Interview conducted with Stefan Murphy and Ryan Sweeney! Shock Treatment: Let’s start off by telling me who’s all an official Sleeveen and what you all do in the band? Stef - Singer / Songwriter / Guitar Jamie - Bass Eli - Guitar Sweeney - Drums Shock Treatment: So part of the band lives in Ireland, and the other part in the U.S. is this correct? Tell me, how does a song come together for you guys and when do you have time to rehearse them? Stef - I write the songs and usually we rehearse them before we record them. We get together 3-4 times a year to tour and always try to fit in some studio time. We do okay considering I'm in Dublin Sweeney - Yeah, Stef lives in Dublin while the rest of us live in the Nashville area. Stef usually sends a demo of new stuff he’s working on so when we get together we have an idea of what we’re gonna do. This band works incredibly quickly, which has been crucial to our existence. We’ve gotten good at maximizing our limited time together. We typical...

The gang at Wanda Records has produced yet a nother fist pounding, adrenalin pumping punk record! This time with the debut album of the Cologne Germany trio Flash Kicks full length. If you decide to scramble around in Discogs for their back catalog, don't sweat it.These guys have only made one other 7" back in 2019 for the German label Get Stomped Records. This release is limited to 250 copies on black vinyl and comes with an insert and download coupons so you can download this record and play it on your commute to your dead end day job. But take caution, if you do this, Flash Kicks could have you turning over you desk, putting your foot through your computer screen, and telling that fat head boss of yours to sit on his thumb!  Flash Kicks have tightened up and sharpened their focus to hawk like precision since their debut 7" seven years ago. This LP is high intensity, fuel injected rock n roll and all cylinders are firing at maximum capacity. Musically, this band has som...

Photo by Leah Wilhelmina  Interview conducted with singer/guitarist Daan Proto Shock Treatment: Who is currently in The Protos and what does everyone do in the band? Daan: The Protos is Guus, Sid & me (Daan). Guus plays guitar, Sid is on drums and adds backing vocals here and there, and I sing and play guitar. Two guitars and a drum kit is what it’s always been, and we’re pretty sure it’s what it’ll always be. Apart from the music, we all put in some work getting shows, but to be honest we’re not that good at it. Usually people send us a message on Instagram or email, and if we’re available and we like it, we go for it. Shock Treatment: How did you guys all meet and decide to play music together? Daan: I met Sid and Guus at punk shows in Amsterdam/Haarlem. At that time we were playing in Achterlicht (Guus), The Covids (Sid), and Burlers (me), and there were plenty of shows where we’d run into each other. Around that same time I went through a break-up, wrote some songs about it...

What a pleasant surprise this is! One of the coolest bands of the 1990's have returned with a brand new 7" from Chaputa Records! The Seattle trio that were infamous for their rowdy, lo-fi, blown out rock n roll have emerged from their, according to my calculations, 28 year hibernation! This band released both of their LP's on the infamous Rip Off Records back in 1994 and 1997. And everyone knows you can't be some square stumbling off the street corner to be on this label! Label honcho Greg Lowery has vision and high standards for god's sake! After all, Rip Off Records #001 was a Statics 7"! The band also released a grip of other great 7"'s on killer labels like Super Electro, Dead Beat, Estrus, Empty and Wallabies.   Now fast forward almost three decades later and The Statics are ready to pick up where they left off? Let's hope so because the world desperately needs a rock n roll band of this caliber to ease our many sorrows. You'd think after...

Shock Treatment: So Rich, you moved from Orlando to Portland back in 2020. Was this difficult for you doing this in the middle of the pandemic and was there a particular reason you chose Portland? Rich: The decision to move to Portland was the age old scenario… I met a girl. We had been long distance dating and at the tail end of 2019 I decided to move. I quit my job on New Year’s Eve, sold my van in the beginning of January, and started the painful process of breaking the news to my bandmates, my family, my roommate, my friends, and my partners in my wrestling promotion (Mayhem On Mills). I had lived in Florida for my entire life and was very involved in Orlando so it felt like breaking up with an entire town. It was hard but I was ready for a change. Golden Pelicans had an Australian tour booked for March 2020, April was going to be the big two year anniversary show for Mayhem on Mills, I was going to book a huge going away party at my neighborhood watering hole/ home venue Will’s ...

