Ampere

The dictionary defines Ampere as “the practical meter-kilogram-second unit of electric current that is equivalent to a flow of one coulomb per second or to the steady current produced by one volt applied across a resistance of one ohm”

TruePunk defines Ampere as one of the noisest, thrashin’est bands roaring out of Massachusetts recently. Their style of wham-bam-thank-you-ma’am mash-up punk rock is among the most energetic and explosive sounds in the country. With a true passion for simply playing music and a playful attitude towards life and promotion, Ampere promises to be one of the enterainingest acts of the upcoming decade.

Ampere will be playing FEST 8 in Gainsville, Florida this upcoming Halloween.

For more on FEST 8 check out TruePunk’s Guide to FEST 8

Algernon Cadwallader

Their name is pronounced “al-jur-non kad-wall-uh-der” - a strange name without obvious origins. This Philly punk band doesn’t perpetuate the rage of other hard rockers, but instead uses their high energy and rocking tunes to bring out the best in the listener. Long song titles like “Look Down (Because the Ground Is Easier to Understand and Doesn’t Take So Much Work to Figure Out But I’d Rather Not Know Where I’m Standing and Have An Idea of What Life Is All About)” betray an irreverence and love for fun uncommon in Philly rock. Album artwork is missing the skulls and violence common to the genre in favor of simple and colorful depictions of nature and dead guys. If you like punk rock but aren’t mad at much, this band is for you.

Algernon Cadwallader will be playing FEST 8 in Gainsville, Florida this upcoming Halloween.

For more on FEST 8 check out TruePunk’s Guide to FEST 8

My Bloody Valentine

Forged in 1980s Ireland, named after a Canadian slasher film, got its start in Holland, and recorded its first album in Germany before settling in London; My Bloody Valentine is the world’s brainchild, channeled through Irishmen Kevin Shields and Colm Ó Cíosóig. The band never became headliners at sold out shows in mega arenas, and throughout their career have been plagued by line-up and money issues, but their sound presaged the 90s and influenced every band who saw airplay in the golden years of MTV. Their fuzzy, angular, and melodic tunes would eventually be adapted for other bands who would go one to achieve considerably more financial success than My Bloody Valentine.

The band is notorious for taking much more time on everything than others in the industry. There have been rumors of projects getting shelved or canceled because nothing was heard from the band for years at a time, but each the band has roared back to life with another release. They’ve only recorded two studio albums ever, preferring the EP format for releasing music - but even those stopped in the early 1990s. Now the band has been teasing the press with reports of a nearly-completed album for two years, and been touring recently. So keep your ear to the ground about this upcoming record from My Bloody Valentine and keep watching TruePunk for updates.

Shudder to Think

Since 1986 Shudder to Think has been making waves in rock and roll in America. They were virtually unknown after three album releases, but gained popularity as they launched on a US tour with Fugazi and the Smashing Pumpkins. When they released their first album after the tour, 1994’s “Pony Express Record”, it was an explosion of angular math rock blended with pop and hardcore punk rock. The innovation of the band and it’s willingness to push the genre to its limits gained them cult fame and widespread recognition in the music world.

When guitarist Nathan Larson left the band in 1998, it marked the end for Shudder to Think as a studio and touring band. Ten years later, though, the band had a limited reunion tour playing all their old songs for fans who had discovered the band after they had broken up. The best of this tour was recorded as a compilation album - “Live From Home” - which is due to hit shelves in September, 2009.

Against Me!

Now hailed as “the best punk band” by Rolling Stone Magazine, Against Me! started in Naples, Florida as an acoustic solo project by Tom Gabel. Floundering at first Gabel made a few releases of acoustic music before finally being signed to a major label and solidifying the act as a band by adding a permanent line-up.

Against Me! saw most of its success online in the early years, and the first few records saw minor distribution commercially but massive file sharing. The demo album “Vivida Vis!” has become a fan favorite online in spite of the fact that only a small number of the albums were made or sold. The band has refused to play many of the songs off this record because Gabel is still upset after the split with drummer Kevin Mahon, who co-authored many of the songs from “Vivida Vis!”

In the documentary film “We’re Never Going Home” Against Me! is shown at the verge of mainstream popularity. Although the project was started to document Against Me! touring the US, it also caught the wooing of the band by major record labels. Universal even offered the band a million dollars to record an album with them.

Since then the band has seen major success with their latest album, “New Wave” on Sire Records, a division of Warner Music Group.

