The best Alternative Taylor Swift covers on Spotify

Politics aside, it is a crying shame that I am unable to add Taylor Swift songs to my pop playlist on Spotify. Luckily, there are countless bands still trying to hit the big time by putting their own spin on an already popular song! In the first Punktual Media post in a long time - and our best journalistic work to date - here are some of the best (or worst, depending on your POV) alternative Taylor Swift covers on Spotify..

I PREVAIL - BLANK SPACE



Starting with the song that set me off down this rabbit hole, I Prevail chug their way through Blank Space at an enjoyable tilt. Not sure why they needed to change the pronouns etc around if I am completely honest, but maybe covering a pop song AND singing about a guy as a love interest would have been a step too far? Anyway, I love this cover, even if the guitarists look bored as all hell.

THE ANIMAL IN ME - I KNEW YOU WERE TROUBLE



You will probably see a pattern emerging here, folks.. Well, The Animal In Me have an actual ladywoman as a vocalist, as well as some nice production values that create the overall all effect of Tay Tay backed by a metalcore band. And only the most bitter curmudgeon of the scene could find fault with that.

ALEX GROOT AND FRIENDS - 22



The most adorkable group of adorable dorks you are ever likely to lay your jaded eyes upon, Alex Goot and Friends serve up a sugary version of 22 that fills me with equal parts joy and..it might be envy..distrust? They might be a cult, is all I am saying. Jokes aside, there is a reason this has 12.5 million views on Youtube. The pop punk band in the vid, Against The Current, are not going away any time soon either.

(img: http://hbnbm.com)

New Music Crush: The Friday Prophets + interview

Umeå, European capital of culture 2014, is famous in the alternative music world at least, for spawning Refused, Meshuggah and several hardcore punk bands who were very serious about social issues and probably weren't that fun to hang out with at parties. Luckily, a beacon of hope has emerged, in the form of The Friday Prophets, who retain the sense of social justice of their predecessors, while mercifully allowing for a sense of humour and personality to shine through their European-style punk devotion.

What I like about these guys is that they are both as earnest about punk and ska as Europeans can be, but they are also having fun with it. Punk Rock Flu is all a European punk rock song should be. Imagine if Billie Joe Armstrong was born in Sweden, away from American things such as 'sarcasm' and 'irony', in a town where punk rock is serious business. You're halfway to understanding The Friday Prophets.



Regardless of the words I spew out here, my new found love of The Friday Prophets is actually very simple to explain. They're just a bunch of relatively regular dudes, playing really good ska influenced punk rock. I spoke to singer/guitarist Mattias about the Umeå scene, punk rock and clichés! They have just released a slightly baffling video for their song 'Amsterdam' and apparently the band themselves aren't sure what the message behind it actually is. Check it out!

GDAC: Why do you think Umeå produces so many alternative bands?

M: I haven't really thought about this very much. But I think in the 90's Umeå had a wave of straight edge and vegan hardcore bands that stirred the pot and an important ingredient was the band "Refused". The punk- and hardcore scene became a popular subculture, probably because people where fed up with how the meat production industry was run and they wanted to make healthy and active choices about their lives. From what I know, Umeå has for a long time been a very democratic and egalitarian city (compared to other places) where most people embrace equality. And since the world is not equal (in many aspects) the struggle continues and it's reflecting in what's happening on the music scene.

Did you get to see the famous Umea bands growing up?

I was born in 1988 so I was too young to understand what was going on in Umeå in the 90's. But now in my later years I sometimes enjoy seeing local bands like "Lesra" and "Håll Det Äkta", and about a year ago I saw Refused play their last gig here in Umeå. That was probably the best show I've ever seen.

What drew you to punk and ska?

The mentality of it. Many punk rockers challenge authority and question conventional beliefs and ways of being. It may sound like a teenage rebellion cliché but the fundamental philosophy of it is just as accurate as ever to me. I may not display it by wearing provocative clothing and a mohawk, I think it's more reflecting in what I do and what I believe. You can rebel on the inside without having the devil-may-care exterior.

How did the band get together?

The Friday Prophets started in 2010 and I had been playing punk/rock with our bass-player Isac since 2007 I think. We met through his sister. Simon, the drummer joined the band in 2011, I believe. And Edvin, our lead guitar player just started showing up when we rehearsed and wanted to join the band. He wouldn't take no for answer, luckily neither would we. I realized he was viciously more talented than me when it came to playing guitar.

Is there a story behind the name?

I wanted the band to be called something with "Friday" in it because then the plan at first was to play party oriented punk. So we typed in Friday in one of those band name generator sites and suddenly there it was: "The Friday Prophets". I love the band name, I think we all do even though it may not represent what the band is about.  

What are your influences? Are there ska-punk bands in particular you like, or do you like bands dedicated to each specific genre?

There are so many influential components and they do not only come in the shape of music. I take inspiration from people, books, articles, movies, philosophy, relationships etc. It's hard to find a common denominator for all of these things and at the risk of sounding cliché I would say everyday life is the biggest influence. When something inspires me a creative switch is turned on within me. Then of course there's a reason why our sound is the way it is and those reasons  are Bad Religion, The Bouncing Souls, Green Day, The Descendents, Against Me!, Rise Against and NOFX. Our ska-punk influences comes from bands like Streetlight Manifesto and Less Than Jake.

