Alternative Music
FOZZY’s CHRIS JERICHO Explains ‘Boombox’ Album Title
FOZZY frontman and wrestling superstar Chris Jericho spoke to Decker of Wisconsin’s WZOR (Razor 94.7/104.7) radio station about the band’s upcoming album, “Boombox”, which is due on May 6. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): “It definitely picks up where [2017’s] ‘Judas’ left off. And ‘Judas’ was such a huge hit for us that we kind of wanted to continue in the same vein — very hooky, very melodic. The three-hook rule for most of the songs. It’s an old DEF LEPPARD trick. ‘Oh, that’s the hook. No, wait — that’s the hook. No, wait — that’s the hook. Oh my gosh. It’s stuck in my head like a fishing lure.’ And it’s heavy, but it still has that punch that FOZZY‘s always bee...
Dolly Parton Says Climate Change Is “Like Being Ugly to Your Mama”
Dolly Parton, the reigning queen of Tennessee and charitable efforts, recently stopped by National Geographic to discuss two of her favorite things about her home state: its music and its nature. Just in time for Earth Day, the country legend spoke with National Geographic Travel’s Amy Alipio about her thoughts on climate change, the music of the Smoky Mountains, and how the state’s landscape played into her tune “My Tennesee Mountain Home” — which was just unanimously voted as Tennessee’s new state song. “We should pay more attention to how we’re treating our mountains, how we’re treating our world, how we’re just treating everything,” Parton said. “We’re just mistreating Mother Nature. That’s, like, being ugly to your mama, you know? That’s like being disrespectful, you know? Seriously. ...
Ambulance Review: Some Deranged Grandeur, Courtesy of Michael Bay
The Pitch: In his 2019 Netflix film 6 Underground, Michael Bay stages an opening car chase where his heroes smash through the streets of Italy, goring bad guys and yelling nonsense at each other. “I’m conducting surgery!” one character screams while, essentially, just tending to a wound. But maybe that moment stuck in Bay’s head. Maybe he regretted not making that set-piece more surgical, to the point where he built an entire movie called Ambulance around the premise: What if you were performing life-saving surgery during a car chase? Technically, Bay did not come up with this premise. Ambulance is a remake of a 2005 Dutch film, and Bay is not a credited screenwriter. But his penchant for breaking tension with over-explained jokes, or breaking jokes with melodramatic bombast, transcend any...
The xx’s Oliver Sim Frees Himself with Solo Single “Fruit”: Stream
Last month, Oliver Sim finally followed the path of his bandmates in The xx and put out his first solo single, “Romance with a Memory.” Today, the musician has shared another song called “Fruit,” which is also produced by Jamie xx, and an accompanying music video. “Fruit” is a sweeping number that lives somewhere between a ballad and a banger, recalling saccharine love songs of the ’80s. But “Fruit” isn’t an ode to a lover; instead, it acts as Sim’s proclamation of self-acceptance, rejoicing in queer identity. Those familiar with Jamie xx’s solo material will recognize his kaleidoscopic, clubby touch, though Sim’s deep vocals ensure the track is all his own. The music video for “Fruit” was directed by French filmmaker Yann Gonzalez, and it depicts Sim as a pop star yearning to embrac...
Ana de Armas’ Marilyn Monroe Movie Becomes First Netflix Original Rated NC-17 for Sexual Content
Blonde, the upcoming Netflix movie starring Ana de Armas as Marilyn Monroe, has been given an NC-17 rating for “some sexual content” by the Motion Picture Association. As The Hollywood Reporter notes, while the streamer has hosted NC-17 films such as Blue Is the Warmest Color, this is seemingly the first time that label has been affixed to a Netflix original. Blonde is a fictional tale based on Joyce Carol Oates’ 700-page magnum opus, which came out in 2000 and which the New Yorker called “the definitive study of American celebrity.” The film is soundtracked by Nick Cave and Warren Ellis, and according to director Andrew Dominik, an NC-17 rating was always part of the plan. “It’s a demanding movie,” he told Screen Daily last February. “If t...
BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE To Release New Single, ‘Omen’, On Friday
BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE will release a new single, “Omen”, this Friday, April 8. The Welsh metallers shared a snippet of the song in a social media post earlier today. They wrote in an accompanying message: “OMEN. The new single. Coming this friday. Be ready. #BFMV #BulletForMyValentine #OMEN”. Last December, BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE frontman Matt Tuck spoke to NME about the fate of the six songs which were recorded during the sessions for the band’s recently released self-titled album but were left off the final track listing, to be made available at a later date. Asked if the unreleased material follows in the same direction as “Bullet For My Valentine”, Tuck said: “They’re part of the same writing and recording process. Some of them a...
