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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

The Slow Death

No Light To See
Don’t Sing Records (2025)

Few bands have as fitting a name as The Slow Death. They play forlorn, self-deprecating punk that’s heavily influenced by lonesome country. The music itself is more driving and punchy, but many of the lyrics would fit just well in a somber old-timey country ballad. It’s forceful music that punches inward instead of at The Man. The first song is … Read more

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

Additional album reviews

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 … Read more

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

News headlines browse all

A second TV Cult

Posted in Records on May 24, 2025

TV Cult, the post-punk band from Cologne, Germany, has announced their sophomore album this fall, Industry, when the band will release via Flight 13 Records on Oct. 10. The lead single is "Communion," “The theme o[being] the idea of rejecting a belief system by calling it out for being vacuous … Read more

Sonor Dolorosa and Aurora EP visualizer

Posted in Bands on May 24, 2025

Sonor Dolorosa released a limited bonus EP, Aurora, in tandem with the release of Mond. Now, the band has returned to that EP, issuing a widespread, re-recorded format. Aurora is … Read more

The Rot Beneath Grand Cadaver

Posted in Records on May 23, 2025

Swedish death metal band Grand Cadaver is back, sharing the single and title track off their new EP, The Rot Beneath. The EP will release on August 15 on Majestic … Read more

Minus The Bear + the reissue

Posted in Records on May 23, 2025

Minus the Bear, already planning a 20th anniversary tour for their album Menos El Oso, has added an upcoming vinyl reissue on 2XLP with a 24-page photo journal, coming courtest … Read more

Sedonis from Merzbow

Posted in Records on May 23, 2025

The ever-inventive Merzbow has a new album coming out in June, Sedonis, available June 27 via Signal Noise. The Tokyo-based artist has been releasing music until the Merzbow name since … Read more

Worldwide Blood Incantation

Posted in Tours on May 22, 2025

Blood Incantation will hit the road in North America in support of their latest album, Absolute Elsewhere () on a tour that includes two unique stops: The Caverns in Pelham, … Read more

A pair of Les Lullies

Posted in Records on May 22, 2025

Les Lullies, of France, has a new live album: Une nuit à Leipzig, released on the same day as a new 7" with Split System from Australia. Both release on … Read more

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