeply, but never forgotten.

TPStank • Sunday, April 19, 2009 • 8:06 PM

Since the site's been back online for almost three weeks now, I've been spending a lot of time scouring the innerwebs for new Arizona punk stuff. Whether they're bar shows, house shows, skate jams, or underground conventions, we want to showcase the hard work behind these local happenings on AZPunk.com. What I've found is that shit is happening all over the place, and since we went offline a year ago, the local punk scene has continued to thrive and come up with new ways to have a good time. Did you know that Yuma just had a punk fest with about 10 of their local bands? No? How about that Wickenburg has one of the most kick ass skate parks in the state? Bottom line is that if you're bored in AZ, you're lazy. Besides the countless showsGot an upcoming show? Post it on our calendar! that occur on a daily basis, there is so much going on out here for a punk to experience, hear and read. Check out this brief list of things you should know about.

602radio.com

602radio.com

602Radio.com showcases videos and recordings of live studio sessions with local bands. Local punks like The Pugilistics, The Complaniacs, and Shark Pants have recorded segments with 602 Radio so far, whith more upcoming sessions with bands like Nunzilla, The Freeze & Janitors of Anarchy. Something that's been lacking for a long time has been a place where you can get streaming local music at any time. We know how much work it takes to operate a streaming radio station, and these guys do a top-notch job with this website. Go check out the site, and listen to their latest session with Tucson ghettotech experimental pop music sensation, Lenguas Largas. Visit 602radio.com now!

Underground Publisher's Convention Weekend: April 25 - April 26 @ Stinkweeds Records

Underground Publisher's Convention

"The Underground Publishers Convention is headed up by Valley cartoonist Brandon Huigens and Phoenix zinestress Jacki Orr. It is sponsored (so far) by Desert City Death Distro, Stinkweeds Record Exchange, Samurai Comics, and The Trunk Space Gallery. We are aiming to keep costs for UPC as low as possible, because this is about getting under-recognized underground artists and publishers some well-deserved attention. This is Phoeinx's first annual Underground Publishers Convention that will be held in Phoenix on April 25-26, from 11am to 6pm at Stinkweeds Record Exchange located at 12 W. Camelback, Phoenix AZ 85013, just off the Central Ave. and Camelback. Admission is FREE! Come out and support local underground publishers!" - Couldn't have explained it better myself! For more info on the UPC convention, visit their blog at upcphx.wordpress.com

Valley Of The Scum Zine

Valley Of The Scum

Speaking of zines, this isn't so much what you should be listening to, but more what you should be reading. Valley Of The Scum is a local punk zine based out of Mesa that recently released their 2nd print edition. This issue features articles with Scorpion vs. Tarantula, Grave Danger & The Video Nasties. You might be able to find a copy at East Side Records or Tempe's Zia if they haven't all been snatched up yet. Not sure if these guys will be repping at the UPC, but we hope so. Check out their MySpace page for some scans of the zine's pages.

AZPX Skateboards Presents: Battle of Sickenburg #7

Battle of Sickenburg #7

Saturday, April 25, 2009 @ Wickenburg Skatepark which is located at N Tegner St. in Wickenburg, our brothers at AZPX Skateboards will be hosting an open skate jam/bbq where the winner takes home the coveted "AZPX Beer Cooler Trophy". This is the seventh time AZPX Skateboards has hosted this event, and the winner is expected to modify, refill the cooler, and give it up at the next Battle. Kind of like the Stanley Cup of Arizona skating. Visit our friends at AZPX Skateboards for more info.

And if you haven't been privy to all the new music that's been happening outside of your little clique, do yourself a favor and hit up every one of these links.

• Antietam (Tempe)
• The Automatic Erasers (Tempe)
• The Besmirchers (Tuscon)
• Bricktop (Tuscon)
• Fuckinvic (Phoenix)
• Hotdog! (Phoenix)
• Janitors of Anarchy (Phoenix)
• Japanese Monsters (Phoenix)
• Landmine Marathon (Phoenix)
• Lenguas Largas (Tuscon)
• Out For Revenge (Tempe)
• The Pugilistics (Phoenix)
• Red Son (Phoenix)
• Royal Monsters (Phoenix)
• Run With the Hunted (Phoenix)
• Slime and the Booby Tramps (Tempe)
• Scorpion vs. Tarantula (Phoenix)

If you have a list of local punk shit that you want to share, hit us up in our contact sectionAZPunk needs your participation! and let's talk. We definitely can't cover all these angles alone.

