How long has it been since I’ve seen Paint it Black? I feel like when I lived in Harrisburg, I saw them all the time. Is it because they used to be more active? Maybe being so Philly-adjacent facilitated the whole thing? I haven’t stopped listening to Paint it Black and my love for them is strong. If only there were a way for me to express it. Maybe the best way to do that is bringing them to town...

WHO: J. Robbins WHAT: Basilisk WHY: Basilisk might be too rock for the punk crowd and too punk for the rock crowd. It occupies that grey area. Whatever the case, this album is a crisp, rocking, polished, deep collection of songs that sound both hopefully and as cautionary tales. Basilisk is grim and serious and wears its heart on its sleeve. It’s well crafted both on the outside and the inside. Listen to it...

Star Trek Discovery Season 5 (The Final Season) I look back at the legacy of Star Trek Discovery and I am equal parts baffled and confused. There are many many many things wrong with the series and the franchise as a whole. But, what it basically comes down to is really terrible showrunning and no good ideas. Discovery was never concerned with telling its own stories, but basically throwing back to old Trek. It’s not Star Trek in the classic...

BeatKodak Center, Rochester NYOctober 19, 2024I saw King Crimson in 1981 on the Discipline tour and, to this day, it ranks as the best concert I have ever seen. (Followed by a close second place of Crimson in 2021.) So I was eager to see this version of that tour and snatched up tickets as fast as I could, when they became available. If you’re not familiar, Beat consists of Adrian Belew (guitar and lead vocals) and Tony Levin (bass)...

Photos by Hunter...

I love it when your love of a band is born from a chance meeting. I didn’t know having my teeth cleaned was going to lead to long-lasting love of Gwar, but as my dental hygienist was making small talk, we somehow, SOMEHOW, came to the topic of music and she highly recommended I check out Gwar. I had heard of them and always thought of them as a joke band, but the joke was on me. As I heard...

WHO: Jon Spencer WHAT: Sick of Being Sick WHY: Maybe Spencer’s last two solo albums have lacked a little oomph, but Sick of Being Sick hopefully is a course correction. Maybe that’s a bit extreme, but in just 8 songs, this EP delivers the raw energy, weirdness, and catchy hooks that made us all fall in love with Spencer in the first place. It’s a shame it’s so short, because even with another 10 minutes of filler, Sick of Being...

A deeper look at the grooves pressed into the I Planted, Apollos Watered, But God Kept Making It Grow LP by the crushedvelvets. Not every reader of this review will have experienced any kind of skepticism at the current health and validity of rock music, but they can rest assured that it’s coming. In my own case, I remember being in university when the validity and health of rock music was being called into question; at the time, an increasing...

I had an MRI on my knee this week. If you’ve never had one, it is a very noisy procedure. Clicks and raps and something that sounds like a muffled jackhammer assault your ears for fifteen to twenty minutes or more, while medical technologists create an image of your chosen body part. While not painful, it is an ordeal. You’re probably asking, “What does this have to do with a music festival?” The fact is, the MRI reminded me of...

A deeper look at the grooves pressed into Scott Collins’ Purple Pain LP. There aren’t many artists making music right now who are capable of introducing themselves as clearly having both their heart on their sleeve as well as a chip clearly on their shoulder, but that’s exactly what Scott Collins does on his Purple Pain LP. From the moment stylus catches groove and “Killer Crush” opens the running of Purple Pain‘s A-side, Collins straddles a line between defining warm...