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AZPunk Compilation Albums 2002-2010

AZPunk.comp Volume 3

November 13, 2004 • Mastered @ Villian Recording by Byron Filson • Artwork by Micah Elliot & Erik Van Den Boom

  1. Stood Up Shot Down • Any Destruction
  2. Labor Party • Black Arm Band
  3. Last Action Zeros • Boys Are Out
  4. XIII Black • H Town Terrorists
  5. D.S.C. • Coffee Brew
  6. John Denver's Last Flight • Doped Up
  7. The Jeff Dahl Band • Dense Pack
  8. Fusty Lugs • Keep Your Eyez On The Prize
  9. Spray Paint Heroes • Jackie
  10. Thee Illuminatix • Emotions
  11. All Too Much • Aint Your Day
  12. Seveer Tire Damage • Drama Queen
  13. Past 47th • Fake
  14. Box-Cutter • Kool Kid
  15. Howitzer • Comply
  16. Line Of Fire • Lose With Honor, Win With None
  17. Sigma • God Hates Flags
  18. The Mongoloids • Bourbon And Seven
  19. Waking Dead • Lost My Head
  20. Reburn And The Skidmarks • Herpe Whore Queen
  21. DSFA • Who Said Life Was Fair
  22. Reason For Nothing • Headache
  23. Oktober • Sunset (AZPunk Mix)
  24. 80*D • Saving Face
  25. The Dames • Just One Drink
  26. Swing Ding Amigos • Tik-Tok
  27. Electrik Shock • Why And What For
  28. Big Vinny And The Cattle Thieves • Teenage Premature Ejaculator
  29. Whiskey Bitch • Sympathy
  30. Fuck You Ups • Deadbeats
  31. Calabrese • One Of Us
  32. Authority Zero • Broken Dreams
  33. Casket Life • Rock N Roll Death Machine
  34. Dukes Of AxZxRxDx • 8 Wheels Of Hell
  35. Smoky Mountain Skullbusters • Born To Rock N Roll

V3 Press

Comp Romp

AZ's "punk-rock utopia" releases its third CD

By: Brendan Joel Kelley • Phoenix New Times • November 2004

It's back to the Dark Ages for me lately, having recently killed off both my cable TV and Internet access at home. I dropped them and went medieval for two reasons -- to save some money, but also to keep my ass from watching CNN or Fox News eight hours a day, maybe read some books instead.

I've got everything I need technology-wise at work, but it's still been a sacrifice. No more porn on demand, no more online poker games, and, perhaps worst of all, no more leisure time catching up on the gossip on AZPUNK.com. Luckily, though, the third edition of the AZPUNK.com compilation CD is about to hit a record-store shelf near you, and the impresarios behind the Web site were kind enough to hit me off with one in advance to sate my withdrawal.

I've mentioned my affinity for the AZPUNK Web site before; I'm mostly enthralled with the site's message board, where the 20,000-plus members trade barbs, pimp shows, and talk shit. It's also a comprehensive resource database, where bands can post their bios, venues can book bands, and promoters can hook up shows. But the site's founders, Chris Lawson, Bryan Sandell and Micah Elliot, haven't limited their philanthropy to screenheads. For the past three years, AZPUNK has sponsored a local band stage at the Warped Tour, which provides a welcomed respite from the homogenized pap that usually graces the main stage of the festival. Additionally, the formidable trio has put out the AZPUNK compilation series, the third of which drops this Saturday, November 13.

Lawson, Sandell and Elliot were nice enough to vacate their keyboards and monitors and spend some time talking to me about the new compilation and the Web site over beers (Crown Royal for Elliot) at Casey Moore's on a recent fall evening. At 33, Lawson is the oldest of the trio, and he's also the mastermind behind TotalPunkRadio.com, which boasts a database of more than 45,000 songs ("We're hoping for a copy of that hard drive for Christmas," Sandell told me). Sandell, 25, and Elliot, 27, also have musical endeavors outside AZPUNK, playing in the Last Action Zeros and Family Secret, respectively.

The 'Nix's trinity of punk rock spent several months sorting through the 100 or so song submissions they received for inclusion on this latest installment, AZPUNK.comp V3. As a result, about three-fourths of the bands on V3 are new to the compilation series, quite an accomplishment considering that this edition has 35 songs, the previous had 34, and the first had 30.

"We don't always go for the best sounding," Sandell said of the vetting process. "We're all locals, nobody has any money, so if it's a good song and you can hear everything on it, it's got a really good chance of getting on the comp. We try to pack them on."

The comps are also AZPUNK's primary moneymaker, though at a retail price of just three bucks a pop, it's obvious no one's getting rich. When I jokingly ask them if AZPUNK's popularity has translated into big money, Sandell sarcastically replies, "Yeah, we're all driving Bentleys. I just got off work -- I don't know what you're talking about."

Still, the compilations provide the sorely needed capital to pull off events like the Warped Tour stage, the sporadic AZPUNKaholic meetings, and merchandise printing. "A lot of times our initial sales almost get the comp paid off," Elliot tells me. With runs of 2,500 copies each, that's saying something. The trio proudly reports that the last compilation was on Zia Records' Top 10 list for almost a year.

The compilations provide an opportunity to trace the trends in local punk rock. As Elliot explains, the first one "was kind of at the end of that pop-punk phase, so the first comp has a lot of pop-punk kind of sounds. The second one got a little harder, and this one's definitely the hardest out of them all. 'Punk rock 'n' roll' is what I call this comp."

