Tag: The Bronx

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Mariachi El Bronx Returns with Lynchian-like Visual for Hard-Charging “Songbird”

Started back in 2008 as both a side project and creative experiment for the members of Los Angeles-based punk rock outfit The Bronx, Mariachi El Bronx — Matt Caughthran (vocals), Joby J. Ford (guitar, vihuela, accordion), Jared Shavelson (drums), Keith Douglas (trumpet), Ray Suen (violin), Brad Magers (trumpet), Ken Horne (jarana), and Vincent Hidalgo (guitarrón)– have long been deeply rooted in their deep connection to the Hispanic music and culture of their hometown. Although seemingly different, the band doesn’t see punk and mariachi as mutually exclusive. Instead, they view both genres as spiritually entwined forces anchored in resilient storytelling. “Punk rock and mariachi music are very similar in soul,” The Bronx’s and Mariachi El Bronx’s Matt Caughthran says. “It’s working class music. It’s real music.” 

Despite almost two decades of success, that has included sharing stages with Foo Fighters and The Killers; sets across the global festival circuit, including Coachella and Glastonbury; performances on Late Show with David Letterman to NPR’s Tiny Desk; and theme songs for shows like Weeds and Aqua Teen Hunger Force, the members of Mariachi El Bronx still consider themselves lifelong students of the art form. That reverence carries over to their charro suits, which often attract as much attention as the music itself. The band has long turned to Boyle Heights-based Casa del Mariachi, a historic Los Angeles area landmark, where Jorge “Mr. George” Tello has been handcrafting the traditional suits for over 50 years. “This band has always been about learning and exchanging culture through music and art,” says Caughthran. “That’s what it’s all about! Everything we do comes from the heart and soul.”

Mariachi El Bronx’s long-awaited fourth album, the John Avila-produced Mariachi El Bronx IV is slated for a Friday release through ATO Records. The album, which is the first album from the project in a decade, sees the trailblazing alter-egos of The Bronx continuing to embody the same ethos that sparked their creation — honoring the rich Hispanic music and culture that has always surrounded them in their hometown, while pushing creative boundaries. 

Clashing emotions of profound loss and overwhelming love shaped the album’s themes. The songwriting “started as a battle between love and death but became a way to process all the chaos of the world,” Caughthtran explains. Throughout the run of the album’s 12-tracks, the band documents the stories of gamblers, former playboys, warriors and lovers — characters that became vessels for the specific pressures of modern life. 

Returning after a decade away felt “joyous and familiar from the jump,” the band’s Joby J. Ford says. But the album’s recording process proved to be much more complex than expected. Within the year that he began writing the album’s lyrics, Caughthran contended with the deaths of several loved ones. And as they tracked the album’s material at producer John Avila’s San Gabriel Valley studio, the Eaton Canyon wildfires blazed across East L.A. “We came out of the studio one night, the entire side of the hill was just on fire,” Ford recalls. 

While dealing with grief in his personal life and within Los Angeles, Caughthran also got married in the same year. All of these very profoundly human experiences and feelings have informed what may arguably be Mariachi El Bronx’s most emotionally resonate work to date. 

Mariachi El Bronx IV will feature the previously singles “Forgive or Forget,” and “RIP Romeo,” both wich, feature acclaimed violinist Ray Suen, “Bandoleros,” a Norteño-charged tune that the band describes as the album’s “battle cry,” and the album’s last pre-release single “Songbird.”

“Songbird” is hard-charging bit of mariachi that tackles a familiar frustration that many writers and artists face at some point: writers block. The song captures the frustration of looking at a blank page or at a blinking cursor for hours with nothing able to come to mind. This is followed by pressure induced desperation. If you know, you know.

Mariachi El Bronx’s Matt Caughtran was deep in a period of creative exhaustion, when longtime collaborator and friend Vincent Hildago, the son of Los Lobos‘ David Hildago, hit on a pulse-quickening guitar line in the studio.

Caughtran’s connection with the Hildago family goes back decades. He first met Vincent and his brother David Jr. in high school, where the three began playing music together, laying the foundation for a creative relationship that’s spanned more than 30 years. After decades of collaboration, the spark was instant and to Caughthran, Vincent’s riff sounded like a hummingbird flapping its wings – the same bird he’d been watching outside his writing window as he stared down a blank page. The block faded instantly as lyrics poured out of his brain: “I was staring at another empty page / Feeling every single second of my age.” 

