Dead Freddie IS Chicago Garage Rock and Power Pop blended with UK Punk with a touch of Ska , originally emerging from Chicago’s South Side in 1979, reincarnating in 2013. The band has three releases on vinyl, most recently in 2023 with a fourth album in the works. They are known for their high-energy live shows, with the accordion adding something unexpected to the mix. “This Chicago pop punk band is rooted in that town’s original late-’70s punk scene, even before Strike Under, Effigies, Naked Raygun…Their sound is full of the Windy City’s over-the-top-hard-punk-with- melodic-undertow tradition” (Big Takeover, No. 87). Current members of the band are Gintas Buinevicius (drums & backing vocals), Gary Vacha (guitar), Karl Sperling (bass), and Donatas Ramanauskas (lead vocals and accordion).
Kicked By A Hand is queer ska punk from Midwest, U.S.A. The ensemble being the size of Streetlight Manifesto, music akin to Less Than Jake, and yet lyrics somewhere between emo, pop punk, and Homestar Runner. Originally a solo project, Kicked By A Hand has quickly grown in size and following after the release of RJ Ramanauskas’ debut album Thanks To Friends Of Friends (available on stream and CD). Having made a home in Bridgeport and expanding north to The Cubby Bear, and back south at HAZ Studios, and now Reggies, the spread of LGBTQ friendly ska is ever expanding. New originals and new covers coming out constantly during live performances. Featured on WXAV radio, The Ska Show with Beefy, and Dissonant Waves on YouTube. Enough talking, let’s get to rocking with Kicked By A Hand!!!
Steel Wolf are Lithuanian-American recording artists
from Long Island, New York. Described as playing “music
to incite a riot”, Steel Wolf took their name from
Lithuanian folklore in 1982 and is still active today. Aside
from archetypal venues, they have performed annually at
the NYC Marathon and the north east Lithuanian camp,
Giraite. Their releases not only contain music with “bar
brawl-ready song titles” but also tracks like “Himnas 2010”
– a version of the Lithuanian National Anthem. As Long
Island Good Times magazine put it “Steel Wolf blends punk
anachronisms with Lithuanian mythology.”
