The RadioActivist

Acoustic balladeer Absinthe Rose joins New England eclectic collective H.U.M.A.N.W.I.N.E. on this punk-by-association split on Rodent Popsicle Records. While Kimbo Rose was mostly solo on her previous release, Digging Ditches and Escaping Holes, she’s joined here by Toxic Narcotic/Mouth Sewn Shut members here for a sound that’s both more animated and whole, moving each song forth with an energy and dynamic previously not heard. The additions of a snapping drum beat and steady rolling bass help transform what was an occasionally tepid solo acoustic engagement into what more closely resembles a folk-punk—or at least acoustic punk—ensemble. Rose’s voice is soulful and full, with a slight Southern curl belying her Oregonian roots. On “Upon a Drift”, she sings wistfully: “When you have a closet of skeletons / And you wonder how you got them all in / Piled high and everlasting / And when you’re done, there’s more than you began.” At first I thought H.U.M.A.N.W.I.N.E. was a dumb name. Then I ...

Ashers are a five-piece hardcore band from Boston, Massachusetts formed by Mark “Unseen” Civitarese with members of Crash and Burn and Deadly Sins. While the Unseen has been quiet since 2007’s Internal Salvation, Ashers have been busy, releasing the Cold Dark Place EP in 2008 and touring the U.S. and Europe for the past several years. Since the Unseen was embracing an almost distinctly hardcore sound with Internal Salvation, Ashers isn't a huge change for Mark Unseen and company. The songs on Kill Your Master are short, aggressive and angry, but have enough variety to stay interesting through the 25 minutes of music. Beginning with the savage title track and through the two-minute slam-pit anthem “Faith Denied,” Kill Your Master rarely lets up. Gang shouts, slicing guitars and head-pounding rhythms populate most of the tracks, with an occasional guitar solo thrown in for good measure. The only big departure comes on “Blood and Grain,” a sludgy rock number written and sang by guitar...

Back in the swing and ska craze of the 1990s, a lot of bands in those styles were involuntarily siphoned into the punk scene like Squirrel Nut Zippers and Cherry Poppin’ Daddies. But few bands with brass-and-key ensembles (Royal Crown Revue excluded) were actually conceptualized as punk bands until the turn of the millennium with acts like the World/Inferno Friendship Society and our subject here, the Kings of Nuthin’. Boasting tenor, baritone sax, piano and even washboard amidst the standard rock instrumentation, the Kings of Nuthin’ command an impressive arsenal and an eight-man roster. Even more importantly, they have the style and swagger to boot, led by the crotchety vocals of Torr Skoog and with guest windpipes by Lenny Lashley (Darkbuster/the Piss Poor Boys), Kevin Stevenson (the Shods), Stephanie Dougherty (Deadly Sins), and guest bass saxophone by Dana Colley of famed Mass jazz band Morphine. Despite the big band sound, the Kings of Nothin’ drop working-class jams on their fir...

Since Slapshot has been virtually inactive over the last couple years (there’s a new record in the works, apparently), it makes perfect sense that Boston’s Refuse Resist would step in with the same gargly hardcore punk as Choke and the boys to fill in the temporary void. While not a dead-ringing clone entirely, Refuse Resist (presumably taking their name from the left-leaning human rights campaign of the same name) plays a very similar brand of straight-ahead, old-time hardcore as Slapshot, and vocalist Shawn Refuse does the world’s best Jack Kelly impression. Coincidentally, while Slapshot featured Ed Lalli of the Welch Boys filling in on guitar for Digital Warfare and Tear it Down (which came out on Thorp Records), Socialized features the Welch Boys’ Mark Powers standing in on bass and is also out on Thorp Records. As if that wasn't enough, original Slapshot guitarist Steve Risteen is now shredding axe as a member of Refuse Resist. The cover of Socialized is marked by one of the...

The moniker Absinthe Rose is held by current Bostonian/former Oregonian folk songwriter Kimbo Rose, who blends acoustic traditions with punk ideals and political undertones on Screech Owl Records' debut release Digging Ditches & Escaping Holes. While generally accompanied only by her acoustic guitar here, Rose is joined by session stalwarts Bill Damon and Rich DellaRocca of Mouth Sewn Shut on bass and drums, respectively, for the album’s final track, “Dotted Line.” It’s worth mentioning first as it’s one of the better songs on the record, and stands out from the majority of the other cuts for obvious reasons. While songs on solo acoustic records often have a tendency to run together and linger idly, Rose keeps her compositions fairly succinct and generally at a pretty swift pace for acoustic strumming. The lyrics on Digging Ditches & Escaping Holes are extremely vernacular, but still effective for the style and aesthetic. On “I Believe,” Rose sings, “We can achieve a real p...

Superficially, the Beantown Boozehounds’ Pour Another Round is an extremely catchy, fun blend of Boston street punk and Americanized Celtic rock. The track list is diverse, the musicianship is solid, and the songs pack a nice punch. But there’s one glaring problem that quickly unfolds and severely hampers any possible potential for greatness. It begins with the "Beantown Boozehounds." It follows with Pour Another Round. And between “Going Down the Bar,” “We’ll Be Drinking” and “D.U.I.” it becomes painfully clear that this band is nearly incapable of making music that doesn't revolve around the consumption of alcohol. Of the 12 songs that populate Pour Another Round, every single one is either exclusively devoted to drinking, or mentions some form of drunken debauchery in passing. It’s an obsession that essentially runs parallel to that of Afroman and the chronic bubonic, while the object of fascination here is the fermented fluid flowing from any variety of bottles and ca...

It seems like it’s getting harder and harder to celebrate good driving music with the awareness of our rising global temperatures, smoggy cities and decreasing supply of fossil fuels. But with a new CD player in my car and a copy of Burning Streets’ debut Is It in Black and White, there really couldn't be a better combination. With their noted admiration of the Clash, it seems likely that Burning Streets took their name from one of Joe Strummer and the Mescaleros’ best songs off their final release, Streetcore. Said admiration is also embedded in the album’s lyrics as the opener “Kiss the World Goodbye” suggests, “The future is unwritten, true hearts never die / But if you've lost all your passion, kiss the world goodbye." Musically, Boston’s Burning Streets don’t so much resemble the Clash as they do melodic street punk neighbors like Far from Finished, the Ducky Boys and Street Dogs. The Bouncing Souls catch a namedrop on “13 Hours” and would also seem to serve as an inf...