JOHN WILKES YOUTH

Thanks and goodbye

2010-10-06T09:27:00.001-07:00

thanks to everyone who came to our last show. ryan dowdy is handsome. teen wolves was really cool. listen to black kites. lyrics and a list of past shows can be found below.

check out our other bands: Breathing Room, Mountain Dude, and Panthers Vs. Wolves. you can download our old demo here if you want it. www.mediafire.com/?djzmnyvy1jy

welp, see ya later! xoxo, richard nj

01 CUT OFF

"Just a tradition" is that your excuse?
No justification, for this abuse
Hundreds of babies, cry out each day
Their sexual organs, you rip them away
If circumcising women, is so barbaric
Look in the mirror, you fucking hypocrite
It's acceptable, when done unto men
The cruelest of views, is what you defend
Claim ignorance, but a lot can be done
Change is up to you, if you have children
Start today, build a foundation
Never mutilate, their sex organs
Because of your choice they're cut off
Their body not yours, cut off
How can you look yourself in the mirror? Cut off
I stand against you, cut off

02 DEAD 'TIL DEATH

You wake up each day, and believe what you're told
Never question values, remain apathetic
You gave up your "soul," years ago it was sold
In a struggle for power, the world has been tricked
No hell in the ground, you live it each day
No reddened goat demon, no being in the sky
Let alone a white male, you believe what they say
To rot in the dirt, when you fucking die
Defy psychology, science, and logic
For centuries the world's been been fooled, you're still believing this?
Preaching love, preaching peace, acting in opposition
You can help change others' minds, everyday, your decision
If you oppose racism, and sexist bigoted shit
Evaluate your faith, you perpetuate it
Mind imperialism, 'til there is nothing left
You say you're living, you're just dead 'til death

03 RAT RACE

Count your fucking currency
Brag about your new tv
New hot job at the office
Your idea of success makes me sick
Luxury for no reason
Reveal in your excessiveness
Only you can break your chains
Find your own happiness, fuck the rest
Rat race

04 REVERSE REBEL

Spit out words, they're nothing more
Than illustrations of your substanceless existence
Your entire life is such a bore
Your reverse rebellion, meaningless
And you're gonna pay
Act as if you stand for something
Your life is just a fucking farce
You lack intelligence, respond with nothing
Reverse rebel, I hate you

05 51% POSITIVE

Economy is in shambles, lack of jobs
The world's consumed with wars, all unjust
Genocide each day, slavery too
I see average people, I hate all of you
Sexist, racist, homophobes, misplaced hate
I'm always out of step, I can't relate
I know that the world sucks, and it's hard to avoid
You gotta remember, you still have a choice
Your own outlook has a great effect on how you live
Gotta keep it 51% positive

1. 01.11.2010 @ America (New Brunswick, NJ) w/ The Misled (Virginia), To Live & Die In NJ, Shape, The Man From Somewhere Else
2. 02.06.2010 @ Ask Somebody (New Brunswick, NJ) w/ Seasick, Zhenia Golov, Cumming Clean (Natural Law)
3. 02.27.2009 @ Charm City Art Space (Baltimore, MD) w/ Eddie Brock, Factors Of Four, The Skin Cells, Zeus
4. 04.09.2010 @ The Terrordome (Philadelphia, PA) w/ Deep Sleep (MD), No Friends (RVA)
5. 04.17.2010 @ The Iron Monkey (Jersey City, NJ) w/ Guilt Trip, Total Wreck (VA), Crooked Teeth (RVA)
6. 04.26.2010 @ Ask Somebody (New Brunswick, NJ) w/ Silent Way, Kicking Spit, MLU (TN)
7. 06.10.2010 @ Ask Somebody (New Brunswick, NJ) w/ Torchbearer, Disobey
8. 06.25.2010 @ The Terrordome (Philadelphia, PA) w/ V-Boys, Black Wing, Usurper (Boston), The Religious Vomits (DK cover band), Fuckheads (Boston), Whack, Uke Box
9. 09.30.2010 @ The Gutter (Somerset, NJ) w/ Civil Victim (Germany), Anal Warhead (Albany), Teen Wolves, Demo, Big Werm

Last show September 30. Dead 'Til Death.

