Category: Rock

  • review by Michael McCarthy all photos by Joshua Bernard This week I caught Garbage with opener Kristin Kontrol at the House of Blues in Boston on Thursday night (July 28th, 2016). It was something of a dream come true because the last couple of times Garbage passed through Boston they played venues I’m not crazy…

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  • Michael Sweet gave us the distinct impression that his next solo album, One-Sided War, was going to be quite different from Stryper and it really is. (Read our interview here.) For one thing, it’s much, much heavier. There are some Stryper songs that verge on this level of heaviness, absolutely, but I think this is…

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  • Wyatt Blair is a dude from the Los Angeles area who digs the Top Gun soundtrack and Def Leppard. According to his LA Weekly profile, he’s all about Kenny Logins. His album will be out on August 5th via Lolipop/Burger Records. In the meantime, fist pump along to this shiny gold nugget. His tunes are…

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  • Maybe you’ve got the Monday morning blues? Maybe even a Monday morning hangover? Just can’t get motivated today? Well, get ready for a shot of adrenaline! Zebrahead’s latest single, “Who Brings A Knife To A Gunfight” is one of those songs that just overflows with energy, has caffeine bursting out of every chord. Listen to…

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  • Banks & Steelz is a musical collaboration between Wu Tang Clan’s RZA and Interpol’s Paul Banks. Don’t ask me why it’s not called BANKS & RZA or RZA & BANKS. I have no idea. What I do know is that this song kicks some serious fucking ass. RZA delivers verses that call to mind Rage…

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  • Few rock or alternative albums you’ll hear this year are likely to excite you as much as Biffy Clyro’s Ellipsis. If you’re a big fan of Foo Fighters and you’re not already on board the Biffy fanwagon then you need to get on stat because their music never fails to be a vibrant and energetic…

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  • by Michael McCarthy, editor/publisher As I mentioned in my letter from the editor, my focus at this point is on interviews, something I think I’m much better at than writing reviews anyway. When I’m not doing interviews I’ll be hard at work writing books; being an author of fiction and non-fiction has always been my…

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  • “Please tell me I’m broke / It’s much easier that way.” So goes part of X Ambassador’s “Low Life,” a song about fighting the good fight and losing. If you like melancholy, you’re in for a real treat here. This song will have you wishing you were a therapist so you could counsel the band…

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  • Tuesday night – 6/21/16 – I was fortunate to catch Ladyhawke on the opening night of her North American tour, her “first time playing here in ages,” at Brighton Music Hall in Allston (Boston), Massachusetts. First, I must say that I was very impressed with her opening act, Polyvinyl labelmate Psychic Twin, otherwise known as Brooklyn,…

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  • LOS ANGELES, CA – JUNE 20, 2016 – In celebration of the release of their critically acclaimed sixth studio studio album Strange Little Birds, Garbage will perform tonight on Jimmy Kimmel Live. Tune in to ABC at 11:35pm/10:35pm CST to catch the band’s return to late night television. Strange Little Birds was released last Friday, June 10, via…

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  • Elisa has been one of my favorite artists for over a decade now. In Italy, she’s a superstar, a veritable household name. In a perfect world she’d be just as popular here in the States, which she really should be when you consider that 95% of her music is in English. To that end, she’s…

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  • I’m not a big prog rock fan, but I just found out that Donnie Vie — Enuff Z’Nuff’s longtime vocalist who is sadly not in the band anymore — is involved with this project. I’m rather impressed by it, too.

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  • Once upon a time — the mid ’90’s to be precise — I interviewed Nikki Sixx of Motley Crue for my hair metal zine, ANT, The Only Cool Magazine That Bites. I asked him what he was listening to lately and he said “Garbage and God Lives Underwater.” I went to Tower Records on the…

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  • A lot of recent albums by the heavy metal bands I grew up with have disappointed me.  The latest Def Leppard album, for example.  I’ve listened to that one at least 15 times and it does nothing for me.  I just can’t get into it.  I think it’s their first terrible album, really.  Getting to…

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