Directed by Blaise Cepis, the accompanying video for “Songbird,” is a surreal, almost Lynchian-like visual that features the members of the band performing the song in front of a collection of oddballs and freaks, who are wildly talented.

Cepis says “whenever I direct a music video, I’m just trying to make something 11-year-old me would’ve stayed up late hoping to catch on 120 Minutes or Headbangers Ball. Thankfully I found 8 kindred spirits in mariachi el Bronx, who were the most incredible collaborators and were down for anything. I had such a great time with the band and the insanely talented gorgeous cast, I think 11-year-old me would approve.”

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Mariachi El Bronx Shares Battle Cry “Bandoleros”

Started back in 2008 as both a side project and creative experiment for the members of Los Angeles-based punk rock outfit The Bronx, Mariachi El Bronx — Matt Caughthran (vocals), Joby J. Ford (guitar, vihuela, accordion), Jared Shavelson (drums), Keith Douglas (trumpet), Ray Suen (violin), Brad Magers (trumpet), Ken Horne (jarana), and Vincent Hidalgo (guitarrón)– has long been deeply rooted in their deep connection to the Hispanic music and culture of their hometown. Although seemingly different, the band doesn’t see punk and mariachi as mutually exclusive. Instead, they view both genres as spiritually entwined forces anchored in resilient storytelling. “Punk rock and mariachi music are very similar in soul,” The Bronx’s and Mariachi El Bronx’s Matt Caughthran says. “It’s working class music. It’s real music.” 

Despite almost two decades of success, that has included sharing stages with Foo Fighters and The Killers; sets across the global festival circuit, including Coachella and Glastonbury; performances on Late Show with David Letterman to NPR’s Tiny Desk; and theme songs for shows like Weeds and Aqua Teen Hunger Force, the members of Mariachi El Bronx still consider themselves lifelong students of the art form. That reverence carries over to their charro suits, which often attract as much attention as the music itself. The band has long turned to Boyle Heights-based Casa del Mariachi, a historic Los Angeles area landmark, where Jorge “Mr. George” Tello has been handcrafting the traditional suits for over 50 years. “This band has always been about learning and exchanging culture through music and art,” says Caughthran. “That’s what it’s all about! Everything we do comes from the heart and soul.”

Mariachi El Bronx’s long-awaited fourth album, the John Avila-produced Mariachi El Bronx IV is slated for a February 13, 2026 release through ATO Records. The album, which is the first album from the project in a decade, sees the trailblazing alter-egos of The Bronx continuing to embody the same ethos that sparked their creation — honoring the rich Hispanic music and culture that has always surrounded them in their hometown, while pushing creative boundaries. 

Clashing emotions of profound loss and overwhelming love shaped the album’s themes. The songwriting “started as a battle between love and death but became a way to process all the chaos of the world,” Caughthtran explains. Throughout the run of the album’s 12-tracks, the band documents the stories of gamblers, former playboys, warriors and lovers — characters that became vessels for the specific pressures of modern life. 

Returning after a decade away felt “joyous and familiar from the jump,” the band’s Joby J. Ford says. But the album’s recording process proved to be much more complex than expected. Within the year that he began writing the album’s lyrics, Caughthran contended with the deaths of several loved ones. And as they tracked the album’s material at producer John Avila’s San Gabriel Valley studio, the Eaton Canyon wildfires blazed across East L.A. “We came out of the studio one night, the entire side of the hill was just on fire,” Ford recalls. 

While dealing with grief in his personal life and within Los Angeles, Caughthran also got married in the same year. All of these very profoundly human experiences and feelings have informed what may arguably be Mariachi El Bronx’s most emotionally resonate work to date. 

Mariachi El Bronx IV will feature the previously released album opener, “Forgive or Forget,” and “RIP Romeo,” tracks which, feature acclaimed violinist Ray Suen that tackle nostalgia, heartache and longing — in the way that only mariachi could.

Mariachi El Bronx begins 2026 with Mariachi El Bronx‘s third and latest single “Bandoleros,” a Norteño-charged tune that the band describes as the album’s “battle cry,” and features a narrator channeling courage, indignation and defiance in the face of mounting chaos and unfairness both locally and and globally.

