Present me with a gothic rock band any day of the week and I'm in. Helsinki's The 69 Eyes are one of the best out there, embracing the ethos of the subculture and living the life like few others. I sat down with frontman Jyrki 69 recently to discuss how the band made the change... Continue Reading →
Three Months Late: 23 Top Songs of 2023
When I started putting this list together, the intent was to check off my 23 Top Songs of 2023. I ended up with a playlist over eight hours long and decided to do the 123 Top Songs of 2023. Then I realized how insane that was and somehow whittled it down to the original idea... Continue Reading →
Folk Punk Legend Billy Bragg Gets Serious About Aging, Death and the Legacy of Fort Apache Studios
The last time I saw Billy Bragg was in 2017 when he played Iceland Airwaves at a small church right on a lake in Reykjavík. Now I was sitting down over Zoom to talk with the brilliant and outspoken UK folk punk singer, songwriter and guitarist to talk about his late friend Gary Smith, who... Continue Reading →
Alkaline Trio’s Dan Andriano Goes Deep on Mental Health, Sports Rivalries and Other Trios
What's been going on behind the scenes with pop punkers Alkaline Trio in recent years I've found fascinating on a couple of levels. First, founder, guitarist and co-lead singer Matt Skiba decides to join Blink-182 in the same exact role back in 2015, taking the place of Tom DeLonge. Meanwhile, fellow Alkaline vocalist/bassist Dan Andriano... Continue Reading →
Courtney Taylor-Taylor Talks Dig!, Danzig, Debbie Harry and the New Dandy Warhols LP
If you're a fan of music documentaries, especially the rough and tumble/conflict-filled type, then you probably love Dig!, which landed the Documentary Grand Jury Prize at Sundance in 2004. Shot over a period of seven years, it details the up and then down relationship between The Dandy Warhols and The Brian Jonestown Massacre. One person... Continue Reading →
Coheed and Cambria’s Claudio Sanchez Talks The Prize Fighter Inferno
I never really got into the prog-metal of Coheed and Cambria, other than the odd song here and there. However, The Prize Fighter Inferno, the side project from frontman Claudio Sanchez, that's right up my alley with its electronica tinged folk. Though he's been creating material under that umbrella for around 25 years, the current... Continue Reading →
Vegas Baby! See More than the Strip, Slots and the Super Bowl in Sin City
All eyes will be on Las Vegas this weekend for the Super Bowl, and whether you find yourself there now, have plans to go for the first time or return soon, it helps to know that Sin City is much more than losing money and illicit, well, everything. When it comes to rock and roll... Continue Reading →
‘We Are the World’ Doc Unveils Stories Behind Hit 1985 Charity Single
Arguably the best-known charity single in music history, and most star-studded for its time, “We Are the World” is the subject of a new documentary from Netflix titled The Greatest Night in Pop. Released this week on the streaming service, the film details the lead up to a single night in January 1985 when dozens... Continue Reading →
Juliana Hatfield on her relationship with Boston, ELO and organic covers
There's little argument that Boston - and it's surrounding neighborhoods - was a hotbed of indie rock music by the time the early '90s rolled around. Between The Lemonheads, Dinosaur Jr., Belly, Throwing Muses and Letters to Cleo, it was like looking through Lewis Largent's Rolodex to see who he was going to feature on... Continue Reading →