Words by Jim Testa
Jim Testa founded the highly influential zine, Jersey Beat in 1982 which he continues to edit to this day. Through writing for his own publication and a number of other outlets, including as a staff writer for Hudson County’s Jersey Journal, he has championed local, regional and national up-and-coming bands. Punk has always shunned credentials, but rest assured that Jim won’t lead you astray.
GRAND SLAMS
THE PENSKE FILE – Reprieve (Stomp Records)
There’s something reassuring about hearing a band like The Penske File return after a long silence and sound even more defiant than before. Reprieve doesn’t reinvent the wheel – it just kicks it down the street harder than anyone else. The Ontario trio’s knack for welding fist-pumping anthems to personal storytelling remains their calling card. From the first track’s ringing guitars to the closing chorus that feels like a half-drunk singalong at last call, every moment aches with lived-in honesty.
You can practically smell the sweat in these songs. The harmonies are ragged but true, the lyrics small-town specific yet big-hearted enough for any dive bar in America. There’s a current of reflection in Reprieve, too—a grown-up weariness that knows what it costs to keep believing in punk ideals once rent, heartbreak, and distance start chipping away. But damned if they don’t keep believing.
What makes Reprieve hit hardest is its balance of melancholy and momentum. The guitars chime and punch, the rhythm section drives like an old friend’s beat-up van that always gets you there eventually. It’s the sound of a band aging gracefully while still yelling along with the kids.
In a year when a lot of so-called “punk” records feel more like playlists than albums, Reprieve reminds us why this music still matters. The Penske File don’t just play songs—they stake their lives on them.
HOME RUNS
THE MENDOZAZ – The Completely Fictional History of This Great Nation of Canada (Cartridge Heart)
The Mendozaz’s The Completely Fictional History of This Great Nation of Canada lands exactly when we need it—right smack in the middle of this madness with Trump threatening our northern neighbors. Toronto’s finest serve up a cheeky, theatrical power-punk romp that’s part SCTV, part pop-punk Masterclass, and all hilarious. “Fuck You: The Musical!” opens with a sound way bigger than three-piece punkers usually muster. It’s sets the tone for the catchy, campy fun to follow. “A Piercing Shriek of Death” relates the fictional “true tale” of ice fishermen getting snapped at by a shark in 30-below temps – a savage Canadian myth that’s as goofy as it is funny. The album continues apace, with “An American Werewolf in London, Ontario,” a clever take on identity and border woes starring a lovelorn werewolf who wishes he was something else entirely, being a highlight. This wild ride through Canada’s “completely fictional” history—laced with profanity, singalong melodies, and comedic bite in equal measure – not only guarantees smiles, but shows that those hosers to the North are going to take any of our president’s BS lying down.
TWO BAGGERS
THE SLEIGHTS – “Atari” EP (self-released)
Hot on the heels of last Spring’s This One’s Gonna Hurt, Colorado Springs’ Sleights are back with a four-song EP that’s a bit of a mini-concept album about destroying a relationship by being a fuck-up. Things escalate from the opening “Apology” (“I don’t wanna talk about it / There’s a ringing in my head / You’ve been screaming, you’ve been shouting / I just wanna lay in bed”) to “Black And White” (”Every time I think it’s over, I wake to another surprise / everything I thought I fixed, well, it blows up in front of my eyes,”) to finally, an ugly breakup in “Earthworms,” with the killer line “I don’t know what we’re stilling doing here but we’ll both probably wind up dead.” The music escalates too, the crunchy, distorto-punk (what we used to call “melodic hardcore”) of “Apology” becoming increasingly heavier, harder, darker, and more emphatic.
BANQUETS – Petty Relics (Black Numbers)
In a world where the echo of the 90’s emo scene often seems like it’s been diluted to a series of reboots and over-processed nostalgia, it’s refreshing to hear something as raw, urgent, and genuine as Petty Relics by Banquet. And that’s after a ten-year hiatus! This album isn’t just a snapshot of the past — it’s a living, breathing document of everything that made the post-punk, emo, and indie scenes in the band’s native New Jersey so exciting to begin with. It’s brash, emotional, and, above all, unafraid to wear its influences on its sleeve. What stands out about Petty Relics is how the band has taken the chaotic energy of early punk and melded it with melodic sensibilities that bring to mind bands like The Replacements, The Mekons, and even the more accessible moments of Husker Du. Ultimately, Banquet’s Petty Relics is the kind of album that rewards repeat listens. There’s a rawness and vulnerability in these songs that you don’t often hear from bands trying too hard to sound cool or marketable. What you get instead is something honest — something real. It’s a record that invites you into its world and lets you stay for a while. And maybe – just maybe, that’s the point. Life’s a little messy, a little petty, and full of relics that, in the end, are worth holding on to. Welcome back.
THE GLAD MACHINE – All The Pretty Things (Kool Kat Musik)
Western Massachusetts gave us the grungy Dinosaur Jr. and the power-pop of Grand Prixx, and now The Glad Machine deliver a bit of both and a whole lot more on an album that could almost be a compilation LP. The band has a keen ear for melody, sweet lead vocals, and can write hooks when they want to – but these shapeshifters shift genres from track to track, encompassing power-pop, crunchy hard rock, and ballads with acoustic guitar and piano. The 53-second finale sounds like someone sat down to write a shmaltzy Eric Carmen power ballad and gave up after a few bars.
SINGLES
PSYCH-O-POSITIVE – “Who But I” / “Lost & Found” (self-released)
Hoboken, NJ’s Psych-O-Positive can always be counted on for some raunchy good fun, whether thumping up a high-spirited rocker or revisiting the theme song from “Mothra.” On “Who But I,” the band takes a Druidic chant and infuses it with a blast of high-octane rockabilly, with Judy Ann Nock and Debby Schwartz delivering the weird, bouncy lyrics behind Andrew Gilchrest and Louis Zhelesnik’s zingy guitars. Drummer Chuck Tumulty pounds a rockabilly beat while Nock’s sitar adds psychedelic filigree. “Lost & Found” proffers a darker, grittier, heavier sound, appropriate for a 50s sci-fi flick, with sizzling, spooky guitar solos and high-pitched vocals.
RICKY ROCHELLE – “Until I Fell in Love with You” (self-released)
After dropping an album in late September, the prolific Ricky Rochelle follows with this lovelorn pop single a month later. In The New Rochelles and Young Rochelles, Ricky’s boyish vocals mostly delivered variations on Ramonescore and power-pop, but his more recent work has skewed toward a more sophisticated pop sound. Here, the title repeats in a melodic chorus, Ricky multi-tracks his vocals into harmonies and counter-melodies, and while still fresh and appealing, it’s bittersweet as well. I’m reminded of The Ramones’ growth from “Blitzkrieg Bop” to “Howling at the Moon” or “Pet Sematery.” Even punk boys grow up eventually, and it’s a treat being along for the ride.