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(09/04/20 11:36pm)
Picture this: you've got a large popcorn in one hand and a fountain drink in the other, walking down aisle B and awkwardly apologizing to strangers between you and your seat. You check whether you've turned off your phone three times before the trailers start. Finally, the lights down and the iconoclast Marvel Studios logo appears. For the next two hours, everyone is glued to what's on the screen. Now, shrink that screen by several degrees, replace the chair with a couch, and rather than being on silent, your phone is glued to your hand, your attention divided between the movie and your Twitter feed.
(03/02/20 12:13pm)
In any other year, Armor for Sleep’s tour announcement would have caused an uproar. After all, the Jersey emo band officially broke up in 2009, playing a final show at Bamboozle Festival in 2012. Releasing a cryptic video two days before announcing a tour should have had every rock music outlet frothing at the mouth. Instead, it was just the latest in what’s rapidly becoming 2020’s weirdest musical trend.
(02/25/20 12:47am)
Billie Eilish is inescapable. Since releasing her debut album, WHEN WE ALL FALL ASLEEP, WHERE DO WE GO?, less than a year ago, Eilish's rise to fame has been stratospheric. Eilish became a six–time Grammy recipient and the subject of a meme all before she could legally vote. The constant media attention she receives leads to hot takes, think pieces, and comparisons to other artists—namely, Lorde, the teen alt–rock star that came before her.
(02/17/20 5:21am)
Post–hardcore defies definition, even within its name. Hardcore suggests a connection to hardcore punk, but "post" implies an X–factor, something beyond its parental genre. In practice, that has meant everything from the metal screams of Dance Gavin Dance's Jon Mess to the gothic elements of AFI and the progressive concept albums of Coheed and Cambria. Orange County–based Thrice had its roots in the Southern California melodic hardcore scene, but it was the 2005 release of their album Vheissu that elevated them from a simple rock band to a titan of post–hardcore.
(02/05/20 3:53pm)
Warning: this article contains minor spoilers for the final season of BoJack Horseman.
(01/28/20 2:33am)
On Aug. 3, 2018, Mac Miller released Swimming, intended to be the first of two companion albums. On Sept. 7, 2018, Miller was found dead in his home, in what was later determined to be an accidental overdose of fentanyl, cocaine, and alcohol. On Jan. 17, 2020, Warner Records posthumously released Circles, the intended companion to Swimming, and the final studio album by Malcolm James McCormick.
(01/19/20 10:42pm)
It’s impossible to have a neutral opinion of AJJ. Sean Bonnette’s warbled lyrical delivery of topics from self–loathing and mutilation to the coming apocalypse, paired with the furious acoustic strumming of hardcore on a budget, are either beloved or loathed by all who stumble across the Phoenix–based folk punk band. The band’s newest record, Good Luck Everybody, won’t do much to sway the skeptics, but it will be rightfully adored by longtime fans.
(11/18/19 5:50am)
On Nov. 6, 2019, riot grrrl band Bikini Kill announced a 2020 tour that includes a series of shows across the United States and Canada. Less than a week after the tour was announced, eight shows had sold out and several more dates were added to make room for the demand. This will be the first Bikini Kill tour in over 20 years, and in the time that they were gone, the band became the face and heart of the riot grrrl movement.
(11/18/19 4:43am)
When someone asks me how I discover new bands, I inevitably draw a blank for a few moments. Sometimes it’s through the magic of Spotify’s Discover Weekly, or other playlists that are supposed to take the music I already enjoy and recommend similar artists—Daily Mixes, artist radio stations, curated playlists like Pollen and Global X. Other times, I stumble across an act at a festival that captures my attention, like Pkew Pkew Pkew at Chicago’s Riot Fest this year, or an opening act stays in my head long after the headliner, such as the enigma that is Joseph Keckler.
(11/07/19 4:29am)
On Oct. 20, 2019, Philadelphia local experimental rock band mewithoutYou announced via Facebook that 2020 would be their last year as an active band. As fans waited for more details to emerge, it was difficult not to draw comparisons to the recent breakup of local post–hardcore giants Balance and Composure, who performed their final show in May, and Modern Baseball, whose 2017 breakup was one of the first casualties of the emo revival. With three giants of the Philly scene falling in recent years, who will step up to take their place?
(10/31/19 11:49pm)
The latest news of the emo revival arrived not with a bang but with a whimper, in the form of a quiet Twitter and Instagram announcement from My Chemical Romance: tickets for a single show would go on sale on Friday, Nov. 1, 2019 at 12 p.m. PST (3 p.m. EST). The performance will take place on Dec. 20, 2019 at Shrine Expo Hall in Los Angeles, the band's first since their breakup in 2013. With so little information available, Killjoys and Members of the Black Parade are left wondering whether this is a flash in the pan, or if they have reason to fully unpack their black t–shirts and eyeliner that have been sitting in boxes for the past six years.
