Alternative Music
Founding SPONGE Guitarist MIKE CROSS Dead At 57
Mike Cross, a founding guitarist for American rock act SPONGE, has died at the age of 57. No cause of death has yet been revealed. SPONGE confirmed Cross‘s passing via social media, writing: “It is with heavy heart that we share the news of the passing of Mike Cross. One of the musical architects and founding member of SPONGE. His influence and talent will be missed.” As a co-writer for SPONGE‘s platinum-selling album “Rotting Piñata”, sophomore album “WaxEcstatic” and third release “New Pop Sunday”, Mike helped catapult the band into rock star status with his catchy hooks, iconic crunchy guitar and an undeniable original sound. The band toured extensively, headlining shows in the U.S. and in Europe supporting A-list artists such ...
ABSENT IN BODY Feat. Ex-SEPULTURA Drummer IGOR CAVALERA, NEUROSIS’s SCOTT KELLY: ‘Rise From Ruins’ Single Available
ABSENT IN BODY, the new band featuring AMENRA guitarist Mathieu J. Vandekerckhove, AMENRA frontman Colin H. Van Eeckhout, NEUROSIS vocalist/guitarist Scott Kelly and former SEPULTURA drummer Igor Cavalera, will release its debut album, “Plague God”, on March 25 via Relapse Records. The LP’s third single, “Rise From Ruins”, can be streamed below. “Rise From Ruins” made a special debut this past Sunday, March 6 as part of All Elite Wrestling‘s “Revolution” PPV event. “Rise From Ruins” is the official theme song of the television show’s HOUSE OF BLACK group featuring AEW wrestlers Malakai Black, Brody King (God’s Hate) and Buddy Matthews. Vandekerckhove comments: “The blueprints of most ABSENT IN BODY so...
Girl Talk, Wiz Khalifa, Big K.R.I.T., and Smoke DZA Announce Collaborative Album, Share “Put You On”: Stream
Best known for his mashup production, Girl Talk (aka Gregg Gillis) has also spent the last decade occasionally working with rappers. Now, he’s teamed up with fellow blog era stalwarts Wiz Khalifa, Big K.R.I.T., and Smoke DZA for a collaborative album titled Full Court Press, out April 8th via Asylum/Taylor Gang. As the first preview, the quartet has put out the lead single “Put You On.” Full Court Press marks Girl Talk’s first album since 2010’s All Day and includes a guest appearance from Curren$y, another rapper who comes from similar circles. The 10-track project began in 2017, when Gillis started collaborating individually with Wiz, K.R.I.T., and DZA. Eventually, Gillis realized the material could fit together within one cohesive body of work and brought everyone together for a multi-d...
ME REX Announce Plesiosaur EP, Share “Jupiter Pluvius”: Stream
English quartet ME REX have announced their latest EP Plesiosaur, out June 17th via Big Scary Monsters, and shared its lead single “Jupiter Pluvius.” Stream it below. Plesiosaur’s prehistoric title aligns with the band’s prolific collection dating back to 2016’s Woolly Mammoth EP and continuing through the dual Triceratops/Stegosaurus EP in 2020 and February’s 4-track Pterodactyl EP. They took a detour for the 52-track, shuffle-friendly experimental triumph Megabear in 2021 and despite the project’s renewed nominal connections, ME REX is clearly primed to move into their next era. Pre-orders for Plesiosaur are ongoing. It will be available as a double-EP vinyl with Pterodactyl that is expected to ship out at the same time as its digital release. Check out the artwork and tracklist bel...
Florence + The Machine Announce New Album Dance Fever, Share “My Love”: Stream
Florence + The Machine have announced the new album Dance Fever. It’s due out May 13th, and as a preview the band has shared their latest single, “My Love.” Dance Fever is the follow-up to 2018’s High as Hope, and it was described by Florence Welch as “a fairytale in 14 songs.” Welch produced alongside Jack Antonoff and Dave Bayley of Glass Animals, and a press statement said the album was inspired by choreomania, “a Renaissance phenomenon in which groups of people — sometimes thousands — danced wildly to the point of exhaustion, collapse and death.” Combine that mood with Welch’s typically glorious take on baroque pop, and you land on a tone she called “Nick Cave at the club.” “My Love” is the album’s third single, following “Heaven Is He...
WAYNE KRAMER Brings MC5 Back To Life With New Album And Tour
On the heels of the MC5‘s nomination to the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame, legendary Detroit proto-punk/activist/hard-rock innovator Wayne Kramer has released two new songs and announced “The Heavy Lifting” tour in May — all as a reanimation of his pioneering group dubbed WE ARE ALL MC5. The tour begins with a special hometown show, celebrating the birthday of Detroit’s El Club. The show serves as a return of sorts to his formative years; Kramer‘s memories of that neighborhood were chronicled all too well in his acclaimed 2018 memoir “The Hard Stuff”. After Detroit, the tour will hit major markets on the East Coast (Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Brooklyn) and West Coast (Sacramento, San Francisco, Los Angeles, San Diego). Joining the pioneering guitarist ...