2010-09-19T11:29:00.000-07:00

hello everyone. after eight short months of playing shows, john wilkes youth is breaking up. our last show is Thursday, September 30 in New Brunswick, New Jersey. we are not recording our new songs that are actually good, so come hang at this last show.

mike is singing in a '90s hardcore band called breathing room. jordan is playing drums in a band called mountain dude. be on the lookout for both of them. justin is giving everyone high fives and writing for the over the top radzine, and he will probably be in a band soon. i am writing for the touring vegan blog and i will probably be in a band soon.

thanks to rob gray, metal pete/dystrophy, ryan hendriksen, nick consalvo, bragg, richie p., ryan dowdy/secret police, metal joe/dethroned emperor, lauren book/dead limbs, rob santucci, tom/jeff/jay black kites, dave/outlast, dan pelic, cobra lung, jack/patrick/randi/baltimore crew, raymond strife, guilt trip, george googa, and anyone else who cared about us.

LAST JOHN WILKES YOUTH SHOW EVER - flier coming soon.

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 30, 2010 - 7 PM
@ THE AQUARIUM / METAL JOE’S - NEW BRUNSWICK, NJ

Civil Victim - from Germany. They played at America 2 years ago.
Anal Warhead - from Albany on tour with CV.
Teen Wolves – ex-Shit Fit and Ke Chu-Cha.
John Wilkes Youth - last show ever.
Demo - Sal's friends.

$5 for the touring bands. No, the 2 dollars you have left over after going to the Hub is not good enough. facebook

thanks for reading. i leave you with a picture of the vegans.

xoxo, richard

hibernation

2010-07-08T13:15:00.000-07:00

hello everyone.

about two weeks ago we played at the now-defunct terrordome house in west philadelphia. i would like to say that this was a completely awesome evening, and it was our favorite show that we have ever played.

thanks to everyone who attended and played. thanks to ed's buffalo wings and pizza for having daiya cheese pizza. most importantly, thank you to ryan for an outstanding year of all ages d.i.y. shows. you made philadelphia fun again for me, and we all love you for it. thank you.

currently, john wilkes youth is kind of hibernating. yesterday we had a very productive practice in which we composed a very angry song. i rip off cut the shit, but that's nothing new. tomorrow i am embracing on a magical journey with zhenia golov. at the end of the month, justin is doing the same with my turn to win. we will back to rock in the fall, so in september and october: look out for rock music.

i just put up a discography download link for my old band stressed out. check it out at: http://stressedoutnj.blogspot.com

our friends in dystrophy just put out a full-length cd called "chains of hypocrisy." it is outstanding and you should purchase and listen to it. death metal for the punks.

our friends in outlast just put out a split 7" with reveal the truth from florida. holy fuck, i cannot believe how great of a band they are.

see ya in a few months kids. even though none of us will be quite this awesome, everyone should always *attempt* to be. (see below.)

xo, RNJ

Last-minute show of the week!

2010-06-23T15:28:00.000-07:00

This is going to be a short post, mainly because there isn't a lot to update about and I wanna focus on one thing:

The last coughcoughwinkwinknudgenudgecoughcough show ever.

This Philadelphia spot is one of the best D.I.Y. venues I've had the pleasure of both going to and playing, and it's a shame this Friday will be the last time it opens its doors. The kids who live there are some of the best ones around, and every band and show ruled.

Much love to the Errordometay, we'll try to rock as hard as possible.

South Jersey/Philadelphia crew, you better fucking be there.

This is our absolute, last show. FOR REAL this time.

If you haven't made it out to our now legendary house, well, you are a tool. However, you've got one last chance to make things right.

On June 25th, starting at 6:00 sharp all of our best friends from this year will return to rock the place one last time!

