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Golden Shitters

Music Education

Interviews / Don't Quit Your Day Job • June 23, 2026

There are a lot of misconceptions about the life of a musician. Most musicians have day jobs – and not just to pay the bills. Jobs provide new challenges, personal fulfillment and, yes, some rent or gas money. How an artist spends their time by day will influence the creative process at night. In Don’t Quit Your Day Job, Scene Point Blank looks at how musicians split their time, and how their careers influence their music (or how their music provides escape). In this edition, we chat with Matt Ellis of Golden Shitters. He calls the band his passion project, or “loss leader,” while also working as a Rock Band Teacher / Music Teacher at Noise Pollution Rock School in Hamilton, Ontario. Scene Point Blank: You told me in pre-interview prep that you are more of a band leader than a music teacher. To get started, tell us about the school. As principal, what is your role with your co-workers? (Very) broadly speaking, what do they do, compared to what you do? Matt Ellis: I run Noise Pollution Rock School. I teach 3-5 kids at the same times, ages 5 to 17. I show them how to play easy songs: Ramones, Beatles, Stooges, Green Day, or anything else that gets them excited. I show them how to play together and show them how to be in a band. I don’t teach music theory or offer one-on-one lessons. While we learn chords and song structures this is more like a “let’s … Read more

Punk Under The Sun

Interviews • June 22, 2026

Punk Under the Sun – Interview with Joey Seeman and Chris Potash Some music scenes become legendary — New York, … Read more

Commerce or Amusement? #1

Regular Columns / Commerce or Amusement? • June 9, 2026

Are You In The Music Business? Or Just Involved In Music? Interview Series #1 Featuring Jordan Stamm of Drunk Dial … Read more

J Mau & The Kiss Off

ASL interpreter

Interviews / Don't Quit Your Day Job • June 8, 2026

There are a lot of misconceptions about the life of a musician. Most musicians have day jobs – and not … Read more

Latest album reviews — browse all

Physicalist

Self Titled
Dirt Cult (2026)

F.Y.P is one of the rare bands that I'd say nobody sounds like -- but in the past two months I've caught myself making that comparison twice. First while listening to the new Dumpies LP (spoiler alert: they cover F.Y.P on that same record) and now as I listen to the Physicalist debut EP. The interesting thing here isn't the … Read more

Dylan Thomas

Todo se desvanece
Burnt Toast Vinyl (2026)

When bands spend months slowly piecing together an album with cheap gear, limited time, and apparently an alarming amount of terrible beer, it’s kind of romantic. Not romantic in the polished indie film sense. More romantic in the sense that you can actually hear people chasing a feeling before life pulls them in different directions. That tension sits at the … Read more

Adam Steiner

Darker with the Dawn: Nick Cave's Songs of Love and Death
Rowman & Littlefield (2023)

Book Review

Adam Steiner doesn’t just break the earth with a spade with this book; he actually digs deep into the fertile soil to enter the cobwebbed crypt. He approaches the catalogue like a forensic scientist examining the maggots on a corpse—meticulously analyzing the rot and the details of decay to chart exactly how long the body has been decomposing. He gets … Read more

Six Going on Seven

Human Tears
Spartan Records (2026)

Late 90s post hardcore and emo feels impossible to recreate now. That’s not because the sound itself is gone, but because the tension behind it was so specific to that era. Six Going on Seven’s Human Tears, their first full length in roughly twenty-four years, captures that feeling perfectly. Having a wonderful history by having done a split with Hot … Read more

Additional album reviews

The Bug Club

Every Single Muscle
Sub Pop (2026)

  I got kind of obsessed with reviewing this record after I heard the first single “Watching The Omnibus” which they released digitally earlier this year. I could probably just write … Read more

The Cascadian Divide

To the Sky
Independent (2026)

The Cascadian Divide is a Washington state based melodic skate punk band that formed during the infamous COVID lockdown. Although it started as an experiment, it soon became a passion … Read more

Jungle Rot

Cruel Face Of War
Unique Leader (2026)

Twelve albums and more than three decades into their career, Jungle Rot remains one of death metal's most reliable institutions. While countless bands have spent years chasing technical excess, progressive … Read more

Overcalc

Fruits of the Decision Tree
Sleeping Giant Glossolalia (2024)

Some instrumental records create atmosphere while others create movement. Fruits of the Decision Tree feels like it creates an entire environment. It’s unstable, mechanical, strangely beautiful, and constantly in motion. … Read more

Fangus

Emerald Dream
From The Urn Records (2026)

The needle drops, and there’s no introductory sweaty handshake. Fangus doesn’t care for niceties; they’re ready to get down to brass-knuckle business. With their debut full-length, Emerald Dream, the Montreal … Read more

Drakulas

Midnight City
Dirtnap, Wild Honey Records (2026)

I’m assuming Midnight City is the “fictionalized New York-esque metropolis” where the band/gang members of Drakulas survive(d in the mid to late 70's;). It’s also the third album by this … Read more

Lethal Limits

Elevate EP
GhettoBlaster Productions (2025)

As far as I can gather Jeff Corso has been playing in bands in the Bay Area for the past 20 years but seems like exclusively hardcore until now. Full … Read more

Dealbreaker

New Sides
Late Again Records, Toll Free Records (2026)

Dealbreaker popped onto my radar as part of a package tour with Pro Wrestling, who cold called me with a Penske File namedrop. This story is a bit of a … Read more

News headlines — browse all

Heavens To Betsy to tour

Posted in Tours on June 27, 2026

On Thursday, Heavens To Betsy played their first show in 32 years in Portland, OR. The band followed the event with bigger news: a US tour that hits the West and East Coasts. The band features Corin Tucker (pre-Sleater-Kinney) and Tracy Sawyer. Dates are listed in the pic. Read more Read more

Yarotz is planning a Resurgence

Posted in Records on June 27, 2026

French post-hardcore band Yarotz shared a single, "Strengths and Fears" this week, an equally aggressive and plodding f-minute song from their self-released Resurgence LP, due on Sept. 25. Read more Read more

The Meffs mean Business

Posted in Records on June 27, 2026

UK punk duo The Meffs will release a new LP on Sept. 11, 2026: the new Business, releasing via FLG record label. The band features Lily Hopkins on vocals/guitar and … Read more

A new Smirk

Posted in Records on June 27, 2026

Smirk, a project from Nick Vicario, shared the new song "Going Off To Die" this week, which appears on Speculative Fiction, out on July 3 on Smoking Room. The new … Read more

Nicole Alexis follow-up

Posted in Records on June 27, 2026

Last month SPB reviewed Mirrors & Smoke, a self-produced EP from singer-songwriter Nicole Alexis. Now the Nashville, TN based artist is back with a full-length on Hard Working Record Company. … Read more

Mannequin Pussy co-headlines with Wednesday

Posted in Tours on June 25, 2026

Just as the headline says, Wednesday and Mannequin Pussy have arranced a co-headlining tour called "The Bitch Cabal Tour," starting in late October. Snõõper will be along for support. The … Read more

Pennywise dates

Posted in Tours on June 25, 2026

Pennywise -- the band and probably not the clown -- is headed to the US East Coast on a tour that sees the long-running SoCal band joined by Circle Jerks, … Read more

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