Featured Music Bring the Noise: Red Bull Noise Complaint

December 15, 2011 - 11:48 am

Two highly successful New Jersey based rock bands are returning to their home state to celebrate its role in making them who they are today. This holiday season, Senses Fail and Saves the Day return to New Jersey’s famous Starland Ballroom located in Sayreville for not only one of their stellar performances but for a chance to give back to the local music community as part of Red Bull Noise Complaint. A dollar from each ticket sold to the December 23rd show will be donated to the upkeep of the famed Court Tavern in New Brunswick, NJ. The small no-frills venue, open for nearly 30 years, has hosted rock and alternative acts such as Pavement, Ween, The Flaming Lips, Gaslight Anthem, The Bouncing Souls and Lifetime. The Court also provides a stage for up-and-coming local acts and offers regular free shows for the strapped-for-cash student looking to catch some live music.

To pass along the torch, a local up-and-coming New Jersey band was chosen to open for Senses Fail and Saves the Day at Starland. That group, Banquets was selected at a Red Bull Noise Complaint showcase at Court Tavern on Friday, November 18th.

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Music 8 Albums, 4 Nights, 4 Cities: The Bouncing Souls Go All In

November 16, 2011 - 9:39 am

The Bouncing Souls completed an amazing series of shows recently in Hollywood. They played 8 albums, 2 albums each night, 4 nights in a row, in 4 different cities. That’s something like 106 songs. I mean, sure they have been around now 20 years. And sure they are on the road constantly. And sure, they are great at what they do. But keeping all those songs straight…its kind of an epic achievement even for the consummate professional.

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Gallery Music Social Distortion @ the Music Box : Prohibition-Era Punk Rock

April 26, 2011 - 10:22 am

There’s a lot of you out there (you know who you are) who long ago consigned yourself to the age-old credo “punk is dead.” You’d probably be hard-pressed to believe that even Social Distortion‘s recent Music Box performance could be the best argument in years to such a hastily-conceived notion. In addition to the debut of their newest and most raucous album in years, Hard Times and Nursery Rhymes, the boys really raised that punk bar a bit more: it wasn’t just a great concert with a tight band, it was a glorious punk rock/rockabilly/cinematic spectacle.

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Featured Music 20 Years of Bullying the Jukebox: Bouncing Souls Bryan Kienlen

April 26, 2010 - 11:43 am

Bryan Kienlen

If you ever dipped your toe into the punk rock stew, you inevitably got a little Bouncing Souls on you. This band has been around the scene for 20 years now and they are holding steady as one of the most hard working, rocking, always relevant bands out there. It was my pleasure to interview bass player, Bryan Kienlen to hear how the years have been treating him as an icon of the scene.

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