PUREHONEY 48 4 YEAR ISSUE!

Respectable Street Turns 28 When the apocalypse comes, we’re convinced Respectable Street will survive it. While the Walmarts of the world will be torched and looted, and hordes of zombies or cops (or zombie cops) will wrest control of society in a bloody coup, RSC will still be spinning underground vinyl, throwing cheesy proms and provocative burlesques, and playing host to the weirdest, darkest bands from across the country and beyond.

After all, Respectable Street is nothing if not a survivor. It was here before anything else, once the only destination between Orlando and Miami for touring bands bigger than bars and smaller than Jerry Only of The Misfits amphitheaters. Countless venues have shuttered amid too many recessions and quasi-recessions to recall, but RSC has withstood it all. And when it comes time to celebrate this enduring legacy, the club’s general manager, Allan Bowron, spares no expense, throwing one of the year’s most anticipated anniversary parties.

On August 29, Respectable Street will cheer 28 “Years of Oblivion”—a five-stage block party on Clematis Street that, appropriately enough, features 28 live bands.

Next year, Bowron will have to book 29; he’s been increasing the number of acts each year since he first booked the event seven years ago.

“I always start by finding a headliner and work from there,” Bowron says. “Once the headliner is booked, the rest of the bands book up fairly quickly. The biggest challenge is making every band happy with which stage they are playing, because not every band can be on the main stage.”

This year, the headliner is none other than The Misfits, who, with or without Glenn Danzig, continue to filter horror-film kitsch through a molten cauldron of punk rock, hardcore and heavy metal. Typical set lists push upwards of 40 tracks tracing back to 1978. The rest of lineup, performing on the outdoor main stage as well the RSC stage, RSC’s patio, and Longboards’ indoor and patio stages, consists of South Florida perennials like Astari Nite, Boxwood and Sweet Bronco, as well as a number of acts making their RSC Anniversary show debuts, such as Chaucher, Hypoluxo, Que Lastima, Johnny Raincloud and Golden Gun. The celebration on August 29 is free, and if you show up in time, so are the food and drinks: There will be an open bar between 8 and 9pm, and free pizza while it lasts. For the full lineup, visit Respectable Street on Facebook. I would suggest appreciating this event while it still exists, but who are we kidding—like a character in a Misfits song, RSC will never die. ~ John Thomason

The Lovely Bad Things The Southern California punk scene that bubbled up in the late 1970s with the likes of Agent Orange and The Germs hasn’t stopped churning. It continues to produce noteworthy bands at a clip that might not have any regional equal, anywhere, over the last three and a half decades.

Camron Curtius.

The Lovely Bad Things

The Lovely Bad Things, formed in Orange County in 2009, are busy extending that run. Their fresh, energized sound and spirit owe something to the native surroundings, but more to the rapport of Brayden Ward, brother Ward, and bandmates Tim Hatch and Lauren

Much is made of their affinity for the Pixies, and the weird beauty of that foundational Boston band is an influence The Lovely Bad Things embrace openly, without fuss or pretense. Besides, if they’re borrowing, it’s only reciprocal, since the Pixies’ own taste in music often skewed west, toward surf rock and co-ed vocals.

The Lovely Bad Things are just as firmly rooted in the pop-wise punk that’s been pouring out of their own backyard since the days of the Descendents and Redd Kross.

But to dwell on the antecedents is to miss the forward-looking — which is not to say “sunny” — feel of The Lovely Bad Things’ work, whether it’s the brink-of-breakup throwdown “Space Waste” or the combined blitz of melody and squall of “Hear or Anywhere,” The band’s bracing 2014 debut album, “The Late Great Whatever,” is a catalogue of musical and cultural references running far and wide, from Star Wars to Sonic Youth.

It’s also promising enough to demand a follow-up and prompt inquiries about a sophomore record.

On the road, The Lovely Bad Things have amassed an enviable set of gig credits and festival appearances. Their stage appeal is bolstered by an innate likability, and live performances in which these four able multi-taskers switch instruments and musical parts without dropping a beat. With all of the calamities befalling Southern California, there’s something reassuring in a West Coast punk scene that still bears listening to and talking about.

The Lovely Bad Things open for Best Coast on Thursday, Sept. 10 at Grand Central.