Directed by legendary Los Angeles-based street photographer, director and longtime friend of the band, Estevan Oriol, the accompanying video is a proud and defiant love letter to the city’s Mexican and Latino culture, that features Jorge Tello’s Casa del Mariachi, and his gorgeously detailed handcrafted charro suits, the small, sweaty beer soaked clubs where you’d catch mariachis, while you drunkenly sway and cry along. But the video ends with a stark and familiar warning: Gentrification and development often endanger the bedrock culture and soul of any place it touches.

“I’ve been working with these guys for years and this version of the band is unstoppable,” Estevan Oriol says. ““I’m proud to of been given creative freedom to match their massive sound with this video that visually matches the GIANT they’ve become.’”

The band adds, “we’ve been working with Estevan since the early 2000’s. His talent and style is unmatched. Over the years we’ve become friends so linking up for the ‘Bandoleros’ video was a no brainer.”

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Mariachi El Bronx Returns with “RIP Romeo”

Started back in 2008 as both a side project and creative experiment for the members of Los Angeles-based punk rock The Bronx, Mariachi El Bronx — Matt Caughthran (vocals), Joby J. Ford (guitar, vihuela, accordion), Jared Shavelson (drums), Keith Douglas (trumpet), Ray Suen (violin), Brad Magers (trumpet), Ken Horne (jarana), and Vincent Hidalgo (guitarrón)– has long been deeply rooted in their deep connection to the Hispanic music and culture of their hometown. Although seemingly different, the band doesn’t see punk and mariachi as mutually exclusive. Instead, they view both genres as spiritually entwined forces anchored in resilient storytelling. “Punk rock and mariachi music are very similar in soul,” The Bronx’s and Mariachi El Bronx’s Matt Caughthran says. “It’s working class music. It’s real music.” 

Despite almost two decades of success, that has included sharing stages with Foo Fighters and The Killers; sets across the global festival circuit, including Coachella and Glastonbury; performances on Late Show with David Letterman to NPR’s Tiny Desk; and theme songs for shows like Weeds and Aqua Teen Hunger Force, the members of Mariachi El Bronx still consider themselves lifelong students of the art form. That reverence carries over to their charro suits, which often attract as much attention as the music itself. The band has long turned to Boyle Heights-based Casa del Mariachi, a historic Los Angeles area landmark, where Jorge “Mr. George” Tello has been handcrafting the traditional suits for over 50 years. “This band has always been about learning and exchanging culture through music and art,” says Caughthran. “That’s what it’s all about! Everything we do comes from the heart and soul.”

Mariachi El Bronx’s long-awaited fourth album, the John Avila-produced Mariachi El Bronx IV is slated for a February 13, 2026 release through ATO Records. The album, which is the first album from the project in a decade, sees the trailblazing alter-egos of The Bronx continuing to embody the same ethos that sparked their creation — honoring the rich Hispanic music and culture that has always surrounded them in their hometown, while pushing creative boundaries. 

Clashing emotions of profound loss and overwhelming love shaped the album’s themes. The songwriting “started as a battle between love and death but became a way to process all the chaos of the world,” Caughthtran explains. Throughout the run of the album’s 12-tracks, the band documents the stories of gamblers, former playboys, warriors and lovers — characters that became vessels for the specific pressures of modern life. 

Returning after a decade away felt “joyous and familiar from the jump,” the band’s Joby J. Ford says. But the album’s recording process proved to be much more complex than expected. Within the year that he began writing the album’s lyrics, Caughthran contended with the deaths of several loved ones. And as they tracked the album’s material at producer John Avila’s San Gabriel Valley studio, the Eaton Canyon wildfires blazed across East L.A. “We came out of the studio one night, the entire side of the hill was just on fire,” Ford recalls. 

While dealing with grief in his personal life and within Los Angeles, Caughthran also got married in the same year. All of these very profoundly human experiences and feelings have informed what may arguably be Mariachi El Bronx’s most emotionally resonate work to date. 

Mariachi El Bronx IV will feature the previously released album opener, “Forgive or Forget,” a galloping and swooning track with acclaimed violinist Ray Suen that captures the nostalgia, bitter heartache, the longing to forget that heartache, and the desire to move forward with a seemingly booze-tinged haze, and the album’s second and latest single “RIP Romeo.”

“RIP Romeo” continues an ongoing collaboration with acclaimed violinist Ray Suen, who also has a cowriting credit on the track. While focusing on the age-old tale of Romeo, “RIP Romeo,” the new single, much like its predecessor is a seamless blend of mourning, longing and love, anchored around a gorgeous and timeless arrangement that simultaneously places the character in a subtly modern context.

