GDAC Library: I Slept With Joey Ramone by Mickey Leigh

I Slept With Joey Ramone by Mickey Leigh

What's it about: A 'family memoir' written by Mickey Leigh, brother of Joey Ramone, from birth to death and everything in between. Unlike a lot of biogrpahies, Mickey was literally there for the early days and the defining moments of Joey's career. Honest, funny, emotional, dramatic, with lots of inside info; all the things a biography should be!

For fans of: Punk rock, family drama, biographies.

Moshup Monday: The Wonder Year vs Paramore

Moshup: n. A song comprised of elements of two or more pre-existing pieces of music that RAWWWWK.

As a music nerd, I love seeing patterns and loops that can be used in multiple songs. Eg. singing 'my milkshake brings all the boys to the yard' over any song that has 4/4 rhythm will work. Try it. Take the opening riff of Smells Like Teen Spirit by the Nirvanas and sing that over it.

Anyway, I've been sidetracked... Some people think DJs are just lazy, leech-type creatures who push buttons and have no musical talent. Wrong! Some of them have talent and if you can't admit that then you sir, are jealous. While I enjoy a ridiculous dance remix as much as the next occasional weekend binge drinker, even better to me are remixes that use elements of alternative/rock songs.

Enter Dr Brixx, who has made a pretty seemless mix of The Wonder Years and Paramore. The intro is a bit forced, but the rest of the song, espeically the bridge are really good.


If anything, it makes me a little sad to hear how TWY could sound if Soupy hand't turned into such a miserable moanbag!

Hookie sound alot like early blink 182

Lots of bands try to sound like blink-182. Some unintentionally sound more like blink than they mean to. And somewhere in between is Hookie!

Holy Tom Delonge, Batman! The guys from Hamden, Connecticut say they are influenced by MxPx, Home Grown, Inspection 12 and NOFX, but it is impossible not to hear strains of blink in this. In fact, if someone told me this was a b-side from Cheshire Cat, I'd believe them!

While the band, who are still in their teens, are trying to distance themselves from blink, I wouldn't be so hasty. blink have gone from pariahs to godfathers of the melodic punk world, whether that one GG Allin fan on your street likes it or not!

And also, they don't actually suck, at least  not as much as they'd like you to believe they do. Sure, the recording is crude at best and it sounds like they're using instruments from WalMart, but it's a catchy song underneath all of that and lots of people do like this stuff. What set blink-182 apart was the desire to grow as songwriters. Sure, they maintained the 'loveable loser with ADHD' persona, but their output got steadily better over the years.* If Hookie can expand their MP3 collection, stick to demos for a while, and invest some time and money into their band, who knows where they could end up.

*Until the self-titled album, that was a small dip..
*Also, finding Travis Barker was like winning a musical lottery. Like seriously, that man is ridiculous at taking some shitty riffs and making it a song. A song that can be played on the radio!

New Tunes: Cliffhanger

Cliffhanger are a pretty slick pop punk band from Chicago, who have no qualms about bringing the pop, but are also old enough to remember when punk was on film and game soundtracks in the nineties. They blend new, shiny pop punk, with 'Epifat' melodic punk and for the most part this works really well.

The excessively titled They Used to Call Me "Anal Girl" is the best offering on their three track EP, 'Ignite'.





Songs that have a catchy pre-chorus and chorus = $$$. Plus I've had the 'You used to say' part stuck in my head all week. Thanks, guys.

Their preferred choice of song, City Skyline, was a slight let down to me as it started with Alkaline Trio type vibes, however I get the feeling the singer gets uncomfortable at the thought of his friends smoking, and he only drinks on special occasions and always in moderation. What I'm getting at is that they sound very polished, in that 'might actually get some airplay and female fans' way. So while skate punks in their late 20s like myself might want something with a bit more bite, the people who matter when it comes to merch/music sales, ie. young teen girls, will probably lose their tiny minds over this.

Plus, the fuckers sneak in a breakdown towards the end so the dudes at their shows feel more macho.

'Just Ignite' is a none-too-subtle subtle reference to a band on the brink of going places in terms of music and success, and I hope they follow through on their potential.

As they have their shit together, you can check them out on Soundcloud or any other form of social media there is out there. Get to it, so you can say you knew them before they got big!

GDAC Library: Bloodsucking Fiends by Christopher Moore

Bloodsucking Fiends by Christopher Moore

What's it about? Bloodsucking Fiends is a modern day, urban satire with vampires, but don't let the V word turn you off. The vampires are powerful and bloodthrirsty, nocturnal, occasionally bewildered, regular 'people'. But under no circumstances do they sparkle.

