The Beltholes
For Whom the Beltholes
Burn Burn Burn Records (2007)
By Red Lehman

I had no idea how to start this review. I considered an analogy to being “on the last belt hole” after eating too much turkey or mentioning that the album has a sample of “Stayin’ Alive,” mentions Eddie and the Cruisers and ends with the word “cocaine” and a cat’s meow. None of these sounded opener-worthy.

Thankfully, when the band took the stage during a recent Tractor Tavern appearance, guitarist Kurt Bloch summed it up nicely: “If the last song wasn’t your thing, then your song is coming up next.”

A Kid Named Thompson
I Want To Wake Up
Self-released, 2007

A Kid Named Thompson brings to the collective rock table a uniquely Texas-punk meets emo-core CD that delivers the goods. I Want to Wake Up features quality production and thoughtful lyrics backed by a three piece that sounds like they’ve been around, although I suspect these Texas kids are new to the rock game.

The lyrics have the polish that reflects the agility of an Xbox generation eager to add to the already crowded room that holds Emo bands in the highest regard. I distinctly hear the talent and agility, but I also hear reflections of Sunny Day Real Estate arm wrestling with Motion City Soundtrack in the back-stage parking lot at a Van’s Warped Tour show in SoCal.

The Pack A.D. is a duo from British Columbia championing the old-skool sound. Each track on their 2007 release Tintype, on Vancouver's Mint Records, is a blast of raw emotion and minimalist technique.

Maya Miller & Becky Black, drums and guitar/vocals respectively, have managed to bring together a unique vision for the tried-and-true duo-rock approach (White Stripes, Black Keys, The Shotgun). They keep it simple and maintain a blues ethos that could be traced straight back to the likes of Robert Johnson by way of Howlin Wolf, Etta James, Tammy Wynette, and Chan Marshall.

Dropkick Murphys at Showbox Sodo
February 28, 2008

Dropkick Murphys are the greatest band in the world, and I’ll stab anyone who says otherwise.

Lumped in with plenty of great-but-inferior street punk bands like The Swingin’ Utters, Flogging Molly and The Bouncing Souls, DKM remind me what punk rock meant before my life crushed my delicate spirit.

I was a small town teenage slacker in the early 80’s, and punk promised me a community and an escape from suburban mediocrity. Punk then broke that promise, as will any subculture based on teen angst and beer.

After a few years of watching one dive punk bar after another become condos and parking lots, I got bitter. Then one day I heard “Cadence To Arms,” the opening shot from DKM’s Do or Die and it all came back to me.