Jack Mesenbourg is a writer, musician, photographer, and artist from Minneapolis. He has spent his years hopping around the country, scribbling notes & scratching pictures in poorly organized journals along the way. Traveling with him have been his passions and distractions such as music, gardening, baseball, cooking and finding good local beer. Hopefully his projects provide you with some insight, provoke some thinking or at least give you a little amusement.
Good news recently as it was announced that this great band (whose decision a couple of years ago to go on hiatus was understandable but still lamented by me) has signed to Epitaph. They also dropped this new single “Napoleon” which was described by singer Sam Quartin on the labels’ website:
“This song is about wanting to change and no longer being interested in complaining about a problem or situation. It’s about trying to live in the solution.”
The track is a solid comeback for The Bobby Lees and it is very nice to hear some new music from them – looking forward to what comes next!
Musicians (in addition to Quartin): Macky Bowman (drums) and Kendall Wind (bass).
Well, I have to admit that I was not expecting to see this song pop up in any new way as it had been a very long time since it was originally released. This album was a regular monster of punk awesomeness back when it was originally put out on A-F Records in 2003. I definitely found them back at that time because of their association with Duane Peters from U.S. Bombs. He produced this album for them which was a follow-up to their 2002 debut What Are You Afraid Of? which I never found a copy of after hearing it one time at someone’s house in SoCal.
The good people at Punkerton Records are now putting Blastin’ Away! out again both digitally and on vinyl. That is all set to drop January 2, 2026 but you can check this great throwback (and still relevant) punk anthem on steaming here:
I had the chance to preview it thanks to Earshot Media and Punkerton and it was just as I remembered it. Coming in on a chant of the song title over a raw drum line it quickly kicks up on ripping guitars and bass. The vocals are raw and loud with a feisty rhythm and a call & response section worthy of Rancid. This vintage track is still strong today and it is great to see it getting some new exposure and hopefully some new fans.
Pre-saves help the label and the band and you can set yours up here:
And also get a pre-order of that cool vinyl (with limited edition colors …of which the blue, black and white splatter is pretty sweet and what I ordered) here:
Today we take a little journey into the wonderful world of Meklit and this amazing album. There are a lot of great things going on throughout the nine tracks here. The arrangements range from traditional to spiritual, jazz and folk and each one will have a different effect on you. Meklit, who is from Ethiopia and currently based in California, has a rich voice that imparts feeling into everyone of these songs. Now I am not going to claim that I understand most of the lyrics due to my own limitations on other languages but I am hopeful that someday either the singer herself or someone else will explain them to me. The tracks though are artfully arranged and you can pick up on the emotion and feeling behind them just from that and the vocal styling.
There are a couple songs that do have either all or mostly English lyrics and I picked one of them here for this review. It begins on a really unique stringed instrument sound which I found out (from some of the liner notes) is a krar. That instrument stays throughout, setting a pulsing rhythm that gives a feeling of running just in front of the vocals. There is a gentle percussion and bass accompaniment filling out the musical space along with an alluring saxophone (I had to listen a few times to catch it…but it was worth it for sure). A very interesting piece of music and one that will stick with you.
Musicians on this are: Meklit (vocals and krar), Howard Wiley (tenor and alto saxophone), Kibrom Birhane (microcosm), Marco Peris Coppola (percussion), Sam Bevan (upright bass and guitar) and Colin Douglas (drums).
My first exposure to this band was earlier this year when they released a split with Heartwells containing “The Squid” and “Killin’ Me Now.” I read about it and then never had a chance to give it a listen. The fact that they were working with Heartwells though was interesting as I am already a fan. I later went back and checked out Stoke Signals 2024 album Make Dying Fun and was impressed. My favorite track there is “Burning Daylight” with “Nothing to Worry About” a close second.
There is something delightfully chaotic about this new single which starts on plenty of volume and energy. In addition to a drum line that sets a feisty tone this song also features some nice pace changes. Melodic guitar riffs and bass grooves fill space between the vocal sections which, other than the bridge, are delivered at a fast clip. This is a good song and a bit more aggressive and edgy than their previous work. The album comes out October 31st on Hey! Fever Records.
