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#Netflix Review: ROTTEN LEGACY (A.K.A. LEGADO)
by Michael McCarthy I’ve finished watching Rotten Legacy on Netflix. And I really can’t recommend it. For one thing, none of the characters are likable. They’re all self-centered, corrupt assholes, really. The show is centered around a family that owns a media empire. They’re kind of like The Murdochs of Spain. The show reminded me…
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CONCERT REVIEW: KYLIE MINOGUE AT TD GARDEN (BOSTON, MA) 4/9/25
by Michael McCarthy [NOTE: I apologize for this review not having any photos from the show. My cellphone doesn’t have a very good camera so I didn’t take photos last night. Besides, I wanted to fully immerse myself in the show and if you spend half the time taking photos, you’re not enjoying it so…
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#songoftheday = GARBAGE: “THERE’S NO FUTURE IN OPTIMISM”
by Michael McCarthy Today my favorite band has released a delicious new single. The band, of course, is Garbage and the song is called “There’s No Future In Optimism.” Sonically, the Garbage album it sounds the most like would have to be Bleed Like Me, which is largely considered their rock album since they favored…
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EDITORIAL: A FEW WORDS ABOUT BUYING RECORDS TODAY
You know what irritates me as a music fan? There isn’t anywhere around here anymore where you can just go on the day an album is released and know that they will have it. Years ago, you could walk into almost any record store and they would have all of the new releases. They might…
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#albumoftheday = Selena Gomez & benny blanco: I Said I Love You First
by Michael McCarthy Selena Gomez released an excellent new album last Friday. It’s billed as Selena Gomez and benny blanco (for some reason he refuses to capitalize his name), blanco being her producer boyfriend. The album is supposed to tell the story of their romance. Previously, the two collaborated on a track called “I Can’t…
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#nowwatching REVIEW = BETTER MAN
by Michael McCarthy I recently watched the Robbie Williams biopic Better Man. It’s one of the most unusual biopics I’ve ever seen since Robbie Williams is a CGI monkey in the film. No, really, it’s a documentary about Robbie Williams’ life, but he’s a monkey in the movie. I don’t think they ever refer to…
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#songoftheday = VALERIE RENAY: UNDER THE OAK
by Michael McCarthy As even a young child could tell you, songs have the ability to make people feel things. For example, maybe you cry every time you hear “Open Arms” by Journey or “Against All Odds” by Phil Collins. (Truth be told, these songs usually do make me cry.). On the other hand, there…
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GARBAGE ANNOUNCE NEW ALBUM – READ THE FULL PRESS RELEASE
INFLUENTIAL ALTERNATIVE ROCK BAND GARBAGE ANNOUNCE THEIR HIGHLY ANTICIPATED NEW ALBUM LET ALL THAT WE IMAGINE BE THE LIGHT OUT MAY 30 LET ALL THAT WE IMAGINE BE THE LIGHT IS THE BAND’S EIGHTH STUDIO ALBUM AND ACCORDING TO SHIRLEY MANSON, WAS FORGED OUT OF THE NEED TO FIND AN UPLIFTING THREAD AMIDST THE SWELL…
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REVIEW: EL INOCENTE (THE INNOCENT) (Netflix)
by Michael McCarthy I’ve just finished watching a brilliant limited series on Netflix. It’s called The Innocent and it’s an adaptation of a Harlan Coben novel. The surprising thing, for me, is that I’ve watched quite a few series based on his books and usually I hate them. They’re predictable, there aren’t enough plot twists,…
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NETFLIX REVIEW ROUND UP: Wrong Side of the Tracks, The Snow Girl, The Recruit
by Michael McCarthy I watched the fourth season of Wrong Side of the Tracks (also known as Entrevias) on Netflix this weekend. It’s an excellent Spanish series about this small suburb where the elderly old guys who’ve lived there all of their lives clash with the drug dealers and other assorted thugs. Definitely a vigilante…
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IT’S A DAMN SHAME – AN INTERVIEW WITH RECORD STORE OWNER ADAM O’DONNELL
interview and photos by Michael McCarthy I recently met with Adam O’Donnell, the owner of A Damn Shame Records, located at Mill No. 5 in Lowell, Massachusetts, to do an in person interview. The interview went well, Adam proving to be a terrific and insightful person to interview. There was just one problem. My trusty…
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THE SECOND COMING OF ROB FITZ