Line Up:

Trip Ruiner (stupid hollis pop band)
No Coffins (stupid hollis lofi hardcore)
V-Boys (Trashy west philly, poser pop punk)
Black Wing (Male/female crust punk from NYC)
Usurper (Male/Female crust punk from BOSTON
The Religious Vomits (DK cover band with members of Whack, Black wing and Zehnia Golov)
John Wilkes Youth (HCxHC)
Fuckheads (HC PUNK from BAWSTON)
Whack (NYC Classical HC Circus Punk that everyone loses their shit to)

+++ more tba +++

7-10$ sliding scale cause bands are driving from all over the place!

Get in touch with us if you want the address. We may have one or two shows over the summer, but they will be few and far between. So you better come to this one!

Holy crap...

2010-06-07T08:38:00.000-07:00

...has it really been almost two months since the last JWY blog post, and three months since the last time I talked to all'a y'allz?

Damn.

Since the last time I posted here, there have been a number of goings-on.

First, let me start off by saying R.I.P. STRESSED OUT. As you probably read, they decided to call it quits after just a little over two years as a band. This sucks, even more than o ther things that have recently ended (OK, that last one isn't "recent," but it's the best ending of anything ever. Shoot me.). They are some of the best friends and coolest dudes I've had the pleasure of knowing in nearly three years of livin' in the luxurious lap of the hub city. They, no doubt, went out way before the time. Especially with bands like Seasick and Zhenia Golov calling it (semi-)quits soon, Stressed Out was poised to become (along with Black Kites) the New Brunswick hardcore band. I'm gonna miss 'em, and I'm sure most of you will too. Luckily, they (and the aforementioned Black Kites) killed it at their last show. Dio was remembered. My arms and hands were cut and bruised. A bottle was broken. Et cetera.

Second, and this is an issue that's going to continue to pop up for the forseeable future, we need people to put shows on in their basements. Over the last year and a half or so, the number of active show houses has dramatically dwindled. While I am personally confident that this scene will continue to run long after I've grown up and started listening to Kenny G, it will only be that much harder if there is nowhere to put on these shows. You want your favorite out-of-state bands to continue playing in New Brunswick? They won't (and neither will the number of awesome bands springing up in the last six months) if they don't have anywhere to play.

Point number three:
I SWEAR WE'RE NOT DEAD.

Okay, so we haven't played a show for anyone (except for Dan Pelic, Nick, and 12 people in Jersey City) since April 9th. Luckily for you, we've got this baby comin' up:

Thursday, June 10th 2010
@ Phantom of the Opera House
(whatever, you know where it is)

TORCHBEARER (Richard put it best: "rulers of the mosh")
FORMER THIEVES (Iowa)
DISOBEY (rules)
JOHN WILKES YOUTH (who knows)

7:00pm, $five dollar$

After that, we'll be taking a pretty extensive break from playing shows for most of the summer. You can hang out with Richard touring across the country with Former Thieves and Zhenia Golov. Tour dates can be found here and here.

During this time, the remaining three quarters of JOHN WILKES YOUTH is gonna focus on writing new songs that are longer than fifty seconds, moshtastic, and fun as shit (while Justin is putting out zines, Jordan is delivering sandwiches on his bicycle, and I'm busting my ass learning the wonders of journalism). We've talked about putting out a comprehensive cassette tape sometime in late summer/early autumn, and future released. All of this would rule.

That's all I've got for now, kids. Until next time, stay in school, listen to the new Ceremony and Off With Their Heads albums, and eat so much Cinco you wanna vomit.

