It's the end of December and a few shows coming up that look real good. First off, the last ever Once a Month Punk? That can't be. I hope it's not true. But I think it's because of the owner of Irsh Rose Saloon is gonna be retiring? That was the home of OAMP since it left Tsunamis due to that whole building being closed down...and it's still there, a somewhat eyesore on Kuhio. I hope that something comes up for it. And becuse of OAMP, I got to see many bands for the first time, and Mistermeaner a whole bunch of times. Like a lot, like I lost count how many times I've seen Mistermeaner. And thankful for every set. I got to see Dicks of Doom, Old Habits Die Hard, Pimpbot, 2Face4, the Knumbskulls, Load tha Chamber, Grapefruit, Hiriz, and like choke more. And that's just at the top of my head. If I see a flier, I'm confident enough to confirm if I've been to a particular one or not. Cheers!

Another happening this weekend. Satsang, playing three shows in Hawaii. He's originally from Montana. Acts like these rarely come through, and I think it's usually a good opportunity for locals to check out. Some soulful acoustic vibes. 

Oh snap. I feel like this next show came out of no where, but glad it's happening. Ten Things I Hate About You be playing next week. Last time I saw them was a couple years ago. And it was Soon's last show. Feeble and Aswang played too. I remember this drunk guy getting tossed out. What was he doing? Any way. This would be a delight. And the lineup of bands is solid too. And that's next weekend. 

I screenshoted all these flyers. Credit due to the creators of these dope flyers. 

So I went to see the Get Up Kids a few months back. And it was pretty stellar. Local band, Turning Roots, opened up the show. Missed the band's set entirely, got there a bit late because dinner was pushed back. But it was dope nonetheless. 

A few shows happening this week. I know, I know, I can't go to ALL OF THEM, but I can try. OR, just go to one of them. 

I haven't been to one of these events, well, not EMO KIDS. Is that different than Emo Social? Not sure. But Summer Street playing and that's always a good time. Very solid pop-punk. I still have yet to hear the band member's Green Day tribute band. And of course, a couple members do participate in Goat Punishment, a very solid Weezer tribute band. 
Now three different events happening on Saturday. 

In-store performances are always fun to go to, especially when it's in celebration of a record release! An acoustic performance by Party Foul inside of Hungry Ear Records this Saturday. An early show too! 

The Elevations are gonna embark on their first tour in the mainland. I think it's for a handful of shows, and they gonna be bringing their unique 3-part harmony of island funk and soul. And Hell Caminos gonna be opening up. Wounds is such a good album. 

Been wanting to check out Awa Hou Kave Lounge for a bit now, I know they've had a bunch of open mics (and on a Monday too!). I made it to one once, but I think they were all ready done for the night. Or in between sets. My girlfriend and I got to the venue and everyone was cruising, so we got food instead. The venue is on S. King st. on the left side after 7-11 if you're driving towards Market City. It looks like a solid lineup. Been wanting to catch the homie, Mophead, live for a bit now (he does Post-Music Radio on KTUH, Friday's, 12pm to 3pm). It would be my first time seeing Over Grey, although, it's members of Faux de Tail, who I got to check out at Sailor Jerry in 2024. Dreamy indie-pop that's magical and poppy. And Feeble gonna be playing. They posted on IG that's it's gonna be the band's last show for a LONG while. I want to hear shamowowza live one more time then. Please. 

I won a pair of tickets to see the The Get Up Kids in September! Pretty stoked about that, thank you to bamp project for that. This would be my second time seeing them live, the first being the last time the band was here back in 2019, same venue. 

April was filled with lots of good shows. 

Went to see Chrisette Michele with the love of my life. Eating dinner (and not just french fries) during someone's set is still a little weird to me, but not that night. The food was top notch and the set was amazing. TEAM PRIME RIB. Michele's set was packed with lots of positive vibes, soulful gems and R+B jams. Great service from the staff too. ​

Picked this up recently, I've always been a big blink-182 fan. Not sure what I want to learn more about Mark and blink-182 because so far, it's stuff that I've heard or read about all ready. Granted, I'm still early on in the book, right now I'm at the part about the Josie video shoot. Reading about Scott and how that all went down just kind of confirmed everything I read about that up until this point; pretty bummed to read how that went down. But it seems that the moment blink started, it was just a steady ascent to rock stardom; not to forget all the work that went into the band up until that point, happily, it all paid off in the end, and still the band gets to create awesome music. 

