It was about a year ago I discovered Unseemlier, shortly before the release of I Have A Screw Loose, Somewhere. It's a wordy title and a somewhat unwieldy band name -- and I’ll use that “a lot going on in a little space” metaphor even further to talk about the band's "heavy emo / soft punk" sound. It's singsong at times, riff heavy at others. It's contemplative music in a scene that is often best known for its aggression. It's an outlier but, yet, it just fits. It just makes sense. We caught up with singer/guitarist Mike to talk about how all the pieces fit together. They just announced a repress of I Have A Screw Loose, Somewhere (Sell The Heart/Little Rocket) and will be playing at Pouzza Fest and Midwest Friends Fest in May. Scene Point Blank: I know how I've described your sound in a couple of writeups, but you really walk the line between a lot of subsets of the punk scene. Where do you think Unseemlier fits -- how do you describe your sound? Mike: I have a hard time with this, but I always have with any band I’ve ever been in. It’s always a funny interaction trying to describe it to a co-worker or someone not in the “punk world.” I called us “Heavy Emo/Soft Punk" and it kinda became the description. What I meant by it was: it’s emo with heavier subject matter lyrically and more palm muting/chugging on guitar... orrr it's less … Read more
It feels like a lifetime ago when Mitt Romney referenced a "war on women" during the 2012 presidential cycle. A … Read more
The Arrivals have been a band for 30 years -- though they’ve made us wait 16 years for the follow-up … Read more
There’s no easing into Next Stop… Dead Stop… No buildup, no warning just impact. Fayetteville, Arkansas’ Burned Up Bled Dry return from decades of dormancy with a debut full-length that feels less like a comeback and more like a long-awaited detonation. Formed in 1996 and tied to that gnarlier mid-south hardcore lineage alongside bands like His Hero Is Gone and … Read more
Most people treat the Blue Ash story like a collection of "almosts" and they are sure missing the point.Almost famous, almost signed, almost the American Beatles. Forget that, erase that fable from your feeble grey matter. Dinner at Mr. Billy’s—straight from the Peppermint Productions vaults—proves they weren't just "lost" contenders. They were the engine room of the Rust Belt. While … Read more
There’s something inherently appealing about a record that doesn’t try to hide what a band actually sounds like. DCxPC Live & Dead, Vol. 3 captures Luxury Teeth in two very different settings and more importantly, shows that neither version feels like a compromise. Side A, the “Live” portion, was recorded at the Ottobar in Baltimore while opening for GBH, and … Read more
This record is a sprawling, smoke-covered, raging slab of feedback. After decades of lurking in the Bristol shadows, The Heads haven’t just returned with Yourprettyplaceisgoingtohell; they’ve brought the sound of the walls closing in as fingernails scratch at brick. It’s a dense, suffocating, and majestic mess of a record—a jagged middle finger to the sanitized, algorithm-friendly "psych" scene. I like … Read more
The archival hunt for the "missing links" of first-wave California punk usually leads through a trail of grainy handbill Xeroxes and tape traders' overdubbed copies. But with The Flyboys, the … Read more
Hardcore doesn’t need reinventing; just needs conviction. On Self Evident Truth, Baltimore’s The S.E.T. come out swinging with a debut EP that’s built on exactly that. It’s got groove, urgency, … Read more
National Anthem is the second album from The Sleeveens, a Nashville, TN band fronted by an Irishman. The band play that perfect mix of protopunk and classic rock 'n' roll … Read more
The archival hunt for the "missing links" of first-wave California punk usually leads through a trail of grainy handbill Xeroxes and tape traders' overdubbed copies. But with The Flyboys, the … Read more
Growing up is rarely cinematic in real time but when you look back, it can feel mythic. On Year Of Summers, New Jersey’s Latchkey Kids frame heartbreak, identity, and grief … Read more
It's our pleasure to share Midnight City, the third album from Austin, TX based Drakulas. The band features members of some well-known bands, namely Riverboat Gamblers and Rise Against, but this project takes a new turn with protopunk meets early new wave that describes a dark underbelly of a world … Read more
Public Opinion have announced their new album, The Curse of Public Opinion -- Available August 7th via SideOneDummy. You can check out their new track, "Balloon Man Running" below: Read … Read more
Taking Back Sunday will be embarking on a full US Tour this Summer-Fall with special guests Thrice and Saves the Day. Beginning in Nashville, TN on September 19th, the tour … Read more
Andy Blade (Eater) has released a new EP of songs co-written with Brian James (The Damned), a 3-song collection called Ain't That A Shame, out April 24 on Antenna Records … Read more
As the band mentioned at the end of 2025, Middle-Aged Queers is back with a covers album, Greatest Hits, a collection of punked-up versions of songs that originally span a … Read more
Powerviolence band It's A Setup, form Spokane, WA, has a self-titled 7" out this month -- coming May 8 via Two Two One Press. Formed in 2024, the 7" is … Read more
Vancouver's d.b.s hsa a new live album out June 26, One Last Chance For A Bad Dance - Live at Seylynn Hall. The release comes 25 years after the band's … Read more
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