Alternative Rock
Morrissey Who? Johnny Marr Says “Isaac Brock Is the Greatest Lyricist I’ve Ever Worked With”
Johnny Marr has named “the greatest lyricist I’ve ever worked with,” and wouldn’t you know it, Morrissey’s name didn’t come up. In a new interview with Stereogum, the former The Smiths guitarist sang the praises of Modest Mouse frontman Isaac Brock, saying, “I’ve seen him write an amazing song, and then make it better, and then make it better again.” Marr joined Modest Mouse from 2006 to 2008, touring with the Portland rockers and contributing to the 2007 studio album We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank. He said he was already a fan when “I got a message from management, the record company, that Isaac Brock wanted to give me a call. So Isaac called me up and, being the devil he is, said, ‘Why don’t you come and join my band?’ I was like, ‘Uh, thanks, who is this?’” Marr said h...
Jeff Tweedy Shares “C’mon America” and “UR-60 Unsent” for Sub Pop Singles Club: Stream
Jeff Tweedy has shared a pair of solo tracks for Sub Pop Singles Club. “C’mon America” and “UR-60 Unsent” make up the latest 7-inch released from the subscription-only series. “C’mon America,” the A-side, is described in a press release as from an “unreleased group of songs with mostly sci-fi lyrics,” while “UR-60 Unsent,” the B-side, is billed as “a pitiful tale of an unsent lovesick mixtape, taken from a separate batch of unreleased songs with mostly pitiful lyrics.” On the twangy and sarcastic “C’mon America,” Tweedy asks, “what you gonna do now that the world is turned against you”? In contrast, “UR-60 Unsent” is a melancholy ballad full of heartsick lyrics about rejection. Stream both tracks below. Advertisement Related Video Also included in today’s drop is TV Priest’s “All Thing,” t...
Modern English Announce After the Snow 40th Anniversary North American Tour
Modern English are back to melt with you. After being postponed a full year, the British New Wave act are finally embarking on their 40th anniversary tour in 2022, during which they’ll be performing their classic 1982 album After the Snow in full — yes, that includes “I Melt With You” — across North America. The band’s extensive 36-date trek kicks off in West Palm Beach, Florida on March 12th, running through September. “When we finally play the whole of the After the Snow album for the first time on tour, emotions will run high,” frontman Robbie Grey said in a statement. “Expect a lot of pent up energy and excitement. It’s been a long time coming and will be worth the wait.” If you can’t make it to the tour, fear not: Modern English have also just released After the Snow: Live From I...
Julian Casablancas: “I Always Wanted to Be in the Arctic Monkeys”
In the Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino song “The Star Treatment,” Arctic Monkeys frontman Alex Turner famously sings, “I just wanted to be one of The Strokes.” Well, it seems The Strokes’ own Julian Casablancas might be willing to switch places with Turner. “Lolll – I always wanted to be in the Arctic Monkeys,” The Strokes frontman captioned an Instagram post on Sunday in which he effortlessly recreated the cover art for his contemporaries’ 2006 album Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not. (In the grayscale photo, Casablancas smokes a cigarette while glancing thoughtfully off-camera, mimicking the iconic shot of The Violet May’s Chris McClure from the original LP. Of course, he’s also replaced “Arctic Monkeys” on the sticker in the top left-hand corner with “The Strokes.”) McCl...
Built to Spill Announce 2021-2022 West Coast Tour Dates
Built to Spill are ready to hit the road. Today, the indie rock band headed by Doug Martsch announced their first slate of tour dates for 2022 — with a little bit of 2021 as well. The veteran alt rockers will actually kick off the West Coast jaunt ahead of the turn of the year with four shows in Washington and Oregon. Following that quartet of December dates, the tour picks back up on January 26th and 27th with two back-to-back performances at The Crocodile in Seattle. From there, the trio will make stops up and down the Pacific Coast — often with dual dates in multiple cities — including Portland, Sacramento, Las Vegas, San Diego, Los Angeles, and San Francisco. Openers along the way include Team Dresch, Prism Bitch, Dinosaur Jr., Oh, Rose, and Itchy Kitty. Advertisement Related Video Tic...
Deap Vally Announce New Album Marriage, Share “Magic Medicine”: Stream
Deap Vally have announced their new album Marriage, due out November 19th via Cooking Vinyl. The LA-based duo also shared the lead single “Magic Medicine” as a preview. The upcoming full-length spans 12 tracks and saw Lindsey Troy and Julie Edwards collaborating with KT Tunstall, Peaches, and Jennie Vee. In a statement, the band gave some insight into the meaning and creative process behind Marriage, which they described as “a genre-bending experiment.” “Being in a band is like being in a marriage: sometimes it’s magical, sometimes it’s unbearably challenging,” Deap Vally explained. “To reinvigorate that marriage we’ve made album three a genre-bending experiment with new collaborators and instrumentation that push the limits of what has previously defined us.” Advertisement Related Video F...
