Outer Battery Records are building quite the musical roster for themselves not just with Swervedriver’s brilliant recent EP The World’s Fair, which was reviewed recently for Ghost Cult, but also the inclusion of Heavy Blanket (with J Mascis), Petyr and finally Obits; best known for featuring the legendary, late, great Rick Froberg (Drive Like Jehu/Hot Snakes), RIP. Excitingly, there are also live albums from Dinosaur Jr, Om, and OFF! available from the label. Impressive, right?Continue reading
As a genre, Indie Rock hit its peak in the mid-2000s, as bands like Arcade Fire and Death Cab for Cutie became mainstream, thus causing bands to branch off into the post-punk branch of punk rock. Activity’s new album A Thousand Years in Another Way (Western Vinyl) takes you back to the last great days of indie rock. The album opens in a tense, more brooding mood than their previous work. They balance this out with the fragile plea of the pained tenor vocals. The trembling urgency of this vocal approach brings Radiohead to mind.Continue reading
The Velveteers will release their highly anticipated sophomore album A Million Knives. Recorded in collaboration with The Black Keys frontman Dan Auerbach, the new record will be released via Easy Eye Sound, Auerbach’s record label.Continue reading
Season three of the acclaimed FX/Hulu show The Bear is streaming all of its episodes. The series, set in the world of restaurants and chefs in Chicago has always had excellent music and this season is no different. The new episodes feature songs from Nine Inch Nails (and several tracks by Oscar winners Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross), Beastie Boys, Refused, Smashing Pumpkins, Radiohead, Taylor Swift (a repeat artist over three seasons), Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam, The Rolling Stones, Kate Bush, and more. Starring Jeremy Allen White (Shameless, star of the upcoming Bruce Springsteen biopic), and also counts celebrity cher and Hardcore Metalhead Matty Matheson in the cast as well.Continue reading
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Expanding an already stacked schedule, two-time GRAMMY® Award-winning iconic rock band The Smashing Pumpkins reveal a string of new North American headline performances in 2024. In addition to a combination of arena and headliner festival dates in Europe and North American stadium performances with Green Day, as part of The Saviors Tour, the band added additional solo arena bookings that span July through September. This new run of dates kicks off on July 31 in Muskoka, Ontario at Kee to Bala, rolls through markets such as Kansas City, Cedar Rapids, St. Louis, and concludes on September 27 in Las Vegas, NV at Fontainebleau. Plus, they will close out Osheaga Festival as one of the headlining acts in Montreal, QC on August 3. Tickets for the new dates will be available starting with an artist presale beginning Tuesday, April 2 at 10am local time. Additional presales will run throughout the week ahead of the general onsale beginning Friday, April 5 at 10am local time at the link below.Continue reading
Smashing Pumpkins are officially in the market for a new guitar player, to replace Jeff Schroeder who left the band in October after 16 years with the group. Read the message below, complete with an email where you can apply. Continue reading
According to a report from Lambgoat.com and The New York Post, Kentucky senator Rand Paul’s annual “Festivus Report” has shared his annual report for Christmas deriding U.S. government federal spending. The report highlights that over $200 million was allocated to music artists and their touring companies through the Small Business Administration’s Shuttered Venue Operators Grant. The program appears to have benefitted not only small enterprises but also well-known names in the music industry. Applicants were eligible to receive 45% of their 2019 gross revenue up to $10 million per grant. This news is not new, is several years old, and was a source of contention from bands and fans following the pandemic, but this is first time the amounts dispersed were made public. Some of the notable recipients identified in the report include Korn receiving $5.3 million, and Slipknot receiving $9.7 million, with an additional $1.05 million going to Slipknot’s Knotfest music festival. It’s noted by Paul that the $416 billion grant program was intended to aid struggling live venue operators, theatrical producers, performing arts organizations, talent representatives, and movie theaters – entities that suffered significant losses during the pandemic. Coincidently, Paul’s state of Kentucky ranks 2nd in the United States in dependency on government handouts, so this report is always curious to political pundits. Other artists called out by Paul includes Post Malone, Lil Wayne, Chris Brown, and Smashing Pumpkins, and non-Americans Nickleback (whose record label is US based, and thus their band is likely incorporated in the states.Continue reading
Modern rockers Palaye Royale have released a cover of the Smashing Pumpkins iconic Nineteen nineties song “Bullet With Butterfly Wings!” The Palaye cover comes from thier recent contribution to the film soundtrack Divinity. Directed by Eddie Alcazar and Executive Produced by Steven Soderbergh and starring Scott Bakula, Stephen Dorff, Bella Thorne, Moises Arias, Jason Genao, and Karrueche Tran. The film had its premiere at Sundance Film Festival on January 21, 2023 and will be released theatrically in the United States on October 13, 2023. The film also features music by DJ Muggs (Cypress Hill) and Dean Hurley. The OG Smashing Pumkins track is from their 1995 album Mellon Collie and The Infinite Sadness. Continue reading
As confessed in the song ‘Volcano Girls’ the seether is clearly Louise Post. Even after stepping out from behind the name Veruca Salt for Post’s debut solo album Sleepwalker (El Camino Media), the DNA of the band can be heard all over this album. The youthful enthusiasm that drove the nineties band still empowers this album, making it clear that she still has it.
