Punknews.org

Punknews.org is a website founded by Aubin Paul which launched in 1999. The website publishes music news and album reviews relating to punk rock, hardcore punk, ska, indie rock and heavy metal. It features user-submitted and editor-evaluated articles, much like the technology-related website, Slashdot.

News coverage

Punknews.org generally posts between 15 and 20 news articles a day, covering such topics as tour dates, label signings, album releases, new media, band break-ups and member changes. The website has a policy of refusing to run stories without confirmation from either the labels or bands.

While Punknews.org does often spotlight relatively obscure bands, the editors cite fan interest as deciding how much coverage an artist warrants, rather than deferring to genre politics (major label / indie label preference or how close a band reflects the traditional punk subculture). [ [http://www.punknews.org/faqs/labels#48 Punknews.org Frequently Asked Questions] ]

According to Epitaph Records, the owner of the major label, Brett Gurewitz, has been known to scan Punknews.org to find new punk artists. Specifically, Gurewitz signed "The Getaway" after researching the band's music and growing popularity. [http://www.epitaph.com/news/news/126 Epitaph Records: The New York Times is talking about The Getaway! ] ]

Milestones

As of August 2008, the site features more than 7,500 reviews [ [http://www.punknews.org/reviews Punknews.org | Reviews ] ] , 2000 band profiles [ [http://www.punknews.org/bands Punknews.org | Band Database ] ] , and 30,000 stories.

The site has also won the "Alternative Press" Reader's Poll [ [http://aubin.punknews.org/about/altpress-readerpoll.jpg] Dead link|date=March 2008] and had mentions in the "New York Times" , "Billboard Magazine" [ [http://aubin.punknews.org/about/billboard.jpg] Dead link|date=March 2008] , "East Bay Express" [http://www.eastbayexpress.com/issues/2003-11-05/news/feature.html] , and many other publications.

User community

The website also features a comment section after every article where registered users can post comments. The comment area consists of about 20 to 30 active registered users at a time, with many of the users commenting more than once in conversation with other members. [ [http://www.punknews.org/faqs/general#50 Punknews.org | Frequently Asked Questions ] ]

Many members of bands and employees of record labels have become participants in the Punknews.org user community. Frequently seen on the site are Brandon Cruz of Dr. Know (and who infamously fronted the reunited Dead Kennedys), Gunner McGrath of Much the Same, Jesse Townley of The Frisk and Alternative Tentacles, Tobias Jeg of Fat Wreck Chords and Red Scare Records, Brendan Kelly of The Lawrence Arms The Falcon and Slapstick, and Brett Gurewitz of Bad Religion and founder of Epitaph Records.Fact|date=July 2008

The subgenre of punk rock favored by members of Punknews is called "orgcore" and includes such bands as Hot Water Music, The Lawrence Arms, Dillinger Four and A Wilhelm Scream. A satirical depiction of "orgcore punker" can be found in the comic book "Your Scene Sucks" by Rob Dobi [http://www.yourscenesucks.com/orgcore/index.htm] .

Memes

*Sandwich - On September 19, 2002, editor Adam White posted the following news regarding the breakup of the band Fenix, TX: "Our comrade-in-arms Timmy over at PunkBands.com has confirmed with MCA Records that Fenix Tx has broken up... I'm going to get a sandwich." [9] Ever since, whenever a universally despised band calls it a day, Punknews.org (referred to by some insiders as "the Org") commentors respond by going into detail about what sandwiches they're going to eat in celebration.

*Mest Up - On March 26, 2007, it was reported that former Mest frontman Tony Lovato was arrested for a stabbing. Commentors responded by coining the phrase "that's mest up." It evolved from being a phrase evoked whenever a punk-related musician was involved in a death or other felony to any time they do anything untoward. It has also grown to incorporate other bands involved in various incidents, including police intervention at a Fucked Up concert ("that's fucked up") to a member of Disturbed verbally responding to criticism from a member of Dillinger Escape Plan ("I'm disturbed").

*OMG TABLE - On August 14, 2007, Against Me! frontman Tom Gabel was arrested for allegedly slamming an angry fan's head into a counter, which led to the most commented-on thread in Org history. An astute commentor noted that the letters in "Tom Gabel" could be rearranged to spell "OMG TABLE," and it has popped up from time to time.

*Max Bemis - On August 6, 2008, Say Anything frontman Max Bemis posted a reaction to criticism directed at him by Org commenters regarding his venture to charge $150 for custom-written songs on website Absolute Punk and referred to the commenters as "slow, old, and strange," going so far as to accuse them of listening to Hot Water Music exclusively. Other parts of his screed also evolved into memes, including "one thing that actually OFFENDS me" and "not to be a mcboner." The Org responded by flaming Absolute Punk, launching an edit war on his Wikipedia page, and accusing Bemis of being a racist and a Holocaust denier. It resulted in the Wikipedia page being locked [10] , many users being banned from both Wikipedia and Absolute Punk [11] , and an epic thread. [12]

*Flashlight Batman/"I don't see what this has to do with Gaslight Anthem" - Posters on Punknews refer to Gaslight Anthem so much that they came up with the nickname "Flashlight Batman" in order to have something else to type. "I don't see what this has to do with Gaslight Anthem" is posted in unrelated newsposts in order to start conversations about this band or to criticize how often they are mentioned.

