Affluent White Male
Obits make adult contemporary indie.
Brooklyn-based Obits are coming at you with a new release, Moody, Standard and Poor. Obits is an indie supergroup of sorts, featuring singers/guitarists Rick Froberg (Drive Like Jehu, Hot Snakes) and Sohrab Habibion (Edsel). Obits play a reverb-drenched variety of...Burning Out and Fading Away, Part 2.
Quick round up of other examples of burning out and fading away, in reference to my previous post. One thing of note is this is all subjective; I do not have a solid metric on this. It’s all opinion-based. I suppose you could measure all of this in terms of...Back to the Constant Future
I’m going to say this, as neutrally as I possibly can. Parts and Labor are one of the most under appreciated bands on this planet. I never bought into that whole sad song about how there are so many musicians who are brilliant but don’t make it; I...Today's roundup of public humiliation
This is one of those ideas that I can picture being born in a smokey conference room, packed full of “idea men” who are trying to “contemporize the brand.” Truly, don’t hate these men: they have good intentions. Really, wow....Sign of the times
It can be tedious and tiresome, being perpetually bombarded with the cry of “It’s a bad economy!” This is something else though: TAUNTON, Mass.—A Massachusetts employment organization has canceled its annual job fair because not enough...Obits Interview
Obits are coming to the Elevens on Thursday night. Earlier this winter, I was given the opportunity to interview Sohrab Habibion, the band’s guitarist and sometimes singer. Obits put out an album, Moody Standard and Poor on March 29th. I liked it. How did Obits...Sign of the Times, Part II
Everyone knows the print industry has been withering away for years now…but what does it say when our award-winning sports scribes must turn to the seedy underworld of prostitution to pay the bills??!?Kobe Bryant thinks you're gay, but not literally
Steve Buckley, one of my favorite sports columnists, came out of the closet in January. It was a touching event; Buckley described an outpouring of support from some of the best of the Boston sports community. Stalwarts like Dustin “The Destroyah” Pedroia,...Local Legend Dave Witthaus and Platterpus Records Are Moving On Up (And Over)
I’ve referenced Dave Witthaus before. Dave is the owner and sole proprietor of Platterpus, Too, a music store that I use and endorse. Platterpus was a fixture in Westfield for years, before taking an unfortunate ciesta in the Hadley mall, dying, and resurfacing...Fighting the War on Marriage, One Athlete At a Time.
I’ll admit I’m more than a little bit partial to this piece of news, as I did a relatively extensive report on the issue of homosexuality and sports in college. Sean Avery, noted asshole, came out in support of gay rights. It’s not the word of a...John Boilard: “Where Are All The Punkers?”
The beauty of DIY/Punk scenes is that, sometimes, really great things happen at really obscure places. That being said, I’ve seen some of my favorite shows in the Valley at Diamond Junction Bowling Alley in Palmer, MA. The space is set up just behind the lanes,...Reality Finally Sets In, in 2011
Dave Markey is having quite a renaissance lately. Last month, Flywheel hosted a showing of his documentary 1991: The Year Punk Broke, featuring a q and a session with no less than Thurston Moore. 1991 is an epochal documentary that shows Nirvana (just before they were...The Reality of Reality sets in.
Just a follow up on the previous entry- Dave Markey did an interview that answered a lot of the questions I had surrounding the surfacing of Reality 86’d. Check it out. What’s interesting is that a Henry Rollins column about music piracy in LA Weekly...Bob Mould's Celebrated Summer
June is a good month if you’re a fan of Hüsker Dü or Bob Mould in general. The singer/guitarist has had quite a diverse career since the flaming car-crash breakup of Hüsker Dü. Mould has come out of the closet, been a deejay, written plot...Screaming Females: the last living punk rockers
A personal story, if you care to listen. Several months ago, I ordered a record from the Screaming Females website. Within a weeks of receiving the first reocrd, I ordered another one. When the second record arrived, the mailing sleeve had a personalized note from...The Virtures of Cow Urine and Rat-roasts
Went to see the subject of last week’s Advocate cover story at the Calvin last night. It’s rare that you’re able to say this, but really, the show lived up to its billing. I was fashionably late, spending an unfair amount of time outside the venue...John Lennon and Sarah Palin: Kindred Spirits?
Interesting article here, making the claim that liberal icon John Lennon was, gasp, a Republican. I don’t lend much validity to the claim, especially because it comes from one of the many vampiric hangers-on that tell outlandish stories about Lennon. As the...Good News From the Music Industry and Other Rare Phenomena
According to this article, music sales are up for the first time in seven years. “It’s always good to be up, but considering album sales have been in total freefall for years (at this time last year, sales were down 11 percent compared to the same time in...AWM Returns With Fury Toward a Borderline 90s Icon!
