We walked in to the street front studios and handed him a copy of our EP and he played us 3-4 hours later. They continued to support us and play our music as one of the very few unsigned bands on air each week, as well as bring us in for an interview and playing tracks off our new EP just a few months ago.

Again, an unsigned and relatively new band would never have the opportunity to do something like without the help of Punkorama who govern music by its merit rather than by what the music and program director THINK people like.

Thank you Barry Taylor and JD for your support of The New Enemy over the last couple of years.

That was huge for us.

The hardest thing for me to grasp about this band is that they’ve been around for less than two years, because a listen to the Shakedown EP by Toronto’s The New Enemy is a walk down memory lane to the early days of classic hardcore, when the music was about being fast and aggressive.

Coming in barely over 15 minutes, the six songs on Shakedown are like breath of fresh air, you know if that breath of fresh air was actually breathed in the hot confines of a sweaty circle pit, and was followed up with an elbow to the jaw.

Read the 5 star review here.

A good blog post on the NME about this.

Rage Against The Machine’s Chart Triumph Is A Victory For Good Music Over Bad
By Luke Lewis
Posted on 20/12/09 at 05:23:50 pm

OK, I was wrong. Two weeks ago I said it could never happen. No internet campaign, no matter how potent, could hope to break the festive stranglehold of the Simon Cowell/X Factor hit factory. The #RATM4Xmas movement was doomed to failure.

Now look. ‘Killing In The Name’ is Number One after all, after selling 50,000 copies more than Joe McElderry’s ballad ‘The Climb’. The Rage campaign has mobilised almost a million members: an astonishing figure. Along the way, over £60,000 has been raised for Shelter – and I’ve been called an ‘assclown’ more times than I care to mention.

What can I say? The campaign turned into something bigger, and more noble, than I initially gave it credit for. What started out as a pushy Facebook viral has become a heartwarming Christmas story that none of us will ever forget (as much as you can call a song ‘heartwarming’ when it’s about the Ku Klux Klan and features 16 ‘Fuck’s in a row).

Such was the campaign’s unstoppable momentum, figures as high-profile as David Cameron (pro-Joe) and Sir Paul McCartney (pro-RATM) waded into the debate. It has brought the country together – even as it polarised it.

I guarantee almost everyone reading this will be discussing Rage Against The Machine with their families over Christmas dinner – a surreal state of affairs, but clearly one to savour.

More than anything, this thrilling battle for the Christmas Number One has proved that the music industry is not ‘dead’ after all. People still pay for music. They still feel unbelievably passionate about it.

Say what you like about the billions of pounds raked in by the video game industry – no-one will ever care about ‘Medal Of Honor’ the way they care about Rage Against The Machine. And that’s something worth celebrating.

The triumph of ‘Killing In The Name’ is also a victory, on the most obvious level, for good music over bad. The fact Simon Cowell chose ‘The Climb’ as the X Factor winner’s song – a tune that was already a hit for Miley Cyrus earlier this year – demonstrates his contempt for his audience. He assumes they’ll buy any old shit if they’ve seen it on TV. Now, just maybe, he’ll think differently.

Yes, it would be nice for us NME types if the anti-Cowell movement could have rallied round a modern band, a fresh-faced act, rather than one who had their biggest hit seventeen years ago. But since so few politically committed, ferocious artists exist right now, Rage was as good a choice as any.

Was this a corruption of the song’s original intent? Maybe. But if only a tiny fraction of the hundreds of thousands of people who joined this campaign were radicalised by it, and will now be inspired to get behind causes that really matter, that can only be a good thing.

Tom Morello – a committed socialist, albeit a fantastically wealthy one – seemed to realise this in the final hours of the chart battle, quoting Winston Chrurchill (“We will fight them on the beaches”) and his band’s own song ‘Guerrilla Radio’ (“ALL HELL CAN’T STOP US NOW!”) via Twitter, and generally taking on the role of hectoring Field Marshal.

For those of us who were inspired as teenagers by Morello’s combination of fierce intelligence, eloquence and musical skill, this was exhilarating stuff indeed.

And yes, I’ll admit, I’ve learnt a personal lesson. Rage Against The Machine’s 2009 chart triumph is a victory for collective action and positivity over cynicism. And that seems as worthy a Christmas message as any. Mutha-fuck-eerz!

