I was about 4 years old and in preschool. It was a “meet and greet” day and my dad took me. This was exciting, because I adored him and thought he was basically the coolest person on earth. I marched in, dragging him along behind me, and approached my teacher. “This is my dad. He’s in a band and they just released a song called ‘How Can I Get You Off My Mind (If You Won’t Get Off My Face)’!”, I said, as I excitedly introduced them to each other. A raised eyebrow and a sheepish look were exchanged as I bopped off to start my day. It’s true, though. My dad’s band, CW Junction, had a song with that title. If you were around Michigan during the mid-'80s and checked out your local dive bar’s jukebox, you may have seen it as a selection. I have so many fond memories of hanging out in venues as my dad prepared for shows. There were tons of unsupervised hours spent exploring basements, crawlspaces, and eaves of old churches and town halls. Or playing with a cigarette machine for 2 hours. You know, whatever gets you by. I remember when CW was set up at the local bowling alley in our town, Skidway Lake, Michigan. (If you feel like taking a deep dive into what is truly the middle of nowhere.) I used to participate in a Pee-Wee Bowling league there on the weekends. To use the bathroom, I would have to … Read more
LA’s Art-Punk Pioneers Who Bridged Continents and Genres In 1978, Vivabeat emerged from Los Angeles with a sound that defied … Read more
There are a lot of misconceptions about the life of a musician. Most musicians have day jobs – and not … Read more
I grew up listening to the acoustic side of onelinedrawing. Those stripped-down Jonah Matranga songs had a way of making everything else disappear, often needing little more than a guitar, a voice, and an honest melody to completely pull you in. That's still the version of onelinedrawing that immediately comes to mind for me, so with Matranga having been relatively … Read more
ALBUM HIGHLIGHTS – “Brand New World”, “12 Strings and Tambourines”, “Adams Street”, “Temple of Madness” It’s rare to find these days. A band (or maybe supergroup, in this case) that defies all genre boundaries and just…creates. Alfie Agnew (Adolescents, D.I.) and Sean Elliott (D.I., Mind Over Four) are familiar names from Orange County’s early 80s hardcore and psych-punk scenes, but … Read more
If Chat Pile were a film, they would be a dark thriller. The kind that builds tension until the end and, once we reach the third act, still might not ever show the killer. It's plodding and intense and, while I just pulled out a genre reference, the best thing about the band is how much they defy conventional musical … Read more
On the tail end of Autogramm’s 2018 tour of Mexico (what little I remember of that week now is a lot of pulque and not a lot of sleep) I visited the one punk record store in CDMX that I found via googling where to buy bootleg punk t-shirts. I’d already visited Venas Rotas Discos earlier on the trip and … Read more
I feel like this may be the first 12", 10-song release in my collection from Real Numbers, a dreampop meets jangle-indie rock band from Minneapolis. I'm not going to fact … Read more
The one-man band of Alien Nosejob continues to crank out short, angry hardcore in quick bursts. I've lost count of how many records Jake Robertson has now released under the … Read more
ALBUM HIGHLIGHTS – “Bright Eyes of Gold”, “Give Me Dirt”, “Long Tooth”, “Fools Like You” Almost exactly two years ago, on 8th August 2024, Cancer Bats played Conne Island in … Read more
When I saw The Dead Milkmen at Toronto’s Diamond Club back in the late 1980s, the floor was a volatile, beautiful mess of colliding subcultures. It was like different species … Read more
I never got very into Screeching Weasel and the extended family tree. Ignoring the politics of the matter, the music never really hit that sweet spot for me either. But … Read more
Rating: 🍸🍸🍸🍸🍸🍸🍸🍸🚬 / 10 (8 Tipped Martini Glasses and a Cigarette) Remember that movie Fantastic Voyage, where a miniaturized submarine gets inserted into a person's bloodstream on a mission to … Read more
Sliimo returns to earth with a brand new record, a self-titled (2026) effort that expands on the band’s sludge/stoner space metal. Described as “a sci-fi space metal band from the moon of Nar Shaddaa, but way of Providence, RI,” the mission is “to show that goofy freaks have a place … Read more
Marvin Heemeyer, a hardcore/punk band out of France, just shared the new single "Old Stuff" this week. The single comes from their debut LP, A New Low, out on Oct. … Read more
The very first Obits show, form 2008 at Cake Shop in New York, NY, will release on LP on Nov. 13 on Outer Batter Records. Previously unreleased, the 2008 show … Read more
Two popular Chicago, IL bands have a new limited edition 7" where each band covers the other, specifically with a Rise Against rendition of "Private Eye," originally by Alkaline Trio, … Read more
Released in 2025 in originale packaging, David Byrne's Who Is The Sky digital deluxe is out now, with four bonuse tracks. Bryne also has a book titled Sleeping Beauties: Why … Read more
Fucked Up is concluding their Zodiac Cycle, which began 20 years ago with Year of the Dog in 2006 and ends with Year of the Rooster on Nov. 13, 2026. … Read more
Fashion Change will release a new record next month, when Paranoid comes out on Oct. 30 on Iron Lung Records. Formed under the shadow of 2020 lockdowns, the band's inspiration … Read more
Looking for the SPB logo? You can download it in a range of styles and colours here:
Click anywhere outside this dialog to close it, or press escape.