
Kid of the Black Hole No More Steve Soto, who died in his sleep on June 27th, 2018, was the heart and godfather of Southern California hook-laden punk. His talents filled the likes of the Adolescents, Agent Orange, Manic Hispanic, 22 Jacks, Legal Weapon, and more. He brimmed with unbelievable talent and a ceaseless work […]
By David Ensminger. As the crushing cold front overtook much of North America, including an unusual swath of the South, and just hours after I completed an interview with Pat Doyle of Offenders, he notified everybody via social media that Offenders singer J.J. Jacobson, who joined the band in 1981, died in the streets of […]
A few weeks ago, a “semi-transient African American man” was found dead, killed from a knife wound behind the softball field of Las Palmas Park, located in San Fernando, CA. This was Fred “Freak” Smith, beloved guitarist who shaped the trajectory of mid-1980s punk in seminal bands like Beefeater, one of Washington, D.C.’s most inventive […]
This originally ran in MRR #319/Dec ‘09 which you can grab here Can’t Fix This: The Brutal Urgency of The Fix Hailing from Lansing, MI, a college town full of copycat, run-of-the-mill, faceless rock bands, The Fix were a blunt concoction of raw power stolen from the “Gimme Some Skin” era Iggy and Stooges […]
This originally ran in MRR #326/July ’10, which you can grab here Deep South Punk Legends from Ozone City: U-Ron from Really Red! By David Ensminger While flying home from Portland last weekend, where I lectured about the need for a greater understanding of Mexican-American gravesite traditions (no, they are not landscapes of trinkets, […]
This originally ran in MRR #323/Apr ’10, which you can grab here It’s Not Just Entertainment: The Legacy of Really Red Although well admired during the 1980s, Really Red seemed to slip into the dustbins of punk history while Texas acts like the Dicks, MDC, Big Boys, and others maintained steady appeal. The Houston […]
David Ensminger, zine editor, punk historian, and a few other things I may be forgetting, returns for another Monday Photo Blog. This time reporting in from Lufkin, TX, which is in the “rural outreaches of East Texas”, at the DIY, all ages space, The Factory. Send your tour photos, bands that have come through your […]
It’s a new month and Maximum Rocknroll, the world’s longest running independent punk magazine, has another great issue to offer! MRR #349, the June 2012 issue, with another killer cover drawing by Guillem el Muro, features UK anarcho-punk legends ANTISECT reflecting on their past and their upcoming tour, and Virginian crusters APPALACHIAN TERROR UNIT discusses […]
David Ensminger, former editor of Left Of The Dial, is also responsible for interviewing some heavy hitters for this very zine. He’s also handy with the camera as I learned this weekend when I opened the email he sent over for this installment of the Monday Photo Blog. Below are four photos from the recent Visual […]
By David Ensminger, excerpted from Houston Press… Sometimes people come into our lives with the force, elegance, and nimbleness of water. Musician, photographer, and patient advocate Kathy Johnston invoked those traits. “Kathy was such a huge part of our lives. We already miss her intensely,” band mate and friend Trish Herrera is quick to testify. […]
Took a little break last week, as I was out wandering around the Mojave Desert and Death Valley. But we’re back in business this week with a little selection from a number of different photographers… Wanna submit a photo for the MRR Photo Blog? If you shoot shows and have photos you want to submit […]