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 THE NEW ALIBIS
by Kevin Finn
The New Alibis are a new band, but given each member’s pedigree, it’s easy to forget that. It’s also easy to make assumptions about what they sound like. Punk rock? Sure, that’s in the mix, but the New Alibis aren’t a band that believes music began and ended in 1977. Check out either of their stellar EPs, and you’ll also be treated to touches of glam, arena, and straight ahead rock ’n’ roll, all delivered with the heart and honesty that has always been at punk’s core. Singer/ guitarist Drew Suxx (ex-Lost City Angels), guitarist Paul Christian (ex-Far From Finished), bassist Julie TwoTimes (ex-Three Sheets) and drummer Jesse Von Kenmore (the Marvels) sat down with us at the Middle East to discuss the band’s history, their views on the music industry, the WBCN Rumble, and their new EP, Hard Promises.
Noise: Tell me a little a bit about howthe New Alibis came into existence.
Jesse: It’s hard for me being in a band, but it’s hell not being in one. When the Pug Uglies ended, I got really depressed. Paul had left Far From Finished, so I called him and we started playing together and got Julie. Drew was one of the first people we thought of, but we didn’t know how to find him. We auditioned a bunch of people, but it wasn’t clicking. I called Lost City Angel’s old drummer, Adam Shaw, and he said Drew should really be in a band. I called him up. He was down. He walked in. Boom. We clicked.
Drew: I was in a bad place upstairs and didn’t want to go back to my standard ways of dealing with that. I came to practice one day with these guys, and I really loved the tunes and the energy in the room. Everyone came from that same place where music was kind of damaging in a way. We found a place where we could heal a little bit musically within each other.
Paul: We all came from situations where the intensity of trying to chase the carrot, chase the gold, was the whole point behind the band. We do this because we love doing it, not because we want to become rock stars. Just enjoy the moment and enjoy the fun. It’s not to say that we don’t want to go out and do the hard work because that’s part of it, but it’s to say that we want to work smart and be more selective about it.
Noise: Drew and Paul toured like hell in the past. I take it you’re done with that.
Drew: That lifestyle is really, really difficult. It eats away at you after a while. The reason LCA stopped is that we could either save some semblance of a friendship or we could keep going and completely destroy ourselves. You get to that level where you keep pushing and pushing and you forget that you have personal lives. You have this egotistical view that your band is the cure for cancer. We have to keep going! There’s this big answer out there! But it’s B.S.
Paul: You’re always just chasing the oasis. You always see greener pastures at that next step. You never get there.
Drew: Sometimes you do get there and you don’t like what it is. You just hate it for what it isn’t.
Paul: We’re taking what has been the mainstream model for bands and chucking it out the window because we feel that doesn’t work anymore. The way that information is transferred now is so different. Those old models don’t work.
Jesse: We would love to do a big budget LP, but right now it doesn’t make sense for us. We want to go back to that original way rock ’n’ roll started, get into the studio a lot, keep writing, keep moving. We don’t want to wait eighteen months to record and then drive around in a van losing our minds, unable to stand each other, playing that fucking record for eighteen months.
Noise: You played the Rumble this year. A lot of people poke fun at it, but I’ve always enjoyed it.
Jesse: That’s because they weren’t invited.
Julie: It made us a much better live band. It really made us focus. We’ve seen people play Rumbles before and thought, wow that was an awesome live set. We knew we could do a lot better. It really got to the point where, and it sounds so cliché, but really when we played that night, we didn’t care if we won because we had such a good time. We were really pumped. We were like, you know what, we can put that show on anytime we want.
Jesse: I’ve been in bands in Boston for at least twenty-five years, and whatever band I’m in, I want it to be really entertaining. I want it to be exciting. I want it to play as well as a touring band live, but that’s hard to do when you’re not playing a show every night.
A live show should be like a street fight. You come out and punch the fuck out of them for three or four songs, let íem come up for air for a second, then stand on their neck, let them up again, do something a little more gentle, then start really beating the crap out of ’em and let ’em rest one more time, a few uppercuts, pick up a chair, hit ’em with that and they’ll stay down. That’s the way a live show should be.
