Blog
By Michael Croland
Updates on Key Bands
Key artists featured in Oy Oy Oy Gevalt! Jews and Punk—and this blog—have remained relevant. They are still playing shows, releasing music, and getting talked about in a variety of media outlets—including The New York Times. Here are updates from the last few months. On Thursday, Tablet‘s Unorthodox podcast featured Golem singer/accordionist Annette Ezekiel Kogan and violinist […]
10-Year Anniversary: The Shondes’ The Red Sea
Ten years ago today, the Shondes released their debut album, The Red Sea. Until their latest release, 2016’s Brighton, it was the Shondes album with the most overtly Jewish content. The rockin’ “Let’s Go” features a “Let’s go!” chant in both English and Yiddish (“Lomir gayn!“). Band members came up with the idea for “I Watched the […]
Short Jewish Punk Songs for the Shortest Day of the Year
Today is Winter Solstice, the shortest day of the year. There’s so little daylight that every minute counts. It’s the perfect time to listen to under-a-minute Jewish punk songs! There’s a tradition of short punk rock songs that cut to the chase. Behold the Dead Kennedys’ “Short Songs” and Fat Wreck Chords’ 101-band compilation, Short Music for Short […]
Photos from 2006 Hanukkah Tour
My favorite Hanukkah memory is covering the Eight Crazy Nights tour for the Forward in 2006. The tour featured Yidcore, Jewdriver, and the Zydepunks as well as Jericho’s Echo: Punk Rock in the Holy Land. I attended shows on the first two nights of Hanukkah in San Francisco and Berkeley. After that tour, it was inevitable […]
Daniel Kahn & The Painted Bird: The Butcher’s Share
Daniel Kahn & The Painted Bird herald their new album as “klezmer-punk anthems for the revolution or the apocalypse,” with songs that “speak to the political moment as much as they address eternal struggles of class and liberation.” Kahn has often played with the past and the present, letting radicals and revolutionaries from yesteryear have […]
Art about the golem, not just by Golem
According to Jewish folklore, the golem is a monster made from clay. The golem was brought to life by Rabbi Löew in Prague in the 16th century as a protector of the Jewish community. In 2017 the golem continues to inspire art, including five artists from Oy Oy Oy Gevalt! Jews and Punk. Golem […]
Times of Israel Feature about Moshiach Oi! & Jewish Punk
On the heels of their new album, Rock Rabeinu (click here to read my review), Moshiach Oi! was featured in the Times of Israel. The writer also interviewed members of two other Jewish punk bands, the Shondes and Asher Yatzar. I’m quoted extensively in the article. Here’s an excerpt: Among the ranks of Jewish punk include other outfits such as The […]
Punks Playing the Shofar
Rosh Hashanah starts Wednesday night, so the shofar (ram’s horn) is widely seen and heard nowadays. I wrote a feature for JTA about Jewish punk bands’ use of the shofar, which was first published on August 23. The article talked about Yidcore, Schmekel, and Steve “Gangsta Rabbi” Lieberman. Here’s an excerpt: Presser, 41, played the […]
Moshiach Oi! Double the Na Nach on Rock Rabeinu
Moshiach Oi! have narrowed their focus over the past nine years. When I first found out about Moshiach Oi! in 2008, guitarist Menashe Yaakov Wagner described Moshiach Oi! as “perhaps the world’s first hardcore vegan straight-edge Orthodox Jewish punk band.” By the time I met and interviewed them a few months later, the label was more succinct: “Torah […]
Jewish Punks & Resistance Music in the Trump Era
In his guest post on Monday (“When Punk Rock Fights Nazism, I Hope You’ll Invite Me to the Party”), Rabbi Patrick “Aleph” Beaulier said “this battle needs to come from art” and “from music.” It’s almost become a cliche that the era of Donald Trump would usher in punk rock and other resistance music with […]
