I’ve always thought about doing a Who’s Punk? on Dolly Parton but would hesitate. Mostly because she’s had press like this before and because, when you really get down to it, she’s more a well-intentioned centrist who doesn’t always fit neatly into ideological buckets (her rejection of being labeled a feminist and choosing to label herself “apolitical”).

But who really does? Not many. All that stuff is talk. She spoke with action, earning the image of an American Saint adored by all. Namely by being a paragon for the working class, standing up for LGBTQ folks, funding healthcare, and nudging the literacy meter forward just a little with her free children’s books program, among many other unambiguously good acts.

She’s also one of the few real-life people who choose not to be a billionaire and effectively gave that money away instead. All that to say, I’m bummed by her passing and think she was a net-positive celebrity in a world where that seems increasingly rare. Maybe I’ll have more to say about Parton one day.

Tim Curry passed, which is equally a bummer. Truly a larger-than-life character in his own right. It’s a cruel joke to make both these people share a death date, as if they needed to compete for memorial press. I don’t have as much to say about Curry other than Rocky Horror is so much fun and I think about his “SPACE” line from the Command and Conquer games semi-regularly. How do you escape the horrors of capitalism truly?

Since my last update was in October 2025, I’ve had a few minor life developments. I’m now an associate editor for ANTIGRAVITY Magazine in New Orleans after being a contributor since 2022.

In my mind, it’s one of the best alt-rags still running in the country. It’s a decentralized operation running more like a Viet Cong cell than a brick-and-mortar publication with a full-time paid staff. We don’t have an office. At most, we do monthly in-person meetings at a Jewish-Italian deli. The best part is they actually pay me for my work, although I do still need my day job as a barista to actually afford existence. Some months are hard to make work. But I get by, and it’s fulfilling.

It’s one of the few places where I feel like I’m actually contributing to something more than a churning algorithm fed by hollowed-out music blogs turned freshman-writer-sweat-shops like Noisey or BrooklynVegan now. It’s entirely free, of course, so I’d recommend checking it out if you’re at all curious about the world of New Orleans culture and politics.

I’ve done lots of work I’m proud of and should share. A few interviews:

• Theo Hilton of Nana Grizol and the band returning

• Local hardcore band Fiend have built a following by going offline

• Gar Hole Records’ move to New Orleans

Beyond that, I’ve done a bunch of album reviews and live photos from various artists. Some I was most excited to shoot were Acid Bath playing a stadium (a first for New Orleans), Kimya Dawson of The Moldy Peaches, and a sick Mardi Gras Day show featuring local acts Twisted Teens, W-9, and Portia. I also got my first-ever cover photo for the magazine!

I tabled at ANTIGRAVITY’s Inaugural Photo Expo a couple of weeks ago and made my first photo zine for it.

The zine, titled 7, is basically a collection of highlights from my first seven years as a live music photographer, complete with in-depth photo captions (good music rec fodder if you’re looking for new music). I’ve still got some of those and can print to order, so if you’re interested in a shitty, little photo zine printed the old-fashioned way on an Office Depot Xerox and handmade, let me know!

The photo expo really inspired me and has kicked my ass into gear creatively. It was a lot of “firsts” for me. First zine, first time tabling, first time selling print photos, first time being asked “What’s some music photography tips?” I really fumbled that last one.

I also bought my first film camera, a point-and-shoot Nikon One Touch, at the expo with the money I made selling prints (mostly due to generous friends and colleagues). And this week I got my first roll of black and white film developed, and I think it turned out great! I feel moved to take pictures, both film and digital, in a way I haven’t felt in some time.

I’m not making any promises because I tend to suck at keeping them when it comes to Orbiting Punk, but I’m hopeful. I tend to go through these peaks and valleys of motivation and mental clarity where my productivity directly correlates. I’ve learned to ride those waves as best as I can but it’s easy to fall into the trap of “all-or-nothing” thinking where I put so much pressure on the things I feel I “should be doing”, like updating this blog, for instance, that I burn out before burning very bright at all (to roughly rip off Harrison Gordon).

Guided by Voices has been heavy on my mind lately. There are a few reasons for this. I just finished an advance copy of Andrew Sacher’s Emo Revival book, and in it Joyce Manor’s Barry Johnson (an ear with significant leverage on my music tastes) mentions them as an influence. Also, a ton of people in my personal life seem to have a deep reverence for the band. I know a few tracks, but I’ve been slowly wading into their vast discography this summer.

The track “A Good Flying Bird” struck me as a lifeline. In classic Guided by Voices fashion, the song is written with maximum brevity, the hook just a gang of “yeahs”, all amounting to an emotional snapshot. But my interpretation of its message has become a little sigh of relief. It’s about being and living in the moment, but there’s one line in particular that grabs me. In it they sing, “Oh, this is not to say / We are not the way we used to be,” which on its face, is a confusing double-negative.

Is it to say we are the way we used to be? Or is it to say we have changed and become better? I think in that little linguistic knot, I find relief. I take it to mean both. I’m allowed to be the same with all the same problems, but I’m also allowed to believe that maybe I’m getting better.

There are (more than) a few Jeff Rosenstock songs that also touch on the idea of self-improvement and “do people ever really change?” as that Guided By Voices song kinda does. At any given season in my life, I can guarantee you I’m running at least one Rosenstock track on the regular. And lately it’s been “3 SUMMERS.”

It’s one of many sprawling songs Rosenstock has written over the years that couldn’t be more opposite to “A Good Flying Bird” in terms of songwriting. But there’s one verse in particular, the fifth and final verse, which hits as the song drops out into a quiet acoustic ballad before bombastically returning to power-pop form on the outro.

The verse is as follows:

I sat around and I watched the wind

For three whole summers

An eternity lapsed as I swallowed attacks

And just held them in

I can’t be fixed, so I’m just achin’

‘Cause the longer I go

Is the more that I know

That I’m different than before

And you can’t help me anymore, ooh!

Rosenstock often sings about his mental health problems like anxiety attacks and depression. And almost just as often, he mentions things like “I can’t be fixed,” accepting parts of himself he seems to rather be completely rid of. But he always finds a way to spin it into something more positive or energizing, whether it be through the juxtaposition of upbeat, bright music or through direct refutation in the lyrics like this verse. He sings, “That I’m different than before / And you can’t help me anymore.”

Whatever that means to Rosenstock is one thing, but for me, I interpret this part of the song to mean that although he struggles with the same lifelong problems, he has grown and changed, and the solutions to those problems have as well. When I look at my life and the consistent problems I’ve found within myself over the years, I see the same pattern.

I’m saying a lot of the same stuff about myself and using some of the same tools to correct it. It’s like a Sisyphian search for happiness. You find new tools, new approaches to be better. You do end up feeling better, for a time, and then the cycle repeats. In combination with “A Good Flying Bird,” I find the courage to just be and let the “shoulds”, self-hate, and nihilism wash over me without judgement. I find myself open to new solutions. New paths forward.

Not to get too lost in this speak, but I think music has always helped me build a bit of scaffolding to hold my self-image and mental health together. If I feel I’m sagging a bit in self-confidence, then I build a framework of songs and verses to support that before it breaks. It doesn’t always work. It’s one of many tools. I think I’m getting better, like Rosenstock sings, “Cause the longer I go / Is the more that I know / that I’m different than before.” Maybe this is just a positive trend on the flip side of a forever cycle. Maybe I’ll stick with it this time.

Thanks for indulging my musically-induced hallucinations.

Virtual Tip Jar

Fest 23 kicks off today and unfortunately, I will not be attending.

If you are unfamiliar, Fest is one of the big punk festivals that happens every year like Riot Fest, Punk Rock Bowling and GonerFest but this one is based in Gainesville, FL. It has a SXSW-style of setup with multiple different venues hosting bands from all stages of growth, like the ultra-big world-touring folks with major labels to the dinky bands from your hometown borrowing a friend’s 15-year-old van and driving 12 hours to get there. Fest leans pop punk heavy but it’s also become a showcase for various subgenres in the Southeastern punk like pop punk, hardcore, metalcore, ska and the FL-GA scene that I cut my teeth around.

So in an effort to curb some of my FOMO and discover some new music, I went ahead and created my schedule if I were to go. If you find yourself at Fest today, good for you! Maybe this helps as some kind of guide. But presuming most the folks reading this are either unaware Fest exists or completely aware and not attending, this schedule can at least point you in the direction of some artists worth checking out.

Here’s a YouTube Music playlist to listen along to:
https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLmIHA-e4KsSV1PP6hWhBt-27AOwIXSekr&si=jAisU9OiwHGTkQMk

Friday, October 24

[12 p.m.]

Most people will be coming into town today to stand in the long registration line to get their wristbands and get into Fest. Locals likely still have work that day and out-of-town bands are likely still on the way. So to account for the logistics of all that, Fest tends to start slowly in midafternoon and ramps up at around 5 p.m. on Fridays. But if you’re an early bird like me you will want to be there as soon as they open up registration at Noon. You’ll likely have to wait in line an hour or so tops and then be able to look at the various vendors and stands they have waiting for you around the area (Usually non-profits, record labels, zines that sort of thing).

So get registered, chill, mingle, and ideally link up with friends. Start drinking, I guess?

[2:50 p.m.] HummusVacuum at Loosey’s

Bit of a meme band but still rips. Frontman Kevin Cappy is a TikTok comedian and scene veteran1 who played with bands like The Grievance Club and The Sonder Bombs. Despite the tongue-in-cheek nature, their songs are just as good if not better than most pop-punk and emo bands at Fest and acts as a good appetizer to the weekend.2

Each set is only about 30 minutes, so you’ll have some time to wander after them. Find your bearings as you make your way down to the Heartwood stage and get ready to walk. If you don’t like walking a lot, you can’t go wrong with The Wooly or How Bazar venue lineups on Friday, so I’d camp out at one of those.

[4:00 p.m.] Direct Hit! at Heartwood

If you were up for the walk, Direct Hit!’s a classic Fat Wreck Records band to kick off the weekend. I’m kind of young (28), so I’ve never seen them live. There will be lots of bands at Fest that are 10, 20, or even +30 years old, so I always encourage folks to go see bands they’ve never seen before, if they can. Old heads might appreciate seeing bands that aren’t just watered-down versions of what they were 20 years ago and young folks might be surprised at what some of the legacy folks have to offer, even now. All this to say, Direct Hit! isn’t old, just middle-aged!

You should also get food at the Heartwood if you want a snack. If you stay closer to the main stage at Bo Diddley, you can always rely on Flacos and Pop-a-Top Sandwich Shop for an easy bite. For coffee, Maude’s is the classic spot but I also like Wyatt’s. A moment of silence for all the lost food spots like the $1 pizza slice place and Crane Ramen. Fingers crossed, Sean the hot dog cart guy will still be out there.

[4:40 p.m.] Common Sage at How Bazar

A Thursday-inspired post-hardcore band that escapes the derivative nature a lot of Fest Bands fall into, so if that sounds like your thing, great. If not, you could hike out to First Magnitude Brewing Co. for Knives, a numetal-inspired project, but you will have to walk a good way back for anything else.

[5:30 p.m.] Drought at How Bazar

Another solid post-hardcore band. Altough from Oakland, they remind me of some really great East Coast bands like Title Fight and Fiddlehead, which makes sense because they’ve collaborated with members from both. This is the first set I’d label as a “can’t-miss” for me.

[6:00 p.m.]

This hour’s a bit of a crunch with lots of options, so you can’t go wrong, but you will have to move quickly. Either immediately go to Bo Diddley (the main stage) for Piebald, an influential indie and emo band from the 90s, or the power pop band Star 99 at The Backyard, if you’re looking for a new band. If none of those sound good, I’d recommend Worlds Scariest Police Chases, for some NOFX-type pop punk synonymous with Fest. You could also see Gainesville locals, Orbiter (hey, I like that name), that does a sort of doom-gaze rock and features Matt Walker as their guitarist, who’s known for writing the book “Gainesville Punk: A History Of Bands and Music.”

[7:00 p.m.] MX Lonely at How Bazar

Pretty sounding shoegaze with a heavy edge that sounds like they’d be even better live. Another “can’t-miss” for me. Got to see if they’re as good as in the headphones. Alternatively, The Dopamines or Tim Barry are some classic Fest acts to check out.

[8:00 p.m.]

I’d pry take a break and get dinner. But in this time block, Samuel S.C. seems cool.

[8:50 p.m.]

The nine o’clock hour is also pretty packed with some good bands. If you want some more heavy shoegaze-type stuff, Sainthood Reps is a solid option. If you need a little energy, Meat Wave is hype and reminds me of stuff like Wavves and Joyce Manor. And if are looking for a little less masc in your life, Suzie True is self-described as “if The Powerpuff Girls started a Blink-182 cover band.”

After 9:30 p.m., I’d check out Partial Traces for a break from all the straight-up punk rock stuff. They sound like Talking Heads doing Joy Division so definitely will be a reprieve from all the power chords in favor on some more synthy, new wave stuff. Smelter is also a great option here, as a Florida band doing some lowkey, slowcore with a tinge of grunge.

[10:20 p.m.]

If you have never seen Chris Farren, see Chris Farren. His shows always have some weird gimmick to them like balloons or confetti but he’s an infectiously charismatic frontman who oozes good vibes. If you hate, Chris Farren, you hate joy itself. If you have seen him though, I’ve got a couple other suggestions.

Worlds Greatest Dad is the option if you really like bands like Wednesday or Great Grandpa. And Death Pose is for you if you want big crunchy guitars and political lyrics.

[11:00 p.m.]

Dollar Signs is calling it quits so I imagine if you know about this band you probably already want to go get emotional with them but if you aren’t in the know, it’s fine. They were just a big DIY party band in the Southeast who wrote earnest emo stuff that could make a Mom Jeans fan cringe. I love them dearly.

With that said, I’d pry go see To Forget, because I love melodramatic screamo. Although I gotta shout out Orbits (hey, nice name) as the side project of quintessential Fest bands Signals Midwest (Maxwell Stern) and The Sidekicks (Toby Reif), that does '90s-inspired alt-rock akin to Archers of Loaf, Pedro the Lion, and Superchunk.

