Logos

Some knucklehead decided to come up with a list of the greatest punk rock logos. Well, aside from the obvious (Bad Religion, Pennywise, Blag Flag, 7 Seconds) he dropped some seriously obscure bands on us just to show how punk he is.

Well, here's the deal: If you create a logo and it's good and people like your product, you tend to lose your obscurity. Check McDonald's, Starbucks, Target, Apple, etc. I'm not saying that every good logo brings success to a band, but still I'm sure there are millions of businesses that have failed because they've failed to have a potential customer at hello.

That said, here are the logos I'd have included on the list, in no particular order.

So many people have this Screeching Weasel logo tattooed on them. Many more, I'm sure, than have the Flipper logo on them!

A classic, this logo pre-dates the current incarnation of the Vandals. This was from way back.

Jeez, I don't know if anything more can be said. Operation Ivy had such a huge impact for the short time they were in existence. Obviously, the logo is ubiquitous, as well.

The characture of singer Milo, adorned nearly ever album cover and most of the merchandise.

Probably the most-tattooed band logo on Earth. Even I want one!

Hard to argue with the impact of this one. The snarling bulldog seemed to perfectly represent Dickie Barrett's voice.

Summerfest is here, but will I go?

Well, the biggest festival in the world is upon us here in Milwaukee Wisconsin. Summerfest that features a long list of local to major bands is going on. Some of my favourite bands are in town as well. Rancid and Rise Against played last week, Offspring, last Friday, Flogging Molly and Dropkick Murphys & Elvis Costello are all coming up this week. So am I going this year? Nah. Probably not. I wrote off any shows after the epic Smoking Popes and Maritime at Turner Hall because my wife and I are trying to save some cash. But that may not be the only other reason. Summerfest is typically only fun during the actual performance of a band. Seriously, there is very little to enjoy during the day. Expensive beer, pricey food and typically humid nights can be irritating. Plus, if you want a decent seat or standing position, you have to get to the stage super early. Like, 2 or 3 hours early!! Who wants to do that?! I guess it's better then drunk out of shape cowboys singing about tractors and farms at Country Fest or whatever is up in northern Wisconsin. This year, no Summerfest. Not enough bands to drag me to the Lakefront. Sorry friends.

Maritime+The Smoking Popes @ Turner Hall

First of all, forgive my late-writing on this epic show. I have moved recently and have not had the opportunity to write a review of the show. With that out of the way, Here's how the night went down. Upon arriving at the show, my wife and I ran into Maritime singer Davey Von Bohlen before the show. Every time we see Maritime, we always run into Davey, so it's always nice to catch up with him. He was graduating from college the day after show. So after a brief chat, I grabbed my tall can of Pabst and chilled during the opening band's set. THEN I ran into one of my favourite drummers of all time. Niel Hennessey, the drummer for The Smoking Popes/The Falcon/ The Lawrence Arms. We had a good chat about what's next for some of the bands he drums in. He told me TLA will release some new material at the end of the year...I was pretty stoked to hear about that. Anyway, The opening band were from Chicago and had some fun playing. Maritime was next. They had a nice-sized crowd for their set which is great because the last time we saw them in Waukesha, probably 15 people were standing there. Including us. Anyway, the set was heavily influenced by some new material they were testing on the crowd. All very upbeat songs. They opened with Guns of Navarone which is exactly what I thought they would play. Ha! Other songs they played were Tearing Up the Oxygen, Parade of Punk Rock T-Shirts, Protein and Poison, German Engineering, Calm, For Science Fiction, With Holes for Thumb Sized Birds and probably a few more. During For Science Fiction, Davey started out singing on the wrong key and the song went slightly down-hill from there, but they recovered and finished out the song. Overall, they played a relaxed set with some fun bantering and it was a great time. Next: The Smoking Popes.

