Alternative Rock
Foo Fighters Returning to Headline Boston Calling 2023
Foo Fighters will make their live comeback with a headlining performance at this year’s Boston Calling Music Festival. Dave Grohl, Nate Mendel, Pat Smear, Chris Shiflett, and Rami Jaffee will kick off Boston Calling’s 2023 weekend on Friday, May 26th. It marks the band’s first confirmed live performance of 2023 and their first time on stage together since hosting a pair of tribute shows for late drummer Taylor Hawkins in September 2022. Along with Foo Fighters, Boston Calling’s 2023 lineup boasts headliners Paramore and The Lumineers, plus other notable acts like Queens of the Stone Age, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Alanis Morissette, The National, The Flaming Lips, King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard, Bleachers, Maren Morris, The Walkmen, The Linda Lindas, 070 Shake, Genesis Owusu, and Joy Oladokun, a...
Touché Amoré, Deafheaven, AFI and Alexisonfire Members Cover Smashing Pumpkins’ “1979”: Watch
“Two Minutes to Late Night” has returned with a new cover of The Smashing Pumpkins’ “1979” featuring members of Touché Amoré, Deafheaven, AFI, and Alexisonfire. The YouTube channel’s all-star cover series became a staple during the days of lockdown, gathering notable musicians to remotely record songs from home. As “Two Minutes to Late Night” plans to make its return as a live talk show next month at Saint Vitus Bar in Brooklyn, the cover collabs have become more infrequent, but no less star-studded. For this heavy metal / post-hardcore take on “1979,” corpse-painted host and performer Gwarsenio Hall (aka Jordan Olds) tapped Touché Amoré’s Jeremy Bolm, who delivers a fine lead vocal performance and even reprises the car-ride shot of Billy Corgan from the original music video. The rest of t...
Public Image Ltd. to Compete to Represent Ireland at Eurovision 2023
Public Image Ltd. will take part in the competition to represent Ireland at the 2023 edition of Eurovision. The John Lydon-fronted band will perform a new song called “Hawaii,” which is described as a “love letter” to Lydon’s wife of nearly five decades, Nora, who is living with Alzheimer’s. “A pensive, personal yet universal love song that will resonate with many, the song sees John reflecting on their lifetime well spent, and in particular, one of their happiest moments together in Hawaii,” notes a press release. “The powerfully emotional ballad is as close as John will ever come to bearing his soul.” Advertisement Related Video In his own statement, Lydon said the song “is dedicated to everyone going through tough times on the journey of life, with the person they care for the most. It’...
BeachLife 2023 Lineup: The Black Keys, Gwen Stefani, and The Black Crowes to Headline Redondo Beach Fest
The Black Keys, Gwen Stefani, and The Black Crowes will headline the 2023 iteration of BeachLife Festival. The three-day fest has unveiled its full lineup today before it all goes down May 5th-7th at Redondo Beach, California. Pixies, Sublime with Rome (performing 40 Oz. to Freedom), John Fogerty, Modest Mouse, Tegan and Sara, Kurt Vile & The Violators, Band of Horses, and The Head and the Heart will also hit the beach this spring for the eclectic event. Aly & AJ, Noah Cyrus, and Travie McCoy of Gym Class Heroes will have the pop fans covered, while the fest also salutes to classic punk with appearances from Social Distortion’s Jonny Two Bags, Circle Jerks’ Zander Schloss, and Pennywise’s Jim Lindberg. You can catch all the live performances at BeachLife’s three stages; in-bet...
Cage the Elephant Singer Matt Shultz Arrested on Gun Charges
Cage the Elephant lead singer Matt Shultz was arrested in New York City on Thursday, January 5th and charged with felony gun possession, multiple outlets report. On Wednesday, January 4th, an employee at the Bowery Hotel where Shultz was staying allegedly saw him carry a handgun into a ground floor public bathroom. Police appeared at his hotel room on January 5th and Shultz admitted that he owned two .45 caliber guns, a Sig Sauer and a Smith & Wesson, though at the time he reportedly claimed to not remember if they were still in the hotel. Police took Shultz into custody and a judge issued a warrant which allowed law enforcement officials to search his hotel room. Both firearms were found to be loaded. Shultz did not have a license for the weapons. Advertisement Related Video Shul...
Tropical Fuck Storm’s Fiona Kitschin Battling Breast Cancer
Tropical Fuck Storm bassist and founding member Fiona Kitschin has been diagnosed with stage three breast cancer, the band has revealed in a statement. The necessary treatment means TFS has been forced to cancel their US tour, which was slated to begin later this month. “We’ve hit a bump in the road here at TFS HQ as Fiona has been diagnosed with stage three breast cancer,” the Australian group wrote in their statement. “She’s in good spirits considering but it means she’s going to need a lot of treatment. And that means we’re going to have to cancel all the TFS shows we’d planned outside of Australia for 2023 so we can get her all fixed up, shiny and new.” The band went on to apologize to fans who bought tickets and added, “We’ll have to play everything else by ear but we’ll try...
