Blog
By Michael Croland
The Gangsta Rabbi: 10 Years Leukemia, 5 Years Terminal, Still Here
Steve “Gangsta Rabbi” Lieberman’s days might have seemed numbered. In 2016, he talked about his battle with cancer in an interview featured on this blog. In 2018, he started hospice care. In 2019, he ominously posed next to his grave following his wife’s passing. But in 2020, that photo is an album cover, because the King of Jewish Punk […]
Chabad Religion: An Odd New Heavyweight for Jewish Punk
My initial impression was that Chabad Religion was as big as it gets and would “bring a new spotlight to Jewish punk like never before.” The band features Yotam Ben Horin of Useless ID, the most successful punk rock band ever to come out of Israel, and Fat Mike of NOFX, which has put band members’ Jewishness on […]
Outstanding Passover Content All in One Place
I’ve written about Passover a lot over the past decade and a half. From Jewish punk to vegan food, here are some highlights all in one place! Last year I blogged about the Shondes’ Passover-themed video for “True North.” I wrote “Passover Punk Playlist” and “A Punk Playlist for Passover” for Jewcy in 2017 and 2018, respectively. The […]
Air to the Throne: A Guide for Fans of My Jewish Punk Books
Air to the Throne: A Poetry Chapbook about Air Guitar ventures into new territory, but if you’re a fan of my Jewish punk books, you’ll like what you find. Like Oy Oy Oy Gevalt! and Punk Rock Hora, Air to the Throne shines a light on niche music that’s outside the mainstream. It examines the subject matter with a tour […]
Talking about Jewish Punk and My New Book on Alaskan Radio
Yesterday Johnny Negotiable interviewed folk musician Dan Rauchwerk and me on his Episodes in the History of Noise on KRNN Juneau (Alaska). We discussed Jewish punk as well as Air to the Throne: A Poetry Chapbook about Air Guitar, which I’m self-publishing next week. As he did on his ethnic punk radio special in February, Johnny praised my Jewish punk […]
New Found Glory Still “Kill It Live”
On Friday I saw New Found Glory in concert for the fifth time—but the first since 2004. They still “kill it live,” to quote the title of their live album. Jordan Pundik’s nasal tenor vocals over heavy-but-melodic guitars is pop-punk perfection that takes me back to the early 2000s. NFG played a terrific mix of beloved old songs and […]
Yidcore Reunite for Two Shows a Decade after Disbanding
Yidcore, the quintessential Jewish punk band, broke up in 2009. Until last month, they had only played one reunion show, back in 2011. In September, they reunited for two shows in their native Melbourne, Australia. At the Festival of Jewish Arts and Music on September 8, Yidcore’s singer grasped a rubber chicken against the microphone […]
Low Tide: New Band Featuring Members of the Shondes
The Shondes violinist Elijah Oberman and guitarist Courtney Robbins have a new indie/alternative/folk side project called Low Tide. They describe their music as “ghostly songs from alternate realities.” Their debut album, The Alchemist, comes out October 25. While the music overall doesn’t sound like the Shondes’ rock/punk, many of Oberman’s vocal and violin parts could have […]
Follow Me on Twitter for More Jewish Punk Updates!
Since Punk Rock Hora came out in January, I have tweeted news, articles, and quotes about Jewish punk more than I’ve blogged about them. It’s quicker and easier to share content on Twitter, and often an entire blog post isn’t warranted. I have some blog posts in the works for the weeks ahead, and about 100 blog […]
Punk Rock Hora: Media Recap!
Punk Rock Hora: Adventures in Jew-Punk Land was published in January, and I’ve been thrilled with the response. The book was a #1 best seller in Jewish music on Amazon. I had a rockin’ book launch at the Brooklyn Jewish Art Gallery, and I did additional events around New York City. The book has gotten love from as far away as Alaska, […]