If all of this is too whiny for you, I’d check out Oceanator. She’s great.

[12:00 p.m. and beyond]

At this point, Fest just becomes revelry. Usually, there’s some unofficial secret shows. Most of the bands bill from this point on are big Fest acts that people come to expect. The spots I’d expect to see the biggest and most hype crowds would be Signals Midwest and Pool Kids. People just turn out for those bands. If I were staying out that late, I’d see Pool Kids but King Friday is a good choice too since you can see Pool Kids play the big stage [again] tomorrow.

Saturday, October 25

[12:00 p.m. - 3 p.m.]

Most folks are gonna be sleeping in and/or hungover, so there’s going to be some prime people watching at Bo Diddley to keep entertained while waiting to see The Weakerthans and Pool Kids. I’d pry start the day with seeing Gilt do their Paramore cover set as their lead vocalist Ash is often compared to Haley Williams, so I’m sure they’d nail that.

[3:00 p.m.]

Alright, here’s the deal. You with either keep chilling at Bo Diddley and see Drug Chruch, which I would because I’ve yet to see the live, or you go see Kerosene Heights for some modern emo or The Caution Children for some weird Florida screamo-gaze.

[4:00 p.m.]

Mugger at Vivid Music Hall, then Sandcrawler at How Bazar

Saturday, if I could only pick one venue, I’d either pick Bo Diddley or How Bazar again. So you could just start the day at the main stage and then make your way to How Bazar. But to fill the time, Mugger seems like a solid hardcore band to weave in there. Sandcrawler are a metalcore band from Gainesville comprised of some scene vets, so worth checking out.

[5:30 p.m.]

Either you go see a 63-year-old Ian Mackaye sing “I’m going to stay young ‘til I die” with 7 Seconds or you go see LA hardcore band Sweat if you like Amyl and the Sniffers or Mean Jesus if you like Converge. Choice is yours.

[6:20 p.m. - 7:50 p.m.]

Lash Meat at How Bazar, then Jeff Rosenstock at Bo Diddley

If you are a fan of Chat Pile or that vein of noisy, chaotic metal, I highly recommend Lash Meat. I wish Gillian Carter wasn’t playing at the same time but because I’ve seen them before, I’ll have to pass, but they’re an excellent Florida Skramz band. Jeff Rosenstock is one of my favorite artists of all time, so I got to see at least one of his sets, and this one seems the most doable in the schedule for me. But if you’re all Rosenstocked out, I’d go see Timeshares at the Heartwood if only to get that walk out of the way so I can see Zeta as soon as they go on.

[7:50 p.m. - 9:50 p.m.]

The cruelest bit about the eight o’clock hour is the fact that Zeta plays at the exact time as Rosemary Nods Upon The Grave. They’re both exceptional post-hardcore bands I’ve seen before but I’ve got to pass on Rosemary. Even though I’ve seen Zeta at least six times in my life, they’re still one of the best live performances I’ve seen that inspire so much community at Fest.

Zeta’s thing is they’re a Venezuelan band who use a lot of Latin percussion in their songwriting but they also incorporate bits of prog and metal into their songs as well. Rosemary would pry also tell you to go see Zeta.

On the second half of the hour, I’d pry come down at the Open City set and then see either We Eere Skeletons if I still wanted heavy or Sad Snack if I wanted some of the levity that ska provides. Also, not a bad time to find something to eat.

[9:50 p.m. and beyond]

I have to catch at least the first half of The Get Up Kids’ “Something To Write Home About” set. I’m definitely too young to have seen them perform in their heyday, so this is going to be the closest I get to seeing such an important emo album played live. I’d squeeze that in before I’d finally get the chance to see legendary Florida screamo band, Gouge Away. Highly recommend this band as Christina Michelle’s voice is so incredible. She was also shouted out by Wednesday’s Karly Hartzman, so it’s not just me who thinks they’re the real deal.

This piece is getting really long, so I’m going to shoot off the schedule for the rest of the night.

At 11:20 p.m., I’m seeing Damage Done but recommend ska band Hans Gruber and the Die Hards if you’ve never seen them. And I’d finish out the night with Coalesce and Camp Trash.

Sunday, October 26

This would be my Heartwood day, as after a weekend of mostly brutal screamo and post-hardcore, I’d like a little ska community to mellow me out.

[12:20 p.m. - 2:40 p.m.]

Broken Record from Denver seem to be meshing the whole Gen-Z shoegaze with emo nicely, so I’d check them out. Then I’d go see Descartes A Kant. This band has completely evaded my radar and they seem to be extremely popular. Hailing from Guadalajara, Mexico, they fuse a lot of different genres from noise to synth pop to even cabaret. Then I’d go check out Hospital Job before I’d catch Drug Church again but on a smaller stage.

[2:40 p.m. - 4:30 p.m.]

I’ve seen Joystick! pry more than any band in my life at this point but I’d go support our New Orleans troops out in the field one more time. Then I could stick around and see Cheem right after, this “nu-pop” band seem to be doing a weird mix of funk, power pop and nu-metal in a quintessentially ‘00s way. From there, I’d either stick around at the Heartwood to see fellow Gulf-Coastians(?) Flying Raccoon Suit or go see Florida DIY vets Gilt for some original music this time.

[4:30 p.m. - 5:30 p.m.]

From here I could keep the horns going with Sooza Brass Band, to see how Gainesville brass gets down, but I’d pry go see The World Is a Beautiful Place & I Am No Longer Afraid To Die as their new album’s hardcore direction is dope and I’ve yet to see them live.

Alternatively, you could go see comedian Chris Gethard. I saw him at Fest 21 and what I like about his style of comedy is how slice-of-life his bits are, like an old friend telling you what’s new and what he’s doing to work on himself. Last time it was edging, but the lawn care kind. I’m curious to know what’s up with him now.

[5:30 p.m. - 8:50 p.m.]

Onward with more Ska (or ska-adjacent), as RX Bandits take stage at Bo Diddley and bay-area’s Omnigone perform Heartwood. I’d pry go RX Bandits as I haven’t seen them but Omnigone’s vocalist, Adam Davis, is a notable performer in the ska scene for his hardcore vocals but also because he was co-host for the “In Defense of Ska” podcast.

After their set you could either stick around for folk punk stalwarts AJJ, who I love dearly or head back to the Heartwood for Jer, the mind behind Skatune Network and one of the forefront personalities within the ska space today. Jer seems like the better choice to me if only for the fact that they’re young and are still making their mark on the genre they’re in, whereas AJJ are more washed at this point. But I’d still see AJJ if you haven’t, they’re more fun than you might expect and I bet they’ll have some guests on stage like Jeff Rosenstock.

After those sets, you have the choice to see Jeff Rosenstock again at Bo Diddley, see Fest and Gainesville vets Assholeparade at The Wooly, or see Jer do Skatune Network covers live likely with loads of guest artists. As cool and reimagined as the Skatune covers are, they’re still just covers, so I’d recommend going to see something original.

[8:50 p.m. - 10:30 p.m.]

To throw it to left field, I’d hit The Atlantic to see Ultra Deluxe for some leftist monologues and weirdo mixes of cybergrind, screamo and EDM. Ultra Deluxe is another “can’t miss” for me.

You could go see Mikey Erg too, as he’s a fixture among the Fest world and would kill time before Drosera, one of the best heavy bands out there right now. I love to show people their Channel 5 debut, performing at the arguably more punk (at least crusty) Florida Swampfest. They are not as trashy as that video makes them out to be, in fact, they’re pretty fucking cerebral for how much they crush. “Can’t miss” them.

[10:30 p.m. and beyond]

As the sun goes down, we have fully left our bright, sun-shiny ska and ska-adjacent optimism for some dark and heavy shit. And that trend continues if you choose to go see Holy Ghost Tabernacle Choir (HGTC). You could go see Palomino Blond or Art Star to close out your Fest weekend but this HGTC is a special one as it will be their second-to-final show before they take an indefinite hiatus due to personal reasons. They’re a pretty special band to me, so I’d have to say my goodbyes.

And there you have it, a hypothetical Fest schedule that I will not be able to live out. It was fun exploring the lineup up though and discovering some new bands while revisiting old favorites. If you find yourself at Fest this weekend, I hope you celebrate every moment. I’ll be finding my own moments to revel in here.

Last week, my wife and I took a belated honeymoon trip to Seattle and Olympic National Park. The whole trip felt very “us,” experiencing a new place together and getting to explore some of our shared interests that wouldn’t have been possible without the gifts from our family. 

The whole thing went really well despite a couple of minor hiccups that are kinda funny in hindsight. This was my first time flying since before the pandemic and the whole “real ID” shit they’re pushing now almost screwed me up. Luckily, the extra screening at TSA wasn’t a huge ordeal. I just need to update my Driver’s to make it legit federally (rookie mistake I guess). 

I’m a notorious baby when it comes to motion sickness and anxiety so traveling always has its fair share of difficulties for me generally. But thanks to my drug of choice, Dramamine, I was able to make it through just fine.

Going from negative altitude to hundreds above sea level outside Forks, WA did catch up to us at one point. We just crashed in a grocery store parking lot for a couple of hours till we felt somewhat alive again. 

Beyond those minor problems, we had fun and learned a lot. For one, I didn’t know wild edible berries grow like roadside weeds everywhere. And I don’t mean the technically edible kind. I mean like the berries they sell for $5 a carton at the grocery like blueberries and especially blackberries.

I can understand the “Cascadia independence” thing after witnessing how unique the culture and landscape is (despite the lingering bit of American monoculture and rural Trumpism). 

I like playing the shitty tourist. To drop some ignorant shit-talk a little, I’d call Seattle two things:

1. The city of stairs

2. The city of “used to be cooler” 

“City of Stairs” is pretty self-explanatory. It’s a hilly city built on a slope like San Francisco (or at least that’s what Teen Titans 2003 taught me). During our stay in Seattle, we used light-rail and buses to get around and it was super easy and convenient for the most part but even then we walked pry 8-9 miles every day. Which is fine. We’re relatively young. But Lord, did all those stairs get daunting after a while. 

“Used to be cooler” probably needs a little more context. From the moment I started researching places to go or things to see, or even just talking to folks about these things, the common thread I’d find is everything “used to be cooler.”

And to be fair, that’s partly true for 90% of American cities but Seattle had an air of nostalgia to it. People said this about Bumbershoot (Music Festival), about the alt-newspaper The Stranger, all the radio stations, Sub-Pop and other aspects of the wider music scene. 

I’d dispute the music scene portion but when you go to museums or to the more touristy parts of town, like I did of course, you feel that nostalgia as thick as any morning sea fog. People yearn for the glory days of grunge when Seattle was the most “hype!” music city the world. At least that’s the marketing. 

I had a great time though. Thanks for having us!

A few trip notes: 

Bumbershoot

We flew in Saturday morning and went straight to day one of the fest and saw Great Grandpa, Indigo De Souza, Scowl, Bright Eyes, Car Seat Headrest and Weezer in that order (You probably weren’t wondering but in case you were, we did not watch New Orleans band Tank and the Bangas, mostly cause we’ve seen them probably two or three times already).

All “first-time” live shows for the two of us. We definitely camped out at the main stage a while but in our defense, we mostly just wanted to sit on the grass and relax after all the traveling.  

Indigo De Souza’s voice sounded even better live and although I’m not as into her latest music, it sounded pretty good live. I could say the same about pretty much every band we saw.

Scowl’s pretty much the face of hardcore right now alongside Turnstile and I get the impression they understand the weight a position like that holds based on how serious they seemed to take their set. 

Bright Eyes was a bit sad and not in the cool emo way, more in the “this is painful to watch” way. I’m not a huge Conor Oberst fan but I can respect the songwriting. Occasionally, his pretentious, literary approach to lyrics results in really powerful and unique songs. My wife did not vibe with them at all (lol). 

Oberst seems like he hasn’t been in a stable place mentally in the last 10 years, so I genuinely worry for the dude. His brother died in 2016 and he has struggled with health issues and alcoholism. He seemed to be drinking at his performance but the crowd seemed into whatever was going on so maybe I was just reading into things. 

In 2016-17, I listened to Car Seat Headrest (CSH) quite a bit but kinda lost interest in that brand of “bedroom”, lo-fi rock, along with artists like Mac Demarco, Alex G and Kurt Vile. I don’t hate this band despite their often way to long and proggy songs. I just saw CSH grow into a shallow Will Toledo rocks thing so good for him, I guess. If he can make a living writing mediocre alt-rock, stealing valor from actual DIY emo artists, then whatever.

But when he came out as a furry a couple of years back, he won back some of my respect. People get a lot of hate for being Furries, which isn’t fair so I’m glad Toledo’s at least championing something with his art. 

What impressed me most about their set was Toledo’s vocal chops. He’s definitely mastered his voice over the last decade, going from a bit yelpy, acquired taste kind of vocalist to a bona fide crooner who’s mastered the strengths and weaknesses of his voice. 

I’ll also note, CSH isn’t just the Will Toledo show like it was back 10 years ago. Ethan Ives, the previous bassist and guitarist, has taken the reins as a lead vocalist a bit more, especially on their new album. 

The sound and visuals during their performance felt like a headliner production but I’d be lying if I said I didn’t get bored halfway through most of the songs. 

We left early during Weezer’s set because we were approaching 20 hours awake at that point but I’m glad we suck around for them. Rivers Cuomo had this weird scraggly beard, shaggy hair and a flannel-looking shirt. Is Cuomo, dare I say, grunge? They played a lot of Blue Album songs while we were there like “Hash Pipe” and “Sweater Song,” so I felt content. 

Overall, I get why people say Bumbershoot isn’t what it used to be. It’s super corporate and there are way too many “things to do” that only involve getting you to open your wallet but it’s worth the admission if you buy tickets early for less than $70 bucks. For our purposes, it was a fun way to spend our first day in Seattle. Especially, with it being right under the Space Needle and around all the touristy stuff.

Kurt Cobain Exhibit at Museum of Pop Culture (MOPOP)

After 14 years, the “Nirvana: Taking Punk to the Masses” exhibit closed on September 7. Like all teenagers with a passing interest in alternative rock, I was obsessed with Kurt Cobain. In the words of our local alt radio station, Nirvana was my spirit animal. So I was really happy we got to see the exhibit there before it was shut down. 

