Punk Rock
Faith No More, Stone Sour, Lagwagon Members Form Dirty O’Keeffe, Unleash “Brick or Bullet”: Stream
Members of Faith No More, Stone Sour, Lagwagon, and Trash N’ Privilege have started a quarantine band called Dirty O’Keeffe, introducing themselves with the single “Brick or Bullet”. The group features bassist Billy Gould (Faith No More), Christian Martucci (guitarist for Stone Sour and Corey Taylor’s solo band), drummer Dave Raun (Lagwagon), and guitarist Steve Shephard (Trash N’ Privilege). “Brick or Bullet” is a riff-heavy rocker that features lead vocals by Martucci, who also delivers a blistering guitar solo around the two-minute mark. There’s no word yet on whether it’s a one-off song or if the new outfit has more music on the way. Gould had time to work on the new project after Faith No More’s summer tour with Korn was canceled due to the pandemic. Other Faith No More members have a...
Hardcore Band Regional Justice Center Announce New Album, Unleash “Absence” and “Inhuman Joy”: Stream
Hardcore quartet Regional Justice Center have announced their sophomore full-length, Crime and Punishment. The band has also shared two fiery songs from the LP, “Absence” and “Inhuman Joy”. The album follows a prolific string of 7-inch splits and EPs by Regional Justice Center, who paired their output with an exhaustive touring itinerary prior to the pandemic. In the meantime, the band’s calculated intensity has grown even more ferocious, as heard on new tracks “Absence” and “Inhuman Joy”. The songs operate in a duality, the former holding to a classic hardcore template of blasting rhythms and urgent lyricism, and the latter pitched down to a bass-heavy dirge. The distinct writing style of vocalist/multi-instrumentalist Ian Shelton shows through on both tracks. In a press release, the...
New Punk Band Rest Easy Debut with Blistering Single “Get Busy Dyin’”: Stream
Rest Easy, a new band from Vancouver, are giving off some old-school hardcore punk vibes with their debut single “Get Busy Dyin’”. The track comes in advance of the group’s Sick Day EP, due February 12th. The quartet, which features members of the Vancouver band Daggermouth and the Seattle outfit Shook Ones, recently inked a deal with Mutant League Records. The single, “Get Busy Dyin’”, sounds modern and classic at the same time, with sonic nods to legendary acts like Minor Threat and 7 Seconds. The Sick Day EP was recorded in the fall by producer Tim Creviston (Misery Signals) and mixed and mastered by Paul Miner at Buzzbomb Studios in Orange, California. As for the formation of the band, guitarist Kenny Lush commented, “Some old friends, some laptops, GarageBand, some spicy r...
King Crimson’s Robert Fripp and Wife Toyah Unveil Cheerleader Rendition of Billy Idol’s “Rebel Yell”: Watch
A week after going viral with an eye-catching cover of Metallica’s “Enter Sandman”, King Crimson founder Robert Fripp and his singer wife Toyah are back with an equally fun rendition of Billy Idol’s “Rebel Yell”. The couple have been putting an eccentric spin on rock classics as part of their “Sunday Lunch” quarantine series for a few months now, but last weekend’s cover of the iconic Metallica tune completely blew up, garnering nearly 3 million views to date. Judging by the pun-filled comments on YouTube and social media, it was Toyah’s revealing choice of attire that made the clip a whopping sensation, even more so than the quirkiness of her singing the iconic metal song while riding an exercise bike. Now, the playful pair take on Billy Idol’s sing-along anthem “Rebel Yell”, with Toyah d...
AFI Return with New Songs “Twisted Tongues” and “Escape From Los Angeles”: Stream
AFI have unleashed two new songs — “Twisted Tongues” and “Escape From Los Angeles” — ahead of a new album planned for 2021. Both tracks can be heard in the visualizers below. The two new songs mark the veteran California rock act’s first new music since they dropped the five song EP The Missing Man in December 2018. When a new LP arrives, it will be the band’s first since 2017’s AFI (The Blood Album). “Twisted Tongues” explores AFI’s goth-rock side, while “Escape From Los Angeles” gives off more of a punk vibe — both highlighted by singer Davey Havok’s signature haunting vocals. “As I recall, ‘Twisted Tongues’ came of the Blood era and was the first piece of music we explored on the new album,” Havok explained of “Twisted Tongues” in a press release. “The dreaminess of the music lyrically ...
NOFX announce new album, unveil single “Linewleum” featuring Avenged Sevenfold: Stream
Los Angeles punk veterans NOFX have announced their 14th full-length LP, titled Single Album. In advance of its February 26th release, frontman Fat Mike and co. have unveiled the single “Linewleum” featuring contributions from members of Avenged Sevenfold. Single Album marks NOFX’s first LP since 2016’s First Ditch Effort. It is also the band’s first album since members of NOFX made highly insensitive onstage comments about the country music fans who died in the horrific Route 91 Harvest music festival massacre in Las Vegas in 2017. While the band apologized profusely, they were dropped from their own Punk in Drublic festival’s lineup and had a series of tour dates canceled. The new single, “Linewleum”, is actually an update of NOFX’s song “Linoleum”, which was the lead track on their 1994...