For fans of: Urban fantasy comedy, Terry Pratchett, Martin Millar, Grand Theft Auto style societal satire

Good Songs to Skateboard to (from Yahoo Answers)

Sumo skaters fall over a lot, I'd imagine.

After being re-immersed in early 00s skate punk nostalgia through Aggressive Inline, I went snooping about on the Google machine to see if I could find some other gems I had overlooked or forgotten. There I found the lolfactory that is Yahoo Answers and a question dedicated to skate songs, posed in 2006.

Some of the answers are standard, some are a little out of left field, some are questionable and some are just plain baffling.

This is the top answer. The answer the questioner was most pleased with. While I would include some SOAD in my desert mp3s, 'Pizza Pie' or Chic 'n' Stu as it's actually named, would not be one of them. Personal preferences aside, who the hell would skate to this schizophrenic clusterfudge??

Then there’s some Placebo, a great band to skate to. If by ‘skate’ you mean ‘drink yourself to sleep in the dark’.

The ‘source’ is also adorable. But let's move on.

Drunken Lullabies is a bit more like it. A steady, upbeat rhythm and a pace that gets the heart pumping and you legs push and kicking! Of course, there is a skateboarder in the video, so it’s not the most imaginative, but it’s on the right track, at least.

I don't listen to classic rock so I don't really know much of Suicidal Tendencies, but I see how the song could work for skating. If course it does have the fucking word 'skate' in the title, so give yourself a round of applause Rachel C, you really excelled yourself with this one! This video is interesting as it shows metal and punk bands exploited impressionable teenagers in the 80s too. UGH DAD I HATE DOING HOMEWORK.

This cautionary tale is the story of a kid 30 year old man who had a future until he got a skateboard, and now he likes to skateboard. So, let that be a lesson to you.

Just when you think Yahoo users have redeemed themselves slightly, *record scratch* Whaaaaat? ‘Lincoln Park’?! And while we're here, I was into Hybrid Theory as much as the next teenager, but I really don’t get how they are a skate band. I mean, I know they were totes angry and anti-conformity, just like skateboarding is (screw you, mom and dad!) but they are terrible skate music. Plus, this is 2006, five years after Hybrid Theory. 

Well for whatever reason, Linkin Park were linked with skateboarding, something that I find baffling, but vital knowledge all the same. 

The 'nothing extreme' footnote kills me.

So unfortunately, I don't think I've found an untapped resource of songs to skate to. If you know any, holla at me!

Latvia has a ska band called Band Mango

Up until now the only thing I knew about Latvia was, ehm...well, besides the capital being Riga and the fact that most people there have a classic Baltic pallor, I knew feck all about Latvia! 

But it turns out the Northern European country has a ska punk scene, or at least one ska punk band, called Band Mango. Or sometimes they’re called Band MANGO. I love this shit! The fact that there’s ska in Ireland, a wet, cold rock in the Atlantic is amazing, but ska in a tiny country where the weather is LITERALLY BALTIC?! Amazeballs!

The antics in this video are so similar to how my first bands in rural Ireland acted is scary.  

• Tiny band room to jam in?  Check!
• Lots of walking around outside and hanging around old buildings? Check!
• Skateboarding in an area that is not conducive to skateboarding? Check!

All joking aside, this is really good. I mean, where in the hell did a Latvian Patrick Stump come from?

While this song is probably the best ‘something everyone can enjoy’ single from their EP ‘Lifelong Contract’, there’s also some great Streetlight Manifesto- inspired stuff that zips between intricate brass-led ska, punk and riff-heavy rock.

Readers of this blog know I have a soft spot for European bands with amusing names and questionable English. Band member Jānis (one of two Jānis’ in the group) filled me in with some crucial info and it was hard to tell if he was being funny on purpose, unintentionally hilarious, or if he was fucking with me! 

“We’re one of the most common phenomenons in Latvia,” he says, “taking (a) solid third place just after bad weather and potatoes with cottage cheese.” Well, there you have it.

The band is completed by Konstantins, Ieva, Krists and Reinis. R they a band r a group of vampires, lol. Just kidding guys. But srsly, your names sound like badass vampires.

Band Mango are on Soundcloud and Facebook, check them out.

Another fun fact about Latvia, their currency is Latvian Lats. I love it.