My favorite part was this list of elements needed to create a thriving local music scene. It might seem kind of obvious but I like the idea that there are various niches required to create a “scene” and it gives a playbook for folks on how they can best join their local music ecosystem. 

Green Day Slurpee

We don’t have 7-Elevens down in NOLA, so I was shocked to stumble onto this Green Day-branded Slurpee called “Kerplumk” Kandy Grape. It’s always hilarious to see the most egregious sellout merchandise like this because it sounds like the kind of joke some guy in the ‘90s would make about the band after signing with Reprise Records. I liked it. Decent flavor. 

I’ll close here with an unrelated Facebook link to some good thoughts on Charlie Kirk.

The other day while working at the coffee shop, a curious customer noticed I was wearing an Antigravity Magazine shirt, which led to them asking me a bit about my contributions and what kinds of music I cover. I should expect this question but I always find it difficult to answer without sounding like an asshole, especially since I don’t typically cover the often thought-of New Orleans music and all that jazz (pun intended).

I’m paraphrasing here a bit but I said roughly, “I cover alternative music, DIY, that sort of thing.” To which they approximately responded, “So like garage rock?,” a totally fair response.

“DIY” could reasonably be inferred as the shitty bar band your boss plays in with his lawyer friends or that guy from high school who never got past his delusions of being the next Nirvana or whatever Joe Schmoe is making music in their garage (if they’re lucky enough to live in a home with a garage, much less own a home).

Do-it-yourself— that’s all DIY technically stands for but I used the term like it was a music genre in the context of the conversation. So the follow-up question of “What is DIY?” is a natural one.

DIY really isn’t a genre so much as it is a means of participating outside established music institutions like major labels, venues, etc. Even defined that way, DIY is such a vague, unwieldy term.

It’s like “indie” in that it means a very specific thing AND nothing at all. Indie can be The Pixies but it can also be Thundercat, two acts that might as well be on two different ends of the musical galaxy.

To make matters even more confusing, almost anyone can be DIY by that definition. An artist could be making hip-hop, electronic, folk, metal, any genre really and be classified as DIY so long as they are independent and self-sufficient outside of those institutions.

Every couple of years, I find myself coming back to this question because, honestly, I need the mental refresher to communicate it coherently. And to avoid turning this into a college research paper, I won’t get into specifics too much about the roots of DIY in early punk music or the anarchist ethos it embodies.

Rather, I’d like to talk a bit about the scenes I witnessed as an early music fan/perpetually aspiring music journalist and why those moments still inspire me to this day.

To make a long story less than 400 words (hopefully), I went to college in south Georgia from about 2015 to 2019, about an hour from the FL/GA line. Musically, that neck of the woods was known for Luke Bryan and Thomas Rhett. It’s not the kind of place you move to in order to find a vibrant underground music scene unless your definition of that was getting plastered in a cotton field somewhere while a moon-faced man sings about railing the farmer’s daughter.

After high school, the only direction I had as a nerdy kid caught in the crossfires of cul-de-sacs and cow pastures was to:

A.) get out of Florida

B.) idk maybe become a rancher?

So I went to college in the “real South” to pursue these lukewarm dreams. There I would be exposed to the student press for the first time, which enabled me to recklessly explore my shitty music tastes with the hope of becoming a music journalist.

I started seeking out undercovered artists locally, which eventually brought me to my first-ever house show in Statesboro, GA at the Birdhaus to see an emo band called Birdperson fronted by Aaron Givens (who also ran the venue and would go on to be bassist for the Holy Ghost Tabernacle Choir).

It was probably 2018 at this point and I was extremely late to the party when it came to the Statesboro scene. They were entering the end stages of the House Venue Cycle following a police raid due to the neighborhood cracking down on their existence.1

I made the 3-hour drive up with some friends to attend “Hausfest,” a weekend music festival of local and touring DIY bands. I don’t remember a lot from this show other than thinking “man, this feels like the epicenter of weed-emo in Georgia” and “wow, how many people and animals live here?”

But what did stick with me was the oppressive realities of being an offbeat creative in the deep south, even in a more liberal college town. And this community of local, young, independent artists collectively changed their realities in the face of that world.

It wasn’t just Insomnia Cookies and Chipotle right outside campus anymore. There’s a guy with a ukulele playing folk punk and a touring metal band that smelled like they had been festering for a day and a half in a touring van with no AC! The DIY ethos gave these college kids the agency to build their own world of possibility.

Fast forward a year to 2019, where I had graduated from college and got a job at a newspaper even closer to the Florida/Georgia line in a little town called Valdosta. I happened to move there at the perfect time, though as I was able to hop onto the House Venue Cycle at the Valdosta DIY House while it was in its honeymoon phase.

There, I was able to involve myself in the scene as much as any journalist could. I tried to attend every show I could, take photos of every set I saw and interview the bands and people that were making it happen.

That DIY house was the only place in this town that consistently offered all-ages music which lent to its often diverse crowds of every demographic. Being a college town like Stateboro, the Valdosta scene quickly grew to become the creative heart for a variety of music within the city.

Bands like Mama Stone, Heaven Slept, Box Prince, Dying Whale, DEDpro, and You’ll Never Die, (hmmm, noticing a death trend), among others, were like the venue’s house bands.

I wasn’t around for the glory days of DIY in the ‘80s and ‘90s as some folks say, but I still saw the potential and radicalism a space like this provided for people.

It was a safe space for queer and trans folks in heart of the Bible Belt. It was donation-based so no one was turned away for lack of funds in a city with a quarter of the population living under the poverty line. The house they rented was strange and old enough that landlords and neighbors didn’t seem to care, despite being a city with strict ordinances.2

Even the artist/fan dynamic is skewed toward creating something extraordinary rather than passively consuming art or running up a bar tab. People were able to contribute to the space with their art in the form of paintings, zines, photography, jewelry or whatever creative venture they had to offer.

In what was possibly my greatest achievement during my time at the newspaper, I had a Sunday front page story, above the fold, about the DIY scene and Alan Sifuentes, who ran the venue. The editors made me interview and shoehorn in a story about an independent band from the ‘70s but through that I was able to discover the long-standing spirit of DIY that passed on from generation to generation.

Every person I talked to remembered their first house show and feeling like they found something for themselves. An accessible place, where you could participate in art and music you enjoyed with like-minded people. It would inspire them to start their own bands, or in the case of the Sifuentes and the Valdosta DIY House, their own all-ages venue.

DIY is hard to kill. Once you get the idea into someone’s head that they can do something, with or without the permission of anyone else, they will dream and strive to make it happen again and again.

Every House Venue Cycle ends with the place shutting down, usually after just a couple years, but a successor always seems to fill its place. Bands dissolve and scenes change but the folks affected by it, who were sometimes teenagers seeking all-age shows, come back and make their own version.

Whether it was the Birdhaus or the Valdosta DIY House or even the punk scenes of yore, what mattered was giving everyone the ability to create and be themselves (corny as that may be).

It’s true democratization of power through art. Everyone is given to opportunity to contribute in whatever way they can, often despite the larger world around them.

None of the artists mentioned in these scenes went on to be acclaimed bands selling out tickets for Live Nation or signing to major labels. Most artists don’t get to that point anyway. But the difference between those bands and the band your boss is playing in with his lawyer friends is simple.

It’s not about being self-made or booking your own shows or recording your own music. That can be part of it but if I were to answer the question “What is DIY?” today, I’d say it’s taking ownership of your creative power while giving others the ability to do the same.

More New Orleans Artists

As the old writer’s adage goes, “the best way to find mistakes is to publish,” and with something as assuredly precarious as putting together a scene report for New Orleans, it was inevitable that I’d miss some artists for the list. With that in mind, I’m treating it as a living document where I can continue to add artists as I find them. Here are 10 more I missed from the initial wave but have updated online since publishing:

• HiGH (jangle pop/garage)

• Mango (jangle pop/dream pop)

• Hopeless Fancy (jangle pop/slacker pop)

• Brucey (slacker pop)

• Hotel Burgundy (indie/pop)

• Twin Sugar (chillwave/psych rock)

• Get Dressed (post-punk/garage)

• Fake Last Name (Ronni What of Spllit’s solo project/post-punk)

• Neutral Snap (pop punk)

• We Dreamt of Being Ghosts Amongst the Stars (darkwave/drone)

Orbiting Punk Picks

Big Modern - “Parasite”

Released: July 16, 2025

Sydney, Australia egg-punk

Lo-fi, fuzzy garage rock with big, screeching guitar parts. Lyrically, the song is about the digital parasites that pacify us into inaction.

Pisse - “Vernissage”

Released: September 30, 2016

German synth-punk

The crunchy guitars, reverby shouted vocals remind me of a lot of current egg-punk bands. Not to mention the all too uncommon theremin being prominently featured on this track makes it a standout. It’s all German but from the translation online, it seems to be a middle finger to upper-class snobbery. Who can’t get behind that?

Catharsis - “Power”

Released: August 1, 2025

Classic, political post-hardcore with long history in DIY spaces

An anarchist’s 101 on power dynamics with dense lyrics and metal-esque grandiosity. Catharsis is a hardcore band that has been making music for around 30 years, which is remarkable considering how much has changed in punk over those decades. Of course, they have taken breaks within that timeframe but they’ve earned a great deal of acclaim in the underground due to their longevity, involvement in zine culture through their record label CrimethInc and most of all, their devotion to a DIY, anarchist ethos. Also, I found this really insightful interview Bryan Funck of Thou did with the band in 2015 for Antigravity Magazine. Recommend checking it out.

2

Fun side note: The Valdosta DIY House was a big house but it had a vape shop built literally into half of the building and then on the other side was a Mexican supermarket and restaurant. Great place to get beer and tacos right before the show.

---

Around three years ago, I posted a small update about the New Orleans music scene at the time in late 2022. I’ve wanted to revisit the subject for a while now because the scene has proliferated rapidly over the last three years or so. It’s honestly overwhelming. So, as an effort to wrap my head around what's going on in the alternative music world in New Orleans, I decided to compile this sort of listicle/commentary piece.

It has honestly been more work than I thought it would be. I have around 100 active bands and artists listed here and there were many times I thought I had gotten close to listing every act I wanted and then I would remember 20 others I was missing. With that said, this is far from comprehensive and will attach a disclaimer below explaining my methodolgy, as it were. Some great resources that helped me compile this are Bandcamp's geo-tag function (blessings to you, oh Bandcamp), Antigravity Magazine, Paranoize zine, NOLADIY.org and the Altscenenola blog.

Disclaimer: A lot of genres are not included. I’m just not as keyed in on the wider breadth of the New Orleans music world anymore and how could you be when there's just so much. Following my beat means you likely won't find much in the way of hip-hop, R&B, EDM, Masking Indian music, zydeco, funk, brass bands, jazz, or ragtime.

I tried to be as inclusive as possible for this list, focusing on artists who have been active locally in the last three years (2023-2026) and have released recorded music readily available online (so my readers can actually go listen to them if they want).

Also, this list is limited to bands based in New Orleans (apologies to the ex-NOLA, Baton Rouge, Lafayette and Houma artists). I know there are many more active bands I’m not including due to that definition but it just goes to show how expansive the music scene is at the moment.

Hardcore/Post-Hardcore

It goes without saying but hardcore has spiked in popularity in the last three years or so. Alongside this confluence of interest, DIY venue The Fred Hampton Free Store and the booker Belly Up have been critical to the growth of the New Orleans hardcore community. Both Belly Up and The Free Store are not entirely new to the scene but their impact, especially on the all-ages front, cannot be understated. The duo comprising Dremm (as well as their other bands GALL. and Angel’s End) seems to be at the heart of this new wave of young bands, so I’d recommend keeping an eye on them, especially. And of course, I have to mention Brat, who has continued to garner fame abroad through constant touring and putting out sick release after sick release.

• Dremm (post-hardcore/sludge)

• GALL. (sludgey hardcore)

• Angel’s End (metalcore)

• Bag. (sludgey hardcore)

• Portia (post-hardcore/sass-core)

• Wild at Heart (post-hardcore)

• Paprika (egg punk)

• Total Hell (blackened hardcore)

• Nonbinary Assault Weapon (crust/peace punk)

• Dracula (d-beat)

• Gorilla Gut (d-beat)

• Coffinwolf Ultra (crust/powerviolence)

• Pussyrot (grindcore)

• Shitload (grindcore/noise)

• Brat (grindcore/bimboviolence)

Post-Punk

Like hardcore, post-punk is experiencing a surge of newfound interest which I would say is largely inspired by underground egg-punks' resurgence as well as the more mainstream “crankwave” from across the pond in Europe. There are some modern American post-punk acts influencing the wave too like Model/Actriz, Bodega or Parquet Courts. However, Europe has largely dominated the genre. It’s only natural then that “the most European city in the United States,” as some eager tour guides claim, is adding to the talk-singing and punk dancing. I think these bands are just unique enough to warrant a separate category.

• Coworkers (Viagra Boys and Minutemen inspired)

• The Convenience (art punk)

• Lawn (jangle pop/art punk)

• New Fools (art punk/synth pop)

• Doctors (shoegaze/hardcore-tinged)

• Dana Ives (groove/dance punk)

• Special Interest (no wave/dance punk)

• Get Dressed (post-punk/garage)

• Fake Last Name (Ronni What of Spllit’s solo project/post-punk)

Punk

Ah yes, the infamous punk label. I’d slap it on these New Orleans bands specifically because of their more classic punk sound and rock&roll style guitars. Many of these bands are also lumped into the aforementioned egg punk revival, which I find hard to fully define. To me, egg punk is a kind of lo-fi, Devo-inspired genre of punk but it seems to also characterize a sort of fun-loving, satirical side of hardcore. A lot of these bands sound like classic punk without feeling dated. Sick Thoughts and D.SABLU in particular sound like they could’ve been recording music in the late ‘70s.