Wax Head are a group of young British malcontents that have been going around causing the good and decent people of Manchester to not sleep out of fear. Causing them to lock their doors and windows when the sun goes down, and wait up for their children at night to ensure their safe return home. The wolves are out in the city at night and looking to feed their unquenchable cursed hunger. The band has been around since roughly 2023 or so, they released an EP titled Salt Fat Acid Heat and a live LP Live in Salford  in 2024. After that it's been a crumb trail of digital singles leading up to this, their first studio LP. Like mischievous serial killers, Wax Head were been dropping clues on where all the bodies are hidden. What laid waiting for us at the end of that trail definitely delivered!  GNAT is actually a breath of intoxicating air, something to actually get excited about in the rapidly expanding world of dark and desperate rock n roll. Notice I didn't say "fresh"...

The Fall-Outs were a brilliant garage rock n' roll band out of Seattle that were around in some form or another from the mid 1980's to the early 2000's. My admiration grew even more for this band when I found out they got their name from the title of the last episode of the 1960's British TV series The Prisoner.  The band uniquely combined Beatle's like harmonies, melodic 60's jangle pop riffs, all backed by The Who's explosive energy and wrapped up in The Jam's unparallelled coolness. The Fall-Outs was started by singer and guitarist David Holmes and bass player Shannon McConnel who were old high school pals. Later they added drummer Dino Lencioni who answered a "drummer wanted" flyer that was strategically placed in "The Who" section of a local record store. Holmes and Lencioni remained as the only constants throughout the band's lifespan. McConnel was in and out, being replaced by various other bass players including Mudhoney...

Well look at this, the fabled Intensified Chaos out of Berkeley, CA is FINALLY getting an official release thanks to the brilliant folks over at Nausea Records. The band whose flames were fanned by folks like Maximum Rock N Roll's Tim Yohannan and Dead Kennedys frontman Jello Biafra. When you listen to this release, you'll know why this band is so revered and still talked about to this day in certain dingy, unlit corners.  This release compiles the band's demo recordings and some live stuff recorded back in the band's short lifespan from 1982 through roughly 1984. This record sounds amazing, including the live stuff which captures the band in their purest and most brutal form. You can almost feel the weight in the room as Intensified Chaos unleash their brand of lawless punk rock like an avalanche on the crowd. The band played shows with Dead Kennedys, Angelic Upstarts, Bad Religion, Killing Joke and many more legendary acts of the time.  Musically, the first comparison...

Interview conducted with guitarist  Chance Hutchison Shock Treatment: Who is currently in Private Lives and what does everyone do in the band?  Chance: Chance - Guitar, Jackie - Vocals, Josh - Bass and Andrew - Drums  Shock Treatment: Tell me about the origin story of the band. How did you all meet and decide to form the band? Chance: Jackie and I are married and during the covid lockdown we started demoing songs for fun. In Quebec, we were very restricted and there was a curfew of 5pm or something wild. We got bored and started writing songs together. We both came from playing in other bands but had never worked together on anything. It was a bit of a happy accident.  Salt of the Earth by Private Lives Shock Treatment: Did you have a particular sound and feel in mind when starting this band or did it just gel once you all started playing together?  Chance: We’ve gone through many different vibes! Haha! When the band initially started the influences,...

I know in this little "vs" feature I've done every now and again, I will usually  review two different bands or two different records that somewhat go together, at least in my mind they do. But this time however, I want to write about the same band's two LP's since they both came out so close to one another and both seem to kind of tell a story. Maybe not a linear story in the traditional sense, but definitely a tale told in two parts, in spirit and sentiment. A story that is relatable to most in these recent, turbulent times that is easy to wrap your head and emotions around. Or if you choose not to go down that particular rabbit hole, look at it in terms of an impossible struggle, loss, and desperation that is sure to ignite a time most refer to as the apocalypse. The songs on these two records are the hymns of devastation, there's no mistaken that. You can choose how close you want to let them in.    Disposable Dogs - S/T LP (No Front Teeth Reco...