I’ve played four Rumbles. This year was really special. It was the right bands, the right time, the right club. There truly was a sense of respect and camaraderie. Every night I was there, the place was packed with people from other bands and with people just wanting to see what was going on. It was just an awesome year.
There’s nothing more boring than going to see four street punk bands or four rockabilly bands or four shoegazer bands. Seeing Gene Dante and the Luxury and the Dirty Truckers just all go out and murder shit was glorious. That’s truly more punk rock than saying you must wear this hat and have that anchor tattoo. You can’t talk to the people over there with the bangs and the lip rings. The guy with the ironic sweater, I don’t know about him. He looks a little Q Division to me, so fuck him. Those kinds of walls seem to be breaking down. I hope it continues to go that way.
Noise: I seem to remember Gene Dante being followed directly by Destruct-A-Thon the night I went. There might have been one act in between. They were so different, but both so awesome. As a fan, I’d rather see a lineup with varied acts like that. Half the time if you have four punk bands, it’s just varying quality as the night goes on.
Paul: I think this gets back to the survivability of the scene. I’ve been amazed at these different genres coming together, creating these shows and making a community again. If we donít have that, it’s going to evaporate. We don’t all have to be from the same little group to play together.
Jesse: When you see events like the one Nicole Tammaro put on, DropYa Mic and Pick Up Yer Paintbrush, you realize this is a great place to live. There are tremendously talented people here like Amy Toxic, like Mike Byrne, like Ian Adams. After Nicole’s show and I had this weird feeling. I went to Hampshire College, a very artsy school, and I was kind of like, wow, it’s like I never left college. At first I beat myself up over it, but then I thought, what a fucking fabulous way to live. Why should you ever leave that? Why should you stop being interested in art? Why limit yourself? What are you going to do? Go to work, come home and watch fucking TV. I mean that might be alright for some people, but I ain’t feeling that.
Noise: What can you tell me about the new six-song EP?
Jesse: That we’re really proud of it.
Drew: I’ve never been happier with a recording.
Jesse: We’re not into writing the same songs over and over again. There’s fast stuff, slow stuff, garage-y stuff, street punk-y stuff, the more Social D kind of stuff. It’s all on there.
Noise: Are these all songs you’ve been playing live?
Jesse: Yup, well, not “Hard Promises.”
Julie: We played it twice. I think that’s what weíre going to end up naming the EP, which is kind of funny because it’s not one of the ones we’ve been playing live, but it sounds killer.
Paul: It’s a very heartfelt and very true story.
Drew: There were a lot of relationship issues going on when this band started. A lot of that stuff was still resonating when we were writing for the record.
Jesse: I didn’t realize how much this record fucked me up to make. On the first EP, I was writing songs about being in a punk rock band and writing songs about a long dead relationship that I was thoroughly over. But this one was real here and now stuff. My demons are all over this fucking record. Nobody’s going to listen to it and go, oh, this is about Jesse, but hopefully, it’s done in a way that other people can identify with.
Noise: How are the songwriting duties handled?
Jesse: It’s different from song to song. Once a song gets brought in, the band then takes ownership of it. It’s not going to sound like it sounds without the band whether we wrote it on an acoustic guitar with a notebook at the kitchen table, like Drew and I did on “Hard Promises” and “Other Side” or if it was brought in as a full piece like Drew did with “Against the World” or “Dragged.” “Going Through the Motions,” that was Julie’s set of lyrics.
Drew: Everybody has to have input. That’s what creates that band’s unique sound. It’s like Voltron. You can’t just have an arm or a leg. You’ve got to have it all together to work.
Noise: That’s an interesting analogy. That’s pretty much all I have. Anything you guys want to add?
Drew: We’re doing a CD release show July 10th upstairs at The Middle East with Razors in the Night, Have Nots, and Burning Streets.
Jesse: You can also see us at P-Town Rocks at the end of July. Martin has taken a lot of shit on the Noiseboard for this, but this is such a ballsy thing for him to do. It is in everybody’s best interest that this survives. To be able to go down to a community like P-Town and hang out with your friends for three or four days in the middle of the summer and play rock ’n’ roll shows, how anybody can have a problem with that is beyond me. It’s really easy for people to take potshots at people who are making an effort to do something.
Paul: And forgetting about how much work there is behind it.
