The Marvelous Darlings‘ single “I Dont Wanna Go To The Party” rocks for two minutes and thirty seconds in a rush of pure and I mean PURE punk pop abandon. Very favorable comparison to Ramones, Clash, Cheap Trick and The Knack. Full on power pop angst-bliss! I love it I love it.

The Marvelous Darlings
“I dont wanna go to the party” (mp3)
from “I Don’t Wanna Go To The Party”
(Deranged Records)

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Utterly bratty kick-butt garage punk from Be My Doppleganger, outta Evansville, Indiana – a gritty, rockin’ four piece pop punk outfit with an affinity for Cheap Trick and The Descendents. “I Need a Ride” is an outburst of guitars, hormone fueled teen angst, and self deprecating humor. Gr8 fun!

Be My Doppelganger
“I Need a Ride” (mp3)
from “Protect 2: A Benefit for the National Association to Protect Children”
(Geykido Comet Records)

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You can tell a lot from a title. Mindless Self Indulgence is a promising artist name, as is “Never Wanted To Dance” an intriguing song title. But it’s not quite what you’d expect, and definitely NotSafeForWork, my dears. Think Nine Inch Nails goes berserk at Tears For Fears’ house. Hyper-lustful decadent aggro alterna-porn. Good fun.

Mindless Self Indulgence
“Never Wanted to Dance” (mp3)
from “If”
(The End Records)

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A punk rock song about a kitteh? A cool dark feline, creepin’ thru the night? A sleek slinky tom on the scene? Well, yeah. Kid Chaos is all about fun, and they don’t like preaching with their punk rock – all of which you can gather from this ridiculous and entertaining tale of adventure and mayhem. Essence o’ 3rd wave “ska” horns, growling guitars and a breakneck Rancid-esque tempo, provide the purrfect romping ground for our rogue hero, “Lee Vee The Cat.” Superfan is all smitten like a kitten.

Kid Chaos
“Lee Vee The Cat” (mp3)
from “Love In The Time Of Scurvy”
(Beatville Records)

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On the subject of “Fools Want Noise” by Oh My God, I have to start by simply saying, they’re right. These lyrics are brilliant – kind of a “Satisfaction” updated for the Idiocracy. Celebrate the downward spiral into high decibel mindlessness? Or rage against it? Can we do both? This song is loud, fast and brash, but unlike the cultural Twinkie-filler it confronts in horror, this is actually very smart. And it rocks, too. Damn fine work.

Oh My God
“Fools Want Noise” (mp3)
from “Fools Want Noise”
(Split Red)

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This instrumental track from The Uptones “Live!! 924 Gilman” CD is a hi-energy ska punk jazz opus. The album influenced a lot of great bands that followed, and it’s a joy to listen to. This was my Sunday morning dance in the kitchen wake up record for a year! Superfan sez pick it up.

The Uptones
“East of a Western Bay” (mp3)
from “The Uptones Live!!”
(Fun Fun Fun Recordings)
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Now why exactly would LA’s legendary punk band X do a version of “Santa Claus Is Coming To Town,” we wonder. Ah! Because theirs is the coolest take ever conceived of the song. It’s a lot of fun. So whatever holidays you may celebrate, you’ll want to punk out with the greats Exene, John Doe, D.J. Bonebrake and Billy Zoom as they summon pogoing elves, stage diving reindeer, and a corpulent laughing man in red sporting a white mohawk. Be good.

X
“Santa Claus Is Coming To Town” (mp3)
from “MERRY XMAS From X”
(Anko Records)

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One of the cooler regional hits of 1982 was the lo-fi garage punk of “Radio Moscow” by a Southern California band called Kent State (formerly Red Brigade). They played every punk venue on the west coast and then some, adding a twist to American hardcore music that was more Troggs than Sex Pistols. Rodney Bingenheimer played this song heavily on The ROQ, and even made it the lead off track on one of his famed compilation LP’s. The lyrics are such a time capsule – pure cold war angst plus a needed dose of irreverent humor. More yummy goodness from Posh Boy Music.