Love,
Mike Davis
Mike Davis
(M)Ike Davis

420 LOL 69 XVX BBQ 51%

2010-04-20T07:41:00.000-07:00

hello everyone.

our last two shows were pretty cool. on friday, april 9 we played at our buddies' house (THE TACO TEEPEE) in west philadelphia with deep sleep from baltimore and no friends from richmond. both of those bands were awesome. big thanks to our friends who live there, and to everyone who came. actually my favorite part of the night was visiting Ed's Buffalo Wings & Pizza. judging by the name alone, i might guess that this is probably not a place that i would wanna hang at. however, they have pizzas with daiya vegan cheese, which both excited and aroused people such as myself, jordan, rob santucci, and many other weirdos in our "crew." it cost $15 for a daiya cheese pie, which was pretty rad. i would recommend this place to you because they put up with wild assholes such as ourselves, and they were open until 2 am. hallowed be thy name.

on saturday, april 17 we played at the iron monkey in jersey city, nj with guilt trip, who were awesome, and total wreck and crooked teeth, both of whom are from virginia. we were off to a late start, and i thought this show was going to be sort of bogus at first, but it ended up being a great show. especially for a legal space. i am very excited to see shows happening in JC, and i hope that this can continue. we also played the best that we ever have. so if you saw us and you thought it sucked, be glad you weren't at the other shows!

we have a couple of things to figure out at camp JxWxYx. when we are recording next, what shows we are playing this summer, time on the road, when we will make burritos, how important The Terminator is, and more. more information on all of this will be coming soon.

our next show is on monday, april 26 in new brunswick, nj. MLU from nashville are playing, along with local stars silent way and kicking spit. we play first so please be PUNK-tual.

all of these bands that i am mentioning in this blog post are really sweet and can be found on the world wide web. you should check them out and purchase their records and support them.

xo and keep it stinky, RNJ

"I been outside talkin' 'bout four things..."

2010-03-09T14:46:00.000-08:00

Holy crap, has it really been almost a month since I last talked to you?!

We've got a few things going on in the wide, wide world of JOHN WILKES YOUTH, so I'll just run through the list and then add funny pictures and links.

First of all, I want to apologize to two groups of people. First, I would like to send my sincerest regrets to all of northwest-of-Philadelphia-but-not-quite-Allentown, Pennsylvania for not being able to hang out and play during our first John-Wilkes-Weekend-That-Became-A-One-Day-Mini-Road-Trip. I'm pretty bummed the show got canceled, it was going to be sweet to play with Common Enemy.

Second, I would like to send my personal sincerest apologies to everyone involved with running, playing, or going to the show in Trenton this past Sunday. My job was in jeopardy if I skipped it to play the show, and it would have been awful timing as far as money is concerned. We take all our shows seriously, and it's nobody's fault but my own that we had to drop off that show. I was so excited to play with our dudes in Outlast (and by "our dudes," I mean Justin and Richard's dudes). I hope you guys got to enjoy Justin's other "our dudes" in My Turn To Win. Their new EP shreds.

Okay, that's my 49% for this blog post.

There are also good things happening with our band:

• We have t-shirts! They are funny (much more to me) rip-offs of the classic Agnostic Front logo. You can buy them from us at a show for eight dollars, or for eight+shipping from our BigCartel site. You can also buy the demo for a buck!

• We actually have a few shows coming up! The first one is going to be on Friday, April 9th in Philadelphia (ask us for the address!) with a bunch of awesome bands. Headlining the show is NO FRIENDS, whose self-titled album was definitely in my top five for the year 2009. Imagine Tony from Municipal Waste and like half of the late, great New Mexican Disaster Squad playing fast, in-your-face hardcore. Lucky for you, that band exists, and it is No Friends. Also playing the show is AFFIRMATIVE ACTION JACKSON (with Josh and Andy from Paint it Black), who absolutely rules and doesn't play neeeeeearly enough and DEEP SLEEP from Baltimore who sound like every awesome hardcore band from the 1980s.

It is one of the greatest shows that we will probably play this year, so thanks to Andy Nelson for letting us play.

That's most of the goings-on, as far as JWY is concerned! If anyone's going down to Florida for the second annual Harvest of Hope Fest this weekend, I'll be there with four of my best friends camping in a giant tent (with a New Jersey state flag staked outside) and getting wet thinking about seeing Dear Landlord (Dream Homes was easily my favorite record of 2009).