Showtime is 8pm. Advance tickets $20-25 at epoplife.com. ~ Sean Piccoli

The Appleseed Cast Are you ready to feel old?

The Appleseed Cast’s sophomore epic, Mare Vitalis, turns 15 this year! While the Appleseed Cast is still on the active duty roster and has continued to put out new albums (Read: Masterpieces of post-rock) over the years, this particular album’s 15 year anniversary happens to fall well in-line with the so-called “emo revival” currently polarizing the music media and the band is The Appleseed Cast taking full advantage of the current high nostalgia with a massive tour of the U.S. celebrating the album that it truly made its bones with.

While the Appleseed Cast’s music has always displayed more in the way of sonic fiber than that of its peers and various labelmates, Mare Vitalis was the album that first displayed what the group was truly capable of, hinting at the lush, postrock experimentation and soundscapes that were to come from the Lawrence, Kansas-based group in subsequent years as it continued to shed its late ‘90s emo trappings. While it certainly doesn’t represent the pinnacle of the Appleseed Cast’s discography (We’re partial to Low Level Owl: Volume 2, if you’re asking), Mare Vitalis is a particularly intriguing album when considered as a signifier of the band’s progress from its debut, and as a document of just how far ahead of the pack the group was at the turn of the millennium, already toying with the dynamic, twinkling oeuvres of delayed guitars laced together with athletic drumming that has become de rigueur in today’s indie-rock.

“The members of The Appleseed Cast are amongst a small group of musicians who still do what Rites of Spring and Jawbreaker did twenty-two years ago: craft art that hits home at the heart of listener, an art of precision and passion.” - All Things Go The tour itself, which thankfully includes a Miami stop on August 7th, sees the proverbial emo-revival circle completed with direct tour support provided by one of the movement’s brightest lights, Gainesville’s Dikembe, a band that might be mistaken for one of the Appleseed Cast’s former Tiger Style Records more obscure roster-mates by the uninitiated. We recommend getting to the gig on time as Broward County-bred shoegaze group, Wish Around, will be providing local support and is absolutely on our shortlist of locals to keep an eye on in 2015.

Breakeven Booking Presents: Friday, August 7... The Appleseed Cast with Dikembe, Annabel, Wish Around at Churchill’s Pub. 8pm, $14. ~ Von Bader

VINTAGE TAP: Sealion, Party Static, The Riot Act, Milk Spot. One Year Anniv + Chuck’s (Jangle Leg) Birthday

ANONYMOUS GUITARS: Echoes of a Nightmare, Silenmara, Acaedia, And The Kingdom Fell, Pathways, Existence Has Failed, Bury December, The Truth Untold HOLLYWOOD ARTSPARK EXPERIENCE: BAHIA: Orkestra Rumpilezz, Batuke Samba Funk, Max Viana

RESPECTABLE STREET: Florida Regional Burlypicks

SUNDAY, AUGUST 2

SATURDAY, JULY 25

DADA: Equinox KILL YOUR IDOL: Astari Nite, Modernate

PROPAGANDA: Franscene REVOLUTION LIVE: Jake Miller, Jasmine V, Alex Angelo KILTED MERMAID: Jangle Leg GRAND CENTRAL: Bro Safari TERRA FERMATA: Bloody Jug Band VINE & BARLEY PC: Zack Jones SWAMPGRASS WILLYS: Chad Headlee, Confidence Beyond Chaos, Jesse Lopez & Brie, TNT Acoustics, Vintage Vox ANONYMOUS GUITARS: Fero Lux, Every Passing Dream, Within Your Reach, Wage War, Sounds of the Rodeo, Recoil, Business As Usual, With Honor We Fight, Burgerfist, Right Through

SUNDAY, JULY 26

PROPAGANDA: Acoustic Showcase / Open Mic TERRA FERMATA: Sister Baby JAZID: LanceO, Kulcha Shok, Uma Galera, Fyaworks, Exit Sounds

MONDAY, JULY 27

DADA: BasementJams TERRA FERMATA: Drum Circle / Open Mic CHURCHILL’S PUB: Miami Jazz Jam, Theatre de Underground Open Mic, Hip-Hop Lounge DJ Myke Dilla BOSTONS: Rhythmation, LanceO