Kent State
“Radio Moscow” (mp3)
from “The Future Looks Brightest – Rarities and Orphans Volume 1″
(Posh Boy Music)

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Enter at your own risk, “The Lost Album” by 13th Chime on Sacred Bones Records. “Sarah’s Got a Chainsaw” is not so much the bloodbath the title might suggest, but instead a raucous and beautifully recorded note from the grave from this driving goth-esq Texas band. Gr8 80’s flavored reverb’d out vocals bounce around on an urgent guitar bass and drum bed that hints of Joy Division, Gang Of Four and The Cramps. Superb.

13th Chime
“Sarah’s Got A Chainsaw” (mp3)
from “The Lost Album”
(Sacred Bones Records)

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Rock is not dead. It is brain dead. The Sons Of Hercules understand the power of not understanding. The subtle genius of retardation. The mastery which flows from lobotomous guitars, beer soaked vocals, and swaggering drum beats. As The Stooges demonstrated in the late 60’s, for a certain kind of rock, dumb is smart. From their “A Different Kind of Ugly” album, I give you, The Sons Of Hercules from San Antonio, Texas, performing “Brain Dead”. Gr8 stupid fun.

The Sons Of Hercules
“Brain Dead” (mp3)
from “A Different Kind of Ugly”
(Saustex Media)

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Not that they ever went away, but Los Fabulosos Cadillacs just released their first studio album in ten years, and it is gr8. “Contrabando de Amor” is the lead off single, and it is an undeniable smash. Truly anthemic, joyous, fun, passionate, tight, unpretentious.. let’s see, did I leave anything out? Oh and glorious! K? SuperFan approved, hit it up.

Los Fabulosos Cadillacs
“Contrabando de Amor” (mp3)
from “El Arte de la Elegancia de LFC”
(Nacional Records)

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Southern California’s beloved surf punker pioneers Agent Orange have rocked for over three decades, and they continue to tour and deliver a gr8 live show. This song from their brilliant 1981 album “Living in Darkness”- recently re-released digitally by Posh Boy Music – is a good taste of their innovative guitar work and unique collision of power pop, surf and punk. The lyrics to “Everything Turns to Grey” are brilliant, at once idealistic and resigned. A classic song from a classic LP. Surfs up!

Agent Orange
“Everything Turns to Grey” (mp3)
from “Living in Darkness”
(Posh Boy Music)

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New to the ever growing stable of brilliant labels in the IODA camp is Asian Man Records, the indie pop punk ska and whatnot imprint founded by Skankin’ Pickle’s Mike Park. Typical of their signings is For.The.Win out of the label’s own backyard, San Jose, California. Musically belligerent and lyrically hopeful, at once idealistic and ferocious, this is punk rock by people who never got the memos that said “punk is dead” or “punk is mainstream now” or “punk ended when Green Day got big.” As with the blues, rock n’ roll, or any other genre, the heart of punk beats strong as long as there are bands and fans who believe it. Download and punk out.

For the Win
“Another Day” (mp3)
from “The Black & the Blue”
(Asian Man Records)

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Taking lo-fi art to another level, Brooklyn’s Japanther sees evil, hears evil and speaks evil, while blurting out distorted perversions of rock n’ roll music. From the “Skuffed Up My Huffy” album, “See Evil” is fun, strange, entertaining and very short. A Huffy is a bicycle, by the way. If ya didn’t know. It’s an American made bicycle, and just about every kid in the USA has at some point ridden and probably skuffed up a huffy. Take this tune for a spin around the block. I dare ya’s.

Japanther
“See Evil” (mp3)
from “Skuffed Up My Huffy”
(We Are Busy Bodies)

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Occasionally we’ll hear someone refer to an artist or work of art as “sick and wrong,” but seldom do we encounter a vendor of filth so deserving of that distinction as one GG Allin, rest his deranged soul. Named “Jesus Christ” by his abusive, insane father, legend has it the name “GG” came about because his brother couldn’t pronounce “Jesus Christ” and it sort of came out “jeejee” and it stuck. Enough has been said about Allin’s shocking antics. What is not as notorious is the fact that he actually created some good songs along the way. Here’s an anthem of sorts, of a man living on the “Outskirts of Life” and you can be sure he lived every word of. Don’t try this at home, kids. He did it so you don’t have to.