Musicians on this are: Jordan Calhoun (bass), Giuliano Messina (vocals, guitar), Chris Perez (guitar, vocals) and Michael Nusbaum (drums).
This band’s 2018 full LP release Splatter is now out on vinyl for the first time – unfortunately both limited runs of 100 have already sold out…but maybe the label (Quiet Panic) will gift us with another release?
The first track off of that album (“Flesh”) has also been remastered and is out as a single with the b-side being a nice acoustic take on “Hit the Ground” which can be found on their 2021 album Underneath the Shade.
I thought “Flesh” was great when I first heard it back when it was originally released and this remastered version gives it just a little more lightness than the original. It also has a cleaner edge to some of the sound without taking away from the gritty, booming texture that makes it such a good song.
If you get a chance to listen to the Shade version of “Hit the Ground” you will hear a track with quite a bit of frontal distortion and a slightly discordant melody popping up occasionally in the background. It is a song with a loud, tragic story and the music matches that vibe. The acoustic take on the b-side of this release takes a different approach, smoothing out the sound and delivering the same story with a more reflective and soft tone. The edginess is gone but still hits home. The two songs here are also good counterpoints to each other in style and composition.
Check it out on your favorite streaming channel (link below) – and let me know your thoughts about it – music makes for good conversation 🙂
Back in the spring of this year when I first heard that Sub Pop was going to compile and release a bunch of material by The Gits…well I was seriously pumped for sure. I was not part of the Ohio scene where they started or the Seattle scene that they moved to but was of course paying attention to that latter sound as it developed. At the time the only music that I had heard from them were the two songs they contributed to Bobbing for Pavement (A Seattle Compilation) which I had somehow come across at a record store in Oceanside, CA. Right away the energy of the music and the voice of Mia Zapata caught my attention and stuck with me. In the many intervening years since I have heard a few other songs here and there (each of them reinforcing that first impression) but have never been able to land any of the full releases from the band. I have a vague memory of seeing a copy of The Best of the Gits in a bin around 2012 and not having any spare cash to purchase it. Oh well at the time but now it is a brand new day with these fresh re-issues coming from Sub Pop.
I went with purchasing Frenching the Bully first as it was the one I always thought of as “the one to have.” It was the only album released while Zapata was still alive and also the one most talked about in conversations with others. It is hard to explain just how blown away I was by the full set of 13 songs but let’s just go with – this is an absolute powerhouse band, operating at a very high level and the true range and versatility of Zapata’s voice is on full display. Even though they came out of the Seattle scene that also spawned the “popular grunge” sound that we may all roll our eyes at…this is not grunge music in any way. The Gits manage to blend a few different punk styles with rock and a little metal. A really furious and glorious combination.
Musicians on this: Mia Zapata (vocals), Matt Dresdner (bass), Steve Moriarty (drums) and Andy Kessler (guitar).
Once you check this one there are more out there – all available from the link below. If you own this or any of them, well, you have a real piece of music history.
As you may already know, the well-deserved hype about this upcoming album has been building for awhile. It will be out on Punkerton Records October 10th, and was announced back in July via several channels including their label and Earshot Media. Since then they have released the singles “Break the Cycle,” “Panic! Panic! Panic!” and “Dead Inside” and were a late addition to the Supernova International Ska Festival. Those singles were great music and really highlighted the best thing about Joker’s Republic; namely that while they are often categorized as a ska band (and have plenty of chops in that genre) they really are this pretty cool blend of ska, punk and rock & roll.
This newest release features Billy Smollen (bass) stepping out front to sing a story which is based on a real event, namely an auto accident. In the Earshot Media press release he describes the song this way:
“‘Welcome Back’ is a meditation on the aftermath of a stressful experience and how we recover and push forward. In this case the inspiration was a car accident that totaled my car while the band was on tour. The accident itself was terrifying, and the only thing that helped me get through the resulting financial and emotional trauma was my friends, family, and the ska and punk communities.”
