In our new music feature Origins, artists provide their listeners a bit of insight into the inspirations behind their latest song. Today, S.G Goodman explains what gives her that “Old Time Feeling”. The idea that we are somehow more divided than ever rings a bit false if you really think about it. It’s just now the extremes seem louder, spurred on by dire times and combative voices rising to the top. But even as the anger boils ever hotter, it’s important to remember that no matter where you’re from, there are allies everywhere. For S.G Goodman, that means maintaining an identity as a proud Southerner, even when her views conflict with those around her. Growing up in Kentucky along the Mississippi Delta, Goodman was well-versed in the conservative ideals and the concept of “the good old da...
Madeline Kenney has announced her third studio album, Sucker’s Lunch. Set to arrive July 31st through Carpark Records, it’s being teased with a lead single titled “Sucker” featuring Lambchop frontman Kurt Wagner. For her first two full-lengths, Kenney enlisted the help of two special musicians; Toro y Moi produced 2017’s Night Night at the First Landing, while Jenn Wasner of Wye Oak handled production on the 2018 follow-up, Perfect Shapes. Kenney has again brought in outside talent for Sucker’s Lunch, this time turning to all of Wye Oak — both Wasner and Andy Stack. All three artists co-produced and pieced together the new album during quick studio sessions held in Durham, San Francisco, and Kenney’s hometown of Oakland. Musically, the forthcoming LP is said to lean more int...
IDLES’ “Mr. Motivator” video Just when we could all use a boost, IDLES are back with a rallying new song called “Mr. Motivator”. It serves as the first official preview of their new album. With their signature breed of stomping punk instrumentation and frontman Joe Talbot’s wily vocals, the Bristol natives crank through a whole batch of self-admitted cliches in the name of inspiration. “Like Conor McGregor with a samurai sword on roller blades/ Like Vasyl Lomachenko after four pints of Gatorade”, hacks Talbot during the track’s first verse. “Let’s seize the day/ All hold hands/ Chase the pricks away”, he chants throughout its cheery refrain. “Mr. Motivator” falls in line with the style of rough-and-tough positivity that IDLES became known for on their 2018 record, Joy As ...
Like many musicians these days, Incubus frontman Brandon Boyd has been recording new material to pass the time in quarantine. Earlier this month, the veteran rocker put his own spin on Ricky and Morty song “Goodbye Moonmen”; now, Boyd has shared a cover of the 2012 Beach House single “Myth”. While Beach House’s Bloom original unfurled like a blanket of dream pop, the allure of Boyd’s rendition is found it in its simplicity. The Incubus leader croons across spare guitar strums, effectively turning the track into an aching acoustic rock ballad. Hear it below. Editors’ Picks For more of Incubus, fans may need to lean hard on Boyd’s surprise covers — at least for the next few months. This afternoon, the band announced on Facebook that it was officially canceling its US tour with 311...
The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in the cancelation of thousands of tours, including ones that hadn’t even been publicly announced. For example, Nine Inch Nails had planned to return to the road this fall for a series of North American dates alongside Savages’ Jehnny Beth. Now, NIN’s Trent Reznor is selling merchandise for this scrapped outing and donating the proceeds to charity. “I suppose I can let you know we HAD a tour booked this fall that continued and expanded ‘Cold and Black and Infinite’. @jehnnybeth was coming along with us. We were excited. I’m bumming myself out right now… We had some merch for that tour in production that we’re putting in the store with all of NIN’s profits going to local food banks in the cities we were going to play.” All is not lost: Reznor is using his ...
Phoebe Bridgers has broken off another single from her forthcoming Punisher album. It’s dubbed “I See You” and streaming below. The indie songwriter has also announced a series of upcoming virtual “tour dates”. Today’s track was originally named “ICU”, but tweaked recently in light of the ongoing health crisis. (Or as Bridgers succinctly put it in a statement, “*gestures at entire world*”.) Per the indie songwriter, “I See You” is about her breakup with her drummer. “We dated for a few years, made music every day, and were extremely codependent,” explained our former Artist of the Month. “We became like family to each other, so our breakup was extremely tough. But if this tells you anything about our relationship, we wrote this song together, just like everything else.” Editors...
Weezer (photo by Ben Kaye), Green Day (photo by Heather Kaplan), and Fall Out Boy (photo by Philip Cosores) Sadly, the “Hella Mega Tour” has been hella postponed. Green Day, Fall Out Boy, and Weezer were set to perform together throughout Europe and North America this summer, but now they’ve announced that they’re pushing the entire outing back to Summer 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The massive tour was originally supposed to begin overseas on June 13th. That European leg, which was scrapped back in April, also featured stops in Vienna, London, and Dublin. The pop punk triad were then scheduled to play North America from mid-July through the end of August. That itinerary included the cities of Seattle, Los Angeles, Houston, Jacksonville, and Atlanta, as well as Chicago, Detroit, New ...
Girl Friday have announced their debut album Androgynous Mary. In anticipation of the August 21st release, the genre-fluid rockers have shared the music video for their lead single “Amber’s Knees: A Matter of Concern”. The LA quartet first gained national attention when they were named finalists in the 2018 Vans Share the Stage competition. Girl Friday followed that accomplishment with the 2019 Fashion Conman EP, a marvelous project that sounded like Robert Smith went surfing with Iggy Pop. “Amber’s Knees: A Matter of Concern” continues the exploration of sunny, guitard-driven post-punk. It’s melodically simple but structurally dense, with an intro, a couple of verses, a big shout-a-long chorus, a bridge, and an outro, all crammed into a tight three minutes. In a statement, Girl Frida...
Prior to the pandemic and global lockdown, the surviving members of Pink Floyd held a peace summit to discuss a re-release of their 1977 album, Animals, and other issues that have long caused inner-band tensions. Things didn’t go as planned, however: Roger Waters seemed to insinuate that drummer Nick Mason sided with David Gilmour. “I actually suggested going democratic. I said, ‘Why don’t we just have a vote? There’s only three of us…’ No, no, they wouldn’t have that. God knows why,” Waters recounted in a recent interview with Rolling Stone. Waters said the experience reminded him of why he left Pink Floyd in the first place and quickly dismissed the idea of a post-COVID reunion as something that “would be fucking awful.” He added, “Would I trade my liberty for those chains? No fucki...