For those unfamiliar with the musical Mecca that is Coachella, let me enlighten you to a something: no one goes to Coachella to see their favorite bands. They go there for the campgrounds. Why, you ask? It’s hipster Spring Break. A bunch of 20-somethings with a laissez faire sexuality convene in the desert, pork in tents for a weekend to the sounds of Swedish DJs and Brooklyn noise rock bands and go back to their job as a barista. Fellas, wanna get in on that action? I’m here to help. …

Matt Skiba and the Sekrets
Babylon
Century Media
7/10
Skiba’s become the Wooderson of punk bands; he gets older, but his lyrics stay the same age. I mean, I love me some Alkaline Trio, but “Luciferian Blues?” “Angel of Deaf?!” What is that? Are you 17? Come on Skeebs, please stop playing Magic: The Gathering while in the studio and get some new material.
That said, me from 2001 loves it. I mean, it’s Alkaline Trio without Dan Adriano balancing out Skeebs’ attempt to CHANNEL HIS INNER ADAM ANT. The Sekrets (WITH A K, MATT?!) …

Joyce Manor
Asian Man Records
Of All Things I Will Soon Grow Tired
9/10
Joyce Manor, whatever will I do with you? You’re so good, but such a tease. 9 songs? I know it’s a punk record, but COME ON! Clocking in at a whopping thirteen minutes long, this record was twice as long and twice as hard as my last hump session. But unlike the lady involved, OATIWSGT leaves me wanting more. Good work, fellas.
-Jonathan Yost

Ah, Valentine’s Day, the day where you are contractually obliged to do SOMETHING with your significant other. Tired of year after year of awkward dinners (remember that year where you ended up sitting across from your ex at Benihana and snorted a little too loud when the chef launched a vegetable down her cleavage?) and looks of stifled disappointment (I said my favorite color was CRIMSON, not SCARLET!), well, throw out the old playbook altogether and show your girl (or guy) that you really care by taking her to see …

The music industry is filled to the brim with people who have no business being anywhere near music. I honestly think that some label execs don’t have CDs/tapes/records in their homes. Rey Roldan is the complete opposite. This is a guy who I’ve sat with and talked with, spitting my complete and utter bullshit at for an hour before we even got to the business-y reason I called him. Which was probably to get into a show for free or something. Free shows are awesome.
Anyways, his pad had recently caught …

Star Fucking Hipsters
From The Dumpster To The Grave
Fat Wreck Chords
2/10
Oh, shut up. “From the Dumpster To The Grave?” REALLY? You would think that after a few decades, the socially-conscious arm of the punk movement would have something new to offer. But, I guess we’re stuck with the same contrived, cliche bullshit that does nothing to forward any kind of change towards the system that SFH loves to bitch about. Yes, yes, “the system,” “the Vietnam War,” “bitching about Christianity,” I GET IT. At least the riffs are decent, so if …

Since the first album I ever bought with my own money was “Weird Al” Yankovic’s The Food Album, I think it’s safe to say that I’ve always enjoyed a good accordion line. See what happen’s when Portland’s Jack Heart Jackie invade a San Francisco piano store.

Holy fuck. I am turning 30. I’m pretty sure at some point I will need to be a full-blown grown-up. As such, I am going to put some pricey ass shit in here as I describe how I expect shit to go down as I celebrate turning the big 3-0.
First thing’s first, I am gonna need some booze. Wait, first thing’s first, I’m gonna need a camera to document all the cool things my REALLY cool friends are bound to get me. This will probably be the Flip MinoHD 8 …

So, it seems that the Santa Cruz Derby Girls (Well, mostly their hippie friends and boyfriends trying to show how forward-thinking and feminist they were for standing up to my blatant sexism) were none too pleased with my previous article about Roller Derby. I happen to know one of the SCDG ladies and waved hi and she smiles, turns to her team and I hear “That’s the guy who wrote ‘The Article.’” Now, I have fought my fair share of women (I mean, who hasn’t?!), but a whole team at …

Tidelands
If…
Self-released
7/10
Goddamn, reviewing depressing music is depressing, even if it IS really good. Tidelands’ If… is really good. With Gabriel Leis’ droning baritone and a barrage of orchestration, Tidelands weaves tales that are full, if not a bit melancholy, and at times, fairly chaotic. How they got all that to work together is beyond me, but I’m not going to ask too many questions. I WAS gonna try to clean my room while listening to it, but it lends itself to reading a book far more than it does to being …

Devo
with The English Beat and Tom Tom Club
San Manuel Indian Bingo and Casino
August 4th, 2011
As a child of the 80s, I was pretty fucking stoked to see The English Beat and Devo. Together. With The Tom Tom Club clogging up valuable stage time in between. I was even a bit more excited to see that the show was at the San Manuel Indian Bingo and Casino, which is all of 8 minutes away from me. Then I discover that the San Manuel Indian Bingo and Casino has …

Roller derby combines some of my favorite things: hot (usually tattooed) chicks, violence, action and puns. All of these things are awesome, put them together and you have roller derby, a predominantly female sport since, let’s face it, VERY few people want to see men in booty shorts skate in circles. One of the Angel City Derby Girls (who apparently have been invited to the Western regional tournament of the biggest governing body of roller derby, the WFTDA) explained to me how this goes, but I kept getting sidetracked with …

Sublime was a band I listened to extensively in middle school and high school, and Bradley Nowell was one of the first musicians that I can remember being bummed out about passing away. So when I was offered to interview Rome, Nowell’s replacement in Sublime, I was first a bit hesitant. But I figured, and this is all conjecture as I obviously never met Brad Nowell, that Brad would want Sublime to go on without him as long as it didn’t suck donkey balls. And well, Rome doesn’t suck donkey …

Sublime With Rome
Yours Truly
Fueled By Ramen
8/10
So, the first new Sublime album since Brad Nowell’s untimely death is… fucking good. While I hate, HATE, that it’s called “Sublime with Rome” versus, you know, a new fucking name, I can’t stop myself from humming along to this shit. Seriously. It’s not “Journey with that Filipino dude,” or “Guns N Roses W/O Slash.” I know that they were hampered by a lawsuit involving the name, but pick something new, guys. While obviously lacking any references to Louie Dog, Sublime with …

Racket’s own Armando Olivas not only chats with artists for Racket, but he, along with his pal Matt Baldwin, put out these badass podcasts.
Listen on as Matt and Mondo put on their big boy pants and talk to two of punk rock’s biggest heavyweights. First, the dynamic duo talk with Tony Weinbender, all-around Fest czar to discuss the upcoming Fest 10! Also joining the podcast is Less Than Jake drummer and Paper + Plastick owner Vinnie Fiorello. Vinnie talks about the upcoming Anthology release as well as the day to …

So, some of you may be familiar with our Haiku Reviews, which are meant simply to help us catch up on the back log of records we’re supposed to review. Well, this is a group of records I also wanted to get covered, but I had a bit more to say about them. Now, with a variety of beers, Iron Chef on mute and some drunk texting, I present: The Racket Teenage Poetry Review Corner.
City And Colour
Little Hell
Vagrant Records
9/10
He is sad.
I am sad.
He makes me sad.
I am happy …