Iodine Recordings to Release 20th Anniversary Edition of Audio Karate's "Lady Melody"

Iodine Recordings is proud to present the 20th anniversary edition of AUDIO KARATE's landmark LADY MELODY on limited colored vinyl.

This deluxe edition of the classic California punk record has been completely remastered for vinyl by Jason Livermore at Blasting Room Studios and includes all new artwork and a retrospective by the band and Bill Stevenson (Descendents, ALL).

Get it here.

Listen to "Jesus Is Alive and Well (And Living in Mexico)" Below.

In 2001, four Mexican American kids from the suburbs of East L.A. came together to form Audio Karate, their unique mix of melodic, emotional punk rock made it difficult to place them in any one genre but it also garnered a legion of fans. Their knack for writing infectiously catchy songs with deeply personal lyrics caught the attention of Kung Fu Records, who signed them in 2001 alongside bands like Blink-182 and Tsunami Bomb.

Audio Karate spent the early 2000s touring heavily and sharing stages with bands like NOFX, The Ataris, and Face to Face, among many Vans Warped Tour appearances. Their first studio album Space Camp was met with much acclaim from critics and fans and featured frequently on MTV and Fuse TV. 

Their follow up album Lady Melody was produced by Bill Stevenson of The Descendents and straddled pop-punk convention and technical oddity, with unique key changes and riffs that seemed to sound "wrong," while sounding gloriously right. Even Stevenson wondered how they did it, marveling at times during their recording sessions: "Technically, this shouldn't work."

Stevenson says, "Lady Melody will always mark a special point in time for me. We had so much fun together during the pre-production, and then during the recording! I love this band so much, and it has been such a great pleasure getting to know each of them. 'Jesus Is Alive and Well (And Living in Mexico)' is one of my favorite songs to have ever produced."

Audio Karate Drop First New Song in Nearly 20 Years With "A Show of Hands"

California's melodic-punk outfit Audio Karate return with their first studio recordings in almost 20 years!

The band reunited in early 2018 following the reissue of their two classic LPs Space Camp and Lady Melody. They later released two albums worth of previously unreleased material on Malo and ¡Otra! and got back on the road for festival appearances and playing with the likes of Descendents and other punk legends. The band quickly realized that playing together was an important part of their lives, and they went into the studio to record the new song "A Show of Hands" in 2022, while also re-recording their song "A Monster in Disguise," adding some much needed production work, making it a much more powerful song.

This limited edition 7-inch EP is being presented by Iodine Recordings, which includes beautiful artwork by Jeff Caudill (Gameface) and photography from the studio and recent tour dates, and was mastered by Jack Shirley (Joyce Manor, Jeff Rosenstock). These songs showcase the power, and precision of Audio Karate's songwriting, which masterfully strikes a balance of hyper-melodic punk rock, emo, and post-hardcore.

It's out June 30. Pre-order it here.

"'A Show of Hands' is our first recording of the modern era, recorded at New Monkey Studio (previously Elliot Smith's studio) in late 2021," says guitarist Jason Camacho. "Pandemic stuff had made it so we hadn't been in a room together in a minute and we were beyond happy with the outcome. Instantly recognizable as an Audio Karate song, it blends elements of everything one would expect from AK, rolling bass lines, hummable riffs, rusty nail gargled vocals, and catchy hooks."

AUDIO KARATE ON TOUR:
6/2 — San Francisco, CA — 924 Gilman
7/28 — Chicago, IL — Reggies *
7/29 — Milwaukee, WI — X-Ray Arcade *
7/30 — Champaign, IL — The Space *
8/19 — Los Angeles, CA — The Paramount
10/28 — Gainesville, FL — The FEST
*With Tightwire