Bad Religion

They started it all. In the 1970s punk first discovered who it was. In the 1980s punk tried to purify itself by distilling the rage into hardcore. But Bad Religion and its members introduced punk back into the mainstream in the 1990s by interweaving punk with other musical influences and creating something new. Before Bad Religion, punk was dead. Now it’s re-animated, and walking the Earth again in search of brains. Epitaph Records, perhaps the most famous and successful punk record label of the 1990s, was started by Bad Religion founding member Brett Gurewitz.

Musically their sound is incredibly important and influential. They formed in 1980, and the first decade of their existence was a decade before the one they’re most associated with. Throughout the eighties Bad Religion was obviously both talented and skilled, but lacking direction. They even released a dismal flop of a record, “Into the Unknown”, in which they vociferously aped the sounds of prog-rock. Even hardcore fans hated it. But in 1988 Bad Religion found the sound and style that struck the perfect balance. The world stopped, let their jaws drop, and gaped at the release of “Suffer”, the band’s debut as the Bad Religion we know them as today.

The band has regularly worked with a high number of musicians in their group, with the current roster listing an impressive six names - most of them still founding members. With such a high volume of talent and input, the band’s sound is accordingly diverse and adaptable. Punk rock is infamously simple, a perception Bad Religion regularly shatters with ground-breaking music that bypasses genres.

HorrorPops

Perhaps one of the strangest, and definitely the most popular, punk bands to emerge from the island of Copenhagen (capitol city of Denmark) is HorrorPops. Many bands have featured married band mates - The Apples in Stereo, The Groovie Ghoulies, Reverend Peyton’s Big Damn Band - but few have involved the degree of showmanship and European aesthetic HorroPops has become known for. Blending Victorian architecture, punk symbolism, and postindustrial American style HorrorPops’ unique visual presence makes them unmistakable. But their success is definitely in their sound. When some demos they had recorded for a press kit leaked to the public, their songs began making rotations as hits in Danish clubs before the band had the opportunity to find out about it.

Although founding members Patricia Day and Kim Nekroman had been involved in the Copenhagen rock scene for years, they had never met. It wasn’t until a festival in Cologne, Germany that they made their fateful connection. They began teaching each other various instruments, and apparently that’s how they fell in love.

Other members have come and gone but it has always been Day and Nekroman at the center. Their love for alternative music and experimentation has created a distinctive sound blending traditional punk rock with new wave and psychobilly. For a while HorrorPops were prevented from going on American tour because of issues with their visas, but now those problems have been ironed out and they will be going across the country supporting their album “Kiss Kiss Kill Kill” released on Hellcat Records.

Pennywise

Building on punk rock’s long obsession with horror, Jim Lindbergh (vocals), Fletcher Dragge (guitar), Byron McMackin (drums) and Jason Thirsk (bass) named their band after the monster from Stephen King’s legendary novel “It”. Their self-titled debut album was released on Epitaph records in 1991 and the world took notice. Today the name Pennywise is an essential part of punk history.

The band’s lineup has been shaky since “Pennywise” was released. Lindbergh immediately departed, and Thirsk took over vocals while Randy Bradbury took bass. Then Dave Quackenbush of the Vandals took Pennywise’s vocals for a bit while Thirsk returned to bass and Bradbury left to pursue other opportunities. This was all before their second album could be recorded - by which time Lindbergh had returned to vocals! Their second album, “Unknown Road”, did not make the charts, but likely because sales were being generated in the underground scene at a much higher rate than the commercial market. Refusing to join fellow mainstream punkers Green Day, the Offspring, and Rancid on tour nor any major record labels, Pennywise developed a reputation for DIY-ethics and grassroots fanbases.

Sadly, in 1996, Jason Thirsk lost his battle with depression and alcoholism, taking his own life with a gun. The band decided to keep moving ahead without comrade Thirsk, bringing Randy Bradbury back into the fold. On the first Pennywise album after the loss of Jason his brother Justin Thirsk of 98 Mute helped the band re-record Jason’s song “Bro Hymn” and re-dedicate it to the fallen friend. In fact, the entire album “Full Circle” was a tribute to Thirsk.

Since then Pennywise has recorded more albums and kept touring.

Green Day

When Americans of today think of punk rock, they think of Green Day. Their ability to hit the top of the charts consistently with three-chord rock and roll has shaped a career and a following that is one of the strongest in music today. From their roots in North California’s punk scene to their international superstardom Green Day has been accused of selling out, or conversely of bringing punk rock to the masses. Hate them or love them, everyone is talking about Green Day.

The core band of guitarist and singer Billie Joe Armstrong, bassist Mike Dirnt, and drummer Tre Cool has been together since John Kiffmeyer left them without a replacement drummer. When Cool joined from the Lookouts, the band was complete. Having already released two records with Kiffmeyer - the “1,000 Hours” EP and the LP “39/Smooth” - Cool’s addition marked a new era for Greenday.