I get the impression, and I could be wrong, that the band is an escape from everyday life for you guys, is that the case?

I can only speak for myself, but yeah when I was younger it sort of was. That was when I started to write songs about apathy and feeling detached from society, which later became songs like "Good Things", "Daffy's Futility Routine" and "Wasted Days". But I wouldn't say that that's the case now. I enjoy everyday life most of the time and the band is an valuable part of it. Not because I have to escape from it, rather because I wanna add one more meaningful ingredient to it. 

What are your goals and plans as a band?

We don't have any grand plans or goals, we're all studying so we try to find time for the band when we can

because we all enjoy it very much. We sort of have a "let's take it step-by-step attitude" and time will tell

where that will take us. My goal is to try to keep The Friday Prophets alive for as long as possible simply because I love writing and playing music.

Dodgy Film Club: Thankskilling

Thankskilling is a low budget, self aware horror comedy about five college students on a road trip home for Thanksgiving, who are set upon by a murderous, eh, fowl-mouthed (sorry) Turkey.

Where has this movie been all my life? As much of an homage as a satire, it features a classic set of horror characters, including:

• The Jock (comes with football)
• The Redneck (comes with chin beard)
• The Nerd (comes with health issues)
• The Dumb Slut (comes with sex puns)
• The Good Girl (comes with additional 'Sheriff Dad' character)
• The Weird Old(ish) man (comes with ability to show up at any time)

Here are some highlights and things to expect:

• The opening shot is of an exposed breast, belonging to an inexplicably topless mom-aged blonde woman, in, we are told, 1621.
• Soon after we are introduced to the turkey, who can not only wield an axe, but can also deliver one liners like an anachronistic action movie star. (e.g. the line 'Nice tits, bitch', which is totally the language turkeys in 1621 would use, should they be able to talk)
• Surprisingly little nudity, given the open shot
• Vague Increasingly strong homo-eroticism
• A punk and metal dominated soundtrack for some reason. I mean, it's sweet, but why would these 5 people be listening to it?
• 'Turkeyologists'
• Awful puns!
• Graduates of the Alan Bagh school of acting
• A lead character named Johnny (reference or no?)
• The line 'Gobble gobble, motherfucker'

(Image Source: amazon.com)

There was a SCOOTER version of Tony Hawk's

I thought Aggressive Inline was a stretch, barely clinging on by its fingertips to Tony Hawk's coattails... It seems that the money and trends people in video game HQ thought that skateboarding, snowboarding, BMX and yes, even rollerblading games weren't enough. There was also Razor Freestyle Scooter.

Apparently the storyline was that you are a scooter kid whose friends are kidnapped by an evil robot. Okay, that actually sounds cool. But we have to bend our interpretation of reality and believe that someone who chose freestyle scooter as an extreme sport would have any friends.

Anyway, let's get to the important part: the soundtrack!


I'm not sure where they found these D-list skate punk bands, but it's quite fitting that the songs got the general feeling of skate punk, without the company having to pay for the best of skate punk. Shades of Montgomery Burns looking for a 'non-union, Mexican equivalent'.

Some of the songs sound like they were recorded off the TV onto a handheld tape recorder..

The full album is only 28 minutes long, which is kind of sad. There are definitely some songs that teenage me would have consumed on repeat. In an alternative universe I might have played Razor Freestyle Scooter and listened to Never Too Late and Ex Number Five instead of Bad Religion and Alkaline Trio.

Symphony of Distraction Interview

Symphony of Distraction are, for my money, the best skate punk band of the modern era. Guitarist and vocalist, Jay, talked to me about the band, the shape of punk today, and what it's like to be an aging punk rocker.

Mr Sparkle!

What are SOD doing these days, are you writing any new material? 

Nothing specific right now. After we finished the last record and did a short tour, I moved to New York City, so I live across the country from everyone else in the band. We’ve had some conversations about doing some recording in the not too distant future, but as of yet nothing specific is planned.

What is the song writing process for you guys?

Steve and I split the song writing. When we had some song ideas, we’d get together and get right to recording guitar parts. We found that being able to listen to the guitar tracks helped us really hear the songs better than just playing them over and over. We were pretty much writing the songs all the way until they were done. The whole writing and recording happened in parallel. There weren’t any songs where I finished the lyrics more than a few minutes before I started recording the vocals. It’s a much better process for me than trying to write a whole record up front and not really hear any of it until I get into the studio. There’s so many times that I thought I had written a really great song and didn’t realize it sucked until I started recording it. Recording as you write helps avoid that situation

Some of your lyrics deal with frustrations and insecurities of every day life. Are your lyrics an important part of a cathartic process or do you just need to fill in the songs?

For me the lyrics definitely come secondary to the music, but I still consider them an important part. Bad lyrics can ruin an otherwise good song, so I always keep that in mind when I’m trying to rush through lyric writing. I think Steve takes it more seriously because a lot of his songs relate to what’s going on in his life when he writes them. I usually have a couple of lines of words that I find work well with a melody and then write around them. It creates for some random topics..

Speaking of which, 'New Cliches' struck a particularly loud chord with me. How are you finding becoming an adult and an adult punk guy?

