Sunday, August 28, 2016

Live: Jello Biafra and the Guantanamo School of Medicine @ Gagarin 205 (Athens, August 24, 2016)


Thirty years have passed since the release of the last Dead Kennedys studio album, but the ideas that this seminal punk rock band stood for remain just as relevant today. Jello Biafra may be 58 years old now, but he remains a powerful performer and with The Guantanamo School of Medicine, the band he formed 8 years ago, he is still railing against the powers that be with the same conviction, passion and wit as he did with his old band all those years ago.


Songs from his new band's discography, like "Satan's Combover", "John Dillinger", "Mid-East Peace Process" or "Panic Land" are not lacking in punk rock power or vitriolic bite, but the highlights of the riotous 100-minute set (including the three encores) that we witnessed at Gagarin 205 were undoubtedly those that were lifted from the Dead Kennedys songbook, as the frenzied mosh pit in front of the stage can testify.


The first eruption came mid-set when the signature drum intro from "California Über Alles" gave the signal to the faithful to go berserk. The same scenes were repeated later with the brief explosion of "Nazi Punks Fuck Off", its message, sadly, more relevant than ever in 2016, and again later during the encores with "Holiday in Cambodia", "Riot" and "Too Drunk to Fuck".



Punk rock has now entered its fourth decade but the social and political situations that ignited this musical revolution have not gone away. Jello Biafra and the Guantanamo School of Medicine show that punk is not going away either and it remains as vital and necessary now as it was in 1976. So go and start your own band, this story is far from over...



Jello Biafra and the Guantanamo School of Medicine - Holiday in Cambodia, live @ Gagarin 205 (August 24th, 2016)

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'80s Greek punks Stress opened for Jello Biafra and the GSM (Aug. 24, 2016)



Friday, August 05, 2016

New Releases: July 2016

Round-up of the most interesting albums, singles and EPs released in July 2016, featuring the excellent sophomore album by The Julie Ruin plus the first new music by Boss Hog in 16 years!

Albums

Hit Reset
THE JULIE RUIN - Hit Reset
BAT FOR LASHES - The Bride
LOLA COLT - Twist Through The Fire
GOGGS - Goggs
NICE AS FUCK - Nice As Fuck
PURO INSTINCT - Autodrama
METRONOMY - Summer 08
SCHOOLBOY Q - Blank Face LP
CLAMS CASINO - 32 Levels
THE AVALANCHES - Wildflower
BEYOND THE WIZARDS SLEEVE - The Soft Bounce
MSTRKRFT - Operator
OWEN - The King of Whys
PINEGROVE - Cardinal
TERRY - Terry HQ
OMNI - Deluxe
MARTHA - Blisters in the Pit of my Heart
ALICE BAG - Alice Bag
DESCENDENTS - Hypercaffium Spazzinate
DARKSTAR - Made To Measure
SHURA - Nothing's Real
ROISIN MURPHY - Take Her Up To Monto
SHACKLETON - Devotional Songs

Singles & EPs

BOSS HOG - Brood Star EP


REDD KROSS / THE SIDE EYES - Songs That Chargo Taught Us


JOANNA GRUESOME - Pretty Fucking Sick (Of It All)
THE FIREWORKS - Black and Blue EP
NO JOY - Drool Sucker
TRENTEMØLLER - River in Me
APHEX TWIN - Cheetah EP
MASSIVE ATTACK - The Spoils
THE STONE ROSES - All For One
NEW ORDER - People on the High Line
CLOSE LOBSTERS - Desire and Signs EP
BIVOUAC - Sweet Heart Deal / Deep Blue Sea Surround
THE HUNGRY GHOSTS - Blood Red Songs
LITTLE BARRIE - I.5.C.A.
HOLOGRAM TEEN - Marsangst
PINK FLAMES - I'm Just A Star on a Democratic Flag
THE AMAZONS - Nightdriving / Stay With Me
GOOD THROB - Good Throb
FLOATING POINTS - Kuiper
LINDSTRØM - Windings
NITE-FUNK - Nite-Funk
STEVIE PARKER - The Cure
SOULWAX featuring CHLOE SEVIGNY - Heaven Scent

The Julie Ruin - I'm Done