TUESDAY, JULY 28

JAZID: Cheesy & The Crackers, Lance-O, Beky Glacier, Kulcha Shok, Don One BACKYARD BOYNTON: Dj & hosted by Lance-O, Kulcha Shok

MONDAY, AUGUST 3

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DADA: Basement Jams Open Mic KYI: Glitterbox

FILLMORE MIAMI BEACH: My Morning Jacket

CHURCHILLS PUB: Miami Jazz Jam, Theatre de Underground Open Mic, and Hip Hop Lounge BOSTONS: Rhythmation, LanceO

TUESDAY, AUGUST 4

DADA: Comedy Open Mic CHURCHILLS PUB: Fury, Freedom, Unified Right

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 5 DADA: Katie Hargrove

THURSDAY, AUGUST 6

RESPECTABLE STREET: Symbols, Boxwood VINTAGE TAP: Shinobi Ninja (NY), Bonnie Riot

DADA: Craft Bazaar HAROLDS COFFEE: Livin the Rhythm Drum Circle STACHE: JMB Records Thursday Sound Series

FRIDAY, AUGUST 7

TERRA FERMATA: The String Assassins CHURCHILL’S PUB: A Folk’d Up Evening hosted by Ryan Carney with special guests, acoustic performances, open mic.

CHURCHILLS PUB: The Appleseed Cast, Dikembe, Annabel, Wish Around

WEDNESDAY, JULY 29

DADA: Mike and Monique

FILLMORE MIAMI BEACH: Fifth Harmony’s Reflection: The Summer Tour

TERRA FERMATA: Gravel Kings, Hollis Brown ANONYMOUS GUITARS: Stolas, Artifex, Eidola, Makari, Thieves Are Watching, Confidence Beyond Chaos, Palm Air

THURSDAY, JULY 30

DADA: Chucka Riddim

RESPECTABLE STREET: Killmama, Hung Heart PROPAGANDA: LFTD LVLS STACHE: DJ Treznik & Jay Hero (Ketchy Shuby) TERRA FERMATA: Sister Baby

FRIDAY, JULY 31

DADA: FELIX KILL YOUR IDOL: Shameless Burlesque

RESPECTABLE STREET: Authority Zero, Counterpunch

STACHE: Nacho Londono SWAMPGRASS WILLY’S: The Boho-Glam SpACe-ROcK PARTY, feat. The C***MOnSteRs TSL LOUNGE: Bimini Records presents Dudeskywalker, Matt Ohashi, Rico from Paris, Steve Sanx Dubelu MANATEE ISLAND: Oddessey TERRA FERMATA: Thomas Wynn & the Believers SWAMPGRASS WILLYS: Gutterfish

DADA: Big Chief KYI: The Hongs

STACHE: Caribbean Carnaval Band DANIA BEACH BAR AND GRILL: Jangle Leg SWAMPGRASS WILLYS: Braden Baugh, The Bastard Suns Acoustic Revue MOVIES OF LAKE WORTH: Palm Beach County Grindhouse Series Texas Chain Saw Massacre 1974

SATURDAY, AUGUST 8

DADA: The Hongs KYI: Keep It Deep REVOLUTION LIVE: Kevin Gates GRAND CENTRAL: What So Not ANONYMOUS GUITARS: Gouge Away, Texas Ranger, Molly Snow, With Honor We Fight, Superhaunted, With Locusts And Liars SWAMPGRASS WILLYS: Ratsmouth, Killmama, The Psymatics, Gallimimus

SUNDAY, AUGUST 9

JAZID: Determine, Ras Kokay & Rythmadix, Lance-O, Kulcha Shok, PeppaBox BACKYARD BOYNTON: Dj & hosted by Lance-O, Kulcha Shok

MONDAY, AUGUST 10

DADA: Basement Jams Open Mic KYI: Glitterbox CHURCHILLS PUB: Miami Jazz Jam, Theatre de Underground Open Mic, and Hip Hop Lounge BOSTONS: Rhythmation, LanceO

SATURDAY, AUGUST 1

TUESDAY, AUGUST 11

FILLMORE MIAMI BEACH: Jowell Y Randy

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 12

PROPAGANDA: Birthday Candles, Howling Winds, Tally Ho, The Muggles DADA: Mandy Moon REVOLUTION LIVE: Mad Decent Bike Party, Jack U, Jauz, Major Lazer, Ricky Remedy, Thomas Jack, TWRK, Yellow Claw, Zeds Dead POORHOUSE: Ordinary Boys (The Smiths + Morrissey Tribute)