TPStank • Wednesday, April 1, 2009 • 1:44 AM

The new AZPunk will be an ever-growing engine of sweet-ass web stuff. We built it so we can easily include new tools and gadgets as we go long. Over the next couple of months, we'll be integrating features like RSS feeds, amped-up profile pages, and unique communication tools to name just a few. We're excited about some of the new thing's we'll be including later on, but we're pretty sure you're gonna dig what we've got in store for you already. Here's a list of the features you'll run across in the new site, and a sneak peek at some of the new stuff that will be coming up in the next couple of months.

Welcome back, now sign up!

With a complete rebuilding of the website, we also needed a redux of the database, which means the old AZPunk, along with your old usernames have gone the way of the Dodo. But isn't a fresh start a good thing? We think so. Get over to the Registration page, and sign up with your new AZPunk profile. Make sure to choose a username that lets you sleep at night, because its yours for good. Nochangees, sorry.

Browser compatibility

Being that AZPunk is a continuous work in progress, there are still some bugs that we're trying to work out. AZPunk is best viewed at either a 1280x768 or 1024x768 screen resolution using Mozilla FireFox, but the site generally works in IE 8 (although IE7 is a little buggy, and IE 6 doesn't seem to work at all yet), Google Chrome, Opera, and Safari. If you are still using IE on a Mac, however, we are not responsible for the madness that may ensue following server connection. We suggest you really should rethink your entire innernets strategy.

New super-radtacular geeky shit

The innernets have grown up a lot since we started working on AZPunk back in 2001. Since then, geeks around the world have joined forces and worked together to create the awesome capabilities Web 2.0 have to offer. Things like the ability to streamline information straight to you, to working in more user-friendly interactivity has made fun time on the innerwebs a lot more fun. So much of the cool things we've put into this new site are things that we always wanted, but never really had the resources to use. Now we do, and now we can operate AZPunk the way we always intended to with more speed, more interactivity, and most importantly, a quicker and easier way for you to get the information that you're looking for, because after all, that's really what this website is all about. Here are some of the really cool new features AZPunk has to offer:

New AZPunk Tools & Features

"Beta" tab

At the very top right of the site, you'll see a little tab that says "Beta". Click that for links to download the best browsers that have absolutely nothing to do with Microsoft. This area is just a reminder to you guys that the new version of AZPunk is a work-in-progress, and we'll constantly be adding new tools and features to to make your stay more cozy and fluffy.

AZPunk Announcements

When we have any kind of announcement or information we want you to know about, we'll be tossing up in this section at the top of the home page. This way, we can separate important website information from the rest of the info you're trying to get to.

"Featured Stuff" slider

This little 4-part slider is a quick reference to some of the important features of AZPunk we want you to check out. It's mainly directed towards newcomers, but a little reminder never hurt anybody, did it?

Footer promotions

The footer of the site now holds more of the super important stuff you need to know, like some really important show info, and some ideas on how to help AZPunk.com *wink wink*. This footer area can almost act as another website, and we'll be adding more promotional material as the site grows. If you're interested in advertising in this super-slick footer area, shoot us an email and we'll talk.

Collapsible panels

Thanks to the awesome functionality jQuery has to offer, we've been able to integrate a lot more user interactivity throughout the site. One of the more cooler interactive features is the ability to open and close certain panels. Every title bar with a little (x) or (-) on the right side is a collapsible panel you can click to open and close.

User News

This little promotional tool allows you to publish a link to somewhere in the world wide innernets that you want your fellow AZPunkers to check out. This is a quick little shout box that will also be integrated into your soon-to-be-amped-up profile page (when we can get around to that). We don't want to give away too many of the scientific details yet, you'll just have to stick around and see what we come up with.

See a bullshit post? Flag it!

Remember when you had to wait for an admin to approve your your show postings and band submissions in order for it to show up? We've tossed that theory, and moved the approval process back to you. If you see a bullshit post, or some incorrect info, hit the flag icon and let us know. We can then go back and fix it. This way, you get your postings instantly, and we don't get bugged with approvals every 5 minutes. :)

Easy Navigation

AZPunk now has 2 easy ways to navigate around the site. At the top header, you can use the horizontal drop-down navigation bar. If you're busy reading stuff further down the page, you can open and close the side vertical navigation bar. It saves on having to scroll all the way back up to get to where you need to go.

