Tag: Misfits

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: JOVM Mainstays Warish Release another Mosh Pit Friendly Ripper

With the release of their 2019 full-length debut, Down In Flames, the San Diego-based noise punk trio Warish — currently founding member Riley Hawk (guitar, vocals), Alex Bassaj (bass) and Justin de la Vega (drums) — quickly established a reputation for crafting mosh pit friendly, bludgeoning rippers, that bring early Butthole Surfers, Scratch Acid, Incesticide-era Nirvana, Static Age-era Misfits and others to mind.  

The San Diego-based JOVM mainstays’ sophomore album, the 13-song Next To Pay reportedly finds the noise punk trio at their darkest and most vicious. “Next To Pay is about a sense of imminent doom, everyone is going to die,” Warish’s Riley Hawk says in press notes. “It’s not the happiest record, I guess.” The album’s material sonically finds the band continuing to draw from the same influences as its predecessor, but while pushing their sound in a much more forceful — and in turn, nastier — direction, heavily influenced by the guitar work of Greg Ginn and Buzz Osborne — wiry contortions drenched in various chorus effect pedals. “This album is more of an evolution, it’s a little more punk-heavy,” Hawk adds. “We figured out what our sound was.” 

Along with that evolution, the band went through a massive lineup change. The band’s original drummer Nick “Broose” McDonnell plays on roughly half the album’s songs while their newest drummer Justin de la Vega played on the more recently written and recorded tracks. Bassaj joined the band after their debut was recorded, so Next To Pay marks his official Warish debut. 

So far I’ve written about two of the album’s released singles:

“Seeing Red,” a breakneck, Bleach-era Nirvana like ripper centered around Hawk’s howled vocals, scuzzy power chords, a forceful and chugging bass line paired with pummeling drumming that continues a run of mosh pit friendly material — but with a feral snarl. 
“S.H.M. (Second Hand Misery)” another breakneck ripper that sonically reminded me of a gritty synthesis of Nirvana and Melvins — but full of bile and evil intentions.

“Scars,” Next to Pay’s third and latest single continues a remarkable run of piss and bile fueled rippers — but with this one managing to sound a bit like a synthesis of Nirvana’s “Territorial Pissings” and Ride the Lightning-era Metallica. Fittingly, the recently released video brings 120 Minutes-era MTV to mind, as it features the band performing the song in a studio in front of various colored background.

The JOVM mainstays’ sophomore album Next To Pay is slated for an April 30, 2021 release through RidingEasy Records. 

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: JOVM Mainstays Warish Release a Hilariously Demented Visual

With the release of their full-length debut, 2019’s Down In Flames, the San Diego-based noise punk trio Warish — currently founding member Riley Hawk (guitar, vocals), Alex Bassaj (bass) and Justin de la Vega (drums) — quickly established a reputation for crafting mosh pit friendly, bludgeoning rippers, that would bring early Butthole Surfers, Scratch Acid, Incesticide-era Nirvana, Static Age-era Misfits and others to mind for listeners.

The San Diego-based JOVM mainstays’ sophomore album, the 13-song Next To Pay reportedly finds the noise punk trio at their darkest and most vicious. “Next To Pay is about a sense of imminent doom, everyone is going to die,” Warish’s Riley Hawk says in press notes. “It’s not the happiest record, I guess.” The album’s material sonically finds the band continuing to draw from the same influences as its predecessor, but while pushing their sound in a much more forceful — and in turn, nastier — direction, heavily influenced by the guitar work of Greg Ginn and Buzz Osborne — wiry contortions drenched in various chorus effect pedals. “This album is more of an evolution, it’s a little more punk-heavy,” Hawk adds. “We figured out what our sound was.” 

Along with that evolution, the band went through a massive lineup change. The band’s original drummer Nick “Broose” McDonnell plays on roughly half the album’s song while their newest de la Vega played on the more recently written and recorded tracks. Bassaj joined the band after their debut was recorded, so Next To Pay marks his official Warish debut.

Earlier this year, I wrote about album single “Seeing Red,” a breakneck, Bleach-era Nirvana like ripper centered around Hawk’s howled vocals, scuzzy power chords, a forceful and chugging bass line paired with pummeling drumming that continues a run of mosh pit friendly material — but with a feral snarl.

“S.H.M. (Second Hand Misery),” Next To Pay’s latest single is a breakneck ripper featuring fuzzy, chugging power chords, a rousingly anthemic hook paired with Hawk’s yelps and howls. Sonically, the song — to my ears, at least — reminds me of a gritty synthesis of Nirvana and Melvins, but full of bile and evil intentions.

Edited by the band’s Riley Hawk, the hilariously demented video features edited footage from Barney that features the enormous purple dinosaur and some innocent kids seemingly dancing and singing along to the song. “This video came to mind when I heard the ‘If you’re happy and you know it’ song by Barney playing somewhere while I was in a bad mood and was thinking, this song is kinda evil sounding. Then I went home and instantly started editing the video to the track ‘S.H.M.’ because it’s the polar opposite of ‘If You Are Happy And You Know It.’ It fit nicely I thought, hah.” 