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DADA: Comedy Open Mic

HOWLEYS: Exquisite Taste Art Show

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DADA: Comedy Open Mic REVOLUTION LIVE: The Get Up Kids, Braid, The Weaks DADA: Brie Goldspobel & Jessie Lopez

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THURSDAY, AUGUST 13

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RESPECTABLE STREET: Great Aunts

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DADA: Future Prezidents

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HAROLDS COFFEE: Livin the Rhythm Drum Circle STACHE: Mr. Jolt

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 26

FRIDAY, AUGUST 14

THURSDAY, AUGUST 27

DADA: Camel Toe VINTAGE TAP: Pierce Edens (NC), Jason Bible (GA) HAROLDS COFFEE: Cafe Praise Music Showcase CHURCHILLS PUB: Crud, Shroud Eater, The Panix, Antifaces, Livid Death STACHE: Jangle Leg

SATURDAY, AUGUST 15

DADA: Jangle Leg Bayfront Park: Sublime, Rome, Rebelution, Pepper, Mickey Avalon, Lance-O SWAMPGRASS WILLYS: Hammocks, Zanne Hanna, Somnis

SUNDAY, AUGUST 16

CHURCHILLS PUB: Maruta, Department of Correction, Mother Brain, Implosive Disgorgence JAZID: Army Gideon, Lance-O, Mystic Soul, Kulcha Shok, DJ Fyahman BACKYARD BOYNTON: Kulcha Shok, Reggae

MONDAY, AUGUST 17

DADA: Basement Jams Open Mic KYI: Glitterbox CHURCHILLS PUB: Miami Jazz Jam, Theatre de Underground Open Mic, and Hip Hop Lounge BOSTONS: Rhythmation, LanceO

TUESDAY, AUGUST 18

DADA: Comedy Open Mic

VINTAGE TAP: Nashville Pussy, Valient Thorr, Flees, Milk Spot, And DJ Skidmark

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 19

FILLMORE MIAMI BEACH: Brandon Flowers DADA: Micah Scott KYI: Bella Luz & Brandon Flowers Afterparty

DADA: KAT C.H.R. DADA: Kristo

RESPECTABLE STREET: Deaf Poets

HAROLDS COFFEE: Livin the Rhythm Drum Circle REVOLUTION LIVE: Let ‘Em Know , Walshy Fire, Mr. Vegas, Kevin Lyttle STACHE: Bobby Lee Rodgers, Bluejay, AckDaddy

FRIDAY, AUGUST 28

RESPECTABLE STREET: Rivers Album Release, Kids DADA: Madd Jazz KYI: Shameless Burlesque

BREWHOUSE GALLERY: Jangle Leg STACHE: Fireside Prophets SWAMPGRASS WILLYS: Gutterfish

SATURDAY, AUGUST 29

RESPECTABLE STREET: 28 Year Anniversary Party: The Misfits, Sweet Bronco, Ethan Parker Band, Astari Nite, Smells Like Grunge, Johnny Raincloud, Modernage, Boxwood, Break the Hero, Riot Agents, Chaucer, Hypoluxo, Golden Gun, Kill Mama, Deaf Poets, Nation of Decay, Shotgun Betty, The Alleys, The Muggles, The Drip Effect, Riot Act, Que Lastima, The Ruins, OSF, Howling Winds, Stratolites, Sur Back, Dirty Sonic.

Free, No Cover! Open bar 8pm-9pm! Free pizza!

DADA: Chasing Oceans

PROPAGANDA: Summer Daze Concert Series Day 2: Roots Shakedown, Arise Roots, The Expanders, The Resolvers, Tribal Seeds, Jacuzzi Fuzz, Lake Worth Long Shots, LFTD LVLS, Spred The Dub, Jahzilla, The Helmsmen, Fireside Prophets, DJ Fiyah Queen CHURCHILLS PUB: The Medusa Agency presents: “ROCK-AVILLAIN” Rock Show with Ornimental, Loaded Guns, Falseta, Deadman’s Gambit, Hang ‘em High, Naked Vengeance

