As the light fades from your eyes, the world as you once knew it begins to seem like a distant memory. All the love you won,  unfulfilled  promises, and unmet achievements mean absolutely nothing anymore. Memory comes to you in quick sudden flashes, random and violent. It is at this moment that you start to realize you are passing from one realm to the next. The walls close in and a manic desperation fires through all four of your limbs like lightning strikes. It's about now that you start to realize you aren't passing into the storied empire of ivory and gold that was fed to you as a child. This place you start to behold feels cold and paralyzing. Similar are the unnerving emotions Excessive Blood extracts from within your psyche with this record. These four songs on the band's new 7" Porcelain Doll  emit intense and twisted reverberations of panic, loss, and regret.  EXCESS BLOOD - PORCELAIN DOLL by Excess Blood EXCESS BLOOD - PORCELAIN DOLL by Excess Blood Ex...

Automatic Lovers are a four piece punk rock n' roll band out of Madrid, emphasis and underline the "punk" in that. These guys reach back into the musical ethos and grab their influences from only the meanest bands and the most venomous songs. This is Automatic Lover's debut LP after releasing an explosive 7" last year on Wap Shoo Wap Records, same label that's putting out this equally as searing LP. It's records like this one and the Sick Shooter's LP that came out earlier this year, that prove Wap Shoo Wap are a label to watch closely.  Automatic Lovers by Automatic Lovers Automatic Lovers by Automatic Lovers Now close your eyes, plant both feet on the ground and ball your fists up as tight as you can. Because this record emits a blast capable of leaving an impact crater of extinction level size right under your feet. If you want to get a taste, think Dead Boys, Slaughter and The Dogs, with a little Hanoi Rocks prowl and you've got an alternate r...

Interview conducted with singer/songwriter Andrew Cline Shock Treatment: Let's start off by telling me who all are in Astrologer at this very moment as we speak? Andrew: Starting with the tough questions! This one is always hard to answer… people pretty much view Astrologer as my project because I’m the songwriter, or Candy and I, since we are sort of a duo! That said, at any given time, we have several other people I would consider members of the group in some fashion. Wyatt Blair, Don Bolles, Joel Tyler Wall, Blake Garmon, and Nick Florence have all been involved with us both live and in our recorded output intermittently since we began. Shock Treatment: What is the Astrologer conception story? How did you guys meet and decide to play music together? Andrew: I started Astrologer after my last band broke up. I played one show under that name in 2020 with two of my friends in Phoenix, Andrew Jemsek and Eddie Horn. Then, the pandemic happened, and it changed the trajectory of the en...

Collaps are a German melodic street punk/oi! band formed in 2022. This here is their second album that came out in late April. Their first record, Executor came out in 2023 on Mendeku Diskak. Musically it falls close to fellow German punk band Oxymoron. Both bands play melodic, hard hitting punk anthems with some mean, rousing hooks. But Collaps throw in a pinch of Motorhead and a dash of Cocksparrer in the mix to make sure the roof of your house gets thoroughly blown off!   Getting Used To The Dirt by Collaps Getting Used To The Dirt houses 11 stellar street anthems about living in a world that is quickly being shrouded in darkness. The first song "Cokehead Politics" paints the picture of a society in chaos and our hypocritical leaders seem to either do nothing or turn their backs completely on their people, further driving the nails into the coffin of society. Some of the other songs like "You Don't Get Shit", "Grinding", and "I Think We're ...

Shock Treatment: Lets start things off by telling me who’s all currently in the Imploders demolition unit: Mike: Lineup has always been the same since we formed in 2020. We got Joey on guitar, Todd on vocals, Curt on drums, and myself (Mike) on bass. Shock Treatment: What is the IMPLODERS origin story? How do you guys all know each other and how did you decide to come together and start the band? Mike: Joey and I had played in two bands together prior. Pink Wine and Teen Archer. He was one of the first homies I made when I started training into the city from Ajax to play in bands in Toronto. So we were well acquainted many years prior to starting IMPLODERS. Todd I had met through his previous band - Average Times. A garage punk band based out of Ottawa. I used to co-run a record label called Hosehead Records with my best friend Patrick (drummer of Chain Whip, another band I’m currently playing bass with) and we released Average Times first LP. So I slowly developed a friendship wit...

This band is from Texas but it sounds like they should be from somewhere colder and foggier. A place where at a certain time of night, the shadows come alive and dance in the realm of the living. Perhaps centuries of fallen souls grow restless and are beginning to channel their despair into the vessels that inhabit the area. In hopes of reaching the outside world and communicating their woe and agony to anyone who will listen and take pity. This I feel could be what Nocturnal Prose are projecting through their music. Through this other dimensional pain, come lessons and warnings to us, the living here and now.  OUR MI$ERY IS THEIR CURRENCY by Nocturnal Prose I wouldn't say Nocturnal Prose is a full on goth or death rock band, but they certainly cut in heavy slices of it into their sound salad. The rest of it is sprinkled with what remind me of darker new wave like Red Lorry Yellow Lorry or The Chameleons. The singer has a voice that sounds like it's echoing back to you from ins...

Caspa, for those that are unaware, is basically Spanish for dandruff. It is also a San Antonio based neurotic, synth punk band that could care less about me, you or any little white flakes that may fall on your crusty black band shirts! Caspa is comprised of members from other local groups such as Amygdala, Ill Informed, Nocturnal Prose, Faulty Cognitions W.I.M.P, Yolquetza and Pallbexar. This is their debut 12" EP and it's out now on Total Agency Records, in fact this is Total Agency #001! I guess good things can still grow and flourish in these days of bitter air and salinated earth.  CASPA- I hate Caspa EP by TOTAL AGENCY Caspa the band are hardly little white flakes blowing in the summer breeze, being brushed off with ease. In fact, if we're going to compare this band with any kind of epidural condition, I'd say they're more like a sun burn. Looking to sear and sever the nerve endings of modern society and our bloated, privileged lives as we know it. They'r...

Mark Death, known for his stint with no frills, punked up, rocket fueled rock n' roll bands like The Hot Lz's and The Halfways has assembled a new crew to help take down the sterile institution known as modern rock n' roll and restore it to its former sweaty, leather clad glory! The Plane Crash also features guitarist Rich Peterson from Somerset Meadows, Chuck Roast formerly of Minty Rosa on bass and drummer John Chilson of The Hoods. This 7" actually came out last year on Mark's own label, Hate Street Records but it just recently popped up on my radar and I thought it was just too good to be buried by something as trivial as time. This 7" is the follow up to this Portland band's previous LP Nostalgia For The Gutter , also out on Hate Street Records.  The Plane Crash play a mean brand of boozed up, stripped down rock n' roll like The Dead Boys The Joneses, or Radio Birdman once did in a different age. Like the bands I just mentioned, The Plane Crash al...

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...