on see/saw’s year 1 parties + gratitude
A few words about the shows + some quick recommendations. see/saw will be back in full swing next week.
Hey, I’m taking a week off from the Punk This Week column, but still wanted to offer some recommendations to subscribers.
If you want to stay up to date with great new punk records, listen to the new ones by STERÖID, Fugitive Bubble, the Slow Death, LOINS, LEATHERMAN, Primal Brain, PET PLAY, Plasma, Teo Wise, Los Idiotas, GLITTERFAST, Blood Cannery, Los Sex Sex Sex, 悶煮悶MENGZHUMENG, Comunione, Klyma Krypta, Pollas, Sivilisaatio, Unstable Shapes, Mr. Piss, OKRA, Cold Showers, Ball, Survival Tactic, and the new Under the Blade of a Zionist Nightmare comp.
Next week: The Punk This Week podcast with Nina Corcoran will return, there’ll be a new feature interview with prolific Virginia egg punk operation Power Pants, and of course, a new installment of the column.
But yeah, everything’s good over here. I just need a breather. If you’ve been following this newsletter, the podcast, the see/saw Instagram or the Discord, you probably know that I threw three parties in the span of seven days in Eau Claire and Minneapolis. I’m also the parent of a 2.5-year-old, so I’m beat. The shows went extremely well, though.
Throwing these parties was a pretty selfish act in a lot of ways. I wanted to see Retail Simps, Judy and the Jerks, Feeling Figures, Artificial Go, Abi Ooze, Heather the Jerk, Answering Machines, Yuasa-Exide, and American Muscle, who I’d never seen before booking them. I wanted to see 208, Citric Dummies, Neo Neos, Bermuda Squares, and Panel again.
All three events were an attempt at giving back to a community that gave me so much in the last year. Shout out everybody who came in from far away—there were several people I’d never met who made long drives and flights to get to the parties. The vibes were exceptional at all three shows, and every set was unreal.
Here’s what it meant for see/saw to exist in a physical space: the Retail Simps crew sitting around a plate of french fries at Eagles with Brendan Wells from Uranium Club, Judy and the Jerks summoning me to the stage to sing happy birthday to see/saw, Jade from Abi Ooze helping patch up a bloodied Connie Voltaire from Neo Neos, several Minneapolis punks asking me what 208’s deal is after becoming newly obsessed, members of Citric Dummies and Heather the Jerk wringing out a rain-soaked jacket together, and all these punks from all over North America being really sweet to my mom at the merch table.
I’ll talk about it a little more about the parties on the pod this week. I am full of gratitude for everyone who helped make it possible, who showed up, who said a nice thing, who had fun, and who encouraged me to do it again next year. I was always going to build something after I got laid off, and the support has been humbling this entire time. Seeing so many people show up for see/saw in actual rooms in the Midwest is unbelievable.
see/saw will return at full power next week. Thanks for your support.