Peter Gabriel Returns with Comeback Single “Panopticom”: Stream
Peter Gabriel has returned with a new song called “Panopticom.” It serves as the lead single to i/o, his upcoming first new album of original material in 21 years. “Panopticom” features contributions from Brian Eno (synth), David Rhodes (guitar), Tony Levin (bass), and Manu Katché (drums). In a statement, Gabriel said that the song “is based on an idea I have been working on to initiate the creation of an infinitely expandable accessible data globe: The Panopticom. We are beginning to connect a like-minded group of people who might be able to bring this to life, to allow the world to see itself better and understand more of what’s really going on.” Advertisement Related Video While a release date for i/o is still forthcoming, Gabriel has already announced a supporting tour. “The i/o Tour” ...
Judge Dismisses Ashley Morgan Smithline’s Case Against Marilyn Manson
A California district judge has dismissed a lawsuit filed by model Ashley Morgan Smithline against Marilyn Manson, which accused the musician born Brian Warner of sexual assault, human trafficking, and unlawful imprisonment. After Smithline’s attorney Jay Ellwanger withdrew his representation in October, Judge Fernando L. Aenlle-Rocha gave Smithline a 90-day window to either hire a new attorney or decide to represent herself. She did neither by the December 5th deadline, prompting Aenlle-Rocha to dismiss the case without prejudice late Tuesday. “We thank and commend Ashley Smithline for dismissing her claims against Brian Warner without seeking or receiving anything in return,” Manson’s attorney Howard King wrote in a statement. “Ms. Smithline has refused to be manipulated by others who ar...
R.E.M.’s 20 Best Songs
This article was originally published in 2017, but we’re dusting it off for Michael Stipe’s birthday on January 4th. If you’re at all like me, you probably associate certain bands with specific moods. In other words, you turn to these bands when they fit your state of mind, match how your day went, or just seem to sound how you feel. R.E.M. has never been one of those bands for me, though. No matter my mood, mindset, or emotion, there’s an R.E.M. album or sound that suits me. “I have lived a full life,” Michael Stipe once sang, and I think that’s how we felt about the band when they parted ways in 2011. To look back at their catalog then or now is to see a band that have lived a full life — and life to the fullest — leaving few stones of the band experience unflipped or unskipped. Advertis...
Every R.E.M. Album Ranked From Worst to Best
This definitive ranking of R.E.M.’s discography first appeared in 2017, several years after the band called it quits. It will remain not only to commemorate all the great music R.E.M. has given us over the years but also to burn like a candle — and keep vigil — just in case we one day get to add to it. Either way, we’ll keep going back to Rockville until it truly is the end of the world. It’s been over 40 years since R.E.M. played their first show, a friend’s birthday party in an abandoned church in Athens, Georgia, on April 5th, 1980. It’s hard to believe that a band with a catalog we kept holstered, cocked, and ready throughout our adolescences have turned such an advanced age. (We also must acknowledge that we’ve been drifting through a slightly emptier world for some time now without A...
10 Rock Albums IDLES Thinks Every Fan Should Own
Crate Digging is a recurring feature in which we take a deep dive into a genre and turn up several albums all music fans should know about. In this edition, IDLES guitarist Mark Bowen shares his exclusive picks. 2022 was as good of a year for IDLES as it could have been. After their stunning 2021 album Crawler found them touring the world with a loaded schedule, they played Coachella, Glastonbury, toured the US twice, and, most recently, nabbed a Grammy nomination for Best Rock Album. Since their breakthrough in 2018 with Joy as an Act of Resistance, IDLES have been a leader among their post-punk contemporaries, and their dominance both in their native England and beyond is a testament to their position as one of the biggest rock bands of the last decade. Guitarist Mark Bowen is ...
The Smile’s NPR Tiny Desk Concert Is the Prettiest Set You’ve Heard All Year: Watch
The Smile found themselves, both literally and figuratively, playing a gorgeous Tiny Desk Concert for NPR. According to producer Bob Boilen, Thom Yorke, Jonny Greenwood, and Tom Skinner “arrived early, along with saxophonist Robert Stillman, to test out several tunes and figure out just what made sense behind my desk — minus the volume and effects that shape the album’s sonic landscape. For roughly 90 minutes, the Tiny Desk crew was treated to a casual rehearsal, witnessing the band’s creative companionship work itself out, settling on four songs.” Not all made the final broadcast, with one of the songs falling victim to the band’s relentless perfectionism. “For keen eyes, you’ll see Thom Yorke being handed a guitar for the second tune but all of a sudden he’s playing bass while ...
