My favorite LPs- part uno!

 So I looked through my vinyl, trying to find my favorites. As it turned out, I have a lot more favorites than I thought. Some because they're just downright amazing albums, some because they're fun to have around, and here are a few - randomly ordered:

This album is actually considered punk rock by some people.. Weird! This is maybe the best power pop album ever. Dance-able songs all the way through, cute love songs and awesome suits. Best way to start a day, especially if you're a bit grumpy. 

Nope, this isn't a Cockney Rejects compilation. It's actually their second album. Best english street punk band ever. I really don't care about football, but even though these lyrics doesn't speak to me, I always find my self singing along all loud and angry, whenever someone pops this album on. The first song on side 1, War On The Terraces, is probably my favorite Cockney Rejects song... Even though it's a football song.This was actually the first LP I ever bought.

So Justin put out a new album, and I think it's the best to date. Title song Nothing's Gonna Change The Way you Feel About Me Now, already made me cry several times. This album is recorded "live" meaning all the musicians recorded in the same studio at the same time. It seems more quiet and maybe a bit more grown-up than his previous albums. SO good.

I never really could decide whether this, or their first album is my favorite Clash album. I picked this because of Stay Free. I love the bass lines and vocal of that song, even though it's a Mick song. A really underestimated song on this album is All The Young Punks.

Hoarse vocals, catchy harmonies and almost depressing lyrics. That's all I've got to say.

Dillinger Four might be the only Mid-West band I really really like. This is one of those albums that does really well with a sunset and a six pack. Civil War is in my opinion the best D4 album by far. If you don't know this album check out the song Gainesville.

Marked Men is a kind of punk/garage band. Super melodic, but in a super edgy way. Most people think their 3rd album, Fix My Brain, is their best album, but to me Ghost has stronger melodies. It probably doesn't have as much hit potential as Fix My Brain though.

Tune-wise this isn't my favorite Swingin' Utters album, but it is a really good album. This LP made my list for other -  obvious - reasons. Did you know they're putting out an  album later this year + doing a Europe tour as well?!

Picking the best Teenage Bottlerocket album was pretty tough, but I picked Warning Device over Total because of the songs Pacemaker and On My Own - so catchy it almost hurts. They're also doing a new album, which is due out later this year.

Even though you sound like an angry old man, and the musics kinda messy, you can still do really cute punk songs. Here's the perfect example. A classic punk-album.

Damn the Torpedoes is such a classic rock album. It's actually so classic that Rolling Stone Mag ranked it #313 on their "500 best albums of all time" list. If you wanna get started with Tom P this is probably the album you should check out. And if you're a fan, watch the Rock-Doc Runnin' Down A Dream. It's like 4 hours long, but it's super informative.

Okay, so I couldn't just pick one One Man Army album. They're all amazing. This is the perfect mix between old school street punk and catchy punk rock. I'm pretty proud to have these albums in the household, since they're pretty hard to find/expensive these days (especially Last Word Spoken - which probably is the best one.. If I HAVE to pick). They're all being reissued later this year though - keep your eyes open.

So if you wanna unite punks, skins, 'billies, dads and so on, the first Undertones album is the way to go. Even though it's way cute and catchy, it seems like even the toughest of the toughest has a soft spot for this particular album. Unfortunately this is the only really really good Undertones album. Their second one Hypnotised is alright though.

Cuban Ballerina by Dead to Me... I mean it had to be there. This is the Dead To Me debut album (almost original line-up), and it's just one of the most melodic and energetic punk rock albums out there. My favorite song of this album is Special Professional - which has a really cool video as well.

Of all the 50's Rock 'n' Roll compilations ever made, this is the only one you need! 41 of the best 1950's hit songs. This is the soundtrack of the movie American Graffiti - a pretty cute movie as well.

I think Nimrod is my favorite Green Day Album. This album contains the all time emotional classic Good Riddance, but still has a ton of catchy and young pop-punk songs - such as The Grouch. That song makes me want to be a teenage boy so bad!

This is the first full length album by the Swingin' Utters (yes, back then they were called Johhny Peebucks and the Swingin' Utters). This 10" is not the best Utters album, but I mean... It's the first Swingin' Utters album!! It's legendary!

Here's another Swingin' Utters related 10". Re-volts is a side-project band, featuring Spike from Gimmies, Jack from One Man Army, Darius from Utters and Paul from American Heartbreak. The song Kick It Over is just one of my favorite songs ever.