Throughout the 90s the trio released chart-topping record after chart-topping record with many hit singles. Classic 1970s punk influences dominate “Insomniac”, while “Dookie” explores a more surf-oriented rock. “Warning” brought the band to a new plateau as they brought in sounds from blues, folk, and poppy post-punk ala Paul Weller’s solo career. The smash-hit “American Idiot” spawned the most successful punk single of the decade and introduced a Green Day capable of writing power ballads and rock opera to the world. Their latest release, “21st Century Breakdown”, has brought a new slam-bang appeal to the young listeners they picked up during the “American Idiot” years.

Green Day recently launched on a world tour.

Warp 11

This band breaks the time barrier. They’re so hot they’ll make an android hard. And their music is definitely extragalactic.

Mark S. Allen of Premiere Radio Networks said of Warp 11 “not since KISS has a band had this level of shtick, and an amazing sound backing it up”. He was right.

In 1996 Karl Miller was working for a small video company, editing together promotional footage. Hoping to find just the right music for a little slice of footage he was assembling, he started looking for Star Trek-themed bands. Finding none of any quality, he decided this was a travesty of epic proportions. He pulled up his boots, tore off his uniform’s sleeves, and began writing original punk songs on his bass guitar all about Star Trek.

Soon Miller began styling himself “Captain” and looking around for a crew. He found it in guitarist and Chief Engineer Brian Moore whose fusion of AC/DC-like hooks and old school punk chord crunching fit right in with Miller’s throbbing bass lines. Chief Medical Officer Jeff Hewitt, a long time friend and collaborator of Miller’s, joined up when it was discovered that, in addition to Vulcan physiology, he was an expert at smacking sticks on drums. With the band’s sound filled out, there was only one thing left to do: refine the image.

Chief Science Officer Kiki Stockhammer doesn’t offer the band a tremendous level of musical skill - that’s well taken care of by the other members. Instead she brings to the table a high level of energy, a seductive and raunchy sex appeal, and edgy feminine vocals to counterpoint Miller glam-rock wail and Moore’s more gruff masculine voice.

Warp 11 found immediate acceptance in Sacramento (their home town) on the science fiction convention circuit, as well as in traditional rock venues. Their first album, “Suck My Spock”, was released in a limited pressing and rave reviews. As the name suggests, the album was chock-full of rough sexual metaphors and lewd double-entendres. The raw rock and roll at first shocked traditional Star Trek fans, as they were unused to hearing Kirk and Spock’s names surrounded by words like “cock” and “fuck” and “shit”.

Through tireless work the band made a name for themselves in the Sacramento scene and have been playing shows almost non-stop. A local Sacramento evening magazine show, hosted by Discovery Channel pseudo-celebrity Mike Rowe, did a feature on Warp 11 after the release of their second album, “Red Alert”. That, combined with the college radio success of their first single off the album “Everything I Do I Do With William Shatner”, launched the band to a new high in their careers. In 2006, ten years after Miller first got the idea to make a Star Trek punk band, “Everything I Do I Do With William Shatner” was played in front of the man himself as part of the opening montage of the Comedy Central Roast of William Shatner.

After hooking up with Reboot Music, a small but devoted Sacramento record label, the band was able to release two more albums - “Boldly Go Down On Me” and “It’s Dead Jim” - and re-release their previous albums. They also went back into the studio to re-record the first record as a new release called “Suck My Spock Some More”. Now the old recordings are no longer available on CD, making physical versions of “Suck My Spock” perhaps the only punk collectible that is also a Star Trek collectible.

In 2007 Jeff Hewitt either suffered one injury or multiple injuries (there is no official statement on the matter, only an aside made by Miller at a September 2007 show) that made him no longer able to perform with Warp 11. Initially drummer John “Number One” Merlino was only a temporary replacement, but after it was clear Jeff Hewitt was not returning Merlino became a permanent member.

Now the band is promoting their new album, “I Don’t Want To Go To Heaven As Long As They Have Vulcans In Hell”, (which TruePunk reviewed here) and their new sound, with drummer Merlino, is much more mature than their previous releases. Combining influences as diverse as Metallica, the Pogues, and the Ramones, they have developed a sound all their own that is instantly identifiable.

Already the band has lasted over a decade, and they show no signs of slowing down. They’ve reached radio waves across the country, and downloads of their songs are tracked to nations around the world. With Star Trek now introduced to a whole new generation via J.J. Abram’s revitalization, Warp 11 doesn’t appear to be going anywhere soon.

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