“’RIP Romeo’ started with a melody that wouldn’t leave my head. I brought it to Ray and we knocked out a demo in an hour. We hadn’t written together in years, but we fell right back into rhythm. It came alive when the rest of the band got their hands on it.

It’s a pretty direct song on the surface, but there’s a lot going on underneath. I’ve wanted to write about Romeo for years, but only if it came from a genuine place – not something forced or cliché. This one finally felt true, so I leaned in.”

The deeper layer revealed itself when I couldn’t finish the lyrics. I had most of it written, but key lines were missing. I couldn’t focus – my aunt had recently passed away from cancer, and my family was grieving. That experience ended up shaping the song in ways I hadn’t anticipated. The lines ‘How could this happen to you, it’s cruel and it’s tragic’ and ‘Amor es muerte (love is death)’ are about her – they completed the song for me.”

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Mariachi El Bronx Shares Stylish Visual for Swooning “Forgive or Forget”

Started back in 2008 as both a side project and creative experiment for the members of Los Angeles-based punk rock The Bronx, Mariachi El Bronx — Matt Caughthran (vocals), Joby J. Ford (guitar, vihuela, accordion), Jared Shavelson (drums), Keith Douglas (trumpet), Ray Suen (violin), Brad Magers (trumpet), Ken Horne (jarana), and Vincent Hidalgo (guitarrón)– has long been deeply rooted in their deep connection to the Hispanic music and culture of their hometown. Although seemingly different, the and doesn’t see punk and mariachi as mutually exclusive. Instead, they view both genres as spiritually entwined forces anchored in resilient storytelling. “Punk rock and mariachi music are very similar in soul,” The Bronx’s and Mariachi El Bronx’s Matt Caughthran says. “It’s working class music. It’s real music.” 

Despite almost two decades of success, that has included sharing stages with Foo Fighters and The Killers; sets across the global festival circuit, including Coachella and Glastonbury; performances on Late Show with David Letterman to NPR’s Tiny Desk; and theme songs for shows like Weeds and Aqua Teen Hunger Force, the members of Mariachi El Bronx still consider themselves lifelong students of the art form. That reverence carries over to their charro suits, which often attract as much attention as the music itself. The band has long turned to Boyle Heights-based Casa del Mariachi, a historic Los Angeles area landmark, where Jorge “Mr. George” Tello has been handcrafting the traditional suits for over 50 years. “This band has always been about learning and exchanging culture through music and art,” says Caughthran. “That’s what it’s all about! Everything we do comes from the heart and soul.”

Mariachi El Bronx’s long-awaited fourth album, the John Avila-produced Mariachi El Bronx IV is slated for a February 13, 2026 release through ATO Records. The album, which is the first album from the project in a decade, sees the trailblazing alter-egos of The Bronx continuing to embody the same ethos that sparked their creation — honoring the rich Hispanic music and culture that has always surrounded them in their hometown, while pushing creative boundaries. 

Clashing emotions of profound loss and overwhelming love shaped the album’s themes. The songwriting “started as a battle between love and death but became a way to process all the chaos of the world,” Caughthtran explains. Throughout the run of the album’s 12-tracks, the band documents the stories of gamblers, former playboys, warriors and lovers — characters that became vessels for the specific pressures of modern life. 

Returning after a decade away felt “joyous and familiar from the jump,” the band’s Joby J. Ford says. But the album’s recording process proved to be much more complex than expected. Within the year that he began writing the album’s lyrics, Caughthran contended with the deaths of several loved ones. And as they tracked the album’s material at producer John Avila’s San Gabriel Valley studio, the Eaton Canyon wildfires blazed across East L.A. “We came out of the studio one night, the entire side of the hill was just on fire,” Ford recalls. 

While dealing with grief in his personal life and within Los Angeles, Caughthran also got married in the same year. All of these very profoundly human experiences and feelings have informed what may arguably be Mariachi El Bronx’s most emotionally resonate work to date. 

Mariachi El Bronx IV’s first single, album opener “Forgive or Forget” features violinist Ray Suen on a swooning and galloping track that captures the nostalgia, bitter heartache, the longing to forget that heartache, and the desire to move forward with a seemingly booze-tinged haze. Fittingly, the song is rooted in a complicated and uneasy mix of despair and hope that feels lived-in and familiar. 