I kind of relate getting older in the punk scene to the stages of grief. At first you’re in denial, then you’re angry and finally you just have to accept it. You get older and there’s nothing you can do about it. Punk rock is definitely a young person’s game but that doesn’t mean you have to stop listening to it or stop going to shows. For me growing older just meant that I didn’t have the urge to throw it in everyone’s face all the time anymore. I don’t need to have blue hair and piercings and wear a Sex Pistols shirt so that some stranger can tell how cool I am. The best part of aging is that you truly, honestly just stop giving a fuck what anyone thinks.

In terms of new music, personally I don't really get the whole hipster, retro, cassette tape trend, but I know that older people at the time hated bands like Nofx and Strung Out so I try not to get overly concerned about it..

Yeah, I had a conversation with someone not too long ago that was trying to tell me that cassette tapes sound better than CDs. I wanted to slap him in the face. I could see cassettes being cool from a collector’s standpoint, but to say they sound better is just stupid. But you’re right, everybody thinks that their generation of music is better than the next so it’s gets really hard to judge what’s legitimately appealing to the youth as you get older.

What are your thoughts on the future of the music industry and how do you feel about piracy?

Piracy is a bummer. It hurts the musicians, and I think it hurts the listener too. You can definitely have too much of a good thing. I’ve heard people brag about how they have 50 thousand songs in their mp3 library. Almost all of which are pirated. What’s the point of having 50 thousand songs? You can’t ever listen to them. It just perpetuates the short attention span that everybody has. So now you basically have access to all music and don’t give a shit about any of it. That being said, I’ve pirated some music that I was excited to hear and didn’t want to wait til the release date. So I’m not claiming innocence, but I’d happily give up access to free music if it meant that everybody else did too.

Who are your biggest influences and favourite bands, past and present?

As I’m sure you can tell by the music, we’re mid 90s skate punk nerds. Fat Wreck, Epitaph, Vagrant bands. Bands like Weezer, Green Day and Ben Folds Five. Really anyone that could write a great melody is what I was into in my most obsessive music phase. These days it’s more rare that I feel like a band would be a huge influence to me when I’m writing punk music. My writing habits are too hard wired at this point. I can still get inspired by a song, but it’s much more random how that happens now. It could be a Britney Spears song I hear in a movie that triggers a melody idea for me. Then I take that and just throw it over my old influences.

Had you guys got a set sound in mind when you started the band, and how did the band come together?

Steve was in SecondShot when it first started. We always wrote well together, but it just wasn’t working out at that point for other reasons and Steve got kicked out and went on to do some other projects. We didn’t talk for a couple years. When we finally did, we got drunk and talked about the idea of trying to record an EP by ourselves. Neither of us had any recording experience and I never really thought we’d do it. Some time later, I decided I wanted to demo out some songs and bought some cheap recording gear. After learning a bit, we got together and recorded the guitar parts to a song that Steve was messing around with, and we thought it sounded good. So we decided to go for it. Steve had been in a band called Allergic to Idiots that had Jimmy and Pat in it. We just recruited them to fill out the band and made the EP.

As far as the sound, we were pretty specific. All fast. We weren’t going to try to bother with making the record balanced. We wanted to do all fast songs, and that’s how the EP ended up being. There are a couple mid tempo songs on Call It Off, but it’s still generally a really fast record.

How did the name come about? Are you all just fans of Dave Mustaine and his work?

No. It’s a terrible band name and we came up with it when we were really drunk and thought it was funny.

To me, your music is exactly how punk from California and West coast America should sound. So, I gotta say, it's pretty weird that you guys seem more appreciated in Asia than at home. What was your Asian tour like and why do you think skate punk is still so popular there?

Yeah, when we first moved to the Bay Area, we thought that since it was the home of Fat Wreck, that people would be crazy for that style of music, but it just wasn’t the case at all. I think maybe southern California would have been better for us, but who knows. Asian tour was awesome. I love going over there. They have great fans. They come to the show before the first band starts, and don’t leave til the show is over. I don’t have an answer to why skate punk still does well over there.

What is it about this kind of punk that attracts you? Is there any other genres that you listen to or would like to play?

The attraction to punk music for me has always been that the songs are more streamlined than a lot of other types of music. You have a good melody and some good music behind it, you repeat it 3 times and you’re done. Obviously that’s a huge generalization and not many of our songs actually do that, but I’ve always loved how punk songs eliminate a lot of fluff from a song so that the core idea of a is the most important thing. As far as other genres, I tried to learn piano when I was young and failed miserably. So now I actually play a lot of jazz piano. I’m not sure if I like it or It’s just a personal challenge, but lately, that’s where most of my musical energy has been going. Once I’m good enough, I want to have a band that plays old punk songs in jazz style. No idea if that will ever happen.

(Image source: Symphony of Distraction Facebook)

Zero Charisma: Compact Movie Review

A games master in need of a good therapy session loses what little control he has on life when a hipster joins his table. Role-playing games provide the background to a dark comedy-drama about mental illness. 8/10.

Holly Would Surrender: a study in pop punk keywords

Good Days and Clichés is a confusing name for some.  It’s an in-joke based around paying tribute to and making fun of pop punk bands. I love pop punk, but have loved it for so long that I see the same lyrical themes/style of names/fashion sense come and go and come again.

