Punk trio MARY & THE IMMACULATE REJECTIONS release new EP; performances scheduled for November

In the early days, punk rock was many things: loud, fast, unrefined, rebellious and obnoxious, all in defiance of what was popular at the time. While that influence has never entirely faded, 2015 sees few bands embrace the gospel of the Germs or the Cramps quite as dearly as Mary & the Immaculate Rejections.

Singer/guitarist Mary Lemanski started her professional music career at age 11, playing the pipe organ, of all things. Since then, she's released multiple albums' worth of original music online, placing in various songwriting contests and earning showcases all over the country for her works in various genres. And all the subtlety and nuance she's spent the last 16 years mastering are promptly thrown out the window from the time the first buzzsaw guitar roars through the speakers on her band's new EP.

Actually, "You're My #1," muscular riffing aside, is a very sweet love song, showing kinship with The Damned's undeniable sense of both melody and harmony. The sweetness of the opener leads nicely into the PG-lechery of "Stoplight Romance," a Fleshtones-inspired romp about the fun of flirtation.

But it's with "Telemarketing Song" that Lemanski's sardonic side comes out. "I hate people / 'cuz people suck" she helpfully explains during the song's chorus, and it's not at first clear which end of a telemarketing call she's speaking from. While the song may end on a positive note, it's a delightfully snotty singalong and sets up the EP's three final tracks.

"Living Free" is equal parts bittersweet remembrance of a past relationship and winking self-deprecation. "Not cool then and still not now / It's just emo," Lemanski drolly intones as bass and drums send the song into a swing-beat breakdown. "Just like me, not cool then, not cool now."

Finally, "All I Need Is Myself" closes the album on a defiant, aggressive note. "You think you're something," Lemanski spits, "But I'd rather be all alone / than spend more time with you." The song oozes classic punk rock attitude and panche, and when the vocal slides off pitch in the last chorus, it's the icing on the cake.

With Lemanski having opened for the likes of Marky Ramone & the Speed Kings, D.I., Val Emmich, and Rev. Norb & The Onions, and bassist Harold Bertolis and drummer Andy Trello having served as the powerhouse rhythm section from Springfield bands Rotten Monster and The Stifs, both Mary and her Immaculate Rejections are no strangers to the stage. On November 14, they will hold an EP release show at Springfield's suitably grimy Black Sheep Cafe, bringing the full weight of decades of obnoxiously catchy rebellion onto their audience. Lemanski will also do a solo electric performance in Chicago at Elbo Room the following evening.

SAT 11/14 @ Black Sheep Cafe, 1320 S. 11th Street (Springfield, IL)
Mary & The Immaculate Rejections (EP release show)
with SAP, Los Injectors and Rotten Monster
7pm // $5

SUN 11/15 @ Elbo Room, 2871 N. Lincoln (Chicago, IL)
Mary Lemanski solo set
7pm // $9

SAT 11/28 @ Eagle's Club, 1035 N Vanderbraak Rd. (Green Bay, WI)
Rev. Norb and the Onions, Mary & The Immaculate Rejections, Phylums, Beach Patrol, Sons of Kong, Urban Descent.
7pm // $6

http://www.immaculaterejections.com

http://www.dragndropbuilder.com/uploads/3/5/7/0/3570052/01_youre_my_1.mp3

http://www.mi2n.com/press.php3?press_nb=187329

Charleston's Original Surf Punk Party Band Gölden Palace Reunites

Charleston's original surf punk band Gölden Palace is back in 2015 with a 10th Anniversary edition of their debut 10-song album A Little Rock N' Roll. The album was recorded from 2004-2005 with Dwayne Greenhill in his Holodeq Studio in Charleston, SC. The album will also be released on CD for the first time ever.

Songs like "Summer Song" and "Is it a Crime?" will get you dancing and rocking at the same time, as Gölden Palace's music has both a summery beach feeling as well as a punk and classic rock edge. The title track "A Little Rock N' Roll" resembles a young Prince, and songs like "Saving Sage" and "I Wanna Be In Love" resemble the poppy punk rock sound that was such a massive force in American popular music at the time.