BRUCE DICKINSON Says IRON MAIDEN Has No Plans To Retire: ‘We’ll Probably Drop Dead Onstage’
During an appearance on a recent episode of Full Metal Jackie‘s nationally syndicated radio show, IRON MAIDEN singer Bruce Dickinson discussed the band’s longevity as well as the group’s multigenerational appeal. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): “We’re not planning to retire at all, really. I think we’ll probably drop dead onstage. I can think of worse places to drop dead. But no, we’re not planning on retiring. We’re all still firing away [with] loads of energy and loads of enthusiasm, so I can’t wait to get back together [with the other guys to start rehearsing for the upcoming tour]. “With respect to our fans, we’ve got generations of fans now,” he continued. “Even at [my] spoken-word shows, I can...
Call Down The Sun – KONVENT
RATING: 9/10 Barely two years ago, KONVENT released their debut album, “Puritan Masochism”, and swiftly established themselves as a band with phenomenal potential. Rooted in death / doom but audibly unconstrained by expectation or formula, the Danes’ sound just felt slower and heavier and darker than it had any right to be. Oozing out from cracks in the quartet’s barrage of leaden riff was something weird, wonderful and wildly distinctive, and it’s that refined sense of otherness that makes “Call Down The Sun” an even more startling piece of underground heaviness. KONVENT really swing. It’s a quality that many extreme metal bands miss, but here it makes all the difference. “Into The Distance” is a ridiculously heavy and disorienta...
NIGHTWISH’s FLOOR JANSEN Announces ‘Fire’ Solo Single
NIGHTWISH‘s Floor Jansen has set “Fire” as the title of her new solo single, to be released on March 25. Earlier today (Wednesday, March 9), the 41-year-old Dutch-born singer, who made her live debut with NIGHTWISH nearly a decade ago, tweeted out a pre-save link for the track on Spotify and Apple Music, and she wrote: “Like if you’re as excited as me!!” Less than two months ago, Jansen stated about the musical direction of “Fire”: “It’s a pop song, so it’s not metal, it’s not rock, but it’s definitely me.” Jansen went on to explain that the track will not necessarily be representative of all the new solo music she has been working on in recent months. “I guess it’s more of a mash-up [of styles]...
Giancarlo Esposito to Star in AMC Remake of BBC Series The Driver
Giancarlo Esposito is knocking once again on AMCs’s door, starring and executive producing the network’s upcoming BBC remake of The Driver. It will mark their third collaboration following the Emmy-stashing crime drama Breaking Bad and its ongoing prequel Better Call Saul. The show was announced by AMC Networks on March 8th with a six-episode first season that will retool the 2014 BBC miniseries, which starred fellow AMC alum David Morrissey (The Walking Dead). The American version will place Esposito in a new type of face-off as the taxi-driving protagonist Vince, who “agrees to chauffer a New Orleans-based, Zimbabwean gangster notorious for exploiting undocumented immigrants at the U.S. southern ports.” Though the plot seems to be rife with compromising moral quandaries, Esposito’s worki...
BTS Fans Won’t Be Allowed to Clap or Yell at Their Upcoming Korea Concerts
BTS fans are an intense lot, but they’ll have to find a way to tone it down when the boy band returns to their home of Seoul this weekend. Due to government COVID-19 protocols, fans won’t be allowed to clap, yell, or stand up at the group’s upcoming concerts at the Jamsil Olympic Stadium (via Variety). “Cheering loudly, yelling, chanting and standing up during “BTS Permission To Dance On Stage — Seoul” is strictly prohibited according to government guidelines,” BTS’ management company, Big Hit Music, said in a statement. Attendees at the concerts — set for March 10th, 12th, and 13th — will instead be provided with clappers to emulate crowd noise. Seating will also be limited from the stadium’s 70,000 capacity to just 15,000 attendees per night. “The event may be changed or canceled de...
Disney Pledges $5 Million to LGBTQ Rights Following “Don’t Say Gay” Bill Controversy
The Walt Disney Company is pledging $5 million to the Human Rights Campaign and other LGBTQ+ organizations in light of Florida’s discriminatory “Don’t Say Gay” bill. Additionally, Disney CEO Bob Chapek announced plans to meet with Florida Governor Ron DeSantis to discuss the company’s concerns with the bill, Variety reports. The Parental Rights in Education bill, more commonly known as the “Don’t Say Gay” bill, prevents Florida educators from discussing issues of gender and sexuality in the classroom and allows parents to sue schools and teachers who do so. The bill has been passed by Florida’s House of Representatives and Senate, and DeSantis is expected to sign it into law. Disney’s donation comes after the company came under fire for not speaking out against the bill; the Orlando S...