AFI Unveil New Song “Caught” Ahead of 2022 US Tour: Stream
AFI released the new album Bodies in June, but the veteran rock act is already back with new music. Ahead of their 2022 US tour, the band has unveiled the new song “Caught.” The new track was recorded during the same sessions as Bodies but didn’t make the final tracklist. “We were really happy with ‘Caught’ and planned for it to be on the Bodies album,” said singer Davey Havok in a press release. “We ended up cutting it at the last minute to allow for a better album flow, but still really loved the song.” “Caught” is a love song that showcases the softer side of AFI, with Havok delivering heartfelt lines like, “Hold me for a second, without a sound, in the lightest, rare, requited kiss, you a light and I, abyss.” Toward the end of the song, around the 3:40 mark, Havok makes a powerful leap...
Toyah Sings Velvet Underground’s “Venus in Furs” as Robert Fripp Gazes in Amazement: Watch
With Robert Fripp back at home in the UK following King Crimson’s US tour, he and wife Toyah Willcox are together again for “Sunday Lunch” performances in their kitchen. This time around, Toyah sings the Velvet Underground classic “Venus in Furs” as Fripp stares up at her with a devilish grin on his face. After receiving video messages featuring sultry performances from Toyah during the King Crimson outing, Fripp has been back for a few weeks now. Toyah welcomed him home a couple of Sundays ago by singing The Cult’s “She Sells Sanctuary” as he walked through the door. And last week, Toyah busted out the James Bond theme “Goldfinger” for her guitarist husband. For the latest edition of “Sunday Lunch,” Toyah sings “Venus in Furs” while dancing on the couple’s dining table. The two-angle vide...
Grimes Trolls Paparazzi with Karl Marx Photoshoot
Grimes sought to troll paparazzi by staging photographs “that would yield the most onion-ish possible headline.” The result is an absolutely epic headline from the New York Post: “Grimes seen reading Karl Marx following split from world’s richest man Elon Musk.” In an Instagram post, Grimes offered further context: “I was really stressed when paparazzi wouldn’t stop following me this wk but then I realized it was opportunity to troll .. i swear this headline omg wtf haha im dead.” Grimes went on to confirm, “I am not a communist(although there are some very smart ideas in this book -but personally I’m more interested in a radical decentralized ubi that I think could potentially be achieved thru crypto and gaming but I haven’t ironed that idea out enough yet to explain it. Regardless my opi...
Brandi Carlile Offers to Front Soundgarden on Tour
Brandi Carlile has made it known she would love to tour as the singer of Soundgarden should the opportunity arise. During an appearance on the Rolling Stone Music Now podcast to promote her new album In These Silent Days, Carlile said she “would make the time” to serve as the grunge band’s singer. “I am such a Chris Cornell fan,” the singer-songwriter said about Soundgarden’s late frontman. “I loved him so much. I was so devastated when he left us.” Carlile has collaborated with the remaining members of Soundgarden on several occasions. In January 2019, she joined Kim Thayil, Ben Shepherd, and Matt Cameron on stage for “Black Hole Sun” during a massive tribute to Cornell. She also teamed up with the trio to record new versions of “Black Hole Sun” and “Searching with My Good Eye Closed...
Brandi Carlile Shares New Album In These Silent Days: Stream
The latest album from Brandi Carlile is here. In These Silent Days, the folk rocker’s seventh studio album, arrives today via Low Country Sound/Elektra. She recorded the full-length at Nashville’s historic RCA Studio A alongside producers Dave Cobb and Shooter Jennings, as well as her longtime collaborators and bandmates Tim and Phil Hanseroth. In These Silent Days grapples with themes such as acceptance, loss, and faith, calling to mind the grandeur of classic songwriters like David Bowie, Freddie Mercury, Elton John, and Joni Mitchell. “I never imagined that I’d feel so exposed and weird as an artist without the armor of a costume, the thrill of an applause and the platform of the sacred stage,” Carlile said of the album in a statement. “Despite all this, the songs flowed throu...
Tori Amos Shares New Single “Speaking with Trees”: Stream
In exactly a month, Tori Amos will unveil her 16th studio album, Ocean to Ocean. Today, we get a preview of the record with “Speaking with Trees,” the art-pop artist’s initial single. Amos wrote much of Ocean to Ocean during the peak of the pandemic, and “Speaking with Trees” confronts the deep sense of hopelessness and loss she and her fellow artists felt when live music seemed like a distant memory never to return. “Speaking with trees, I’m almost sure/ That they are grieving with me,” Amos sings over a pompous piano arrangement and beefy percussion. Stream it below. According to a press release, Ocean to Ocean explores topics ranging from environmental concerns to personal upheaval. “We have all had moments that can knock us down,” Amos explained in a statement. “Thi...