The JOVM mainstays’ sophomore album Next To Pay is slated for an April 30, 2021 release through RidingEasy Records.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: JOVM Mainstays Warish Returns with a Furious, Mosh Pit Friendly Ripper

Over the past couple of years, I’ve managed to spill quite a bit of virtual ink covering the Southern California-based punk trio Warish. Formed back in 2018, the act which features  founding duo Riley Hawk (guitar, vocals) and Bruce McDonnell (drums) can trace their origins back to Hawk’s and McDonnell’s mutual desire to try their hand at something a bit more distinct than what they had previously done: “We wanted to do simpler riffs and a fun live show,” the band’s Riley Hawk explains in press notes. “A little more punk, a little bit grunge . . . a little evil-ish.” And as you may recall, with the release of their first two EPs, the band quickly established a reputation for crafting mosh pit friendly rippers with an aggressively sleazy Troma Films-inspired vibe.  In fact, sonically, the band’s sound draws from early Butthole Surfers, Scratch Acid, Incesticide-era Nirvana, Static Age-era Misfits and others,

Warish released their full-length debut Down In Flames last year, which featured one of my favorite singles of the year, the menacing, mosh pit friendly ripper “Healter Skelter.” And since the album’s release, the band has been busy touring to support the album — including a tour with Acid King during the last half of last year. Interestingly, the JOVM mainstays start off 2020 with a North American tour with Black Lips that includes a February 24, 2020 stop at Music Hall of Williamsburg — and with their latest single “Bleed  Me Free,” which continues a run of furious early Nirvana-styled mosh pit rippers. 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: JOVM Mainstays Warish Release a Menacing Mosh Pit Friendly Ripper off Their Forthcoming Full-Length Debut

I’ve written quite a bit about the Southern California-based punk trio Warish over the past 18 months or so and the act, which features founding members Riley Hawk (guitar, vocals) and Bruce McDonnell (drums) formed last year when its founding duo wanted to try their hand at something a bit more distinct than what they had previous done.“We wanted to do simpler riffs and a fun live show,” Hawk explains in press notes. “A little more punk, a little bit of grunge… a little evil-ish.” Their sound reportedly draws from a variety of things — early Butthole Surfers, Scratch Acid, Incesticide-era Nirvana, Static Age-era Misfits and others, and with the release of their first two EPs, the band quickly established themselves for crafting scuzzy, mosh pit friendly rippers with an aggressively sleazy Troma Films-inspired vibe.

Building upon a rapidly growing profile, the members of Warish will be releasing their highly-anticipated full-length debut, Down In Flames through RidingEasy Records on September 13, 2019. Down In Flames’ first single “Healter Skelter” isn’t a Beatles cover. but rather the title refers to the Manson Family’s misspelled blood scrawl at the site of the group’s second murder in 1969. Centered around thunderous drumming, scuzzy power chords and howled vocals — and while clearly recalling Bleach and Incesticde-era Nirvana, the song may arguably be among the most menacing of their growing catalog of mosh pit friendly rippers. 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Warish Returns with Two Mosh Pit Friendly Rippers

Over the past 14 months or so, I’ve written a bit about the Southern California-based punk trio Warish, and as you may recall, the trio which features founding members Riley Hawk (guitar, vocals) and Bruce McDonnell (drums) formed earlier this year, when its founding duo wanted to try their hand at something a bit more distinct than they’d previously done. “We wanted to do simpler riffs and a fun live show,” Hawk explains in press notes. “A little more punk, a little bit of grunge… a little evil-ish.” Their sound reportedly draws from a variety of things — early Butthole Surfers, Scratch Acid, Incesticide-era Nirvana, Static Age-era Misfits and others, and with the release of their self-titled debut EP, earlier this year the band quickly established themselves for crafting scuzzy, mosh pit friendly rippers with an aggressively sleazy Troma Films-inspired vibe. 

Building on a growing profile, the Southern California-based punk trio will be releasing their sophomore EP through RidingEasy Records –and while we’re waiting for the specifics, Warish has released the “Runnin’ Scared”/”Their Disguise” double single, which I think will further cement their growing reputation for crafting scuzzy, power chord-based, eardrum destroying, mosh pit rippers — but these two latest singles may be among the most furious tracks they’ve released to date. 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Late last year, I wrote about the Southern California-based trio Warish, and as you may recall the trio which features founding members Riley Hawk (guitar, vocals) and Bruce McDonnell (drums) formed earlier this year, when its founding duo wanted to try their hand at something a bit more distinct than they’d previously done. “We wanted to do simpler riffs and a fun live show,” Hawk explains in press notes. “A little more punk, a little bit of grunge… a little evil-ish.” Their sound reportedly draws from a variety of things — early Butthole Surfers, Scratch Acid, Incesticide-era Nirvana, Static Age-era Misfits — and with “Fight,” the first single off their self-titled debut EP, the trio quickly make their presence known as the song is centered around Hawk’s effects-laden vocals, enormous grunge rock meet thrash punk power chords, pummeling drumming, mosh pit friendly hooks and an aggressively sleazy, Troma Films-like vibe.

Warish’s self-titled debut EP is slated for a February 19, 2019 release through RidingEasy Records, and the EP’s latest single “Human Being” is a mosh pit friendly ripper centered around explosive power chords, thundering drums and howled vocals. Sonically speaking, the track recalls The Colour and the Shape and One by One-era Foo Fighters — but with a raw, gritty feel.