• Steef (capital “E” Egg punk/maximum Devo worship)

• D.SABLU (garage/egg punk)

• Sick Thoughts (garage/egg punk)

• twisted teens (egg punk/cow punk)

• T.A.C.K. (cow punk/garage)

• Atomic Broad (garage/blues/queercore)

• Dumbster (blues/grunge)

• Dog Park Dissidents (power pop/queercore)

• Code Black (classic pop punk a la early Green Day or Descendants)

• Nien (classic punk-inspired)

• The Nancies (garage)

• Shidded (hardcore-tinged pop punk)

• STGMA (power pop)

• BADZY (garage/power pop)

• The Pause (garage/power pop)

• Ethanol Merman (garage/grunge)

• Mike Dillon & Punkadelick (jazz punk)

• Bad Operation (ska)

• Joystick! (ska)

Metal

I’m not super big into the metal world, never have been. But there are a few worthwhile bands I’ve been following (like Fauns and Guts Clubs among the others mentioned) that would best fit this category. Frankly, a metal section feels mandatory given this list's proclivity towards heavy music and New Orleans legacy within the genre. You may notice, doom metal seems to be really gaining popularity here.

• Fauns (doom)

• Guts Club (doomgaze)

• Tötem (sludge/doom)

• Anareta (orchestral doom)

• Cemetery Frost (doom/death)

• walkingonsunshine (doom/sludge)

• Planet of the Little Green Men (stoner)

• Wizard Dick (sludge/stoner)

• PENETRATION (death/war)

• Total Hell (blackened thrash)

• Blood & Earl (thrash/groove)

• Panama Papers (black metal)

• Gnashing (blackened death metal)

Experimental

This category is for three artists/bands actively making weird, truly genre-defying music. Shining Fields does really high-concept drone and industrial music (and I mean REALLY high-concept, exploring the oppression of leftist thought in early 20th-century Japan). Slowhole is more akin to New Orleans sludge greats like Eyehategod but their chaotic, banshee-screaming guitars make them a bit more noise in practice. And lastly, Spllit does a more jangly pop style of post-punk with lots of talk-singing and weird production tricks but they’re so far off the beaten path from any of the other post-punk bands in town right now that I think they deserve to be recognized for that.

• Shining Fields (drone/industrial)

• Slowhole (sludge-gaze)

• Spllit (post punk/egg punk)

Alternative Folk/Country

New Orleans’ “y’all-ternative” scene continues to persist with acts like Hurray for the Riff Raff and Chris Acker being some of the most successful over the years. There’s, of course, also the Black American side of this scene that Dusky Waters in particular hustles to promote. I’m not as plugged into this world but I respect the focus on inclusion and “resistance through joy” these artists seem to possess.

• Chris Acker (alt-country)

• Dusky Waters (alt-americana/country)

• Sabine McCalla (folk/blues)

• Joy Clark (folk/alt-americana)

• Lilli Lewis (alt-americana/roots)

• Hurray For The Riff Raff (folk rock)

• Sleep Habits (alt-country/slowcore)

• Thomas Dollbaum (folk/slowcore)

• Lyla DiPaul (folk/pop)

• Burnt Sugar ('70s-inspired pop)

Indie

In true indie spirit, I’ll use this title card as a catch-all for anything vaguely alternative in nature. There’s a vast variety of music here but as I was compiling a list, I noticed a few possible subgenre trends that didn’t seem strong enough to warrant a category but were notable nonetheless. For instance, the shift towards more ambient, melodic music with longer song lengths and melancholic, slow-burning lyrics (i.e. slowcore). Also, there’s an ever-growing contingent of synth-pop bands making everything from goth to dreampop.

• Abby and the Arsonists (art-rock/slowcore)

• Collections (Pavement-esque/slowcore)

• Shmoo (bedroom pop/slowcore)

• Fake Coffee Club (bedroom pop/slowcore)

• Eddy Benz (80s new wave most recently but also hip-hop and pop)

• Missing (goth/darkwave)

• Drugstore Lipstick (goth/darkwave)

• Laura Fisher (dream-pop/trip-hop)

• loucey (dream pop/rock)

• People Museum (synthpop/dreampop)

• Glish (dream pop/shoegaze)

• Bad Misters (art-rock)

• Avery Island BCE (art-pop)

• Rathbone (outsider pop)

• Big Garden (grunge)

• The Self-Help Tapes (ambient/dream pop)

• Delores Galore (house/synth pop)

• Lisbon Girls (Latin dream pop)

• The Bloomies (garage/beach rock)

• Silver Godling (dark neo-classical)

• Kelly Duplex (noise pop)

• Kawaii AF (pop-punk)

• The Band Melrose (pop punk)

• Hey Thanks! (pop punk)

• Caldwell (‘60s psych pop)

• Juleser (indie pop)

• HiGH (jangle pop/garage)

• Mango (jangle pop/dream pop)

• Hopeless Fancy (jangle pop/slacker pop)

• Brucey (slacker pop)

• Hotel Burgundy (indie/pop)

• Twin Sugar (chillwave/psych rock)

• Neutral Snap (pop punk)

• We Dreamt of Being Ghosts Amongst the Stars (darkwave/drone)

• Universal Friend (math rock/shoegaze)

• Timeout Room (jangle pop/power pop)

• The Centerfolds (indie pop)

Legacy Acts (aka notable exceptions)

I might offend some people with this title, so as a disclaimer I’m not calling these bands “old” or “outdated,” I’m calling them “important” and only mentioning them because their presence is so influential. Essentially, these are just some of my favorite artists that I think of as “New Orleans underground canon.” Many of them are still performing shows; they just haven't released much new music in the last three or so years for whatever reason. Like always, I’m sure there's a ton of artists that could fit here but these are my picks:

• Pallbearers (punk)

• Fat Stupid Ugly People (grindcore)

• Pears (punk)

• New Lands (punk)

• Community (math/indie)

• Donovan Wolfington (emo)

• Gland (punk/garage)

• Dummy Dumpster (experimental/punk/generally wierd)

• Eyehategod (sludge metal)

My Takeaways

Like I wrote earlier, this took wayyy longer than I thought it would because there are so many bands occupying different genres and scenes around town. So altogether I think the overall musical tapestry of New Orleans is very healthy and extends well beyond the generally accepted New Orleans music genres of jazz, funk and brass band.

I do wish there was a greater emphasis on all-ages venues and less on bar culture, as all-age spaces (especially DIY ones) help cultivate creativity, participation and less consumerist practices within the scene. With that said, the Fred Hampton Free Store and Belly Up continue to move us towards that direction and the bar scene we have here is better than other cities. Venues like Gasa Gasa and Siberia have always been a favorite of mine and that likely won’t change.

I do also wish to see the continued trend towards demographic diversity. There’s always been this stigma attached to alternative music scenes of only being a place for disaffected white people, not black or brown folks. But thankfully, many people within the scene now (I’d argue folks like Dremm, GALL., Code Black, Fake Coffee Club and Kawaii AF) and in the past like Osa Atoe, Hollise Murphy and YOKO, continue to tear down some of those conceptions for people. Not to get too candid, but it’s also a great sign when a scene is as queer as New Orleans is (I mean just look at the band names “Nonbinary Assault Weapon” or “Dog Park Dissidents;” what more could you want).

Another note I’d offer is that more bands need to get their stuff on Bandcamp (or recorded in general). It’s the easiest way for music fans around the world to support artists directly so I can’t help but cringe a little every time I see a band whose only online presence is Instagram and/or the big streaming services.

Anyway, I hope folks reading this not from New Orleans discover some new music and I hope that my New Orleans folks feel something positive when seeing a good chunk of the scene laid out in one place like this.

I decided to unsubscribe from Spotify Premium finally.

I’ve been thinking about it seriously for almost a year now but decided to finally pull the trigger. I think the specific thing that primed this for me was seeing big bands like King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard leaving due to the news about Spotify’s CEO funding AI military drone technology. Hilariously, the band essentially called Spotify CEO Daniel Ek a “Dr. Evil tech bro” in an Instagram story.

I saw the news about this before KGLW left (also Xiu Xiu and Deerhoof). Many “Spotify is bad and we’re boycotting” type articles have been published since I started using the app nearly 10 years ago but enough people I respect have left the app that I felt the time was right.

My wife deleted it at the start of the year, so we’ve been talking about solid alternatives. The best thing you can do is just buy music directly, obviously but who can afford all the music in the world? I could pirate sure but even that has its cons. So the conclusion I came to is I want a streaming service as an option. And that was the big inhibitor to my quitting.

Why delete one streaming service with an evil CEO just to subscribe to a new one? I’m sure Apple, Tidal, YouTube, Pandora, fucking Amazon; aren’t saints. So I guess the inconvenience and the “devil you know” attitude made me put it off.

But I’m here to inform you, the morally correct decision doesn’t have to be your only motive to quit. I chose YouTube as my new devil because I watch/listen YouTube probably as much as I do listen to music on Spotify, so the decision to get premium there for the same price is kind of a no-brainer. I basically get a video streaming service ad-free AND Spotify premium for the same price.

So forget morality for a second, I’m getting more for my buck AND I get to bite the ankles of Daniel Ek. Me and my $13.19 a month are out of here!

I’m sure there are some limitations as I’m bound to discover as I fully move my listening over but I doubt my life will change all that much. It’s not like Spotify is perfect anyway. And if you’re thinking, “Great, another Substacker preaching at me about what I should do,” that’s not what I’m trying to say here.

I saw enough people say “fuck Spotify, I’m done,” that it finally pushed me to join the hate train. All I want is to add Orbiting Punk to that list and leave it at that. Do what you will.

RIP Ozzy. Free Palestine.

Bit of bummer to lose someone who had such a massive impact on music as Ozzy Osbourne. It’s important to mention his Zionist views and how shitty it is that he held those notions for the last decade or so of his life. But it’s also equally as important to mention his impact on the world of rock music. Black Sabbath is undeniably one of the greatest metal bands of all time and was sort of a godfather to punk (or at least a gateway drug). So yeah, I’m a bit sad about it.

I’m glad I got to see him once (in 2018 at Tons of Rock in Norway, one of the few times I left the States). Then he could stand and sing, albeit hunched over the mic, doing little more than bouncing his shoulders up and down but it was still admirable to see his dedication to the art. At least he got to have a “curtain call” moment at his July 5 show with the original Sabbath line-up.

The genocide in Gaza seems like it’s reaching a critical juncture. I often find myself feeling tired like what more can I or any average American do at this point to change the material conditions of Palestinians. Even the options of donating and protesting at home feel meager, but I might as well keep trying.

If you’re looking to help, Writers Against the War on Gaza have some resources to donate or to take action like their “Flood the Newsrooms” initiative. Or if you want music with your donation, Olive Seeds: An International Benefit for Mutual Aid in Gaza is a recent punk compilation available for sale on Bandcamp with all proceeds going to the Gaza Soup Kitchen.

New Orleans Community Resource Guide (2025) available on Antigravity Magazine’s website

As the header suggests, a resource containing info on everything from finding a job to food access to harm reduction is available for free download for any of my New Orleans folks. If you don’t need it, you may meet someone who does, so good to have in the proverbial backpocket if needed.

Orbiting Punk Picks

Sick Thoughts - “Another Piece Of Plastic”

Released: July 25, 2025

Teaser from New Orleans rock-n’-roller

Back with triumphant, straight-forward rock that reminds me of classic punk like the Ramones. Sometimes simple is best and Drew Owen is a master at scaling back punk to the raw nerves. This track in particular even tones down the shredding with a bit of acoustic strumming over the chorus. Excited to hear the full album in a week.

Sex Mex - “Fucking It Up”

Released: July 21, 2025

Garage rock from San Antonio, TX

Opening with a “baseball organ” before tearing it up with a classic punk guitar riffs, Sex Mex is in the same vein as the aforementioned Sick Thoughts, writing simple punchy garage rock. The whole record rips but I like this song for its weird warbly sounding bass flourishes and Descendants-esque, lovesick lyrics.

Blind Equation - “This Eternal Curse”

Released: July 18, 2025

Blast beats meets chiptune meets grindcore

A chaotic blend of screams and blast beats thrown over a N64 OST, Blind Equation calls home the dark corners of the internet where people make unholy anime edits to Korn songs. The human psyche is vast and terrible. Fun stuff here.

Ear - “Nerves”

Released: November 13, 2024

Alternative electronica duo with lo-fi charm

Heavy bass bumps and ambient synths underlie soft, harmonic vocals, creating a playful but enveloping soundscape. It’s a very fuzzy track where certain parts feel intentionally blown out or scuzzed up like a scratchy old record through a shitty amp. They use a lot of goofy stock sounds like a cash register opening as well as a squeaking chair that add to the playful, chopped-up feeling of the record. Despite this, it still feels very soulful and meaningful.

Drook - “The Pure Joy of Jumping”

Released: September 27, 2024

Dream pop with a DIY spirit

I saw this band a little over a week ago and was absolutely floored by their set. They’re a 3-piece band with their sound heavily emphasizing synths and electronic effects, distorting everything. This track in particular uses synths, piano, drums and a drum pad to create lush, frenetic soundscapes that allow vocalist Liza Grishaeva to extract every bit of emotion out of the lyrics. They just wrapped up their summer tour but the next time they’re on the road, I highly recommend seeing them live.

Whirr - “Collect Sadness”

Released: December 25, 2024

Shoegaze from Modesto, CA

Huge walls of guitars and drums swing left to right in the headphones on this one. Beautifully produced, explosive shoegaze that knows how to write a quiet-loud balance with its sleepyhead vocals.

Reuben - “Let’s Stop Hanging Out”

Released: June 21, 2004

Melodic post-hardcore from Britain

This is an oldie I found that stood out to me. I even found this old Punktastic.com review from 2003 that rips apart this song for all the reasons I kinda love it: “Juddering drums and monotonous guitars that do little to boost some astoundingly lazy vocals.” Hell yeah. To me, it’s a good monotony like trance or dark wave.

The vocalist sounds particularly clean, maybe a touch subdued but there’s also a lot of cool harmonizing and even a little counterpoint melody towards the end (also metalcore-like gutturals). The writer does recommend another British post-hardcore band, Hell Is For Heroes, which didn’t impress me much. However, I learned Reuben referenced the band on the track No-One Wins the War from the same album.

