Ever seen an opening band almost sacrifice the headliner? On a seasonably (and completely expected) cold and windy Friday night in Philadelphia, my friends and I are on the top floor of Johnny Brenda’s thinking just that. We were there to see Kurt Vile, and it...
It's a good time to be into punk rock. Oh sure, the scene is still dishing out the goods like it always has, and yes, the vinyl is as plentiful as in the 'golden years,' but those tuned into the scene right now get to experience something altogether...
Over the last seven years (2003's Lover/Fighter started this trend), Hawksley Workman has continually trailed ever further from the fantastic and plastic vaudevillian center that he established with (Last Night We Were) The Delicious Wolves and elected to test...
In this life, there are dreams come true and there are things one hopes for but does not expect to happen – particularly in the cases of rock n' roll institutions. A lot of that is psychological; for fans, the sound of a familiar and adored but nearly...
Anyone familiar with the city of New Orleans knows it has a rich cultural and artistic history. Over the last fifty years (at least), volumes have been written about the city's contributions to ragtime, soul, jazz, rock and blues as well as the artists that...
How exactly Motion City Soundtrack managed to talk themselves into a deal with Columbia after the abysmal flop that was Even If It Kills Me may never be known. That album even saw Alternative Press – previously a notable MCS booster – turn on the band and...
After a label switch (from Sony to Atlantic) and a three-year hiatus from studio recording that saw singer Jon Foreman testing the waters of solo work instead, Switchfoot has returned renewed with Hello Hurricane – a reaffirming but more secular than...
If The Vaselines had been slightly more accomplished on their instruments, if Arctic Monkeys didn’t take themselves so seriously, if The Fratellis had a better sense of humor, well, none of them could have been Los Campesinos – a band smart enough to write...
If you've ever been the monitor at a daycare center, you know that children are the closest things in creation to genuine perpetual motion machines. As they play, they have this awesome ability to move so quickly, excitedly and constantly but, if you watch, there...
How unusual it is for a songwriter to jump from the beginning of a love affair or relationship to the spirit crushing failure and inevitable fallout of it with no notice afforded to or mention of the days of discovery and blissful moments in between. It seems like that...