This week's shows

Our little pride and joy, the "Today's Shows" section that grew up in a old, rickety frame that sat it the bottom of the old site is now all grown up and, oh, how age had done him well. On the right side panel, our "Today's Shows" list has now grown into our "Weekly Shows" listing. Gone be the days of being stuck inside a frame, the weekly shows listing is now on every page and includes every show listing for the next 7 days. With an easy display of today's show listings, and a little calendar to boot, now you can plan your entire week with just a quick glance to the right.

Embed your shows

Now, when you post a show on our calendar, the info is automatically generated into the HTML or UBB code you need to post on message boards, myspace, or your website. The post is linked back to the event’s detail page on AZPunk.com. No more having to type the same thing over and over. Just click the button, copy the code, and paste your show information anywhere you want!

Share everything

All of AZPunk's show and article postings can be shared with all of the cool social networking websites with one click. Any time you see the Share This icon, you can send that posting out to Facebook, Twitter, Myspace, or about any of the other gazillions social websites you waste most of the day on.

Date & Time

Now you'll always know!

Edit: erm.. time's not working in IE. We'll find a better clock later.

Stylin'

Because we know how much many of you LOVED the sex appeal of our original black, yellow and red color scheme, we thought you might like some alternate styles to fit your sick little schizoid moods. Of course we had to start off with a new version of the old color scheme, but there are plenty of other color themes for you to choose from. From the top nav bar, you can choose which theme you want to use. The new skinning ability means that we will be adding more themes to the list as time goes on. Hell, if you think you got what it takes to create your own style for AZPunk to consider, who knows, we might even have an option for you to create your own AZPunk skin later on down the line.

Support our Advertisers

We've integrated Google ads into the new site, because we here at AZPunk love Google and thinks the personalized advertising info it can supply to you can be helpful at times. We also have several banners placed throughout the structure of the site, and will be adding more as time goes by. Please visit our advertisers and help support local businesses and events. If you're interested in advertising with AZPunk, check out our rates in our Advertising section.

Flyer Image Popups

Within our shows listings, bans can now input flyer URLs for their show flyers to be displayed in the show's listing for you to check out. On the surface, they'll come up as thumbnails, but with just a click, bam! A local flyer presentation! Try it out! Click on the flyer thumbnail anywhere you see one!

Upcoming AZPunk Tools & Features

Profile Pages

We're in the works of creating amped-up profile pages for our members. From here, users will be able to post profile pictures, manage friends lists, and display their recent User News posts. This feature is still in the works, but we hope to have profile pages up and running within the coming months.

Friends Lists

You will be able to add friends to your profile to easily stay in touch with them.

Who's Online

Just like the old AZPunk, there will be a quick, scrolling list of other members online. Get in touch with all your fellow onliners, or just check out their profiles.

Search AZPunk

The old version of the site was seriously lacking in the ability to search for info fast. With the new site, that won't be a problem anymore. Our internal search engine will scan the entire site for what you're looking for, and separate it by section for maximum information consumption.

RSS feeds

In the coming months, we will have RSS feeds streamlining information directly to you for just about all of the information that gets passed through the site. Need to find out who's playing where tonight? There's a feed for that. Want to get our whole venue list on your phone? There's a feed for that. Want to have random posts from our members emailed to you? Yea, there will even a feed for that. Make sure to check out our RSS Feeds page and hook everything up. If you don't know what the hell I'm talking about, and think that an RSS feed is some sort of weird space man hoopla, you're right.

Mobile AZPunk

Don't try to view AZPunk on your mobile phone, because it's most likely not going to work. We plan on creating a mobile-friendly website where you'll be able to access everything you need from your mobile device.

Rate everything

If you see something you like, give it a good rating. If not, give it a bad one. Just about everything is ratable. Bands, shows, articles, and more are all ratable just by clicking the star amount next to it.

Submit Articles, Editorials & Reviews

To get you more involved with the guts of the website, as well as keeping the rest of us informed with what's happening in the punk underground, registered members will be able to submit articles for a chance to be published on the website for things like music and show reviews, to editorials and news.

Member Comments

Soon, members will be able to comment on all of the articles, reviews and editorials that get published on AZPunk.

Local Resources

Soon, we will have a much more organized resource section that the old site had to offer. We plan on stocking this section with all kinds of useful links from design templates for albums, to local instrument repair stations. You will be able to help too by submitting your own links.