*AIDSroll/Metroll - An evolution of the Rickroll, these are used to refer to a manuever that involves saying a YouTube link is one thing ("omg new Lawrence Arms song!"), but which links to the videos for either Aiden's "One Love" or Metro Station's "Shake It." Both songs are universally hated on the Org. [citation needed]

*Dinosaurs - The question "do they believe in dinosaurs?" pops up early and often in any thread related to a band associated with Christianity. This may be rooted in the fact that a notable christian band, Underoath, has publicly stated that they do not believe in dinosaurs. Underoath is a universally hated band on the Org. [citation needed]

*"Words cannot express..." - It took life as a comment from user elliot saying "I cannot even begin to express how much fuck this band" referring to Hawthorne Heights. [13] This inspired such comments as "words cannot express how much I want that sandwich," "words cannot express how much fuck October for being so far away," and "words cannot express how much I want this band's babies."

*"I'm 24 and after a shitty breakup..." - In every Against Me!-related post for many years, the meme "i'm 24 and after a shitty breakup went from 180 to 166 pounds. i've stopped losing weight but i am still a little flabby. how can i harden up my mid section. crunches seem to be working only real slow and really it's not that much. i drink a lot of beer. is my only option to quit all the booze. i do lots of running. 4 miles 5 times a week. any suggestions on how to stop this plateau i've hit and get a little more hard/lean?" would be posted. It has been adapted for other uses once hhrules revelaed he hads been posting it under the alias Against_Me_Guy. The standard reply is "it's like the same wording and everything," which also appears elsewhere.

*Street Dogs - Another gem from the days of anonymous posting, whenever news is posted about the band Street Dogs, someone inevitably responds "One of the consistently great live bands out there right now. My favorite DKM stuff was with Mike McColgan anyway, so it made perfect sense that the Street Dogs would be just as good, if not better and to me, I'm right. I see them whenever I can, can't wait for the new album." [14] This has been adapted for other memes. In addition, whenever someone rambles in a comment or has a weird run-on sentence, the phrase "and to you, you're right" inevitably appears.

*"You took that shit to a whole new level when..." - User edgelife one inadvertently posted the comment "you took that shit to a whole new level when you registered that name" three times, and the jackals on the Org made it their own. It often appears in gramatically incorrect form, such as "you took that shit to a whole new level when I ate a sandwich today."

*"Let's start the machine!" - This refers to Tom DeLonge and his band Angels and Airwaves. They are notorious for thinking their band is the savior of humanity. [citation needed] They also wrote "It Hurts." Angels and Airwaves is a universally hated band on the Org. [citation needed]

*Larry Arms Girl - On June 25th 2008 user Thus_Spoke_Sean recounted: "last night i was out to dinner with some friends, and i had "Brick Wall Views" stuck in my head, I started lowly singing the chorus Northside...Dead Eyes....one of the girls there came in and sang All Charades Go On Forever with me. Incredible." He was serious, but other user went on to use his wording in meme form. Nailing a girl who sings The Larry Arms has since become a goal on the Org, much like heroin users 'chase the dragon.' [citation needed] It will also pop up with other bands in the place of the Lawrence Arms, usually for the purposes of mockery. For example a story on Madball might appear as "last night i was out to dinner with some friends, and i had "Spit on Your Grave" stuck in my head, I started lowly singing the chorus "All you wished was to block my goals..." one of the girls there came in and sang "all you did was to strengthen my soul" with me. Incredible."

*2Girls1Cup - Towards the end of a thread, someone will sometimes post the following to liven things up: "My parents totally just came into my room asking me to show them 2 girls 1 Cup. They were watching some tv show that mentioned it apparently, and it peaked their interest. So I did, they actually made it 32 seconds, which is further than I would have expected." Everyone immediately imagines their parents watching 2Girls1Cup and immediately has to leave because they barfed a little in their own mouths and it tastes like spoiled chicken salad. [citation needed]

Versions

Since its inception in 1999, Punknews.org has gone through 4 major versions. These have included visual and backend redesigns. Originally running on off-the-shelf open source projects, the site has been completely rewritten so that it is almost entirely a custom backend program.

Punknews Records

On New Years day of 2006 three of the current and past editors (Aubin Paul, Adam White and Scott Heisel) launched the independent record label Punknews Records. [ [http://www.punknews.org/day/2005/01/01 "Happy New Year!"] "Punknews.org". January 1, 2005.] The label, distributed by Epitaph Records, has released albums from Somerset and Ryan's Hope.

Currently, the label appears to be inactive, as Somerset broke up in early 2008 [ [http://www.punknews.org/article/27705 "Somerset (2002-2008)."] "Punknews.org". February 13, 2008.] and Ryan's Hope is no longer a part of the label. [ [http://www.punknews.org/article/27221 "Ryan's Hope look forward to new album."] "Punknews.org". January 9, 2008.]

Editors

*Aubin Paul, Founder
*Adam White, News Editor
*Brian Shultz, Reviews Editor
*Justin August, News Editor
*Meg Reinecker, News Editor
*Chris Moran, News Editor
*Ben Conoley, News/Interviews Editor
*Jesse Raub, News Editor
*Hein Terweduwe, Release Schedule Editor

Past editors

*Kip Doyle, News Editor (now a reporter for the Olean Times Herald newspaper in Olean, New York)
*Scott Heisel News/Reviews Editor (now an editor for "Alternative Press")

taff writers

*Scott Auth (screen name "KirbyPuckett"), Staff Writer
*Greg Simpson (screen name "greg0rb"), Staff Writer
*Jordan Rogowski (screen name "Anchors"), Staff Writer
*Matt Whelihan, Staff Writer
*Darren McLeod (screen name "DarrenMcLeod"), Staff Writer
*Jon Daley (screen name "JonDaley"), Staff Writer

Past writers

*JiveSide, Staff Writer
*CaraK, Staff Writer
*Katie4213, Staff Writer
*Megan, Staff Writer
*Subi, Staff Writer

References

External links

* [http://www.punknews.org Punknews.org]
* [http://www.punknewsrecords.com Punknews Records]