It's My Club And I'll Play What I Want To

So back in 2001 a friend of mine started a club in Copenhagen, called Punk-And-Billy Bash.
This turned out to be the best punk-rock/'billy club ever, with a history counting more than 100 different live acts, including bigger bands such as Volbeat, Godless Wicked Creeps, The Meteors, The Hunns and some of my personal favorites Groovie Ghoulies, Supersuckers, Cock Sparrer, Dead To Me, Perkele, Peawees and Peacocks. Check out the entire Billy Bash history right here

So in 2010 I was asked to join the Billy Bash crew - an invitation I very happily accepted.  For some reason, the club was hit by a very serious case of bad luck, the minute I joined. The first event I really helped putting together was actually canceled, even though we did everything in our hands to save the show (thanks a ton Nashville Pussies). So after a storm of cancellations we decided to put an indefinite end to the club, through a public statement

Meanwhile, we were contacted by a Copenhagen venue, called The Rock.They wanted us to start a new club, similar to Punk-And-Billy Bash.
So in April last year, club Born Bad was...well born, with Mad Sin headlining the bill.
In November, the Rock declared bankruptcy, which obviously caused a lot of chaos. Long story short, we decided to kick it nomad style, moving from venue to venue. This gives us the  opportunity to do smaller as well as bigger shows.

Born Bad DJ's - Copenhagen Snuff setting up

So far we've done 8 shows (should've been 10, but i've learned to live the fact that some people are just really unprofessional.. God I'm bitter), and I'd say we managed to get some pretty neat, mainly themed, line-ups through time.
#12: THE OLD FIRM CASUSALS (US)
#11: THE SLACKERS (US) + BY THE RIVERS (UK)
#10: FRANTIC FLINTSTONES (UK)
#9: ARGY BARGY (UK) + THE HITCHCOCKS (DK) + DEAD TO ME (US)
#8: DEMENTED ARE GO (US) + THE DEFECTORS (DK) + THEE GRAVEMEN (SE)
#7: PERKELE (SE) + ON THE JOB (S)+ OLD FASHIONED IDEAS (S) Canceled!!
#6: THE TURBO A.C.s (US) + THE PEAWEES (I) + 69-HARD (S)
#5: BOB WAYNE (US) + HANK ROBOT (DK) + J. TEX & THE VOLUNTEERS (DK)
#4: THE QUEERS (US) + ACCELERATORS (US) + THE 20BELOWS (DK) Canceled!!
 #3: REZUREX (US) + LAST SEEN LAUGHING (DK)
#2: STREET DOGS (US) + THE MAHONES (US) + ROVERS AHEAD (DK)
#1: MAD SIN (D) + JOHNNY NIGHTMARE (DK) + RACING DECAYS (DK)
My personal favorite being the February Street-punk special: Argy Bargy (uk), Hitchcocks (final show in cph.) (dk), Dead To Me (us).

Dead To Me @ Pumpehuset

On that note, obviously a line-up that different, draws a pretty mixed audience. Naive me, thinking people might discover a band or maybe an entire subgenre they don't know too much about, got a pretty bad scare, seeing some old skinheads making fun of Dead To Me during their show. I'm not saying you have to love every band you see live. But if you think a band is silly, at least keep it to yourself, or maybe your friends. No need to be that obvious about it. Especially not when the band performs so damn great. But I guess some people are afraid of catchy "pop"-punk bands, like some men are afraid of gays. Silly! Anyway, if I ever hear one of those idiots saying "punks and skins united", I'll kick their ignorant asses. Phew, sorry 'bout that.


Well, it's great fun getting to create line-ups, and supporting the scene, and I hope I get to do this for a long time.
Check us out on facebook http://www.facebook.com/BORNBADCPH

Stop by for my next post, where I'll show you some of my favorite albums, and music documentaries. Oh I have to tell you about the TwoPointEight show I went to, and the Heat Tape shows I saw. We'll get to that too.

The Queers!!

So I guess if the band won't  come to you, you gotta come to the band.

I've always been a huge fan of traveling to see bands, mainly because I'm from Denmark, a tiny country, with a pretty small scene. Going to Berlin, Holland and London for shows is something I do from time to time, to see bands i like. But some bands never cross the pond though.


One of my favorite bands is the adorable pop-punk band, The Queers, from New Hampshire. I suppose most of you know 'em, but for those who don't I would say they're a mix between Ramones, Beach Boys and Black Flag or something, and they write cute songs about girls, drinking beer and  being sick of everything/everyone.

