So, what's a trend-fitting band to do when their trend finally exhausts itself? Does it just curl up its' toes and fade away? Well, sometimes that does happen, but occasionally some of those bands soldier on and even produce something worth hearing. Did anyone really think that band would be Wolf Parade though? When the Montreal-based trio first broke into the mainstream a few years ago, Wolf Parade found themselves playing in a lupine-saturated market; in addition to Wolf Parade,...

Poets working in the rock n' roll idiom are a funny breed. Think about it – more often than not, poetry is an intensely personal art form; a form of expression so personal that if someone other than the author is able to truly understand it, it's because the author digressed enough to let someone else in and understand simply so he/she wouldn't be alone in the feelings that the words conjure. On the other side of the pop culture...

Often when new recording hardware is released on the public, the ideas that many of the items represent are great in theory but limited because some key applications just aren't possible yet. Such was certainly the case with handheld digital recorders for years; since first coming on the open market about seven years ago, digital recorders banked on being the newest exciting thing but didn't offer much beyond that novelty. Early handheld digital recording units were surprising rigid in their...

Some records are possessed of an intangible quality that makes listeners feel like they've come home – there's a comfortable and lived-in feeling that has a warm glow to it. The reigning masters of creating this sort of atmosphere is Soul Asylum – they wear their hearts on their sleeve and inspire listeners to do the same – but other most worthy contenders for the title include Uncle Tupelo, Paul Westerberg, Golden Smog and (to an only slightly lesser degree)...

Alright there youse, Happy early Independence Day to all my guys in Sing Sing and Happy Canada Day to all my pals coolin' their heels in Kingston, north o' the border – let's plan a party for when you get out; we'll set somethin' up that'll have ya headin' back! Enough with the well-wishin' though, let's get right down to brass tacks – you know why yer here, and I know what you want. Good thing I planned for such...

Records: The Action Suits’ Cancer Father seven-inch (1996) on clear teal, Jets to Brazil’s Perfecting Loneliness (2002) on clear orange, and Prince’s Sign 'O’ the Times (1987) on black. Place of Purchase: Cancer Father was purchased from FantagraphicsBooks , one of my favorite comics publishers. Perfecting Loneliness was an eBay find. Sign came from good ol’ Siren Records in Doylestown. Quality: I feel like this is the super fanboy edition. I took a chance on the Action Suits based solely...

With their fifth studio release, The Five Ghosts, Canadian band Stars align themselves once again with familiar themes and dark hooks to the band's previous efforts. The band's first full-length album since 2007's In Our Bedroom After the War, Ghosts channels the simplicity of the band's breakout disc, Set Yourself on Fire, and navigates similar terrain. While this produces some elegant tracks, Ghosts never quite captures the vocal magic between singers Torquil Campbell and Amy Millan that made Stars so...

In preparation for both the Montreal Heavy Metal Festival and a string of dates on this year's Ozzfest, metal god Rob Halford will play a one-off intimate show at the Regency Ballroom in San Francisco on July 17th, and it promises to be an event not to be missed.

 "It’s 2010 and I am excited to say the Halford band are heading back to the Bay Area this July (17th),” comments Rob Halford. “The Regency Ballroom will be a great...

When one thinks of 'Deep Blue,' what comes to mind? Open water – sure. Deep water – that would make sense if one was following a train of thought. Cold – certainly. Darkness (like twilight) – why not? All of those answers are perfectly valid, reasonable and understandable but, outside of 'dark,' none of them come close to qualifying the molten metal maelstrom presented by Parkway Drive on their third album, entitled Deep Blue. From note one of “Samsara,” Parkway...

Throughout their ten-year tenure together, the Liars have chased their own muse unapologetically and, in so doing blazed their own trail to the outermost fringes of pop with little regard for whether they're going it alone. Happily, a whole team of outsider acolytes has raced to keep up with them no matter where the band has turned but, hilariously, like a bunch of dogs chasing a car, they have historically had no idea what to do with the band or...