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Photos by Brittany Rose QueenIG:...

Well, thank God for Jimmy Fallon. I know, strange way to start a live show review, huh? But, it’s related. Hear me out. Back in the day when late night television was worth watching (your John Stewarts, your David Lettermans), there was a little show called Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. It had decent comedy, good guests, and great music. The Roots were the house band, after all. But, they also had some pretty amazing musical guests. The Pixies played...

The Pale Lips should be the biggest thing in punk rock right now. There’s absolutely so much to love about them: they bring the riffs, they’ve got the melodies, their songs are catchy, they sing about the things we care about (like romance and the spooky stuff) and everything about them sounds fun. They’re one of those bands that you feel glad you discovered and can’t wait to tell people about. I know for me, with it being Halloween and...

I often admit to being late to the game with a lot of bands, but I think I got into Jenny Lewis at just the right time. I had often been exposed to her whenever my wife controls the music on long drives, and I had found that it varied from powerful to uninterestingly derivative. My wife, being a huge fan, wasn’t going to miss out on a performance when Jenny Lewis came to town, and seeing that her new...

As an old school Against Me! fan, let me just say that I’m getting excited about them all over again. Particularly because they’ve recently welcomed old bassist Andrew Seward back to the lineup. This band is resembling more and more the one I fell in love with all those years ago. All they need now is the return of Warren to the lineup. Is that gonna happen? Who knows. But what I do know is that they’re playing 4 albums...

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Mike Watt, the Pedro man with the bass in his hand has nothing left to prove. He’s shown himself a musical man in the very sense of the word ever since the Minutemen and has been a formidable presence, with collaborations with everyone from Nels Cline, Kira Roessler, Iggy Pop, and Todd Congelliere. The man has had a career of making music, both as personal expression and as part of a greater whole. He has seen and been through so...

Photos by Brittany QueenIG: @rosequeenphotography...

Bad SportsO Brien’s –  Allston, Massachusetts – April 4, 2019Photos: Brittany Queen If you were to ask me to name some of the best pop punk bands active today, I could probably narrow it down to an essential handful. And in that handful I would definitely include Bad Sports. This is a band that seems to boil pop punk down to the essentials. They’ve got the hooks, they’ve got the riffs, they’re masterful with their instruments, and they...

Jon Spencer should be worshipped. There, I said it. But I think he should be worshipped in 30 years, because right now the man is too busy being an underappreciated living legend. How great is he? Well, when Marc Maron interviewed Steve Albini he specifically singled out Jon Spencer as a man who’s work ethic he admires. He knows exactly what he wants and knows how to get it. Another reason is that Jon Spencer is purely a music man....