Now thirty years and several significant cultural movements later, it’s difficult to get a sense of how much excitement and promise there was surrounding Jane’s Addiction at the height of the band’s fame. Simply said, Jane’s Addiction represented a way to transition from the staid, well-established values and forms evident in classic rock to the far most untested and new paradigm exemplified in alternative rock in the Nineties. 1990’s Ritual de lo Habitual was the band’s third album and proved...

Photos by the wonderful Brittany Rose Queen. Check out her IG account for the best Boston area photo coverage...

Photos by Corwin Wickersham...

Lolitaby Vladimir Nabokov Oef. This is the year I want to educate myself literarily. I want to read the classics to have some perspective. Read what the greats had to say. Train the old noodle, as it were. I felt like I should tackle Nabokov, and after hearing what the experts had to say, it turns out he is indeed considered one of the greats. And Lolita IS the best place to start with him. I went in with a...

Unrequited Infatuationsby Steven Van Zandt I don’t think I ever could have prepared myself for Unrequited Infatuations. I have been a Springsteen fan for a while now, but never dug deep into the history. I honestly didn’t really know about Steven Van Zandt, and only after watching Sopranos did he really pop up on my radar. I chalked him up to being a sideman with a big personality but it’s only after listening to the Best Show did my interest...

All photos by Brittany Rose Queen. Follow her on Instagram @rosequeenphoto for her coverage of the Boston...

Scott Pilgrim vs the WorldOriginal Movie Soundtrack If you haven’t seen Scott Pilgrim Vs The World stop what you’re doing right now and go watch it. I’ll wait. Done? Good, we can talk now. It’s so good, right? If you appreciate good movies, this one should become a mainstay in your quoting catalog. If you’re like me, your whole life might change. I don’t think anyone can really prepare themselves for just what this movie has to offer. Scott Pilgrim...

WHO: The Copyrights WHAT: Alone in a Dome WHY: I don’t know if the Copyrights get the credit they deserve. I think I’m definitely guilty of this as well. I keep confusing them with the Dopamines. Are they the same band? Look, you’re not going to get anything groundbreaking with the Copyrights, except some solid catchy power pop punk. Alone in a Dome is one of those records that remind you why you fell in love with pop punk in...

Dune Can you believe they made a Dune movie AGAIN? And that it turned out THIS good? Jodowosky’s Dune opened my world to the mythos surrounding the book and to Jodorowksy himself. My cultural world was changed after watching that documentary, so of course, after seeing David Lynch’s movie, the idea of a new Dune movie is a loaded proposition to me. What was a good sign was that Denis Villeneuve would be directing. The man has proven himself...

Sellout: The Major-Label Feeding Frenzy That Swept Punk, Emo, and Hardcore (1994–2007)by Dan Ozzi Punk rock has come full circle. It started with a feeding frenzy from the major labels wanting to cash in on the movement/music in the 70s (remember, the Clash were on CBS Records and the Ramones on Sire, which is technically Warner Brothers), then became reviled by the mainstream, and now it’s back on the yacht (comfortably solidifying its place as hackneyed when the Met Gala...