Hello! I’ve fallen off a bit with this blog, but I’m back this week with a few songs and a little update on the work I've been doing when I’m not making coffee or taking people’s pizza orders at my day jobs. I’m a regular contributor for a local alt-magazine in New Orleans called ANTIGRAVITY, doing both writing and photography. I have a couple of interviews with local bands linked below if you care to read those:

• New Orleans indie all-stars, Coworkers keep living the non-dream under capitalism

• Kid Charleroi embraces imperfection with '70s-inspired pop and the art of music video production

I’ve also been writing album reviews for some other local acts. I’d recommend checking out New Orleans bands Dremm, GALL., Portia, NONBINARY ASSAULT WEAPON, T.A.C.K, Chris Acker, Coworkers and Angel’s End. I’ll pry have more to say about the local scene in a future post, as the underground and DIY music world in New Orleans has really popped off since 2022 when I did my last “scene report.”

I’d love to continue contributing to ANTIGRAVITY but, like many people right now, they are struggling financially. One of the editors, Holly Devon, wrote an explanation of what’s going on but put simply, with every new advertiser the mag gets, two more seem to drop out. I know most the folks that read this aren’t from New Orleans but if you’d like to support independent journalism doing investigative reporting, political analysis and culture writing that makes a real-world impact, you can buy some merch or even buy a magazine to be mailed to you.

I know that was a lot of buzzwords but I sincerely believe in the importance of ANTIGRAVITY and the model it operates under. Anyway, thanks for letting me hit your inboxes and hope you find a piece of music here that sticks with you.

Orbiting Punk Picks

Subsonic Eye - “Being Productive”

Released: June 11, 2025

Jangley, dream-pop with emo-esque lyricism from Singapore.

The guitars on this one carry a precise tension that really mirrors the anxiety-clad lyrics about leaving school to find a job, wondering if your life will be enough. It’s from their fifth album, which, according to the band on Bandcamp, focuses on their hometown of Singapore, specifically its “consumerist abandon and suffocating work culture” clashing with the surrounding natural beauty and culture. This track surgically cuts to the emotional core of those capitalist pressures.

Mt. Hiraeth - “This Collapse Keeps Happening”

Released: May 26, 2025

Mathy skramz from Springfield, MO

This is TRSH’s side project, a band that simultaneously venerates and rips off midwest emo of the mid-'10s. Mt. Hiraeth attempts the same but for skramz and emoviolence. Knowing that, it seems obvious then why the band sounds softer and more mathy than classic emoviolence acts like Combatwoundedveteran or Jerome’s Dream. However, frontman Derek Berry is undeniably gifted as an emo vocalist and guitarist. Combining that with his penchant for Midwest emo makes for a more original-sounding formula, but maybe I just like TRSH more when they're pretending to be more La Dispute than Mom Jeans.

Downward - “Line”

Released: March 5, 2025

Emo-tinged alternative from Tulsa, OK

Crooning vocals occasionally drenched in reverb, surrounded by fuzzy, grungy guitar work and big, explosive drums. There’s even some weird, warbly keys that add to the fuzzy and warm soundscape Downward has created here. The lyrics depict vivid rural images like a burn pile in the woods or working on an old truck in a barn but these dream-like glimpses are interrupted by introspective and emotional narration reflecting the ethereal vibe of the music. It’s a bit cryptic like dreams can be but the mood is visceral.

Rosemary nods upon the grave - “Every river will meet the sea”

Released: June 2, 2025

More emoviolence! (from Savannah, GA)

Rosemary nods upon the grave released their debut EP earlier this year and quickly followed it up with a couple songs on this split with Boston emoviolence band Heaven Through Violence. This track in particular stood out to me because of its gentle instrumental opening that rips open into a ferocious screed. I wasn’t able to find a lyric sheet but I do love the title. It feels hopeful in a way. Check them out if you like the Holy Ghost Tabernacle Choir or the producer's band Gillian Carter.

Bickle - “cry on the dancefloor!”

Released: April 11, 2025

Anti-pop, dance music from Duluth, GA

Pry the least “punk” sounding music I’ll share today but I can’t stop listening to this song. It’s basically just EDM with a twist of R&B but Bickle somehow made a song that sounds like 2000s recession pop if it were really, really sad and stripped for parts. I’m usually not a club music type but this song just hits with its warbly bassline, boom-bap drum machine and downtrodden backing-vocals.

Friendship - “Free Association”

Released: May 16, 2025

Alt-country with ‘90s rock influence from Philly

This record has only grown on me since its release. It’s sentimental and moody in a very satisfying way and the production is crisp. The raspy vocals and varied instrumentation reminds me of Silver Jews and that vein of ‘90s indie rock. The guitars take a backseat on this track in favor of an eclectic mix of strings, vocal samples and horns following a dense drum pattern. It’s ultimately a pretty hush piano ballad with upfront vocals but the shuffled up mix of instrumentation makes it a standout for me.

Pool Kids - “Easier Said Than Done”

Released: June 4, 2025

Spacey math rock from Florida

This is the first teaser from Pool Kids’ upcoming album of the same name. A few things I like about this track: The drums (killer as always), the spacey effects set this track apart from previous releases and, to paraphrase a friend of mine, “Good news! The songwriter is still depressed,” so of course good lyrics. I do wonder how this track will build into the next one on the album because it ends abruptly but as far as teasers go, it does what it’s supposed to— leave you wanting more.

A Brief Word on Superman

A minor spoiler ahead but not really: James Gunn (director of Superman) knows how to make movie soundtracks. Guardians of the Galaxy, the Suicide Squad sequel, even his playlist for Superman is gold by the standards of Hollywood (Against Me!, Pup, Jeff Rosenstock, I mean come on what more could you want).

And yet somehow, he faithfully represented punk in a multimillion-dollar film without even playing a single true punk track (The closest we get to a punk in the Superman soundtrack is a fictional oi!/pop-punk band in the end credits called The Mighty Crabjoys).

There’s a moment where Louis Lane is revealed to have a sort of “punk past” as a teenager where she felt drawn to the genre because of her innatly cynical nature. Her ability to question everything and everyone leads her to become a journalist.

She says all this in order to compare herself to Superman or rather Clark Kent who she views as being like pop music— everyone likes him and he sees the good in everyone. To which Superman says something to the effect of, “Well, maybe that makes me the most punk rock.”

For one, this exchange is hilariously relatable as someone who runs a blog that basically addresses this question of “What is punk” in every post. And secondly, I just love that Gunn was able to reflect the side of punk that is not about being edgy but about being a kind, tender person who cares about the most vulnerable among us. Gunn understands part of being “punk” is trying to be the best human you can be, in spite of the world around us.

Last week, someone let me bring a camera and photograph two of my all-time favorite artists, Jeff Rosenstock and Soul Glo. Here are some shots I took at their show in New Orleans at Tipitina’s on February 18:

Jeff Rosenstock

Goofy photos of the band

Soul Glo

That’s it! Hope some of these were cool. I’m back to shooting shows pretty regularly so if you happen to be a band in New Orleans wanting your set shot, reply to this email, message me on Substack or find me on socials.

I love how much discourse Kendrick Lamar’s Super Bowl performance has caused. I see a lot of folks online calling it the “worst halftime show ever” and I think most of those folks are either:

1. Too removed from rap and/or black culture to even understand Kendrick (like literally comprehending the words he’s saying without subtitles or a lyric sheet).

2. Too caught up in the Drake vs Kendrick beef to pick up on all the other imagery and symbolism that make Kendrick the bast kind of hater.

Amaya Lim’s breakdown of the performance explains some of the anti-colonialist and anti-white supremcist themes hidden throughout.

It’s a relief seeing massive corpoartions and celebrities leave New Orleans now that the Superb Owl is all over. No long opener this week, just felt like mentioning all that to preface some cool new(ish) music y’all should check out! Or don’t! Live your life.

Sidenote: If you live in New Orleans, a local magazine I work with called Antigravity just started a listings section. Check that out if you want to find cool stuff to do in the city.

Subscribe or even just buy me a coffee

Orbiting Punk Picks

M(h)aol - “Pursuit”

An eerie, frantic track from Dublin-based punk band M(h)aol, vocalist Constance Keane recalls being followed home by a strange man at 12 years old and the influence that fear has held on her life. Keane describes it as, “something most women have experienced, and something that makes you change your behavior on a very practical level.”

She sings about standing straight to look more like a man and how she picked the shoes she’s wearing to help her run away in a situation like this. It’s a poignant track with cool production choices and a stellar hook condensing down the frustrations of “being a woman in public.”

Garage Sale - “Sink In Yr Ship”

Australian shoegaze band Garage Sale fixes its gaze on nocturnal scenes illustrated by gleaming crescendos and heavy lows as stars fall.

Ekko Astral - “baethoven”

Self-described as “mascara moshpit” and “gender rock,” this track stood out to me with its meaty bassline, Jael Holzman’s raucous chorus and the organ and guitar splitting everything apart. Queer punk with a Frank Ocean reference, what’s not to love?

Her New Knife - “purepurepure”

Like empty glass bottles clashing, little chimes dot this grungy shoegaze track as a filthy bass tone lays out a gothic backdrop for Edgar Atencio’s hush vocals. It’s an expansive track full of tension that slowly unfurls into a chaotic release.

Friko - “Pride Trials”

I recently gave Friko’s debut album Where we’ve been, Where we go from here a full listen and it’s a beautiful record capturing a spectrum of emotions and genres ranging from power-pop to post-punk to emo and indie. This track definitely falls more on the latter as a gorgeous acoustic ballad with lush production sounding like a mix of Sufjan Stevens and Conor Oberst.

I interpret it to be about masculinity and how intergenerational parenting mistakes as well as toxic societal standards lead dysfunctional relationships between fathers and sons. Stubbornness and arrogance lead both parties to feel alienated, trapped and unable to mend themselves.

Vocalist Niko Kapetan pleads to make amends and break the cycle before it’s too late. It’s poetic and moving.

Maruja - “Aon”

British band post-punk Maruja looks towards Celtic folklore as inspiration for their forthcoming EP Tir na nÓg releasing February 21. It’s an instrumental improvisational record and this track “Aon,” the Gaelic word for “one” or “oneness” is of course the first track (or rather movement?) of the EP.

I’m a big fan of their initial EP “Knocknarea” with its grand instrumentals, dire lyrics and of course that crooning saxophone. The upcoming EP seems to take those instrumental elements a bit further to inspire an ambient and mythical experience for the listener by blending elements of jazz with more Eastern influences like Sufi music.

Check out that first EP and if you like it, then I recommend giving this more psychedelic, instrumental track a shot.

Heartworms - “Jacked”

More rad basslines, more feelings of being chased and more tension building but this time a bit more goth.

Maintaining the facade of a weekly column, I wanted to mention a little bit about the Grammys. Like many of you (probably), I hate the Grammys but as a perpetually aspiring music journalist, I find myself getting sucked into it every year.

About 10 years ago at the ripe age of 18-years-old, I started putting my little music fan thoughts to paper. And I did the thing I thought all music people were supposed to do— predict the Grammys.

For the 58th Grammys, I boldly wrote that 2015 was “arguably, the best year for music in nearly a decade.”

Oh sweet summer child. Literally. A decade before I wrote this would’ve put me at 8-years-old, which of course is the year when every child has their critical awakening with music. Of course!

I did put in that little “nearly” qualifier before “decade” so I guess I could show myself some grace and say I would’ve been about 10-years-old. How very evasive of me!

Anyway, 2015 saw the release of some critically-acclaimed albums like Kendrick Lamar’s To Pimp a Butterfly, Sufjan Stevens’s Carrie & Lowell, Tame Impala’s Currents and a personal favorite, Courtney Barnett’s Sometimes I Sit and Think, and Sometimes I Just Sit.

But it wasn’t the greatest music year since 2005? I probably was experiencing my own little renaissance opening myself up to the vastness of music.

A few of the aforementioned albums were nominated for stuff in 58th Grammys alongside some other then-new and notable nominees like The Weeknd, Jason Isbell, Chris Stapleton and Alabama Shakes.

However, the pop music world was truly a wreck in 2015. This was the era that gave rise to the white rice and boiled chicken sounds of Ed Sheeran.

Meghan Trainor won Best New Artist at the Grammy’s that year against other raw-celery acts like James Bay, Sam Hunt and Tori Kelly.

If you were curious, I predicted Courtney Barnett would win Best New Artist, not because I actually thought that would happen but because I couldn’t bring myself to predict anyone else.

Fast forward to today, pop music is in a much healthier place, so much so that even the Grammy’s did alright nominating this year. I’m not going to get super deep into the categories, nominees and winners here but I did want to point out one thing:

What Chappel Roan said for her acceptance speech was punk as fuck.

If you missed it, she called out record labels for not providing a living wage and healthcare for all their artists. Referring back to past experiences, she describes feeling dehumanized as a developing artist without those necessities. Chappel has publicly discussed her bipolar II disorder, so I can only imagine the duress she went through years before getting the healthcare she needed.

Some people might scoff at her and say things like, “Well she makes plenty now,” or “She’s just virtue signaling. What good does saying that do?” In reality, Chappel’s the closest thing to an industry outsider any of us could hope to win a major Grammy award and she took the opportunity to advocate for all artists of every level. That’s what a person in her position should do and then some.

Sure there were other cool things said like Doechii’s emotional speech about sobriety and representation in music as well as Lady Gaga’s defense of Trans and Queer folks. But I think what Chappel said helps us bring up issues of universal healthcare and living wages for all again in a new light.

Legitimatized platforms, such as the Grammys, tackling these so-called “radical policies” allow us the opportunity to discuss these things with folks outside of our bubbles. To talk about socialism or communism and why it’s not a dirty word. To talk about the needs of the many over the greed of a few.

So, in the spirit of a bolder and dumber me, I’d like to formally claim that Chappel Roan’s Grammy acceptance speech this year was arguably, the best Grammy award acceptance speech in nearly a decade, at least.

But also, did you catch this clip?

Talking to my parents about it, I’m reminded how dull a topic “snow” can be for people who have lived through blizzards dumping 30 inches in a day but for me it was unreal.