Jesse: There’s always been that kind of thing around bands. There are bands that almost as an excuse say that it’s just a good time, that they’re not really trying and it doesn’t mean anything to them. Why are you on stage then? Stay in your fucking garage.
P-Town Rocks is going to be a blast. We figured, fuck it, win, lose or draw, we’re down in P-Town for three days wearing tight Manowar shirts and playing rock shows.
TH010 - blastmat - National Policy
NOW IN STOCK AT INTERPUNK!
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TH009 - Buried in Leather - We Are Gone
Review from Boston's Weekly Dig
Thrash & roll quintet Buried in Leather take no prisoners on We Are Gone, as they rip through eight songs in 20 minutes flat. "Beautiful Scars" was handcrafted by a human motorcycle, and the runaway stomp of "Cold" makes you want to call the cops. The eponymous track is clearly their theme song, however—a dual-fueled Frankenstein's monster in which you can practically hear the amps sweating. The next show is Saturday at Church. Throw yourself into the pit: "Guns up! Let's do this ..." - David Day
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TH008 - Bad Lieutenants - Born A Bad Seed
Review from askewreviews.com
BAD LIEUTENANTS- Born a Bad Seed When I reviewed Bad Lieutenants’ first release, Every Time I Come Around, I heard a slew of musical genres that absolutely smacked the snot out of me. This time around, Born a Bad Seed continues the snot beating, but the music is petal to the metal hard rock fueled by Brian McCaffrey’s vocals and Javier Canales’ tough as fuck guitar. Though it’s probably not his hardest played here, I dare you to fight the bobbing of your head, and possible air guitar for the exuberant ones, to Javier’s opening riff in “Cocktease.” Now, I am not sure exactly what Bad Lieutenant Brian is singing, but I am sure it all revolves around the “born a bad seed” theme because key words revolve around being what most perceive as bad (or rebellious if you’re sensitive). The opening arse kicking “Super Trooper” details a run in with the Massachusetts State Police and if that high speed chase reached the same high levels of speed as the song, someone sure got into a lot of trouble! I’ve me no idea what’s going on with “My Burning Anxiety,” but Jim’s drumming and Jerry’s bass playing team up for some tweaked out action akin to more than a few sniffs of powder up the nose of an already tweaked out coke whore. In fact, that rhythm tandem is more prevalent throughout than I first realized. My only bitch concerning this CD is its length; six songs is too short and but a tease. You will use the ol’ repeat button on your ancient cd player. Drinking Jager Bombs for a kick? Stow the Red Bull, keep the Jager and blast the Bad Lieutenants. We’ll call it a Jager Lou (I’m a mixologist genius). Goddamn Javier, Goddamn! – Denis Sheehan
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TH007 - The Sprained Ankles - You Love the Sprained Ankles
review from GGGG-GO-Action zine from Landau, Deutschland
I love the Sprained Ankles !! They got me already with their first song ' Randy the Rock'n'Roll Pizza Wolf', a great Rock'n'Roll Hymn that gets you dancing and all. Great AC/DC guitar solos ! And you'll find yourself singing along with those funny lyrics in no time ! - Yes, it's funny but they're not just one of those funpunk bands. They have those sweet meldies, they know about the roots of Rock'n'Roll and they know Doo-Wop. I love that farfisa-style organ and, of course, the Kazoo. My favorite song is 'Born to be alone', a classic 'Broken-Hearts'-Punkrock-Ballad, that uses all the cliches and makes fun of them, and shows how brilliant their songwriting-abilities are and how funny at the same time. If you like to have fun but in an intelligent way, you , too, love the Sprained Ankles !!
