MxPx is gearing up for a busy 2023! Today, the band announced they will be headlining Furnace Fest in Birmingham, AL this Fall, closing the first night on September 22, 2023. Other headliners on the fest include Turnstile, Bane, and Pennywise. With new music on the way, the band plans to be making more appearances this year, including the highly raved-about When We Were Young Festival in 2023 alongside Blink-182 and Green Day (now with an additional day).
Part 2
Saturday at This Is Hardcore was full of kick ass sets, to a “special” surprises. I gotta say check out Ten Ton Hammer as soon as you can. It’s a very heavy band who definitely slays at their shows. They just released an album on Harvcore Records.Continue reading
World Be Free occupies a very particular space in the in today’s musical landscape. A sort of hardcore supergroup featuring members of Terror (vocalist Scott Vogel), Judge (drummer Sammy Siegler), Strife (guitarist Andrew Kline) and Gorilla Biscuits (bassist Arthur Smilios), World Be Free is not the sum of its parts or a reflection of hardcore in 2016. Full length début, The Ant-Circle (Revelation), is more of a simulacrum of the New York and DC hardcore sounds of yesteryear with the occasional dash of pop-punk hooks.
And as an homage to those reverential 1980s bands, The Anti-Circle seems to check all the boxes. There’s an economical approach as 14 tracks come and go in less than half an hour and with only one clocking in at over three minutes. ‘Shake the Ghost’ and ‘Never Slip’ are fantastic examples of making the most with just the necessary musical ingredients.
However, while World Be Free’s riffs and lyrics were designed with the intention of channeling the vitality of their musical heroes, The Anti-Circle feels likes its spinning wheels. When Vogel bellows “You’ll never be a part of my world,” or “The times have changed” it doesn’t come across as empowering or intriguing as it isn’t saying anything Black Flag didn’t already say in 1981 (albeit in a much more satirical tone). And since its treading such familiar creative waters it, songs like ‘World Be Free,’ ‘All These Colors’ and ‘Breakout or Busted’ fail to distinguish themselves from one another.
That’s not to say that there aren’t successful moments of musical reverence to be found on The Anti-Circle. While probably the most tuneful song of the bunch, ‘Empty Things’ impresses with Kline’s melodic guitar lines. Also when World Be Free decides to shift gears and speed up they can generate some worthy slam dancing like in ‘I’m Done.’
World Be Free has a great album within them. It’s all a matter of them addressing the line between impression and homage.
6.0/10
HANSEL LOPEZ
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The sixth ‘Rebellion Tour’ has Madball, Strife, Rise Of The Northstar, Backtrack and a special guest TBA, booked for February. Dates are below:
Feb 17: SO36 – Berlin, GER
Feb 18: Gruenspan – Hamburg, GER
Feb 19: Gebaude 9 – Koln, GER
Feb 20: Universum – Stuttgart, GER
Feb 21: Club Vaudeville – Lindau, GER
Feb 22: Secret Place – Montpelleier, FRA
Feb 23: Sala Garage Club – Murcia, SPA
Feb 24: Sala Caracol – Madrid, SPA
Feb 25: Sala Eventual – Malaga, SPA
Feb 26: Rep Da Musica – Lisbon, SPA
Feb 27: Sala O’Tunnel – Coruna, SPA
Feb 28: Sala Jimmy Jazz – Vitoria, SPA
Mar 01: Sala Razzmatazz 2 – Barcelona, SPA
Bridge Nine Records will be releasing xXx Fanzine: 1983-1988, a book documenting the sounds of Hardcore America, plus an album with artists such as Strife (doing “Who Are You” by Void), Done Dying (featuring legendary No For An Answer frontman, Dan O’Mahony), BoySetsFire, Enabler, ÆGES, Gallows, Krum Bums and I Am Heresy have all recorded tracks for the effort with many more currently booking studio time for the effort. A full track listing will be announced shortly.
“As much as hardcore was an expression of artistry, ambition and rage, it also fostered some of the best and purest songwriting in recent rock ‘n’ roll history,” says xXx editor and main writer, Mike Gitter. “You can’t deny some of the massive songs people like Greg Ginn [Black Flag] or Bob Mould [Hüsker Dü] were capable of. Those songs still thunder as loud today as when they were originally committed to vinyl.”
The compilation will be presented in several formats. All editions of the book will include a download card. However, a limited number of books will include a 12” vinyl version of the comp.
Work on the book itself is nearing completion with last interviews and liner notes currently being assembled with the help of Bridge Nine owner Chris Wrenn in the editor’s seat. In the meantime, keep up with xXx Fanzine on Facebook.
Video footage of Cross My Heart Hope To Die has surfaced from their July 26, 2014 Vita E Morte performance at Subliminal Projects Art Gallery in Los Angeles, CA. The outfit features DJ Muggs, Andrew Kline (also of Strife), Brevi and Sean Bonner. Watch the clip below.