I was born near Denver though I don’t have any memories of the snow like my parents do. My dad says I was born on a snow day and Mom remembers walking me through the snow to go dip in the hot tub the Colorado house had.

We moved to the South for my dad’s work when I was about three years old and stayed there the rest of my life (mostly in Florida). I don’t remember the snow or the hot tub really. I just have stranger fabricated after the fact memories from old photos my parents took.

Last week I spent as much time as I could taking pictures and staying inside editing those photos. But as this corner of the country was freezing over, the discourse surrounding Trump’s first week in office was heating up. It’s inescapable right now.

Although it's a bit too late, I’m glad folks realize that the tech oligarchs and other billionaires are a problem. I’m seeing a lot of “rich vs poor” sentiment going around which I think is good. The more class-conscious the average person is the more likely we are to have some kind of radical change in this country.

I really don’t want to keep writing preachy political-type stuff in these weekly blog posts. Trump’s in office. The news will be like this every week. Fascists will be emboldened and they’ll hopefully be met with leftists doing their part to protect their communities.

I have a life to live and I’m glad I went outside to play in the snow. What else can you do when hell is frozen over?

Here are some of my favorite shots:

Orbiting Punk Picks

Lambrini Girls - Who Let The Dogs Out

This record’s been getting a lot of hype since before its release a couple of weeks ago but after sitting down to listen to the whole thing, I can say it’s lived up to it. A Brighton, UK punk band, Lambrini Girls delivers energetic, melodic punk with head-piercing hooks. Their vocalist Phoebe Lunny commands attention with her raw voice and caustic lyrics using popular modern buzzwords and phrases like “big dick energy,” “cunty” and “nepo-baby.” Self-described as “party music for gay angry sluts” and also labeled as riot grrl (even being interviewed by Bikini Kill and Le Tigre frontwoman Kathleen Hanna), they’re spinning the genre with modern (and very British) sensibilities on the same old problems— gentrification, men in general, capitalism and the rest.

Fat Dog - “Peace Song”

Fun, dumb dance-punk with just the right hint of melancholy. They’re 2024 album, WOOF. didn’t impress me as much but this particular track oozes energy and lust for life. This track had yet to fail at brightening my mood with its innocent lyrics and childlike chorus. Also the music video fucks, like a fever dream fusing Power Rangers and Doctor Who.

Midwife - “Autoluminescent”

A quiet, ethereal track gently submerges with beautifully layered guitar and effects cut by Madeline Johnston’s hush voice. Perfect for a snowstorm.

Meryle Streek- “If This Is Life”

A bratty Irish punk with a simple message, “real life” sucks and things could be so much better than this— like a world where homes are affordable or where making a living and making art aren’t mutually exclusive. I also particularly like the pitched-up looping guitar line.

Doseone - “No Cops”

I enjoyed this feature on Bandcamp Daily and went down a rabbit hole exploring the different chapters of New Mexico rapper Doseone. This track on his new album stood out to me with its looping horror scream and Doseone’s menacing flow. Rich lyrical content, a hallmark of this kind of hip-hop (a la Open Mike Eagle), explores everything from Greek myth to modern-day fascists/cops for a sharp commentary on human suffering.

Subtle - “I Heart LA”

Another Doseone project, “I Heart LA” is a cryptic acoustic ballad that can have a few different interpetations. Is it about drugs consuming your life? Or maybe depression doing that instead? Or maybe it’s about the tantalizing offerings and ultimate trapings of living in a big city? Either way I love the line, “I think what's wrong with the world has to do with those who fell in love with New York or Los Angeles or Paris and Jerusalem and me of course.”

It's been a minute but I’m back. I’d be lying if I said I was working on new Orbiting Punk writing. I’ve mostly been trying to get my life in order these past few weeks because I quit my job to pursue more writing and photography. As of last Friday, I’m basically unemployed (or self-employed if I want to rephrase it a little more positively).

I grew deeply unhappy with my previous full-time position, effectively working at a call center for a medical corporation. But I’m at a point where I’m logistically capable of taking this leap back into my creative work as I did in years past.

Hopefully, I’ll find a part-time gig somewhere to help while I’m starting out, but if you or someone you know in the New Orleans metro area is looking for photos or help with press kit-type stuff, I’m willing to work. I even do weddings!

I shot a show/wedding last week for an artist in a local band Atomic Broad. They just put out a new EP too which has some of their tightest-sounding work yet— heavily inspired by bands like Green Day, Against Me!, Pansy Division and Dog Park Dissidents. But I’ll get more into them in another round of Orbiting Punk Picks.

It’s been a wild few weeks. We’ve had symptoms of the climate crisis in the form of the California wildfires, TikTok was briefly banned, Trump’s inauguration was yesterday (coincidentally on MLK day no less). The best news was probably the Israel-Hamas ceasefire agreement but even still all signs seem to point towards the continuation of cultural and systematic Palestinian genocide despite the pause on overt bloodshed.

Let's see what else…

Oh right! New Orleans has been getting a lot of attention for worst reasons again. We had the New Year's Eve attack on Bourbon Street which revealed the city's priorities remain focused on football and tourists over everything.

Our officials treat New Orleans’ issues like a kid cleaning their room, just stuffing all the problems in the closet or under the bed in hopes that no one will notice the putrid filth hidden away.

Why worry about working infrastructure like barricades when you can just put pretty lights on the bridge or paint the interstate poles pretty colors?

They’re even spending over $16 million to round up unhoused folks and throw them in a Gentilly warehouse till the Super Bowl and Mardi Gras crowds leave. This all echoes what the Jeff Landry administration did for the Taylor Swift concerts last year.

Asshole tourists can’t face the reality that the unhoused exist so we gotta clear ‘em out.

New Orleans has a high population of unhoused people for many reasons but it’s my opinion that unhoused folks come here because we are one of the few places in the region that even remotely tolerates their existence.

From hostile architecture to unlivable cities for those without a car, much of the Gulf Coast is inhospitable to homelessness. Louisiana and cities like Baton Rouge have outright banned panhandling with road signs warning “your generosity” is “fatal.”

I’m ranting a bit but to build this to some kind of point, if you come to New Orleans as a tourist, the bare minimum you can do is be respectful to the locals, especially the houseless because they’re being kicked down the road like a can for you being here.

Shit’s dismal but hey, at least there’s music.

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Orbiting Punk Picks

Zeta - “Was It Medicine To You?”

Venezuelan post-hardcore outfit Zeta has grown sizable following by touring underground scenes around the country for two decades. Based out of Miami, Zeta has consistently recorded music since 2010 evolving with each record.

However, across the releases, they have maintained a few core tenets— big walls of polyrhythm guitar, an expansive percussion section pulling from Latin music tradition and a message of defiant unity.

This is their first album where they almost entirely sung in English and it features Anthony Green of Circa Survive as well as Money Nicca aka Pierce Jordan of Soul Glo.

The record feels like a leftist rallying cry to break down differences and recognize our shared struggles.

Prostitute - “All Hail”

Droning noise rock from Detroit, Prostitute viscerally captures nightmarish realities experienced by many in the Middle East oppressed by Western foreign policy.

Vocalist Moe specifically aims to capture the experiences of his family and friends in Lebanon but the band has done benefit shows for Palestine and Sudan as well.

This track and its music video (which might be the best use of AI I’ve seen yet in a music video) best presents the frenzied duress of both their lyrics and soundscapes. Using a sample from Japanese experimental rock band Ground Zero, crooning horns rise all around like steep canyons before a rockslide of battering percussion and earthen guitar bury everything within the gorge.

Rosemary nods upon the grave - “EP1”

Another record with the vibe of being crushed by debris, this is the first release from a new Savannah, GA post-hardcore band channeling cryptic and nostalgic lyrics into lush, melancholic soundscapes.

Sidenote, the band was in a cute TikTok (hopefully still available) where a wedding photographer warned the band she’d make a lot of noise using a machine to prepare balloons before realizing what kind of band they were (she even documented going to the band’s release show too).

Side-sidenote, the band features Nat Lacuna of Holy Ghost Tabernacle Choir but instead of vocals, he plays bass for Rosemary nods upon the grave.

Atomic Broad - “The Hand Grenade”

The aforementioned Atomic Broad released a three-song EP a week after vocalist Skylar Rose Stravinsky threw a punk show with their partner to get hitched.

My favorite track, “Bite My Tongue” opens up with a marching floor-tom beat similar to Green Day’s “Longview,” as Skylar lays out the story of her younger self aspiring to escape the circumstances that prevent her from coming out completely. It’s a “get-out-of-my-hometown” type track but with an explicitly transgender twist that I think anyone who identifies as queer can find catharsis within.

I’ve had a surprising wave of new subscribers this past month, so I wanted to say thanks for letting me pester your inboxes.

This week I have a collection of songs to check out. However, I did want to mention some plans I had moving forward with this newsletter in 2025 and also address a recent (what I saw as a throwaway) post I had that garnered some more attention than usual.

In that post, I talked about how “punk” often gets thrown around and co-opted by folks that are fundamentally not punk like fascists, big brand companies, right-wing grifters, et cetera. I also make the point that punk is a difficult to define concept and to be skeptical of “arbiters” who try to concretely define nearly 50 years of underground music and subculture.

For some of the new subs (and for myself too), here’s a general summary of my perspective on punk in the form of a crappy metaphor:

We all have a central idea of punk that informs our basic understanding of it. Maybe you think of a band, a scene, a specific sound, a look, an attitude, a set of ideals. Whatever it is, there’s a definable “punk” usually centered around the underground rock music culture of the late ‘70s.

That’s your gravitational mass (planet punk? It’s more of a black hole probably). It holds this whole punk thing together. But if you zoom out a little, you find a thick miasma orbiting this infernal body.

Space junk kept in tow by a central idea of punk. Sometimes things get flung out of orbit, sometimes things get pulled into orbit. But like the rings of Saturn, this debris is as much of a definable characteric as the planet itself.

That’s where I and likely a majority of folks find themselves when they first approach punk. As an outsider excluded from the central mass but nonetheless drawn to it (ideally with a sense of belonging).

Hardcore, Emo, Pop Punk, Folk Punk, D-Beat, Ska, Powerviolence and a litany of post-whatevers and what-have-you-cores that all make up this greater thing— a big ol’ bang of loud shit.

So you might disagree with me about my takes on punk or whatever, but at the end of the day we’re looking at an absolute mess of stuff that no one person can truly claim to completely understand. Punk truly has no borders. It’s taken shape all over the world under all sorts of banners (Nazi punks fuck off).

Fundamentally, I believe punk to represent rebellion, liberty and collective individualism (which sounds kinda oxymoronic but I can’t think of a better phrase to explain my flavor of anarcho-leftist thought). That’s what informs my music tastes and my writing.

So to segue here, my goal in 2025 is to add new essays to my “Who’s Punk” series and likely start a companion series called “What’s The Score?” to criticize and better understand why punk bands like Anti-Flag, Fear, NOFX, The Misfits fall short on punk cred.

Again, this is all from my POV. I’m not judging you for listening to or liking any of those bands. There’s an argument to be made about separating art from the artist— blah, blah blah. We’ve heard it all. I’m just excited to explore writing these, so hope you enjoy reading along.

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Orbiting Punk Picks

VeggieHammerr - “Death by Burrito”

This one grew on me. At first, I was a little put off by some goofy lyrics and ad-libs, wondering to myself whether or not this was another 100 gecs rip-off. But I’d come back for the lo-fi, fuzzy bass, whining synths and the sudden breakdowns which gave me time to acclimate to David Choe’s ad-libs and Lealani vocals.

They partially wrote the track while in an ambulance after a real near-death experience. Lealani had an allergic reaction to a bad burrito. Still, they turned a scary moment into a space of creativity in the most absurd way possible.

Choe is a super rich artist who’s well-known, especially in SoCal but the project still seems relatively underground.

Quick aside about Choe, he’s had a sketchy controversy regarding a fiction podcast episode he apparently was involved in that depicted sexual assault. I’m not sure about the specifics of this one but it seems like a case of “edgy guy makes edgy art and learns why that’s dumb.”

A much cooler fact about the band though is that among their five members, their ages range from young adult to senior citizen. Some people might find it creepy but I think it’s cool to see different generations collaborating to make weird stuff.

In short, synthpunk but with a sillier hyper-pop vibe made with the help of a rich artist who is at least helping other creatives establish a platform.

la lune - “despondent”

Lush shoegaze with heavy guitars and hush vocals capture a crushing feeling. Whether it be fading away in time or waiting for the change you work so hard to achieve, or both.

Bad Nerves - “Antidote”

A classic British punk-inspired track with blazing-fast drums and frenetic guitars obscuring a dark yearning for something or someone to fill the void left by a shallow society.

Sleaford Mods - “Fishcakes”

The most British song on the planet. But seriously, an inspiring yet dismal dance punk ballad about poverty in Britain and finding purpose in the strife. It’s also kind of a Christmas song.

The Murder Capital - “Crying”

Been spending some time with British media a lot this week, watching Dr. Who and listening to stuff like this. I love the psychedelic, pendulum-swinging sound of the opening synths as well as some of the wavey guitar effects throughout. The cryptic lyrics also lend to the impressionistic soundscape. Not a huge fan of the surrealist AI music video but it’s serviceable.

Been Stellar - “Pumpkin”

A blend of shoegaze, grunge and east-coast emo.

Rain on Fridays - “We Are So Alike”

Melodic hardcore underscore a sapphic, desperate and honest screed. The lyrics ping-pong from feeling hopelessly in love to feeling unhealthily attached and dependent. It’s a dance that leaves you wondering how things will end but hopeful things will get better.

Graduate - “Elvis Should Play Ska”

A couple weeks ago, Aaron Carnes came to New Orleans to tour his new edition of In Defense of Ska so I went and bought a copy. I checked out his” book playlist” and discovered this track among others. Notably, this band was Roland Orzabal and Curt Smith’s project before they went on to start Tears for Fears. Recommend both this track and the book.

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Another year, another obligatory post about music I liked from the most recent pocket of time.

