Yesterday I spoke at the Toledo Jewish Book Festival in Ohio. My session was meant for 8th-to-10th graders, as part of an event geared toward four different grade/age brackets between kindergarten and 10th grade. The program was billed as “Blankies, Dreidels, Punk & Friendship,” incorporating the themes of the four different “children’s books.” Of course, Oy Oy Oy Gevalt! Jews and Punk is not a children’s book. It’s a scholarly book aimed at an adult audience, with parts that are inappropriate for children. I…
Media Roundup about the Book!
Posted on September 29, 2016Last month I posted articles about Oy Oy Oy Gevalt! Jews and Punk in Jewniverse and The Algemeiner, and there’s been more to share since then! Reviews by Amos Lassen noted, “I am one hundred percent certain that there are very few, if any, who would think of punk and Judaism in the same sentence. At least so I thought until I read Michael Croland’s book. … I had no idea how many different bands and variations there are and I found it…
Every Time I’ve Seen the Shondes Live
Posted on September 21, 2016Louisa Solomon and Elijah Oberman of the Shondes (Photo: Emily Millay Haddad / Circles of Fire Productions) My review of the Shondes’ brand-new album, Brighton, got posted on Jewcy today. On Saturday night I saw them live for the sixth time. [Update: The tally is now eight!] In light of similar posts I’ve done for Golem and Moshiach Oi!, here’s a recap of all the Shondes shows I’ve been to through the years. I first interviewed the Shondes via e-mail in 2008 for my…
Isa Chandra Moskowitz’s Modern Love Brooklyn
Posted on September 18, 2016Isa Chandra Moskowitz is featured in Chapter 6 of Oy Oy Oy Gevalt! Jews and Punk, and the chapter title, “Post Punk,” stems from her former television show and website, the Post Punk Kitchen. Moskowitz burst onto the vegan cooking radar with that show in 2003 (including with a highly recommended Passover episode). She went on to write eight beloved vegan cookbooks, and her forthcoming ninth cookbook apparently includes a latke-heavy Hanukkah section. In Oy Oy Oy Gevalt! Jews and Punk, I discuss how…
Double Digits: My 10th Moshiach Oi! Show
Posted on September 2, 2016Last night I saw Moshiach Oi! for at least the 10th time. We’ve come a long way since I became the first person to interview the band in November 2008. Singer Yishai Romanoff is on the cover of Oy Oy Oy Gevalt! Jews and Punk, and I’ve had a great time seeing them for many years now. After recapping the at least 18 times I’d seen Golem in June (the 19th was this Wednesday), I figured a similar post was appropriate…
Articles about the Book in Jewniverse and The Algemeiner
Posted on August 28, 2016I am pleased to share new articles about Oy Oy Oy Gevalt! Jews and Punk from Jewniverse and The Algemeiner. The Jewniverse review was written by Matthue Roth, author of the Jewish punk novel Never Mind the Goldbergs, which is discussed in Chapter 5 of my book. Click here to read the article. Here’s an excerpt: After digging through articles, defunct websites, and old cassette tapes, Croland compiled this absorbing ethnography of Jews in punk music. He profiles a ragtag collection of singers,…
Presentation at New York Public Library Mid-Manhattan Library
Posted on August 24, 2016I had a terrific event for Oy Oy Oy Gevalt! Jews and Punk at the New York Public Library Mid-Manhattan Library last night. I assigned the task of counting to a friend who has a master’s degree in math, and he said that, including me, 54 people were present. Much of the multimedia Powerpoint presentation was similar to the one I gave at my book release party in June. At both events, I discussed several categories of bands from Chapter 3:…
Gangsta Rabbi Battles Cancer, Wonders “Has the G-d of Israel written a scorching rocker for me to play in Heaven—but not until I get there?”
Posted on July 8, 2016I interviewed Steve “Gangsta Rabbi” Lieberman for my very first article about Jewish punk in 2005. In 2006, he was the first Jewish punk artist I saw live; I also saw him perform in 2010 and 2011. I did an interview with him for my former blog, heebnvegan, in 2010. He’s the most prolific artist in my book; his 29th album (or, if you count the 38 prior cassette recordings, 67th) is forthcoming. Even compared to other punk rock, the Gangsta Rabbi’s…
Israel’s Useless ID Gets Explicitly Political
Posted on June 30, 2016Useless 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…
Interview on the Rabbi Patrick Podcast
Posted on June 26, 2016Rabbi 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…