There is a specific kind of velocity associated with the name Deniz Tek. To the aviation world, he was a flight surgeon and a pilot in the cockpit of an F-4 Phantom. To the medical world, he was the calm in the center of the ER trauma ward. But to the global underground of high-energy rock 'n' roll, he is the primary architect of Radio Birdman -- the band that effectively rewrote the Australian musical landscape with a Detroit-born blueprint of "loose tightness." His new solo album, The Beat (released on April 17, 2026 via Wild Honey Records), is a literal collaboration with the past, built upon the final, spontaneous drum tracks of the late Ric Parnell. It is a project that mirrors Tek’s entire career: a balancing act between the precision of the "forensic" mindset and the artist's unchoreographed intuition. Scene Point Blank: How often does unchoreographed intuition take over from precision? Or is life just a balancing act to keep the chaos from sucking you into the void? Deniz Tek: In performances, improvisation without direct thought is usually better than choreography. As a rhythm guitarist, actual precision comes into my playing only in the timing. But it’s not thought out. It’s instinctive. In creating a new piece of art from scratch, it has to start with intuition to have a hope of being worthwhile. Expertise, applied with precision, comes later on, in finishing the piece. Of course, in engineering or aviation, things like that, precision obviously takes precedence. … Read more
That's right: we're halfway through 2026 already, although whether that means this year is a glass-half-empty or glass-half-full kind of … Read more
The musical landscape is ever changing. New genres are popping up, new hypes burst out of nowhere and die out … Read more
A Conversation with Lisa Kekaula (Vocals) and Bob Vennum (Guitar) of The Bellrays For over three decades, The Bellrays -- … Read more
“Rufio?! Like from back in the day Rufio?” Those were the words out of my mouth while claiming my next review. I wore out Perhaps, I Suppose as a teenager and my curiosity piqued. It has been 25 years since that album was released and 16 years since we have heard from Rufio at all. Regardless of these facts, we … Read more
The self-titled album from Oddfellows was a long time coming. As in, the band formed in 1994. Now in 2026, they return with founding members Chris Pulliam, Mark Ryan, and Mike Throneberry, plus new addition Peter Salisbury to release their debut album just 32 years later. This lineup means you're going to get a Marked Men reference right away, but … Read more
I don’t remember how, but I stumbled across Chicago’s Cel Ray in 2023 on the heels of their debut EP, Cellular Raymond. I was immediately hooked. After another EP and a single, the band finally brings us their debut long player, Cel Rayzer. To no surprise, it’s excellent. Cel Ray plays a brand of post-punk that’s lo-fi and streamlined. Singer … Read more
God loves Nick Saloman, and from the heavens, the expulsion of the beloved archangel fell and spawned Horrorful Heights. A 20-track double-album behemoth. Eighty-eight minutes of musical mayhem. Who does that anymore? nobody. As they edit themselves down to make nice, safe Spotify playlists, Nick just dumps the whole glorious attic on your head like the wicked witch of the … Read more
For nearly forty years, Nine Pound Hammer have occupied a strange corner of American music that very few bands have ever managed to touch. They're too loud for traditional country, … Read more
There are plenty of bands capable of writing crushing death metal. There are plenty of bands capable of writing punishing hardcore. Very few can occupy both worlds without sounding like … Read more
Time Thieves, of Chicago, IL, bill themselves as power pop in the vein of The Rentals or Fountains of Wayn or Weezer in their bio and they double down on … Read more
When Horror dropped last year, it was well worth the privileged price of entering the collected world of The Mekons. I was lucky enough to find their first LP—"The Quality … Read more
Six blokes who survived the Mark E. Smith sausage-squeezing meat grinder, plus a beautiful Blue Orchid for good measure. But if you’re turning up to Inklings expecting some pathetic karaoke … Read more
Sometimes post-hardcore stops feeling emotional and just becomes noise for the sake of noise. If I Die Today understands that line better than most bands operating in this space. Their … Read more
Australian Neo-proto-punk garagerockers ECSR released 11 new songs in May without much, if any, fanfare and not as some marketing or PR stunt but because they seem to actually give … Read more
Meet the Buddies Fest Prize Pack! Scene Point Blank has partnered with the upcoming Buddies Fest in Tillsonburg, Ontario, and features a hefty line-up that includes Ultrabomb, Mikey Erg, The Slow Death, Kepi Ghoulie, Danbert Nobacon, Ben Nichols, Cory Branan, ALL, Chixdiggit and a whole lot more this year, taking … Read more
Punk Rock Bowling is sponsoring a second event this year, a rally called Fight to Unite, taking place Oct. 9-10 at The Belasco in Los Angeles, CA. A portion of … Read more
Lsat week Neurosis came out of hiberation to play Fire In The Mountains festival, announcing a small selection of additional live performances this year. Earlier this yera, the band released … Read more
DeeCRACKS returns, announcing True Nothing, a new album out on Oct. 23 via Pirates Press Records in the US (cd via in their home Austria via Lotterlabel). The band will … Read more
Multi-instrumentalist William H. Michael announced the pending release of Jazz Destroyer on Big Nect Records later this year, due to us on August 7. It features 9 songs, classed as … Read more
Scarves will release Strays Forever on Sept. 18, a new record from the Niko Stathakopoulos led indie project that initially began back in 2013 in Seattle, WA. Strays Forever will … Read more
After sharing a single earlier this year when the band first inked to InnaNuttshell Reekordingz (owned by Fishbone co-founder Norwood Fisher), Mad Tab has set a release date of Sept. … Read more
Australia label Art As Catharsis is celebrating its fifteenth anniversary … Read more
DCxPC Live is getting back to live recordings after a … Read more
Noise-rock band Mr. Phylzzz returns soon, announcing Fear the Lord, … Read more
NØ MAN has a new album coming out just before … Read more
Math rock trio cowboyy (stylized and spelling wrong, as is … Read more
Chicago, IL noise-rock duo King Sans will release Sell The … Read more
Tom Morello has been in the news already this year … Read more
Nerf Herder IV is coming out on vinyl for the … Read more
French psych-garage band Prisoner has announced their debut, self-titled album, … Read more
Featuring Blue Broderick (Diners) and Leah Levinson (Agriculture), rock duo … Read more
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