The RadioActivist

Ladies and gentlemen, we have a grower. At first spin, Angel City Outcasts’ self-titled effort left little to consider, save for a bad aftertaste from the bawdy, cocksure swagger they seem to pride themselves on. Strangely, though, the first impressions turned from slight annoyance to converse enjoyment. The one big reason: guitar leads! Main axeman Tak Boroyan doesn't just wail--he slices and dices with acute precision and an ear for melody that elevates every song his solos and searing leads touch. Whether it’s the warm, friendly licks of the opener “Five Guns West” or string-shredding “Sidewinder,” this album would have a fraction of its appeal without Boroyan leading the way. What makes Angel City Outcasts stand out is precisely what will turn off many potential fans, and that’s the glam rock strut that would fit alongside River City Rebels or the Heartaches with a tinge of Southern punk rock à la River City High. The lyrics don’t help much either. You know the bit: “Stole my h...

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...

London, England’s legendary Oi! boys the Business have been cranking out working-class punk rock longer than many of us have been alive, and despite periodic bouts of inactivity, have remained a productive musical force for 30 years. Doing the Business is the band’s first release on Sailor’s Grave, a union that seemed bound to happen and is, frankly, a little surprising it took this long. Obvious statements aside, this release combines a four-track studio EP with six live tracks, five of which were recorded at the London’s Marquee Club in 1982. Why they didn't feature all the live tracks from the same show is anyone’s guess, but the live tracks here aren't the main thrust of the release anyway. The studio portion of the disc is made up entirely of covers, which is surprising since the release hasn't been marketed as a covers album at all. First, English rock band Status Quo has some punk energy injected into their 1973 single “Mean Girl,” which makes for a pretty good openi...

Fresh off the heels of their phenomenal contribution to the recent Swingin’ Utters tribute, Seattle, Washington’s the Hollowpoints make their Sailor’s Grave debut with one of the best and most surprising releases yet this year. It probably shouldn't come as a surprise, though, as the band has amassed a dizzying 10 releases in the last five years (on labels like Dirtnap and Disaster Records), and evidently proven enough to tour alongside legendary bands like the Business and the U.S. Bombs. With vocals by lead singer Matt Mckinney that recall Dillinger Four’s Erik Funk, an undulating skatepunk rhythm that rarely lets up and an aesthetic lyrical and stylistic approach that puts them alongside bands like One Man Army and the Briefs, the Hollowpoints are no easy act to pigeonhole. Perhaps the most discernible quality the band puts forth on Old Haunts on the Horizon is their seemingly unyielding ability to garnish their compositions with pleasing progressions and candy-coated melodies t...

From the first time I popped the black disc out of its plastic tray through the six or seven spins I gave it over the course of the weekend, and up until I ventured online to do a little research, I thought "Gone Bats" was the name of this band and planned on commenting how great a name it is for a psychobilly band. But alas, Gone Bats is the name of the album, and Stitch Hopeless & the Sea Legs is the unfortunate name this band bears. However, generally speaking, a band’s music is markedly more important than their name, and that’s where Stitch Hopeless & the Sea Legs (pardon the pun) have a leg up. Launching off the starting blocks, the first two cuts give the impression that Stitch Hopeless' forte is interpolating classic rock ‘n' roll tunes into raucous psychobilly wreckers. “Gonna Run” nips the Bill Haley and His Comets hit “Rock Around the Clock” while “Trash Like Me” seems to draw from CCR’s “Travelin’ Band,” though it could just as easily be aping Litt...

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...