In this case 2024, my listening habits saw a weirdly high amount of revisiting old stuff rather than exploring the latest releases. So a bit of a mix of nostalgia listening with curious delving into new-to-me veins.

I did enjoy a few new albums quite a lot so here’s another Best of 2024 list to add to the mountain of emails (bless you and your family for having a Substack).

Mannequin Pussy - I Got Heaven

This album exceeded my expectations for it going in and grew on me more with repeat listens. Mannequin Pussy (MP) originally caught attention due to their unique blend of shoegaze with '90s-inspired alt-rock but they’ve truly outdone themselves.

“Sometimes” was one of my favorite songs this year, full stop, and for it to transition so elegantly into my favorite hardcore track of the year, “Ok? Ok! Ok? Ok!,” put my headphones in a chokehold for months.

MP oozes power and swagger on those tracks but the whole record bursts with emotion ranging from outward rage to introspective contemplations. It’s uncontainable.

They’ve received a lot of hype and attention this year (see Rolling Stone magazine’s story and all the EOY mentions in major music outlets) but it’s been a long time coming. This record deserves it. MP deserves it.

They’ve broken out of the underground somewhat and are starting to bring attention to the genre. I saw them live a few months back and felt overjoyed to see so many young people gravitating towards this band and by extension punk again.

Other standout tracks to mention: “Aching”, “Loud Bark,” and “I Don’t Know You.”

In terms of exposing young folks to punk music, hardcore bands have been doing the most.

Knocked Loose is not my personal favorite but the success of their new LP is undeniable. Kublai Khan TX, Chat Pile, Speed, Jesus Piece and of course the continued success of other bands like Gel, Scowl and Soul Glo seem to suggest an attraction to the vitality of the modern hardcore scene.

Drug Church - PRUDE

I’ll never fully understand why more people aren’t streaming Drug Church the way they are these other hardcore bands, but this is my favorite hardcore release of the year for sure. Maybe it’s because they’re a bit less energetic overall compared to stuff like Knocked Loose.

Patrick Kindlon’s lyricism makes up a bulk of the band's appeal but they know how to write a sick riff like on “Myopic”, “Demolition Man” and “The Bitters.” But many of the standout moments are the lyrical snippets of storytelling like “Mad Care,” “Hey Listen” and “Peer Review.”

On the less serious side, Australian band Amyl and The Sniffers kept punk light-hearted, unpretentious and true to its roots. Their snarky, smart songwriting always makes for a couple of great tracks like “U Should Not Be Doing That”, “Pigs” and “Jerkin’” but they weren’t on constant rotation for me.

In my earbuds, post-hardcore has been where it’s at this year.

Touché Amoré - Spiral In A Straight Line

I can see why folks might see Touché Amoré as a legacy band at this point.

This was their sixth studio album after nearly 15 years of being a band but the record seemed as much as a step forward as a return to center. Jeremy Bolm’s lyricism is tight as ever with clever, poetic lyricism like on “Disasters” and “Force of Habit.”

As I’ve unpacked the album more, I’ve come to love the self-imposed tragedy documented on “This Routine” and “Finalist”. It’s the journal-like confessions from this brand of emo that always gets me. It inspires me to self-examine and create while providing an example of what good journaling does for someone.

One particular track that inspires is “Subversion” where Bolm captures a moment of self-reflection through a scene of him listening to the song “Brand New Love" by Sebadoh as he’s on a landing plane. It’s like holding a mirror to a mirror. Art begets art.

New York band Show Me The Body is more traditionally thought of as hardcore but in comparison to some of the aforementioned bands, I feel they fall more into the post-hardcore category, especially with their anthological compilation EPs they released this year. CORPUS II had some of the weirdest punk tracks of the year.

On the other side of the pond, High Vis (who was also featured on Show Me The Body’s CORPUS II) also released an interesting take on post-hardcore with their LP Guided Tour exploring Britpop and EDM sensibilities as a means to interpolate parts of their working-class experience into their preferred style (hardcore).

Fontaines D.C. - Romance

Pry the biggest post-punk success story this year (continuing a recent annual trend of continuously great UK and Irish post-punk), Fontaines D.C. has fully delved into alt-rock pulling influence from Arctic Monkeys, Gorillaz, and Depeche Mode to write Romance.

I wasn’t a huge fan of their breakout LP, Skinty Fia but loved their 2019 (Dogrel) and 2020 (A Hero’s Death) albums, so I didn’t expect much from Romance but was pleasantly surprised by the risks and diversity of sounds they took with the record.

They experiment with haunting, almost orchestral strings all over the record and even flirt with rap flow on their single “Starburster.” My favorites though are “Here’s The Thing,” “In The Modern World,” and “Sundowner.”

What’s punk?

A question as old as punk itself. Apophasis in nature, it's hard to define by what it is but rather requires a more negative explanation.

Punk is what it isn’t.

Everyone has their interpretations. I tried to get mine down in writing years ago in a long and ultimately inconclusive way.

That’s what I love about punk as a concept. It’s amorphism. It’s spirit. You can feel it in your nerve endings. But anyone with anxiety knows the nervous system lies.

Shockingly, just because your gut says, “This shit is punk as fuck” does not in fact mean this shit is punk, fuck or not. 

One of my favorite things I’ve done with this newsletter is my “Who’s Punk?” series for this reason. People love talking about it. Everyone wants to be an arbiter of punk.

Every couple of mercury retrogrades, clown-shoes start posting on the internet about conservatives being punk. Trump is punk. The Amazon TV Show The Boys is punk (it is a pretty good show doh). I don’t really need to explain why these claims are false because plenty of folks have already explained why but it’s funny to see how wildly widespread this desire to be punk is. 

It’s a cliche how often this rhetorical device gets used.

That’s why I like the term, “Orbiting Punk.” I don't claim to be another arbiter of punk music or subculture. I like it. I like to be around it. I know a thing or two about it too. But I think it’s healthy to keep a distance from it as a label. When artists become so concretely labeled as just “punk” in the modern day, they lose some of the spirit that made punk so desirable in the first place.

If we start to pat ourselves on the back and say to ourselves, “We’re so punk” or “We’re so rock & roll,” we become a costume. We lose the human element that makes punk rebellion so universally attractive and cathartic. 

That’s how you get dweebs claiming conservatives are punk. People love feeling like they're the victim. The underdog. A part of the resistance. So they don the persona “punk” to trap young folks into believing they’re a part of something new and revolutionary.

Don’t get it twisted. Punk is built on the ideals of the Left and from the voices of the marginalized.

Go listen to Bad Brains, Dead Kennedys or The Clash. If you want something new, go listen to Dead Pioneers, Soul Glo or The Holy Ghost Tabernacle Choir.

That’s punk.

A quick aside:

The music I select each week for the blog is simply the music I’ve been exploring recently. My tastes do naturally lean towards the larger sphere of alternative, guitar music but not everything I share is technically punk. It’s just music I thought someone who likes punk might like as well. And if you can sound punk and not be loud or fast or aggressive or whatever other convention of punk music, you might just be a little more punk than your staple “Sex Pistols” or “NOFX” or whatever other overrated punk band imaginable.

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Orbiting Punk Picks

ratbag - “pinky girl” / “pinky boy”

A New Zealand artist who has gained traction on TikTok released two singles as a couple, telling the story of an unappreciative boyfriend and his exceptional girlfriend. It is told from both perspectives as well as by a presumed third party desperately wanting better for her.

“pinky girl” introduces the idea with a dream pop ballad where ratbag sounds almost like Kate Bush especially when she reaches for higher notes—followed by the raucous “pinky boy,” which blasts in with a wall of sound over a dance beat and a pop-punk guitar ladened chorus.

She marries the two tracks with shared lyrics like “you're killing my cat,” and shared samples hinting across both. It’s a neatly packaged vignette that makes me curious how her first full-length album will come together. 

The Heartthrobs - “I’m Her” 

Toledo, Ohio band self-described as “femo,” this track is another shoegazey grunge single with larger-than-life riffs and a vocalist who can belt creating a hazy and lush soundscape. Reminds me of Momma but with a bit more Superheaven in the mix.

runningwithscissors - “openyoureyes”

Glitchy metal-core from Minnesota that chaotically explores cyberspace. It’s like being caught in a mosh pit stuck between dial-up internet and the physical embodiment of a firewall. For fans of SeeYouSpaceCowboy and Machine Girl.

DED_DEBBIE - “untitled”

This band has been kicking around in the New Orleans underground for years now but they just released a full-length debut last week. I’ve always been a big fan of their track “Mom Kill Dad” for its tortured but admittedly kinda funny refrain, “Mom killed dad in 2006,” which is basically the whole song with a few sick breakdowns thrown in there.

Their vocalist does an amazing job of capturing both a gut-wrenching sincerity and a snotty sardonicism in his voice and lyrics. 

“Untitled” opens up with a haunting guitar line before being met by a comedic pronunciation of “fascist,” “Hitler” and “Mussolini” in an almost valley girl tone. But it’s delivered with a cold and direct seriousness that makes the whole track, about the trappings of fascism and how it attracts young men, feel almost like a slower Dead Kennedys song with grindcore sensibilities.

It’s weird, it’s heavy and it’s definitely my thing.

Funeral Diner - “Two Houses” 

I love a random emo throwback and this particular track caught my ear for its incredibly varied drums and poetic lyricism about the dehumanization violence inflicts upon people.

Funeral Diner are a legendary first-wave emo band from the Bay Area that I recommend for anyone into bands like City of Caterpillar or Jeromes Dream.

Brutus - “Paradise”

If you met the new Linkin Park with mixed feelings, I’d recommend checking out Brutus. They scratch the itch for grand, emotional nu-metal that sounds built for arenas rather than dive bars.

This kind of metal isn’t usually my thing but this track’s towering guitars imbued with drummer-vocalist Stefanie Mannaerts voice provoked me to listen further. What I found was a story about the constant struggle to find one's happiness.

Walter the Producer - “Little Lies”

A goofy indie pop track with a little bit of country twang and a whole lot of bitterness juxtaposed against the cheerful melody. Reminds me of a glitzier version of MJ Lenderman or Geese.

Twice I’ve sat down to write a new post this week and both times I’ve felt like I don’t have much to add.

There’s some new music I’ve been listening to and exploring—mostly the new Mount Eerie record. I love artists who inspire me to journal and create. Touché Amoré has done that in the past. Modest Mouse. AJJ. Phil Elverum too.

But other than that, I haven’t listened to much music this week.

I think there’s real value in knowing when to “STFU” sometimes. So this week, I’ve been focusing on resetting my routines and finding a creative-work balance in my life. I did have a couple of snippets to share though.

Some friends invited me to smash cheap computers they found outside an office building. I view myself as a pretty peaceful person at heart. Not like a monk or something but just that I’m not the kind of person who benefits from rage room smashing. I don’t carry things like that, maybe?

They asked me to soundtrack it. I just turned on some generic D-beat.

We beat the towers with a baseball bat. The reverberations of the wood striking metal striking asphalt lingered in my bones. Thought I did more damage to myself than the computer tower.

It gets dark so early now. We were able to use the vacant lot on top of a parking garage for our nonsense, the moon hanging above us. It felt kind of romantic.

When we were done we dropped the computers off the edge of the building into an alleyway. We made sure that there would be no one near the “drop zone.” The last thing I’d want is to hurt someone with my idiocacy. The dark cases crashing from the top floor weren’t as climatic as I hoped but it felt nice to have done something outside the usual.

I didn’t feel a sense of relief or fulfillment. If anything I felt like a dumb, anxious adult reprising some lost teenage years or something. The only thing I felt like I gleaned from the experience, beyond the simple entertainment of it, was that smashing stuff for the hell of it isn’t a cheaper-than-therapy fix for me.

When I was actually a teenager, I lived as an only child surrounded by acres of cow fields in central Florida.

When I needed to destress or get out, I’d walk into those 500-some acres and find a place to just sit. Usually, I’d sit on a fallen tree or some sandstone cliff at the edge of a ditch.

Life’s messy and the stories we tell ourselves don’t always make much sense. However, I think those “hike and sit” walks did contribute to an innate peace I carry. I feel lucky to have had that nature. I’m kind of glad smashing shit isn’t a great treatment for me.

It’s a lot harder on the wrists.

I feel privileged that anyone would allow me into their inboxes at all so thank you for that if you are currently subscribed. Here’s a playlist of some old and new stuff I love.

I’m tired. You’re tired. We’re all tired. So I’ll keep it brief regarding the election and the state of the world. 

Firstly, you have every right to exist. The world is better with you in it. 

Just as you are now, you will be tomorrow. It will get better.

Secondly, I hope I’ve made my positions clear with my newsletter already but if your takeaway from this election is that the US is full of idiots, bigots and/or complacent assholes you’d only be half right. The Democrats are squarely to blame.

The Left will not organize on its own and just being the “better than Trump” party isn’t enough. If we continue to live in this political system, we need a party that upholds the policies we want. Liberalism fails to meaningfully counter fascism again and again. We need socialism. 

But as far as “the now” and what we can do to survive, it’s time to put yourself out there. Make friends. Find cool people in your communities. Learn your neighbor's names. Help each other. Establish or join in mutual aid.

I don’t judge anyone for wanting to flee their circumstances for a better, safer life but I firmly believe in staying in my little fucked corner of the world.

It’s like that AJJ song says in a less-than-elegant way:

When our government acts like this

I don't wanna live here anymore

Sure, I could be a pussy and move to Portland or New York

Or I could stay and change the place where I was born

It seems like the least people like Sean Bonnette or I can do for the folks and land we originated. 

Orbiting Punk Picks

Jeff Rosenstock - “USA” 

The first song I thought of when trying to unwind Tuesday. Originally written to capture the feeling of the post-2016 election results, its relevance is even more unfortunate and poignant today. It so accurately describes the anxieties and static that poisons every interaction post-election. The mundanity of it all. And finally, the epic bridge at the end repeating, “And now we’re tired and bored,” helps me escape into the comfort of my headphones.

Nihilist Cheerleader - “& She Take It”

A song about “taking.” Taking breaks. Taking a stand. Taking back the words “take it” from an overly sexualized world. A triumphant track from start to finish from a dance-punk band in Athens, GA.