interview by Michael McCarthy Since one Wednesday in June of 2015, Rob Fitz has been hosting a weekly movie night event called Weirdo Wednesday at The Luna Theater located in Mill No. 5 in Lowell, Massachusetts. Sadly, it was recently announced that the mill is closing at the end of the month. The final edition…
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series #review: DEATH’S GAME
by Michael McCarthy I have another amazing Korean series to tell you about. This one is called Death’s Game and it’s exclusively on Prime in the U.S. It’s an 8 episode limited series. And I can promise you that it will blow you away. Without giving too much away, I’ll tell you that it begins…
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#review: HAPPINESS
by Michael McCarthy I finished watching the Korean zombie series Happiness today. It’s from 2021 but it only just arrived on Netflix. It wasn’t a very scary zombie series but one of the more realistic ones I’ve seen. I also liked the zombie origin part of the story, which is that it starts as a…
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A QUICK WORD ABOUT PRIME’S SUBTITLE HICCUPS
I don’t know why Prime can’t make their subtitles work better. If you watch things with subtitles on Netflix, occasionally someone will say something and a subtitle for it won’t appear. It’s some sort of glitch — when this has happened when I’ve been watching things, if you rewind it and play the part it…
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MOVIE REVIEW: THE SUBSTANCE
by Michael McCarthy After watching Project Wolf Hunting yesterday, I decided to watch another movie. And I decided to watch another movie that was supposed to be really strange and genre-bending, The Substance starring Demi Moore and Margaret Qualley, a young actress I don’t think I’d ever seen in anything before. Moore plays a woman…
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SERIES REVIEW: THE SOUND OF YOUR HEART
by Michael McCarthy I have just finished watching the funniest series I have ever seen. It’s a Korean sitcom called The Sound of Your Heart. It focuses on an approximately 30 year old webtoon artist who lives with his parents and brother. And it’s just full of absolutely hilarious stuff. I could tell you about…
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MOVIE REVIEW: PROJECT WOLF HUNTING
by Michael McCarthy If you like violent movies, you have to see the Korean movie Project Wolf Hunting. Rated NC 17 just for violence. Basically, a bunch of criminals are being extradited from Korea and they’re sending them back via a cargo ship because another method was tried previously and there was a problem. So…
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#nowwatching – Fix You (a.k.a. Soul Mechanics)
by Michael McCarthy I am currently watching a Kdrama called Fix You. It’s another series starring Jung So Min, who’s become my favorite Korean actress. Like many Kdramas, it has another title for some reason, which is Soul Mechanics. I’m watching it on Viki but it’s also on Kocowa. In any case, Jung So Min…
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A Few Words about Metallica’s black album and St. Anger
by Michael McCarthy What you’re about to read is a Facebook post that I found myself writing this morning after someone mentioned Metallica’s black album in a music community on there and most people had very negative things to say about it. ### I find it fascinating how so many people hate Metallica’s so-called black…
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#review D Day (Kdrama)
by Michael McCarthy I finished watching the Kdrama D Day this week. It’s from 2015, but the production values are right up there with the production values of all the great stuff coming out these days. It takes place in Seoul after a 6.5 magnitude earthquake does severe damage to the city. In the show…
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#review Gwen Stefani – Bouquet
by Michael McCarthy When I heard that Gwen Stefani was making a country album, I shrieked. I was a fan of No Doubt, but Gwen Stefani’s first two solo albums are my favorite things she’s done. Both truly brilliant albums and very innovative. When I heard that Gwen Stefani was releasing a new album, I…
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A WORD ABOUT SLOWED DOWN, SPED UP & BACKWARDS ALBUMS
by Michael McCarthy The female solo artist Lykke Li has released an “inverted” version of her last album, EYEYE. And by inverted, what means is simply that they the tracks are all backwards. They just took the songs, switched them to backwards, and released it. Talk about a lame way to make a new album.…