Beach Slang’s James Alex Accused of Abuse, Now Receiving Treatment Following Suicide Attempt
Last week, Beach Slang frontman James Alex was accused of years of abuse by former manager Charlie Lowe. Now, in a lengthy statement, Alex’s family has revealed that Alex has since been admitted into “an inpatient facility after attempting to take his life.” The note also says that Beach Slang have officially broken up. On Tuesday, January 5th, Lowe tweeted, “I endured constant emotional, psychological & narcissistic abuse from James Alex for years.” She added, “I have learned he sells his too-kind-to-be-true persona to hide that he is truly the most selfish horrible person I will ever meet.” As a result of the alleged abuse, Lowe claimed she was diagnosed with C-PTSD (complex posttraumatic stress disorder).” The statement from Alex’s family, shared this afternoon via Beach Slang’s soc...
King Crimson’s Robert Fripp and Wife Toyah Perform Eccentric Covers of Nirvana, Alice Cooper, GN’R, and Sex Pistols: Watch
King Crimson’s Robert Fripp and his singer wife, Toyah Willcox, have stayed busy in recent weeks with eccentric interpretations of classic heavy songs by Nirvana, Alice Cooper, Guns N’ Roses, and Sex Pistols. They’re the latest additions to the couple’s “Sunday Lunch” pandemic performance series. You may remember the couple’s utterly bizarre Halloween rendition of Black Sabbath’s “Paranoid”, which saw Fripp playing the song on guitar while Willcox sang and danced in what appeared to be a prison cell. Although the new covers aren’t quite as unconventional as the Sabbath performance, they still showcase the idiosyncratic talents of each artist. Fripp tends to handle most of the music, while Willcox sings and supplies interpretative dances, including a one-person mosh for Nirvana’s “Smells Li...
Patti Smith Announces Birthday Livestream Performance
For years, Patti Smith has celebrated her birthday by playing an intimate gig with friends in New York. Thankfully, the punk rock pioneer is carrying on the tradition this year — albeit in the form of a livestream. On December 30th, Smith will perform with her band for the first time in 2020. Their show will be streamed by Veeps, which Smith recently used to broadcast a solo set of hers on Black Friday. “I just thought it would be nice to uphold that tradition in a certain way because it’s always a joyful moment,” Smith said in an interview with Rolling Stone. “I love birthdays because we’re born and life is the greatest thing we have, I just thought it would be a nice thing to share with everybody.” Smith sees the one-off show as something of a makeup for the world tour she...
Top 30 Metal + Hard Rock Albums of 2020
Our Annual Report looks back upon the strange year that was 2020 and the music, film, and television that came with it. Here, we present our Top 30 Metal + Hard Rock Albums of 2020. In a year we’d mostly like to forget, the world of heavy music brought us many memorable releases. While we wait for concerts to return, we have a treasure trove of new metal and hard rock albums that amplify the anticipation of seeing our favorite bands return to stages. 2020 has been dominated by a worldwide pandemic, and if anything can provide us with a daily distraction from the suffering and uncertainty, it’s good music. Thankfully, dozens of bands decided to release new albums this year, despite not being able to tour in support of their latest studio efforts. As a reminder that life is filled with comeb...
Bad Religion Announce Four-Part “Decades” Streaming Performance Series
Bad Religion were hoping to tour in celebration of their 40th anniversary this year. Instead, the punk-rock veterans will mark the milestone with a four-part streaming performance series dubbed “Decades”. “Decades” will be divided into four episodes, one for each decade of the band’s existence: “The ’80s”, “The ’90s, “The ’00s”, “The ’10s”. Each episode will feature footage from a new set filmed at The Roxy Theatre in Los Angeles. In addition to the new performances of songs from each era, the episodes will include exclusive interviews, archival footage from each decade, and more. The band will also participate in a live chat as each episode premieres. “I can speak for the whole band when I say that we were so disappointed to not be able to tour this year,” said singer Greg Graffin in a pr...
Distillers, My Chemical Romance, Murder by Death, and Thursday Members Cover Annie Lennox: Stream
Distillers singer Brody Dalle leads a new quarantine rendition of the Annie Lennox hit “Walking on Broken Glass” featuring members of My Chemical Romance, Murder by Death, and Thursday, among others. The performance is the latest in the “Bedroom Covers” series from the Two Minutes to Late Night YouTube channel. Dalle shares vocal duties with Murder by Death singer Adam Turla, as My Chemical Romance guitarist Frank Iero, Thursday drummer Tucker Rule, and Soul Glo bassist GG Guerra back them up. As always, Two Minutes to Late Night host Gwarsenio Hall (aka Jordan Olds) is on board to provide additional vocals and guitar. The all-star group of performers take Annie Lennox’s 1992 pop classic and give it a punk and metal vibe, with some heavy guitars and Dalle’s raspy delivery. Murder by D...
