When former 102.1 The Edge program director Alan Cross interviewed Mudhoney last year, he asked them to comment on the Soundgarden reunion to which front man Mark Arm replied “Have you heard Cornell’s solo stuff? The reunion was inevitable.” Well put Mark. After more than a decade of bad Cornell material and Matt Cameron slumming it with Pearl Jam while Kim Thayil and Ben Shepherd have been taking it easy in Seattle, the seminal Nineties alt-rockers walked onto the Molson...
As I’ve said before, the Swingin’ Utters are one of those bands that changed the game for me. I’m speaking of course of their self-titled album, which is not only their most ambitious work to date, but quite possibly started the cow-punk genre. Strangely, the band’s output has been minimal since the release of that debut but now, after eight years, we finally get a new Swingin’ Utters album. To say I’m an Utters fan understates things, so it’s almost...
There are many rules to being a band’s true fan. First, you’re only allowed to own a band’s apparel if you own more than two of their albums, your favorite song must be a rare one (preferably a B-side from an obscure, out-of-print 7-inch) and your favorite album by the band in question is one they don’t really play much live anymore. All of these rules hold true for me here. The Bouncing Souls are a strange band to be...
Just six months ago, OFF!'s situation was very uncertain. The band had just released its First Four EPs vinyl box set in the latest of late days in 2010 and, while it had been warmly received by the portion of the punk rock community who knew about it, there was still some concern that the band may not be able to break bigger than that. There were reasonable concerns that the aggressive, adrenaline-saturated, minute-long songs that the band was making...
It's been fifteen years now since Sublime singer Bradley Nowell died – just weeks before the band's breakthrough self-titled album was released. Think aout that for a second; think about the series of events and the amount of time between albums. It's entirely possible that there are college graduates walking around now who remember hearing songs like “What I Got,” “Santeria,” “Date Rape” and “Smoke Two Joints” blaring out of their big brothers' while they watched Barney and...
This year when Warped Tour came to Shoreline Amphitheater, it traveling festival brought with it one of the more diverse lineups to showcase at the festival. From the Celtic-flavored street punk of Boston-bred Street Dogs to the fantastic, blood-and-eyeliner exposition of Black Veil Brides to the almost Queen-ish operatic punk of Foxy Shazam and the grinding post-hardcore of A Skylit Drive, Warped did genuinely feature something for everyone this year, and every one of them put it all on the...
Kick the engines over on the welcome wagon, it's official: Urge Overkill is back! Yes, it's true – after a sixteen-year break, one of the best bands ever to swagger out of Chicago has returned to active duty with a new record (Rock & Roll Submarine), a short set of tour dates and a desire to make the world remember what lean, mean and poppy alt-rock sounds like. Sounds great right? It does sound great; but when any band returns...
Holy shit Commodore, we hit sixty-four SWAG Reports! C'n ya believe it junkie? 'At means I been gettin' away wit' dis shit fer almos' two years. Well, not allat close ta two years, ann'ere's nothin' allat special about the number sixty-four either – but it's fun ta say 'Hey Commodore!' so don' hold me up 'cuz I'm onna roll. This week's perty good fer SWAG, if ya wanna know da truth, I took some big bands an' some small bands...
The Vans Warped Tour continues to travel across North America. Back on June 30, Ground Control was invited to check out the fifth stop of the tour in the scorching hot sun of Las Vegas. Throughout the day, it seemed that every artist we interviewed had two things to talk about: 1. The heat and 2. The band Sharks. Originally discovered by Brian Fallon of the Gaslight Anthem, the UK-based four-piece earned high praise backstage at Warped from bands like...
This year’s edition of the Vans Warped Tour features one of the most diverse lineups in the festival’s seventeen-year history. One of the most unique bands included on the tour is the Cincinnati, Ohio-based experimental rock outfit known as Foxy Shazam. Prior to performing a wildly flamboyant set on the West Coast leg of the tour, bassist Daisy and backup vocalist Alex Nauth spoke with Ground Control about their inaugural run with Warped and the plans that they're already developing...