A lot of bands sound like they are writing their albums with a view to the live setting these days, with business perhaps more focused on big riffs or breakdowns and how they’ll go over in a club than fitting in to the overall theme of an album, or a band’s catalog. Washington’s current finest punk band Filth Is Eternal sound like a killer live band who also took the extra time at every element of their craft. From message to delivery, this is the full package.
Ghost Cult Keefy caught up with Otep Shamaya of OTEP to discuss the new album – “The God Slayer” – out now via Cleopatra Records! OTEP discusses the journey to the new release, overcoming tragedy in the last few years, choosing which artists to cover, the one cover song that didn’t make the album, looking back at Nu Metal and its current popularity, her return to touring, the new vinyl version of “Hydra” and more! Continue reading
Amphetamine Reptile, remember them? The legendary Noise-Rock label home to countless legends such as Helmet, Melvins, The Jesus Lizard, Tar, etc etc. In later years a newer generation of bands emerged that includes Gay Witch Abortion, White Drugs, Hepa-Titus, and of course Mr Phylzzz.
“Negative Approach meets The Breeders” is the description offered by the members of Scowl of this their latest release the Psychic Dance Routine EP (Flatspot Records) – if that’s not a tagline that grabs your attention outright I don’t know what is and what help there is out there for you! Said EP is the follow-up to the 2021 How Flowers Grow debut full-length.
The Recording Academy (a.k.a The Grammy Awards) honored the surviving members of Nirvana and Heart’s Ann and Nancy Wilson with the Recording Academy’s 2023 lifetime achievement award at the Wilshire Ebell Theater in Los Angeles on February 4th. Other honorees included Bobby McFerrin, Ma Rainey, Nile Rodgers, and Slick Rick. The ceremony – the Special Merit Awards ceremony, was presented the day before the 65th Annual Grammy Awards. The lifetime achievement award is presented by vote of the Recording Academy’s national trustees to performers “who, during their lifetimes, have made creative contributions of outstanding artistic significance to the field of recording.” Watch the ceremony now!
Judging by the name, Oozing Wound should be a run-of-the-mill Death Metal outfit with all of the daft connotations that come with the genre. Thankfully the band is signed to the excellent Thrill Jockey Records, so safe to say this is not the case. What it does demonstrate, however, is a band not afraid to annoy overly serious music journos like me, and artists are supposed to stick it to the man, who in this case would be me. Ahem.
Founding Screaming Trees bassist Van Conner has died. He was just 55. No cause of death has been revealed. The news of his passing was announced in a Facebook post by Van’s brother, Screaming Trees guitarist Gary Lee Conner. You can see Gary Lee’s post below. Screaming Trees was the second band from the Connor brothers, who started as punks and lovers of Psychedelic Rock in the early 1980s, before co-founding Screaming Trees with singer Mark Lanegan and drummer Mark Pickerel. Lanegan died last February at age 57. The band would later become a breakout band from Seattle, in the “Grunge” explosion, along with Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Alice In Chains, Soundgarden, Mudhoney, Melvins, and more. Screaming Trees album Sweet Oblivion catapulted the band with three hit singles, including “Nearly Lost You” – which was also on the Singles soundtrack, and led to the band touring the world and performing on Lollapalooza. RIP.
Here’s to genuinely hoping that 2023 would be a decent year for stoner rock releases – with the existence of records like The Lord Knows (Ripple Music) by the Swedish newcomers Tidal Wave. The Swedish stoner scene has always been all-around fascinating to me, with big names I admire such as Besvärjelsen and Skraeckoedlan, or even the all-time legendary Truckfighters. It’s always refreshing to see up-and-coming names coming right in, too.
In a new interview with Marc Maron for his WTF podcast, Courtney Love has revealed she is nearly finished with her long-in-the-works new solo album, eyeing a 2023 release. This would be Courtney’s second solo album under her own name, following her 2004 debut, America’s Sweetheart. Rather than studio albums or EPs, she has focused on standalone singles, movie soundtracks, and collabs for her solo work, and sporadic work and albums with Hole (2010’s Nobody’s Daughter album was basically a Courtney solo album under the Hole banner). In a wide ranging interview about her career in music and acting (she was nominated for a Golden Globe for The People vs. Larry Flynt in 1996) she discussed making music, humbling herself to open for Lana Del Ray (now one of her closest friends) moving to London, rejecting all social media as an artist, the choice to retire her most popular song “Violet” permanently, and her many public and private relationships under the magnifying glass of celebrity for 35 years. She also mentioned writing a new song “Justice for Kurt” for her late husband and Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain, calling it a “2 minute earworm.” She also said she is omitting it from the album, because it will overshadow the rest of of the album. Maron is a brilliant interviewer, comedian, and actor (Almost Famous, Joker), so it’s worth a listen.
The lawsuit brought against Nirvana by the man that was the baby on the iconic “Nevermind” album cover in 1991 has been dismissed for the last time, according to Rolling Stone.Continue reading