Polls

We'll have a poll feature so we can gather what you guys think about certain aspects of the website and local punk rock culture.

Message Board

Just like it was the very first time we launched the original AZPunk, we don't have a message board, and we're still working on the logistics for that. In the meantime, there are 4 great local punk culture message boards that we highly endorse.

• AZPwithdrawal.com
• Arizona Hardcore
• The Shizz
• ArizonaSka.com

AZPunk Comps on iTunes

Right now you can buy the AZPunk comps on shopazpunk.com, but we're working on getting the digital files up on itunes so you can easily download the album instantly!

TPStank • Wednesday, April 1, 2009 • 1:44 AM

Hi! So, we managed to find our way back onto the innerwebs after a year of intense geeking out over where the hell we were going to take this site. Anyone who spent more than 10 minutes on the old version knew that something desperately needed to be done about the layout, the content management, and most importantly, the basic process of getting you local punk info fast.

Anyone bother checking the source?

Towards the end of 2007, funds to keep the website running, along with costs to produce the upcoming AZPunk.comp Vol. 6 album, were getting low. From September to December, we ran a series of benefit shows to help raise money for these costs. The support for AZPunk was overwhelming, and we couldn't be more grateful to everyone. With your help, we raised enough money to pay for the Vol. 6 album and keep the site running for a while longer.

It was about a week before April 1, 2008, when, after about a half year of heated in-house debates, we made the decision to just remove the old version of AZPunk from the innerwebs for a while, until we could make something better. It was a decision that had supporters from both ends of the debate table. Should we juggle operating and updating a completely outdated website, all while trying to rebuild the thing from the ground-up the way we originally wanted? Was it a good idea? Was it a bad idea? Who knows? We felt like it was necessary to clean the slate and reinvent this great community resource that was just begging us for a rebuild. So why not April Fools Day? Who ever said April Fools only lasted for a day anyway? If it starts and stops on April 1st, it still counts, right?

Truth be told, the new version of AZPunk has been an extremely long time coming. Believe it or not, this "version 2" is actually more like a "version 5". We have been rebuilding this new AZPunk from concept to launch for, roughly, the past 4 years. Developments in web technology have been booming in the past several years, and the capabilities CSS, jQuery and MVC Frameworks working together have to offer, made it possible for us to start building the website we always wanted to make from day 1.

But besides all of this rebirth crap, we did manage to find some time to tend to our own lives for a change. Chris and his lovely fiancee, Kelly, bought a house and moved to Gilbert. It was a much needed step-up from the closet that they lived in some Tempe apartments. TotalPunkRadio.com, the grandfather of all that was awesome about internet radio, and the brainchild of Chris, saw it's final days during this hiatus. Trying to find time to maintain the website, dealing with the ever-changing legislation of internet radio, on top of life itself, got to be too much to juggle. The innerets have never been the same without it.

I married my foxxy lady, Kirstin, and we bought a great house around the Glendale area. I took a break from singing for Family Secret and playing live music in general for a bit. The recent "bump" in the economy took it's toll on my social life, as well, and I reluctantly ended up having to say goodbye to a great job. Luckily, however, I managed to find a little something and picked up some much needed freelance work to help pay the bills.

AZPunk.com founders Micah Elliot & Chris Lawson

So much has changed in a single year. Locally, socially, politically and musically alike. What better time for us to bring you a brand new AZPunk than right now? After almost 7 years of living, breathing, and bleeding AZPunk, we felt we needed a little break. Now we've had that break, and we're back better than ever, and re-dedicated to helping promote local punk rock shows and bands throughout the state. We urge you to participate and help us keep this site packed with local info. We're proud of this website, and we're proud of the hard working local bands and fans. AZPunk is dedicated to you. Help us make this site better than ever.

Thanks for coming back, guys!

TPStank • Wednesday, December 12, 2007 • 5:14 PM

Originally posted on Spawn.com on 12/12/07

J.R.'s and his infamous bunny slippers.