GG Allin
“Outskirts of Life” (mp3)
from “Carnival Of Excess”
(PONK Media)

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L’Aventurier

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With a vocal yowl favorably reminiscent of Streetwalkin’ Cheetahs and Robert Plant, and music in a neighborhood stalked by the likes of T-Rex, Hot Snakes, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club and even Turbonegro, The Cassettes love their hard rock and love it well. Soaring guitar work, solid rawk drumming, and an ornery, sincere ferocity all add up to a brilliant sonic outburst. Cool lyrics, GR8 sound.

The Cassettes
“Countach” (mp3)
from “Countach”
(Carcrash Records)

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Taking their cues from Joy Division, David Bowie and myriad 80’s goth masters, The Dark Romantics are a band that sounds exactly as their name suggests. Weighing in at the mythical perfect pop song length of 2:50, “Another Song For Another Night” has all the pieces. This is a spotless arrangement of an original contemporary gothic rock gem. Oh the things one finds while rooting around the dusty rooms in the vast mansions of the Intertubes!

The Dark Romantics
“Another Song For Another Night” (mp3)
from “Some Midnight Kissin’”
(Lujo Records)

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Blag Dahlia is best known as front man for The Dwarves. Anyone who knows his work and personality would understand this is not a man to be trifled with. But trifle they did, and, well, here is the result of someone asking to license the Dwarves’ recorded music without compensation.

Blag Dahlia
“Extreme Skate Abuse” (mp3)
from “Nina …And Other Delights”
(Greedy Media)

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Wow. Someone reached deep for this one. Whether it sprang from the voice of experience, or simply an awake songwriter, “Find Your Own Dumpster” is “Brother Can You Spare A Dime” for post-industrial America. Every line is precious. Musically, it sounds like Nirvana staggering drunk through a Hendrix record with Camper Van Beethoven in tow, howling along. Gritty, relevant work from Austin’s Bankrupt and the Borrowers. No bailout here I expect, but this is definitely too big to fail!

Bankrupt and the Borrowers
“Dumpster” (mp3)
from “Beers on the Bible”
(SPAT! Records)

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Now this is punk rock. Swift hardcore beat, anthemic choruses and idealistic verses. Kick ass. It’s so right on I have little more to say about it. Download and punk out.

The Uprising
“We Don’t Belong” (mp3)
from “Appetite For Deception”
(Long Live Crime Records)

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Hell yes! If you’ve ever been a rock fan in your life (that’s most of us) and sometimes wondered if rock was “dead” (again, like most of us), all it takes is a band of young’ns to come along and own the music again – playing it like they invented it, like it never happened before, like it’s the most exciting thing in the world and there will be trouble if they are not heard. From Sonora, Mexico, Hong Kong Blood Opera is such a band. Taking their cue from synth punk and new wave, then blurting out a product that is distinctly rock, theirs is music made by fans first and foremost. You can hear their fervent passion for their medium in every breath and bar of their songs. They all have the right chops for the job, and the lead singer has style coming out the eyeballs. Long live rock!

Hong Kong Blood Opera
“Killing Joke” (mp3)
from “The Critical Paparazzi EP”
(Noiselab Records)

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In grade school, the idea of spending summer attending classes was akin to a prison sentence. And though I never was punished in this terrible way, the threat of it was ever-present as I decided between algebra homework and more rock and roll fun with my friends. Some kids got sent to juvenile hall for joyriding and selling dope, but the truly unlucky were sitting in hot classrooms in August while their friends partied at the beach. This song brings it all back. Genius.

The Kung Fu Monkeys
“Summer School” (mp3)
from “Christmas for Breakfast”
(Whoa Oh Records)

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I have a soft spot for good power pop a mile wide. This song is like Josie and the Pussycats doing Jimmy Eat World. Can you even grasp that? This would be on commercial pop radio if that medium still had any sign of a pulse. Enjoy and pass the word. I love the Unlovables.

