Tag: features

  • Of all the rock bands I’ve come across since starting Love is Pop, Dead Letter Circus is one of the most intellectual. Just pick any song from any of their albums and listen to it and you’ll see what I mean. Frontman Kim Benzie’s lyrics require deep thought to fully comprehend; they’re like riveting poetry…

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  • interview by Michael McCarthy Yesterday we ran part one of my interview with Tracii Guns.  If you haven’t read it yet, please READ IT NOW.  In part one, we talked extensively about Tracii’s new band, Devil City Angels, which also features Rudy Sarzo, Rikki Rocket and Brandon Gibbs.  In today’s conclusion we talk about several other…

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  • interview by Michael McCarthy When you hear the name of guitarist Tracii Guns you probably think of his most famous band, L.A. Guns. But I did not ask any L.A. Guns questions during this interview. It simply didn’t occur to me. I’d written questions beforehand, of course, but I had so many questions about his…

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  • Back in 2012 I came across a song called “Karma Debt” by The Mynabirds and instantly fell in love with it. The sound of Laura Burhenn’s vocals alone was bewitching, equal parts velvety smooth and soulful, but her thought-provoking lyrics about war and debt were what really made my brain light up like a Christmas…

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  • Lately, I’ve been checking out a lot of underground rap. I love the latest albums by Kendrick Lamar and A$AP ROCKY, among others, but there are thousands of insanely talented rappers who’ll never get the attention or accolades that they receive, this even though they well-deserve them. Thus, instead of plugging artists you’ve likely checked…

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  • I first encountered The Ballroom Thieves’ music when I was preparing to cover the Boston Calling music festival last month, checking out the bands I wasn’t already  familiar with on Spotify.  I was so impressed with their debut album, A Wolf In The Doorway, that I promptly bought their album from iTunes, as I still believe…

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  • written by Michael McCarthy If this past weekend’s Boston Calling music festival is any indication, 2015 is going to be another beautiful, summer of love… As with the Boston Calling festival I attended last September, the vibes this May were just as warm and fuzzy. I’ve never been so surrounded by shiny, happy people as…

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  • by Joshua Day On Thursday, May 14th the blues world lost a legendary iconic talent. Riley B. King ( b. September 16th, 1925 in Itta Benna, Mississippi ) was better known as B.B. King, He was born on a plantation to sharecroppers, and worked at this job from the very early age of 14. After…

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  • Before The Maine even hit the stage at the House of Blues in Boston on Tuesday, May 5th, 2015 the concert was a big success. There were three opening bands, all young and hungry, bursting with kinetic energy, and they each had plenty of fans in the house. The first up was Technicolors. They were…

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  • First, I have to admit something here: until a few months ago, the only Spandau Ballet song I knew was the ballad “True.” It was released in 1983, which happened to be the year that I discovered heavy metal, so I probably thought it was garbage. At some point, though, it began to make me…

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  • Last night on February 6, 2015 I caught a big concert dubbed “80’s Extravaganza” in the arena at Mohegan Sun Casino.  Some of my Facebook friends were curious about it, so I wrote what now appears below to satisfy their curiosity.  I never intended to post it here but a fellow music critic told me…

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  • It’s possible that more than half the people who’ll read this review have never even heard of Butch Walker. But he’s been one of my favorite artists for as far back as I can remember. When I was just a teenager he was the lead guitarist in a hair band I was really into called…

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  • Much has already been said about Björk’s new album, Vulnicura. For example, the first half of the title seems to be from the Latin word “vulnific,” meaning to cause injury. The second half seems to be from the Middle English word “cura,” meaning to care or cure. And, no, I’m not extremely smart like that.…

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  • interview  by Michael McCarthy It was only around twenty seconds into Night Demon’s debut full-length, Curse of the Damned, when I fell in love with it and knew it was going to be one of the very best metal albums I’d heard in a long time.  The guitars were in the vein of Metallica’s “Whiplash”…

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  • review and interview by Michael McCarthy previously published on OtakuDX Before we get to our interview with J-Pop’s future stars 4TE, I wanted to present a review of their wonderful double A-side MORE / 一歩ずつ… 4TE — pronounced Forte/for-tay — is a red hot new Japanese pop group based out of the U.S. and if…

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