'Til then!

MD

We have to drop off the Trenton show.

2010-03-06T14:45:00.000-08:00

Sorry to Joe, the other bands, and anyone who was going to come out to see us. We've got a number of shows lined up that we're excited to announce soon.

Til then,
MD

Baltimore, the best place for cookies, pudding, and friends

2010-02-28T11:53:00.000-08:00

Hey folks,
Jordan here. Last night's show in Baltimore far exceeded any of my expectations for any show we could play. The Charm City Art Space is probably the coolest venue I've been to, and the people there are even greater. First off, thanks to Eddie Brock, Factors of Four, Skin Cells, and Zeus for playing, everyone kicked a bunch of ass. The night continued after the show with some of the coolest people I've ever met, and hope to see more often. Thanks to Jack and everyone whose house we hung out at and Victoria and Izzy and I know I'm forgetting more names and I'm sorry, but thank you to everyone. The cookies and pudding were fucking awesome! So was the dance party. So were the knuckle tattoos. Basically everything about last night was awesome. my e-mail is j.bard.fg@gmail.com and if ya live in baltimore or whatever and send me your address I will send you vegan goodies through the mail because I really want to.

Thank you again to everyone

"without madball, music wouldn't exist."

2010-02-23T06:41:00.000-08:00

hello all radically hellacious dudes and babes. this is my third (and most complex) post on this blog, and my first one of 2010. (fun fact: i have not posted one here since december 29.)

our first show january 11 was a lot of fun. i want to give huge thanks to ray strife / to live and die in nj for putting us on this show at his old house (R.I.P. last week). ray has been a very good friend of mine for about six years, and i was very happy that we could play this show with him.

our second show on february 6 was a great time as well. it was great to play in J.W.Y. with longtime friends seasick and zhenia golov. also, cumming clean was cool too. thanks to everyone who came out in almost two feet of snow, and donated (vegan) food and money to hub city food not bombs. it's a big sigh of relief to see hardcore kids who are doing something positive for their communities. my goal is to keep positive community projects such as FNB going and growing. thanks again.

we will have our first round of t-shirts this friday. i am not going to post a picture right now, but i will say that they are parody shirts and they are hilarious. they will be $8 in person at shows, or $10 USD ppd via paypal. if you order online from us, expect a demo, stickers, buttons, and erotic notes from one of us included in your package. if you ever need t-shirts for your band or elks club, i would recommend hitting up my dude jason at willcott printing. he does shirts for us, stressed out, and dystrophy...and he is rad.

upcoming shows:

friday 2/26 @ school of rock (fort washington, pa) w/ abserdo (thanks dudes!), common enemy (lol), shitlist, venereal exchange (just break up already!). cooooooool.

saturday 2/27 @ charm city art space (baltimore, md) w/ eddie brock (rad pv dudes), the skin cells, factors of four, zeus. jack i cannot wait to lick your beautiful face when i see you. also, yabba pot cafe anyone?!

sunday 3/7 @ mill hill basement (trenton, nj) w/ outlast (<3), bring out your dead, progress, a lesser evil. this show is SERIOUSLY at 5 pm and we're playing 1st. i love joe pulito and i cannot wait to smell his musk.

and because i love this band: thanks to mike davis for being genuinely awesome, always looking out for me, and posting far more hilarious blogs than i do. thanks to justin for being the most hardcore person in this band (BY FAR), and for being responsible for the hilarious title of this blog entry. thanks to jordan for being one of the nicest, coolest humans i have ever known. you deserve cake!

most importantly, thanks to you for reading this, coming to our shows, listening to our songs, and taking an interest in d.i.y. music, art, and expression.

thumbs up all around! xo, NJ

ps - you should read the stressed out blog too.

"I wish Pedro was here so he could be the "old guy."

2010-02-15T17:09:00.000-08:00

Hey, el duderinos!