The accompanying video for “Forgive or Forget” features the members of Mariachi El Bronx in the traditional mariachi charro suits performing the song in silhouette in front of colorful backgrounds. It reminds me quite a bit of the ad campaigns for Apple iPods back in the day.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Mariachi El Bronx Shares Swooning “Forgive or Forget”

Started back in 2008 as both a side project and creative experiment for the members of Los Angeles-based punk rock The Bronx, Mariachi El Bronx — Matt Caughthran (vocals), Joby J. Ford (guitar, vihuela, accordion), Jared Shavelson (drums), Keith Douglas (trumpet), Ray Suen (violin), Brad Magers (trumpet), Ken Horne (jarana), and Vincent Hidalgo (guitarrón)– has long been deeply rooted in their deep connection to the Hispanic music and culture of their hometown. Although seemingly different, the and doesn’t see punk and mariachi as mutually exclusive. Instead, they view both genres as spiritually entwined forces anchored in resilient storytelling. “Punk rock and mariachi music are very similar in soul,” The Bronx’s and Mariachi El Bronx’s Matt Caughthran says. “It’s working class music. It’s real music.”

Despite almost two decades of success, that has included sharing stages with Foo Fighters and The Killers; sets across the global festival circuit, including Coachella and Glastonbury; performances on Late Show with David Letterman to NPR’s Tiny Desk; and theme songs for shows like Weeds and Aqua Teen Hunger Force, the members of Mariachi El Bronx still consider themselves lifelong students of the art form. That reverence carries over to their charro suits, which often attract as much attention as the music itself. The band has long turned to Boyle Heights-based Casa del Mariachi, a historic Los Angeles area landmark, where Jorge “Mr. George” Tello has been handcrafting the traditional suits for over 50 years. “This band has always been about learning and exchanging culture through music and art,” says Caughthran. “That’s what it’s all about! Everything we do comes from the heart and soul.”

Mariachi El Bronx’s long-awaited fourth album, the John Avila-produced Mariachi El Bronx IV is slated for a February 13, 2026 release through ATO Records. The album, which is the first album from the project in a decade, sees the trailblazing alter-egos of The Bronx continuing to embody the same ethos that sparked their creation — honoring the rich Hispanic music and culture that has always surrounded them in their hometown, while pushing creative boundaries.

Clashing emotions of profound loss and overwhelming love shaped the album’s themes. The songwriting “started as a battle between love and death but became a way to process all the chaos of the world,” Caughthtran explains. Throughout the run of the album’s 12-tracks, the band documents the stories of gamblers, former playboys, warriors and lovers — characters that became vessels for the specific pressures of modern life.

Returning after a decade away felt “joyous and familiar from the jump,” the band’s Joby J. Ford says. But the album’s recording process proved to be much more complex than expected. Within the year that he began writing the album’s lyrics, Caughthran contended with the deaths of several loved ones. And as they tracked the album’s material at producer John Avila’s San Gabriel Valley studio, the Eaton Canyon wildfires blazed across East L.A. “We came out of the studio one night, the entire side of the hill was just on fire,” Ford recalls.

While dealing with grief in his personal life and within Los Angeles, Caughthran also got married in the same year. All of these very profoundly human experiences and feelings have informed what may arguably be Mariachi El Bronx’s most emotionally resonate work to date.

Mariachi El Bronx IV’s first single, album opener “Forgive or Forget” features violinist Ray Suen on a swooning and galloping track that captures the nostalgia, bitter heartache, the longing to forget that heartache, and the desire to move forward with a seemingly booze-tinged haze. Fittingly, the song is rooted in a complicated and uneasy mix of despair and hope that feels lived-in and familiar.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Circle Jerks Re-Issue Legendary “Wild in the Streets” to Celebrate the 40th Anniversary of its Original Release

Wild in the Streets, the sophomore album by groundbreaking Southern California punk outfit Circle Jerks — currently vocalist Keith Morris, guitarist Greg Hetson (Bad Religion, Redd Kross), bassist Zander Schloss (The Weirdos, Joe Strummer) and drummer Joey Castillo (The Bronx, QOTSA, Danzig, BL’AST!, Wasted Youth) — was originally released 40 years ago this year. And to celebrate the occasion, Wild in the Streets will receive a re-mastered, augmented LP re-issue on February 18, 2022 by Trust Records.