Through the Skatepunkers forum I think I’ve found the most cliché-drenched pop punk song ever! Holly Would Surrender are more than a clever name. I’ve listened to this song on repeat all day because it is 3 minutes, 10 seconds of joyous pop punk. And besides the glaring emission of ‘pizza’ the boys have hit every keyword about Summer pop punk available. That’s it folks, they’ve used up all the keywords!

So, want to start a pop punk band? Here is a handy guide to the lyrical keywords you should include!

The Alibrary Experiment

When walking one of the quieter Vancouver streets recently, I spotted a bright cabinet by a driveway, labelled 'Alibrary'.

Vancouver people have a pretty good habit of leaving free swag in public places..but was this a whole cabinet of free books?!

Hell yes! Naturally I had to get in on this action and use it for an experiment. I decided to take a second hand book from my collection, write a note explaining what I was doing, and leave the book in this wonderful Alibrary. What book did I choose? Well...

Ok, so it won't be to everyone's taste, but I'm hoping whoever is willing to pick up a book of wisdom from Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson will be willing to drop me an email telling me when they picked it up, and where they are going to leave it when they are done with it, etc.

So.. I brought the book with me the next time I knew I would be passing the cabinet. What did I see waiting for me in exchange for my tale of the most electrifying man in sports entertainment?

Only four Calvin and Hobbes collections! This was the cherry on top of what was already a lucky day for me. I'm hoping I was owed some karma or something. If you didn't know, I love Calvin and Hobbes, but had to leave my collection at home, two years ago. What an amazing, unselfish act for someone to give such a generous gift to a stranger like me. I will of course be returning the collection to Alibrary before I return to Ireland.

As for The Rock book..only time will tell if I will be able to track its journey or not. I will however be adding more books to the experiment in the coming weeks.

Good Bad Flicks asks WTF happened to movie posters?

At first I thought this was going to be another case of ‘I’m getting old, things have changed and I don’t like that.’ However, this is just the kind of over analysis into marketing that I enjoy! Discover the techniques used by Hollywood to make you watch their movies, from ‘floating heads’ to ‘teal and orange’.

If you enjoy seeing movie studios being taken down a peg or two, check out Good Bad Flicks.

One Mile Left go full blink-182 worship

Don't get me wrong, I love blink-182 as much as the next guy whose teen years started in 98/99. I even really wanted Tom hair back in the day, but genetics were against me. Moreover, finding a band your own band all dig is a cool moment and a great team-building opportunity.


This, however may be taking it too far. While the bassist slowly betrays his Mark influences as it gets further into the video - shot, I'm assuming in the warehouse that one of them work in - the guitarist is full Tom worship from the start.

While Mark and Tom are both talented songwriters, Travis is the only 'real musician' in the band, and it's interesting that the drummer of One Mile Left seems to be influenced by the technique but thankfully not the style of Mr. Barker.

For the record, this is a cool version. But it's 2001 style, not 1999 style.

New Music Crush: Six Stories Unknown + interview

Ever since I got into Easycore I've been hoping a band would combine it with my other favourite genre Epifat punk (aka Skate punk with pop punk vocals). I made a semi-successful attempt at this myself with Nevernoodz, but Swedish band Six Stories Unknown have pretty much nailed it, check them out!


It's like a checklist of my favourite things!

• A rhyming song name
• Slightly accented vocals
• RIFFAGE
• Posi lyrics, with slightly awkward nautical/war metaphors about being in a band!
• A singer who can sing! Juxtaposed with a screamer
• Good production! There's even a pinch harmonic, you guys!

We Won't Fall Asleep is probably actually a better song, but I'm not sure about the video.. I mean, I know it's meant to be a zany tour video, but it's not very zany. Sweet song, though.

Vocalist Ludvig took some time to talk about his influences, the Swedish scene and how the band got together.

The band was formed back in 2010 by me, our former guitarist Robert and bass guitarist Martin. We all met in school as we we're in the same class. I had never heard of the genre back then and thought it would be fun to try something new. One after another we dropped a lot of members for different reasons until now when we've finally reached the best setup possible. Ludwig (lead vocals), Magnus (Bass, vocals), Pontus (Lead guitar), Danny (drums) and our newest addition Estefan (guitar). 

You started out easycore, but have added melodic hardcore and skatepunk, how did this come about; did you decide to change direction or did it just happen?

I think we really just have matured as musicians and learned a lot from every drop out. We're all from different genres from the beginning and when we've been mixing it together we've reached the genre that is Six Stories Unknown today.

The alternative music scene in Sweden seems to be going from strength to strength, is that actually the case? 

We've actually been having problems getting booked for shows and such in Sweden as the scene is being hidden behind other genres like electro and house. The music industry in Sweden isn't really working in our direction at the moment which is kinda sad.

Can you notice different sub groups of people coming to your shows; pop punk kids, hardcore dudes etc?

We've always had an wide audience as we've chosen a sound which satisfies the ears of different groups of people. For instance if you listen to songs like For Better, For Worse, My Sight Says: Forward or Your Crown, My Anguish there are parts with catchy choruses and heavy breakdowns as well as advanced guitar riffs and solos.  Music brings people together and we've always tried to be liked by as many different groups as possible.

What is the writing process in the band?

We usually write in two different ways. The first one is that I'm staying up late drinking loads of coffee and getting creative writing lyrics to some simple chords, I bring the ideas to the guys and let them work out the instruments to a more advanced level. In some cases we're done with the instruments long before putting vocals for it. I guess it's hard to say how we usually do it.