BLACK SABBATH Bassist GEEZER BUTLER Completes First Draft Of His Autobiography
BLACK SABBATH bassist Geezer Butler has completed work on his memoir. Earlier today (Wednesday, April 6), the 72-year-old British-born musician tweeted: “Just turned in the 1st draft of my book so I’m now thinking of titles. So far, I have: Into the Void, Basses Loaded, Past Forward, What The Butler Did, Bassic Instinct. Feel free to send me which of those you think would suit my #autobiography”. A year ago, Butler told Cleveland.com that he started writing a memoir “because when my parents died, I always wished I’d asked them a lot more things than I knew about. I don’t really know much about my mum and dad, ’cause they were always just there,” he explained. “So, I started writing a memoir for my grandkids to read, and that’s bee...
DISTURBED’s DAVID DRAIMAN Gets Blasted On Social Media For ‘Solution’ To Student Debt Crisis
DISTURBED frontman David Draiman has been criticized on social media for suggesting an oversimplified solution to the student loan crisis. Apparently in response to yesterday’s news that the federal moratorium on student loan repayments, which was set to end next month, has been extended through August 31, Draiman shared a 2019 political cartoon from Rick McKee, the staff cartoonist at The Augusta Chronicle. In the cartoon, a professor can be seen standing next to a huge white board and using a pointer to highlight to a student the two-step solution to the student debt crisis: “1. You took out a loan. 2. Pay it back.” As expected, Draiman‘s tweet was met with an overwhelmingly negative reaction from many of his followers, some of whom directed their ire at his band....
Here’s ‘A Small Taste’ Of STRYPER’s Upcoming Studio Album
Michael Sweet of openly Christian rockers STRYPER has shared a snippet of a song that will appear on the band’s next album. The 58-year-old guitarist/vocalist, who recently underwent surgery for a re-detached retina, took to his Instagram on Tuesday (April 5) to post a 42-second video from the studio, and he captioned it: “Let’s hear this bad boy;-) A small, little taste of the new @Stryper album……” STRYPER‘s follow-up to 2020’s “Even The Devil Believes” LP was once again recorded at SpiritHouse Recording Studios in Northampton, Massachusetts. This past January, Sweet said that he was “more concerned with the state of our world” as he continued to work on lyrics for the band’s upcoming 14th studio LP. At the time, he wrote o...
Amigo the Devil and Murder by Death Announce Summer 2022 US Tour
Amigo the Devil and Murder by Death are joining forces for a Summer 2022 US tour. The two dark-folk acts were supposed to hit the road together in 2020, but the pandemic put a stop to those plans. Now, they’ll finally get things going this August. The “Tour From the Crypt” begins August 5th in Austin, Texas, and currently runs through a two-night stand September 10th and 11th in Seattle, with more dates yet to be announced. Samantha Crain will support the first leg of the tour, while Katacombs will jump on for the second leg. Tickets for select shows are available via Ticketmaster, with other dates available through purchase links on Amigo the Devil’s website. Amigo the Devil (aka Danny Kiranos) released his latest album, Born Against, in April 2021, at which time he was named Consequence’...
Gus Van Sant’s Kurt Cobain Movie to Be Adapted as Opera
Kurt Cobain died 28 years ago yesterday, but his life — and death — continue to inspire countless works of art. The latest addition to the Cobain canon is an opera adapted from Gus Van Sant’s dramatized film about his final days. London’s Royal Opera House is adapting Van Sant’s 2005 film, Last Days, into an opera for its 2022-2023 season (via The Guardian). The opera was composed by Oliver Leith, the ROH’s composer-in-residence, with the libretto by Matt Copson. Anna Morrissey and Copson are set to direct the opera, due to be staged in October. The opera, also titled Last Days, “plunges into the torment that created a modern myth,” the Royal Opera House said. The story follows the musician Blake, Cobain’s stand-in, as he returns home from a stint in rehab. “But he is haunted by objec...
2022 Welcome to Rockville Festival Taps Nine Inch Nails to Replace Foo Fighters as Sunday Headliner
Following the tragic death of drummer Taylor Hawkins, Foo Fighters canceled all of their scheduled 2022 tour dates. One of those dates was a headlining gig at the upcoming Welcome to Rockville festival in Daytona Beach, Florida. Today (April 6th), organizers announced that Nine Inch Nails will replace Foo Fighters on the Sunday (May 22nd) lineup of the four-day fest. It’s the second such announcement of the day, as Boston Calling revealed this morning that NIN would be filling in for Foo Fighters on the first night (May 27th) of its three-day lineup. The addition of Nine Inch Nails creates a triumvirate of early ’90s alt-rock legends at the top of Welcome to Rockville’s Sunday bill, with The Smashing Pumpkins and Jane’s Addiction playing right before NIN. Advertisement Related Video The re...