Succeeding Trust’s 2020 re-issue of Circle Jerks’ 1980 full-length debut Group Sex, the 40th Anniversary re-issue of Wild in the Streets will feature re-mastered audio by Pete Lyman and rare April 1982 live performances of material off the band’s first two albums, recorded at San Francisco‘s Elite Club. The package will also include a 20-page, full-color, 12-by-12 inch booklet specifically created for the re-issue that will feature historic photographers, club flyers and an 8,200-word essay by Los Angeles-based journalist Chris Morris, including new interviews with founding members Keith Morris, Greg Heston and Lucky Lehrer.

The re-issue of Wild in the Streets coincides with the kickoff of the band’s 40th Anniversary Tour in February. The tour will feature support from Negative Approach, Adolescents and 7Seconds, who will be reuniting for the first time in over five years. The tour begins on February 18, 2022 and includes an April 14, 2022 stop at Irving Plaza. You can check out the rest of the tour dates below.

The band and Trust Records offered fans a preview of the remastered album with album title track “Wild in the Streets,” a mosh pit friendly ripper delivered with a raw, frenzied urgency. The single is accompanied by a new video directed by photographer and skateboarder Atiba Jefferson that’s split between live footage shot from a Circle Jerks show back in 1982 and home video camera footage of skaters Tony Hawk, Lance Mountain, Christian Hosoi, Eric Koston, Kevin “Spanky” Long, Steve Olson, Victoria Ruesga, Sal Barbier, Rowan Zorilla, Sean Malto, Anaiah Lei, Lizzie Armanto, Dashawn Jordan, Max Perlich and others.

“I grew up on ‘Wild In The Streets’, so to be asked to direct this video was a huge honor,” Jefferson explains. “I wanted to capture and preserve 40 years of history but also celebrate 40 years of punk rock and skateboarding history.”

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Acclaimed Act Thrice Releases An Anthemic Prog Rock-like Single

Comprised of founding members Dustin Kensrue (vocals, guitar) and Teppei Teranishi (guitar) with siblings Eddie Breckenridge (bass) and Riley Breckenridge (drums), the Irvine, CA-based rock band Thrice can trace their origins to its founding members meeting in high school and playing in a local band Chapter 11. When it came to starting their own project, Kensrue and Teranishi recruited Teranishi’s skate park buddy Eddie Breckenridge to play bass, and Breckenridge then brought his brother Riley to play drums, completing the band’s lineup. As the story goes, before their first show they realized that they needed name, and hard-pressed, they decided on going with Thrice, an inside joke between the bandmembers out of desperation. Although they had intended the name to be a temporary one, they began to gain fans and people started to associate them with it, so they were forced to stay with it.

In 1999, the band released the First Impressions EP, which was recorded during a twos-day session at A-Room Studios with Brian Tochilin. Only 1,000 copies were made and the individual bandmembers sold them out of their cars. Working with Death by Stereo’s Paul Miner, the Irvine, CA-based quartet recorded 12 tracks, which eventually became their 2000 full-length debut Identity Crisis, which was released through Greenflag Records. A portion of the album’s proceeds were donated to Crittenton Services for Children and Family, and with growing local buzz, the quartet caught the interest of Hopeless/Sub City’s Louis Posen, who eventually signed the band, and reissued Identity Crisis. To support the album the band toured with the likes of Samiam, Midtown and Hot Rod Circuit.

February 2002 saw the release of the band’s Brian McTernan-produced Hopeless/Sub City debut, The Illusion of Safety. Much like its predecessor, the band donated a portion of the album’s proceeds to a non-profit youth shelter in South Central Los Angeles, A Place Called Home, with the label matching all donations. The album received generally positive reviews and after tours opening for Further Seems Forever and Face to Face, followed by their first headlining tour, Thrice won the attention of several major labels, including Island Records, who signed the band, after agreeing to match the band’s charitable donations in the same fashion as Hopeless/Sub City. After signing with Island Records, the band toured with Hot Water Music and Coheed and Cambria before returning to the studio.

Interestingly with the release of 2002’s Illusion of Safety and 2003’s The Artist in the Ambulance, the band developed a reputation for a fast and punishing math rock-like sound centered around heavily distorted power chords, rapid time signature changes; however, with 2005’s Vheissu, the members of Thrice began incorporating synths, electronic beats and a much more experimental approach to their songwriting that continued through 2007 and 2008 with the release of The Alchemy Index, two albums that actually consisted of a 4-part, 24 song cycle, with each of the four 6-song EPs featuring significantly different styles based on the classical elements of fire, water, air and earth both lyrically and musically. 2009’s Beggars and 2011’s Major/Minor found the band continuing to refine their experimentation and exploration of their sound; but after the release of Major/Minor, Thrice announced a final tour and a hiatus.