Review of The Sprained Ankles in The Noise
"Randy, The Rock And Roll Pizza Wolf." That's it. That's the whole review. That song title sums up what they're about better than anything I could spew here, and that's not a knock. It's just as well, because it's that funnypunk-kinda stuff which never strives to be meaningful, let alone analyzed, so what's the point? These folks have been around, and sound like they're having a ball, whoever cares or not. They can play, at least to where it's clear that if they'd wanted to use some headier chord progressions, they certainly could have. While it ain't quite crass or stoopid enough for my, uh, taste in this area, they're getting raves and college radio airplay out the ol' kazoo. Oh yeah, and they employ a kazoo. The artwork on the actual disc is a kazoo. They even have a member named Drew Kazoo. Still need a buncha descriptions? Didn't think so. (Joe Coughlin)
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TH006 - Jason Bennett and the Resistance - Hope Dies Last
Review of "Hope Dies Last" Nick Gold/General's Boombox 7/28/08
Do you like music with a social conscience? With a power meaning and sends the the relevent messages along the lines of Billy Bragg, the Clash, and Stiff Little Fingers? Do you like politics but talked about in an intelligent way? This album is for you. Five heartfelt, and melodic tunes about the way the United States has taken a nose dive due to politics ("Open Letter (To an Arrogant Politican), but also the best place to probably live (Goodbye to the U.S.A.) while keeping your head up for a better place in the world (Better Way/Hope Dies Last). You even got an ode to our brave and courageous Men and Women deployed Over Seas (Edge of the World). Buy this cd, go see this band and sing along and grab your best friend or person right next to you and raise your fist to some good ol' Boston Punk music like you have never heard before! 5 out of 5 Stars, my friends!
Review of "Hope Dies Last" from GGGG-GO-Action !! (Landau, GERMANY)
Nowadays, it's just hip to listen to 'roots music'. Everybody listens to those whiney accoustic bands like Bright Eyes, Two Gallants or the White Stripes as if they invented it. So, it's good that there are bands that really know where Rock'n'Roll came from and that know the songbook of Woody Guthrie, Billy Bragg and who remember that folk songs could also be protest songs. Even in punk. Remember Angelic Upstarts? Jason Bennett follows this tradition and he does his political folkpunk songs with just right enough electric guitar and attitude. That's just made for today's political atmosphere ! If you want to remember the times punk rock had something to say, listen to Jason Bennett . And if you like Mike Ness, you will love him! You're from the Boston Area? Go to his shows Aug/Sep, please !!
Review of “Hope Dies Last” in 6-11-08 issue of PLAY (www.playnewhaven.com)
Nice! If Billy Bragg had a band made up of SLF and Street Dogs members. Punk rock that lives on the side street just outside the neighborhood pub in that part of town where nobody cute lives. Y'know? The part where you wanna go and hang. Tough but not stupid, melodic without being all sissified and limp, just a totally solid five tunes. If you're not grabbing the dude in the scally cap next to you, raising a pint and barking along with this disk, you suck. 'Nuff said.
Standout Track: Pick one . . .
Review of “Hope Dies Last” at punkrockreview.org
These guys are a passionate blue collar folk, punk band who sing their balls off. The mix of 50/50 folk/punk adds to their blue collar punk rock story telling and possesses you to sing along before the end of the first song. I've become really fond of these guys and love that they keep an up tempo edge, while still keeping to their folk roots. To me a lot of punk/folk bands sound whiney but, positive energy is one thing that is not missing from Jason Bennett & The Resistance. They manage to keep their own upbeat identity with a deep Social Distortion influence, but not crossing the line as many do and sound like a cover band. Honestly based upon what I’ve heard out of Social Distortion in the last 5-10 years, I’d much rather listen to Jason Bennett & The Resistance. -Johnny Taint
Review of "Hope Dies Last" at ReadJunk.com
This was a nice surprise. Since I didn't recognize Jason Bennett's name, I figured this would be generic acoustic stuff.
Instead, I was blown away by excellent Springsteen-influenced punk rock in the vein of Madcap and Bouncing Souls with clean, passionate vocals and whoa-oh group singing. They also have a slight folk-punk feel that's influenced by either Social D or the fact that they're from Boston.
The tunes have a political bent - not so much ramming politics down your throat, but a disappointment for the direction the country's going in and an optimism for a better future.
For some reason that's always eluded me, there are few bands that can pull off this type of straight-forward, thoughtful, and upbeat punk rock. Maybe it's too difficult for bands to strike the right balance, but Bennett & the Resistance make it look easy. This EP has 5 tracks - all of them great. - Adam Coozer 4.5 out of 5.