For some reason, this band canceled a numerous amount of Euro-tours, over the last couple of years, which means I never got to see the band live. So when I found out, they were playing (with Far From Finished and Ataris) during my short stay in America, I was so stoked.

Now, I've heard a lot of people complaining about this band over stuff like "they're old and grumpy", "they never play any of their hit songs" and so on, so I was kinda worried about getting my hopes too high (but then again... Which band isn't old and grumpy these days?).
But they went on stage and NAILED it. This has got to be one of the best shows I've seen in a long time. A set containing pure classics, loads of energy, great crowd control and like 7 encores.
I got to exchange a few words with lead singer Joe Queer, who's supposed to be the most grumpy man in pop-punk history, after the show and it obviously turned out he was quite nice.
If you get a chance, go see 'em live. Right now they're doing an America/Canada tour, and they've scheduled a Europe tour (warning! They might cancel). I'll post the dates underneath.
 Oh! Wait! I forgot to mention that Far From Finished did great (this is another one of those bands that I've always wanted to see) and Ataris was such a waste of time.

On a different note

I saw Houseboat during my stay, and they did pretty good, but what's up with these bands just interacting with their friends from stage? I mean, what do I care who you used to date or whatever?

Stop by for my next blog post, where I tell you about this club I'm doing, called Born Bad.


 

                                                    The Queers

                                                                          Houseboat


 Queers Tour Dates

Feb 21st- Wilkes-Barre, PA @ Redwood Art Space (AA)
Feb 22nd- Morgantown, WV @ 123 Pleasant St. (AA)
Feb 23rd- Athens, OH @ The Union (AA)
Feb 24th- Lansing, MI @ Mac's Bar (AA)
Feb 25th- Chicago, IL @ Reggie's Rock Club (AA)
Feb 26th- Indianapolis, IN @ The Melody Inn (21+)

AA = All Ages
*Feb 8th-26th w/ The Ataris and Far From Finished*

------------------Europe 2012----------------------

2 March - Roma - Init
3 March - Napoli - Sudterranea
4 March - Taranto - Gabba Gabba
5 March - Bari - Socrate Occupato
6 March - Latina - Rockin
7 March - Savignano Su Rubicone (FC) - Sidro
8 March - Firenze - Ex Fila
9 March - Montecchio Maggiore (VI) - E20 Underground
10 March - La Spezia - Skaletta Rock Club
11 March - Torino - United Club
12 March - Villadossola (VB) - Titty Twister
13 March - Fidenza (PR) - Arci Taun
14 March - Trezzo sull'Adda (MI) - Amigdala Theatre
15 March - Oslo - John Dee
16 March - Fredrikstadt - Helheim
17 March - Lillehammer - Felix
18 March - Moss - House of Rock

--------------------UK- March 2012-------------------

21st March- Prince Albert, Brighton
22nd March- Boston Music Room, London
23rd March- Old Bell, Derby
24th March- Star & Garter, Manchester
25th March- Captains Rest, Glasgow
26th March- The Well, Leeds
29th March- Waterfront, Norwich
30th March- Soundhouse, Leicester

Let's go!! Top 10 lists

If I were to post all my opinions about music on facebook, all my friends would delete me. Nevertheless, I still have these opinions, so I figured "fuck it.. Why not join the masses and create a blog". No fancy stuff but definitely a bunch of stuff you couldn't care less about.

I've been going to punk rock shows since '77 – now wait! that's a lie, but I've been going to punk rock shows since before i hit puberty, and it's still how I spend most of my money and energy.

So by now you'll be thinking "okay, we get it! It's a blog about punk rock music"! But this is where you're wrong. My theme is "music in general".

Now let's get going – 1-2-3-4!!

So we started a fresh year, and what better way to start over than to dwell in the past year, and sum it up in Top 10 lists.

Top 10 lists

Top 10 albums of  '11

1. Swingin' Utters – Here, Under Protest (April 26^th '11 Fat Wreck Chords)

    Songs I'd recommend: Every single one!!

