There’s something pretty special about seeing a band just as they approach their peak. You know, at a time before they become too refined and still have a little roughness. For Metallica, that time was when I saw them in 1986 on tour with Ozzy Osbourne, supporting the insanely good Master of Puppets album. It was during that period immediately before Cliff Burton, the band’s bassist, was killed in a tour bus accident while on the European leg of their...

Oh Dashboard, how many pre-teen break-ups did you nurse or nurture with your patent emo-shoegazer sound? With your grand total of five studio albums, half of which sported a sweet recorded-on-a-dime-store-tape deck sound, your mournful lyrics went after two moments consistently: the adrenaline and fear cocktail of working up the nerve to ask out the girl of your dreams, and the dismal blow of rejection right after. Does it keep you guys up at night? Knowing relationships destined to end...

Because it's been happening so much over the last few years, it has become reasonable to assume that it's easy for a band to reconvene or stage a comeback. How couldn't it be? The groundwork, name and mythos for the band has already been laid, it's just a matter of the band coming back and collecting on the dues they paid already right? Wrong. Unless the plan is to simply come back and capitalize on nostalgia, having a history can...

Since first appearing in 1991, Mountain Goats mastermind John Darnielle has discovered and crowned himself king of his own little corner of the subcultural landscape where form (in the context of recording media) has always taken a back seat to musical expression and elucidation. The singer has happily resided in that place and worked at building and detailing his own vision of what pop music should be and that construction process has led him from sitting on the floor of...

One of the best, most fantastic things that can happen in music is when an ambitious idea goes awry. Take Curtains For You for example – in listening to the band's debut, What A Lovely Surprise To Wake Up Here, it's pretty plain to hear that the band is composing to draw comparisons to either The Beatles or Beach Boys or a combination of the two with their densely layered and lush harmonies and classic pop structures, but the end...

The Avett Brothers have a lot of explaining to do. After all, the band has spent the majority of its career building a fan base almost solely on touring, releasing albums independently (more like self-released, actually), and garnering little airplay on the radio. Then, the boys suddenly jump ship to Columbia, record with Rick Rubin of all people, and decide to release an album almost devoid of the bluegrass roots that fans have come to know and love. This is...

Sometimes, after so many years gone and creative turns made, it becomes nearly impossible to discern where exactly a musician began his creative arc. In some cases, listeners simply come to expect a clean artistic slate upon the announcement of another album from some musicians; with a history of change already on the books, the assumption that the artist in question might repeat himself is a sucker bet. The game is going to change and is going to do it...

Ah, what a year 2009 was for music. By all accounts, the climate was a delicate one as the music industry sought to streamline itself in accommodation of a new, digital generation which meant re-tooling services, re-thinking promotional strategies and working out the finer points of how a multi-million-dollar endeavor was going to sustain itself. In some circles, it was a harrowing time that called for the making of hard decisions but, if looking at the selection of great albums...

It's hard to believe that it's been nineteen years since NoFX released The P.M.R.C. Can Suck On This (the second time) and, even at that, who could have known what it would lead to? That six-song 7” (which boasted a photo collage of Tammy Fay Bakker pegging then-husband and televangelist Jim Bakker on the cover of the first pressing) was poorly recorded, hastily assembled and modestly noticed, but it was also the first notice issued by a record label that...

Artist:Fat Wreck Chords label site Fat Wreck Chords unofficial wiki Downloads:Against Me – "You Look Like I Need A Drink" – (demo) later re-recorded for Against Me! as the Eternal Cowboy Anti-Flag – "Turncoat" – The Terror State Descendents – "'Merican" – Cool To Be You NoFX – "It's My Job To Keep Punk Rock Elite" – (demo) later re-recorded for War On Errorism Rise Against – "Heaven Knows" – Revolutions Per Minute The Dickies...