Now that the 4th of July has come and gone and the light beer and rockets red glare has faded, hopefully anyone who was distracted by imperialism’s big huzzah can get back to remembering that protest is patriotism and that things are hella effed up right now. Did you see the G20 debacle? America is a laughingstock to the world right now.
Here is a list of ten songs to jam loud that pack a punch and are motivating as some of us try to stave off the new Dark Ages. : )
More BELOW.
Add to My Radar
Modern Feminist punk trailblazers War On Women are one of the most important acts in the scene right now, especially in the hateful age of Trump. The rise of rape culture on the Warped Tour from some scene bands was a frightening trend and destructive on so many levels, so it is excellent to see the tour booking a band that stands in such firm opposition to that kind of behavior.
Some other great bands this year include Beartooth, Candiria and Barbed Wire Dolls.
War On Women commented:
Punk is the genre we cover the least on this site as it is metal’s snotty sister, but when we do write about it…it is usually about War On Women. I’ll go on record and say that the Baltimore band of feminists made INARGUABLY the best punk album of 2015 (followed by Svetlanas and Heartless Breakers at second and third place this year, both of which are slightly more debatable). But War On Women’s S/T record managed to recapture the protest spirit and general fearlessness that made a band like The Gits so important, the co-ed sense of unity and awareness that equal rights go beyond gender.
Punk News has their video for “Say It” HERE. If you have trauma and are easily triggered, be forewarned that it deals with loudly vocalizing your rape or abuse, so any readers or music fans for whom that is difficult here is a heads up ahead of time. Music can make a song’s meaning resonate even more powerfully, and this is a truly powerful and emotional song. And it should be heard. And played loudly at colleges and elsewhere all across the world.
And after you check the new video out over at Punk News, be sure to head back here and read THIS INTERVIEW we did with the band if you haven’t already.
Add to My Radar
I’m singing from the perspective of a traditionally marginalized group of people, so I’m not fucking reaching across anything. I’m saying my piece. – Shawna Potter
Yes, we have a somewhat under used punk rock category on Metalriot.com , a category I usually use to classify faster hardcore bands who aren’t metal core bands. But yeah, our sister site is the fabled Dyingscene.com, remember? Punk, hardcore and metal have a long history as bedfellows at the best of times (Excel’s Split Image or Slayer’s Undisputed Attitude come to mind) to the worst of times when skinheads and long hairs in denim jackets would beat the crap out of one another. What does this have to do with War On Women? The Bridge Nine band are more than powerful enough to be on this site and if anything MORE intense than many of the bands we feature who gurgle metal lyrics about killing people. Heck, they even can tour with Municipal Waste and hold their own!
In a rock climate where Phil Labonte of All That Remains casually tosses out the word “Faggot” (making me really bummed cuz I used to love his vocals on Shadows Fall’s early Somber Eyes To The Sky) and where politicians and certain media outlets try to spin “dissent” and “protest” as Un-American while allegedly loving the Boston Tea Party, we need bands who will step up and pierce the heart of current affairs with vitriol, wit and sarcastic grace wed to angry guitars and blistering drums. War On Women are probably my favorite punk band of the moment. I would have been sold at the phrase ex-Liar’s Academy (that first EVR release still holds up) but I know my friend Matt Fox from Shai Hulud also likes War On Women so I checked out “Servilia” and was blown away. This is a thrashy mix of punk rock fury!
Their self titled full length War On Women will be available on CD, LP and Digital formats on February 10th and is up for pre-order now on B9Store.com. Featuring 11 tracks, this new album was recently recorded with J. Robbins at the Magpie Cage (Against Me!, Coliseum, Lemuria) and is a vital, if at times very unsettling, odyssey.
For my talk with outspoken and super rad, fearless front woman Shawna Potter click HERE.
Gold are really good. You should listen to them. I classified them in our power metal category only because if Gold played power metal that would actually maybe be the weirdest experimental music ever and very rad. They DO play their own awesome kind of music, which is different than what many bands are doing. Optimist has some sweet jams. "White Noise" has a great intro. Prepare to be melted in a metallic wash of BM, post-rock and plaintive melodic musings.
