Malportado Kids, an exciting offshoot of madcap PVD punx Downtown Boys sees Victoria and Joey rip up some insane cumbia laptop and bass beats. Their shows involve projections and dance party mayhem, and carry a heady political stance on top.

I think Dust Witch come from Nothampton, MA. These guys are seriously badass musicians, whos feet are planted firmly in the mellotron years of prog, slinging some real Genesis and Crimson darkness at us. There is a slight edge of post rock to the affair that elevates the whole trip. Perfect blissout.

Jeez, what can you say about Comma that would do any justice? This New Hampshire based band is completely insane, the singer/guitarist just liquefying runs, finger tapping and manic chording, masterful and tasteful use of a pedal orchestra.. Drums and bass guys are ill too, the perfect and concise counterpart to the flying-off-in-all-directions aspects of the songs. This is some dense, dense shit but still somehow seems to float effortlessly.

Myke Green is a rising young future legend from the streets of New Haven, he’s got this laconic, Kendrick Lamar delivery that I think is dope. Most of his output is top notch and cutting edge, at times you hear some punk snarl in his voice, like a bit of Stiv Bators hiding out in all that hip hop. He’s gonna be huge.

Steep Leans from Boston do a kind of trippy, hypnotic, road-worthy trance rock that is actually really hard to pull of well. We played with them in Jamaica Plains, and they are just a solid, well tuned band who draws you in, I was transfixed. I’d love to rock this stuff on some long late night drive in the summer. Hopefully some studio work will appear soon, meanwhile there’s some lo-fi cuts over on their bandcamp.

Bitters from PVD casts a real spell, this is both punk as fuck while being a ritual of sound. Singer Jess channels her best Diamandia banshee wails from deep within while bass killer Katrina throws down some gnar mucked up bass lines. My fave tune is “Hellbent Baby”. Really hope to hear where this band will go next.

Yet another killer band from PVD, Whore Paint are a hard as fuck three piece that throw some dark no wave angularity into their steez. Riffs abound and the intensity of their breakdowns are mind melting live. Luckily I was not too drunk at the show to remember to grab one of their LPs, out on Load Records as of last month.

There’s a nicely bent edge to this spry north Jersey band that underscores the awesome tunes they deliver. Rather a different beast live, their recordings have a closeness and whimsy that belies what you get at the show… at least the show we played with them. They totally rock, upbeat with a nice touch of punk darkness, singer Brielle is a natural, and leads the energy of the band to totally infectious party peaks on every song.

Asbury Park, New Jersey’s Black Wine are a tight knuckle of riffy melodic punk garnished with some garage here and there, but really they are doing their own thing, and doing it so well. Tour seasoned, they really exude a joy and effortlessness of a band that’s played together for some time and honed their craft to a sharp edge. I really appreciate the switching around of vocalists, that’s something I always enjoy, and they really bring the radness back to rock and roll while neatly sidestepping any cliches.

Straight up punk tunes by this gnar band from Jersey. Nice male/female harmonies and super infectious riffs that manage to be straightforward and fresh. When life gets too intense or too boring, you can always throw on some Casual and lighten up for awhile.