Ringers / Blotto - Split 7" (Snuffy Smiles Records, 2008)

"I got a brother in the service and if he gets shot then he deserves it." Like it or not this is the way Ringers slams their attitude in your face from the get-go. This record is a split between two pop punk bands: Ringers from Boston, MA and Blotto from Tokyo, Japan. It was released on Snuffy Smiles Records - a Japanese punk label - and didn't have much distribution in the States. 


Let's get back to Ringers - this band plays a certain style of pop punk most easily identified by well-written songs, guitar chords often fuller than the powerchord typical of the style, gruff vocals, and the melodies of the guitars and the vocalists. This band induces nostalgic feelings traceable back to Newtown Neurotics, The Clash (I'm using this band as a frame of reference), and the slightest hint of the Replacements. Perhaps this is why some people are reluctant to call them a pop punk band, but I still think that title applies. One thing that this band really fucking exceeds at is writing lyrics that are well-written, relatable, and mood-inducing.


Blotto is a pop punk band from Tokyo, Japan that plays music that sounds like it comes straight out of the Midwestern United States - except for the fact that English is probably the lyricist's second language (but you don't see me writing any lyrics in Japanese, do you?). This band plays pop punk with its own slight twist, as well, but these songs are probably more comparable to the slight twangs of Bent Outta Shape and Drunken Boat than the classic punk sounds that Ringers refer to. You'll understand the 'twang' of the guitars that I'm talking about when you put these songs on.


Overall, a pretty solid pairing. I named the blog after a Ringers song from their first LP so I figured I should put something up, and I don't think this is downloadable anywhere else? It might be a little while before I update again (I really need to work on the look of this thing), so enjoy this in the mean time:


All the positive people say 'you're better off dead' / Believe what they read / Well, I'll stay well read

Bread and Circuits - Self-Titled LP (Ebullition Records, 1999)

It only seems appropriate to start this blog off with a band that Mike Kirsch was in, but I'll save the majority of that whole spiel for another time. This band, in particular, really moves me in a way that most other punk bands fall drastically short of. "Emotive Hardcore" is the simplest term that I feel comfortable pigeonholing them into. Bread and Circuits (on this record) was comprised of Mike Kirsch (John Henry West et al.) on guitar/vocals, Jose Palafox (Struggle, Manumission, Swing Kids, Baader Brains, etc.) on drums, Chuck Shackelford (this is his most notable band) on bass/vocals, and Mag (famously of Yaphet Kotto, later on briefly played in Saviours) on guitar. A dream team of sorts for fuckers (much like myself) completely entranced in this very specific style of music. 

There is a lot happening here, but in the context of the band it forms one cohesive aesthetic and sound. The music is mostly mid-tempo but seems to be specifically written that way in order to let the overlying melodies, accents, and elaborate transitions shine brighter. For those familiar with Kirsch's work, Bread and Circuits was the logical progression from Torches to Rome and the logical pre-cursor to the more left-field workings of Please Inform the Captain... and Baader Brains. Lyrically, this band focuses on the staunch politics and guilt-laden topics characteristic of their time, place, and peers. One primary focus of this band was on issues of racial privilege (such as the song "White Man"- "Brother / your time has come for you to awaken from your guilt encased tomb / your voice has taken up far too much room... White Man what have you done lately?") - which weighed a bit more heavily than other bands speaking on the issue considering the mixed racial make-up of Bread and Circuits.

This record has been available on the internet for some time, but this is my own vinyl rip and it sounds better than the other one floating around on the internet. I have also included all of the lyrics as well as scanned images of the covers as well as the entire insert (this will be the format of all posts on this blog).

Bread and Circuits released one other record (a split LP with Former Members of Alfonsin) which is their best material. If you have that record and wouldn't mind selling/trading it, get at me!

The thought of white design / I wouldn't say they spared my life.