Zoli Teglas circa 1998, Tramps NYC

When word dropped a few months back that Ignite front man Zoli Teglas would be picking the vocal reigns for Pennywise I got a excited. I was weened on both Pennywise and Ignite during my formative years (1994-98) and to call them two of my favorite bands is a bit of an understatement. While it is sad to see Jim Lindberg leave Pennywise, Zoli is hands down the best real singer in punk rock today. I don’t think anyone can match his pipes–he’s like the Bruce Dickinson of hardcore.

I got the chance to chat with Zoli while he was in the studio with Pennywise finishing up demo vocals for a new record. The first thing I did was mark out because I thought I’d have to pry hard to find out any news of a new record. Instead he was very forthright and excited to talk about his new day job fronting one of the biggest punk bands in the world.

So what does it feel like to be the singer of Pennywise? I assume you were a fan of theirs too back in the day.
It’s kinda surreal. I was at my house in Budapest, Hungary and I was trying to call a friend of mine in Australia, and I accidentally called Fletcher. So I talked to him and he told me that they were having some problems and Jim was quitting the band. He told me that they were going to be looking for singers and I should come back to America. A couple months later I’m on stage with them.

It just seems like it fits. It’s not like one of those things where you jump for joy, but it seems like it was meant to be. We have the same background musically. The only difference is that my voice is a lot higher and I write in a different style. The cool thing is that the new songs we’re writing are a mix of my voice and the Pennywise style of songwriting. Read the rest of this entry »

Horribly Wrong
C’mon and Bleed With
Eradicator Records/Shit in Can Records

The Horribly Wrong is a band almost lost to the annals of obscure midwestern punk history.  They were active for maybe three years (2002-05), played maybe 20 shows and barely strayed from their home base of Bloomington, IN.  They put out a 7” EP and sold through two pressings (the first in three days, the second in five).  Every time I would visit friends in Bloomington, I would just miss a Horribly Wrong show by a day, hearing how crazy and drunk and out of control both the band and the crowd were (mind you, this was a time when Plan-It-X Records ruled Bloomington’s scene with their posi-core folk-punk blah.)  Then, in the summer of 2005, the Horribly Wrong called it quits.  Band members moved on, guess we all do.  I was fortunate enough to get one of the 70 or so CDR copies made of the album but I never thought it would get an official release.

For the longest time, I described C’mon and Bleed With to friends as “the best goddamn album you’ll never hear.”  Eighteen tracks of lo-fi garage punk that, if recorded in 1994 instead of 2004, could easily have been on Crypt or Rip Off Records.  Think the Misfits meets the Mummies.  There’s barely a break between songs and the energy stays high throughout.  Favorites, in no particular order: “Blood All Over My Body,” “Rogers Street,” “When I Say Evil” and “Attack of the Human Eating Robots.”

Bloomington-based Eradicator Records teamed up with French label Shit in Can Records to finally release C’mon and Bleed With.  Don’t miss your chance this time, kids.  It’s super limited – 500 copies on 180-gram vinyl (100 on blood red vinyl and 400 on black) – with beautiful silk-screened covers.  For the technologically advanced, there is a digital download card included with the LP.

Punk rock fans should be really stoked about their guitar options right now. When I was a kid, the only signature model guitars I could get were by cock rockers like Joe Satriani (and they cost a small fortune). Today, kids can pick up guitars by the dudes from Blink 182, Joe Strummer, Billie Joe Armstrong, and now even Tim Armstrong.

Truth be told, it’s hard to justify a signature guitar for a frontman that hardly strums more than four chords while bouncing around stage, but the actual axe is stunning. It’s a G5191 by Gretsch—pretty much the gold standard of hollowbody guitars. These guys (now owned by Fender) have been producing quality pieces for decades and gorgeous signature models for Brian Setzer and Rev Horton Heat. The downside? Price. This bad boy is retailing for $1,150—a steal for Gretsch fans, but not so nice for poor punks. Read the rest of this entry »