Japanther are my Ramones. They’ve simplified the Ramones’ setup by removing the cumbersome (and sometimes uninteresting) rhythm guitar and replacing it with a tape deck. Ian Vanek (drums, vocals and my personal hero) and Matt Reilly (bass) back up their premade cassettes, which contain a wide range of samples from bad movies and great hip hop records, only to transform them into some of the most energetic and interesting punk rock I’ve heard in my short life. Above is a recent video for ‘The Dirge’ which can be found on Tut Tut, Now Shake Ya Butt. The track is a cover of Portland’s New Band Things which you can listen to below.

New Bad Things - The Dirge

Two more short and sweet tracks from hardcore super group OFF! ‘Jeffery Lee Pierce’ is Morris’ eulogy to the late great front man of The Gun Club while “Full of Shit” is a half minute of rage which brings back memories of Everything Went Black. Dig!

OFF! - Jeffery Lee Pierce

OFF! - Full Of Shit