The Unlovables
“Leave Me Alone” (mp3)
from “Heartsickle”
(Whoa Oh Records)

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I love that these guys come from a “hardcore” scene That makes me happy. Gents, guys, sweeties, you play power pop and you play it really, really well! I mean that as a compliment, so don’t be angry with me. I will, promise, include “hardcore” in my genre tags however. If “modern rock” radio isn’t playing this, then they should just turn off the damn transmitters and go home.

Four Year Strong
“Heroes Get Remembered, Legends Never Die” (mp3)
from “Rise or Die Trying”
(I Surrender Records)

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Who says a robot can’t raise a child? Don’t be all prejudiced. These lads are well adjusted, contributing members of society. A living tribute to the great parenting skills of their robot ‘rents. Sycophant is not a word I would think sings well, but this song disproves that theory. I like the way this guy spits his lines and makes the most of s’s an t’s. Great lyrics, great vocal, tight band.. yep, them robots should be proud.

Raised By Robots
“Sycophant” (mp3)
from “The Auctioneer”
(Raised By Robots Records)

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A gleeful tale of woe and woo, told in ebullient third wave ska punk rapture. Did I form that sentence? I did. This is power pop the way the kids do it now, try and keep up, Opa.

Rude City Riot
“Victoria” (mp3)
from “Quickstar Productions Presents : Ska 4 Life volume 6″
(Quickstar Productions)

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How is it no one wrote this song before? A serenade to the Suicide Girls. Of course! The sound? Somewhere between Warm Leatherettes and The Clash, Blondie and Devo. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the sexy new wave sounds of, The Love Kills Theory. This kicks ass and takes its clothes off for money.

The Love Kills Theory
“The Love Kills Theory” (mp3)
from “Happy Suicide, Jim!”
(Xemu Records)

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That’s a Rooster Noir, silly, get your mind out of the gutter.  With Robot Child With a God Complex being the name of their album, I guessed their lyrics would be fun and confrontational as well. This track doesn’t dissapoint in that regard. Oedipal crazed nightmarish wet dream. Musically original and bizarre. New wave gone to an insane asylum. Pogo in a strait jacket.

Black Cock
“A Fast One” (mp3)
from “Robot Child With a God Complex”
(Australian Cattle God)

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Behold the improbable brilliance of The Monks. They were five beat playing American GIs stationed in Germany in the mid 60s. They stayed together as a group after their discharges from the service, and made some ground breaking recordings which ultimately influenced later garage rockers from Nirvana to the White Stripes to Radiohead and many more. They are one of those “missing link” bands – not particularly famous in their own right, but hugely respected and important to musicians and fans in the know. Monk Time is an anti-war anthem unlike any other.

The Monks
“Monk Time” (mp3)
from “Black Monk Time”
(Light In The Attic)

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Well I’ve always felt that Lene Lovich is pretty wonderful, so I can’t contain my delight that I found a new single and album from her in the vast reaches of IODA’s ever growing long tail. The music on this track is so brilliant, every little sound is right behind her instantly recognizable voice, helping her tell the story. A romantic new wave treasure.

Lene Lovich
“Wonderful One” (mp3)
from “Flex (…Plus)”
(Oval Music)

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Rock and roll seems to be born again every time someone launches into it with such sincerity and wreckless abandon as this. Seething with lust and delightful garage band cacophany, dear readers, I give you, The Fresh & Onlys. This song is downright stunning. Velvet Underground meets Clash at Jefferson Airplane’s house, only more crazy. Top notch work from this San Francisco band.

The Fresh & Onlys
“Peacock and Wing” (mp3)
from “The Fresh & Onlys”
(Howells Transmitter)

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Repulsa is the nome de mayhem of one Tambre Bryant. That’s Tom Hunting, legendary double-kick monster drummer of Exodus, on the drums. Here we find the queen bitch of metal in a sensitive moment, expressing herself.

Repulsa
“Fuck Yourself” (mp3)
from “Repulsa”
(Fun Fun Fun Recordings)

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Stiff Richards’ delightful punky pop screed against mainstream lameness. This song launches out of the gate like a race horse with its tail on fire and never lets up. Raucous guitars, bass and vocals, and a raw, ferocious drum track that makes me wonder if the guy who played it even lived to tell the tale! Rock Hard indeed.