BREWHOUSE GALLERY: Jangle Leg

RESPECTABLE STREET: Birthday Candles, Rude Hecklers

STEPPING STONE RANCH: Pat Mckay, Lisa L, Maxi Priest, Inner Circle, Brigadier Jerry, Jahmali, Tasha T, Junie Ranks, Tammo Jango, Ikal, Mr Rahjah, Koolaz, Shienna, Sativa, Lance-O SWAMPGRASS WILLYS: Butch And The Fat Doobs, Blackball

FRIDAY, AUGUST 21

JAZID: InnaSense, Lance-O, Empress Chairmaine, Kulcha Shok, Exit Sound BACKYARD BOYNTON: Dj & hosted by Lance-O, Kulcha Shok

THURSDAY, AUGUST 20 DADA: Army Gideon

HAROLDS COFFEE: Livin the Rhythm Drum Circle STACHE: The Hongs, AIRA Experience & Millionyoung SOCIAL HOUSE: Human for Real: An Art Show

DADA: Blues Crusaders HAROLDS COFFEE: Lyrical Ink Poetry and Spoken Word/Music SWAMPGRASS WILLYS: Austin Grey STACHE: Phil Barnes

SATURDAY, AUGUST 22

RESPECTABLE STREET: Pajama Party w/ Raggy Monster FILLMORE MIAMI BEACH: Umphrey’s McGee

KILTED MERMAID: Jangle Leg DADA: HVY CRM SWAMPGRASS WILLYS: The Calm, Mason Pace Band, Jumbo Shrimp

SUNDAY, AUGUST 23

JAZID: Zion’s Door, Lance-O, Influential, Jae Five BACKYARD BOYNTON: Dj & hosted by Lance-O, Kulcha Shok

MONDAY, AUGUST 24

DADA: Basement Jams Open Mic KYI: Glitterbox CHURCHILLS PUB: Miami Jazz Jam, Theatre de Underground Open Mic, and Hip Hop Lounge BOSTONS: Rhythmation, LanceO

TUESDAY, AUGUST 25

DADA: Comedy Open Mic

HOWLEYS: Flora and Fauna Art Show

REVOLUTION LIVE: Breaking Benjamin

SUNDAY, AUGUST 30

MONDAY, AUGUST 31

DADA: Basement Jams Open Mic KYI: Glitterbox BOSTONS: Rhythmation, LanceO

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 4

EVENING ON THE AVE (Lake Worth): Jangle Leg

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 5

RESPECTABLE STREET: Eons, Celebrator

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 6

RESPECTABLE STREET: Cheesy 90’s Homecoming

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 10

GRAND CENTRAL: Best Coast, The Lovely Bad Things HAROLDS COFFEE: Livin the Rhythm Drum Circle

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 11

FILLMORE MIAMI BEACH: Purity Ring: Another Eternity Tour

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 12

RESPECTABLE STREET: PureHoney Magazine 4 Year Anniversary: AJ Davila y Terror Amor w guests: Cog Nomen, John Ralston, Chaucer, Kremlin, Milk Spot, Pocket of Lollipops, Sweet Bronco ORCHID ISLAND BREWERY: Jangle Leg

PureHoney Party 4, AJ Davila Hey there, PureHoney reader. Did you know that we as a publication are on the cusp of our 4 Year Anniversary? Pretty wild, right? Somehow, in a region that eats up and spits out alternative and independent periodicals, we’ve actually made it and remained a qualifiable source for all that is good in a variety of South Florida’s creative realms! What does that entail for you, oh loyal reader? A raucous anniversary party curated with the kinds of rad artists you’ve come to expect from us!

Headlining the affair on September 12 is San Juan’s reigning garage-rock rulers, AJ Davila y Terror Amor. Davila and his absolutely lethal crew are a near infallible force of rock ‘n’ roll destruction that not only stand tall above the sea of garage/ retro/psych mediocrity, the unit also represents the undiscovered and sadly overlooked rock riches that have brewed within Puerto Rico’s sonic petri dish -- a music community that, by most accounts, AJ Davila Y Terror Amor shares South Florida’s status as a criminally overlooked hotbed of radness and our region’s affinity for diverse sounds.

Davila and Co. purvey a unique brand of psych-tinged garage-rock that’s emulsified by spooky combo organ textures, drenched in spacey reverb, and catchy vocals that make for a sound as fun as anything we’ve encountered in recent memory!