Who was the first easycore band you heard?

Well, when we first started our biggest inspiration was Four year strong with their Rise or Die Trying record along with Set Your Goals and Me vs Hero.

What bands are you listening to at the minute?

As I've been saying we're all very different when it comes to taste in music, I can only speak for myself but I'm in to bands like Chunk! no, Captain chunk!, ADTR, Memphis May fire, Sleeping with Sirens and Hands Like Houses.

And finally what's next for you guys?

At the moment we're booking some shows for this spring in Europe, along with some writing for a new record!

Facebook: Six Stories Unknown 

Dodgy Film Club: Season of the Witch

A meeting of two actors who seem to have trouble turning down work! Nicolas Cage and Ron Perlman are Crusade knights, who are tasked with escorting a ***SPOILER ALERT*** witch demon to a trial by monks. Oh and the witch demon is possibly responsible for the plague.



This was added to our watchlist as it featured on How Did This Get Made? and I may have a bone to pick with the good podcasting folks. Admittedly, they saw it upon its release, but this film doesn't even work as a bad horror movie. Don't get me wrong, it is bad. Highlights include

• Fluctuating accents 
• Historical and cultural inaccuracies
• Ron Perlman playing himself!
• Nic Cage in a glorious wig
• Phrases like 'let's get the hell out of here' and 'shit'..in Crusade times..
• Bad CGI
• Wolves werewolves vampire wolves? with an apparent death wish

Some good old fashioned Crusade-era banter. And hair.

So basically the Church sent these guys to kill all the non believers. Nic Cage is fine with this until he kills some woman and he is suddenly hit with righteous remorse. Nic and Ron leave the army, only to be eventually captured and held in a cell. They then agree to transport the 'girl' (witch/demon) to her trial by monks. There's a demon (satan?) involved, who looks like something out of Doom and sounds like a pantomime villain. In the end religion wins and the plague goes away. Yeah...

On the plus side, Claire Foy, who plays the oddly attractive Adorabelle Dearheart in Going Postal, is 'the girl' and by gods there is just something about her in this too.

Punktual Library: The Disaster Artist by Greg Sestero

  
THIS BOOK. Everything you wanted to know about the making of The Room, and more! Take away the greatest bad movie ever as the subject matter and you still have a captivating, creepy, gripping, funny, vaguely unsettling, curiously optimistic page turner.

For every answered question there springs forth another half dozen fresh questions. We learn much about Tommy Wiseau; mainly that he is a secretive, confusing enigma, even to someone as close to him as Greg Sestero.

Seriously, if you have any interest in The Room, psychology or weird characters, buy this book now.. Things we learn:

• Where Tommy is actually from (sort of!)
• How Tommy made his money (kind of!)
• Why Greg and many of the cast got involved and more importantly, stayed involved
• What it's like to be roommate with Tommy!
• Seriously, just read it

There are also photos and lines from the original script including such classic broken English as:
“Promotion! Promotion! That’s all I hear about. Here is your coffee and English muffin and burn your mouth.”

Read my interview with Greg Sestero AKA Mark here

Top 5 punk-ish bands of 2013

I don't usually do 'end of year' lists, but here is the Good Days And Cliches Top 5 punk or punk-related bands of 2013, based on my last.fm play count. Surprisingly, all but one have had an album out in 2013, so it's actually vaguely relevant. You won't find any tumblr bands here..as much as I want to keep up with modern pop punk, I think I'm slightly stuck in the Epifat, skate punk years!

1. Alkaline Trio



Every time I'm drinking with my punk rock friends, drunk, feeling nostalgic, feeling bitter, feeling trapped, or a mixture of all the above, I listen to Alkaline Trio. Even if they hadn't released the decent offering of My Shame Is True they would still be in my top 5 list, based on play count.

 2. A Day To Remember



ADTR are one of the newer/younger bands on my list, but they've been stapling breakdowns to pop punk songs for ten years now! I got to see them this year, so I was listening to them a lot even before they dropped their latest album, Common Courtesy, which is getting better with each play.

3. Bad Religion



Bad Religion released a new album this year and I was also lucky enough to see them for the first in 2013. Though I haven't listened in a while, True North was on regular rotation for me when it came out first. I took a short break from listening to them after seeing them live, but they are never far from my speakers.

4. Nofx



The only band in my top 5 not too release an album this year or play a show nearby. Nofx make the list through the sheer volume of their back catalogue, which is stuffed full of classics.

5. Chunk! No, Captain Chunk!



Scraping in at number 5 are the French easycore specialists. Pardon My French was one of the best albums of 2013, even if it did veer away slightly from pop punk.

Honourable mentions go to Less Than Jake and Streetlight Manifesto, who both released good albums this year!

The new A Day To Remember video is fun

For the last year or so I've started to feel my age whenever I checked out newer pop punk bands, and not for the reasons you might think. Y'see kids, in my day, pop punk bands were fun. They dyed their hair stupid colours and their videos were a vehicle to show how funny and rebellious they were compared to the rest of their suburban friends!

So needless to say, I'm happy that A Day To Remember are keeping the faith, with their video for Right Back At It Again.