In addition to the remastered album, the band will be releasing a never-before-released EP entitled Touch Me There, full of high energy skate punk and ska. Originally recorded in 2009, the EP will feature songs that were GP live concert staples before their 2009 hiatus.

A Little Rock N' Roll will be available on iTunes and everywhere else on July 1st, 2015, followed by the new EP Touch Me There releasing July 14th. Pre-Orders for CDs and digital are now open via the band's Bandcamp store (http://goldenpalaceband.bandcamp.com) and via their label's store at http://kagamiland.bandcamp.com

To celebrate their new releases and their reunion, Gölden Palace will be performing a reunion concert on July 25th, 2015 at Art's Bar & Grill in Mt. Pleasant, SC. Times and more information to come.

About Gölden Palace:
Gölden Palace is a 5-piece band from Charleston, SC and very active in the area during 2004-2009. Guitarist Joseph Kimbrell moved to Norway in 2010 and has since been making a name for himself as Vitne (www.Vitne.net), a solo artist who has embraced Creative Commons, with influences like glam metal, gothic rock, and Japanese visual kei. Alex, Johnny, and Andy (singer, drummer, guitarist) went on to form a new band called Savage Tongues with a stronger roots rock and classic rock sound, an active force in Charleston today.

Source: Kagami Entertainment PR
Eirik Raynor, Publicist: info@kagamientertainment.com
Reviews/Requests: goldenpalaceband@gmail.com

http://www.goldenpalaceband.com

http://www.mediafire.com/listen/in339mb79c0g9jc/02_Summer_Song.mp3

http://www.mi2n.com/press.php3?press_nb=184322

Can I Have Some Mohanik" Tour: Mongol Garage Rock Touring China - January 12-15

"Can I Have Some Mohanik Tour 2011" Thursday, January 12 - Hohhot - NING Livehouse w/DJ B.O Friday, January 13 - Beijing - D-22 w/Moon Tyrant, DJ B.O Saturday, January 14 - Ningbo - CMK Livehouse w/DJ B.O Sunday, January 15 - Shanghai - Yuyintang w/Banana Monkey, Moon Tyrant, Horde, B.O Sponsored by Music*Dish China. Mohanik is a garage rock/punk band from Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. After forming in 2004 and playing club gigs around their native city, they had a breakout year in 2009. Their playing tightened up, revealing an infectious pop side to their thorough punk passion. Due to their new confidence, their shows generated a lot of buzz, culminating in a win for "Best Alternative/Punk Band" at the 2009 Mongolian Underground Music Awards (MUMA). They also released two singles on a the Hi-Fi Label Presents... Underground Sessions compilation. Their songs proved quite popular, especially Moritoi Ch Boloosio. They followed with the release of their debut album, 100-N Undaa (100 Tugrik Soda). In April 2011, the band made their international debut in Shanghai, playing two raucous shows in Shanghai as part of Trash A Go-Go. In July 2011, the band played in support of Shanghai bands Boys Climbing Ropes, The Horde, and Moon Tyrant on their tour of Mongolia. Dawaajargal - Vocals/Guitar Tsogt - Vocals/Lead Guitar Enerelt - Bass Badser - Drums "Mohanik is a rocking good band bursting with a youthful rebellion and infectious, carefree energy. They're also some really cool dudes. Touring Mongolia with them was a pleasure." -Ho-Tom the Conqueror (Tom Mangione), singer/guitarist of The Horde "Mohanik's on-stage energy is only surpassed by the warmth and friendliness they showed us throughout our tour in Mongolia. I'd let them babysit my future children anytime." -Ivan Belcic, vocalist of Moon Tyrant and Death to Giants Moon Tyrant: Shanghai hard rock/heavy metal band with shredding riffs and throat tearing vocals. The band can crash heavy ahead but can swing when the moment catches them. Check out their album Future Superhuman. They toured Mongolian with Mohanik, but this is their first show in Beijing. DJ B.O: He rebels against people who DJ because they are afraid to dance in public. He will sing and dance to provoke movement. He is somewhere between vaudeville and Warhol. Featuring vintage-hits and forgotten favorites, he thinks dance music is for pussies but The Shanghri-Las are fucking artists, man. Tech? NO. Contact Brian Offenther/DJ B.O 13818937693 brianoffenther@yahoo.com

D-22: The Mother of Beijing - and China's - Indie Music Scene

By Eric de Fontenay

UNiXX rocks out D-22 on the final leg of their 7 Deadly Sins tour

Website: http://china.musicdish.com
A prime objective on my recent trip to Beijing was to connect with the leading force behind the city's burgeoning independent music scene: D-22. Anyone who is anyone... and many no-ones... have played Beijing's version of CBGB, and in the process, China's most pioneering and vibrant indie music scene was born.

