Neighborhood Brats (George Rager)
1. What are your top five albums that were released in 2020? (In order 1-5)
- Sweeping Promises - Hunger for a Way Out
- Cool Jerks - England
- Concrete Lawn - Aggregate
- Use No Hooks - The Job
- Utopian - 2020 Demo
I feel like a lotta 2019 stuff hasn’t had a fair shake, so I’d also like to say that Axe Rash fucking rules.
2. What band did you discover in 2020 (can be a brand new band or an older band) that had an impact on your life? What made them significant?
I can’t remember if it was late 2019 or 2020 when I discovered him, but listening to Mick Trouble endlessly while the world went to shit was pretty awesome.
3. How will you remember 2020? (In terms of music)
We had just finished tracking an album when LA shut down. Mark Rains (engineer/producer) and I listened to a press conference while wrapping cables, and Jenny took off for Long Beach. Over the following weeks, all of our scheduled tours were canceled. I didn’t renew our van registration, and parked it at an undisclosed location in Los Angeles. That’s how 2020 was for me, musically. We got together and jammed last week... happy to report we sounded the same!
4. What can we look forward to from you in 2021?
Hopefully getting back on the road by the end of 2021. But we’re definitely releasing a new album on Dirt Cult/Taken By Surprise.
5. What records are you looking forward to most in 2021?
I wanna hear what the kids are doing. Punk as we knew it should be over and done with. The world changed. By the time shows are a reality again, a whole new group of kids will be getting into music for the first time, and there’s a lot to be pissed about. Also, there’s a lot of frustration people are going to need to release.
6. Trying to put a positive spin on things, what is your favorite development from the global pandemic this year? (Is there a new medium you enjoy, a specific song or collaboration, personal news, etc. that was a bright spot?)
I taught myself how to play a little bit of ukulele, built a kitchen table w/ wood scraps, fixed-up a bike, and grew some container tomato plants. Being forced to slow down and not travel for the first time in more than a decade made me restless. A few months prior to the election, I began working on dual citizenship with Italy, and studying Italian. Oh, and I started a lemon tree from a seed (see photo). Lots of hikes. The longer, the better.