Review of Hope Dies Last at www.askewreviews.com
I have met Jason Bennett at a “Punks Are Folks Too” show featuring Tommy Ramone and others (one of which was my guitar player Wyatt Peterson-The Pity Whores). It was the first time I heard anything by him and I was very interested, so you must know I was very happy to see this CD in the stack I recieved last week in the mail. I really like Jason’s harsh street punk vocals. Off this five track EP, I really enjoyed “Hope Dies Last” and “Edge of the World.” This is a very good CD to crank in the car. I do feel that all the socio-political stuff gets preachy and tedious after a while, but a lot of people seem to like that now-a-days. Overall I give it a 7 out of 10. -Dave Blais
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TH005 - Iron Cross - 2 Piece and a Biscuit
Review from Punk & Oi in the UK (www.punkoiuk.co.uk)
Many punk and oi bands have left there mark on me that can never be removed no matter what, Iron cross are one of them bands. This is their first release in 20 years, and well worth waiting for, and as fresh as there first ever recording. As the story goes they called it a day way back in 83, but the spirit never died and are back where they belong. Street anthems to sing along to with a great oi sound. 7 tracks in all, 4 by the mighty IRON CROSS, and 3 tracks by sab grey and the royal Americans. Iron cross put out a great oi sound, true and loyal to their own words. A fab cover of the legends of oi cock sparer but with a more relaxed sound. Sab Grey and the Royal Americans give a different insite into iron cross. Not your full on oi sound a more peace full sound sung with passion and heart and this is great to relax to. To put this into words its great relaxing oi punk anthems, and a must for all who lived the 80s sound and for punk fans who have actually heard of Iron cross.
5 out of 5
Review by Andy
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TH003 Blood Vessels - Blood Vessels
Review from Askew Reviews (askewreviews.com)
This CD fell victim to my messy car, in which it became lost for a few months. Sad, really, as I like the disc and have therefore deprived myself of good music when it was truly unnecessary. As I listened to Blood Vessels, I was struck with a sense of familiarity that had me recalling the good ol' days while still being interested by their original sound. The music has a newer street grit punk sound, with Niff's vocals reminding me of some Rollins era Black Flag (think My War) and a tempo more akin to early Misfits. Some of the songs even have that Greg Ginn sound and often tear into unruly solos. "Catholic Zombies" open the CD with some nasty guitars, which are quickly overcome with mental case drums by a fellow named Sputnik. The majority of the tunes are fast and sure to fill your blood vessels with rushing hemoglobin, while slower songs such as "So Long" and "Complacency" may allow you to catch your breath. On the other hand, if the beat heard in "Primal Urge" doesn't get you to at least bob your head and stomp a foot, well, music just isn’t your thing. I'll tell you, it is Boston bands like Blood Vessels that make me drag my aging arse out at night and compounds my uselessness at work the next day. – Denis Sheehan
Review at DeafSparrow.com
The greatest fault a rock and roll band can commit is to lose their youthful enthusiasm. Once bands that amount to even the littlest grains of recognition see in progression the equivalent of cleaning up their sound, becoming more professional and losing that raw knack much is lost. Case in point, The Hellacopters, formed by Entombed’s drummer Nicke Andersson, their first releases were raging and invigorating blasts of hyper punk and roll but as time went on so did their souls. Latest releases like By The Grace of God and Rock & Roll is Dead have not featured a profound lack of class or solid material but have been packed with safe tunes and a safer sound that has more in common with 70’s arena rock than it does with punk or garage rock.
That’s why it is very important to have young labels like Massachusetts’s Teenage Heart dispensing quality primal rock regardless of trends. Like the label, Blood Vessels hail from MA and their raw or primal punk and roll promises and more than often delivers a solid punch. The vocals are raw and streetwise in the sense that very little or no professional training seems to have gone in them. The same can be said about the music; starting with a tacit production job of the band and Mike Cunniff who’ve left every single glitch in the recording and have focused instead on girth and punch. The guitars sound alive and though little attention has been paid to the volumes the result is a fucking charm.
Amongst the standout tracks we can find cuts like “Primal Urge” and “Don’t Care” which are basic tracks where the primitive nature of Blood Vessels comes afloat. These are simple manufactured tunes, kinda like pop, except this rock is made for destroying. Influenced by groundbreaking groups like The Stooges, Bad Brains and some 80’s English punk bands, this four piece keeps it loose and though melodic variations like the one found in “Hell Rocket”, perhaps the pinnacle of the record, hint at an awesome potential, the overall result is a satisfying slab of solid punk and roll songs.