So about six hours after I did my usual Monday ramblings, I find out that Richard actually managed to turn our one-day tour into the first (of many) JOHN WILKES WEEKEND (or, alternately, WEEKEND WILKES YOUTH!)!

In addition to our already-scheduled show at the Charm City Art Space on February 27th, we will now also be playing a show on Friday, February 26th at the Fort Washington (PA) School of Rock. Also playing the show are some pretty cool bands like Common Enemy (like The Faction if The Faction was more updapunx) and our dude Brad (read as: "G.G.," or "'eyyyy gee-gee")'s band Venereal Exchange. Flyer with show address, cost, etc. will be posted below.

Unfortunately, there isn't a whole lot in the world of JOHN WILKES YOUTH going on since last week. We're currently at work on a design for our first set of t-shirts. They should be pretty sweet. If all goes well, we'll have them in time for the aforementioned JOHN WILKES WEEKEND WILKES YOUTH. If not, definitely in time for our show on March 7th with Outlast.

We wrote a new song today. It sounds sweet. Crucial Mike Davis parts (meaning they are mosheriffic). The Greene Goblin writes sweet songs.

That's about all I've got for today. If you're going to the H2O shows in Philadelphia or Brooklyn over the weekend, you'll see myself or Justin. H2O GO!

MD

I know that the snow sucks, and it's hard to avoid...

2010-02-08T13:47:00.000-08:00

First of all, a huge thanks to everyone who came out to our show at the Food Not Bombs benefit show on Saturday! I had an awful day that got progressively better, mainly thanks to this show.

If you didn't notice, about a foot of snow fell on central New Jersey between Friday night and Saturday afternoon. This forced, among other things:

A waste of three hours shoveling my entire house while my family was snowed in at a dance competition in Atlantic City.
Outlast had to cancel. This was a total bummer, but it was for the best. We value the safety of one of the best D.I.Y. bands in NJ over one basement show. Can't wait 'til March 7th! [more on that below]
I expected just about nobody to show up to see the awesome show that had been planned for months.

That was my 49% negativity for the day. After I got to New Brunswick, things just turned right 'round. I bought a can of 'Zona, which was awesome. Then, our good friend Rob from Zhenia Golov offered to have his new band, who I think was called Coming Clean, open up the show.

But wait! It was 7:45, and there were maybe 10 or 15 people there. Coming Clean was set to start right around 7:50, and it looked like the snow had won. But in a sudden turn of events, a whole bunch (my hyperbolic eyes say about 40) showed up between 7:45 and around 8:00, when we started.

As for the set, it went much better than our first show. We played way more songs than we did last time (or probably ever will again unless we want Richard's head to explode), including a cover of the Gorilla Biscuits' "Big Mouth." Luckily, somebody at the show captured video of just about half of this cover song.

The Internet strikes again!

John Wilkes Youth 6 fev 10 @ somewhere
Uploaded by trustnoone987. - See the latest featured music videos.

After we were done, Zhenia Golov and Seasick both killed it, as per usual. I think Seasick covered a Kill Your Idols, but don't quote me on that.

MORE SHOWS!

We've got two shows scheduled so far, and we're psyched to play both of them.

The first one is scheduled on Saturday, February 27th at the Charm City Art Space in Baltimore, Maryland. Thanks a lot to our new friend (and Richard's old friend) Jack for setting this show up for us. We're playing with a bunch of cool bands, and it's sure to be a good time. Also, how great is that flyer?!

The second show is scheduled for Sunday, March 7th at the Mill Hill Basement in Trenton, NJ. We're playing with an awesome hardcore band from New York, Bring Out Your Dead, and our friends in Outlast!

Now, the show is in the basement of a bar called the Mill Hill Saloon which, I admit, is very not posi. However, I've been assured that show is indeed ALL AGES, which means any and all are welcome.

That's about all I've got for you guys, for now! Stay safe, and we hope to see you soon. I like this idea of Monday blog updates, because it gives me something to do before class.

MD

Get stoked!