Sure, the lyrics rhyme 'school' and 'cool', and the video is essentially a three minute version of a gag from the My Friends Over You video by New Found Glory, but we gotta take our victories (sorry) where we can find them.

Top 10 Teenage Tunes: Ashley Overdrive

Everyone's fave scene girl and future mover n shaker Ashley Overdrive is back! Check out the soundtrack to her teen years and feel old because a blink-182 song from 2011 is included! Ashley can be found on tumblr and various other places on the internet @ashleyoverdrive
 

One of the most amazing feelings in the world is when you hear a song that makes you think of a certain moment; the way dust was swimming in sunlight, the smell of a particular place, a morning commute to school. These are literally just melodies and rhythms melded together in such a way that our brains take us back to specific sets of memories. If that isn't one of the coolest things about how a human brain functions you ever heard, then gtfo right now because here are some songs that bring on my own middle/high school nostalgia. 

1. Wake Me Up When September Ends - Green Day

This is a must-have for any middle school emo kid circa early-mid 00s. Green Day was probably the first band I had a serious obsession with, shortly followed by My Chemical Romance. The dramatic shift after the first two verses of this song were so emotional the first time I heard it. American Idiot in its entirety is truly a masterpiece, I can't even lie...if 12 year old me was able to sit through the 9 minute tracks without getting impatient, it must have been good. I remember when I took guitar lessons in 7th grade and learning this song, it made me feel like such a badass.

2. Sugar, We're Going Down - Fall Out Boy

I don't think there's much I have to say about this song besides the fact that if you do NOT air drum along to the intro, then I dunno if I can be your friend. FOB was this new & fantastic blend of emo-pop that I could not get enough of, even if they were a mainstream band constantly on the top 40 lists [UGH what POSERS!!!!1]. They were popular well before my parents allowed me to go to concerts in the city/by myself, so my first chance to see them was at Skate & Surf this past May. Standing in the pouring rain to see them after all those years and hearing the familiar drum intro, I almost peed myself. 19 years old going on 13 and no fucks to give, probably one of the best [and most long-awaited] shows of my life.

3. Bite To Break Skin - Senses Fail

Holy SHIT do I love Senses Fail. They were the perfect level of angsty for me, nothing too aggressive - I never got into metal, so this was my way of keeping up with my guy friends who were all into dad-rock [at age 13, wtf]. I think this was one of my first instances of anything "melodic" or whatever you wanna call it. I finally saw Senses Fail at Bamboozle 2011 [my glasses broke in my backpack during their set] and again last May. They came to a venue by my school the night before I left for summer break, and pulling an all-nighter after this amazing show to finish packing was absolutely beyond worth it. Their energy after all these years is fucking great, and their music keeps getting better.

4. Reverse This Curse - Escape the Fate

Ahh, man, this album was so good. Ronnie wasn't as much of a sleazeball, the band drama was at normal levels instead of super ultra mega drama queen status, and their future as a Warped Tour-core band seemed bright. Alas, an entire avalanche of bullshit rained down upon them. Now the new Escape the Fate and Falling in Reverse are in a desperate attempt to "bury the hatchet" and scrambling to maintain the few fans they have left [and cash in on their so-called truce]. Will this be the end of the ETF x FIR feud? In my opinion, hell no, but this song reminds me of riding the bus back home in 8th grade, scouring myspace for their newest stuff, and wondering why my makeup couldn't be as good as Ronnie Radke's. 

5. Starlight - Muse

Honestly, I don't remember the first time I heard this song, but it makes me think of the city and having it as my Myspace profile song and being in 8th/9th grade, a lot, so yeah that's about it.

6. It's Dangerous Business Walking Out Your Front Door - Underoath

I think Underoath was one of the first screamo bands I listened to that felt serious; it seemed like they put a lot of thought into their image as opposed to witty song titles and zany promo photos. The music sad but with sophisticated lyrics, very mosh4christ type stuff but it really drew me in. The chanting at the end of this song specifically ("drowning in my sleep/I'm drowning in my sleep") is almost haunting, and I loved it. 

7. Natives - Blink-182

Blink's return to the scene came the summer before my freshman year of college. I remember jamming to Neighborhoods when it was first released, and although there are a ton of great tracks, it was Natives that quickly rose up as my favorite. The fast-paced rhythm, the mix of Tom & Mark's vocals, and the opening of the second verse ("Don't start to panic for me, 'cause I have nothing to lose/I am as bright as the sun, I burn up all that I choose") all combine to make this track one of the most memorable songs of that entire year for me. Just listening to this song again makes me think of sunshine flooding my cramped dorm room and listening to this album as I walked to class.

8. Le Disko - Shiny Toy Guns

The only reason I found this song is because it was iTunes free download of the week when I was in middle school. It had such an industrial, underground, dirty rock & roll meets rave goth-type vibe that made me feel like I was dancing in an abandoned warehouse wearing a leather miniskirt. I still love this song, makes me feel kind of like a badass. Also, fun fact, the last bit of the chorus ("we're the girls le disko / supersonic overdrive") is where "ashleyoverdrive" really comes from.