Prior to Davila’s performance, the night will boast an absolutely stacked lineup of some of our favorite locals running the gamut of genres and sounds... offering something for everyone! Much like our free monthly samplers, this lineup takes stock of what we discover happening within our beloved scene, from John Ralston’s singer/songwriter perfection to Sweet Bronco’s indie-rock musings, to Cog Nomen’s guitar laden electro-pop explorations and Chaucer’s slackervibe quirks, the party’s lineup proudly displays our region’s sonic disparity So come on out and shake your shit with the best the region has to offer and celebrate yourself, because we couldn’t have made it another year without you!

PureHoney Magazine’s 4 Year Anniversary Jam launches September 12th at Respectable Street. 8pm, 18+ and features AJ Davila y Terror Amor, John Ralston, Cog Nomen, Chaucer, Kremlin, Milk Spot, Pocket of Lollipops and Sweet Bronco. ~ Von Bader

Next Time You Snap a Photo at a show TAG IT with #FillmoreMB

FillmoreMB.com

Old Habits, Become the Bastard

“ Hardcore is really what opened my eyes to a lot of things and gave me the life I have today,” says John Wylie, Eulogy Records founder, owner/partner at a number of tattoo shops in South Florida and guitarist in hardcore band Old Habits. “I don’t think it’s something that will ever leave me or the person I am. I don’t really want it to either. I choose not to spend as much time on playing hardcore as I did at one point but I still make it a part of my life.” Wylie, a stalwart, almost legendary figure in Florida’s hardcore and metal scenes having been a part in some way or form of too many outfits to name here most importantly, Morning Again.

Old Habits Old Habits, a hardcore five-piece featuring Wylie and Thomas Stevens on guitars, Justin Thought on drums, TJ Knox on bass and Billy Hart on vocals, is not out to set standards or become trailblazers. To do so would be ridiculous. Old Habits, as much of the cliché as they’d like to avoid with such a nomenclature, are five dudes playing the type of hardcore that they like. With Eulogy closing in on the twenty year mark, a veritable and much lauded lifetime in the underground, Wylie’s been forced into the perspective of aging and adapting to responsibilities outside of music like family and career.

“Eulogy is a part-time thing for me. It was once the main focus for me but the music industry has changed so much that I needed to shift my focus to my tattoo shops,” he explains. “Eulogy has been around so long I feel because I always made the decision to do what I felt was best rather than what everyone else expected.” Proving that a life in hardcore might indeed be an old and rather hard habit to break has paid off in dividends for Wylie and crew. There’s something immediately honest about their music that cancels any thoughts of nostalgia or of trying to reinvent the wheel; when a band has fun playing music, the fans have fun enjoying it.

With his tattoo shops as his main focus and with Eulogy following the uncertain strides of the music industry, Wylie has vowed to continue evolving and releasing material through the legendary label. As for the band, they’ll be releasing a follow-up to 2012’s self-titled CD, Become the Bastard, an album of new material and some recorded tracks that never saw the light on intended split 7”ers. “I would say if you like Old Habits, then you will definitely like the release. That being said, we aren’t for everyone,” he warns. Become the Bastard is the title and it’s basically about embracing the fact that we are not part of mainstream society and that’s a plus.”

Even if the days of wind-milling and ninja kicking are behind you, it’s good to know that pure hardcore is out there and being played with the gusto that initially got Wylie and co. into the genre. “Hardcore isn’t supposed to be a place where everyone agrees with everyone else and people are worried about hurting each other’s feelings. Hardcore and punk has always been about being yourself and pushing the limits.” That’s an old habit worth nurturing.

Old Habits album release takes place Friday, August 21 at Propaganda with Sweet Nothing, Bishop, Judge Holden, Right Through. $10 includes the CD. 18+, 8pm. ~ Abel Folgar

Nashville Pussy With the Confederate flag being shunned en masse after a murder spree at a black Southern church, what is this piece of freighted Americana still doing in any band’s portfolio?

“I don’t believe in banning things, on any level,” says Ruyter Suys, lead guitarist of Atlanta-based Nashville Pussy, whose profane, rebel-yell repertory includes a few instances of “stars and bars” branding on gig posters and tour merchandise.