(11/04/19 8:51am)
This has been the year of the riot grrrl renaissance. Bikini Kill reunited in January to play a handful of shows in the United States and England, Team Dresch began a co–headlining tour with Screaming Females earlier this year, and Sleater–Kinney visited the Fillmore on Oct. 27 in support of their newest album, The Center Won’t Hold. The shredding guitar work of dual leads Corin Tucker and Carrie Brownstein and their vicious, snarled vocals formed a classic Sleater–Kinney sound, with one key difference.
(11/22/19 5:00pm)
Picture this: It’s just after midnight, there’s a problem set due in eight hours that you haven’t started yet, and no study music seems to be working. Lyrics are distracting, but most instrumental music just doesn’t have the right tempo, or it all starts to sound the same. Orchestral music, movie soundtracks, and lo–fi hip hop were all meant as background music, but they get boring after a while. What you need is a driving beat and a grooving guitar hook to keep on task. Enter instrumental metal, the perfect study soundtrack, which manages to keep things loud, fast, and interesting without the distraction of vocals.
(10/27/19 11:28pm)
Two years ago at this time, the Metropolitan Opera House lay derelict at the corner of Broad and Poplar. Last year, it was preparing for Bob Dylan, the first concert in the renovated building. Today, there are events four or five times a week, from orchestral concerts to sold–out performances from Sara Bareilles and Steely Dan. How did the Met go from an abandoned building to a major force in the Philly music scene, all in less than one calendar year?
(10/17/19 6:03am)
The Head and the Heart are one of those bands that, appropriately, stay in the back of your head and keep a place in your heart. Existing within the same vein as The Decemberists or Iron & Wine, the Seattle–based band has been a staple of the folk revival, with flannel shirts, acoustic guitars, and music both melancholic and cathartic. After headlining the Radio 104.5 Block Party at Xfinity Live! in August, the band returned to Philly on Oct. 8 for more music and fellowship.
(10/13/19 3:56am)
Philly is a great place to start a band. It’s the birthplace of post–hardcore acts like Circa Survive and Days Away, emo revival groups such as Modern Baseball and Balance and Composure, and even the folk rock weirdness of The Dead Milkmen and Mischief Brew. When it comes to the Philly punk scene, one band name comes to the lips more often than all the rest: The Menzingers. Formed by guitarists and co–vocalists Greg Barnett and Tom May in 2006, the band throws out enough casual references to Philadelphia landmarks to be lampooned for it by punk satire website The Hard Times. Hello Exile, released Oct. 4, is no less Philly than any other Menzingers album—but it's decidedly less punk.
(10/12/19 4:12am)
Rejoice, emo fans: the Hella Mega Tour is bringing Green Day, Fall Out Boy, and Weezer to your town! Rejoice, real emo fans: Dashboard Confessional just announced a twenty–year anniversary tour and a new “best of” compilation! Weep, real–real emo fans: there is still no evidence that Balance and Composure will return to music. At a time when acts like Panic! at the Disco are adored more than mocked and The World Is a Beautiful Place & I Am No Longer Afraid To Die is recognized before the whole band name is said, an old argument gets drudged up: what exactly is emo?
(10/02/19 5:00pm)
It’s an age–old story: The headlining band leaves the stage and hangs up their instruments dramatically. The lighting changes and clapping and cheering begins. Sometimes there are chants, but the same thing happens every time. In a few moments, the band comes running back on stage with Cheshire–cat grins to play their biggest hits. You didn’t think they’d go without playing a couple more songs, did you? Well, maybe you should. The encore has thoroughly outstayed its welcome, and more artists are catching on.
(09/27/19 1:16am)
Toronto artist Jordan Edward Benjamin, who goes by the name grandson, is difficult to characterize. He creates songs that combine intense lyrical hip–hop verses with solid riffs and punchy, garage rock instrumentals. The artist has also accrued a massive punk rock following thanks to songs about social justice, a DIY, “anyone can rise up” ethos, and a presence at shows and festivals like Chicago’s Riot Fest, which caters towards a more punk and hardcore crowd. Whatever musical background the fans at Union Transfer came from on Sunday, from rap to blues to punk, everyone came together in the spirit of a good time.
(09/08/19 6:11am)
On Aug. 16, English folk rock musician Frank Turner released his eighth studio album, No Man’s Land, a concept album detailing the lives of women overlooked by history. At the same time, he has been releasing weekly episodes of a podcast titled Tales From No Man's Land, which gives a historical account of the women included in the album.