2. Dead To Me – Moscow Penny Ante (October 25th '11 Fat Wreck Chords)

    Songs I'd recommend: "Undertow", "Never Relief", "The Monarch Hotel"

3. The Streets – Computers and Blues (February 7th '11 Warner)

    Songs I'd recommend: "Soldiers", "Trying to Kill M.E", "Without Thinking"

4. Foo Fighters – Wasting Light (April 12'th '11 RCA)

    Songs I'd recommend: "A Matter of Time", "Walk", "These Days" "Back & Forth"

5. Fucked Up – David Comes to Life (June 6'th '11 Matador Records)

    Songs I'd recommend: "Queen of Hearts", "Serve Me Right", "the Other Shoe"

6. Cobra Skulls - Agitations (September 27th '11 Fat Wreck Chords)

    Songs I'd recommend: "Six Degrees" "the Mess" "Hiding"

7. Peawees- Leave It behind (October 31'st '11 Wild Honey Records)

    Songs I'd recommend: "Memories Are Gone", "The Place", "Food For My Soul"

8. Lucinda Williams – Blessed (3/1'11 Lost Highway Records)

    Songs i'd recommend: "Copenhagen", "Awakening", "Ugly Truth"

9. Chixdiggit – Safeways Here We Come (February 15'th '11 Fat Wreck Chords)

   (By the way, i'm totally aware that this is actually an EP, but it's a 12".. So Shoot me)

   Songs I'd recommend: "Miso Ramen", "Since You Got a Dog", "I Hate Basketball"

10.Vaccines – What Did You Expect from the Vaccines? (March 14'th '11 Sony/Columbia Records)

     Songs I'd recommend: "Wreckin' Bar", "Norgaard" "If You Wanna"

Top 10 live shows

1. Justin Townes Earle

    Roskilde Festival (dk), July 3^rd

  

2. Dead To Me

    Loppen (dk), May 7^th

3. Foo Fighters

   Refshaleøen (dk), June 21^st

4. Swingin' Utters

    SO36 (de), September 16th

5. Fucked Up

    Loppen (dk), November 2nd

6. Flatliners

    SO36 (de), September 16^th

7. NOFX

    Malmøfestival (se), August 22^nd

8. 20Belows

    KB18 (dk), September 2^nd 

 

9. Peawees

    Beta (dk), November 25^th

10. Teenage Bottlerocket

      C-Halle (de), April 24^th

^{Top 5 disappointments of  '11:}

  

1.The Queers canceling their Europe tour - Oh! By the way, not by informing promoters and so on by mail - but by posting this on their facebook!!

2. Having to work during Groezrock, therefor missing an amazing line-up

3. Nashville Pussy/their agent cancelled a Punk-and-Billy Bash show, with some lame excuse about      one of them   going on a vacation instead. This came after a ton of cancellations, so we (Billy Bash crew) decided to shut down the 10 year old club (at least for a while).

4. Social Distortion album Hard Times and Nursery Rhymes.. seriously?!

5.Frank Turner album England Keep My Bones. I've always had complicated relationship to this whole "our new style is more mature" deal. Very few bands pull this off, Frank Didn't.

Top 10 expectations of  '12:

  

1. One Man Army releasing new material, for the first time since the AK3 split in '04. I gotta say, this is probably my fave band. I really hope for a Europe tour as well.

2. Tom Petty touring Europe. It's been 20 years, so grab your tickets fast people.

3. Justin Townes Earle releasing a new album. He played a couple of the new songs, when I saw him  in November, and i tell ya folks... This might be his best album to date.

4. 20Belows releasing a new album. This is some catchy shit! Oh- this album will be out on this really cool vinyl-only label called Screaming Records. Check 'em out here:  http://www.screamingrecords.dk/

5.Copyrights are swingin' by Europe. This'll be my first time seeing them, and rumour has it, that they usually play pure hits live.

6. Accelerators realeasing a new album aswell. I don't know too much about this album yet, but based on all of their previous material and the few youtube clips i've seen, this is bound to be great.

7. Dead to Me are doing a Europe Tour. YES!!

8. The Heat tape are doing a Europe Tour. Panther Booking is trying to set up like a garage show or something i Copenhagen. This would just be the perfect way to experience this band.

9.Feist is playing Europe aswell, this should be quite fun.

10.Groezrock 2012! I'm not super keen on the line-up so far, but there are a few bands i'm really psyched to see. (7seconds, Kevin Seconds, Chuck Ragan, Hot Water Music, Bouncing Souls, Cobra Skulls etc.) 

 

 

I have real high expectations for 2012. It seems like a lot of cool bands are doing tours these days, and so many amazing bands are doing new albums.