Digital Diversion

Calabrese, the self-appointed “World’s Greatest Horror Rock Band” recently put out their third full-length release, They Call Us Death – Calabrese III.  Full of death, depravity and big sing-along choruses, They Call Us Death is sure to please fans both old and new with a notably heavier, punk edge.  Rather than write a full review of an album that you can (and should) buy, I fired off a bunch of questions to the brothers.  See what Jimmy and Bobby have to say about the making of They Call Us Death …

(continue reading…)

In support of their latest release, Agents of the Underground, Strung Out came to San Francisco to deliver their influential blend of punk, metal, and hardcore.

First up was local band, United Defiance.  They delivered a nice tight set of straight-up punk rock pleasure.

The crowd at Slim’s was lucky to get to see one of only three Calabrese supporting slots for Strung Out.  Based out of Phoenix, Arizona, the three Calabrese brothers deliver a catchy blend of horror punk and straight-up sing-a-long-inspiring, chorus-heavy rock that definitely got the crowd’s attention.  The energy of their live act is intense with Jimmy and Bobby trading off vocal duties while Davey putting in a performance on drums reminiscent of a young Chuck Biscuits.  To top things off, we got two Misfits (We Bite, We Are 138) and an A.F.I. cover.  A 45 minute set has never seemed so short.

Strung Out took the stage at 10 pm and the band wasted no time blasting through 60 minutes of non-stop sonic heaven with singer Jason Cruz on his knees and up close and personal for most of the set with the appreciative crowd which sang along to every song and politely ignored the club’s *No Moshing* sign. After all these years, you can tell by watching Strung Out that they enjoy playing with each other.  At one point Jason pulled a guy out of the crowd to point out that he looked like the villain from the movie No Country for Old Men (you’ll know who I’m talking about when you see the picture in the photo album below).   After a short break, the band returned to the stage with a tease of Van Halen’s Hot for Teacher and their encore, sticking around to shake hands and thank the crowd from coming out.  This was with out a doubt one of the best shows I’ve seen in a while. If you get a chance to see Strung Out, GO!