Mustard Plug
Mustard Plug
The Planet Smashers, The Venomous Pinks
Mustard Plug
MUSTARD PLUG
Mustard Plug started out in 1991 in the punk clubs, basements, and dive bars of the Midwest, playing punk-influenced ska music before most people in the U.S. had ever heard of ska. They embraced a DIY work ethic that had been ingrained in them growing up in the 1980s hardcore punk scene, and applied it to everything they would ever do together as a band. Mustard Plug self-released their first cassette tape, 1992’s Skapocalypse Now!, and played constantly to earn enough money to record their first album, 1994’s Big Daddy Multitude, which was released on legendary NYC label Moon Records. With their newfound national distribution and exposure, the band climbed into their van and performed their music for new fans across North America.
For their next album they enlisted their heroes, the Descendents’ Bill Stevenson and Stephan Egerton, to record their breakthrough ska-punk classic Evildoers Beware at The Blasting Room. After meeting the crew from Hopeless Records in the beer line at a Descendents show at the Whisky-A-Go-Go, the band teamed up with the then-fledgling LA punk label to release the album to an eager and rapidly expanding fanbase. Released in 1997, Evildoers Beware solidified the band’s own take on the genre, combining the edginess of punk and the danceability of ska with sure fire melodic pop hooks. Through relentless touring and word of mouth, Evildoers Beware sold over 150,000 copies and solidified the band’s position within the burgeoning third wave ska scene. The band even flirted with commercial radio play with their cover of The Verve Pipe’s "The Freshman," but decided mainstream pop fame was not for them. They never shot a video or commercially released the song despite the radio buzz.
During the first decade of the new millennium, as the media’s focus on ska waned, the band returned to the ska underground, touring constantly and taking their explosive live show further afield to Europe, Brazil, and Japan. While many of their 90’s ska peers went on hiatus or moved from the genre, Mustard Plug doubled down, organizing the hugely successful Ska Is Dead tours from 2004-2009. In 2007 the band returned to The Blasting Room and released their darkest and most critically acclaimed record, In Black and White. The 2010s brought more touring and playing higher profile festivals including Riotfest, Back to the Beach, Amnesia Rockfest, The FEST, Pouzza, Groezrock, and more.
In March 2020, while touring Australia, Mustard Plug watched as the live music industry began to collapse in front of their eyes. As the COVID-19 pandemic spread, the band was forced to take a 16-month hiatus. Stuck at home, they workshopped songs for a new album.
The band returned to The Blasting Room recording studio in January 2023 with their longtime producer, Bill Stevenson. Teaming up with ska label Bad Time Records, they released the new album on September 8, 2023. Where Did All My Friends Go is a return to form for Mustard Plug, with melodic dance floor bangers and darker lyrical themes inspired by the pandemic and the unraveling of modern society. The album is sure to please both older fans from the 90s and the new generation of ska fans who have been building the genre’s momentum in recent years.
The band is currently doing what they do best: touring in support of the new album. They will be playing around the U.S. throughout the next year, continuing their 32-year run and adding to their career tally of over 2,000 shows.
THE PLANET SMASHERS
NOW CELEBRATING 25 YEARS OF SKA PUNK PARTY MAYHEM!
That’s right. The Planet Smashers have somehow managed to survive a quarter century of worldwide touring, non-stop partying and extremely questionable life decisions. An absolute staple in the Canadian music scene, The Smashers have been slinging their two-toney, punky, new wavee party ska to the four corners of the earth with an unapologetic middle finger raised on one hand and a double mai-tai cocktail firmly gripped in the other. The band has faced way more than their fair share of adversity over the years but have always managed to maintain an unequivocally positive and often hilarious approach to life; and this admirable attitude comes shining through in every single one of their songs.
Too Much Information is The Planet Smashers’ ninth full-length album and adds another illustrious set of bangers to their 25 year legacy of unbelievably addictive songwriting and defiant debauchery. These fourteen songs run through a diverse collection of themes ranging from the culture of over-sharing (Too Much Information) to being obsessed by love (Can’t Stop) to eating far too much ice-cream (Brain Freeze) to that one time a couple years back when Matt Smasher broke his neck in four places after a show in Sherbrooke (Break My Neck A Love Song). One thing’s for damn sure, you just can’t keep a good band down.
THE VENOMOUS PINKS
While every alL-female punk band will draw inevitable comparisons to Bikini Kill, few of them deserve them more and want them less than the Venomous Pinks.
It’s not that the Arizona trio has anything against Kathleen Hanna and crew, but more that the Venomous Pinks aren’t trying to compare themselves to anyone or anything. They’re just looking to deliver the most intense and refined in-your-face high-energy hardcore punk regardless of gender or background.
Having shared the stage and earned the respect of a who’s who of punk rock royalty, guitarist/vocalist Drea Doll, bassist/vocalist Gaby Kaos and drummer Cassie Jalilie have already amassed a career’s worth of experience since forming in 2013. But while the Venomous Pinks have already played at the biggest festivals and toured with industry legends, their long-awaited debut LP, Vita Mors (SBÄM Records) is an obvious step forward for the band.
Produced by Cameron Webb (Motörhead, Social Distortion, NOFX) and co-produced by Linh Le of Bad Cop/Bad Cop, Vita Mors perfectly encapsulates who the Venomous Pinks are in 2022. A fusion of unforgettably catchy melodies and brash punk pushes forth the underlying messages of unity, equality, PMA and a whole lot more.
The heavy sound and heady lyrics on tracks about everything from the heartbreak of losing someone “Broken Hearts Club” to feminist anthem “We Do It Better” don’t sound like they’re coming from a band making their full-length debut — for that matter, their tone and energy are fuller and more powerful than most trios can pull off at any stage of their career.
Whether you’re looking for the slick hardcore punk musicianship of shredding guitars, pounding bass and thunderous drums or the oft-inspiring message of a band capable of bringing generations of punk rockers together the Venomous Pinks are very much what the present and future look like. These ladies will rock your world in every room of the house, clear out to the parking lot.
While their energetic stage performance exhibits a “work hard and play harder” mentality, this tight, punchy three-piece’s unapologetic style will ravage your ears with their mix of punk and hardcore. The Venomous Pinks have long been winning fans over with their electrifying live performances and their bevvy of EPs and singles, but now armed with Vita Mors and major tours with bands like Dead Kennedys, they seem destined to erupt on a global scale sooner than later.