Indeed, V3 is a lot more rock-oriented than its predecessors, with nary a pop-punk or screamo band among its inhabitants. It's got the recently resurrected Fuck You Ups, from Tempe, doing a rollicking, whiskey-soaked rocker called "Deadbeats." My favorite macabre spook-rocker brothers Calabrese contribute an uncharacteristically hard track called "One of Us."

A couple of bands that don't really need the exposure were included as well; the legendary Jeff Dahl Band throwing down a midtempo barrage called "Dense Pack," and Mesa's Authority Zero dropping "Broken Dreams."

Casket Life, which has an LP soon to drop on local Stomping Ground records, also made the cut, as did local favorites Smoky Mountain Skullbusters, Oktober, and Stood Up Shot Down.

With the success of the three budget-minded comps, I naturally wondered if the AZPUNK triumvirate has any interest in expanding their endeavors to putting out single bands' records, and making some real money.

"It would kind of ruin what we're doing here," Sandell replied.

"We'd probably burn some bridges that way," Lawson added. "We try to stay as open as possible to all bands."

"Yeah, that's the main focus, being the entity that combines everybody together," said Elliot.

I should have known better. AZPUNK.com is like our own punk-rock utopia, where everyone's equal and has access to the same resources. And though I currently can't spend unlimited time browsing through the site, I have V3 in my CD player, like a security blanket.

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Weekly Shows

30
Cropsey

6pm @ Madcap Theaters • All Ages • $8

with Cropsey

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Symbol Six, Social Task (members of PENNYWISE), Dead Lazlos House (ex Dr. Know)

8pm @ Rogue Bar (East) • 21+ • $8

with Symbol Six, Social Task, Dead Lazlos Place

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STELLAR CORPSES plus more!

8pm @ Big Fish Pub • All Ages • $8

with Stellar Corpses,uptown Psychos,the Vampz, The Quaranted!

30
Reefer Madness

8pm @ Madcap Theaters • All Ages • $8

with Reefer Madness

30
The Tattle Tales/The Jerk Officers/The Cosmeticators/TA-80

9pm @ Hollywood Alley • 21+ • $5

with The Tattle Tales, The Jerk Officers, The Cosmeticators, Ta-80

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STEREO HIGH from Las Vegas

9pm @ Exit7 • 21+ • $5

with Sidewalk Saints And More.

31
Phoenix ARA Show Featuring Cultura Libertaria, The Venomous Pinks, Los Mudras

6pm @ Firehouse, The • All Ages • $5

with Cultura Libertaria, The Venomous Pinks, Los Mudras, Manos Zuziaz, Scrupulous, Sunday Best

31
Cropsey

6pm @ Madcap Theaters • All Ages • $8

with Cropsey

31
Reefer Madness

8pm @ Madcap Theaters • All Ages • $8

with Reefer Madness

31
An Underground Invasion!

8pm @ Rogue Bar (East) • 21+ • $6

with The Jitters, The Complainiacs, The Whorchatas, Black Banner Dovichenko, Watch Out Coat Rack

31
Adam's Evil and Green Lady Killers

9pm @ Hollywood Alley • 21+ • $??

with Adam's Evil, Green Lady Killers

31
Goodnight Loving

9pm @ Palo Verde Lounge • 21+ • $??

with Goodnight Loving (on Dirtnap Records), Destruction Unit,, Scorpion Vs. Tarantula,, Cosmeticators

1
Saddles, Western Medicine, Sleepwalk A Robot & More [5Bands 4Bucks + Drink Specials]

7pm @ Exit7 • 21+ • $4

with Saddles, Western Medicine, Sleepwalk A Robot, The Grassroots Campaign & Ex-spectator

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PIRATES: Dread Crew Oddwood

7pm @ Trunk Space • All Ages • $6

with Dread Crew Oddwood, Wizard Teeth, The Cullens

5
TY SEGALL

7pm @ Trunk Space • All Ages • $8

with Autistic Youth, The Baths, Chandails, Mangled Men

User News

New Good Men Die Like Dogs 7"

nastyd • Wednesday, July 28, 2010 • 4:02 AM

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The brand new Good Men Die Like Dogs 4 song 7-inch "Postscript" is available for $5 on our website... or if you're one of those kids that hate plastic and grooves, download the mp3s for free. Not as cool, but whatever, dork.

Aug. Trunk Space Calendar

TrunkSpace • Monday, July 26, 2010 • 11:53 PM

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here's everything we've got confirmed for Aug. It's a mixed bag.

Greenhaven Provides Theme Song, Voice-over Narration for New Versus TV Show 3-Gun Nation

TPStank • Thursday, July 22, 2010 • 10:18 AM

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Veteran Valley hard rock/metal outfit Greenhaven is about to get some national exposure, thanks to a new TV show on the Versus sports network. 3-Gun Nation, a competitive shooting show that requires contestants to navigate an obstacle course while shooting targets with a rifle, shotgun and pistol, has chosen "Waterloo," ...

San Clemente Punk

sanclementepunk • Sunday, July 18, 2010 • 10:12 AM

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Please join us every monday night at 7pm EST. It is a caller and listener driven show. I play old and new school punk and interview bands. I am happy to play any music you would like me to. Please listen in and call us FREE on skype through the link on our showpage. This week we have Luis from The Angst. Mark From Agressionis on next week.

AZKAOS and Gagging Maggot Records looking for bands for an AZ comp!

BrianBalls • Thursday, June 24, 2010 • 6:52 PM

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We're looking for Arizona bands interested in being on the first AZKAOS compilation! Any punk bands and subgenres there-of are welcome. Send an mp3 to gaggingmaggotrecords@cox.net. The comp will be released as a free download and a free cd included with a future issue of AZKAOS zine.

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