Despite all the territory they’ve covered in their near-thirty tenure, AFI retains an impressively conspicuous identity. It’s the Tim Burton condition in which, despite rejecting the confines of any categorical genre with each new release, they have an innate flair that renders them instantly recognizable. But that’s not to say that they exist outside the realm of reasonable comparison. We scoured the alternative underground to prove that point. And while we can’t promise the recreation of that first magical moment you first heard Sing The Sorrow, we did pluck a handful of new music recommendations from the AFI ethos. Representing… Read more »
Polaris are back to claim the metalcore crown with their new album ‘Fatalism’, a summation of the darkness and despair of the last few years.
The sophomore slump. Second-year blues. The “difficult” second album. None of these phrases are in Alex Turner’s vocabulary. As frontman for the Arctic Monkeys, one of Britain’s most successful and important bands of the decade, Turner is unfazed by the pitfalls of following up a zeitgeist-shaping debut. “Was it a difficult album to record? No,” Turner says from Milan, in the midst of a promotional tour, “because ever since we finished the first album (in September 2005), we’ve been writing songs for this one. So it wasn’t like a rush at the last minute.” Nonetheless, things have changed in Monkeyworld.… Read more »
Beyoncé Knowles, multiplatinum sweetheart of the music award show circuit this year, was exhausted. She’d just appeared on the Vibe Awards and breathlessly arrived across town just in time to change clothes and take bows at the VH1 Awards. “Too many,” she said as she leaned against a wall backstage. Bad planning by VH1 and Vibe? Not really, there were four award shows that week including the American Music Awards and they were bound to butt heads somewhere. With television networks relentlessly reaching for younger viewers, an unprecedented 26 music award shows are now on cable and network TV. “There’s… Read more »
Call them the new poster boys of pop punk. Dub them bearers of a torch once carried by Green Day and Rancid. Pronounce them the best thing to happen to the genre since the invention of the pogo. Just don’t call New Found Glory the next big thing. “I’d hate to be the next big thing,” singer Jordan Pundik said. Rather than ride a rocket to the top, Pundik and bandmates Cyrus Bolooki (drums), Chad Gilbert (guitar), Ian Grushka (bass) and Steve Klein (guitar) adopt a policy of slow and steady, careful not to suffer from overexposure. “Our videos aren’t… Read more »