2010-02-01T11:07:00.000-08:00

I don't know about you, but I am [really/super/mad/hella/wicked/crazy] stoked for our show on February 6th with SEASICK, ZHENIA GOLOV, and OUTLAST. These are some of the best DIY hardcore bands in New Jersey right now, and it's silly that we even get to play the same show as them (it also helps when your singer knows them all personally and is booking the show, but bear with me).

Our set will be spiced up from the last show (thank god), so it should be a good time for all. Get there early, cause we play first!

If you need the address, just e-mail the band at johnwilkesyouth@gmail.com. Seriously though. It's not a big deal. We're not going to laugh at you because you don't know where the show is.

See, this kid did it!
Other things going on:

We've officially been trashed on the Internet!

It's a rite of passage for all up-and-coming (are we even up or coming yet?) hardcore bands. Now, regardless of if Richard actually spammed their board with his plugs (which, I mean, he did, but everybody does that), some of that stuff is pretty silly in there.

It's a pun. It's a half-hearted attempt at being funny.

See? This guy knows "funny." Ghost of Patrick Swayze? That's gold. However, we are not white power by any means. Granted, there's no way to know that we are or aren't unless you A) have a demo and see some of the lyrics, or B) know us in real life. So this is excusable as "speculation."

Wakkwakkawakka street justice wakkawakkawakka (jeez I miss BTC)

Alright, Blogspot is really annoying when it comes to posting images, so I'll stop here. It's just hilarious. There's also a thread devoted entirely to trashing Richard. I'm considering posting in there just to threaten them that he will, indeed, lick all of their rumps. Oh, and there's a lot of homophobic blather I don't even want to give the pleasure of re-posting here. Whatever. Karma's a bitch.

Oh! Go listen to Stressed Out's new songs. They are very rad, especially if you like metal. I don't, particularly, but I love these dudes and these songs. I had the pleasure of hanging with them for two days last weekend, and it was a great time. I fucked my hand up during two days' of "Disney Kids." It looked like this:

I can't wait until they play with Former Thieves, Troublemaker, and Worlds at the end of the month. Every single one of those bands rules.

That's about all I got for today.

Have fun, stay safe, stay positive, and don't let anyone ever charge you more than one dollar for a can of AriZona.

MIKE DAVIS

First show accomplished

2010-01-12T09:01:00.000-08:00

So the first JOHN WILKES YOUTH show went off ~~without~~ with only a few hitches.

During "Cut Off," I did my best to be "that guy" who rocks out during his band's set. Well during the course of this event, I managed to somehow knock my A-string out of tune so badly that it was registering in the tuner as a G-string. Of course, being the idiot I am I didn't think that my expert (read as: amateur) ear could not notice this.

Two minutes of awkward silence later, we were good to go.

The rest of the set was fine. The usual "first show" fuck-ups, nothing out of the ordinary. I hope you enjoyed the little shake-up during "No Way Out." I have a lot of friends I'm trying to surprise with this, so please shut yo' mouth about it.

Holy crap, is that an entire LOLcat website dedicated to Star Wars?

After us, this band from Virginia called The Misled played and killed it. They're also an awesome bunch of dudes who let us borrow their drums and guitar cab. They sound like a much heavier NOFX with a lot more talent. At least to my ears. But I don't really listen to NOFX.

I also consumed three tallboys of Arnold Palmer and two bags of candy. I believe the term is "sugar high." I get a gold star!

Our next show is on February 6th in New Brunswick with our friends SEASICK, ZHENIA GOLOV, and OUTLAST. Seasick and Zhenia Golov both shred, and Outlast's demo is fucking sweet, so I'm stoked to see them.

That's all I've got for now. We've got demos, stickers, and buttons we're selling for approximately $free.99 but you can only get these things by coming to our shows.

Until next time,
MD

We're Friends!