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TH002 - Bad Lieutenants - Every Time I Come Around
Review in Punk & Oi In The UK (November 07)
Bit of an odd one this Bad Lieutenants were formed to mess about with songs first played over 10 years ago by The Chinks and seeing as I’ve heard of neither if I hadn’t have read it on the cover i would have been non the wiser, anyway here goes. From the opening track of ‘Balls Out In Memphis’ to the closer ‘Midnight Beefcake’ Bad Lieutenants play a bastardised sort of rock n roll- 3 chords, Ramones style but with a Southern twang and a touch of the Dickies for good measure and I love it. The simplicity of this is the reason it works so well, the same lyrics repeated ad infinitum means you can sing along almost straight away and the tunes are so easy on the old lug hole they sound like you’ve known the songs for years. All I can say is if you buy this and don’t like it give it to me as I think I will wear this copy out very quickly, oh yeah and you must be dead, deaf or daft. 5 out of 5. by Paul
Review in Americore Magazine
Crass by choice and rude by design, this conglomerate of Northeast punk and hardcore musicians come to the table with an impressive pedigree and an undisputed attitude on EVERY TIME I COME AROUND. Bad Lieutenants sound like they've lived a hard life on this 15-track ode to decadence, as songs like "Billy Smith" and "Midnight Beefcake" indicate a band in tune with the seedy side of life, complete with an unruly guitar buzz and relentless Ramones by way of Buzzcocks rhythms. Unpolished and proud, this is a disc for those that have lost faith that sleazy punk has gone by the wayside. -Mike SOS
Review in Europunk
By: Ben
My old next door neighbor, Jim, fucking hates the cops. I remember the first week I moved in he was partying with his roommate, this dude Lynn, and they were making all kinds of noise rocking out to GNR and breaking bottles when the cops showed up. Jim got a ticket for the noise and he thought I did it. Jim starts thinking that maybe his new neighbors called the cops and he starts banging on my door screaming, Im going to fucking kill you, you little piece of shit. Meanwhile, Im in bed with the covers pulled over my head thinking, Jesus, I signed a 12 month lease to live next to a psycho. I ran downstairs and grabbed a corkscrew and then back to the bedroom, ducking under the windows so as to avoid Jims detection.
I lived in complete fear of Jim for a few weeks. It only ended when I was with my roommates leaving my place and we ran into Jim and Lynn that things got settled. I told him it wasnt us who called the cops. Standing there with his mustache, bandana, and green tank-top, he took a haul off his joint, held the smoke in for a few seconds, exhaled, and said, Shit, I know that, it was the other neighbors, I hate those fuckers.
Lynn went to jail a few months later, leaving Jim by himself. I think a girl moved in with him because a few nights I would wake up to them screaming. Hed call her a slut, shed call him a fuckwad, Id lay awake all night scared and drawn into their lives.
Once the summer rolled around, Jim entered full-on party mode. Hed sit on the patio, crank the AC/DC, smoke, drink, cuss the cops, and barbeque. Dude was a 35 year old walking incarnation of rock and roll itself. He was cool, but I never partied with him, and I moved as soon as my lease was up.
I gave this CD to Jim. I dont think he has a CD player, though. Does this come on tape?
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Sorry, Jim! No cassettes! But we have a great Teenage Heart Holiday Package - - JUST FOR YOU!!!
Teenage Heart Holiday Package
We are offering a limited time holiday package deal on Teenage Heart CD Releases. All deals are postage paid. Buy ALL 7 CD's currently in stock for $30. Buy ANY 4 for $20, Buy ANY 3 for $15. Choose from these:
- TH002 Bad Lieutenants - Every Time I Come Around
- TH003 Blood Vessels - Blood Vessels
- TH005 Iron Cross - 2 Piece and a Biscuit
- TH006 Jason Bennett & The Resistance - Hope Dies Last
- TH007 The Sprained Ankles - You Love The Sprained Ankles
- TH008 Bad Lieutenants - Born a Bad Seed
- TH009 Buried in Leather - We Are Gone
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