I haven't always been into these Chicago musicians, but upon hearing Destination Failure, they quickly have become an influential band. They played a very strong set hitting some of the new material off Stay Down and older material. Some of the songs included Off My Mind, Rubella, Need You Around, Writing A Letter, It's never to late (For Love), I Know You Love Me, Midnight Moon, Welcome To Janesville, Grab Your Heart And Run, Meghan and others. Josh, the lead singer came back on stage to do some solo songs including, First Time which the crowd sang the back up vocals on. He also did fan-favourite "Pretty Pathetic". The ended the night with Brand New Hairstyle, which was the perfect ending to an amazing night. My wife and I left very happy that night. We knew we were moving early in the morning, but the show was well worth the late night packing.
So if by some luck the Smoking Popes roll through your city, try to catch them live.

Are you caught in the middle?

In finding sanctuary and sanity in music, I revisited one of the best rock bands of all time.

Few people noticed their passing, but fortunately for those of us jaded on the world of modern rock, they left us a CD/DVD that anyone who digs real rock 'n' roll must, MUST pick up.

Here's a snippit:


It's just raw, pure, barely-filtered energy...

They called it

During the Pezcore album show in London in September of 2007, Less Than Jake singer, Chris, said "Blink 182 will be back next summer."

He was only off by a year.

My belief was that they'd be back as soon as the money ran out and whether or not that's actually the case, they are back and they stand to make boatloads of money.

I used to be a Blink fan. Unfortunately, the addition of Travis Barker kinda ruined them for me. They turned away from being a straight-up skate-punk band to a prog-rock band just by putting a studio-quality drummer behind the kit. BLAH.

LTJ

(apologies for the crappy cell-phone photos)

Mikey's post on meeting LTJ is appropriate, as I saw them in San Francisco on April 1.

It had been nearly nine years since I last saw LTJ and before that, it was 12 times from 1997-2000.

It's been four albums and one b-sides comp since I last saw them play.

So, as one of the sole representatives of the 30-and-over crowd, I thoroughly enjoyed the show.

"Just standing in this crowded room still makes me feel alive"

-- This One's Going to Leave a Bruise
Less than Jake -- GNV FLA

I felt so alive. An LTJ show has to be experienced for its energy and fun. It really is all about having the fun - singing along to every word, hearing the band members talk crap about each other.

I felt like I was 20 again. We got to the Warfield probably, right after LTJ started off with "Happyman" and I went straight to the front of the stage.

I was just overcome with the memories of having seen them way-back-when and fought my way to a dancing spot where I could jump along with the crowd and sing every word.

I looked around and saw a crowd of people who must have looked as young as me at my first LTJ show in 1997. There were still some as old as me, who had stuck by the band over the years.

And yes, knowing that I first saw Less Than Jake when Losing Streak was their current record - 12 years ago - makes me feel considerably old.

I met LTJ that night. They were opening for Guttermouth at the Rave Bar in Milwaukee. It was the lineup that included Jessica Mills and the interview included her telling Pete that after every question, he had to remove an article of clothing.

I got the entire band to sign my Pezcore CD cover, which will remain an artifact, because that lineup ceased to exist later in 97 when Jessica left or was fired or whatever. Derron left following the Hello Rockview tour.

I met LTJ so many times in '97 and '98 that it lost its lustre. I watched as members of the band became less accessible or friendly towards their fans. But I felt for them and their privacy, too.

In the end, I feel that I'll always be an LTJ fan. I don't care about their individual lives or personalities. I care about the music, which has improved with every single record.

Meeting Less Than Jake-circa 1998

And now, one of the oldest stories I have to share with meeting a band. On a warm day in my freshmen year in High School, I was asked my my older brother if I'd like to go to The Exclusive Company in Brookfield to meet some members of Less Than Jake. I was thrilled and off we went driving to one of the better places to buy albums and cds. Hello Rockview was their most recent release so the store was packed. It was actually an "after school" style with snacks, Capri Suns and a slew of good treats on the tables plus plenty of stickers. I think I still have one sticker in a folder. Not all of Less Than Jake were there, but Buddy, Pete, Vinnie and Derron were walking around the store. It was an honor to meet some of the members of the most influential band of my lifetime. They were all super nice and fun to talk to. They signed a very old, stained and vintage Less Than Jake shirt. It's absolutely a mess, and barely survived a flood in my closet back at my old house in Wales. That day was by far one of my favourite moments meeting a group. Even with a major crowd of people, it was a blast.