Suys acknowledges that this view invites conflict. She has been debating the flag in emails with her mother, who is urging her to remove any sign of it from the band’s public presentation, and she now finds herself explaining her position to an interviewer.

“There are people who have very strong feelings about it,” she says of the issue.

Suys doesn’t muster a regional or “Southern pride” argument against mothballing the Confederate flag. For one, she’s Canadian. Suys happened to marry a Kentuckian, Blaine Cartwright, and they became Nashville Pussy.

She also says the band has a more devoted following in European countries such as France than it does anywhere in the United States. (“We play domestically because our phones work here,” she quips.)

Suys argues that after decades of casual pop-culture usage on everything from concert tees to “The Dukes of Hazzard” toy cars, the Confederate flag is basically a relic, and to try to scrub every trace of it from public life is to give it a power it no longer has.

“It’s more kitsch by now,” she says.

But the anti-flag argument also has prominent backing in music circles. “It’s like how a swastika looks to a Jewish person,” rocker Tom Petty wrote in Rolling Stone, apologizing for having once used the Confederate flag as a tour prop.

Suys’ instinct seems to be to err on the side of free expression. “We offend people, regardless,” she says. With a song like “The South’s Too Fat to Rise Again,” from the band’s latest studio album, the offended might include every flag-waving, neoConfederate wannabe.

Nashville Pussy with Valient Thorr, Flees and Milkspot and DJ Skidmark, Tuesday, Aug. 18 at Vintage Tap. 8pm. 21+ ~ Sean Piccoli

Rivers, Wide Eyes

“ The challenge of writing a full record that’s meaningful and consistent from start to finish is attractive to me,” says Rivers’ singer and guitarist Danny Brunjes. Last summer, Brunjes and Rivers took the bizarre first step of releasing a debut EP and performing their first live gig on the same day at Lake Worth’s Propaganda. A ballsy, if not somewhat unnerving first salvo for any band, regardless of experience or innate charisma. And while they haven’t won any beauty contests or appeared on primetime TV since, the Palm Beach quartet finds itself, a year later, releasing another album. It stands Rivers to reason that the steady rise in local support has its roots in his old outfit, Under Every Green Tree, a folksy and slightly more alt-country incarnation that stood as his solo platform with numerous locals assisting live.

“When we recorded our self-titled EP last March, all of those songs were written relatively quickly. They were the first five songs we ever wrote together so there was a bit of navigating and figuring things out.” The band, now a full year old, has an infectious indie rock racket that is equal parts jangle rock and poppy surf imbued with the whispering nostalgia of dying summer days. The rhythm section of Jon Wagner and Brent Ray have gelled well with newer member, guitarist and backup singer Eric Blythe.

Brunjes is a talented singer and songwriter, and a bit of an enfant terrible who made waves locally with UEGT before vanishing somewhat from local stages. With Rivers, there’s a renewed focus and a musical maturity that has formed under the auspices of a muse that is more in line with classical poesy than with rock and roll. Marriage has done Brunjes some good and this past spring’s single “Wide Eyes” was inspired by her. While musical maturity might inform some depth of restraint, the opposite seems true for Rivers. It is with unhinged gusto that their songs become memorable and catchy.

“With the new material, we’ve felt a lot more comfortable with each other musically,” says Brunjes of the upcoming effort. “I think because of that, the songs have matured and we’ve been able to try some different things. I think the song dynamics are really interesting and you’re going to get a little bit of everything. The songs are in a way vastly different from one another, but they all find a home together quite nicely.” A boon to their sound has been the juxtaposing of simple melodies with the individual, technical aspects of the band members.

Maybe this freedom has come after that first blind step a year ago. Whatever continues to propel this rising quad and fuels their sweet and earnest recordings, is best left alone – the formula is working and if they trust each other enough to embark in whatever direction the music world takes them, the end result will be worth it. “We all live in or near downtown West Palm and we’ve all grown to seriously love it. We take pride in our little city and the community that we have here is second to none,” says Brunjes of West Palm’s influence on their sound. “In most of the ways I create things, the people in my life influence me more than other songs or anything else does. The slow pace of life and the beautiful town we call home has a special place right in the heart of Rivers.”

Their EP release party will be at Respectable Street on 8/28 with Kids from Lauderdale. doors at 8, $10 at door, includes new EP. ~ Abel Folgar