Gonna be a borstal breakout!

Happy Wednesday, you mid-week fuddah muckers, and welcome to another WWA punk rock playlist. Let's cool those jets, get some snacks ready and turn the volume up to 11. This week has some real headbangers, courtesy of the likes of Rancid, Sham 69, The Pietasters, David Bowie and a few more. Let's boogie woogie.




Annnnd here's the web player link. Enjoy.

Let's kick off the playlist with a sugary and slightly nutty track, aptly titled Snickers or Reese's, from our friends in Milwaukee pop punk collective Direct Hit! Speedy and hook-heavy, and strategically arranged with thoughtful instrumentation and layered vocals, this song has everything you need to start the day right. Snickers or Reese's is off their debut full-length, Domesplitter, which was really just a collection of re-recorded versions of songs they had already released. At their inception, lead songwriter Nick Woods preferred quick and instant EP and single releases, as opposed to formulating and publishing full-length records.

Awww yiiiissss...Ghost of a Chance is an explosive-laden train of a new track from those intrepid and indomitable Berkely punk rockers, Rancid. The song is the first single the band has released as part of their upcoming album Trouble Maker, which will be available in its entirety on June 9th. This LP will mark the first new project Rancid has done together since 2014's ...Honor is All we Know, and I can tell you this hyena is fucking excited for it. Alright, well I am too worked up to not play another Rancid song...so let's also include a smash hit from their 1993 debut studio album.

This next one is a really rude song aimed at our Norwegian brethren. Fuck You, Norway is a tongue in cheek anthem from Boston punk band Showcase Showdown, who had quite the cult following during their relatively brief stint during the 90s. The band name, an allusion to The Price is Right, should tell you all you need to know about the depth of meaning that they put into their lyrical content. 

Out All Night is a cheerfully soulful ska tune from 8-piece group The Pietasters. Hailing from our nation's capital, these purveyors of pie have helped me meet the obligatory, and self-imposed, DC area band quotient for today's WWA playlist. Out All Night was off the 1997 album Willis, which was their third studio release, this time through Hellcat Records.

OK enough good feels for now. Lazarus is off the late, great David Bowie's requiem album, Blackstar. This was his TWENTY FUCKING FIFTH studio album..that is insane. The song, like much of the rest of this record, is dark and tender, and appears to reflect Bowie's struggle with his own mortality. Indeed, two days after the album's release, the Goblin King passed onto his next plane of existence. Would it be selfish of me to wish he would Lazarus back up to this world, return to us to continue writing great tunes?

Up next is So Grey, So Green, a crisp rock n roll anthem from The Bloody Hollies. Channeling the energy and soul of like-minded garage punk acts like The Stooges, Screaming Females and New Bomb Turks, these Buffalo-based art heads have blended their own flavors of southern and hard rock to make their own unique, bloody sound. So Grey, So Green is off their 2011 album Yours Until the Bitter End.

Disorder is a fuzzy bomb of groovy garage rock n roll brought to you by the good fellas of Meatbodies. Raised in the weirdness of the LA environs, Meatbodies has been serving up me-likey-drugs type of music since their inception in 2013. Disorder is off their eponymously-titled 12 song album, which dropped in 2014. They actually just released their third (and latest) effort earlier this year, titled Alice...go check it out, it's good!

We're going to end the playlist with Sham 69's school rebellion chorale (and inspiration for today's title) Borstal Breakout. Originally released as a live performance recording on their 1978 album Tell Us the Truth, Borstal Breakout would go on to be one of their most successful compositions. Founded in the mid 70s in Hersham by band leaders Jimmy Pursey and Dave Parsons, these motherfuckers are STILL active and playing shows...they also want to be your friend on Facebook, what are ya waiting for??


OK that's our show for this week. Hope you dug the tunes, and found the rambling spew of thoughts to go along with the playlist helpful. As always, feel free to send your feedback, song requests, opinions on 18th century British taxidermy techniques, FREE T-SHIRTS, etc.

Hail Hydra: