The punk world is abuzz: Boston’s infamous hardcore Celts the Dropkick Murphys’ latest album Blackout (the second since letting their numbers swell to oh, seven) is the deciding factor: does it manage to successfully blend old school punk rock anger with their leaning trend towards… folk? “It certainly has,” reassures frontman Al Barr. “It went unbelievably well. A lot of people thought we’d be too busy putting out fires inside the band with that many people, but this album was really collaborative. The same core of people did the majority of writing and I’ve been starting to get more involved… Read more »
A former member of the 1960s folk-rock group We Five, who also produced a major Billy Joel album, has died. Michael Stewart was 57. Stewart, who produced Joel’s breakthrough album “Piano Man,” died Wednesday in Sacramento after a long illness. We Five had a hit in 1965 with its song “You Were on My Mind,” and the group earned a Best New Group Grammy nomination that same year. Stewart moved into producing albums and singles for Joel, Tom Jones, Kenny Rankin and Amad Jamal. Stewart is survived by his wife and three children.
On Tuesday, Nappy Roots spent the first part of their day performing free of charge for sixth- and eighth-grade assemblies at Middle School 52 in the Bronx. Later that night, it was all about the Benjamins as they opened for Sugar Ray at Manhattan’s Hammerstein Ballroom. Although the six-man collective is on the rise via its single “Awnaw” and rubbing shoulders with the likes of Mark McGrath, its members still don’t feel like stars. Their next single, “Po’ Folks,” finds them ballin’ on a budget. “Its real, it’s the bare necessities,” Skinny DeVille said of the song. “It’s real simple.… Read more »
As A Day To Remember prepares to make their monumental return to the When We Were Young stage later this month, vocalist Jeremy McKinnon spoke with Kerrang in the UK to chat about the group’s forthcoming Slam Dunk performance next year, future music, and more. “As usual, we’re just constantly writing,” McKinnon shares. “So we’re just trying to get something together that we think is good enough to be a new record. And once we do that, it’ll be all guns blazing. I know people are ready for us to do that because they’re telling us all the time. It’s… Read more »
The Plot In You just shared their latest urgent rock single, “Pretend,” via Fearless Records, with an accompanying music video. Previously, the group released their single, “Been Here Before” in August. Both tracks are set to appear on Vol. 3, which is due out on November 8. Pre-saves and pre-orders for the physical copy can be found here. “‘Pretend’ touches on the depressing nature of the current state of the world,” lead vocalist Landon Tewers shares. “How we tend to live in our own bubbles and forget the atrocities happening around us.” The raw, yearning vocals are sure to draw listeners in with lyrics… Read more »
Stand Atlantic has been leaving their mark across the UK and Europe, celebrating the release of their full-length album, WAS HERE. While in London last Friday, September 20, the Aussie natives invited the newly formed As It Is frontman Patty Walters to the stage to perform “NOSE BLEED.” The track, the group’s latest single from the album, originally featured Sueco as the guest vocalist. Before introducing Walters to the crowd, frontwoman Bonnie Fraser says, “I never really know how to introduce this next song, to be completely honest with you… This is a song that we released as a single… Read more »
August Burns Red just dropped a full-throttle new track, “Exhumed,” via ABR Records. Harkening back to their early hardcore faves, this song will make any heavy music fan a little nostalgic. The group shares, “‘Exhumed’ is about not dwelling on the negatives, being able to recover, get past them, and move on with your life. It’s a high-energy track that’s influenced by the hardcore roots we came up on.” Check out “Exhumed” below. Coming up in October, August Burns Red is touring with A Day to Remember and Stand Atlantic. Plus, you can catch them at festivals including Furnace Fest, When… Read more »
As Underoath prepares to kick off the They’re Only Chasing Safety 20th Anniversary Tour later this month, the group has shared their biting new single, “Teeth.” “With our new track ‘Teeth,’ we dove into a pretty exciting territory for me—something I’ve always wanted to explore with this band but never felt was possible,” Chamberlain shares. “It almost has a vibe reminiscent of classic hip-hop samples or something that Linkin Park might have done, which I find so cool. I never imagined we’d actually pull it off in an Underoath song, but it came together so naturally. Lyrically, the song puts… Read more »
A fan-favorite Spanish Love Songs track just got the acoustic treatment. From August 2023’s No Joy, the band stripped back “Clean-Up Crew,” releasing it on September 5 via Pure Noise Records. Previously, the band transformed No Joy song “Haunted” into a folksy, earnest, acoustic dream. Even though Spanish Love Songs made an acoustic version of “Clean-Up Crew,” they still noted on social media, “Don’t worry you can still dance to it.” Check out the “Clean-Up Crew” acoustic rendition below. Beginning on September 11, you can catch Spanish Love Songs on tour supporting Alkaline Trio alongside SLOMOSA. Check out the full… Read more »
Royal & the Serpent just dropped a haunting, pop-rock-tinged cover of folk and blues musician Lead Belly’s classic “Where Did You Sleep Last Night.” Nirvana‘s 1993 MTV Unplugged cover of the track is also well-known in pop culture. Royal & the Serpent‘s stunning rendition is set to appear on the official soundtrack for Sumerian Comics’ American Psycho series. She explains, “I’ll never forget the first time I watched the iconic Nirvana MTV unplugged performance. My heart nearly stopped when I heard Kurt’s rendition of ‘Where Did You Sleep Last Night.’ I’ve been dreaming of covering this song for the entire… Read more »
