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Caterwaul 2025

Music • May 13, 2025

Each year in late May, the 4-day party and noise-rock festival Caterwaul takes over multiple venues in Minneapolis. It’s a stacked lineup this year, to put it mildly, with each night’s headliners FACS, Young Widows, Naw, Pissed Jeans, and Uniform -- and that’s leaving a ton of other great bands off the list in the name of keeping our intro short. SPB teamed up with organizers Conan Neutron, Rainer Fronz, and Melanie Thomas to get a feel for the fest. In addition to the bands named already, hear from Deaf Club, Buildings, Kowloon Walled City, Violenteer, Unstable Shapes, Something Is Waiting, Upright Forms, and Tonguecutter. -- Must-see bands at Caterwaul 2025 Matt K. (Pissed Jeans) Wipes are fronted by Allentown legend Ray Gurz, gotta peep their set. Find a big enough piece of trash and he'll do a skateboard trick on it. Uniform feel like bruthers from different muthers even though I only see those guys in person like once every four years at this point... dying to see them play their last album, it's their best yet. Deaf Club seem like a real hoot, getting accidentally kicked in the face by Justin Pearson is the hardcore equivalent of the Pope dabbing ash on your forehead (RIP). Big'n would be great to catch, understated legends for sure. Justin Pearson (Deaf Club) Obviously, Pissed Jeans as they are one of the coolest modern bands around. I'm also looking forward to seeing the homies Young Widows, Fotocrime, Conan Neutron, and Uniform. However … Read more

Ilya Arbatman (Rotary Club)

Book store co-owner

Interviews / Don't Quit Your Day Job • May 13, 2025

There are a lot of misconceptions about the life of a musician. Most musicians have day jobs – and not … Read more

Guest List: Steven Fairweather (Gob) – The Gateway And The Getaway

Music / The Set List • May 13, 2025

Steven Fairweather is a Canadian musician, radio show host, and comic book writer. He is best known as the bassist … Read more

Chuck Ragan

Fly fishing tour guide

Interviews / Don't Quit Your Day Job • April 14, 2025

How an artist spends their time by day will influence the creative process at night. In Don’t Quit Your Day … Read more

Latest album reviews — browse all

Golden Shitters

Brutal Planet
Ugly Pop (2025)

People in the indie punk scene in Canada can usually be linked by six degrees of separation. I’ve never met Golden Shitter guitarist Matt Ellis IRL but I became acquainted with him when he played in the short lived Plastic Heads with Jon Sharron. Having played with everyone from Chokehold to Brutal Knights, along with the criminally underrated Valley Boys, … Read more

Raging Nathans

Room For One More
Rad Girlfriend Records (2025)

The Raging Nathans are a unique band. They play '90s influenced punk that checks a ton of familiar boxes. It will appeal to fans of the old "EpiFat" sound, as it's been pejoratively called... but they seamlessly add a new element of emotion that's often carries blunt, harsh and personal emotional truths in their songs. Sometimes it's subtle, but usually … Read more

Rodeo Boys

Junior
Don Giovanni (2025)

Rodeo Boys play in the punk circuit but there's so much going on in their music. I'll broadly summarize it as guitar music. This description, of course, might be biased from my first impression when I caught the last 5 minutes of a set at Fest which was basically just Tiff Hannay shredding on the floor in an impressive close … Read more

Errth

Errth
Uncle Style Records (2025)

What makes a gruff vocal melodic punk band stand out? That's the question I'm asking myself as I listen to Errth's debut on repeat. I've been playing this record for probably a month straight and I dig it. It checks the heart-on-sleeve style I enjoy but I'm struggling to figure out why, exactly. I think on this, it's the tones … Read more

Additional album reviews

1186

Histeria
Drunken Sailor (2025)

If you read enough press releases, you start questioning if you even know what genre names mean. Post-punk has been one of the most abused terms of the past 2-3 … Read more

Li Jianhong

Shuttle Raven of the Dream
Utech (2025)

Li Jianhong's philosophy surpasses the direct relationship of a musician with their instrument of choice. Instead, Li has advocated for Environment Improvisation, where the urge to create and improvise is … Read more

Deseos Primitivos

Lineas de Muerte
Shadowplay Records (2025)

Some reviews are written after years of listening to a band and knowing nearly everything about them. Sometimes I listen to a record on repeat for weeks before I even … Read more

The Men

Buyer Beware
Fuzz Club Records (2025)

I wanna say the first time I heard Brooklyn NY’s The Men was back in 2010, ironically around the time I moved back to Vancouver, Canada from Brooklyn. I don’t … Read more

Detention

Dead Rock ‘N’ Rollers
Left For Dead Records (2024)

Life ain’t so easy in the detention home- Dead Boys. Emerging from the underbelly of Jersey, made up primarily of three brethren. Raised on rock and roll and sipping from … Read more

Nightfreak

Nightfreak
Big Neck Records (2024)

Semi-feral punk outfit NightFreak are back with a self-titled LP filled with breakneck riffs and 70s metal bombast. The Chicago group haven’t slowed down since 2022’s Speed Trials but they … Read more

Death By Unga Bunga

Raw Muscle Power
Jansen Records (2025)

I’m pretty sure I became aware of Mike Krol when The Whiffs posted about playing some shows with him. Krol is a bit of an anomaly. Not only is he … Read more

200 Words Or Less

Celebration Summer

A Little Less Numb
Den of Wax (2024)

I get a lot of music here at SPB and, unfortunately, my memory isn’t perfect. But I consider it a good sign when my first thought on hearing a new … Read more

News headlines — browse all

SPB featured stream: Tonguecutter - Minnow

Posted in Records on May 1, 2025

Our featured stream of the month comes from Tonguecutter, whose debut full-length Minnow releases on May 2 on Learning Curve Records. The band is a trio from Muskegon, MI, with a sound that is heavy and aggressive, which contrarily both sharp and blunt. It’s no accident that the first song … Read more

The return of Pygmy Lush

Posted in Records on May 17, 2025

Pygmy Lush is back in action, announcing the release of a 2016-recorded album that was unreleased until 2025. The new album, Totem, will release on July 11 via Persistent Vision … Read more

Thor & Friends with Heathen Spirituals

Posted in Records on May 17, 2025

Thor & Friends, the minimal orchestra project from Thor Harris (Swans), has released the new album Heathen Spirituals, out as of yesterday May 16 via Joyful Noise Recordings. Their latest … Read more

The Ultrabomb 5000 West Coast Tour

Posted in Tours on May 16, 2025

Punk trio Ultrabomb has announced an official lineup change and a run of west coast dates. The band released Dying to Smile in 2024 (DC-Jam Records) and have been playing … Read more

May you have a Gentlemen Rogues May

Posted in Tours on May 15, 2025

Gentlemen Rogues are back, announcinga new 7" “Half Empty, Half Fool,” which will be sold exclusively on the Austin, TX band's tour. The b-side is a cover of "Children of … Read more

Smug Bros coming at ya

Posted in Records on May 15, 2025

Columbus, OH smooth rockers Smug Brothers premiered the single "Paper Jane" today from their upcoming Stuck on Beta album, out June 6 on Anyway Records, paired with a nonalbum b-side, … Read more

A new Kepi Ghoulie, mon

Posted in Records on May 15, 2025

Kepi Ghoulie just released a new limited 12" maxi EP, a 4-track reggae record dubbed Start Me Up, a collaboration with Agent Jay (The Slackers), with covers of songs originally … Read more

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