Teenage Bottlerocket That’s reflective, wistful, and dare we say a little mature. (“It felt good to sing that one,” says Carlisle.) With more than 100 original songs already in their catalog, how does the band stay motivated when they’re eight records deep? “We’re always in competition with ourselves,” Carlisle explains. “The real competition is between me and Kody. It’s like, ‘You wrote a song that destroys everything else on this record. Let me try to do that to you real quick. How’s that feel?’ And then he comes back and one-ups me.” “It’s all about the songs,” he continues. “The songs carry this record all the way. That’s not to say there are bad songs on our other records—we have a hard time releasing a shitty song. But these songs are especially great. You know ALL’s best-of record where Allroy is dissecting a musical note? I felt we kind of tapped into that record in a great way, not in a ‘Oh no, they’re experimental now!’ way. This is a Teenage Bottlerocket record through and through, but there’s a lot of hidden elements.” Carlisle’s pride about Sick Sesh! is obvious, but he’s not the only one who loves the album. “Fat Mike called me and said, ‘Hey, this is your best record,’” Carlisle recalls. “I said, ‘Cool, thanks for noticing.’” With Sick Sesh! ready to drop, Teenage Bottlerocket will return to the road once more throughout 2021 and beyond, and you can expect to hear plenty of new tracks peppered into their already high-energy sets. Given that the band is already two decades old, however, is there any chance of the band slowing down? Carlisle shoots that idea down right away. “I want to have the best next 10 years,” the singer says. “We’ve grinded the grind. Now we get to actually enjoy being a band, and not think too much about different ways to try and ‘make it.’ We’re riding this wave we built ourselves. I wanna surf it for another 10 years.” Well, there you have it: The three things in life you can always count on are death, taxes, and Teenage Bottlerocket. But before Carlisle signs off, he has a question for all the fans out there: “What’s your favorite Teenage Bottlerocket song?” he asks. “Bzzt! Wrong answer. It’s on this record, you just haven’t heard it yet.” MakeWar is a mighty Voltron that’s equal parts Venezuela (Jose: Guitar, vocals), Colombia (Edwin: Bass, Vocals) and Florida (Greg: drums). These are dudes that have overcome the third world poverty and squalor of Brooklyn and Florida to forge one of the most dynamic punk records in years, which they did at Hopatcong NJ’s own Barbershop studios with the help of Brett Romnes of I am the Avalanche and The Movielife fame. After shipping demos back and forth from Brooklyn to Portland to New Jersey, they finally got it all together and wrapped Get It Together in February of 2019, and get it together they certainly did. In fact, after they finished writing and recording Get It Together, Greg got it so together that he took off to become a doctor of the mind. No mind, though. They enlisted the more than capable Alexandro Serritiello on the skins and now, MakeWar is re-Voltron’d and charging harder than ever. To summarize here, MakeWar is THE punk band for today’s increasingly polarized MAGA world: Furious, multicultural, packed with revolutionaries, friends to those in the cages, behind the walls and trapped in Florida, lovers and repurposers of classic art and style, from punk, to aughts-era-emo to art film to Los Fucking Crudos. When Get It Together drops on November 1st, 2019 hold onto your hats. They’ll be touring extensively with Lagwagon, face to face and NOFX. These guys may not be the ones to personally usher in the revolution, but they’re damn sure gonna be the soundtrack. Borderlines: "With a hole in the wall and a divvied-up heart, it's the time that we spent that kept us apart. I'm ready to cut you out." Somewhere in the swirling mash of guitars during the outro of "Cut You Out," the opening track of Borderlines' new EP "Repair Kit," you can hear those words spoken by guitarist/vocalist Matt Anderson. It's a fitting introduction to a blistering, introspective pop-punk earthquake by the veteran musicians. The second single, "Okay, Socrates," has guitarist/vocalist Andrew Rice take the reins with a harmony-laden yet gloomy tale of isolation. It's a combination that works as a perfect follow-up to 2023's "Keep Pretending," the Portland, Maine quartet's first proper full-length that made its way onto several Best of the Year lists. The 4-song EP "Repair Kit" will be available February 14th (Valentine's Day) via Mom's Basement Records.