Arizona's underground punk rock collective seems to have a serious reoccurring habit of kicking a whole lot of ass. It's almost pandemic. It's like the entire punk music community is infected with a plague of awesomeness. There isn't a night of the week where you won't find some sort of disrespectful and often offensive music exploding through the walls of any given punk rock venue in the greater Metro Phoenix area. One event in particular stood out above the desert's smog and unified an entire army of punk rock fans and musicians. A social experiment eloquently titled the Thrash of the Titans was organized by the state's punk rock community Mecca, AZPunk.com, to feature a legion of local musicians from the punk music scene. Six all-star bands performed against each other in the battle-to-end-all-music-battles. The real bloodshed, however, didn't begin on the stage, it began in the practice studios.

In mid-September 2006, Tom Reardon of the local punk band Pinky Tuscadero White Knuckle Ass Fuck, who is also an active member of the AZPunk.com community, approached the operators of the site with a great event idea: grab a handful of local musicians, mix their names up in a hat, and throw them together with the conditions that they have two months to write a half hour set of all new music. At the time, AZPunk.com was having some financial troubles with high server costs, and was looking for new event ideas to help raise money and awareness for the website. After a couple weeks of organization, the team developed a unique musical event that has never been seen before in the state. Musicians pulling from almost 20 different local punk rock bands signed up for one of the four categories: vocals, guitar, bass and drums. Members of the website offered up the most vivacious band names that their brain-damaged heads could muster up, such as, Porn on the Cob, Houndfartin', Geetardo and the Vavosos and Pavarotti Zombie - and those are just a fraction of the names that we can tell you. The ones that actually got picked are far worse. After all of the participants were organized, names placed, and event coordinated, six local all-star punk bands were created to compete against each other for one night only, and only one chosen to be donned the prestigious title of being the first AZPunk Titan.

• The Fuckin Rabbits
  Featuring members of:
  The Meat Department, Heatstroke, 80*D
• Bro-Loaf
  Featuring members of:
  Casket Life, The Earps, Mystery Pissers, Pop Gestapo
• Give Me Back My Sunday
  Featuring members of:
  80*D, Walt Flanagan's Dog
• The Naughty Little Squirrel Fuckers
  Featuring members of:
  The Declaimed, My Doll, Pinky Tuscadero White Knuckle Ass Fuck, Dephinger
• Arizona Joe and the Methadone 3
  Featuring members of:
  BYOW, Last Resistance, Pinky Tuscadero White Knuckle Ass Fuck
• GunFuck
  Featuring members of:
  Nunzilla, Greenhaven, XIII Black, Family Secret

The winner crowned AZPunk Titan receives a spot on the upcoming AZPunk.comp Volume 6 - an annually produced compilation album featuring almost 40 local punk rock bands. But the guaranteed slot on the album is merely a materialistic award for a job well done. The true reward for the bands is the feeling of accomplishment, the recognition they receive from their peers and the community, and the self-satisfaction of knowing that they were able to work together as a team to create something new and fun when the chips were against them. This, in essence, captures the true meaning of what punk rock is; D.I.Y. - Do It Yourself.

As you can see from the flyer's artwork, which happens to be illustrated by McFarlane's own J. Gonzo, the Harry Hamlin-esque character is holding the severed heads of six freakishly looking... things, each one representing a competing band. From top to bottom, the characters are held in the order each band was picked, and the order in which the bands performed. Fate played a big role in this competition. None of the participants or anyone else involved had a say in who was placed in which band. That way, everyone knew exactly what they were getting into and couldn't complain about anything being unfair.

From the beginning of October to the beginning of December, these six groups were instructed to start a local band from the ground up. Two full months to meet each other, construct a full set, and be ready to perform at the Hollywood Alley in Mesa, Arizona. Each band was expected to manage themselves and organize their own schedules to meet the following criteria:

• Write 20 to 30 minutes of original music. No more, no less
• One cover song
• Find a practice spot and schedule practice times
• Promote your band and the show
• Communicate issues and work them out
• No quitting allowed

In an assignment like this, when people are thrown together with pressure of a two-month deadline, as well as more than likely having never met each other, things can tend to get a little stuffy at times. Egos clash, some work harder when others slack off, the possibilities for a great rock & roll soap opera are endless. It's punk rock afterall. Anything can happen ... and it does.

Rumors of some bands not working well together started to surface early on into the show's preparation. Other stories of some members not pulling their own weight started to draw doubt from the crowds and the other bands who caught word as it made its way to the website's messageboard. While some bands were busy organizing their sets and having fun, others couldn't even get the basic act of communication down. One band in particular spent a month and a half playing phone and email tag with each other before they eventually managed to schedule two band practices a week before the show. Another band lost a drummer due to a freak skateboarding accident, and in turn, had to quickly find a replacement to teach their set.

But along with the bad, the show's participants also incorporated the good. One band, and probably the one that showed the most dedication, had one member who spent a chunk of the allotted time on tour with his real band, as well as having to spend time in California helping his family evacuate the recent wild fires, while their drummer had to manage traveling more than 300 miles two to three times a week from Tucson to Tempe and back for practice.

As the weeks seemed to fly off the calendar, the battle date drew closer and the insults grew wreckless and AZPunk's messageboard exploded with arguments and trash talking. In the spirit of irreverent punk rock fun, contestants spouted off confident and most often offensive jabs at each other to build up the entertainment factor of the event. Although trying to keep in good spirits, many feathers were ruffled, and in the end, I think someone actually cried.

At last, the fateful evening was here. On a cold, rainy night in the Mesa desert, AZPunk.com unleashed the first Thrash of the Titans show on Dec. 8 2008 at the Hollywood Alley. After two months of planning, song writing and preparation, these six teams were ready to kick some serious ass. Well, at least some of them were ready. You could tell from the moment they set foot on stage how sturdy their confidence level stood. Some bands focused directly on musical composition and their ability to write good songs, while others relied heavily on quirky gimmicks and comedy to win over the event's judges. In the tradition of the nation's favorite past time - American Idol - the bands had to compete to win the votes of three judges who were advertised to be a few of the Arizona punk rock scene's harshest critics. One, a burley hardcore punk and metal show promoter transplanted from the East Coast who goes by the self proclaimed title 'HNIC' on the site, the second, a lovely Amazonian tattoo artist named 'Medusa' who wrestles in the scene's pudding (yes, pudding) wrestling troupe, Dirty Darlins of Debauchery, and third, the leader of a local fire-breathing, body modifying freak show named 'CutThroat'. Although the only female in the trio was obviously there to fill the Paula Abdul role, all three seemed to have the Simon Cowell persona down pretty well.

As the evening progressed, and the patrons and musicians alike grew more intoxicated with each ingested beer bong and whiskey shot, each band was given a solid 30 minute set. They were all judged on the same categories based on a point system ranging from 0.5 to 5.0.

Presentation:

The performance and stage show. How well prepared they were.

Timing:

No more than 30 minutes, no less than 20

Composition:

How well they organized and wrote their musical set

Overall:

The judges overall opinion of the band, music and entire performance

By the end of the evening, the fans had their favorites, but as in all competitions like this, the three judges had the final word on who was to be crowned Titan. The votes between both the judges and the crowd were almost unanimous. Bro-Loaf wins! And although, GunFuck and Arizona Joe and the Methadone 3 followed closely behind, Bro-Loaf exemplified what this competition was all about. They embodied the pure, true, honest, most D.I.Y. ultra-core punk rock essence of this entire event. They were given a simple seven-letter band name, thrown in a room together after having never met each other, given two months to create a set, and instead developed the most unique spontaneous punk rock idea I have ever witnessed. Everything this exceedingly clever quartet presented was derived from a simple band name. Their performance and music reflected a single creative idea and transformed a simple band name into a movement. They took a crowd who had never heard a single song, a crowd who hadn't even the slightest idea what the band was about, chanting their name by the end of the night in unison. Simply put, Bro-Loaf is the most entertaining 26 minutes I have ever witnessed in my 15 years of attending local punk rock shows.

The only thing this event lacked was a full documentary crew and a VH1-style wrap-up show. So much behind-the-scenes involvement went into creating this event that the crowd wasn't even aware of. The drama, the hilarity and entertainment which comes with writing music and lyrics, and the sheer awesomeness of bringing together a hoard of like-minded people together for the sake of having a kick-ass time. AZPunk.com's Thrash of the Titans grabbed a dwindling music community by the balls, set them in front of a mirror, and made them see what they were really made of. In the end, this event wasn't about competition. It wasn't about who was better than who. These elements were merely there for the sheer entertainment factor. This show was created to showcase the amazing talent and fun that often gets hidden within ourselves and the community as it grows old and grumpy. I spoke with many attendees of the evening to find out their reaction to a show like this, and almost everyone said the same thing, the one thing that you almost never hear anymore; "It felt like the good ol days of punk rock again." That statement, in it's most purest form, is a reward in itself.

AZPunk.com Thrash of the Titans winners, BroLoaf.