In 2015, Kensrue and Teranishi decided to reform the band, and by the following year, they released their first album in four years, 2016’s To Be Everywhere Is to Be Nowhere.  Slated for a September 14, 2018 release through Epitaph Records, the band’s tenth full-length album Palms is their second post-reunion album, and the album which was co-produced by the band and Eric Palmquist reportedly finds the band’s sound encompassing everything from post-hardcore to piano-driven ballads, making it arguably the most sonically expansive album of their careers to date. Interestingly, the album’s latest single, the prog rock-like mid-tempo “Only Us” is centered around pulsating synths, enormous power chord-led guitar riffs, an arena rock friendly hook and Kensrue’s plaintive and earnest vocals. As the band’s Dusin Kensrue explains in press notes. “‘Only Us’ came from thinking about how easily we’re so divided into ‘us’ and ‘them’ when really we have an inherent ability to care for those in our group, and the parameters for who falls into that group are extremely flexible. It’s about how the things that we think separate us are actually inconsequential, and if we could broaden the idea of ‘us’ to include all people, it would help us build a more loving and civil society. “

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: The Bronx Release a Frenetic New Video to Accompany Their Breakneck New Single “Sore Throat”

Currently comprised of founding members Matt Caughtran (vocals, guitar) and Joby J. Ford (guitar), along with Ken Horne (guitar), Brad Magers (bass) and David Hidalgo, Jr. (drums), the Los Angeles, CA-based punk rock quintet The Bronx can trace their origins back to 2002 when the band formed with founding members Caughtran and Ford, with James Tweedy (bass) and Jorma Vik (drums)  — and after their first live set, the band quickly caught the attention Jonathan Daniel, who manages American Hi-Fi, and who became their manager. By their second live show, the band had attracted the attention of A&R reps from several major labels — and by their 12th live show ever, they had signed a contract with Island Def Jam Music Group; however, the band felt that they weren’t ready to record for a major label, so they formed their own label to release their own early releases including a 2002 demo Sure Death, their first official single “Bats!” and their Gilby Clarke-produced, self-titled full-length debut. Building upon the early buzz they received, the band promptly followed up with the La Muerte Viva EP as well as tours of the States and Australia.

2006’s self-titled debut was the band’s major label debut and it featured attention-grabbing singles “History’s Stranglers,” “White Guilt” and “Shitty Future.” The Dragons’ Ken Horne contributed some guitar to the album, and he soon joined the band as their second guitarist. And despite the lineup changes, the band has released five full-length albums of blistering and gritty punk, including their most recent album V and interestingly enough three albums of mariachi under the name Mariachi El Bronx.

The Rob Schanpf-produced V, which was released last month, has managed to be their most commercially successful effort to date as it debuted at #62 on the Billboard Top 200, #5 on the Billboard Heatseekers chart and #27 on the Billboard Rock Albums chart. Despite the early commercial success of the album, as the band’s Joby Ford says in press notes “[The album] has the angst and social commentary that has characterized us from the beginning, only now the angst is aimed at more than just superficial things and the social commentary is directed at more than just people who like different music than us.”  As result, album single “Sore Throat” may arguably be one of the most explosive and furious rock songs I’ve come across this year, as it features blistering power chords, thundering drumming, howled vocals and breakneck, shout and mosh worthy hooks — and perhaps unsurprisingly, the song reminds me of Plague Vendor’s excellent BLOODSWEAT in the sense that every time I’ve played it, I want to hear it as loud as humanly possible and in a room of sweaty friends and strangers losing our minds.

The recently released video is a wild and frenetic take on 80s post apocalyptic sci fi movies, complete with the static and wavering screens but cut with footage of the band playing sweaty and primal sets. 

Uncategorized by William Ruben Helms

The Suits are a Bronx-based indie electro pop trio that formed back in 2011 when Eddie Gore (vocals and keyboards) Mike Sanz (producer and drum machine) and Eric Grossman (guitar/multi-instrumentalist) met in their freshman dorm […]

Uncategorized by William Ruben Helms

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As I’ve mentioned a couple of times here, I spent close to a year and a half focusing on the daily Black and White photography project, and admittedly it’s been a relief not to shoot […]