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concert review: Marvelous 3 in Boston 11/10/24
by Michael McCarthy I went to the Marvelous 3 show in Boston. It was quite marvelous indeed. To tell you the truth, I had slightly mixed feelings going into the show because I do much prefer Butch’s solo stuff over M3 but as soon as they hit the stage and started playing “Little Head” I…
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#firstimpression: HALSEY: THE GREAT IMPERSONATOR
by Michael McCarthy I will write a proper review of this album soon, but I wanted to share some of my initial thoughts because I was mighty impressed and the album comes out today. Halsey’s new album is out today. It’s called The Great Impersonator and it’s truly brilliant. This is her fifth album. I…
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#songoftheday = VALERIE RENAY: “PEEL THE SKIN”
by Michael McCarthy Longtime readers of Love is Pop will know Valerie Renay as one half of the mesmerizing Berlin duo Noblesse Oblige. Valerie has now released a new solo single entitled “Peel The Skin.” It’s something of a genre bender but if we had to assign it one, it would have to be trip-hop,…
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CONCERT REVIEW: VAIN AT TAFFETA (10/18/24)
by Michael McCarthy Last Friday night I saw Vain at Taffeta in Lowell, Massachusetts. Vain is one of my favorite bands of the genre and has been since their debut No Respect came out way back in the day. When they basically vanished from releasing music in most of the world, I always bought their…
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REVIEW: GYEONGSEONG CREATURE SEASON 2
review by Michael McCarthy Just finished watching season two of Gyeongseong Creature. There were times when I found it a bit confusing because sometimes it felt like it was in the middle of an important scene and then it would just cut to another scene and you didn’t get to see how the scene that…
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#review = Kacey Musgraves at TD Garden (9/6/24)
In a word, last night’s Kacey Musgraves concert at TD Garden in Boston was awesome. She opened the show with “Cardinal,” the first song from her latest album, Deeper Well. It’s my favorite song on the album and in the live format it had more energy and color than it does on the record. Don’t…
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#songoftheday = Auni: “The Road”
by Michael McCarthy The gifted singer/songwriter known as Auni has just released a new single entitled “The Road.” If you like pretty and light songs with a bit of a new age vibe then this one is for you. Auni’s ethereal vocals dance and play above some of the sweetest sounding keyboards you’ve ever heard…
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#review: Motley Crue: Mohegan Sun 8/31/24
by Michael McCarthy The Motley Crue concert I attended at Mohegan Sun Arena last night was better than that Twin Cities review said but definitely not great either. (Spoilers ahead ) No opening band. No merch for sale. No encore. And they only played 80 minutes, which includes a ten minute, boring guitar solo by…
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HAPPY ANNIVERSARY: WARRANT’S DOG EAT DOG
by Michael McCarthy 32 years ago today Warrant released their third album, Dog Eat Dog. It just so happens to be one of my top five albums of all-time. What are they?1. Butch Walker – Letters2. Motley Crue – Shout At The Devil3. Warrant – Dog Eat Dog4. Bon Jovi – These Days5. Mylene Farmer…
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#review: MOTLEY CRUE: “FIGHT FOR YOUR RIGHT (TO PARTY)
by Michael McCarthy Motley Crue really want to end their career, eh? As if their last single “Dogs of War” wasn’t awful enough, they’ve just followed it up with a terrible cover of The Beastie Boys’ “Fight For Your Right To Party.” The biggest problem I have with it is the guitars. They’re such idiots…
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NETFLIX REC: KUBRA
If you’re looking for something mesmerizing to binge-watch, check out Kubra on Netflix. The second season just came out. In the first season, someone named Kubra starts text messaging a guy and convinces him that God is speaking to him. And he kind of becomes this activist/prophet figure with all kinds of supporters and such.…
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FIRST IMPRESSION REVIEW: BON JOVI: FOREVER
review by Michael McCarthy I thought the new Bon Jovi singles, “Legendary” and “Living Proof,” were pretty good. And I figured the rest of their new album, Forever, would be better because for some reason they always release the kind of generic anthems as their first couple of singles. Unfortunately, I’ve just listened to the…
