I ran into frontman Johnny McDougal who plays lead guitar and provides the main vocals for the raucous punk rock 4-some Those Meddling Kids at a small bar in Charleston, West Virginia. They have just released their new single "Punk and Disorderly" on the American Charts and after watching them perform tonight I have a feeling they're going to be making waves on the scene at large even if it is but a ripple. They were as a punk rock band should be loud, filled with reverb distortion, and violent. Breaking down their equipment by smashing it and ending the set with Johnny jumping into the drum kit. The home state crowd was very happy with ther performance as I could judge by the amount of stage diving and moshing going on. I managed to snag an interview with him after the show to grill him about the new single, an album, touring, and his musical tastes. He didn't have too much to say but managed to be insightful a few times despite the fact that he was unmistakably drunk at the time. He was smoking a cigarette and holding a clear jar of what I assumed to be home made whiskey that I couldn't help asking him about. What was it about pure corn liquor whiskey that was so appealing anyway?


Well too be honest. Moonshine as we call it around here isn't just for hillbillies any more. It's like the state drink in West Virginia and it gets you drunk quick. But I've hade some damn good tasting whiskey. Apple pie shine, peach shine, cherry shine, believe it or not they do make it. The flavored stuff is sweeter and goes down a little easier. But enough about the booze. You are here to talk music right?

Music is what I came to talk about and so I got down to business while Johnny watched me. Slowly taking a drag on his cigarette and scuffing his foot in the dirt outside in the alley that we were standing in. A back alley behind a bar was pretty punk rock I had to admit. But the matter at hand was the new single "Punk and Disorderly" which was the title track of the single in its entirety. An anthem of everything that was punk rock and anti-establishment. Johnny's growling melodic vocals crooned about getting drunk, fighting cops, and fighting the system. A real to thine ownself be true kind of song with no punches pulled. The second track sounded like it belonged in a Romero flick since it was aptly titled "Watch Out For Zombies!" Complete with zombie noises and a break down at the end that sounded like the enter band was being surrounded and consumed. But it and the title track were not the real gems in the single. It was the b-side cover of Sublime's "Same In The End" that was the real standout of the entire demo single. The band did Bradley Nowell's memory great justice and Johnny's blazing guitar work really shined through to show that he is a great stand alone guitarist. He seemed humble about it though.

Judging by the songs on the single I guess you could say we are a mix of NOFX and The Dead Milkmen. I mean Punk and Disorderly is a real anthem about what I think punk rock should be about. It's not about the fashion. It's about the lifestyle and how you choose to live. That's definitely punk rock. As for the zombie song as it was first titled, we're all strong believers of the zombie apocalypse and joke about how we'd go out during a show. We just brought it to life in song. But the Sublime cover man. I mean as a band there will never be another band that can hope to be as genuinely unique as sublime is. They were punk, ska, reggae, beatbox, and surf rock all wrapped up into one sound. We want to try and duplicate that sound at times but we can't do it like sublime did. We can try. Our best effort was covering "Same In The End" and I just hope it was good as it sounded in the studio.

I nodded as I watched him speak about a band that I could find a common thread on Johnny with. They were unique and hard to replicate in any manner. He covered the thoughts about all the genres they put into their band as well as I would. But I really had nothing else to say to him at the moment. Though they were working on new material as well as the single. Did they plan to release an album soon? I am looking forward to hearing them on a full length rather than just a single. They were touring and had since switched from small clubs and concert halls to large arenas. Are they going to branch out to different countries soon? What about the change from smaller to bigger venues was an adjustment for them. I concluded the interview by just asking him what was in his cd player at the moment.

We plan to release one or two more singles before going back into the studio to make a full length. Having an album is a like a baby for us so we're trying to treat it as carefully as possible. Don't want to drop on its head or anything you know? As for touring well being more of a small club kind of band the transition was hard for us. I think at heart we're always going to be a club and concert hall band because we like having that kind of intimacy with our fans and stuff. You kind of lose that in a bigger arena or stadium you know? We want to try and stay true to our roots as possible. But as going overseas. I'm not sure we're ready yet. We're still trying to establish ourselves as a band before we decide to take ourselves to an entirely new country. Uhhh, listening to... hmmm. Well I just took out The Rollins Band changed over to Thick Chewy Crust's Nonlinear Broadcast. They're a real sonic feast for the ears. I like how they're on the edge of sound and experiment with words as well as phrases both phonetically and musically. I hope when we get going that we can tour with them. That'll probably be after the album release though.

Awesome man. I'm still there. As for the post, I messed it up.... the italics didn't show up when I placed them.... damn it.