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Post Office Experiences

Music • March 10, 2026

In a different world, which we think was shortly before COVID and MAGA and all things bad and in ALL CAPS occurred, Scene Point Blank had the idea to write a comprehensive piece about mailorder experiences from the people who dedicate their free time to sending you records, cds, tapes, zines and the like. Time makes fools of us all, and this piece disappeared into the digital abyss for a while. But when we reviewed the half-finished piece maybe a year ago we liked what we had a little too much to let it go. It's not written the way we first planned, but we've compiled 6 interviews here with a mission to give you a glimpse behind the scenes of an important and overlooked part of the biz. The interviews are with labels, zines, and distributors. The idea is to humanize the experience even more. Support your neighbors, support the people who play a role in that joy you get when you put the needle to the wax. Many fingerprints have touched your record before it was in your hands, in your ears, in your head and in your heart. Keith Ulrey – New Granada Records Scene Point Blank: Tell me a bit about who you are and what you do. Keith Ulrey: I've been running DIY label New Granada since the mid '90s. I also own/run small indie record shop Microgroove in Tampa, FL. My wife Susie and I play in the band Pohgoh. Music pretty much consumes … Read more

Spite House

Interviews • March 7, 2026

There’s a quiet weight to Spite House that doesn’t rely on volume or spectacle. Their songs sit in the uncomfortable … Read more

The Boys

Interviews • February 22, 2026

The Boys were perhaps one of the most underrated bands to ride the crest of the first wave of UK … Read more

The Darts – Tour Talk

Interviews • February 22, 2026

The Darts have a busy year ahead. First, they will release the brand new full-length Halloween Love Songs on March … Read more

Latest album reviews — browse all

Tigers Jaw

Lost on You
Hopeless (2026)

Tigers Jaw was formed in 2005 in Scranton, PA by high school friends. After a brief hiatus in 2013, the band is once again carefully crafting and delivering a sound that is equal parts upbeat angst and mellow moodiness. The current lineup, consisting of Ben Walsh (guitar, vocals), Brianna Collins (keys, vocals), Mark Lebiecki (guitar), Colin Gorman (bass), and Teddy … Read more

N.E. Vains

Running Down Pylons
Big Neck Records (2026)

N.E. Vains’ Running Down Pylons delivers that kind of glorious, basement-level destruction. You know, back in the ’70s when every basement had those flimsy swinging room-dividing doors, and your skinny 130-pound frame suddenly ripped them clean off the hinges in a fit of imagined superhuman strength? The day you went from sand-kicked weakling to full Charles Atlas mail-order muscle miracle? … Read more

Poison The Well

Peace In Place
Sharptone (2026)

There’s no way to talk about Peace In Place without acknowledging the shadow it steps out from. Poison the Well isn’t just another reunited band dusting off an old name. They’re literally architects of the genre. The Opposite of December… A Season of Separation didn’t just help define metalcore, it rewired how heaviness and vulnerability could coexist. And honestly, is … Read more

Bitter Branches

Let's Give The Land Back To The Animals
Equal Vision (2026)

Sometimes when you think of a town you think of a certain sound. Philadelphia is not one of those cities for me, as the bands I know from the area vary a lot in style. Yes, there is the Dan Yemin tree (Lifetime / Kid Dynamite / Paint It Black) but there are also poppy bands and emo bands and … Read more

Additional album reviews

Top Jimmy & The Rhythm Pigs

Pigus Drunkus Maximus (Reissue)
Blind Owl Records (2026)

If rock ’n’ roll ever had a smoky, beer-soaked, throbbing heartbeat, it lives in Top Jimmy & The Rhythm Pigs’ Pigus Drunkus Maximus. Recorded in 1981 but not released until … Read more

Dream Fatigue

No Requiem
Daze (2026)

There’s a particular tension that makes alternative rock compelling. I love the emotional push and pull between softness and eruption. On No Requiem, Massachusetts outfit Dream Fatigue thrive in that … Read more

The Went Wrongs

This Isn't What I Ordered
Transcendental Revolution (2026)

I'm not sure what's happening to me in middle age. I used to find samples clever and a nice change-of-pace technique on albums. But lately I feel like they interrupt … Read more

Spillings

Spillings
The Garotte (2026)

Spillings is a minimalist reconfiguration undertaken by two artists whose careers have been about genre deconstruction. The paths of Mathieu Ball and Liam Andrews have been running on parallel tracks, … Read more

Pacifist

Five
Independent (2026)

There’s a reason five doesn’t feel like just another EP title. This isn’t a casual release or a stopgap between bigger moves but a line in the sand. On their … Read more

Pure Intention

Pure Intention
Independent (2026)

Pure Intentions is a hard hitting punk band first emerging in the Chicago scene in 2020. Since its formation by Joe Asshole and Tommy Volume, they have since added Judson … Read more

Exhumed

Red Asphalt
Relapse (2026)

There are few bands in extreme metal who understand their own lane as well as Exhumed. For nearly three decades, Matt Harvey and company have made gore feel theatrical, technicality … Read more

The Dumpies

Lub Dub
Dirt Cult (2026)

Ok full disclosure, I sung backups on (allegedly) three of these songs and one song is a cover (albeit a stretch lol) of a song I co-wrote. What can I … Read more

News headlines — browse all

SPB featured stream: The Dumpies - Lub Dub

Posted in Records on March 1, 2026

Following up 2024’s near-perfect Gay Boredom comes Lub Dub by Oregon’s The Dumpies. Recorded in Austin TX at the BBQ Shack by Jason Morales and Mike Vasquez, this is their second release on Dirt Cult Records. Bassist Tim Janchar, whose long running label Hovercraft Records is co-releasing the LP says … Read more

The Dead Boys Bootleg Series

Posted in Bands on March 19, 2026

Cleopatra Records, in a partnership with the Dead Boys (who have a new album in development), has kicked off a new The Dead Boys Bootleg Series -- with each release … Read more

DFL say "F It!"

Posted in Records on March 18, 2026

DFL (or Dead Fucking Last) have announced their new album, Fuck It -- available April 24th in Europe and May 29th in the United States via SBÄM Records. The record … Read more

Wire on Record Store Day

Posted in Records on March 18, 2026

Wire will release the limited Read & Burn 03+ this Record Store Day, April 18, 2026, via their pinkflag label. The record is an expanded reissue of Read and Burn … Read more

Butthole Surfers' After-Electric Larryland finally sees release

Posted in Records on March 18, 2026

Against all odds, Butthole Surfers broke through with a hit single "Pepper" on their Electric Larryland album. Subsequently, the album's planned 1998 follow-up After The Astronaut was pulled at the … Read more

Shits forthcoming

Posted in Records on March 18, 2026

Leeds, UK based noise-rock band The Shits has announced a new record, Diet of Worms -- their first album since You're A Mess (2023). The album drops via Rocket Recordings. … Read more

Rise Against Alkaline Trio

Posted in Tours on March 17, 2026

Chicago rooted bands Rise Against and Alkaline Trio are headed on the road together, with Rise Against announcing a headlining set of dates this fall with Alkaline Trio in support. … Read more

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