The history of DIY punk rock in Washington, DC spans something like 45 years. In that time, DC punk has nurtured all sorts of vocalists: growlers, howlers, barkers, snarkers, whiners, moaners, yappers, zappers, preachers, screechers, gurglers, motormouths, dreamy waifs, deadpan wraiths, mock-operatic divas, whatever you want to call Ian Svenonius. For the life of me, […]
Oneida – “La Plage”
Oneida are gearing up to release Expensive Air, their new album and the follow-up to 2022’s Success. They shared lead single “Here It Comes” back in May, and now we have another one called “La Plage.” “La Plage” is on Oneida’s darker side, complete with psychedelic surf-punk guitar licks, fiery blasts of drums, and some bastardized […]
The Bug Club – “Lonsdale Slipons”
“Listen up, little babies.” This is how the Bug Club start their savory new single, “Lonsdale Slipons.” It’s out today along with the announcement of the Welsh duo’s Sub Pop debut, On The Intricate Inner Workings Of The System, out August 30. Last month, the Bug Club announced their signing to the iconic Seattle label […]
Cassie Ramone (Vivian Girls, The Babies) Releases First New Solo Album In Nine Years
Cassie Ramone, the former leader of Vivian Girls and the Babies, released her debut album The Time Has Come way back in 2014, after the first Vivian Girls breakup. A year later, she followed that one with the holiday LP Christmas In Reno. Now, as the Babies gear up for reunion shows in New York […]
Watch Former Gymnast SZA Do Handstands With Simone Biles
This past weekend, extremely busy human being SZA headlined Glastonbury, played London’s Hyde Park, and played a sexy bug alien in her “Storytime” teaser. (LANA, which might be an SOS deluxe edition or an entirely new album is apparently still on the way, though it remains mysterious.) Somewhere along the way, SZA found time to […]
Watch Jeff Tweedy Perform With Wednesday’s Karly Hartzman And Water From Your Eyes At Solid Sound Festival
This past weekend was Wilco’s Solid Sound Festival in Massachusetts. The band released their new EP Hot Sun Cool Shroud just as the fest was beginning, and their “deep cuts” set on Friday night was full of live debuts and rarities. Last night, the festival was shut down for about an hour because of the […]
Killer Mike Addresses Grammys Arrest On New Song, Wins Album Of The Year BET Award
At this year’s Grammys, Killer Mike swept the rap awards. That night, he won three trophies, including Best Rap Album, during the non-televised pre-show. Shortly after accepting those awards, Mike was arrested and led away in handcuffs, reportedly after shoving a security guard. (He was charged with a misdemeanor and released without bail.) Last night, […]
Watch Will Smith’s New Song Debut, Taraji P. Henson’s “Not Like Us” Parody, The All-Star Usher Tribute, & BET Awards Highlights
This year’s BET Awards aired live last night from Los Angeles’ Peacock Theatre. SZA, Victoria Monét, and Tyla won big awards, but nobody watches the BET Awards for the actual awards. The performances are the main draw, and this year had some big, elaborate ones. The most attention-grabbing of them came from Will Smith, currently […]
The Number Ones: Mark Ronson’s “Uptown Funk!” (Feat. Bruno Mars)
In The Number Ones, I’m reviewing every single #1 single in the history of the Billboard Hot 100, starting with the chart’s beginning, in 1958, and working my way up into the present. Book Bonus Beat: The Number Ones: Twenty Chart-Topping Hits That Reveal the History of Pop Music. In 2014, Bruno Mars played the […]
SZA Is A Sexy Alien Insect In “Storytime” Video Preview
SZA likes to take her time working on new projects. After she initially said the deluxe version of her sophomore album SOS would be titled Lana, she explained earlier this year that they’ll be separate releases; Lana won’t be coming out for a while, but the deluxe SOS is coming “asap.” We still don’t know when either of […]