 |
Reviews for the new CD - Reality TV Casualty "Great job in my humble opinion. You guys have something sorely missing in punk rock these days - a sense of humor"
- Joe Queer (The Queers)"I put it in my car stereo, girls started throwing themselves into the window...blowing me. Really happened. Kidney cancer, cleared up."
- Doug Stanhope (comedian)"Easily one of the best punk CD's to come out of this town in years"
- BA (Sloppy Seconds)"The best fucking punk album that I've ever heard...seriously."
- The Junkfood Buddah (all-knowing punk rock prophet)
"Never Going to be your band. / Let you get the upper hand, my friend / Never going to need your fuckin' help / Cuz I'd rather do it all by myself." testifies singer and guitarist, Alex Helmbrecht along with fellow UP! SCUMBAG members bassist, Kevin McNamera and drummer, Ivin Henz on the song, "Thanks for Nothing". A song they wrote to pay homage to their DIY roots. The same principals this band's been sticking to since their beginning in 2002. All the while they manage to cite what just so happens to be wrong with today's Punk Rock scene by simply summing it up to "Went to a punk rock show / all the kids were talking on their cell phones. / Went to a Punk Rock show, and all the bands wore make-up and tight pants". on "Whoa to the Emo" And even though these two songs are at the center of the Indianapolis, IN trio's 4th self-released album REALITY TV CASUALTY, the album overall is filled with mature song writing and charming ballads. The title track itself takes a stab at a lost generation debased by reality and into harm's way, apathy and living a life of superficial make believe. While the song, "This Place Sucks" is almost positive with Buzzcocks-like bounce and pop hooks reminiscent to that of an obvious influence of theirs, The Queers. Then there are those songs that fall in the ladder part of the album which almost remind me some of the best songs that you would've heard on Green Day's WARNING album like "Strip Mall Religion" and "Mary Jane" with a chorus like, "It's so hard to say Goodbye now but it's just so plain to see. / You put the me in enemy", this song could easily be considered as a farewell to a lost love or something else that could be just as addictive and self-destructive (think Green) . I have to say, the saxophone was a nice touch too! I have to give them special credit though on "Mystery Pt 1" and "Mystery Pt 2". Both these songs overwhelmed me, the songs are well sung as Helmbrecht has really found his voice and learned how to use it to get both his message and feelings across while McNamera and Henz provide the background rhythm sound that proves that Up! Scumbag should no longer be pigeonholed as strictly a Punk Rock band but as a Rock "n" Roll band with heart and soul who just so happens to play their own brand of Punk Rock. REALITY TV CASUALTY also includes cover songs of Bob Marley's "Redemption Song" and Frank Sinatra's "All Of Me" along with their take on the theme song to the BBC's "The Young Ones". Good jobs dudes! A+
- Stevie Nowinsky (ARM THE PIT)
"DIY Punk"
by Wayne Bertsch (NUVO Magazine - Apr 30, 2008)
Indiana has a history of producing great punk bands. Pop punk bands like the Ataris and classic punk bands like the Zero Boys all have their beginnings in the Hoosier state. Yet the title of "most prolific punk band to emerge from Indiana" goes to the Fishers-based power trio Up! Scumbag.
They've recorded a vast body of work and released their first four CDs in barely three years' time. They have close to 70 original songs in their catalog and are about to release their fifth full-length disc titled Reality TV Casualty. Alex, Ivin and Kevin Scumbag play three-chord garage punk that's as fast and dirty as a truck stop waitress and as edgy as a rusty switchblade. Their songs are extremely catchy and inevitably burrow their way into your subconscious with hook-laden lyrics layered over tight drumming and bluesy guitar squalls. Punk was born from the days of DIY 'zines and Xeroxed flyers, and Up! Scumbag has been dedicated to keeping the DIY spirit alive. They create almost all their flyers, packaging and merchandise in the "scum shed" (a shack, studio and secret lair they maintain in Ivin Scumbag's backyard). They played a recent gig with comedian Doug Stanhope at Locals Only. When describing what he thought of the new Up! Scumbag CD, Stanhope said, "When you put it in your CD player, you'll have chicks jumping in your car wanting to blow you. This CD is so good it will clear up your kidney cancer and make your prolapsed rectum suck itself back into your body like a meat volcano."
Click here to view whole story w/ a 4-page comic-book slideshow of the band's history!!! http://www.nuvo.net/articles/diy_punk/
UP! SCUMBAG
By Alexandra Quiñones (Miami New Times - August 2006)
Indiana has produced some unusual stars, including the Jackson Family and Axl Rose. Though these music giants share something in common with one of the state's main crops (they're corny), Indianapolis's lesser-known good ol' boys Up! Scumbag have taken a decidedly less commercial road. The trio has stayed true to its punk and Midwestern roots by self-releasing several albums and infusing an energetic rock sound with a bluesy twang. The two vocalists demonstrate their range with styles varying from light growls to raspy crooning.
Up! Scumbag is known for its power-pop covers like "Can't Help Falling in Love with You" and its tendency to champion the working class and criticize the government in true punk fashion. A feature-length DVD including three music videos, live footage, and a recording session is expected to be released this fall, and a full-length is in the works for release in 2008.
2:21 AM
Powered by  | | English | | Albanian | | Arabic | | Bulgarian | | Catalan | | Chinese | | Croatian | | Czech | | Danish | | Dutch | | Estonian | | Filipino | | Finnish | | French | | Galician | | German | | Greek | | Hebrew | | Hindi | | Hungarian | | Indonesian | | Italian | | Japanese | | Korean | | Latvian | | Lithuanian | | Maltese | | Norwegian | | Polish | | Portuguese | | Romanian | | Russian | | Serbian | | Slovak | | Slovenian | | Spanish | | Swedish | | Thai | | Turkish | | Ukrainian | | Vietnamese |
|