2010-01-04T12:14:00.000-08:00

Just wanted to take this time to thank our good friend James for including us in a blog post for his podcast We're Friends!. In a preview of good things to look forward to in 2010, James writes:

I'm not well versed in the world of punk and hardcore, but I definitely like some of it. Black Flag, Bad Brains, Minor Threat, Paint it Black, Killing the Dream, Dead Kennedys, Misfits, Pulling Teeth, all great bands to me. So when I hear that two friends of mine are in a hardcore band, knowing full well that they are good at hardcore already, I am interested. The demo is fast, heavy, and aggressive, go download it! http://www.myspace.com/johnwilkesyouth

Ha! Richard and myself are already good at hardcore! Screw this, I'm done. Life goals accomplished.

So again, thanks to James, Dash, and all -3 of you reading this.

xoxo
MD

An introduction of sorts...

2010-01-04T11:28:00.000-08:00

Helloooooo!

My name is Mike Davis, and I play guitar in JOHN WILKES YOUTH.

This band came about from, of all things, my good friend Richard NJ being very drunk at my old apartment in New Brunswick. In a state of premier drunkitude, Richard brings up to me the idea of starting a band called, of all things, JOHN WILKES YOUTH (Later, I'd learn that it was actually our friend Tom who had implanted the idea in Richard's head, but the story is there all the same). A Youth Crew kinda band.

Well, the only thing I love more than good hardcore is a good pun, so I was down.

Of course, nothing ever came of this for about a year.

In late August or so, Richard came to me with the idea of actually starting a band. Our immediate idea: JOHN WILKES YOUTH. Whoops, forgot to bold that. JOHN WILKES YOUTH. There we go.

Jokingly described by me as a "straight edge and/or vegan hardcore punk rock" band, Richard went out and recruited his friends Justin and Jordan to play bass and drums.

Richard's other band, the tubular Stressed Out was in the process of transitioning from a hardcore band with some thrashy metal influences into a thrashy metal band with some hardcore influences. While Richard loves both of these things, he missed playing plain old hardcore.

At our first practice, it was generally decided upon that we were going to play fun songs that would probably be less than two minutes long. No solo's, no problem. Which is good, cause when I try to solo, I look like this:

Anyway, thirteen or so practices, three or four 4-track recordings, and a full day of demo recording with Metal Tweet later, we've got a five song demo that is about five minutes long, and I've been lucky enough to get a lot of positive feedback (told you I love puns) on.

xoxo
MXD

And don't forget about these:

John Wilkes Youth - Demo 2010

2009-12-29T19:17:00.000-08:00

thanks for checking us out.

Download Demo 2010 here:

http://www.mediafire.com/?djzmnyvy1jy (copy & paste)

here are our first two shows. come check it out.

xo, R-NJ / john wilkes youth

MONDAY JANUARY 11, 2010 - 7 PM
ASK SOMEBODY - NEW BRUNSWICK NEW JERSEY

TO LIVE AND DIE IN NJ (place ya best bets, new jerz's finest!)
SHAPE (illest d.i.y. rapper out right now.)
THE MAN FROM SOMEWHERE ELSE (wet orange, reppin' division east.)
THE MISLED (virginia metal punks on tour.)
JOHN WILKES YOUTH (new nj hardcore. 51% positive. first show.)

donations for touring band. hardcore bands play first. come on time, support everybody. hchc. acab.

SATURDAY FEBRUARY 6, 2010 - 7 PM sharp
@ ASK SOMEBODY - NEW BRUNSWICK NEW JERSEY

SEASICK
good enough for the smart glasses & beard crowd. fast enough for the sleeveless cutoff shorts crowd.
ZHENIA GOLOV
pick up the "defined by confines" lp if you haven't already.
OUTLAST
straight edge. straight veg. nj youth crew.
JOHN WILKES YOUTH
new nj simple hardcore. 51% positive.

this show is a benefit show for hub city food not bombs. please bring a $5 donation, or a $3 donation along with a can on non-perishable vegan food. come get wild for a great cause. HCHC. ACAB.

John Wilkes Youth

2009-12-06T18:33:00.000-08:00

new nj hardcore. 51% positive. look for us in 2010.