Monthly Archives:

June 2016

Israel’s Useless ID Gets Explicitly Political

  Useless ID, Israel’s leading punk rock band, didn’t want to be thought of as a political band. “State of Fear,” featured on a Rock Against Bush compilation, was a political commentary and probably Useless ID’s best known song. When I interviewed guitarist Ishay Berger after Useless ID released The Lost Broken Bones in 2008, I asked about clearly political songs like “Misconception.” “There’s more to our band than politics, so we deal with it, but don’t want to be 100% recognized as the political band from…

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Interview on the Rabbi Patrick Podcast

Rabbi Patrick “Aleph” Beaulier comes up in Oy Oy Oy Gevalt! Jews and Punk in two key ways. He was the singer of the band CAN!!CAN, and he’s the executive director of PunkTorah. Patrick was in New York this weekend, and we went to see Litvakus (described as an “acoustic Gogol Bordello”) at Klezmer Brunch. Patrick interviewed me for the Rabbi Patrick podcast. Click here to listen to the wide-ranging, 31-minute interview. Patrick and I discussed CAN!!CAN, PunkTorah, toughness, the DIY nature of…

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Selfies with the Book: Part II

Last month, I blogged about how people had sent me selfies with copies of Oy Oy Oy Gevalt! Jews and Punk. The selfies keep coming! The first two selfie-takers below were apparently inspired by one particular selfie from the first blog post, in which the selfie-taker emulated the facial expression of Moshiach Oi! singer Yishai Romanoff on the book’s cover. This post was updated on 7/30 to include another selfie.…

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Book Release Party!

The book release party for Oy Oy Oy Gevalt! Jews and Punk took place last night at Town & Village Synagogue in Manhattan. I did a multimedia presentation and Q&A, and the “Torah hardcore” band Moshiach Oi! performed. I was thrilled with the amazing turnout, and the event was a huge success! So much of the work that goes into a book takes place in private, and it was wonderful to share the book at a public event with dozens of friends,…

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The Most Convenient Golem Show Yet

Last night, Golem, a klezmer-rock band with a punk edge, played a free show at Penn Plaza in Midtown Manhattan. It was an approximately 10-minute walk from my office. When I lived in Virginia, I drove to DC, Arlington, and Richmond to see Golem. This was by far the most convenient Golem show I’ve attended! I can list 26 Golem shows I’ve attended, but the actual number may be higher. I’ve seen Golem more than I’ve seen any other band in Oy Oy…

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