The Suicide Machines is an American punk rock band formed in March 1991 in Detroit, Michigan and disbanded in May 2006. Since 2009, the band has occasionally played reunion shows. During the course of their career the band released six full-length albums on the labels Hollywood Records and Side One Dummy Records. The band’s musical style initially blended elements of punk rock, ska, and hardcore into a genre popularly known as ska punk or “ska-core,” which characterized their first two albums. During the middle of their career they shifted gears, moving away from this sound and producing two albums with a heavy pop rock influence. Their final two albums moved back towards their mid-1990s style, bringing back heavy ska punk and hardcore elements.

Pop Punk done right. Old school Bay Area sound from the midwest.

It’s probably best we get this outta the way as soon as possible: Derek Grant plays drums in Alkaline Trio. He actually plays a buncha instruments for that band in the studio, but that’s beside the point. Derek has been all over the punk scene, playing in The Vandals, Suicide Machines, even a stint playing in a grindcore act named after Dungeons & Dragons creator, Gary Gygax. NOW we’re talkin’! But before we bore you with nerdery or wow you with punk cred, let’s just get one thing straight: the man has a resume.
What’s more compelling is that he’s not only a virtuoso drummer, but he can play guitar and sing just as well. It’s actually really annoying to most people from the punk world who can barely play one instrument! But Derek’s unearthly abilities are what has enabled him to make his debut album, Breakdown, as he wrote ALL of the music and played ALL of the instruments. (Of course some creative credit goes to the dark times and divorce he endured, but we’ll get to that later.) This album isn’t another one of those, “Punk guy goes solo and makes acoustic music…AGAIN”, it’s more along the lines of “Crazy-talented weirdo makes a rock album with full instrumentation and it’s got everything”. Don’t think Chuck Ragan; think Brian Eno. Akin to projects like The Postal Service or She & Him or Gnarls Barkley, there’s a real sonic deviation going on here.
And what does it sound like? We’ll let the music do the talking and you can decide for yourself, BUT, we’re hearing one of the most diverse albums to come out of the underground music scene in quite a while. There’s hints of haunting rock like The Smiths, some Americana like Ryan Adams, and maybe even a bit of 80’s New Wave like Prince. Fortunately for Derek, he’s already part of an indie-punk titan and he can afford to take chances on Breakdown, but when all is said and done, fans of Alkaline Trio will probably really enjoy this stuff too. Because that’s how music works: even if it’s different, if it’s good, they will join the artist on the journey.
This debut has a lot of likable tunes, no doubt, but it also has some troubling undertones. These songs were all written while Derek was going through a divorce and dealing with life’s other demons. It was a bleak time for our protagonist, and he pretty much lays it out in the opening words of “You Don’t Know”, the album’s final track: “I’ve drank and drugged so many days, I wake up in some kinda haze—I’m reeling”. Let’s be honest here, breakups and hardship are the catalyst for the very best art, so the listener may as well enjoy it at his expense. It bears mentioning that Derek has since moved on, cleaned up, and living on a farm in…Vermont?! It’s true, and these are the songs that got him through it all. Hooray for happy endings, right?
When asked about playing solo, Derek told us, “Are you kidding?! I’m scared of playing alone. I’m probably going to have a band.” It makes sense, as there’s a lot going on with these songs. But the good news is in the subtext: there will be live shows! The immediate plan is to play some record release shows in his hometown of Detroit and the Alk3 stronghold that is Chicago. But beyond that, we’re excited to hear that he’s already getting offers to do more touring, so it sounds like Derek Grant will be taking his Breakdown around the land in 2015. – Toby Jeg

The Chicago scene has always been known for its gritty and honest punk rock defined by bands like Naked Raygun, Screeching Weasel, and 88 Fingers Louie. Newcomers ALL EYES WEST, no strangers themselves to the Chicago scene, are continuing in its great tradition with the release of their self-titled debut LP on Jump Start Records. All Eyes West came together in the summer of 2010 and is lead by vocalist/bassist Justin Miller’s emotionally charged lyrics which have been a signature to bands like Signsedso and indie rockers Hinter. Guitarist Jeff Dean is known for the sound that has defined bands like The Bomb(with Jeff Pezzati of Naked Raygun) , Noise By Numbers, and Explode And Make Up. In a relatively short amount of time the band has managed to build an impressive resume, touring both the US & UK, playing with bands like OFF!, Alkaline Trio, Seaweed, Bob Mould, Samiam, Rival Schools, Braid, and Amusement Parks on Fire. The band’s self-titled effort was recorded at Million Yen Studios by guitarist Jeff Dean and mastered by Jon Drew (Tokyo Police Club, Fucked Up). On it, the band pays homage to 90’s rock giants like Swervedriver, Drive Like Jehu, Jawbreaker, and Fugazi while garnering comparisons to bands like Seaweed, Husker Du and early Foo Fighters.