9. Claims Should Echo - Dr. Manhattan

Dr. Manhattan [yes, their namesake is the dude from Watchmen] is a group of dudes from Illinois making alternative/indie/pop/rock music that is just plain weird....and I love it. They were opening at the first local show I ever went to, the summer just after 8th grade, and it was an amazing introduction to the scene. Since I got their CD that night, I've been hopelessly addicted to their zany style. My best friend and I were their #1 fans, even earning a spot on their myspace blog with a video we made for them [we baked them a cake, it was pretty sweet]. Just hearing them again makes me think of that time we got her mom to drive us all the way to Boston to see them play a free show on some random college campus, which definitely ranks as one of the coolest things a parent has ever done for me.

10. Escape Me - Tiesto 

I was never much into EDM besides the basic radio stuff and a handful of party mixes/full festival sets I dig up on Soundcloud, but one of my best friends in high school was obsessed with the whole scene. She loved Deadmau5 and Wolfgang Gartner, but Tiesto was definitely up there. Before I had my license, she would drive me around most of the time, and of course the driver is the DJ so we had a grab bag of stuff going on, everything from For the Fallen Dreams to Skrillex to A Day to Remember to Bayside. This song was one of those instantly catchy ones for me, and I put this one more often than not whenever I got the chance to control the music. It makes me think of her white Jeep, driving around at night, driving to this sketchy hookah bar where her boyfriend DJ'd a few nights a week, and the summer between sophomore & junior year. Definitely one of those "windows down, volume up" songs for me.

It's a punk rock Christmas!

It felt like there was a time when if you were a REAL PUNK you didn't like Christmas. I always thought this was stupid cos what's more punx than sharing stuff and having good times with your friends and family? There have of course been Christmas covers before, but this year the festive cheer seems to have been embraced across the board, from old punk rock dinosaurs, to the young pop punk heartthrobs.

Bad Religion Christmas Songs

I love Bad Religion, but they aren't exactly known for having fun, let's be honest. So when they went balls out with these covers I gotta say it made my day. Of course, people are mad, but they are donating 20% of proceeds to SNAP, a support network for the victims of clerical abuse, so that works for me.

Misfits Horror Christmas

I saw somebody online disown Misfits after hearing this, which is laughable cos everyone else disowned Misfits a long time ago and enjoys the Graves and Danzig albums. Also, this song is pretty sweet! Probably the best thing the modern Misfits have done.

New Found Glory / Punk Goes Christmas

The incredibly well marketed 'Punk Goes..' franchise goes Christmas this time. Usually the formula is simple: take popular songs and have relatively popular bands cover them. This works well. What doesn't work so well is having the bands write their own Christmas songs...They missed a trick with this one I think. Still, the NFG song is a decent attempt at a campfire/radio/singalong song and I'm sure the teen scene girl market will eat it up.

The Wonder Years - 28 NOVEMBER @ Bóveda, Barcelona - review by buh!

Is there anything more endearing than an enthusiastic Euro talking emotively about their passions? Skatepunkers Spanish forum member, and friend of this blog, buh! (not his real name..) agreed to share his experiences from The Wonder Years show in Barcelona. Would they wear sombreros and play some flamenco songs? Would they take a stance against bull fighting? Would they appear to have any fun at all? Let's hand over to buh! to find out... 

It was pretty cool because my last show was in May so I was thirsty haha. I wanted to have a nice singalong show and I went there with no expectations at all. Not really into the new album so I showed up and just let the thing go.

TWY got on stage fastly (and) started playing without saying hello. Soupy just showed up right before the first chord, there was no presence of them before the venue opened and they were nowhere to be found...Bad point.
 
They played 5 songs from the new album and I just liked 2 of those...boring moments... But at least they played some truly great songs like Coffee Eyes, Came Out Swinging (as the last one) Melrose Diner, Don't Let Me Cave In and Washington Square Park. Those were the highlights for me, no doubt. So much emotion I just run out of voice. Man, that was passionate.

In between songs there was Soupy motivational and posi speech...talking about "you can do whatever you want if you really fight hard to achieve it even though the world will be against you" kinda stuff. Really nice and heartfelt yes, but I would have loved 2 songs more instead of him talking...

Whatever...just 12 songs...less than 45 min of music? Oh c'mon!! That was really disappointing.

Fun fact: Soupy touched his hair more then 16 times during the show. At moments he was just about to cry, red eyed and looking kind of anxious. Passion, or he just gets into the role too much? 

The sound was good and they played nice. The 3 guitar thing is unnecessary for me but...


The crowd was nice but too small...less then 50 people haha. Really sad. And there was a lot of kids who didn't know the old songs... I even yelled 'PLAY KEYSTONE STATE, KEYSTONE STATE DUDE CORE!!' two times but they looked the other way or didn't listen!

The moment they ended the set Soupy jumped offstage and vanished out the exit door. I was hoping for them to get a little bit closer to the fans but whatever haha.

Punktual Playlist: Streetlight Manifesto - Linoleum (NOFX cover)

Reggae and ska covers of songs can be brilliant or brutal (that means bad, folks). When they are covers of punk songs though, they usually work. Of course when Streetlight Manifesto are involved quality is assured and as this is a NOFX to boot, well... it's a shoe in to the Punktual playlist.

Greg Sestero aka Mark from THE ROOM interview

Greg Sestero, better known as Mark from the 'The Room', has written a behind the scenes book about the film; The Disaster Artist. Even better, he is doing a book tour that hits The Rio Theatre in Vancouver on November 29.  If you haven't watched The Room...do it, do it now!

