Music News
Incubus Frontman Brandon Boyd Covers Beach House’s “Myth”: Stream
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...
Trent Reznor to Focus on New Nine Inch Nails Music During Quarantine
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 Reveals New Single “I See You”: Stream
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&#...
Green Day, Fall Out Boy, Weezer Postpone “Hella Mega Tour” Until 2021 Due to Coronavirus
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 Announce Debut Album Androgynous Mary, Share “Amber’s Knees”: Stream
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...
Roger Waters Chides David Gilmour Over Pink Floyd Ownership Claims: “Just Change the Name of the Band to Spinal Tap”
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...
Virtual Joey Ramone Birthday Bash Features Members of Ramones, Green Day, Sex Pistols, More
The legendary Joey Ramone would have turned 69 today (May 19th), and the occasion is being marked with the annual “Birthday Bash” tribute in his honor. Only this time, due to the pandemic, it will be a virtual celebration, with members of Ramones, Green Day, Sex Pistols, and more performing. The “Joey Ramone Virtual Birthday Bash” kicks off tonight at 8:00 p.m. ET on the official Facebook page of the late punk icon. Among the performers are onetime Ramones members CJ Ramone and Richie Ramone, Sex Pistols bassist Glen Matlock, Dictators guitarist Andy Shernoff, David Bowie guitarist Earl Slick, and more. A late addition just announced this morning is a debut performance from Green Day’s Billie Joe Armstrong, who has reworked the Ramones’ “Now I Wanna Sniff Some Glue” into “Now I Wanna Drink...
Will Ferrell and Rachel McAdams Sing “Volcano Man” from Netflix’s Eurovision: Watch
The real Eurovision may be cancelled, but this summer Netflix is releasing Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga. The new comedy is out June 26th, and instead of a traditional trailer, the streaming giant has shared “Volcano Man”, a bonkers music video performed by Rachel McAdams and Will Ferrell. In the grand Eurovision tradition, “Volcano Man” is both catchy and utterly nonsensical. It’s nothing more or less than a soaring synth pop ode to a man who lives on a volcano. “Volcano man!” Ferrell roars, as McAdams replies, “He’s got my melting heart!” The video is set on an idyllic Scandinavian fjord, and features viking attire, over-the-top makeup, and lots of Ferrell’s heavy breathing. Check out “Volcano Man” below. Via Rolling Stone, Ferrell and McAdams star as as...
Bono Names Kanye West’s “Black Skinhead” as a Song That “Saved My Life”
For his 60th birthday, U2 frontman Bono curated a list of “60 Songs That Saved My Life”. As part of the project, he penned individual letters to each of the artists behind his songs of choice. Among those receiving the a handwritten note from Bono was Kanye West, whose Yeezus cut “Black Skinhead” sounded like nothing [Bono had] ever heard before.” Bono was actually in the SNL house the night “Black Skinhead” debuted in 2013. “I was a hundred feet away from your feet,” the letter begins. “Your eyes were shut so as not to be distracted from the words you had just written around the corner.” The letter quotes some favorite lyrics, and suggests that with this performance, “It felt like hip hop wanted the black leather jacket back from rock ‘n roll…. and the rock ‘n roll sil...
Dropkick Murphys to Play Audience-Less Concert From Fenway Park With Bruce Springsteen
In the early days of COVID-19, Dropkick Murphys were one of the first bands to stage a digital concert, as they streamed their annual St. Patrick’s Day concert live online. The webcast drew an audience of more than 13 million viewers and raised over $60,000 for the Boston Resiliency Fund, a nonprofit that provides essential services to Boston residents—including first responders and critical care providers — amid the pandemic. Now, the Boston punks have announced a second livestream performance that should prove even more massive. That’s because not only will they be playing live from Fenway Park, they’ll be joined via video by Bruce Springsteen. The digital concert, aptly called Streaming Outta Fenway, will go down Friday, May 29th at 6:00 p.m. EDT. Dropkick Murphys themselves w...
Clutch to Headline Virtual Show with Support from Crowbar and More
Clutch have announced that they’ll headline a full bill of rock and metal, albeit a streaming-only concert due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The veteran hard rockers will play a virtual show that will feature support from Crowbar, Blacktop Mojo, and Saul. For a ticket price of $9, fans will be able to enjoy four bands from the confines of their own homes. The May 27th concert begins at 4:00 p.m. ET with Saul, followed by Blacktop Mojo at 4:35 p.m., then Crowbar at 5:10 p.m., and finally Clutch at 5:55 p.m. A portion of the ticket proceeds will benefit the nonprofit organization Angel Flight West. The streaming show, dubbed “Live From the Doom Saloon Volume 1”, follows a series of informal mini-concerts that Clutch have been performing from their studio in Maryland. Those shows streamed live fo...
Grimes’ Mom Calls Out Elon Musk Over “Red Pill” Comment
Families usually grow closer when a new baby arrives. However, Grimes, Elon Musk, and their newborn son aren’t what you would call your typical family. Just two weeks after the birth of X Æ A-12, Grimes’ mother is feuding with the Space X founder over Twitter. As The Cut points out, the familial tensions began with Musk’s controversial political comments over the weekend. On Twitter, he encouraged his followers to “Take the red pill,” using the memorable Matrix scene as a euphemism for a right-wing political awakening. (The Matrix director Lilly Wachowski promptly took him to task with an f-bomb.) The phrase “red-pilling” also happens to have been infamously adopted by men’s rights activists (more unsavory people, do we sense a pattern here?), and this is where Grimes’ mother, Sandy G...