Due to personal reasons, I had to take a little break to deal with a lot of the utterly unfun but very real day-to-day issues. Nothing serious, but it was all very time-consuming. But I’ve returned, and I have my sights set on one man: William Patrick Corgan. I...Fun News Day
So, last night, the story drops that Sarah Palin did cocaine and former basketballer Glenn Rice. I personally doubt the validity of the claims in the book. Regardless, the uproar is silly. Politicians are generally a shifty, immoral bunch. Their personal lives tend to...Food For Thought and other stupid puns
I don’t really care if you want to abstain from consuming meat; that’s a personal choice people make. Me, I love meat and find no ethical problems with sitting at the top of the food chain. Other people might disagree, which is fine. What we should really...Freedom of Discretion
Freedom of speech is a funny thing. The concept itself, when implemented correctly, allows for the press to question the government, for artists to express themselves without fear of repurcussion, and in general, for an open discourse. Sometimes, people misuse the...Freedom of Discretion, Part II
Bryant Gumbel, not content to let Hank Williams, Jr. take the title of “Most Inappropriate Historical Comparison,” compared NBA Commisioner David Stern to a plantation owner. See below: While it’s perfectly reasonable to have a negative opinion of...Geriatric Rock: Metallica and Lou Reed.
So, I’m sure you’ve heard about Metallica and Lou Reed doing an album together. When I first heard about it, I thought it was a joke. Then I thought it was a horrible idea. Then I heard the album, and I was right on both counts. Metallica really...Beavis and Butthead Come Back For No Good Reason
I’m an unabashed fan of the original Beavis And Butthead, for reasons equally nostalgic and sincere. Watching it today, it seems like a perfect relic of the 90s in general, a twistedly stupid take on “the slacker generation,” involving two dimwits...New Blood at Sierra Grille Thursdays
For the past few years, restaurant Sierra Grille has been known for its Thursday night rock shows, which featured a bevy of local and natioanl indie rock bands. Recently, Valley residents Candace Clement and Tessa Simonds took over booking responsibilities. I caught...The Best News 2012 has to offer
The basement-dwelling internet clique receieved astonishing news today, as it exploded across the blogosphere that post-hardcore pioneers At The Drive-In were reuniting. Nowadays, At The Drive-In are known, tragically, as the band that came before The Mars Volta, who...File Under “Spoke Too Soon.”
This poll states that a staggering 43% of Americans think that nauseating attention seeker/NFL Quarterback Tim Tebow owes his “success” to Divine Intervention. No matter where your religious beliefs lie, this has to be seen as another absurdity in...Musicians Say The Darndest Things…
I grew up reading Time Magazine once a week, religiously. I don’t remember it being a particularly well-written magazine, but it certainly never stooped to this low-level of quality. The basic angle of the above article, written by a pair of brothers, is that it...Conceptualize This:
Indie darlings of years goneby Cursive have released a new album. This news should be met with collective yawns, and not just because they’re little better than a nostalgia act for twenty something emo kids. There is a far more sinister reason that the new...Post-Modern News
I’m sure everyone is familiar with the satirical news site known as The Onion. It’s a pretty hilarious take on news that always astounds me with its ability to evoke a laugh. What’s even funnier is when you come across a news story that reads as if...Slam Dancing IS a Crime
True story: I recently witnessed Worcester’s own Bovachevo live. They tore, playing a mathy hard rock that reminded me a lot of Drive Like Jehu. They raked, plain and simple. I was pretty into the show, except for one simple problem. The dripping, idiotic,...Sgt. Pepper's Lucky Sperm Club Band
In what could turn out to be a fascinating experiment in the nature vs. nurture debate, news broke this week that the offspring of the Beatles might be starting a band together. It’s highly unlikely that their work will rise above being a cheesey gimmick act,...Absolute Monarchs
I am still more than a little in awe of the seemingly endless amount of good music that the Pacific Northwest has turned out over the past 20 years. Nirvana, The Melvins, Unwound, Bikini Kill, Modest Mouse, Sleater- Kinney, Wild Flag; I could go on forever....Battle of the Valley cracka rappas
Ok, so the past few months have seen an outbreak of Valley White Rapper Syndrome (VWRS). It’s up to us as discriminating listeners to determine who wins this battle for the soul of the Valley white rap scene, a cornerstone of local music, a highly prized...Against Me, And Her.
Tom Gabel, lead singer of angsty politlcal punks Against Me! is, evidently, set to reveal to Rolling Stone magazine, that he is now she, coming out as Laura Jane Grace, and revealing her struggle with gender dysphoria. Initially, this seems to be rther heavy, in a...Courtney Love: American Tragedy
Whenever one Courtney Love is your topic of choice, there are a innumerable amounts of directions you can go in. She’s made a career out of being a complete train wreck, mostly. When all is said and done, a feminist warrior with ambition bigger than the universe...Screaming Females: Keep Getting Better
Perpetually ascending underground sensations Screaming Females recently released the curiously-named Ugly. The New Jersey-based trio has blazed quite a trail, with years of touring and four albums under their collective belts. For their fifth album, the band recorded...Westboro Baptist Church Does What Rolling Stone Is Too Scared To Do
Suddenly, Fred Phelps considers himself to be the David Fricke of hateful nutcases. A broken clock is right twice a day.E-Edition
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