(Art/Ziona Kocher, lizzybknits.deviantart.com)
They’re loud, rude, and the perfect people to let crash on your parents’ couch if you really want to annoy them. Actually, these nominees are all really nice but their music makes you want to start a revolution or something. Armed with three chords and their versions of the truth, the nominees for Flagpole’s Athens Music Awards’ Punk/Hardcore award will blast your face off. Voting ends May 29.
AMERICAN CHEESEBURGER
American Cheeseburger sounds more like metal than punk. There’s no soloing in PUNK! That’s where the hardcore kicks in. You can’t understand the lyrics and good luck trying to hear much through the fuzz but you will be jumping up and down all night long. Yummy.
CHRISSAKES
Throw together rock, hard rock, hardcore, psych, and a lot of metal and you have Chrissakes. The songs I’ve heard range from a screamo-tribute to RAWK to a slower LOUD-soft-LOUD jam that would make 90s Seattle proud. People underestimate how hard it is to scream lyrics night after night. Major props.
THE JACK BURTON
A lot less loud than the other noms, The Jack Burton reminds me quite a bit of our buddies Five Eight. I only got to here the one song on their site unfortunately. But anyone who is awesome enough to name themselves after a Kurt Russell character has my vote.
NATIONALE
After getting redirected to TWO other bands called Nationale and R.E.M. openers The National, I finally found the site of the screaming, thrashing, yet slightly melodic Nationale (of Athens.) Again, not a punk band but a very strong emphasis on rhythm and few chords make it a pretty heavy post-punk/hardcore submission.
PEGASUSES-XL
Far more punk than any of the other nominees, Pegasuses is made up of “local smartasses.” Considering fellow smartass Homedrone blogger Jeff Tobias is in this band, I’m taking them at their word. They lean towards experimental more than punk or hardcore but the songs are memorable enough you’ll be singing them soon.
Tomorrow we’re looking into the graphic designers who created what I consider some of the BEST ALBUM ARTWORK of Athens this year.
athensmusicjunkie.com 
Good effort but missing the mark on these bands by several miles.