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FAREWELL TO VINYL DESTINATION: A CONVERSATION WITH DAVE PERRY
interview by Michael McCarthy The following interview with Dave Perry, the owner of the late Lowell, Massachusetts record store Vinyl Destination, took place on Wednesday, May 1st, 2024. We did the interview inside of what was once Dave’s shop and where a large number of records remain. (A new owner will be opening A Damn…
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#review – Motley Crue: “Dogs of War”
review by Michael McCarthy The new Motley Crue single, “Dogs of War,” is horrible. Just plain lame. As usual, Nikki was lying or delusional when he said that it was like something off of Too Fast For Love or Shout At the Devil. It’s not like either of those albums. John 5 has turned Motley…
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#nowwatching: HBO’s TRUE DETECTIVE: NIGHT COUNTRY
review by Michael McCarthy I ended up really liking True Detective: Night Country. At first I was skeptical because I couldn’t tell if there was supposed to be a supernatural element to this season. A bunch of people had died under very weird circumstances and I couldn’t come up with any rational, scientific explanation for…
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#albumoftheday = El Perro Del Mar: Big Anonymous
review by Michael McCarthy Today’s #albumoftheday is Big Anonymous by El Perro Del Mar (Sarah Assbring), which is her first new release since the album KoKoro from 2016. Big Anonymous just came out today on February 16, 2024. I’m only listening to it for the first time as I write this but I wanted to…
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#albumoftheday = Madonna: American Life
review by Michael McCarthy Today’s #albumoftheday is Madonna’s criminally under-rated 2003 album American Life. Depending on when you ask me, it may be my favorite or second favorite Madonna album. It’s impossible to choose between American Life and Like A Virgin. I’m a big fan of electronic pop music, which is probably why I love…
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#albumoftheday = Bon Jovi: These Days
review by Michael McCarthy Bon Jovi’s 1995 masterpiece These Days is today’s album of the day. It’s one of the albums that Bon Jovi fans argue about the most. It seems like everyone either loves it or hates it. I’ve mentioned it before and had many people tell me it’s their favorite Bon Jovi album…
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#albumoftheday = Ayumi Hamasaki: “I am…”
Today’s #albumoftheday is Ayumi Hamasaki’s 2002 masterpiece I am…, which is one of my favorite J-Pop albums of all time. I suppose I might also say that it’s one of my favorite J-Rock albums of all-time, too, since it’s arguably the most rock-flavored album in Ayumi’s extensive discography. Ayumi Hamasaki is one of the most…
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#albumoftheday = Paola & Chiara: Television
Television is the third album by the Italian sister duo Paola & Chiara. Their first album was pop rock and the second was more of a proper rock album, though a catchy and colorful one at that. However, Television is nothing like their first two records except for the fact that it’s the same two…
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#album of the day: Warrant’s Dog Eat Dog
Today’s album of the day is one of my top five favorite albums of all-time, Warrant’s masterpiece Dog Eat Dog. This was the band’s third album and the final record that frontman Jani Lane wrote entirely by himself. After this album flopped, he lost his confidence and the other guys in the band started co-writing…
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NEW MUSIC ALERT: TWINKLING LIGHTS EP BY AUNI
LISTEN ON SPOTIFY review by Michael McCarthy I know that the holiday season is largely behind us as I write this on New Year’s Day 2024, but unfortunately I wasn’t able to post this when Auni first sent us to it because I was in dire need of a new computer, which I now have.…
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REVIEW: ROBBIE WILLIAMS (DOCUSERIES ON NETFLIX)
I finished watching Netflix’s four episode documentary Robbie Williams today. In case you don’t know (like most Americans), Robbie Williams is one of the most successful pop stars in UK history. At the peak of his career, he was bigger than The Beatles. For me, he’s always been like my Elvis. I’ve really idolized him…
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THE BEST OF 2022 (ACCORDING TO LOVE IS POP)