Once-a-month-punk was a blast as always. As you can see, the lineup below. I got to see John Doe and Wally Brando play for the first time, and Yolo Ono too, when she stepped in to do vocals during Wally Brando's set. Full Send and the Granite Saints, solid as always. 

Went to check out a punk crust and shoe gaze show. Fastidium, YUH, Lesbian Dads and Violent Beach played (in that order), a lot of overlapping members and it was Lesbian Dads' last show too. It was a solid set, the crowd vibed and lots of good energy in the room. 

Lots of cool shows coming up.

This May 4th at Harbors Vintage, ASWANG, THIRD DEGREE, LOAD tha CHAMBER, and WEIGHT OF SIN. ​That's going to be a fun one. 

SWITCH turning one, show at 3rd Space, May 10, alongside, MARA BLOOM, and GAUZE from Maui. 

Gonna be a fun month. Then summer starts, then summer school. PEACE. 

Just a few things I'm looking foward to:

CHRISETTE MICHELE at BLUE NOTE Hawaii on APRIL 12. 

I've been to Blue Note only a couple times, the last time was last year to see Kaleo Wassman and friends. It was a good show, I got to see Kaleo's dad do Pepper renditions and Wayne Lothian (bassist of The Beat) play too. 

My girlfriend got me into Chrisette Michele. She mentioned it was a pretty stellar show last time Michele was here. Looking forward to this!

On April 26, YUH, FASTIDIUM, VIOLENT BEACH, and LESBIAN DADS be playing at Anna's. That is going to be a fun show for sure.

A bunch of other shows happening too, later this month and in the next few months, which have already been announced. But I can't go to ALL OF THEM. *sigh

     The debut record for Oakland trio, Facet, is a solid 10 tracks of post-punk/post-hardcore noise rock. Formed in 2019, the band early on wrote and released an EP titled, Duck, eight songs of noise mayhem. On the new record, they expand on that noise and more. The bass guitar is such a driving force and bears most of the weight on a lot of the songs. It’s thick sounding and fuzzy, a bit sludgy, but really wonderful to hear. The guitars rip through lots of dissonant riffs, noisy feedback, and nice heavy tones (Automatic, Triple Check and Yoga). And it’s persistent from track to track. The album plays like a warm drive on an empty highway, weaving in and out of ambient melodies and aggressive tempo changes (Bury and Smong). The vocals are screaming out words, but they’re harsh enough to keep you interested, and usually followed by long instrumental breaks. A cool chaotic sax plays in the closer, Clothier. A solid debut for sure, for this Oakland trio. 

​The album, facet, is set to be released this Friday, 08/11/2023, through Hex Records. ​

LINKS
Hex Records
​face BANDCAMP

03/04/2023
Blood Money EP release Show. 
Bands that played:
YUH
Smooth Taka
Badass Noise
Blood Money
Aswang
The Ala Wai Virus. 

This was the first local show I went to in a long while. I can't recall the last one I went to...but, the lineup was too good to pass up. 

     This is my first time seeing YUH w/their newest singer. Other affiliated acts include Lice, It all returns to nothing, Violent Beach, and likely choke more. Of course, I arrived at the show midway through what may have been the bands' first or second song. Great set from these grindcore enthusiasts, a really tight onslaught of sharp musicianship and violent vocals. 

     This would be my first time watching Smooth Taka perform. His sound consists of pop/electonica, dreamy vocals and soothing beats. Pretty chill stuff, very enjoyable. He had a video playing in the background, I think he said he just looked up "VHS Japan," on youtube and played the first thing that popped up. 

     Badass Noise is a 4 piece punk/hardcore band from Big Island of Hawaii. I've seen them at least a couple times before...can't recall when...Municipal Waste? And another time before that. Affiliated project, Old Habits Die Hard (saw them once at a OAMP show in Waikiki) and possibly more? This is also when someone spilled their entire beer on me (all good yo) and a cool dude named John (from Waianae), who witnessed the incident, buying me a beer after the set. Thanks homie! 

     My first time seeing Blood Money perform, and I think it was only their 2nd show, first one was in, I think, December. Pretty dope set. I got to jump off the stage and all I got was floor (LOL). All good tho, but I think security had to run up stage and stop people from doing that shit, I think it got a bit rowdy, all good tho. No physical release of the EP, but it's up on Bandcamp and other streaming services. Affiliated acts include the Darlingtons and Oceans Deep. 