  
How is the tour going so far and where are you now?

The book tour has been a lot of fun. Fans always make the experience memorable. I'm in Kansas City doing a show tonight at the Alamo Drafthouse. I did an event at the Coolidge in Boston last weekend and I had fans come up on stage and perform scenes from The Room's original script, which was hilarious. 

I’m guessing traveling to screenings has been one of the major perks from starring in the Room, what’s the most interesting place you’ve been for a screening?

I've been fortunate to travel to a ton of great spots like Dublin and Liverpool and Prague. 

Have you been to the Rio or Vancouver before with the Room or otherwise? The Rio screen cult films regularly, I think you’ll have a good night!

This is my first time in Vancouver and I'm really looking forward to it. I've heard nothing but amazing things about it and The Rio. Vancouver's culture seems right up my alley.  

Did the 10 year anniversary play a part in your decision to write your book and make the documentary, or was it something you have always wanted to do?

I've always wanted to tell the story behind The Room and my involvement with it. I started writing The Disaster Artist over three years ago and its release just so happened to coincide with the 10 year anniversary, which was a perfect time for the book and documentary to come out.

I know you keep in contact with the other cast, did that make securing interviews and the process in general easier? 

Everyone in the cast was very supportive of the book and willing to share their memories. Juliette, Kyle, Robyn and Carolyn showed up to the L.A book launch at the New Beverly Cinema. Since Dan, Philip and Greg don't live in L.A, they all did video greetings for the documentary which meant a lot. They're a great group.

You’ve probably told this story a hundred times, but how did you get involved with Tommy and subsequently the movie?

I met Tommy at an acting class in San Francisco in 1998. He went up on stage and performed a Shakespearean sonnet and I'd never witnessed a performance like that! After he argued with the teacher that he was right and she was wrong, I approached him to a scene together in the hope to find out exactly what he was about. That decision took me on a journey I could've never imagined.

Were you given a complete script before filming and if so what were your initial thoughts?

When Tommy handed me the original script for The Room in 2001, I thought it was the funniest thing I'd ever read. Every character spoke like Tommy. And the turns of phrase were one of a kind. He initially wanted to produce The Room as a play and I thought if it saw the light of day,  it would either horrify people, or bring them to their knees with laughter. It kind of did both.

At what point did you realize it was going to be a disaster?

I knew The Room was never going to be a conventional film. It was going to be "Tommy" in every way. That being said, I knew from the very beginning it was going to be the perfect train wreck.

I’ve heard the rooftop scenes were done with a green screen, which would make sense, but filmed outdoors, which would defeat the whole purpose.. is this true?  

Yes, the rooftop scenes were green screened. It was Tommy's vision to shoot it that way rather than use a traditional rooftop. He always said he was going to make The Room the same way "the big Hollywood sharks" made their movies. I think his green screen decision adds even more bizarre charm to the film.

Can you share any other behind the scenes Easter eggs that people might not have spotted?

Witnessing the scene in which Tommy vamps across the living room blue steeling to set up the wiretap tape recorder is something I can't unsee. I detail it more in Chapter 11 of The Disaster Artist, but there are gems in there that I don't think fans have noticed--like Tommy reading cue cards from the staircase.

Just how awkward was the staircase sex scene?

As awkward as it looks. It was a 100 degrees in there. 

Were there any lines you refused to say or improvised? I mean, you seemed pretty half-hearted in your ‘cheep cheep’ chicken impression.. Did you ever point out that chickens don’t actually ‘cheep’?

I always laugh when I watch that scene, I totally phoned that cheep cheep in. I tried to fight Tommy on saying "I'm very busy" multiple times but he told me "If I want to be actor act like one," so I gave in. Same goes for chickens and cheep cheeping.

What is your favourite Mark line? I’m guessing ‘keep your stupid comments in your pocket’ is a fan favourite?

"Leave your stupid comments in your pocket" is a great line, but I think my favorite is "I just saw you, what are you talking about."

I have to admit I struggled not to say ‘oh hi Mark’ or ‘oh hi Greg’ to you. How often do you get recognized and how often is that line shouted at you?

It happens pretty often but it's all good. I'm a movie fan so I get it. I'd probably do the same thing if I wasn't Mark. 

How do you feel about the movie now? Are you able to enjoy it for what it is, knowing that it has achieved cult status, or does it still make you cringe?

I enjoy The Room for what it is; a one-of-a-kind cinematic experience. It's a guilty pleasure in every sense of the word and it has made a lot of people laugh for 10 years. I do skip the love scenes though.

What can people expect from the show on the 29^th?

I think it will be the behind-the-scenes look at The Room that fans have been waiting for. There'll be a screening of my 'Room' documentary featuring interviews from the entire cast. I'll also have audience members come on stage and do a live script reading of The Room's original script, followed by a Q&A and book signing.

What are your plans for the future?

I'm looking forward to doing creative projects that I'm passionate about. I think The Disaster Artist is a good start in that direction. Next year I'm going to be doing a full length feature with the creators of 5 Second Films that will be a lot of fun.

Catch Greg at The Rio Theatre on November 29th and tell him to keep his stupid comments in his pocket!
Grab his book, The Disaster Artist: My Life Inside The Room, the Greatest Bad Movie Ever Made now!