I was too embarrassed to sing in my apartment, he says on a video call. But my roommate at the time was dating the preacher's daughter, and had keys to the church across the street. In the dead of night, the madcap bassist and singer took his recording equipment to the empty church, set up on the podium, and first sang his anti-war song Too Many Puppies.
With Portland sextet Abronia, you sort of have to listen past the spectacle. Forget about the overtly Jodorowsky-Morricone vibes, the tenor sax and the pedal steel guitar, the contralto vocals, the gigantic bass drum, the legend of co-founder Eric Crespo's desert vision. What's really going on here?
Devo was always about humans being the one species out of touch with nature and the planet. I think you get a good representation of that idea without being shouted at in 'Hoppers,' which presents an exciting action tale about animals trying to protect their habitat from an unscrupulous developer while conveying important messages about ecological balance.
The Mosswood date marks the first Bay Area show in four years for Pavement. Founded in Stockton but now spread all over the country, the indie-rock stalwarts staunchly, if obtusely, reflected their Northern California roots in ragged-but-right aesthetics and songs like "Two States" and "Unfair." (In 2022, during the band's three-night run at the Masonic Auditorium in San Francisco, singer Stephen Malkmus changed the lyrics during "Fillmore Jive" to take a jovial swipe at Mill Valley.)
'Cool Job' pulls from meme culture pastiche and 'Temporary Secretary' trope to skewer the fantasy that the right job will save your life. Written mid-burnout, it's an anti-work anthem about corporate rot, identity collapse, and trying to care about meetings that could have been emails while everything else is falling apart.
Inner Magic is the duo of former Chromatics guitarist Adam Miller and former Smashing Pumpkins guitarist Jeff Schroeder. They met in 2024 and bonded over their love of '80s UK indie legends Felt, krautrock and the Vinnie Vincent Invasion, and then decided they should make music together.
Paradessence draws its title from a portmanteau of "paradoxical" and "essence," coined by author Alex Shakar. Per Visible Cloaks, the word embodies the oppositional-but-coexisting concepts they're trying to explore with the new album. "Instead of creating pieces that function horizontally as environments, we wanted to conceptualize them as living material changing in space, continually in flux," Doran shared in a press statement.
It's wild that we will be celebrating 15 years of our first record this spring - we are so lucky to have had the stars align meeting one another and creating art in those early days - we are looking forward to reflecting and celebrating the moments of coming together for the first time in real time with all of you! It's going to be a show unlike anything we've ever done. We are also so grateful and feel that the stars have aligned with having the Brudi Brothers out opening up each show in these intimate theater settings ! See you this spring!!!!
The Head and The Heart have announced they will play their self-titled debut album in full on a 15th anniversary tour this May. Folk act The Brudi Brothers will open each show. The 2026 spring tour kicks off on May 1st in Nashville, Indiana, with subsequent stops in major cities including Chicago, New York, and Boston. Get The Head and The Heart Tickets Here
Saturday, July 18 is headlined by Iggy Pop, with Otoboke Beaver, Scowl, The Spits, The Fadeaways, and Primitive Ring rounding out the bill. Sunday, July 19 is headlined by Bikini Kill and also has The Return of Jackie and Judy (aka Sleater-Kinney & Fred Armisen's Ramones tribute band), The Dead Milkmen, Frankie & The Witch Fingers, Frightwig, and Las Nubes.
Last May, Ty Segall released Possession, a sophisticated set of psychedelic bubblegum that featured a string section, saxophone, and surprisingly sweet melodies. "Live" "at" "the" "BBC," taped about a decade ago, may take recent fans of the L.A.-based garage rocker by surprise. Now in his late 30s, Segall's already released 17 solo albums. The prolific songwriter has a knack for abrupt swings, so no one should be too shocked.
We've already bemoaned and lamented last year, so let's close the eyes on our rearward Janus face and look forward. Hey, Mr. Grumpy Gills, when life gets you down, you know what you gotta do? Just keep swimming!
Recorded with producer Shawn Everett (Kacey Musgraves, The War on Drugs) at Hollywood, California's famed EastWest Studios' Studio Three, the album sees frontman Jim James delivering stripped down renditions of MMJ favorites and solo tracks, including "I'm Amazed," "State of the Art," and "Here in Spirit." Alongside these are covers of Bob Dylan ("Blowin' in the Wind"), Brian Wilson ("Love and Mercy"), The Velvet Underground ("I Found a Reason"),