KXSC Fest Presents: Barry Levine

Barry Levine is one of KXSC’s most vibrant characters, and not surprisingly, the longest-running DJ currently on-air. His weekly, two-hour long show The Bear’s Den showcases the greatest punk rock hitting your record store, or hitting your face in a mosh pit. Whichever is closer.

However, when Barry isn’t providing you with new punk songs to violate your eardrums (or working!), he composes his own acoustic punk rock songs. Barry’s songs channel the most acidic, albeit quieter, songs in
punk’s history; forgoing the bratty Sid Vicious snarl and replacing it with the Violent Femme’s dry wit or late-period Joe Strummer’s politically conscious acoustic songs. Listening to these tunes gives you the sense of someone that’s spent a significant amount of time with this genre’s history. Barry has elbowed, kneed, and bit the earlobe off punk, only to come out of it with a delicate understanding about how to make punk rock squeal, even if he only has an acoustic guitar strapped around his shoulder.

Barry’s classic cynicism works well with a chord progression reserved for a more lighthearted ditty. It’s self-deprecating, it’s hopeless, and most importantly it’s catchy.

Website // Facebook // The Bear's Den

-Michael Silvestre, Public Relations