This track leads off with a nice guitar riff and then rises up on drums and bass with a rock groove for the first minute or so. It then kicks out into a ska break with that pattern holding throughout the song. It is a combination that works well and Joker’s Republic deliver a lot of energy via their playing and the vocals. This song is another good example of the unique style and range of this band. Combined with the quality of the other singles released to date I expect the full album to be quite a statement.
Musicians on this (in addition to Smollen are): Austen Grey (guitars, vocals) and Pat Elwood (drums, vocals)
Check it out on your favorite streaming channel (link below) – and let me know your thoughts about it – music makes for good conversation 🙂
This one is listed as having come out back in May of this year on Hopeless Records although it did not cross my path until a little while ago – not sure if I missed a memo again…which is possible. When I first listened to the song it did not click in my head that Seeley’s former project was With Confidence, a band that was on Van’s Warped Tour a couple times (2016 & 2018). I had caught an interview with them (likely via a YouTube post) on the 2016 tour, lost track and then picked back up by listening to their 2018 album Love and Loathing. That is a solid album, in the young adult-alternative groove with some catchy riffs and a bit of range in the composition of the songs. You can still check that album and there other music on Bandcamp.
Since his time in With Confidence Seeley has expanded into producing and developing some young artists. That work has included songs and projects with Zach Hood, The Wrecks and Ryan Oakes among others. He signed with Hopeless Records in 2023 according to the bio on his jaydenseeley.com website.
“Amplified” starts on a loud rock guitar sound with some buzzy distortion and proceeds on a good rhythm-driven run for a solid 2+ minutes before it drops down for a few moments of slow space and then rides out on the faster groove. Really good mix and production on this track also with some clear vocals and instruments. This is some engaging music and it will be interesting to see what else Seeley puts out as part of this solo project.
If you want to get a good idea of where the musicians who make up Sadlands come from you can start with these bands:
Answering Machine – Out of Brooklyn, NY – I first caught them on their eponymous EP in early 2018. The songs on this are powerful alternative music with some different grooves that keep you interested throughout the four song run. “Stadium Dreams” is my favorite here.
Choke Up – The only song I had heard from this Boston band is “Crosses” off of their 2015 album Black Coffee, Bad Habits (cool naming points credited!). This song is quite the musical journey from a jangly tone and kicking beat at the beginning to an elevated vocal and then back down into a a kind of grungy middle. I later checked out the full album and it hits somewhere in the emo-punk genre but trending toward punk. I went back to purchase it on Bandcamp while writing this but no purchase button exists…if someone has a purchase link or a copy to buy please send me the info!
Ellen and the Degenerates – I first encountered this band via “Going on a Trip,” a single they released in 2018. It literally is about going on a car trip and just about a perfect recitation of what a long roadie is like. Definitely punk in style and a sense of humor…always good. They also have a really good album from 2019 called Return of the Herb.
So, some of the talented people from these bands came together to form Sadlands whose only prior release that I am aware of is a self-titled EP from 2023. In my opinion the stand-out track on that is “McClellan” which has a very infectious driving guitar vibe and a vocal track that runs just a little off-pace at times … in a kind of breathless way that works well.
And that gets us to this single from Sadlands upcoming album (on Wiretap Records) which should be out October 17th. “Bad Idea” is a punchy, pop-punk song in the best tradition of the early Go-Go’s. And I am talking about those Go-Go’s songs you probably have not heard much of – the kind they used to play at Whisky a Go Go back in the late 70’s long before Beauty and the Beat came out. I never heard it live but if you can find a copy of Return to the Valley of the Go-Go’s you will hear what I mean.
This track leads off with a great guitar and drum sound that is soon joined by a fast-paced vocal line that seems to be rushing to somewhere. The bass here also booms majestically over every measure, lending a heavy buzz to the music. A really groovy and infectious song…you can play this one and feel good.
Musicians on this are: Jess Lane (vocals, guitar), Sam Campanile (vocals, guitar), Harley Cox (drums) and Louis Rabeno (bass).
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