Stiff Richards
“Markie Mark” (mp3)
from “Stiff Richards”
(Fun Fun Fun Recordings)

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Funny, funny, funny. I admit, I was skeptical when I heard the first line of this, the yowling, snarling singer, yelping away like Johnny Rotten as a pissed off 14 year-old Rancid fan in the most boring suburb of America. But by the second line, I was hooked! And yes, I want to hear more so I’ll dig deeper into the jagged punk pop of Forty Marshas. Forty Marshas. Forty Marshas Brady? My goodness, that would be a thing. Or is it another Marsha? Must know, must know.. This is a Kinks cover that these Marshas hauled over the punk rock mountains.

Forty Marshas
“Sold Me Out” (mp3)
from “Forty Marshas”
(Beatville Records)

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The Black Halos’ lead singer Billy Hopeless hurls verbal missiles that are part Lemmy, Joe Strummer, Iggy and Joey Ramone. A true rock and roll band with all the pockmarks and rusty scars of touring the hard way, they are not any pretty cleaned up pop goo vendor for the opiated masses. No. This song is fun, irreverent and rowdy, and in some inescapable way, meaningful.

The Black Halos
“Disbelief” (mp3)
from “We Are Not Alone”
(Acetate Records)

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My punk rock funny bone is tickled by any band that calls itself F-Minus. Their song on this Hellbent Records comp is a masterful outburst of punk rage, weighing in at 1:09 with an avalanche of huge guitar sounds and belligerent abandon. Awesome.

F-Minus
“Love Is Just A Tool” (mp3)
from “Baby Jesus, Sliced Up In The Manger”
(Hellbent Records)

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How much does Ty Segall love the Troggs? And garage banging guitars and distorted trashy crashitude? This much, my dears! This song ROCKS!

Ty Segall
“The Drag” (mp3)
from “Ty Segall”
(Castle Face)

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How much reverb can you stack on a twang guitar before it drowns? There really is no limit. Rocket 350 is a wild rockabilly band with some south of the border twists and dub sensibilities. Really. This song rocks. I love that freaky twitch in the vocal on the chorus. Gives me goosebumps.

Rocket 350
“Six Gun” (mp3)
from “American Grease”
(Beatville Records)

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This rockin’ track by the Rank Deluxe quotes the Sex Pistols, and reminds in good ways of the Jam and the Stranglers. Bad ass.

The Rank Deluxe
“Tightrope” (mp3)
from “You Decide”
(Fat Cat Records)

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Gr8 song about the gr8est sk8rs ever. It’s funny, it’s irreverent, AND it ROCKS! Opal Book Club from Berkeley, CA, layin’ down the wizdumb.

Opal Book Club
“Tony Alva” (mp3)
from “MP3 Jackpot Winners”
(Fun Fun Fun Recordings)

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With a certain distorted guitar tone worship hooky melodies, this is the perfect promotrack to represent the Noise Pop aesthetic.

The Snowmen
“Blow That Town” (mp3)
from “Ten Years of Noise Pop 1993 – 2002″
(Amazing Grease Records)

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Flipper is arguably one of the most frightful things that ever happened. I adore them. This is a true anthem.

Flipper
“Sex Bomb” (mp3)
from “Sex Bomb Baby”
(Public Flipper Limited LLC)

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Ah, sweet modern romance =)

Ex-Boyfriends
“Pick Up Line” (mp3)
from “In With”
(Absolutely Kosher)

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Look, this band is called Frightened Rabbit. So I already think they’re great, before I listen to a damn note. They have an album called “The Midnight Organ Fight” and I’m like, please don’t suck, you have not my permission to suck, you must rise to the quality of thy names. So. Behold “The Modern Leper” and like me, you shall not be disappointed. This song is stunning, flat out brilliant. A revelation. I’m not kidding. Looking forward to hearing more from the band that made this track. Wow.

Frightened Rabbit
“The Modern Leper” (mp3)
from “The Midnight Organ Fight”
(Fat Cat Records)

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