     This would be my first time seeing Aswang play (you know what Aswang is? Look it up). Been listening to them for a bit now and catching some live sets online, so it was good to finally catch them live. Lots of energy in this band, and a pretty chaotic set too. Caught them a few times afterwards. Also, picked up a copy of their latest release on tape. Good stuff guys. Affiliated acts...I think get plenty.

     First time catching this band with this lineup and its new name, originally Drink from the Ala Wai. They brought the same energy as its original formation, a lot more lively and now with some dual guitar action. I think they have an album in the works. Looking forward to that. Keep listening to get infected. Affiliated acts...get plenty too, I think. 

     A new indie music compilation is out right now titled, Stop Making Cents, by CorpoRAT Records. The label launched in 2018 by Kris Martin as a way to help empower local musicians in the community. Based in Spokane, Washington, CorpoRAT is home to more than a handful of local Spokane artists which include: Indian Goat, Itchy Kitty, Bad Motivator, thrpii, Vanna Oh!, and Kung Fu Vinyl. Like past compilations such as the Punk-O-Rama series (Epitaph), the Fat series (Fat Wreck Chords), or the few titles from Nitro Records, Stop Making Cents features a dope set of tracks that make up the Spokane music scene. The comp is made up of six bands and 17 tracks. It features a wide range of sound covering a lot of ground with the noise of rock n' roll, punk rock, hardcore and hip-hop. This comp serves as a nice introduction to new indie music or a small peak into the world of CorpoRAT. Whatever your cup of tea, Stop Making Cents, will surely help you find your new favorite band.

Website - CorpoRAT Records

     The band is called ILS (pronounced ilz) and they are a 4-piece based in Portland, Oregon. They just debuted a track off of their upcoming album, Curse, set to be released July 4 this year. Pre-orders are up now on BANDCAMP. 
     Based on this first single only, I know this is going to be a banger of an album. It sounds heavy, loud and intense, just the way it should be for a group of noise rockers. 
     For fans of Jesus Lizard, Drive like Jehu, or Unsane. 

     I got to check out Feeble's album release show back in December. Also playing at the show were Grapefruit, Earl Grey and Soon. It was a dope show, Feeble played all the songs off the new album, my first time hearing any of the new stuff. I think they went to Maui the next day with Soon.
     The newest album is Growing Out of Touch, a flavorful mix of indie pop medleys coated in purple sticky punch and passion orange guava. It's as sweet as it sounds without any of the stickiness. The songs are laced with poppy hooks and spacey guitars, a constant upbeat of rock and pop jams. The lyrics have a common thread of staying indoors, sleeping in, and getting high – an almost daily routine for some people these days. This might be your survival guide to get you through the month. For any other day of the year, it's pop punk for the soul.  

     Once again, out of nowhere, some new music from the one and only Scott Sellers. You might know him from his previous projects, Rufio and Mercy Street, but as of late, he has been writing and releasing solo work. And it's amazing.
     This time though, he released a batch of acoustic renditions of tunes from his previous projects. The album is titled, unplugged, i suppose... A nice list of choice tracks too, as listed below:

1.Above Me (Perhaps, I Suppose... by Rufio)
2.Closure (The Judge, solo)
3.Being Strange (Being Strange, solo)
4.Don't Hate Me (EP, by Rufio)
5.Follow Me (MCMLXXXV, by Rufio)
6.One Slowdance (Perhaps, I Suppose... by Rufio)
7.Gravity (The Judge, solo)
8.The Grey (Let Me Live, by Mercy Street)
9.Road to Recovery (Perhaps, I Suppose... by Rufio)

     Sellers does another acoustic rendition of Above Me, the first one being released around 2007? It was up on Rufio's MySpace page for the longest time (this one), but it may have been the same version that appeared on a special edition 7” that was made specifically for the band's last show at The Glasshouse in 2007 (do copies of this 7” actually exist?). But it was a cool rendition of Above Me, complete with a toned down intro of the electric version. On unplugged, i suppose..., Sellers adds some strings/synth action to carry the bulk of the melodies and does so with all the songs that appear on the album. It's a warm addition to the songs and especially shines on One Slowdance (my personal favorite of the songs). The song Closure sounds like it was originally meant to be an acoustic song with its folk type leads and upbeat bass line. And speaking of bass lines, Don't Hate Me keeps that original bass riff on this album too (the bass line during the slow breakdown). It's all a nice new take on all these songs. And if you're familiar with the songs, and love the originals, you might appreciate all the subtle differences these new renditions have to offer. I know I do.