I was running late to meet Nevin Domer, who manages daily operations at D-22, in no small part due to Beijing cabbies' utter ignorance of the city they are meant to drive you around. In my experience, it doesn't matter whether you have that slip of paper with the address in chinese characters or not as they will get lost anyway.

I finally arrive at a relatively modest doorfront that belies the club's influence. D-22 is a warm mix of dark red walls, wood and brick which fits well with its low-key, easy-going style. No flash or pretense here. And all along the balcony are pictures of the bands that have become household names in China's indie scene thanks to D-22: Hedgehog, Carsick Cars, White, PK-14,...

Up-and-coming rock trio Ourselves Beside Me

Your eyes quickly catch sight of 'Mike', the owner of D-22. You can't miss him with his exuberant NY personality and downright love for the music and young bands that play it. He not only is the father of Beijing indie rock, he acts the part, hugging and encouraging musicians throughout the club as if they were the prodigal children returned. He proceeds to point out a 16 year old kid whose band he predicts will shake Beijing's scene and tells me to keep an eye out for all-girl band Ourselves Beside Me. But my treat would be that night's headliner UNiXX, a Hong Kong-based band on Lona Records I've been following since I launched MusicDish*China (more on both of them in an upcoming article).

Actually, it's more likely that they were at D-22 no more than a few days ago. You see, D-22 is not just a club, it is the heart of Beijing's indie community. Bands performing that night often come during the day to practice - D-22's doors are always open. And half those people attending that night were themselves members of various bands, supporting and learning from each other. So much so that I got the rare pleasure to catch a veteran of the scene who was there from the beginning: Hedgehog guitarist and vocalist ZO(子健).

"At D-22, we are tied to each other and grow together," he explained of the late 2006 series of gigs at the club that propelled the band out of obscurity. "Many creative artists and new bands played there every week and we released our album "Noise Hit World" in 2007. That year, the Beijing scene bubbled to the surface." On a personal note, I think Hedgehog is one of the most exciting acts in China and has become part of my daily musical diet.

At the center of that community is Mike (Michael Pettis), a NY finance banker expat who opened the club on May 1, 2006. As Matthew Niederhauser writes in the preface of his photographic anthology of Beijing's indie scene "Sound Capital":

"The new club's foremost priority was finding and developing new talent, regardless of its musical style and commercial appeal. It demanded originality from musicians and was willing to go to great lengths to indulge them."

And that they did, literally reshaping Beijing's musical landscape. Michael went on to launch the Maybe Mars label with PK-14's Yang Haisong as an natural extension of D-22 to support the scene it had created. Nevin Domer, who had given me a tour of the club and introduced that night's performing acts, is a member himself of Fanzui Xiangfa (who we first featured in MusicDish*China Sounds Pod#2) and works at both the club and label. And all the bands on the label's roster developed and grew in D-22's embrace.

It's ironic that I would have to fly halfway across the world to China to find such a rare pearl as D-22. The analogy to New York's CBGB's is striking. Just as CBGB's did in the 80's, D-22 has given birth to China's hardcore and punk rock scene. Like CBGB's, D-22 is more than a club: it is like a mother, feeding, caring and educating each individual band in this movement. Ironically, many of the t-shirts in the crowd paid homage to NY bands of that CBGB's era like The Cramps and Souxie and The Banshees.

Now don't get me wrong, D-22 ain't perfect. They definitely need to work on the sound. And while this is a serious though correctable flaw, what Michael has done to find and nurture the incredible talent that might otherwise opt to go C-Pop or just not pick up an instrument is immeasurable. None of it would have been possible without his personal and financial commitment to the cause. So, speaking for myself - who would otherwise not have much to write about or play in my podcasts - a big thank you to the entire D-22 crew and bands who went along for the party.