Shakedown EP

The New Enemy’s second EP picks up right where their first release, Outsourced EP, left off. This is six tracks of aggressive and in-your-face punk rock that hits hard and often. Not surprisingly, The New Enemy sticks with their socially conscious sound. The opening lyrics, “Desperate measures for hopeless times/Society’s soldiers committing crimes,” set up the tone for the entire EP. The message found in the lyrics holds true musically as well, right from the explosive drumming of “Tim Horton Hears a Who” to the raging guitar work of “Shelf Life.” “Pony Collector” explores the softer side of The New Enemy but fret not, that exploration lasts mere seconds before kicking into the band’s now patented skull-crushing style. The best part of The New Enemy’s second EP is that they’re never afraid to let loose; the spirit of the tunes are chaotic and wild. Luke Muldoon’s angry guitar work begs to have your stereo up loud enough to make your ears bleed, while Clint McLean’s savage vocals drag a cheese grater across your face (this is the same dude who, as rumour has it, prepares for a show by chewing glass and eating sand paper). Needless to say, Shakedown EP is not for the faint of heart or any little mall punks looking for whiny tunes about heart break. Crank this one up to eleven and while you’re at it, keep your eyes peeled for The New Enemy as they tour frequently.

In the short period of time the New Enemy have existed, the band have strived for only the best, whether sharing the stage with punk heavyweight SNFU and Agnostic Front or working with big name engineers like Nick Zampiello (Against Me, Converge). With a progressive style of hardcore, the Toronto, ON natives have a sound reminiscent of Strung Out meet Poison Idea, using their technical chops alongside storming drums and ferocious vocals. The New Enemy have a keen awareness of political and social issues, incorporating them effectively into their lyrics, most notably in cleverly titled opener “Tim Horton Hears a Who,” the folk punk-tinged “The Pony Collector” and the chugging onslaught of “Thin Skull Rule.” Shakedown successfully experiments with hardcore while still keeping it as fierce and relevant as possible. (Independent)

Original review of Shakedown EP

The New Enemy is relatively new to Toronto’s punk scene but they’ve made themselves known by playing lots of shows around town and getting some Canada/U.S. tours under their belts. Throw a pair of EPs and a crap-load of talent into the mix and you’ve got the making for a band on the move. But be forewarned, this is some seriously raw punk rock that won’t be found in the malls.

The New Enemy is the real deal — fast, furious, furious, and aggressive. The Outsourced EP is straight ahead thrashing that makes Rancid sound like dinner music. The EP features five originals, including the blazing “3 Sheets” and the anthem-esque “Black & Blue (Collars).” As a little bonus, there’s also a cover of Kid Dynamite’s “Decontrol.” But the real story of the band’s CD debut is Clint McLean’s voice. With vocal chords stripped bare, McLean spits blood with every word. Don’t get too close to your stereo or you’re liable to get some on yourself. This is raw and passionate; it’s hard-hitting punk, and it’s for fans of the genre or for anybody who just wants to scream.

Swine Flu

This is another reason to read the facts about the common cold Swine Flu.

“This flu has a lower mortality rate than the common flu.”

Teresa Forcades is a nun at the monastery of Sant-Benet, in Monserra-Barcelona. She is a physician specializing in internal medicine, PHD in public health at Barcelona’s university, specializing in the USA at the State University of New York. She gives verifiable scientific data and the disturbing irregularities related to this subject. This is relevant to all countries, all people.

The Copyrights – http://www.myspace.com/thecopyrights
One of the USA’s best pop-punk bands! Real pop-punk, none of this Avril shit. A must for fans of The Ramones and Screeching Weasel.

The New Enemy – http://www.myspace.com/thenewenemy
If Kid Dynamite and Avail did bong hits together and then jammed…this is what you’d get.

The Roman Line – http://www.myspace.com/theromanline
A little bit country, a little bit rock’n'roll, a whole lot of awesome. PBRs #1 customer.

$8.00 at the door.
19+

The zipped file (shakedown.zip) contains 6 songs  (192kpbs) and all the album art.

We hope you enjoy listening to it, as much as we did making it.

Vocals: Clint McLean
Guitars/Vocals: Luke Muldoon
Bass: Declan Kerin
Drums: Chris Branston

Produced by: Simon Head
Mastered by: Nick Zampiello