Palomino Blond - “Machine”

I’ve been following this Florida band since their demo in 2018 (check out their track “Supergalore”) and they’ve always flirted with grunge but they seem to have fully connected with style on their latest album, You Feel It Too. “Machine” sounds like it could’ve been written by Nirvana. The graphic lyrics, the dramatic swings in the song structure and the simple but powerful guitar work, all screams ‘90s but from a fresh perspective. Palomino Blond has really reached their peak (so far) with this track.

Babe Haven - “Gas Pedal”

Following in the footsteps of modern acts like Mannequin Pussy and classic riot grrrl bands, Babe Haven writes aggressive, unforgiving punk for femmes. It’s a simple “go fuck yourself” directed at pushy, creepy men with all gas, no brakes hardcore and nu-metal. 

Cursive - “Up and Away” 

This one’s about watching your dreams die. We can all relate to that, especially this week. I’m really liking this new Cursive album. It reminds me of their best work from the early ‘00s with all its vibrant instrumentation and self-lamenting lyrics. “Up and Away” has been stuck in my head, particularly for its earworm chorus and pictorial verses. 

I’ve been reading a book called The Poetry Home Repair Manual by Ted Kooser and he talks about how a good poem adds depth of meaning to the world around you. He uses a poem called Artichoke by Joseph Hutchison as an example, explaining that this tiny poem has forever altered his vision of the veggie.

“O heart weighed down by so many wings” 

- Artichoke by Joseph Hutchison

Cursive altered my view of red balloons in the same way. So that’s something. 

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Sweet Tooth - “Turning Green” 

Carrying on the theme of modern grunge redux/worship.

Armlock - “Guardian” 

An emo track about guardian angels and sinking into the present to find a belief in the promise of the future. I’m not the superstitious type but it’s hard not to feel at peace listening to this guy warble about angel numbers. 

Lazarus Plot - “Ending Time”

A spoken-word emo track from a lesser-known Illinois post-hardcore band. Originally released in 1999, a polished version was uploaded to Spotify recently, however lacking a lot of the lo-fi fuzz and pops that made the original recording so warm and inviting. Despite the loss-in-translation, the core songwriting of the track is still excellent, oozing with yearning and the English-student ostentatiousness of classic emo records

Moto Bandit - “Daylight Doom”

The Bee Gees with a modern indie rock filter. A fun, kinda funky track with airy, ambient synths following a jangly guitar and danceable rhythm to the end of all daylight. 

I’m feeling exhausted this weekend after a long and weird week so I wanted to keep it light this week by just sharing these photos I shot. I’ll plug a playlist of songs to check out by the artists mentioned if you want to check them out (with a couple of other tracks I’ve been spinning lately).

I also mentioned Anita Velveeta last week but seeing her live gave me an appreciation for her as a DIY artist making touring work by being a one-person show. She’s got a commanding stage presence and knows how to engage a crowd. Despite an overall small turnout, she still riled up and worked the crowd into some pretty memorable moments. Like at the end of the set, when she set up a few folks from the crowd to fight over her mic while screaming into it.

Her discography is pretty varied with all sorts of genres like nightcore, mathy emo and folk but her most recent LP, i saw the devil in portland oregon has a mix of all her styles.

I highly recommend Dremm’s Bandcamp for their most recent album as they sound best there. A lo-fi sludge two-piece, Dremm occasionally flirts with dreamy shoegaze (hence the name maybe?) but mostly writes concise driven punk with explosive guitars and visceral drums.

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Quick photography aside: Turn up brightness on your device for best results!

Anita Velveeta

Caption: Anita Velveeta and crowd members at Siberia on October 30, 2024.

Dremm

Caption: Dremm, a sludge two-piece from New Orleans comprised of Evan Baham (drums, vocals) and Ethan Pye (guitar, vocals) perform at Siberia on October 30, 2024.

This weekend, I’ve been living vicariously through the social feeds of friends at FEST 22. As I write this, the final day is just starting. I’m sure there will be more experiences to share later, but even so, there are plenty of budding bands playing this weekend worth mentioning today before it’s all over. Hope you discover something ya like! 

Combat - “Stay Golden” 

This song has all the elements of a good Jeff Rosenstock song. Catchy lyrics you want to sing along to about some sad shit juxtaposed to fast, fun guitars and of course, twinkling bits of xylophone. “Stay Golden” has all that and then some with modern emo sensibilities a la Origami Angel and a vocalist who sounds like Gerard Way. 

Flagman - “Hot Off The Log”

Like if Primus was a little more post-hardcore and a lot less psychedelic. Absolutely insane bass and heavy metal screaming adding up to a goofy but compelling mix of styles. 

MUGGER - “Find Out”

My pick for the next hardcore breakout following the footsteps of Scowl, GEL and Speed. For the last two years, MUGGER has been hustling on tour with some of the aforementioned bands (and many others). This track features John Brannon of Negative Approach giving them that legacy punk cred but the music actually holds up. Fast, powerful no-nonsense HC with grueling guitars and callous vocals.

lowheaven - “cancer sleep”

Spacious, doomy screamo from Toronto, lowheaven’s haunting guitars put a sound to strife. The lyrics remind me of the crushing weight of complacency. Sometimes to save oneself, we must try something, anything to change our circumstances. Or else “resign to everlasting rot.”

PG14 - “BORN FREE BUT GETTIN’ PRICEY”

Catchy indie rock with some cutesy and clever lyrics. Having fun with nihilism. 

Dosser - “Learned To Breathe” 

Grungy, ‘90s guitar worship like listening to Foo Fighters without all the baggage. Between this band and Combat, Baltimore is cranking out some real DIY bangers. 

Circuit Circuit - “Deleted Skin” 

Glitchy sass-core diving into the Black Mirror-esque espionage happening on our devices every day. Like if MSPAINT broke bad and became a skramz band. 

NAW - “You're a Coward and This World Will Remain Unchanged Without You”

I think the title kind of says it all. A “fuck you” to complacency from another killer Atlanta post-hardcore band. 

Anita Velveeta - “TERFS WILL NOT GET INTO HEAVEN”

If you haven’t guessed it yet, the common theme today is “fuck you to complacency,” so sorry if I’m overusing the word at this point but maybe it says something when all the young bands have the same complaints. This time it’s decrying TERFs as just as bad as Nazis while calling out cis folks for not taking a stand. Anita’s proving she can pull off almost any style from hardcore to indie pop to nightcore. 

Sidenote, I first discovered Anita Velveeta through her song, “disassociating in the back room of a starbucks,” while listening to my Spotify discover weekly playlist which was ironically paid for by Starbucks because I was working there at the time. There have been many times in my life where I have thought, “We really have no original experiences, huh?” and this was definitely one of them.

winded - “Black Coffee”

A gentle track beautifully recounting ordinary scenes while awash in fuzzy guitar. A certifiable Community Records classic.

Chastity - “Nightmare” 

A nostalgic emo ballad with towering guitars and a marching drumline.

Hope you like some of these picks. Every year, there’s always a bunch of stories that come out like a secret parking lot set or two (this year it Soul Glo, Portrayal of Guilt and pageninteynine played one).  I’m not feeling the most verbose today but I did want to add a couple of notable events from FEST 22.

South Georgia metal-core band Machinist! played their final show ever this weekend. They weren’t the most popular band by any stretch but they created a little DIY scene for themselves befriending many over the years. They became mainstays at Fest and for me, an anchor I could always count on being there. Sad to see them put a lid on it but happy to see them go out loud. 

Some “Orbiting Punk alumni” played this weekend: 

Zeta was on the big stage again this year and brought up the folks from the Holy Ghost Tabernacle Choir to perform with them. 

Teenage Halloween did a cover set of Black Sabbath.

Ceschi has been killing it with his new band Codefendents which he started with NOFX’s Fat Mike (which is probably the coolest and most respectable thing Fat Mike has ever done). He performed with members of Zeta for that project and also did a solo set.

Queer the Fest has been a mainstay event as a cheaper alternative to FEST for over ten years. Always worth mentioning those who organize to the benefit of others. All their proceeds went to Books to Prisoners as well as Gazan mutual aid and abortion travel funds. 

Who would’ve guessed punks love to release albums in October? 

This time of year always has a ton of new great music, especially for punk. We’ve got a new Drug Church, new Touché Amoré, new Show Me The Body, new Chat Pile, new Balance and Composure, and a new Japandroids (if you like that sort of thing). Hell, even Cloud Nothings released an anniversary version of Here and Nowhere Else. 

I could take a few stabs at why October’s a favorite month among punks. 

Maybe it’s the fact that the obligatory “punk uniform” of all-black becomes a bit more comfortable when the temperature drops. 

Maybe it’s Halloween and we’re all death-obsessed pagans.

Maybe it’s the Misfits. 

Maybe it’s Fest.

I’m so sad I’m missing Fest this year.  Every year I don’t go sucks a little but this year feels a little worse mostly because two bands I’m hopelessly obsessed with, the aforementioned Touché Amoré and Cloud Nothings, are playing. 

This seems like a particularly big deal for Touché Amoré because they haven’t played Fest in 10 years. In interviews, Jeremy Bolm has said that they haven't returned in part due to the traumatic incident of learning his mother had died of cancer while he was there performing, which has forever been memorialized in the song, “Eight Seconds.”

Not sure if that’s a bit morbid to say but to see someone who inspires you overcome grief just by purely being in a place sounds like more than just a good pull-quote.

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I may have more to write about Fest next week as I dredge the recesses of the massive line-up but for now here’s another Orbiting Punk Picks list for the week:

Orbiting Punk Picks

Death Goals - “Music For Cryptids”

A simple one that reminds me of classic sass-core. Death Goals (London, UK) bring a danceable rhythm with a chantable screed against violence on “fems, thems, and all those in between.”

It’s the second track off a split EP with another screamo band Dreamwell (Rhode Island, US), whose half is worth checking out too as they bring a bit more theatrical, metalcore flare to the style.

In all, the split relays across the Atlantic a call for retributive justice; an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.

Human Impact - “Collapse”

Brought to you by the noise rock folks at Swan, Daughters, Unsane and Cop Shoot Cop, Human Impact as a project imagines a near-future dystopia where society has fully collapsed.

From its haunting keys to Chris Spencer’s doomsayer-esque vocals, the whole track feels epic in scale as an awe-inspiring demise warning against apathy and systems of convenience.

Whether it be ecological or political, the end will come and a new world will rise. What that world will look like depends on the actions, or inactions, we take. 

Balance and Composure - “Ain’t It Sweet”

After eight years since their last full-length, Balance and Composure suddenly returned with a new album, “with you in spirit.”

This track hooked me with its subdued synth loop. Building around it like a sonic pulse, the listener winds through walls of guitars as phantasmagorical vocals pan from one ear to the other. Utterly consuming. 

Mud Whale - “Sacrifice”

Much like Balance and Composure, Mud Whale sounds like the best of 2010s emo with its mathy guitar and confessional vocals. However, explosive turns and catchy, albeit cryptic lyrics set this band apart.

This is just one of three teasers to their upcoming full-length Humans Pretending to be Human and all of them are worth your time. Also, they seem to love frogs and nature in their cover art. What’s not to like?

Show Me The Body featuring Alli Logout - “Peace Corps” 

Show Me The Body has been releasing this weird new EP series under “Corpus II”  featuring different underground artists worldwide. It’s a unique way to package and release new music in this collaborative and community-oriented form.

They recently dropped a sequel EP that featured this track with Alli Logout of the New Orleans band Special Interest (which I still have yet to see live because they never seem to play here).

“Peace Corps” possesses the best parts of Special Interest with Show Me The Body’s composed rhythms despondently exploring suffering and the body without losing its danceability.

Snowmen - “You Can’t Relate” 

A groovy dance-punk track illustrating the life of a corporate billionaire and just how far removed they are from you and me.

Dazy, MSPAINT - “It’s Only A Secret”

New single that oozes ‘90s with influences from Beastie Boys, Beck and Blur.

Anxious - “Counting Sheep”

Embodying the relief and anxiety of sleeping away your problems. One of the best emo bands doing it right now. Insane riffs and a catchy chorus. If you’re looking for a revitalized, modern version of bands like Jimmy Eat World or Third Eye Blind look no further.

Maruja - “Break The Tension”

These guys were on my EOY list last year for their EP purely because I think they have cornered a style and sound that no other post-punk bands have right now.

Using crooning horns and erratic beats, the band creates a haunting “tension” that seems to only hone their style further. I am curious how this band will evolve and expand this style.

Touché Amoré - “Disasters” and “Force of Habit”

I tried to narrow down the songs I liked off the new album but it became a toss-up between these two. “Disasters” is the most fun I’ve had on the LP with its throttling energy and clever natural disaster imagery.

“Force of Habit” seems the most meaningful with its reflective, stripped-down instrumentation ramping up like a snowball on a gentle decline. Really emulates the feeling of breaking bad habits or building new, better ones. 

Cloud Nothings - “I’m Not Part of Me (10th Anniversary)” 

This song is 10 years old and one of the band’s most popular but it only recently became a favorite of mine this past year (I like it so much this is my second time mentioning it in one of these lists and I swear that it was an accident).

The chorus is just so unbelievably catchy but also it regularly inspires me to stop and recount. To stop moving. To stop being productive. To stop overwhelming myself with self-imposed pressure to be enough.

I think we all need a song that does that every once in a while.

I took a week off because I married the love of my life last week. My partner McKenzie and I have been together for five years and we decided to elope after a year of calling each other fiance.

She’s often the uncredited editor for this newsletter and a constant source of encouragement for me. She deserves all the appreciation I can give.

I know this may all be a bit cliche, so I’ll leave this note with a little story about how she and I started dating five years ago:

We drove up together to see The Sonder Bombs play with Just Friends, Pool Kids and Save Face at The Masquerade in Atlanta. 

They must have attracted a certain demographic because during Just Friends’ set, they asked the crowd to split the room, wall-of-death style with singles on one side and couples on the other. 

In the center of the room, I turned to McKenzie and asked, “Which are we?” 

And there you have it, the corny, rom-com origins of She and I.