by Michael McCarthy (Beaulieu) & Jay Cavalon First of all, I’m sure some of you will think that we’ve put some of these albums in the wrong categories. To that end, all we can say is that the best albums often transcend genre classifications and that this was what we came up with after careful…
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#albumoftheday – The North Atlantic All Star Band: One More Christmas (The Gift)
Once upon a time I published a hair metal zine called ANT, The Only Cool Magazine That Bites. During that time, there was a rock band out of the Boston area that I fell in love with called Ragtime. They weren’t exactly a hair band but I think they’d agree that they were fairly in…
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#songoftheday – D.I.L.F. USA: “COUNTDOWN TO CHRISTMAS”
. Have you caught the holiday spirit yet this year? If not, no worries, we have the perfect new Christmas tune to get you in the mood! D.I.L.F. USA’s “Countdown To Christmas” is a deliciously uptempo, rockin’ ditty that’s sure to infect you with cheer, cheer and more cheer. Crank up the volume on your…
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She Is My Darkness He Is My Light
It’s Halloween time! Whether you’re embroiled in “Jason vs. Freddy” debates, or you’re finding that It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown is more your speed, there are plenty of classic movie options to keep you feeling festive. For many, including me, spooky season would not be complete without a viewing of Tim Burton’s The Nightmare…
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THE THIRD TIME’S A CHARM: A NEW INTERVIEW WITH DONNIE VIE
interview by Michael McCarthy As the pandemic finally seems to be coming towards some semblance of an end, more and more rockers are getting back up on the stage where they belong. One rocker who recently did some live shows for the first time in a few years was Donnie Vie, who you may remember…
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#songoftheday – BUTCH WALKER: “HOLY WATER HANGOVER”
The man, the myth and the legend… The one and only Butch Walker makes a triumphant return with “holy Water Hangover,” a melancholic, gospel-esque, R&B tinged ballad that will having you hailing the God that is Walker! It comes from his new album “Butch Walker as… Glenn,” which drops on August 26th! We can’t wait!!!
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#songoftheday = STRYPER: “SEE NO EVIL, HEAR NO EVIL”
Stryper slows things down a bit on their new single, “See No Evil, Hear No Evil,” but it’s certainly no less blistering than their usual fare. We’re especially loving Perry Richardson’s top notch bass playing on this one, although the whole band is sounding ace as usual. Color us excited for Stryper’s upcoming album.
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PERFECTLY IMPERFECT: AN INTERVIEW WITH CHIP Z’NUFF OF ENUFF Z’NUFF
interview by Michael McCarthy On March 18th, 2022, Frontiers Music Srl will be releasing another album from our good friend Chip Z’Nuff of Enuff Z’Nuff. This time around it’s a solo album called Perfectly Imperfect and it’s a delightful joyride showcasing Chip’s wide range of influences, which span everything from Cheap Trick to Guns ‘N’…
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The Magical Mystery Tour 2021: An Interview with Chip Z’Nuff of Enuff Z’Nuff
interview by Michael McCarthy “The Magical Mystery Tour is coming to take you away!!!” That’s because Chip Z’Nuff and Enuff Z’Nuff have just released a truly wonderful new album on Frontiers Records. It’s a glorious homage to The Beatles called Enuff Z’Nuff’s Hardrock Nite (a play on The Beatles’ A Hard Day’s Night). It features…
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BEFORE AND WAY AFTER: AN INTERVIEW WITH JUSTIN MASTERS
interview by Michael McCarthy Singer/songwriter Justin Masters is one cool dude! He’s also a great friend. As someone who’s known him since the mid-90s or thereabouts, I am proud to know him and I’m even prouder that he’s releasing his music. Before And Way After is his second album, but rather than a follow-up to…
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#review – RESIDENT PLAYBOOK (NETFLIX)
by Michael McCarthy As I am sure you all must know, there was a popular Korean medical drama called Hospital Playlist. It was centered around these five doctors who went to school together and were all good friends. When they were younger, they were in a band together so one of the characters tells the…
I’m glad you like Television and I think all of the versions should be on Spotify!
Great review!
I’ve grown to love this album over the years. It’s so underappreciated. Thanks for the thoughtful review.
Very nice and informative interview
I really enjoyed this review. I was at the MSG shows and they were equally impressive.