Wednesday, August 5, 2026 at 8:00 PM EDT

The Briefs

Hitting their 25 year anniversary and forever moving forward, THE BRIEFS have been busy in 2025/2026 playing packed shows to both sides of the pond, releasing new singles on TKO Records, rereleasing back catalogue and keeping their feet firmly planted on the sticky punk rock floor from where they started.

THE BRIEFS live shows continue to ignite crowds, reaffirming their status as punk rock stalwarts. Their relentless touring and dynamic performances have garnered the band a fierce following that spans decades--and fads.

This quarter-century of mayhem traces back to the band's unlikely start: Like a scud missile from outer space, their debut album "Hit After Hit" set out to destroy the new Millennium's flaccid alt-rock scene in 2000—and, in turn—inspired two decades of raucous radioactive fallout.

Sewing together a tattered tapestry of 70s-style punk - with a nod toward Dangerhouse Records, DEVO, Thrasher Magazine, and ABBA—they've urged countless kids to grab a junk guitar, a pair of second-hand sunglasses, and a bottle of peroxide.

What started with four idiot savants in a downtown Seattle basement has led to a remarkable ride, spawning some of the catchiest anti-hits this side of Y2K. "Off the Charts," "Sex Objects" and "Steal Yer Heart" are more than essential punk classics—they may have aided in reversing punk's once terminal diagnosis.

What's next? THE BRIEFS legacy has proven to be as sticky as industrial hold hairspray. A mid-2000s hiatus saw members forming side projects like Sharp Objects, The Cute Lepers, and Suspect Parts, but all roads led back to THE BRIEFS. Following their "Singles Only" box set and "Odd Numbers," demos and rarities release, 2018 album "Platinum Rats" proved the band to be as vital as ever (a US tour with the legendary Dead Boys followed).

For this unstoppable force, the radiation is still in the water and—good news for our species—the punk rock mutations are alive and kicking. After 25 years, THE BRIEFS are still weird, still wired.

The Sleeveens

When Irish-born Count Vaseline/The Mighty Stef songwriter Stef Murphy met Stiff Little Fingers guitar tech Jamie Mechan in Nashville, Tennessee, it began a musical partnership of the highest order. After cranking out a few tunes at Mechan’s fledgling studio, 302 Sound, the duo started recruiting other musicians. The band was rounded out by drummer Ryan Sweeney (Cheap Time) and Eli Steele (Sweet Knives.) Dubbing themselves The Sleeveens, an Irish term for a trixter, the band got to work. After recording and releasing their highly-touted “Give My Regards To The Dancing Girls” 45rpm single on Sweeney’s Sweet Time Records, they finished off their 11 track debut LP. The quartet were soon approached by longrunning punk label Dirtnap Records (Marked Men, Exploding Hearts) for the album’s 2024 release.

The resulting LP is an homage to the kind of classic punk Chiswick, New Rose and Stiff Records were releasing 45 years before The Sleeveens existed. With earworm melodies and screaming guitars, the foursome have crafted one of the best albums of the year. Murphy’s penchant for charmingly brilliant, matter-of-fact lyricism has a similar poetic quality as Mark E. Smith or Jonathan Richman. With expert mastering by Jim Diamond (The White Stripes, The Dirtbombs) to put the finishing touches on the sound, The Sleeveens is a record that is simultaneously uncompromisingly raw and thoughtfully crafted.

The Problem With Kids Today

New Haven, CT-based band The Problem With Kids Today are a hot new trio of rock and roll delinquents. The band formed in 2020 and is comprised of frontman “The Great” Tate Brooksleading the charge on vocals and guitar, his childhood best friend Silas “The Slayer” Lourenco Lang on 4 string buttery bass guitar and vocals and the glue that keeps them together “Rock N Roll” Reena Yu holding it down on the skins and backing vocals.

The Problem With Kids Today have shared their new single "What Else Could I Say" and its accompanying music video, which was directed by Kicker Pictures' Connor Rog. "What Else Could I Say" is the first track to be released from the band's full-length debut album Born To Rock out on February 9, 2024.

On the song the band's Tate Brooks says, "'What Else Can I Say' is an indie punk anthem, written out of frustration both metaphorically and literally. It broke us out of a writer’s block and set the bar for the rest of the album."

The Problem With Kids Today are announcing two New England shows where they will be performing tracks off their upcoming album. The band will play on October 28 at Three Sheets in New Haven and on December 15 at JJ's Tavern in Northampton, MA. More shows will be announced in the coming weeks. 

Revisiting the sounds and themes of the 70s while creating their own original version, TPWKT are a unique blend of all things they love; punk, power pop, eclectic numbers, and good time R&R. The Kids also put on a high octane live show, playing countless gigs and becoming one of New Haven’s highest regarded live acts. This has led them to selling out venues like Space Ballroom and Cafe 9, as well as doing some regional tours around New England. Earlier this year, the band was featured in a Pitchfork article about Verso Studios and through the studio, they have become one of Chris Frantz’s (Talking Heads, Tom Tom Club) favorite local bands!

This past spring the band headed to legendary Q Division Studios (Pixies, Aimee Mann, Jon Brion, Dropkick Murphys, etc.) in Cambridge, MA to make their debut album Born To Rock, recorded by veteran indie producer Adam Lasus (Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Yo La Tengo, Juliana Hatfield, Helium, Mark Mulcahy, etc). Laying down eleven new songs in a mere eight days, the band and Adam moved into the studio and recorded from dusk till dawn. This allowed them to play with a wide variety of instruments from harmonicas and toy pianos to 12 string guitars and synthesizers. The result is an all encompassing Rock and Roll record inspired by the likes of KISS, New York Dolls, Ramones, Iggy and The Stooges, and incorporating some of the poppier aspects of The Byrds, The Beatles, and The Kinks. It’s a timeless record sure to leave you saying, that’s The Problem With Kids Today…

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